Have You Seen Ugly Betty: Season 4 Episode 7 – Level (7) With Me?

Episode Synopsis:

Daniel hands over the power to the Community of the Phoenix to run Mode. Betty steps in to help Daniel with Bennet. She comes up with an cunning plan with the help of Claire. Wilhemina goes out in public wearing sweats creating mayhem with the media trying to get a scoop.

So what do you think of this episode?

If you missed it, you can watch it here.

Popular teen-themed channel 4 television show Skins is due to begin broadcasting its fourth series in January 2010. The show, which began broadcasting on digital station E4 in 2007, has built up a large number of devoted fans. Every two years the cast is replaced with a new set of core characters. About A Boy star Nicholas Hoult starred in the first series as Tony Stonem. The new series will be the last featuring the current cast, which includes Kaya Scodelario as Effy Stonem. There will be eight episodes in the new series. The show is also a hit in the states where an American version, set in Baltimore, is currently in development. A big screen version may also soon be made as it was announced, in May 2009, that Film4 and Skins production company, Company Pictures, are in preliminary talks about producing one. I’m looking forward to the new series and will be disappointed if it proves to be the last one they make. Thanks for reading.

Heroes Season 4 Episode 11 Thanksgiving

Watch s04e11 Heroes, 4×11 Watch Heroes Season 4 …

“Hungry Man”

November 22nd, 2009

There is no question that I have been highly critical of Dexter this season, which isn’t to suggest that I wasn’t also critical of season two (where the conclusion fizzled) or season three (where things felt as if they wrapped up too neatly): this is a show that I have always felt struggled in the balance between the parts and the whole, and this has been especially clear this season. While I’ve enjoyed the majority of the story surrounding the Trinity Killer, and Michael C. Hall is delivering as compelling a performance as ever, I’ve found myself watching episodes out of obligation more than interest, and fastforwarding through anything not involving Trinity, Dexter, or Deb.

If we follow that strategy, “Hungry Man” contains perhaps the best connection yet between Dexter and Trinity, offering glimpses of two theoretically similar Thanksgiving dinners that in reality tell two very different story or, more problematically for Dexter, two very different stages of the same tale. The problem is that this isn’t actually a new theme, having effectively been the purpose of the Trinity story since we meant “Arthur,” and despite some really fantastic execution throughout it (like seasons before it) feels a bit too on the nose, thematically.

However, when you have a show that likes to meander about as it does and (in my opinion) waste our time with storylines that are irrelevant until the show decides to deliver a bombshell like at the end of this episode, I’ll take compelling contrivance over mundane mind games any day.

What bugs me about showing the dangerous side of the Mitchell family is that it was so inevitable. The storyline has always been an extravagant excuse to investigate Dexter’s family more carefully, a conveniently Miami-based serial killer who happens to also have a family. Over the past number of episodes, the show has created excuses for Dexter to see what Arthur is made of, discovering last week that he’s not even close to stable and discovering this week that his family has consequently suffered. And in those scenes the show has created a lot of legitimate dramatic tension, as Arthur/Trinity is unpredictable in a way that Dexter simply isn’t. We know how Dexter responds to situations, and we’re so far inside his head that the show has felt the need to more consistently use Harry as a second voice in order to diversify his inner monologues. To have a new character who is similarly complex to be able to investigate is both useful for Dexter (who loves self-inflicting psychoanalysis) and for the show, and Lithgow has been a great addition as a result.

However, my problem is that this episode goes too far to vilify Arthur, to take him so far away from Dexter’s current position that he becomes simply a cautionary tale rather than a complex individual to be dissected by Dexter and by the audience. It’s one thing to shatter his image of the perfect family by suggesting that his son resents him for the emergence of his violent tendencies, or to suggest that he is over-protective of his daughter to the point where he locks her in her room and has effectively turned her into both a creepily sexual 15-year old and a replacement for his dead sister. I think those cracks in the perfect family were both really interesting (especially with the daughter, who until this episode seemed a waste of the acting talents Vanessa Marano showed on Six Feet Under or Gilmore Girls), and they created consequences that wouldn’t be visible from behind a tree in his front yard, Dexter’s first vantage point into this family.

And yet, when Jonah went off during Thanksgiving dinner and Arthur went on a murderous rampage choking out his son and throwing his daughter across the room, the scene went too far. Yes, the scene was an enormously compelling piece of drama, and we’re conditioned to gasp when Dexter reveals the Dark Passenger to Arthur in that moment, but it makes things far too easy, which is the same thing that has happened in every past season. In Season Two, Lyla was a lifeline for Dexter, someone that he was able to talk to about his problem (albeit veiled in the context of Narcotics Anonymous), and killing someone who offers him solace would have been an intriguing moral dilemma; of course, she turned into a kidnapping arsonist psychopath, so all questions of morality disappeared. The same happened in Season Three when Dexter found Miguel Prado, someone who could be a friend and confidante who knew about his problems but understood and even assisted with it; however, he was revealed to be a corrupt attorney who was using Dexter to kill innocent victims, which made Dexter’s decision to kill him less morally complicated and more “satisfying.” It was a “Hell yeah” moment on a show that, late in each season, loves shifting into that mode.

For once, I’d like to see one of Dexter’s foils actually remain complicated to the point where Dexter doesn’t know if he should kill them. I’m aware that Trinity doesn’t make a great candidate for this considering the fact that he has murdered nearly 100 people in his lifetime, but having Dexter witness it first hand in such vivid detail creates too simple a trajectory. Dexter is at its best when it is investigating moral complexities, in particular within Dexter, and that ship has officially sailed: from now on, we’ve switched from being compelled by the intricacies of this friendship to a sort of bloodlust, hopeful that Dexter “gets another kill” (a common complaint amongst some fans is that they aren’t satisfied unless Dexter draws blood). The scene was enormously compelling, don’t get me wrong, but it also signals that the compelling series of episodes more carefully investigating Arthur have passed, and a serial killer is effectively all that’s left.

I thought that this hour was one of the best so far this season in terms of connecting Trinity and Dexter’s experiences, and Harry’s observation that Rita was, at one point, also just a cover for his true identity is spot on. Dexter has been holding onto hope that Arthur somehow figured it out, but in this episode any sense that Arthur has anything under control was eliminated as soon as his family was revealed as so tragically flawed. While it involved one of the subplots I fastforwarded through (Elliot and Rita’s transgression), it was interesting to see how Dexter returns to his family and sees what he believes to be happiness (Cody volunteering thanks for Dexter, the same thanks that had to be coerced out of the Millers) when in reality Elliot has whispered in Rita’s ear that Dexter isn’t around as much as a real father should be. It allows Dexter to believe his family is different when, based on what we know (and what Dexter should know, considering Rita’s less than stable past) there is every chance that ten years down the line they could be just the same.

But, unfortunately for the season as a whole, this is as far as this investigation is really going to get, if we follow the traditional patterns of the season structures (which, as noted, to this point have been almost slavishly adhered to). While we learn that Christine is Trinity’s daughter, and Deb puts together that she was likely the person who shot her and killed Lundy, we’re entering into the part of the season that completely demystifies the villains in an effort to allow Dexter to be a hero. Now, killing Trinity is avenging the thirty years of murders, protecting against future murders, protecting the Miller family, and protecting himself (now that Arthur knows his inner demon); there’s nothing complex about that, an inevitability tied as much to Lithgow’s guest star status as it is to the show’s ongoing pattern.

And if this was all surrounded by a more compelling set of ancillary storylines, I’d probably be less likely to complain about it, but forgive me if Batista/LaGuerta and Quinn/Reporter aren’t doing it for me.

Cultural Observations

• I do think that Jennifer Carpenter deserves a lot of credit this season. She was really solid in her scenes with Cody/Astor tonight, and more importantly did a good job of various revelatory moments that wouldn’t have worked without a good performance (as she’s basically acting with herself).
• However, I thought Masuka at Thanksgiving dinner was a huge disappointment: instead of letting him loose comically, they tied him up in Rita and Elliot’s drama, which could potentially lead to long-term hilarity but actually makes me less likely to care about the character moving forward. Did Masuka really need to be connected to that storyline?
• I’m going to presume that the title is as much a reference to the TV Dinners (which defined Deb and Dexter’s post-Mrs. Morgan Thanksgiving traditions) as it does to Dexter/Arthur’s hunger to kill.
• I thought Deb’s realization that the killer is working on a school pattern makes sense, but wouldn’t the bludgeoning have taken place during the school year, thus making Deb realize that he’s Miami-based? I know that she was at Thanksgiving Dinner and not in front of the board, but it was just something that she didn’t get to follow through on.

“Sun Tea”

November 19th, 2009

This is “Green Week” on NBC, which means that every show has some sort of environmental sustainability storyline in it. And while the shows did similar episodes a few seasons ago (The Office did its “Survivorman” parody and 30 Rock did the great “Greenzo”), it’s a well that has quite a bit of content in it, depending on how the shows wants to go about it.

While The Office (which I won’t be reviewing tonight, although I’ll probably throw some thoughts onto the end of the page) simply used it as a theme for the cold open (as it did with Halloween), 30 Rock takes a more continuous and as a result scattered approach. Giving Kenneth the task of “greening” 30 Rock felt forced, and while the episode wanted to try to make it seem subversive and clever the show has done too many similar things before.

However, continuing last week’s improvement on the season as a whole, this week had a cohesive point of view if we ignore the environmental side of things, presenting two stories that allowed for both some brilliant absurdity and actions which are driven by character rather than plot. And, just when you think that the environmental story is entirely worthless, the show spins off a few random parts of other scenes into the storyline and helps bring everything full circle in a sequence that actually is as clever as it wants it to be.

Plus, Teddy Ruxpin was a frakkin’ lawyer.

Yes, that was really the episode’s highlight: the idea that Kathy Geiss was being represented in a court of law by a talking Teddy Ruxpin doll who simply wants to be the media’s friend. It was the season’s most hilarious cutaway, the kind of scene that makes you pause and laugh, which is what 30 Rock needs when its plots aren’t working as well as they could. Ultimately here, Jack’s story was actually quite strong, as the public scandal facing Don Geiss forces him to consider avoiding having children in order to ensure he has no similar situations in his future. If Jack had been in the storyline alone, perhaps it would have been too simple, but pairing him with Tracy (who always wants a vasectomy so that he can tell dirty stories) is always, always a good idea. Morgan and Baldwin play off of each other amazingly well, and they had some great material here.

Baldwin was strong throughout, sure, but I definitely think Morgan was the star here. I got a huge kick out of the “I know what that means”/”Then why won’t you tell me?!” exchange between Tracy and Tracy Jr., and the “Well I hope he made me an Acrosshelmet too” line was a stroke of genius. I like these stories because they humanize characters that are both heartless and absurd at the same time, and while this was no “Rosemary’s Baby” I thought that both actors were having a lot of fun, and anything that involves Dr. Leo Spaceman (who didn’t get a huge one-liner [okay, "what about CHEERS lied to me" killed] but did get a number of marvelous line ridings for Chris Parnell) is going to be worth our time.

As for Liz’s central storyline, it was well-executed and I enjoyed Nate Corddry. It’s not what one would call the most well-developed storyline in the world, but I enjoyed how its simple structure kept escalating as Liz goes through all of her known strategies for getting people out of apartments, discovering along the way that this guy happens to be immune to all of them. I was particularly taken with Dot Com’s performance as an angry ex-boyfriend, primarily because of the continuity of his desire to be taken as a serious actor, and also because of his obscure Warren Moon reference. Yes, “Episode 210″ did “Liz Buys an Apartment” better, but the final resolution (“The Frank”) working and giving her a chance to create a two-level apartment (and tying in an earlier scene that seemed odd otherwise) finished a storyline that was on occasion very funny and throughout a fine comic showcase for Tina Fey’s ability to ham it up a little.

As for Kenneth’s green challenge, it was clever throughout which is all you can really ask. I’m more than tired of the show winking to the audience, like the “Green Peacock” moment, but I thought two things worked really well. The first were the two NBC Celebrity pamphlets: they were really simple jokes, but having Kenneth read them out really made them hit home, and I particularly found the FNL one (“My show is about football. There’s a football team called the Chargers. You should unplug your chargers”) funny for some reason. And, most importantly for the storyline, it ended with another appearance by Al Gore, which was certainly more instructive (to the point of feeling preachy) but then ended on a joke that was too cute by half, but so cute that it didn’t matter. The recycling (get it? GET IT?!) of the joke from “Greenzo” was a nice touch, and if they’re going to preach I’d rather they do it with a wink like that.

Not brilliance, but a couple of big laughs and some nice storyline balance – I’ll take it.

Cultural Observations

• As for The Office, the episode continued the trend of showing Jim becoming used to Michael’s role (and who didn’t want Ryan to be put in his place), and didn’t show us much new on the Dunder Mifflin side (except, as Jaime Weinman pointed out on Twitter, that the show is arguably offering a better analysis of NBC’s current leadership failure/corruption than 30 Rock’s more blatant digs at NBC are).
• I enjoy that Jenna notes that Liz’s plan is something that she would do if she were smarter. The episode had a number of nice details with Jenna, in fact: both her variation on Jack’s joke about Manhattan Real Estate and her observation that Liz’s plan sounds like something she would do if she were smart, plus the idea that she has an item more personal than an erotic device plugged into an extension cord.
• On a more serious and more random note, should Next to Normal end up running long enough for Alice Ripley to leave, there was a moment when Jenna was faking her suicidal tendencies where I realized that Krakowski dialed down could probably play certain parts of that role (if not up to Ripley’s standard, of course). Just an observations.
• Seriously, Teddy Ruxpin as a lawyer? Amazing.

If you haven’t already acquainted yourself with Kyle Hanagami – get to know him.  He’s a serious player in the dance game and his choreography is always impeccable.  He’s apart of a crew called The L0st Kids that actually tried out for ABDC season 4 and for some odd reason didn’t even make it after the first rounds.  Well, goes to show you why the last season was a huge disappointment compared to the previous three.  Here’s their audition tape… now you tell me why they didn’t make it through!

Here’s one of his latest choreos to Lady Gaga’s “Bad Romance” in collabo with Brandon Dumlao (remember him from this season’s top 20 of SYTYCD?)

Love this one he did to “Saga” by Basement Jaxx & Santigold

Little older, but when he was dancing with Funkanometry, he did this hot piece to “I’m Chillin” by The Game ft. Fergi

And there are so many more that each deserve their own little intro, but I love this one he did to one of my favorite artists, Adele, “Hometown Glory.”  Don’t you love how lyrical hip-hop is just taking the dance world by storm?

Isn’t that an oxymoron or something? Seriously, “Training” (is all about the preparation for races where performance isn’t important) and “Races” (what training is all about and based purely on performance) It doesn’t make sense …..

Hmmm wait,  I think I get it, it must mean training for races? like simulating races, tactics and gaining experiences, but at a time where performance is not important ….. buuuuut its still a RACE and there are competitors and ranking so how can results not matter?!

Anyways, I get confused thinking too much into it so I do what all ‘good’ athletes do:  Just put my head down and grind away! which is actually a lot tougher than it seems …

For me, its deciding if I want to go all out or not because I know training races aren’t target races and there are always a millions excuses that can be used (“I’m not tapered’, ‘tough workouts last week’, ‘went out drinking last night’, ‘didn’t sleep well’, ‘just got back last night’, etc) to have a sub-par performance.  Mentally and physically it takes a lot out of me to put everything on the line and fight for every second or achieve a few higher spots when I know I haven’t done any or very little preparation for the race…

It’s like going into a final exam knowing that even if I get a 100% on the final I am still going to fail the course because I didn’t do the homework, participate, and failed the mid term.  Does it really matter if I get 100% or 75% or even 50% on the final? …. Its easy to put 100% or even a 110% going into the final exam or racing a target race when the preparation is done and there no excuses.

Well, yesterday I decided that even if I was going to “fail the course’ I may as well go out with a bang”! Yesterday was the NB Fall Classic (Half marathon, 10km or 5km), which I have raced the 10km the last 2 years, but and Coach Alan and I decided to try something a little different and race the half since we weren’t focusing on the 10km run right now and have a little ‘fun’ …

And I think I went out with a bang cause I am barely making it up and down stairs today!! I fought hard for a few minutes faster and maybe a couple positions better ….  I know it doesn’t really matter in the big picture, but it taught me a little more about myself : )

For one OW! and secondly I am sooo glad I don’t train for long course triathlons! Kudos to those that do, cause I the half marathon alone was long and gruelling. The 10km definitely burns a lot more in the short term, but the half is just taxing …. and after an easy ride in the afternoon afterwards to ‘loosen up’ I am barely walking today!  A half-ironman seems like a looong way! I think I’ll stick with the intensity and short course triathlons for now …. one day I’ll get there tho ; )

Result: 1:26:41 – 3rd Women Overall

First monday after a while without the new episode of mad men. Every sunday evening aired in US on MNC, thus early monday morning a copy of the show usually reaches the rest of the world though internet. It is currently the only series about the world of marketers and advertisers for all the sympathetics. Mad men is set in the 1960s, initially at the fictional Sterling Cooper advertising agency on Madison Ave, NY. The show centers on Don Draper, creative director and those in his life in and out of the office. It also depicts the changing social norms of 1960s America. In few first seasons Mad man has received critical acclaim for its historical authenticity and visual style, as well winning several important awards, including Emmy award for outstanding drama series and three Golden Globes.

Last week I have witnessed excellent finale of the third season in its last episode – “Shut the door and have a seat”. One can learn a lot about business world watching it. Human brain plays out to be a key asset in an advertising agency or any other knowledge based firm, and Sterling Cooper owners PPL could not manage resource mobility issues even through binding employment contracts to sustain creative brain/client relationship advantages. Interaction of formal vs. informal organization, equity ownership as insufficient governance tool, motivation for cooperation aspect, – all crisp and clear leads to what’s inescapable. Sterling Cooper might be gone, but the key players can always start over and do a better job at Sterling Cooper Draper Price. Over the end credits of the show, Roy Orbison sings, “The future is much better than the past.” We shall see.

P.S. And by the way AMC announced ordering Mad Men season 4 in early september already. So Yes! Let’s wait for it!