greenbean

They made it seem like "curvey" is an insult. I mean the model isn't slim, nor skinny like traditional models, so what would be the acceptable thing to say? I thought curvey was considered the more appropriate term, but apparently not. Either way I'm glad Shawn didn't go. I like the twins, and her dress wasn't the worse. Sentell had that honour. His dress was basically a garbage bag cinched at the waist. A description the judges have used to condemn many designs. So he deserved to go, not least for thinking his dress was amazing. Poor taste levels right there. And it was his concept that they were following, his material choices and colour palette. He was arrogant to stand there and go in on Shawn just because she had problems. He did not take any responsibility for his role in putting the team on the bottom. As soon as he said "sea resort" I knew they were in trouble. The other designers were too clueless to notice. Only Shawn saw that the road he was taking them down was terrible, and I think that's partly why she struggled. I agreed with Ayana's win, and the team being on top. I'm glad Batani turned it around, she seems like one of the more interesting designers. I think most of the designers in that team had interesting things going on in their garments. This seems like a good cast, I'm enjoying the show so far.

It was way too much money, and the casting was terrible. Cara and Dane can not carry a movie, let alone an action based one. And making them lovers while they look like siblings. Poor, poor casting.

So that's two films with Dane. I wonder why.

I'm not sure how I feel about a possible S4, I'm still upset about S3.

I didn't know this was a book adaption, or that the original characters were much younger. However, while watching I did think the characters read much younger than what they actually are, so that's interesting to me. I think this is one of the reasons why Quentin can be grating. He reads as a teenager, yet he's meant to be twenty-something. In some ways it's better that they aged the characters up, but for some reason it doesn't entirely translate. I do like what I've seen so far though, the show has potential. Especially after the ending when that man appeared. I hope the Dean survives.

It's nice to think that it's just down to the characters having different personalities, but realistically it is always the non-modelesque character who conveniently has a personality that leads to baggy layers. I think she looks fine, but I'm not naive. A character like Anna or Kensi would never be dressed like this.

So is Anna part of the team now? It does feel like they're about to be reorganised in a significant way. I'm undecided about her inclusion, but I find her fight scenes ridiculous. It's not convincing that a woman of her build is taking down grown men. At least with Kensi/Daniela her height gives some stature and she's more athletic. Anna/Bar has been cast as a love interest first and an agent second. Which probably says something about where the show is heading. Speaking of, I noticed the ratings have been down these past few episodes. I'm sure the break didn't help, but the episodes since the "mole" storyline have been filler. There's some nice moments with Eric and Nell, and Sam does his best to make the plot compelling, but it's been underwhelming. I thought Callen came across as a stalker ex-boyfriend when he went to her home. He needs to get over himself. The show has not done a good enough job of establishing his emotional issues, so to now suddenly have him all hurt and annoyed over Joelle's actions doesn't sit right. His comments to her in the boathouse were also obnoxious. If they're doing this to build up Callen/Anna, then it's stupid because imo Callen comes across badly, (and not in a good way), and Anna really is a non-entity. Jada was from war torn Sudan. A completely different culture. As the show established, she belonged to her brother. I see no point in making judgements about her actions, or comparing them to those living in the West. I also don't see the point in comparing Joelle to the team. They are all in a line of work where they lie and deceive others. It is only because the show has decided to demonise Joelle, we are now going down this road of measuring who has done what. The actress is not a size 0, so she needs to be covered up. That's the impression I get. She is very cute though.

As fans this is what we want, but I don't think the show has done a good job of actually portraying Callen's evolution. Like with the family storyline, I can't recall an arc or moment that lead to his growth, yet it has been his main sub-plot for 8 seasons. Stuff has happened to him yes, but most of those things have never been contextualised to any change. They just happened and we're then left to fanwank. The Joelle relationship is the perfect example of this, and even though the Anna romance has been set up for a while, I don't think it's much better. I agree though that Callen is a complex character, I would just like to actually see more of this.

The early seasons set up a great premise for Callen as a troubled soul, searching for family and learning to work within a team. But then as the show became more cutesy and romance focused, his family story got drawn out and his character development became patchy at best. I think it was a mistake to focus so much on his family at the expense of his emotional/mental story, and this has shown up in the Joelle reveal. You can gage how interesting a storyline is by looking at the secondary characters, and Callen's father and half-sister are dull. I can't imagine the sister driving an arc of her own like past characters such as Jada and Jacob. Not since the Comescu plot has his family been really interesting, and the only character still connected to it that matters is Arkady. His father is a poor copy imo. So the idea of Callen playing happy families is not appealing to me. I think he's the sort of character who should always have some internal or personal conflict. When things are fine he's not compelling. Look how boring the Joelle relationship was. If the show had been serious about developing Callen, when she found out his true identity, we should have seen more of a reaction from him. Like he's only comfortable being in a relationship when in a persona, so he didn't know how to be with her. I thought it odd that their romance just continued on in such a banal way, given that the show has constantly said Callen is supposed to be an anti-social loner. It's like now with Anna after the Joelle reveal. What is his response going to be? If Joelle's actions were terrible enough to warrant Hetty calling her a bitch, shouldn't we be actually seeing something from Callen? Yet he seemed over it when Hetty made her remark, like it wasn't really a big deal. The show needs to decide whether Callen is or isn't emotionally troubled.

Further to the discussion about Hetty's betrayal of Callen never being truly acknowledged by the show, while Joelle is called a bitch. This is something the show has done before; characters treat another woman negatively, while Hetty's duplicity is mostly untouched. With Hunter, Callen was up in her face and she was treated as an antagonist for keeping secrets from him. The entire team was hostile to her. Yet Hetty had been sitting on all that information about Callen for years, and she was the one behind Hunter's appearance while she went off without bothering to tell the team. None of them directed the same amount of hostility towards Hetty. I enjoyed the tense dynamic between Hunter and Callen, but how was it ever Hunter's fault for being in that position? She too was just doing her job. This is why it's galling to continue seeing Hetty be so pious when her own behaviour towards Callen is the most questionable. If the show would acknowledge this, it would better. Like in La Femme Nikita, where the relationship between Madeline and Nikita was complex and conflicting. Callen sort of challenged Hetty, but then it was dropped. If they'd done something similar to LFN it would have helped sustain the family storyline and given both Callen and Hetty more depth. Maybe the Joelle reveal would also then resonate. But the show is hell bent on deifying Hetty which I don't think is good for the character's development. I actually have an idea that seeing as Hetty is a mother figure, it could be argued that Callen is displacing his anger onto safe targets such as Hunter and Joelle. What he really wants to say, is that Hetty has betrayed him. When he came after Hunter with such venom, he really wanted to direct that anger at Hetty. We've seen glimpses of it in a few confrontations, but he mostly bottles it up inside, for fear of losing or displeasing her.

Oops!

That's pretty much what I suspect will happen to the sister, because there's not much else you can do with her imo. Did Joelle? From what we know she was working a job that turned sinister. She had no knowledge of the plot to kidnap Kensi. Once she found out that her op was not kosher she called things off with Callen to protect him. I don't know why she's now being called a bitch, other than the writers think it's funny. But it's a disproportionate level of hostility imo. It also highlights how the show has bungled Callen's story because they've done a poor job of portraying his emotional issues, and ignored Hetty's role in bringing them about. Yet they now expect the audience to think Joelle is the worst because she's hurt and betrayed Callen in some important way. It does not resonate. And even if it were true that she was part of the plot, so what? How would that even constitute a betrayal? Did Sullivan betray Kensi when it came to light he had been working an angle on her? They're doing too much with Joelle, it was the same with Hunter, but I'll take this to the character threads because there is so much say.

I like seeing her in Washington, fighting in the political minefield. So I hope we get more of that at some point.

Former Navy SEAL Sam Hanna. If there's a spin-off aimed at younger audiences, they should set it around his son in the cadets.

A thread for discussion about Callen.

I was about to post this. I remember the outright hostility to the film's success. One reviewer in a mainstream publication dismissed it as a "race movie". The displeasure was palpable. That's why the myth that Hollywood is only motivated by money is absolute nonsense to me. That myth has been debunked several times over. Time and time again it is shown that movies with diverse casts, can and do make money, yet POC still struggle for roles. Where is the next Best Man Holiday since 2013? Wouldn't a money motivated industry want to capitalise on its success? Same with The Fast and the Furious. One of the most successful franchises of all time, and an original script not a marvel/dc/book adaption. Yet in all the years during its run, where are all the major blockbusters with diverse casts. NOWHERE. Shouldn't it be used as a blueprint for future movies? That's what they're trying to do with the whitewashed movies The Wall and Ghost in the Shell. Truth is, The Fast and the Furious will come and go, and Hollywood will still use the money myth as an excuse to exclude POC from roles. Because it is absolutely a choice that people in the industry are making, that is the truth. Hollywood is not at all as liberal or benign as it makes out.

I also loved the goodbye to Granger. It felt very fitting and was poignant without being overly done. Nell and Eric were sweet together. I too am glad they had that conversation, it felt very real. There are quite a few nice nuances to their romance that elevates the relationship, which is good. And after everything that's happened, I'm glad the writing followed through and addressed the emotional state of the team. I don't care about Callen's family, sorry but that whole storyline is boring to me. None of the other characters are interesting. I'm not fond of his father, and don't see where they can take the half-sister thing. Marsha Thomason was fun to see, she and Sam worked well together. It's great to have Nate back, the timing is right given how tense everything has been. And further to my comment about Callen's emotional issues, Nate could have an important role in such a storyline. And I guess I'm alone in thinking Hetty's comment about Joelle was dumb. I just don't get the hostility towards her. If Joelle is a bitch, then what does that make Hetty given her flagrant duplicity over the years. She has betrayed Callen far more deeply than Joelle ever did imo.

RE: NCIS and muddled arcs. One arc that's been done well is Sam vs Tahir. The final confrontation is one of my favourite episodes, Talion. LA does those boiler episodes really well. It was so tense, and I loved everyone. Kensi faking being a student, Sam's son being a mini-Sam. I also loved the cadet friend who put on the NCIS gear. Callen backing Sam up in so many ways. And of course Sam going toe to toe at the end. Love that Callen let him have that fight. The teamwork was great throughout the episode. And the seasons long build-up between Sam and Tahir was a good foundation to that climactic end. It is in contrast to the mole storyline imo.

Well if Joelle being involved leads to a deeper exploration of Callen's emotional issues, then that would be great. It certainly deserves more focus, and having repercussions would emphasise why her actions are supposed to be so meaningful. Like maybe he withdraws from Anna, or they at least begin to have problems. Maybe he starts to question all his relationships and gets suspicious of Michelle, which causes tensions. Or perhaps Sam has to pull him out of a negative headspace. With Callen things have tended to focus on the mystery of his name and family, while his emotional issues have been secondary. But if they want moments like the Joelle reveal to resonate, then they need to go deeper with him imo. I mean, chopping up furniture is fine, but when someone is supposed to have issues like fear of trust, intimacy or abandonment, then the reaction needs to go further. So hopefully we get more because I would love a whole storyline about Callen's emotional issues. Especially if it also involved Sam.

Yeah Callen hasn't betrayed anyone, that's the point. Neither has Joelle. So the promos and the reaction from the other characters, saying that Joelle is a "betrayer" and "bad guy", is hypocritical. Considering they have all done the same, which she rightly pointed out when Callen got huffy with her. Mainly though, I think the reaction to her was ott and a let down, because the person who betrayed Callen should have been someone more meaningful than Joelle. It's like the writers are really trying hard to turn her situation into something more dramatic than it actually is. I agree that Hetty has betrayed Callen, and that's yet another reason why I'm glad Deeks called her out. The show often frames Hetty's manipulations as noble and caring, and while I do enjoy her character I find these tendencies annoying. She can also be rather patronising imo. Exactly. She sent Kensi there with no real back-up, knowing she wouldn't kill her ex-fiance who was the target. And stuff like that is why the CIA is now so mad with OSP. Basically Kensi's been caught and tortured twice, because of this dubious mission that Hetty sent her on.

It's too convoluted imo. The mole should have been a real mole inside NCIS, and the story should have been mostly contained within NCIS too. Especially if they're happy to bring JAG characters back. The main perp could've been someone from way back who had a grudge against Hetty. All this stuff about the CIA and Afghanistan, blah. I mean Sullivan came and went, he's so meaningless. The Joelle thing is interesting, but I don't consider her to be a mole. Seems she was on assignment and didn't know the motives were sinister.

It annoyed me that they all got pissy with Joelle, saying she "betrayed" Callen. Like she said, she only did what Callen has done countless times. It's like, how dare anyone play us, but we can play others hypocrisy. So I'm glad she called Callen out when he tried to get huffy and take the moral high ground. Also glad Deeks laid it on Hetty. Her chess games have become so obnoxious. I didn't like the way she dismissed him, "Do you feel better now?" The writers try to make her this unflappable, know-it-all spymaster, but it can be too much. A bit of humility wouldn't hurt her. Overall the ep was enjoyable, but I'm glad this mole storyline is over. It has been a misleading let down imo. Also glad that Sabatino is still out there. Love his duplicity and gruff voice. Oh and the appearance of the Admiral. I never watched JAG, but it's nice to have that crossover. He fit in very well imo.

It's definitely interesting. I'm sure there's a whole bunch of behind the scenes stuff happening that we don't know about. Look at what happened with Castle and Criminal Minds. Tbh I was shocked when Gibson's anger and drinking issues came to light. I never knew NO took LA's slot, and with Harmon financially invested in NO is does make you think. It'll be interesting to see what now happens with the Assistant Director position. Whether Vance will appear more often, or a new character will take over.

I'll take the acting and also the talking. The accents were that mid-atlantic thing, which unfortunately died out. My understanding is that it's been replaced by the standard American accent. And actors actually enunciated no matter what voice they adopted. Nowadays there's lots of mumbling and slurring. So many times I miss the dialogue. And it seems up until say the 80s, there was always a crop of actors who had interesting voices, usually with a nice timbre and vocally expressive, but that has slowly gone by the wayside. Now it's mostly actors who have a lifeless monotone voice, and many don't vocally emote at all. That's actually one of my acting tests, is the actor vocally emoting, or just reading lines.

Is it because Harmon doesn't like the show or something? Where does this tension come from? I've never noticed it before, but it does seem like there's a fair amount of crossover between NCIS and New Orleans, whereas LA gets crumbs.