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Post by Smilla on Apr 30, 2011 7:30:14 GMT -4
That spoiler sucks. On the one hand, could get interesting. And maybe a little funny. On the other hand, if handled badly--Sydney Bristow 2.0. So I can't decide whether to get excited or not. But MM sounded upbeat about it. "(S)tunt boobs." Heh.
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Post by chonies on Apr 30, 2011 13:31:52 GMT -4
I've been watching the earlier seasons on Netflix and I've been pretty impressed how consistent the series has been, especially after the first couple of unsteady episodes where everyone was trying to find the right note for the characters. Marshall got more polished, although I'm still unhappy with the way Marshall he spilled his guts. I also confess that I really like the archetype of angry ballbusting chick and sensitive, insightful guy. It's like Goren and Eames ramped up on goofballs, sort of.
Regarding the spoiler, a small part of me is hoping Mary and Dershowitz hooked up and that he'll come back.
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Post by kostgard on Apr 30, 2011 15:53:52 GMT -4
I've been watching the earlier seasons on Netflix and I've been pretty impressed how consistent the series has been, especially after the first couple of unsteady episodes where everyone was trying to find the right note for the characters. Marshall got more polished, although I'm still unhappy with the way Marshall he spilled his guts. I also confess that I really like the archetype of angry ballbusting chick and sensitive, insightful guy. It's like Goren and Eames ramped up on goofballs, sort of. Re Marshall - Spilled his guts when? I do have to say that they have been pretty consistent with the characters and they've never made them act wildly out of character just to fit into some storyline they wanted to do, like many many shows do. Though I feel Mary has been a little too consistent. Across three seasons, she hasn't really grown. Brandi and Jinx have (though I think they're boring now). Marshall and Stan have shown more depth. But if anything, Mary is grumpier and more bitter. I'd like to see them actually have her character make some progress - forward, not backwards for a change. But this show has done well with consistency, especially considering the pretty terrible luck they've had (spoilered just because I'm mentioning some season four stuff): The first season was delayed because Mary McCormack got pregnant after shooting the pilot and they had to wait for her to be ready. The second season got cut short because the network hated the finale, scrapped it, and fired the showrunner. In the third season the new showrunner had health problems and the season got cut short again. Now in the fourth season, McCormack is up the duff again, and apparently they've been scrambling to write it in. McCormack has been saying that the pregnancy was not all part of the original plan of the show. They had the season all mapped out and she didn't say anything at first because she was still in her first trimester, and, well, you never know if things will go bad. Then after they shot they first few episodes, she was all, "Uh, guys, I'm pregnant. And by the way, I show ALL over." (And she seriously does. I saw one of her interviews this week and her ta-tas are ginormous.) So now we'll see how they do scrambling to remap the season to accomodate this.[/spoilery stuff] |
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Post by chonies on Apr 30, 2011 19:20:14 GMT -4
I've been watching the earlier seasons on Netflix and I've been pretty impressed how consistent the series has been, especially after the first couple of unsteady episodes where everyone was trying to find the right note for the characters. Marshall got more polished, although I'm still unhappy with the way Marshall he spilled his guts. I also confess that I really like the archetype of angry ballbusting chick and sensitive, insightful guy. It's like Goren and Eames ramped up on goofballs, sort of. Re Marshall - Spilled his guts when? At the end of last season, I interpreted Marshall's impassioned but brief monologue about "You're the cowboy, I know you don't like messy, but you need someone to make you think," as "why? why everyone except me? Why not me?" I just rewatched it and I'd agree it's ambiguous, but it also seems like all the semi-jokey pining just came to a head. But you're also right that Mary's bitterness needs to evolve, and rewatching the first two seasons, Jinx and Brandi would have been much better in muuuuuuch smaller doses, and I'm glad they're gone. Spoiler discussion: Thanks for the background stuff! I really had no idea the show had all sorts of production frustrations. Topic? Frederick Weller is a total dreamboat. |
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Post by kostgard on Apr 30, 2011 19:56:37 GMT -4
I think your interpretation is correct. Though his heartbroken reaction to learning that Mary got engaged to Raph indicated a season earlier that his pining for her wasn't all that jokey (it was pretty jokey in the first season, but not really in the episode where he got shot. That one seemed to indicate that the feelings ran pretty deep).
But yeah - Jinx and Brandi never, ever should have had their own storylines. They always should have been supporting characters and their stories should have always tied into whatever Mary was doing. I'm glad that they've finally figured that out and they are very much supporting characters now.
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Post by chonies on May 2, 2011 10:14:35 GMT -4
I liked last night! It was appropriately goofy (Marshall in the Mustang), and Stan has never hit a wrong note with me. I am not sure how I feel about the new ABQ PD gal, whose name I've forgotten, but my reaction was "oh no! I live in Texas, and I watch TV to escape Texas! And now it's on my tv screen!" I look forward to the new agent, although I hope she plays out a little less goofy in the future. I did like her sharp, "who would want to be in FIST?" line of inquiry and problem solving mechanism.
And I was genuinely happy for Brandi. But what, exactly, was Mary's witness doing for his new job? Valet? Chaffeur? It was hard to tell, and flipping back and forth between the news made me miss it.
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Post by kostgard on May 3, 2011 1:23:19 GMT -4
I really liked the overall tone of the episode. However, I wish that the two new foils for Mary weren't overly perky in basically the exact same way.
They are both bubbly and perky.
They both bring treats for their coworkers.
They showed that they are steely beneath their sweet candy shell.
I hope one or both of them gets toned down. At the moment, they're practically the same person.
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Post by Smilla on May 3, 2011 4:01:03 GMT -4
I loved that Stephen Weber's character was dismissed in a one-off about Mary talking him into going back to his wife and kids. I also liked that Brandi has, as was pointed out, grown up.
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Post by kostgard on May 3, 2011 12:33:37 GMT -4
I loved that Stephen Weber's character was dismissed in a one-off about Mary talking him into going back to his wife and kids. I also liked that Brandi has, as was pointed out, grown up. Normally I'm not a fan of the one-off dismissal, but in this case I'm more than happy to pretend that Faber never happened. He was a douche and he made Mary an even bigger douche. That "kitten" stuff was nauseating. |
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Post by chonies on May 3, 2011 14:20:14 GMT -4
Agree, especially with the way S3 ended, all tropical sunsets and stuff. Raf was ok, but I want Mary to have a learning experience.
Spoiler Now, if the writers could just make sure Faber is not Mary's baby's father. Please please please. And not Marshall or Stan, either. Or Peter, just to be extra double mega sure, because all those options are horrific in their own way. [/spoiler]
And ITA about the two new female characters.
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