Sandman

Don't forget his lack of any discernible ability to act.

Cognitive dissonance? Elvis? Scott isn't incapable, but there isn't much subtlety in his performance; I've never thought Elvis was drowning in remorse.

Is the graduation in July a product of the shooting schedule that's five (nearly six) months ahead? Or is it just the writers don't care that sometimes a day takes the better part of two weeks to unroll in Salem, and a criminal arrest, trial and verdict can flash by in a matters of weeks, if not days? The timeline of the show has been messed up for years.

The promo monkeys think counting is hard.

Not to defend Mansi's acting choices too much, but I think it's in character for Abigail to react with shock -- I am quite sure she thinks of herself as an innocent, ignoring all evidence to the contrary. Abigail can be judgmental and smug. I don't that's a failure on the actress's part, at least not solely. The writing, performance and direction don't really acknowledge what Abigail is; that's a problem. Mansi's interpretation of the storyline in the press comes off as wrongheaded to the point of inanity, but that's a bit of different problem. If the writing or the performance gave us some reason to think well of Abigail, this story would be unfolding very differently.

Whenever someone does something stupid? When would the poor man sleep? Even Pop-Up Victor doesn't have that kind of time.

I had to make a couple of attempts to log in, too.

We did have Weepy!Toph last week, though. Honestly, it didn't occur to me that Krista was crying because she was Being The Girl; I thought she cried more readily because of her relative inexperience, and (related to that) her bond with Wilson was atypically strong. If Doctor Mole becomes Regularly Weeping Mole (... ew, sorry) then that's different.

Bailey the Trauma Surgeon is no doubt alerting the media as we speak.

Not for nothing, but if you'd asked me back when I was watching Roswell (I see your side-eyes of ... judging, but we're watching this show, ain't we?) I probably would have said that Fehr probably didn't have a problem playing a gay (or at least hetero-flexible) character, because judging by his chemistry with Jason Behr's character, Fehr's Michael Guerin? Not a Kinsey 0. I'm just saying.

I can see Lucas almost having a tiny twinge of sympathy for Elvis: "Dude, my mom *and* Sami are gunning for your ass? Nice knowing you! Heh."

Was that an actual folded flag? It looked like a little plush toy. I assumed it was the kind of thing that platoons carry for emergencies. (Yeah, I dunno. Does it count as fanwanking if I don't entirely like the show?) The mariachi band "Taps" definitely was -- you should pardon the expression -- overkill. Can you imagine the other patients panicking? ("From ER intake to jazz funeral inside an hour? Really? This is one nutty but efficient hospital!")

I thought we agreed we don't use the F-word in polite company.

I saw the interview, and while I found it disappointing, I don't think I saw discomfort in the performance; or if it was there, it was appropriate to Drew's level of apprehension with outing himself. I'm waiting to see where the storyline goes, I guess.

Has James Scott checked out, or is he just getting the usual amount of direction / support from the script? Which is to say, none whatsoever.

Co-signed on all of the above; I can't approve of the show's treatment of George Hazard or of Shane Donovan! Also: Subtle, this show ain't got. Good call on the "I, THE FALLEN WOMAN, AM WEARING LIPSTICK (AVON #334 - Jezebel's Day Off)" note from the Wardrobe/Makeup Monkeys. The poem could have had some "Burn" potential, except that it's essentially a resetting of the text of 1 Corinthians that Will just finished reading. Brady, buddy, it's called the Off button.

I thought the Vegas wear for Sonny and Will's wedding was bad enough -- but who thought dressing Sami as a hooker for her wedding to Elvis was a good idea? I like what Sweeney did with the "You are not going to cry" scene in Sami's bedroom, but that get-up was terrifying. I know the show has no budget anymore, but was making Sami look that cheap really the only option? The dress didn't even fit her properly!

I have to give the show some credit for recognizing Tragic Consequences' faults enough to let Bailey the Trauma Surgeon (and to some extent Topher) act as the voice of the audience. Are we sure the bus full of orphans and nuns isn't going to be eaten by a rogue helicopter?

I don't care about Jordan or Ben, and I certainly don't care about them more now that they're Tammy Floo and Oily, or whoever. Why are you making James Read boring, show? WHY?! I'm not finding Eve that interesting, either, to be perfectly honest.

Heh. Maybe Tricycle Crash and Bailey the Trauma Surgeon should just make out? It seemed to work out pretty well for Doctor Alien and Captain Rick. I like Dr. Mole more and more -- especially when she's reading Drew the Riot Act. She was cute with the doomed Private Wilson. Don't ask me about Pirate's eye trauma grossness. I couldn't look. I liked Kenny (Kenny, right?) bonding with the Little Angry (Spanish) Onion. Awfully convenient that the mariachi band was available to play "Taps" at the end, there.

Hey, any episode that isn't "Love's Labor Lost" -- where SuperDoc Mark Greene struggled mightily against every plot contrivance known to writerkind, is okay by me. Still have the scars from the one.

I almost wish Landry had the Jordan point in the triangle; I like the actress, and I liked her chemistry with Macken. Or maybe I just want Tragic Consequences and Jordan to be friends. TC seems slightly less dicky to me now, even though the breech birth scenes did feel somewhat calculated to make me feel that way. I'm not looking forward to Bailey the Trauma Surgeon and Tragic Consequences having a continued Schwanzel-measuring contest. I always like Luke Macfarlane, and I want to see where Rick's and Doctor Alien's story goes.

HA! All of North America, possibly.

Patrick Swayze will always be Orry Main to me, and James Read forever George Hazard. (George & Constance OTP: I believe Wendy Kilbourne and James Read are married to this day.) But I wouldn't have recognized him, either. Edited to say: Oh, wait -- I was thinking of a different scene; when I actually saw James Read (duh!) I recognized him right away! Don't post until you see the whole episode, kids! Murphy! I always thought Murphy Michaels got short shrift. I think I was the only one who saw Read in Shell Game with Margo Kidder. I thought that one had potential, but it vanished really quickly.

Proof positive, I think, that even back in the day, plot twist impulsiveness sometimes overwhelmed prior planning and established casting. And possibly good sense. You're funny. I like you.