Thursday night crime

[ealgylden]

So the plan for today was to head down to Jefferson County to see RotK again, so as to be out of the house when the big, burly dudes came to replace the bathroom floor before the whole room falls into the basement (old farmhouses might be nice and comfortable, but when things go wrong, they go wrong in a big way). But then every school in Jefferson County closed for the day, sending hoards of kids streaming into the mall to do stuff that would undoubtedly have annoyed me. Dang. So instead I went and hung out at the video store. Yee haw. I miss having a life. Plus, the floor's only half done. sigh

So, off to the movies tomorrow instead. Yay!

Oh, and my local weatherman got to be on the CBS Morning Show today, which was nice. A taste of the big time, yay for Rick! Apparently it's cold up here or something. Has anyone heard anything about that?

Anyway, TV.


Butterflied
I've never been so disappointed to see Greg show up in an episode. For the first twenty minutes of the ep., I was all happy. "Yay, Nick's off celebrating his promotion with Greg! They went hang-gliding or surfing or camping in Alaska, but whatever, who's counting, they're happy and having lots of sex!" And then Greg showed up. Dang. And then Sara gave an excuse for where Nick was. Dang. Stupid writers. That would have been a good plot hole!

Casting someone like Kyle Secor (wonderful, wonderful Kyle Secor) rather ruins the suspense of who did it. 99.9% of the time, if he's not the victim, he's the criminal. Innocent bystander or red herring, not so often. But that was okay with me, because I could look at him and think happy Bayliss thoughts, and not pay any attention to this rather dull episode. I did like the scene where Cat pestered Gil about not eating, because I like their friendship and it amuses me to watch her mother him, but other than that, meh. There are probably Gil/Sara 'shippers out there ficcing away madly now, but since I neither believe in nor care for that 'ship, meh. Maybe I'll like it better on the rewatch.


Hawks and Handsaws

Yay, Jerry O'Connell is still cute! That's almost as nice to see as Mack Astin's continued cuteness was, back in "There Goes the Bride"!

Overall I liked this episode, but I don't seem to have a lot to say about it. Nice music, nice camera work and editing (especially in the scene where Jack interrogated Joe), nicely sympathetic and interesting missing person... Oh well, maybe I'm just not in blather-mode today. Probably just as well.

Interesting that there were two mentions of Ashcroft and the Patriot Act. Less interesting were Sam's constant whines about the cold. I hate it when people do that. Constantly pointing out the cold will not make it warmer! In the North Country, we eat people like you, Sam! Grrr!

Last week there were complaints (and cheers at TWoP, the weirdos) about the threatening Sam/Martin, and I was all, "huh?" This week I bet there will be complaints (and cheers) about the threatening Sam/Martin, and I'll still be all, "huh?" If the two of them sharing a scene (or many, many scenes) is supposed to mean that they're still flirting/attracted/whatever, someone forgot to tell Eric and Poppy. I still get absolutely no vibe from them, and so I don't mind them working together any more than I mind Danny and Viv working together, as they often do. Sure, I'd prefer Danny and Martin teaming up like in the good old days. Heck yeah, I'd prefer it! My first season tapes are going to wear out eventually, after all. But I'm not feeling the Sam/Martin threat yet. If they're supposed to be playing up the "vibe," they're failing, because they're sure as heck seem like totally platonic friends to me.

When the whole team bops off to Drexel to confront Frank BadGuy, where's Martin? He's the only one who was actually in Drexel to begin with, so it seems odd that they'd leave him hanging out with Alice's mother and not pull him into the action. And then poor Martin, having to break the news to her. He's not having a great year, and he doesn't even get to work with Danny anymore to make up for it. Aw. I was amused at the hooker calling him GoldiSam's "skinny-ass bear," though. He might be gay, but he's no bear. And speaking of Sam, I really wish she'd pull her hair back when she's catching criminals. It's much more practical. One of these days, some baddie is going to grab a handful of her lovely locks, and then where will she be? Trading desperate "I love you!" looks with Jack as he tries (desperately) to save her, no doubt, but since that's an awful thought, she should braid it.

Comments

[aithine]

Sam is *such* a whiner. She drove me nuts. (But then, so do most of the East Coasters I hear whining about the weather right now -- five inches? Is that ALL? Wimps! As you say, those of us who've dealt with real blizzards every year eat those sorts for lunch. *g*)

Totally with you on feeling no vibe between Sam and Martin -- the serious lack of vibe between them is as obvious as it was between Mary and Chris on M7, IMO. (But I think we've had this conversation before. *g*)

And yes, poor Martin! That was one of the first things I mentioned about him -- sheesh, he gets stuck telling yet another parent that their child is never going to come home. Can Jack not see that those particular situations absolutely kill Martin? He really beats himself up over them. I mean, he does pretty much every case, but the cases with kids really do it to him.

[ealgylden.livejournal.com]

I love that icon! He's just so darn cute.

(But then, so do most of the East Coasters I hear whining about the weather right now -- five inches? Is that ALL? Wimps! As you say, those of us who've dealt with real blizzards every year eat those sorts for lunch. *g*)

Oh yeah, we always mock those types very meanly. The wusses, unable to handle two inches of snow! Fie! *g*

Totally with you on feeling no vibe between Sam and Martin -- the serious lack of vibe between them is as obvious as it was between Mary and Chris on M7, IMO. (But I think we've had this conversation before. *g*

Hee! Yeah, maybe a couple times. ;) But hey, it's still true! If the relationship is 90% subtextual, then it sure helps if there's some chemistry there to create the subtext in the first place. As far as I can tell, Sam and Martin are just friends, and barely that (I can't see them really confiding in each other just yet). Mary and Chris, well, they didn't even like each other, really, and no amount of badfic will convince me otherwise.

And yes, poor Martin! That was one of the first things I mentioned about him -- sheesh, he gets stuck telling yet another parent that their child is never going to come home. Can Jack not see that those particular situations absolutely kill Martin?

Exactly! Either he doesn't know that's Martin's weak spot (which I doubt, considering that the show seems to think Jack Knows All), or he doesn't care, which would be another check on my Jack Is a Lousy Boss list, or he thinks that constant exposure to that part of the job will help Martin toughen up and work through his issues, which... well, has that ever worked for anyone? Martin's in the running for "fastest arc from rookie to burnout" at this rate. Poor guy.

[kathlaw.livejournal.com]

I liked the CSI episode, but yeah, casting Kyle Secor definitely ruined suspense. On the other hand, it could have been done partly as a favor to keep his health insurance active, since he hasn't been cast in much lately. And yeah, he's always fun to watch.

And me, I know Sara thinks it was her, but she was hitting on him, not vice versa. The real potential love he gave up on was Lady Heather. At least for me. :-) The one true equal he's found, who'd never cut him slack.

[ealgylden.livejournal.com]

On the other hand, it could have been done partly as a favor to keep his health insurance active, since he hasn't been cast in much lately.

Gosh, that's a sad thought. He's such a talented actor, but yeah, he doesn't seem to work as much as I'd expect or hope (though maybe that's how he likes it, I don't know). Also, I wondered if the grey in his hair was added for the character (because of the whole hair care cocktail thing) or if he's actually greying now.

And hey, since you know Hollywood stuff (although this isn't a writerly question, so you might not know this), would it be usual for him to get residuals from all of those rebroadcasts of Homicide on CourtTV or a cut of the DVD sales or anything? I hope?

And me, I know Sara thinks it was her, but she was hitting on him, not vice versa. The real potential love he gave up on was Lady Heather. At least for me. :-) The one true equal he's found, who'd never cut him slack.

Ha! Yes, on both points! I really miss Lady Heather. She's pretty much the only person I could see him with. Sara, not a chance. She's determined, though, I'll give her that. A little less determined (or a lot less) would probably be a good thing, in this case. I agree, Lady Heather was his equal (unlike Sara), and her expectations of him were so different from the usual- he didn't have to be The Genius or The Boss or whatever. It must have been refreshing. No wonder he sabotaged it.

[kathlaw.livejournal.com]

would it be usual for him to get residuals from all of those rebroadcasts of Homicide on CourtTV or a cut of the DVD sales or anything?

Yes, he'd get residuals when it repeated on NBC, but the residuals on cable, such as Court TV, depend in large part on the amount rights were bought for, which is frequently a small sum, depending on the deal made.

As far as DVDs go, the answer is yet, but. The But is why we're likely to have a WGA strike this May, followed by DGA and SAG later in the year. The WGA, for example, is going by the 1985 contract with regard to DVDs, giving the writer .3% of the DVD money, and not even gross money, it's some formula. Producers are saying they can't pay more, despite that DVDs double or triple the box office of a movie, and are an amazing income source for old tv series. They also say, they pay the writer more, they have to pay the actors and directors more. Aww.

So yes, but not nearly what he ought to be getting. :-)

And thanks for agreeing on Lady Heather. Sadly for us, the actress is a regular on O.C. these days, so the odds of her appearing again on CSI are slim (though not impossible).

I dislike what seems to be what they're doing to the character of Sara -- her mooning over Grissom seems awfully teenage -- but I have to hope the producers know what they're doing with that arc, and I'll like the end result.

[ealgylden.livejournal.com]

Ah ha, thank you. Your brain is a wonderful resource. *g* They really do treat writers poorly, though, don't they? Buncha cheapskates.

And thanks for agreeing on Lady Heather. Sadly for us, the actress is a regular on O.C. these days, so the odds of her appearing again on CSI are slim (though not impossible).

Is that what she's doing? I'd wondered. Yay for her, I guess, but what a pity for Lady Heather fans. Her return would have been the sort of sweeps stunt that I could enjoy. Pity. And ITA on the teenagery quality of Sara's Grissom-crush. Considering how much her job means to her, I'm surprised that she'd be so resolutely and consistently unprofessional. But yeah, I haven't given up hope yet. I don't like the plotline, but I'm willing to wait it out.