not Bridget

I took the advantage of some time off to re-binge all of season 1. Definitely enjoyed it all over again. Then watched the Christmas Special--and loved it. No, the show is not perfect--but when it's good it's so very good. I was glad to visit so many parts of the world, beautiful in their own ways. And didn't mind hearing "Hallelujah" again.... Indeed--the show is not shy about celebrating sexual love. But it also honors friendship & family affection. (For those who have good families, that is.) Near the end, Will was feeling down, as he has every right to do. But Riley said it was time for all of them to Do Something about Whispers. So--can't wait until May.

The face on the banner was Phife Dawg. A founding member who died from diabetes last March. We did hear his recorded voice. (From another old white woman who has realized that it's not too late to learn new stuff!)

Hmmm..... wouldn't that make Veronica Mars a better Modern Nancy Drew? (Times have changed.) So, Veronica's dad comes to mind: played by Enrico Colantoni, of course. Cara Buono played a hit woman for Samaritan--and was also Faye Miller, psychologist & one of Don Draper's many women on Mad Men. Enver Gjokaj caught everybody's eye on Dollhouse--then played a Russian mobster's son on POI on his way to the recently cancelled Agent Carter. (snif) "Til Death" was the POI episode featuring a battling married couple. Played by Mark Pelegrino, instantly recognized as Lucifer on Supernatural. And Francie Smith, who I thought I remembered from Due South; I was right--she played Luane on "A Likely Story." Brian Wiles played the ill-fated rookie Mike Laskey on POI--and an adorable Marquis Lafayette on AMC's Turn. Why, yes. I've been bingeing (or should it be binging?) POI recently--and replaying my favorite episodes. And enjoying the New York talent showing up as guests. (As well as that amazing city scenery.) Leslie Odom Jr ("Peter Collier" on POI) is up for a Tony as Aaron Burr in Hamilton. As is Chris Jackson (who had a small role as a security guard), George Washington in that same smash hit....

I only began watching POI on Netflix. Loved it. When Season 4 finally dropped, I watched the earlier shows again before tackling it. Then ran through the whole thing yet again in time for last night's premiere. So the last time I saw this episode was yesterday. Thoroughly enjoyed it. The show lost something with Carter's death but had & has other strengths. And she was never forgotten. Of course we didn't see her do anything "new"--she's really dead. (There is no supernatural on this show--unless you're an AI.) It was telling that Reese would "see" & "hear" his dead partner when he was on the edge of death. In service of his relationship with the shrink? Who was a slightly ditzy blonde at first & morphed into a strawberry blonde, dressed more soberly--to make her more worthy? I hope this shortened last season will waste little time on her. Fusco coming to the rescue (being a Good Detective) was mentioned in the next episode. (Speaking of character deaths--there's the last episode of Sleepy Hollow. Which I missed & refuse to watch on Hulu--but I've read detailed accounts. That was a cheap way to handle the loss of a beloved character--the co-lead, in fact. And that show has no other "strengths" to fall back on--they were lost in the last two lackluster seasons. So it can be cancelled with no tears from me. But I'll mourn Person of Interest.)

Many viewers want to see Abbie & Ichabod together romantically because they are so kickass being together non-romantically. Working or arguing or just hanging out. I'd be glad to see their relationship progress sooner or later--although we don't know that there will be much of a later. In the meantime, why can't we at least have them share more scenes? I like Jenny & Joe but watching them profess their love is less interesting than watching Abbie & Ichabod snark about pastry. Still--not as good as Season 1 but better than Season 2. I'll stick with it.... (And the opening carnage reminded me of another show. Usually, a scene of someone meeting a grisly & mysterious end is followed with two guys in suits showing up: "I'm Agent Jagger--this is Agent Richard." Yes, I'm capable of sticking with a show through thick & thin....)

Posting after watching episode 1--haven't seen the next one yet, although it might have bearing on this topic.. For its first two seasons, the show was shot in WIlmington NC, a hotspot for filming shows & even movies. The state ended the tax breaks that favored that industry--so the show is now being shot in Georgia. All the old sets are gone. How many props were moved? What will they have the money to rebuild? There's a practical reason behind the "new look" of the show. (Just as there's a practical reason for Ichabod's shorter hair--it's his own, rather than the lovely but hard to wear wig. The character needed no excuse to cut his hair. Perhaps he tried a totally modern look--glad we didn't have to see the early growing out phrase.) On to what I remember of the episode. Glad that Ichabod & Abbie are together again; glad Jennie is still on the team. Will miss Irving & Headless but future appearances are just possible. Hope to never see Henry & his Mom; although expunging her from the story makes flashbacks harder, since she was So Important to Ichabod, beginning before the Revolution. Loved the restaurant scene. Pandora seemed promising. Betsy Ross was dreadful. The actress wasn't good & the costume was horrible. A few women did "pass as men" but she wasn't trying. Colonial ladies wore "stays"--not fetish corsets. Historical quibble--"General" Washington would not have sent instructions to Bunker/Breed Hill. At the time of that battle, he was in Philadelphia, looking distinguished in his Militia Uniform as the 2nd Continental Congress was looking for someone to command the new army. Back in Season 1, Ichabod said that "Colonel Washington of the Virginia Militia" had sent him to Boston--that was his status at the time & that nod to Real History made me accept his involvement in the Occult Struggle already beginning. (Have much more to say about history--surely there's a thread!) Good enough that I decided to keep watching; I truly loved Season 1. Didn't make it last week since Los Texmaniacs were playing in a park downtown. So it's off to Hulu.....

Ladies did not usually attend burials in Georgian & Regency days. Of course, the lower class Cornish women were not so concerned with the habits of the gently bred "Lady." The cemetery as a lovely garden, full of sentimental art, was a VIctorian invention. Old Style churchyards were serviceable places to deposit the dead--boneyards. (Sometimes temporarily--where are the vast graveyards of the Medieval dead? The rich & famous got vaults in the church, since they rated permanent remembrance.) Grave markers in our own Colonial graveyards are decorated with skulls & bones & reminders of mortality. Some place other than a child's fresh grave might be a more comforting place to remember the little lost life.

Concerning the Fairy's failure/refusal to return Arabella: I think that Strange was asking the wrong question. He requested his wife be brought back from the dead--but she wasn't dead. Of course, it seemed pretty obvious that she had died; Fake Arabella acted delirious & then she croaked. (Those Fake People probably have limited lifespans, anyway; if she'd lived, Strange's investigation into her weird condition might have revealed the truth.) From other tales about dealing with the Good Folk, one learns to be very specific. When you've been granted a wish, you need to select your words with care or unforeseen results will occur. But clues led Jonathan to the truth... (And, yes. The abandoned, pathetic old lady was better off as a cat.)

It's been years since I read the book, but I doubt anybody really cared about the old woman. Had she married some down-at-the-heels Venetian nobleman, to the dismay of her respectable English family? Finally, an abandoned widow in the moldering palace in Venice, a friend of her family took a few moments to look in on her. Were her relatives notified so they could rescue her & take her into their care? Or was she to continue slowly dying, in a stench of cat piss? She was better off as a cat. I don't think the experiences of your acquaintance really compare.

Concerning the need for Charles to build a nursery, as mentioned in the review: Elizabeth told Our Hero that she was "with child" near the end of the episode. That's an old-time way of saying "knocked up." Quite enjoying this. Never got into the earlier series. This isn't terribly deep, but there's so much pretty....

Indeed. A good man but seriously flawed really does not apply to Santa Anna. He may not have been the cartoon villain we see but he is not beloved in Mexico. Santa Anna signed away huge amounts of Mexican land at the end of the Texas Revolution & after the Mexican War. General Urrea was a better commander--& did not want to massacre those who had surrendered at Goliad. But Santa Anna was the dictator. I mean to pay better attention so I can do a historical critique. But the thing is not that well written--a really good story can make me ignore some errors. And there are some fine actors--but not well used. My attention keeps wandering.

Nathan Hale's story would have made a fine first episode--showing Washington's need for information & how a gallant fellow might not be the best spy. Which latter point will appear again next season or later. (If those seasons happen.) This article in the Journal of the American Revolution even notes that Richard Rogers helped arrest Hale. The Culpers were useful but Washington had other spies--many of whom did not hang! Treacherous Beauty is a rather good biography of Peggy Shippen that also says a lot about Andre & Arnold. The writer believes that, if Andre loved any of the Philadelphia belles, it was Peggy Chew. But he had a real (well chaperoned) friendship with Ms Shippen & did give her a lock of his hair when he left Philadelphia. Andre did take many of Benjamin Franklin's things from his house--but it's believed he did so for a senior officer. The actors playing Andre & Peggy are both older than the people they portray--but do a lovely job. The story that they were lovers is rather old--as is the story that poor little Peggy was the innocent wife of a traitor....

"Emily West" survived the Alamo & bedded Sam Houston. Except that the real Emily West was nowhere near San Antonio & was not a prostitute. The "Yellow Rose of Texas" tale is mostly balderdash & they're embellishing the balderdash in this series. The history is faulty & the "look" is all wrong. Texans did not dress like that in 1835. They wore buckskins--or frockcoats with tall hats if they were "gentlemen." A few fighters in the Revolution had uniforms of sorts but they did not look like frigging Civil War uniforms. "Texas" is far too mountainous. And I do not find those young fellows as charming as I'm supposed to. Only saw the first half--Turn is better almost-history. Will catch up u& then keep up.

I also wonder about the details in Caleb's description. Season 1 starts on Netflix March 25th, so those of us who haven't shelled out for the BluRay/DVD can get a refresher course. Rotten Tomatoes has some interesting new stills of many characters...

Yup. Please, more action & less of Abe's fictional love life. However, he was not "First American Spy Behind Enemy Lines." There was Nathan Hale--whose sad end I still wish we'd seen. He was a college friend of Benjamin Tallmadge, Robert Rodgers caught him in some versions of his rather undocumented tale & the sad end of a brave, dashing fellow who was just not cut out for undercover work is relevant to another character's eventual fate. Just being a Spy Behind Enemy Lines is dangerous enough--& a Long Island farmer is actually less noticeable than the more dashing types.... . But there were other "information gatherers" even at the beginning of the Revolution--who did not hang! And the Culper group did not start as early as we've been shown. Washington ran quite a bit of intelligence. Yes, I'm one of those people who quibbles about historical details. But I've mostly come to accept Turn's Alternate AmRev. Some things were done just right (George Washington!) & other bits (like the 3 Main Redcoats) are so entertaining that I'll just sit back & watch. Besides, in the upcoming season we can always fall back on: Better Than Sons of Liberty!