TV catch up
Dec. 3rd, 2013 08:41 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
The Mentalist 6.4 Red-Listed
I’m still befuddled with all this dealing with Red John at the start of the series business.
So, we dealt with Rob Kirkland, aka the creepy guy from Homeland Security. I had assumed he was an FoRJ, but his being a hunter with his own agenda worked, and there was a nice bit of facing-off with him and Jane thinking the other was RJ. Except Kirkland’s sadism is of the physical variety. It did undercut the tension at his lair that he was never ever going to burn Jane’s pretty, pretty face.
I have to say I don’t remember dead Benjamin Marx – was he from season 1 when I didn’t watch the show? Or did I forget Jane burying someone alive? But then I only vaguely remembered that creepy paedophile, although it wasn’t necessary to recall the history to get the point. Jane (and to a degree Cho) were really cold about using them as bait – although Lisbon jumped the gun, for a while there, after all, they didn’t know that Jane’s fake list was the reason the first man had been killed or that the others on it were in danger. Warn them, by all means, but divide a small team to offer them all police protection?
Given that Agent Smith was, as we already knew, a FoRJ, Red John’s hunters are nuts, Hightower is compromised (like Minelli was) by agreeing to report about Jane, Lisbon got to be energetically righteous – I did enjoy knowing she and Hightower were going to come in with the cavalry. Poor Cho had to put up with Wayne’s woes, and innocence was represented by the aunt (of course named Ruby) and the newlyweds.
I imagine someone put their foot down and said Red John was going to have to go, so we’re getting all this backstory – it’s confirmed again that Red John has his friends in law enforcement, although ‘Tiger Tiger’ is a terrible secret code – for me it’s both too late and too soon, because I don’t see how Jane’s loyal and devoted team are going to be put to the test, which was perhaps the more interesting thing to me about what I thought this show’s endgame was going to be.
6.5 The Red Tattoo
Well, we’d had the law enforcement angle, time for Visualise. Reed Diamond looks good with a beard...is so not the point.
A locked room mystery! Not really the point either. I don’t think that this episode shed much more light on who Red John is, apart from the final clue – perhaps to be stacked along with the scared of heights one. It could be Mr Barbed Compliments, although he seemed to be revealing too much rage and too much irritation with Jane. Also, was the spider thing significant?
It could be Bret Stiles – whom I thought Mr Barbed Compliments had gone after. Or any of the still living suspects. Unless if we have some Bret Stiles, I hope the next episode isn’t about Visualise, but is about Jane’s past.
Alas, I liked the spunky Californian blonde PI – the casting director did it again, deliberately trying to remind us of Summer; we haven’t really had a Grace doppelganger. I think Cho did or could have liked her too.
Hurrah! Can watch the next episode live now.
As for the Strictly Results
I was convinced Susanna was going, because she was trending on Yahoo! on Sunday, which meant that a better dancer (Natalie was my guess) was against her in the dance-off. Wrong.
I enjoyed bits of the opening number and the concept a lot, but the memory of it has already faded.
Abbey really is adorable isn’t she, with the noises of joy and the waves of excitement rolling off her?
Although Kevin and Karen were dancing beautifully, I didn’t feel that it was the embellishment that that song needed, although Alfie Boe mumbled his words at the opening of it.
And then – Ashley and Ola. Craig gave him way too much advice, all he needed to do was not mess up, however Teflon-like Mark has been the last few dance-offs. Mark and Iveta were charming (you’ve taught me so much more!) and the timing of the camera + both dances didn’t work as well as in the first show.
I feel sorry for them all (well, especially Patrick) with the coming swingathon, but delightful to hear we’ll have team ankle-warmers presenting without Bruce.
Just watched The Sound of Musicals episode 2, which was meant to be focusing on producers, but based on that, I'm no clearer, really as to what they do. Fortunately, they did find some tense hooks to draw us in beyond lots of footage of rehearsals - uber-producer Cameron Mackintosh and his notes crushing the director, would the boy fresh out of stage school convince the choreographer he could take on one big number and would an actor cross a high-wire? I found the stuff about the wannabe producer cringe-making, though.
I’m still befuddled with all this dealing with Red John at the start of the series business.
So, we dealt with Rob Kirkland, aka the creepy guy from Homeland Security. I had assumed he was an FoRJ, but his being a hunter with his own agenda worked, and there was a nice bit of facing-off with him and Jane thinking the other was RJ. Except Kirkland’s sadism is of the physical variety. It did undercut the tension at his lair that he was never ever going to burn Jane’s pretty, pretty face.
I have to say I don’t remember dead Benjamin Marx – was he from season 1 when I didn’t watch the show? Or did I forget Jane burying someone alive? But then I only vaguely remembered that creepy paedophile, although it wasn’t necessary to recall the history to get the point. Jane (and to a degree Cho) were really cold about using them as bait – although Lisbon jumped the gun, for a while there, after all, they didn’t know that Jane’s fake list was the reason the first man had been killed or that the others on it were in danger. Warn them, by all means, but divide a small team to offer them all police protection?
Given that Agent Smith was, as we already knew, a FoRJ, Red John’s hunters are nuts, Hightower is compromised (like Minelli was) by agreeing to report about Jane, Lisbon got to be energetically righteous – I did enjoy knowing she and Hightower were going to come in with the cavalry. Poor Cho had to put up with Wayne’s woes, and innocence was represented by the aunt (of course named Ruby) and the newlyweds.
I imagine someone put their foot down and said Red John was going to have to go, so we’re getting all this backstory – it’s confirmed again that Red John has his friends in law enforcement, although ‘Tiger Tiger’ is a terrible secret code – for me it’s both too late and too soon, because I don’t see how Jane’s loyal and devoted team are going to be put to the test, which was perhaps the more interesting thing to me about what I thought this show’s endgame was going to be.
6.5 The Red Tattoo
Well, we’d had the law enforcement angle, time for Visualise. Reed Diamond looks good with a beard...is so not the point.
A locked room mystery! Not really the point either. I don’t think that this episode shed much more light on who Red John is, apart from the final clue – perhaps to be stacked along with the scared of heights one. It could be Mr Barbed Compliments, although he seemed to be revealing too much rage and too much irritation with Jane. Also, was the spider thing significant?
It could be Bret Stiles – whom I thought Mr Barbed Compliments had gone after. Or any of the still living suspects. Unless if we have some Bret Stiles, I hope the next episode isn’t about Visualise, but is about Jane’s past.
Alas, I liked the spunky Californian blonde PI – the casting director did it again, deliberately trying to remind us of Summer; we haven’t really had a Grace doppelganger. I think Cho did or could have liked her too.
Hurrah! Can watch the next episode live now.
As for the Strictly Results
I was convinced Susanna was going, because she was trending on Yahoo! on Sunday, which meant that a better dancer (Natalie was my guess) was against her in the dance-off. Wrong.
I enjoyed bits of the opening number and the concept a lot, but the memory of it has already faded.
Abbey really is adorable isn’t she, with the noises of joy and the waves of excitement rolling off her?
Although Kevin and Karen were dancing beautifully, I didn’t feel that it was the embellishment that that song needed, although Alfie Boe mumbled his words at the opening of it.
And then – Ashley and Ola. Craig gave him way too much advice, all he needed to do was not mess up, however Teflon-like Mark has been the last few dance-offs. Mark and Iveta were charming (you’ve taught me so much more!) and the timing of the camera + both dances didn’t work as well as in the first show.
I feel sorry for them all (well, especially Patrick) with the coming swingathon, but delightful to hear we’ll have team ankle-warmers presenting without Bruce.
Just watched The Sound of Musicals episode 2, which was meant to be focusing on producers, but based on that, I'm no clearer, really as to what they do. Fortunately, they did find some tense hooks to draw us in beyond lots of footage of rehearsals - uber-producer Cameron Mackintosh and his notes crushing the director, would the boy fresh out of stage school convince the choreographer he could take on one big number and would an actor cross a high-wire? I found the stuff about the wannabe producer cringe-making, though.