Clockwork Banana

So it was obviously complete and total coincidence, but how timely! By this I refer to the scene where Jimmy is peering at the fuzzy and paused VCR tape in order to record the details of Matlock's suit. He actually ponders aloud for a second as to whether it is light blue or cream colour, and then decides that it is in fact light blue. Of course I immediately thought about the white/gold or blue/black debate that exploded all over the internet a few days ago. It made me giggle. Vince Gill is a seer! (Or is that seersucker - as in suit....badaboom splat). Jonathan Banks can convey so much in a split second. The 'don't even go there' look he gave when Jimmy handed his elder care card to him was priceless.

Beside all the product placement (Apple, Google, Whateveritwas Popcorn, Ralph Lauren et. al.) and beside the overdone 'mixed signals/jumping to conclusions' storyline, I really, really enjoyed this episode. I am not a huge fan of sitcoms. I watch very few because I find so many of them tiresome and repetitive. But his episode was in my opinion, refreshing and innovative. I watched it on my little laptop, so was able to pause at will to read all the inset articles and injections that might have been missed if one were watching start to finish. I would definitely be the Ed O'Neil of the piece - Luddite extraordinaire! But I do recognize that so much of the world communicates nowadays much how this episode portrayed. What I also found amusing was not the jumping to conclusions nonsense, that we see on so many sitcoms, but that if technology was not so readily available, would not the first person to notice that Haley was missing not first go check her bedroom? And see her sleeping peacefully? I don't know. I just found it quite well done and timely.

It has been a while since I have seen such egregious acting. I was never a particular Perry fan - he was my least favourite on Friends - but I would have assumed that over the years he would have learned a bit about his craft. Apparently not. I cringed through the few scenes I watched. The over-emoting and exaggerated 'acting' felt like I was watching an improv skit. It was quite dreadful.

For the most part I generally dislike sitcoms. I always have and rarely find myself laughing out loud. But I also end up watching some of them because a twenty minute time block of mindless nonsense is just fine for the soul. Or something. But while I sort of understand why certain ones like Modern Family, or Cougar Town get all sorts of love, I do not understand the absolute hatred people have for Bad Judge. I actually find it rather amusing. It is completely outside the bounds of any reality-based plot line. It is quite ridiculous. But the characters amuse me. I enjoy the fact that the characters/actors like and enjoy each other. And when I occasionally check in on shows like The McCarthy's (sic?), where the characters and acting are so much more ludicrous, vaudevillian and cliché-ridden, I appreciate shows like Bad Judge all the more. Perhaps this makes me unsophisticated, humour-wise, but I am not ashamed to go against the grain and say that I am sorry that this show has been given the axe. It is not one I would get emotionally invested in, but in comparison to a number of sitcoms I have watched one or two episodes of and then bailed in disgust, it stands above for me.

I will answer to the above quote in a second. But first: Oh my. So much hate from the posters so far. SO much nitpickery! I personally quite enjoyed this anticipated episode. Yes, some of the story lines were clunky and contrived. I have actually been quite disappointed in this season as a whole to date, and personally I think that the series has run its course. But I still continue to watch because the good bits far outweigh the bad. This is the reason I continued to view. I finished this episode with a good feeling in my heart and a sense of satisfaction. So for me, that counts as a successful hour and a half of my time. And no, I am no fricken Pollyanna. It just kind of bugs me that Fellowes has created a show that became internationally renowned and revered, but we all feel the need to decide that we could have written it better. 'OOH, I don't care about this character. OOH, I don't care about this plot point. OOh, I could have done this so much better!' Bruther. As I stated, I truly believe that the series could easily have been wrapped up, based on this last episode. Most major story lines are completed; people are moving on; 'the times they are a changing', and so on. However, so it goes. As to the quoted comment. No, tipsy Robert did not get the kiddos names mixed up. He was holding Sibby and asking her what Marigold, who is currently non-verbal due to her age, what Marigold should call him. Sibby responded with "Donc".

Oops, I posted too soon. I had more ramblings. I was talking about Zoe, in my previous post. I also wanted to add that her acting style is irritating. She emotes by constant eye-rolling and sighing to indicate her dissatisfaction with whatever is bugging her at the moment. I get that she is a beautiful woman, but I just find that no life or feeling seems to show in her face. It is like watching a somewhat animated flat photo. Rayna. I got a kick out of so many previous comments, where people are starting to like and side with Luke. There was so much Luke negativity and almost hatred from earlier threads, so the turnaround is really indicative of how unlikeable Rayna is being portrayed or perceived. My take on Rayna's personality transplant is that it is due to her now owning her own label. She mortgaged her life, every asset she has including her home to start it up. So everything she is and has is tied up into it's success, both financially and reputation-wise. I could almost see why that would make her unconsciously change her priorities and do things (such as set aside her so-called private person persona) that do not meld with the sympathetic character as had been originally painted.* * Although I don't know or recall if she has received monies from her father's estate which would ease financial worries, and make my premise at least partially wrong. But it bothered me that part of her mission statement for Highway 65 was that it was to be a place where she would be hands on in helping and nurturing her artists to be the best they could be, but she supposedly did not even respond to the songs that Juliette had sent to her, weeks prior. So, are the big ideals out the window so early in the game, in the face of being more concerned about her own success and exposure, such as her CMA noms? One more Rayna bit: Was not her last single called "Ball and Chain" co-written or at least performed with Luke, and that is now a key phrase in her new song? Lyric writing laziness, or meant to be be ironic or something? Speaking of song-writing, and keeping in mind that I know exactly zero about the song-writing process, I have issue with Layla suddenly being able to pen an entire (pretty good) song, both music and lyrics, just because she managed to dig deep and find a few 'feelings'. This is the reality show runner-up who had absolutely no original song-writing experience, or talent as Gunnar and crew decided, based on her earlier efforts. So, in my younger days, I did my share of writing angst-filled poetry. Some of it, amidst the absolute schlock, was actually pretty good. But even my best work I would in no way be able to turn into a song, and magically be able to write music that was original, catchy, appropriate or otherwise. That talent does not just bubble out of the ether, just because you might have a decent set of vocal chords. Some of the best vocalists in North America do not write their own music. That is a separate talent. Artists that have both are IMO, incredibly fortunate. I had more thoughts, but time is marching. I will be back later.

Well, I hate to say it, but I really think this show has jumped the proverbial mackerel. I really want to continue liking it as much as I did in season 1 and markedly less so in season 2. However, almost every episode this season has left me feeling cheated out of that feeling of satisfaction one gets after watching forty or so minutes of good TV. Some thoughts one last night's epie: Zooey is really getting up my wick. Previously she was all jealous/resentful of Gunnar and Scarlett's past relationship, current friendship and music collaboration chemistry. Now she is all jealous/resentful of Gunnar's new relationship with Micah. And she is all jealous of not currently working in the music field, AND, she 'cannot even go back to the Blue Bird because it would be toooo much of a comedown after her big send-off to her new success'. Yeah, this after her three and a half minutes of work as a back-up singer, you know, when musicians of incredible talent work years and decades in side jobs just to keep the wolf from the door and be able to continue playing, writing and honing their craft.

It did not even register for me until it was mentioned upthread that there was no Kristina or Max. But upon reflection I definitely agree that this added to the enjoyment of this episode. Out of sight, out of mind and not a bit missed!* Bonnie Bedelia (Camilla) showed some great acting chops during this eppie, just with judicious non-verbal emoting. I was impressed. Hanks kid: Yeah, we get it. Pre-adolescent to adolescent girls are emoty assed, nasty-assed, pain-in-the-assed, snotfaced asses. And at some point, I am sure, we will have the self-recognition, -oh I am maturing now denouement, where she connects with either Hank, Sarah or both - How many shows are going to push this boring, overdone character nonsense? I am having a hard time thinking about any family-included drama lately that does not feature this tired concept. However, I was impressed with how much I disliked, again, Hank's ex-wife (Betsy Brandt?). By that I mean, she is a very good actress. I can watch her on Masters of Sex, and find her a sympathetic, very likeable character, and then see her on this show and want to bitchslap her. Of course, on Breaking Bad, I alternated between the two, depending upon the episode. But storyline wise, her demand that Sarah not be around the nasty child is ridiculous and unsustainable, although not that unrealistic in real life. There are a fair number of bitter exes out there that try to use their children as pawns. Another storyline again already mentioned: AS IF Amber would have felt it necessary to leave on that exact day to go see Ryan, especially when there was a scene from the night before which drove home again how close she is to her grandfather. Obviously the writers did that to have more than one storyline going during the episode, but IMO, they would have made it more powerful to do a bottle episode. And along those lines, the whole scene where Crosby temporarily left and laid down his bike seemed arbitrary and unnecessary. Wow, Drew showed some serious wisdom and insight didn't he? No 'love of a good woman' can fix or change someone who is seriously messed up. No knowledge of imminent fatherhood is going to snap someone out of depression/ptsd/addiction or whatever the issue is. Only professional help coupled with an actual desire or determination to get better is going to help. Even if Ryan does finally get the help he needs, I am not sure that I would want to see him ultimately with Amber. I think she is an awesome character, and if this were real life, I think she could do so much better, single mother or not. Oh, and on a completely superficial level, I really like that the actress goes natural, i.e. not overplucked eyebrows etc. Even though she is the shortest little minute and a half ever, I think she is quite attractive. And one final thought: I am glad that Julia was finally forthcoming to Joel that she was seeing someone. She owed it to the guy, who has been nothing but genuine with her, and she owed it to Joel, who needs to know the platform he stands on if he is genuinely trying to win her back. I am not sure how I feel about how that storyline should play out. Although Joel was the great father/great husband for the first few seasons, he was genuinely portrayed as asshat extrordinaire for the last while. So I kind of like it the the new guy (forget his name) is being characterised thus far as a really good dude as well, since that is what makes good television - which way will Julia ultimately land. *And on that note, no Braverman children at all! Someone else mentioned that. I guess I like this show in spite of the fact that I have to suffer through the tedious younger generation drama on occasion.

This probably belongs more in an overall season thread than here, but so be it. I think the writers really seemed to struggle with what to do with Pennsatucky and her erstwhile posse, specifically the other two methheads. The arc with Healey seemed kind of thrown together and incomplete, and I really did not understand what she was doing with the lesbians and vice versa. I must have missed something there. And the two other girls never seemed to have much to do at all, other than establishing that they were no longer interested in Pennsatucky as their leader, and being occasionally nasty here and there. I do kind of miss Pennsatucky's yellow meth teeth, in an ewww sort of way. hee.

How about Adrienne Barbeau as the new and improved Debbi Wolowitz?