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I survived the day, 11 left before the holidays!
I'm out of Marking Hell... at least for a week!
On the downside, I have three term meetings (big moment for my three forms)on Thursday which means I won't make it to home until 8.30 pm at best.
On the tv front, The Good Wife was a bit disappointing this week.
A lot felt contrived and convenient. Worried Alicia was well done and the "Grace is missing" thing was tenses, but as a plot device it sucked, and Canning adding on with his "you could be there for your kids if you agreed to join my firm" was everything but subtle.
At least they didn't try to have Alicia and Kalinda fall in each other's arms and be reconciled via her finding Grace. That would have been very lazy writing. That said, it makes no sense that Kalinda didn't call anyone (Peter at least! Or Cary!) and let the parents worry until she drove Grace back home.
Above all, I am not sure that I like the message that Alicia is sacrificing herself again (she obviously was distressed after breaking up with Will) because she can't at once be a good mother and have a relationship with Will. I suppose that one could argue that it isn't the message that the show wants to convey, it is only Alicia the character thinking that way, but I thought that Alicia has grown stronger than that. It's like she's regressing to what she used to be before the Peter scandal that opened season 1. Leaving her job at Lockart & Gardner for another one that would allow her to be home earlier so she could spend more time with her children would make sense, but staying at L&G and breaking up with Will does not.
I'm kinda sad for Will. Their last scene together was good (I also like the Eli scenes with both Diane and Will). I am not a Will/Alicia 'shipper but I think that they are sweet and good for each other, and I like Will. Diane misreading the breakup scene was a bittersweet irony but it makes sense for her to believe that Will chose "their marriage" over his love affair with Alicia. It's what a good wife would do...
Would he really have done it? The episode suggested that he wouldn't have sacrificed Alicia but we'll never know now.
I just adore the Will/Diane pairing! I don't think that Will didn't correct Diane because he didn't want to be "the guy who got dumped". I think he let Diane believe what she needed to believe for the sake of their partnership, since he had already lost Alicia.
I wonder whether Diane "mothering" Will (his words not mine) and misinterpretating the whole thing was an echo of Alicia making a mistake in thinking that she had to give up on her love life to be a good mother for her teeanage kids, since she obviously isn't a bad mom. It isn't like she was out all nights long and banging Will while her kids were smoking crystal or having orgies!
I would have prefered the "he's her boss" thing to be addressed as an issue. I'm afraid that this is a tv trope, the romantic pairing must break so they would be reunited later...
Will made a good point when he said that what hurts him hurts Eli too. Wendy is so going after Peter through the Will case. She has to know that Eli is part of Will's firm, which sorta makes Peter one of their clients!!!
Concerning Boardwalk Empire, I'm all caught up! I just need to watch last night's episode now. Totally unspoiled!
I was sad to see Angela Darmody go, even though it fits in the theme of the beloved ones paying for the main characters' sins. And it echoed Pearl's death too, especially since the same music was played during the last Angela/Jimmy scene. As if Jimmy weren't damaged enough! Gillian is going to be happy, she can have her man for herself alone now, and raise Tommy, the new Jimmy.
The twist of Louise being in the shower instead of Jimmy was a bit predictable (no way that Jimmy would be whacked by Manny The Butcher) but it made sense for Angela to make the most of her husband's gangster life and grab moments of joy with a kindred spirit (the moment he told that his mother changed his mind concerning the hit on Nucky in the previous episode, Angela decided to lead a double life, or rather to have her own life beside his), and the scene was well directed. Angela ended as such a tragic character. She has been underdevelopped for sure, but there aren't that many female characters on the show so her exit leaves a hole.
I liked the scenes she had with Jimmy lately. They gave her gravitas. And I liked how torn the show made her, torn instead of frustrated and just trapped. Torn between a conventional housewife/mother life and alternate lifestyles (which included sapphic liaisons but weren't reduced to being attracted to women and enjoying sex with them) that suited her artist side (the "bohemian side" Gillian mentioned), between her residual feelings for Jimmy (what he used to be younger, what he could have been without the war, what he promised to become just before she died) and her being unhappy with the path he has taken (under his mother's influence!), between being scared of and estranged to a damaged WWI veteran and the still physical bond they shared.
Angela the painter was a sensual being and, if anything, the only connection the Darmodys seemed to have apart from a child and two scenes in which Jimmy really talked to her, was rather sexual (and the actors do have chemistry). She wasn't so hot on having a threesome with the photographer and his wife in season 1, but I don't think that having sex with Jimmy was ever a problem for her. And I don't believe that her cheating on him with Louise meant that she was sexually frustrated in her marriage...unlike Margaret who obviously found in Owen's arms something that Nucky could not give her in bed! Not that I liked that storyline...what was Margaret thinking? She took such a risk, given her situation (she isn't even "protected" by marriage), just for a moment of pleasure, just to taste old good Ireland again!
Speaking for Margaret, Emily having polio has been a bit of a drag and I like my Margaret stronger, not reversing to Peg of old and her superstitions. That said, Kelly Mcdonald pulled it off and I wasn't unmoved for I have always been disturbed by Emily's scenes. In the pilot already, when she cried as Schroeder began to beat Margaret, it sounded like something real, not a fake cry. I was sure that it was the child actor crying not the character. I mentioned in a post, last year about the film My Little Princess, that using a child actor for art can be an issue, and the Emily scenes often make me uncomfortable.
Boardwalk Empire, despite its residual flaws, is the most exciting thing these days: Richard Harrow got a beautiful centric episode in the woods; Van Alden is less cartoonish than in season 1; Arnold Rosthein is still the classiest and smartest gangster ever (the actor who starred in the Coens' A serious Man is simply amazing); Doyle's annoying giggle has grown on me(I know it's weird!); the dialogues are often good; the violence is clever and fun (Manny killing the guy Jimmy sent to kill him was impressive --especially the sign saying "freshly killed meat"-- and the background murder of the IRA leader while Nucky was in the car was rather "elegant") and the new female character (the lawyer working on Nucky's case) is smart and interesting.
Now if Margaret could be interesting again, and if they could find more screen time and a real storyline for Chalky White...
On the downside, I have three term meetings (big moment for my three forms)on Thursday which means I won't make it to home until 8.30 pm at best.
On the tv front, The Good Wife was a bit disappointing this week.
A lot felt contrived and convenient. Worried Alicia was well done and the "Grace is missing" thing was tenses, but as a plot device it sucked, and Canning adding on with his "you could be there for your kids if you agreed to join my firm" was everything but subtle.
At least they didn't try to have Alicia and Kalinda fall in each other's arms and be reconciled via her finding Grace. That would have been very lazy writing. That said, it makes no sense that Kalinda didn't call anyone (Peter at least! Or Cary!) and let the parents worry until she drove Grace back home.
Above all, I am not sure that I like the message that Alicia is sacrificing herself again (she obviously was distressed after breaking up with Will) because she can't at once be a good mother and have a relationship with Will. I suppose that one could argue that it isn't the message that the show wants to convey, it is only Alicia the character thinking that way, but I thought that Alicia has grown stronger than that. It's like she's regressing to what she used to be before the Peter scandal that opened season 1. Leaving her job at Lockart & Gardner for another one that would allow her to be home earlier so she could spend more time with her children would make sense, but staying at L&G and breaking up with Will does not.
I'm kinda sad for Will. Their last scene together was good (I also like the Eli scenes with both Diane and Will). I am not a Will/Alicia 'shipper but I think that they are sweet and good for each other, and I like Will. Diane misreading the breakup scene was a bittersweet irony but it makes sense for her to believe that Will chose "their marriage" over his love affair with Alicia. It's what a good wife would do...
Would he really have done it? The episode suggested that he wouldn't have sacrificed Alicia but we'll never know now.
I just adore the Will/Diane pairing! I don't think that Will didn't correct Diane because he didn't want to be "the guy who got dumped". I think he let Diane believe what she needed to believe for the sake of their partnership, since he had already lost Alicia.
I wonder whether Diane "mothering" Will (his words not mine) and misinterpretating the whole thing was an echo of Alicia making a mistake in thinking that she had to give up on her love life to be a good mother for her teeanage kids, since she obviously isn't a bad mom. It isn't like she was out all nights long and banging Will while her kids were smoking crystal or having orgies!
I would have prefered the "he's her boss" thing to be addressed as an issue. I'm afraid that this is a tv trope, the romantic pairing must break so they would be reunited later...
Will made a good point when he said that what hurts him hurts Eli too. Wendy is so going after Peter through the Will case. She has to know that Eli is part of Will's firm, which sorta makes Peter one of their clients!!!
Concerning Boardwalk Empire, I'm all caught up! I just need to watch last night's episode now. Totally unspoiled!
I was sad to see Angela Darmody go, even though it fits in the theme of the beloved ones paying for the main characters' sins. And it echoed Pearl's death too, especially since the same music was played during the last Angela/Jimmy scene. As if Jimmy weren't damaged enough! Gillian is going to be happy, she can have her man for herself alone now, and raise Tommy, the new Jimmy.
The twist of Louise being in the shower instead of Jimmy was a bit predictable (no way that Jimmy would be whacked by Manny The Butcher) but it made sense for Angela to make the most of her husband's gangster life and grab moments of joy with a kindred spirit (the moment he told that his mother changed his mind concerning the hit on Nucky in the previous episode, Angela decided to lead a double life, or rather to have her own life beside his), and the scene was well directed. Angela ended as such a tragic character. She has been underdevelopped for sure, but there aren't that many female characters on the show so her exit leaves a hole.
I liked the scenes she had with Jimmy lately. They gave her gravitas. And I liked how torn the show made her, torn instead of frustrated and just trapped. Torn between a conventional housewife/mother life and alternate lifestyles (which included sapphic liaisons but weren't reduced to being attracted to women and enjoying sex with them) that suited her artist side (the "bohemian side" Gillian mentioned), between her residual feelings for Jimmy (what he used to be younger, what he could have been without the war, what he promised to become just before she died) and her being unhappy with the path he has taken (under his mother's influence!), between being scared of and estranged to a damaged WWI veteran and the still physical bond they shared.
Angela the painter was a sensual being and, if anything, the only connection the Darmodys seemed to have apart from a child and two scenes in which Jimmy really talked to her, was rather sexual (and the actors do have chemistry). She wasn't so hot on having a threesome with the photographer and his wife in season 1, but I don't think that having sex with Jimmy was ever a problem for her. And I don't believe that her cheating on him with Louise meant that she was sexually frustrated in her marriage...unlike Margaret who obviously found in Owen's arms something that Nucky could not give her in bed! Not that I liked that storyline...what was Margaret thinking? She took such a risk, given her situation (she isn't even "protected" by marriage), just for a moment of pleasure, just to taste old good Ireland again!
Speaking for Margaret, Emily having polio has been a bit of a drag and I like my Margaret stronger, not reversing to Peg of old and her superstitions. That said, Kelly Mcdonald pulled it off and I wasn't unmoved for I have always been disturbed by Emily's scenes. In the pilot already, when she cried as Schroeder began to beat Margaret, it sounded like something real, not a fake cry. I was sure that it was the child actor crying not the character. I mentioned in a post, last year about the film My Little Princess, that using a child actor for art can be an issue, and the Emily scenes often make me uncomfortable.
Boardwalk Empire, despite its residual flaws, is the most exciting thing these days: Richard Harrow got a beautiful centric episode in the woods; Van Alden is less cartoonish than in season 1; Arnold Rosthein is still the classiest and smartest gangster ever (the actor who starred in the Coens' A serious Man is simply amazing); Doyle's annoying giggle has grown on me(I know it's weird!); the dialogues are often good; the violence is clever and fun (Manny killing the guy Jimmy sent to kill him was impressive --especially the sign saying "freshly killed meat"-- and the background murder of the IRA leader while Nucky was in the car was rather "elegant") and the new female character (the lawyer working on Nucky's case) is smart and interesting.
Now if Margaret could be interesting again, and if they could find more screen time and a real storyline for Chalky White...