Members AllMyDaysatGH Posted July 16, 2011 Members Share Posted July 16, 2011 Read through the whole thread and not one post about Erica's outfit? Was I the only one who loved it? She looked fab!! What an amazing episode, I have to agree with most in the thread that this was the best in awhile. So many great individual moments within ALL of the stories being showcased. It was a pretty much flawless hour of television! Erica recounting & flashing back to her rape...what great scenes & I loved how it ended with her saying Kendall's name. Wow. Jane was absolutely hilarious and I loved watching her unravel. I felt soo bad for Kendall & Binx having to watch her like that. Oddly, I didn't feel much for Jackson, even when Erica told him she was sleeping with David. I see Darnell Williams still can't turn it down a notch with his acting ticks, I'm sorry to say that I cringed a bit at first as I watched him handle that child but I looked past it and enjoyed the scenes. They were really good! Love seeing Brot. So glad things are moving along with Maya. This is getting good! ROTFL! I'm 99% sure that was NOT meant to happen. MEK trailed through that so easily. JY had to hold his laughter in. Little Tate Berney knew he made a mistake and sorta glanced off set at the directors. It was hilarious!! They worked it in so well though. Kudos!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members marceline Posted July 16, 2011 Members Share Posted July 16, 2011 Just finished watching and, wow, that really was an excellent episode. When I read the thread I thought everybody might just be a little high on the news of the returns but this was very good on moving forward plot and characters. Angie/David are just gold. I love the dynamic there. This isn't just a case of David giving Angie her sight. BOTH characters are getting something they need desperately and can't get from anyone else in their lives. Angie is getting someone who is just as invested in returning her sight to her as she is and David - although he doesn't realize it yet - is getting a some much needed psychotherapy. Angie's giving David a little bit of his "sight" back too. David always likes to set up a "partners in crime" dynamic because it pulls his "partner" (Krystal, Greenlee, Erica, Jane...) closer to him but with Angie you can see that he's moving closer to her by being honest with her and it's freaking him out. That's why he keeps trying to goad Angie back into an antagonistic position. It's why he wants her to judge and insult him. Because he's more comfortable that way. VI is playing this beautifully. Notice how he lets David's emotion show on his face because Angie can't see it. David gets to drop the mask for a few minutes and still feel safe. When Angie said "That's why you like to play God", you could see on David's face how much that was a complete "a-ha" moment for him. Plus the fact that this is all being played without romantic undertones makes it more powerful. While I'm ready for the Jane story to end, it was very nice to see Jane act as an avatar for some of us in the audience and tell these people things that we have been saying for years. Like maybe these grown women need to stop depending on Mommy and how the minute Erica or anyone else deviates a little from the script everyone circles the wagons and gets in their business or hey Kendall it's not all about you. I loved the "They're still breathing." line. I also like how Erica is getting some self awareness. The Ben/Erica interaction echoes the Angie/David one. Erica is talking to someone she can't see and getting insight because of it. I'm beginning to see how the show can end with La Kane on her own and better for it. She can publish this new book and leave PV for a book tour all on her own comfortable in her own skin. The therapy vibe continued with Tad/JR although they drove that board game analogy into the ground. I hope that whatever happens with JR/Adam there is finally some acknowledgment of how alcohol has decimated the Chandler family. Skye, Haley and JR are all drunks. Scott on the other hand is adopted so he's safe from that genetic curse. (And yes, I know that Adam supposedly isn't Skye's father but really, we all know he is. ) Funny how both JR and Jack got blindsided by their women this week. JY and WW must've spent extra time practicing their WTF? faces. Good work all the way around. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members All My Shadows Posted July 16, 2011 Members Share Posted July 16, 2011 This was the only part that I wasn't crazy about, and it was only because I still can't get over this ridiculous, damaging, unnecessary storyline. Why couldn't it have just been that Angie's baby survived, and Maya the babysitter gets jealous and tries to kidnap her? And maybe Angie, despite her blindness, is the one who finds them? What we have isn't even stupid, it's just...unnecessary. It's too much when we have too little time, and it sucks major ass. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members EricMontreal22 Posted July 16, 2011 Members Share Posted July 16, 2011 To be fair, it was started when they thought they'd have more time. I still like the story (and prefer it to another psycho babysitter kidnapping story) BUT I agree, with the limited time we have left, the story does concern me at how they can play it out well at all. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members marceline Posted July 16, 2011 Members Share Posted July 16, 2011 It can't. There's no way this story can be done in the time remaining in any satisfying way. I've just accepted that as a casualty of cancellation. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members EricMontreal22 Posted July 16, 2011 Members Share Posted July 16, 2011 Marceline, that's a great, insightful post, and one that I fully agree with you about. It's a shame that the Emmys rarely reward great "non event" episodes for writing or best show, cuz otherwise I'd say AMC had a strong chance if they submitted that episode alone. I will quibble a bit about alcohol decimating the Chandlers. I know that alcoholism is a genuine, genetic condition, or disease, but I think more often than not other dynamics play a big part as well. For all of the Chandler alkie kids (Hayley maybe least of all, JR maybe most of all) it's almost more the fact that they CAN'T manage to drink "socially" the way their dad more or less does, that seems to be part of the problem. JR sees that as a huge weakness or failing, a feeling he gets from his dad and trying to live up to him more than anything else. Of course it could also be said that the only time he feels comfortable letting down his guard at all, and not trying to think "what would daddy want me to do" is when he's drunk. There's a reason daytime soaps can deal with things like alcoholism better than primetime or movies can - or at least more realistically. OK, often they do botch such issues, and of course most alcoholics don't for example end up killing someone in a black out. But at the same time, viewers have a sense of history with the character so can see what caused it (and I know again alcoholism is genetic and often not caused by anything psychological, but often it is as well--there seem to be many shades of what percentage is genetics what percentage is social). They also can see the constant struggle, that it's not something solved over one or two or three episodes, etc. Erica's rape as well (and I was glad they didn't mention the too melodramatic extra level McTavish added to the issue with her dad pimping her out for a job etc--that can be easily and conveniently forgotten and should be). It's not something she gets over completely and probably never will. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members R Sinclair Posted July 17, 2011 Members Share Posted July 17, 2011 Ugh! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members marceline Posted July 17, 2011 Members Share Posted July 17, 2011 I don't normally defend Darnell or any other actor because I believe viewers should be allowed to make up our own minds but I'm going to defend him a little here. I think that scene was supposed to have a frantic feel to it. My problem was that I couldn't tell whether it was supposed to be that kind of outdated "Ha ha ha. Men and babies are natural enemies!" frantic or a Jesse and Brot touching base on the elephant in the room frantic. I think part of the weirdness there was because of the kid. That's right, I'm blaming the BABY! It was her fault! LOL! Plenty of actors have said that they dread working with kids and animals because of the extra complications. I think we saw those complications in that scene. First that child was crying up a storm and that's never fun. Then there was the scene where the baby was quiet and Jesse sat on the couch, The moment he hit the cushion that kid started screaming again and Darnell jumped back to his feet saying, "Okay she likes it better that way." I think that was ad-libbed and they just pushed through the scenes so they could get them done. Between AJ clocking Tad and Lucy screaming in Jesse's face, Friday's episode could've been named "Children of the Corn." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members EricMontreal22 Posted July 17, 2011 Members Share Posted July 17, 2011 All we needed was a classic Emma moment to make it all perfect. Oh and Off Topic but it was nice to see Zap Ziprock make a cameo as a slightly gay flight attendant on Torchwood tonight. he didn't share any scenes with Alexa Havins though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members SFK Posted July 17, 2011 Members Share Posted July 17, 2011 Susan Lucci is so good in this episode, just solid, nuanced work as both Erica and Jane. If this was meant to be Emmy bait, they pulled it off masterfully as her material was dramatic, comedic, very human, and not at all soliciting. She and the writers made having a doppelganger seem like the most normal thing in the world as Jane's scenes really did play like an addict's intervention. Subtle, but I see a bit of Susan's pal Joan Rivers in Jane. I remember SOD commending Susan on her porayal of her 14-year-old self in those flashbacks back in 1994 and she really did look believable (in long shots) and like SMG. So nice to watch a soap opera episode with nary an (certain character absences duly noted). I honestly cared about every character, and I don't necessarily mean care, but give a damn care. I was at how well Maya transitioned from J.R., to Mookie, to the Hubbards, she is a great addition and I had a twinge of sadness when I realized this story would probably be sped up/cut short because of cancellation and Debbi leaving for Y&R. Angie and David, Jesse, the baby, and Brot, just great stuff all around. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members SFK Posted July 17, 2011 Members Share Posted July 17, 2011 Indeed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members EricMontreal22 Posted July 17, 2011 Members Share Posted July 17, 2011 SFK agreed completely. It's miraculous how I went from absolutely dreading the Erica double stuff (though I am ready for it to end soon), but now really enjoy it. It goes to show what good writing, and writing to your actor's strengths can do. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members alwaysAMC Posted July 17, 2011 Members Share Posted July 17, 2011 Did you watch??? I know that's not your overall reaction and opinion! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members dragonflies Posted July 17, 2011 Author Members Share Posted July 17, 2011 I don't think they should have approved the story(Frons) knowing the show was about to be cancelled & no I don't buy it was a last minute decision. It was overkill to kill off J&A's baby, there was no reason for it, then to kill off Madison's? Ugh This did so much damage to Jesse and J&A for nothing >_< Same with the dopplelganger storyline, I can't believe that is Erica's last big storyline Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members EricMontreal22 Posted July 18, 2011 Members Share Posted July 18, 2011 Oh come on--Frons could acared less. I doubt he thought even slightly about whether he should approve a story knowing they're leaving shortly or not (and how would he explain it to the writers? without telling them it was being canceled, I mean) AlwaysAMC R Sinclair dislikes Broderick's style--I wouldn't get too upset about it. We know better Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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