Boardwalk Empire 1x03

One of the victims of Jimmy’s shooting turns up in the hospital instead of the morgue. Before brown-shirt Eli can silence him forever with a pillow, Van Alden walks in to interrogate him. Eli can hold him off for the time being, but the witness remains alive. Not much later, with a warrant in hand, Van Alden whisks the guy away to New York. When his assistant urges him to take the guy to a doctor before he dies on the backseat, they are forced to take him to a dentist. After the dentist administers two doses of cocaine, he comes to just enough to tell Van Alden in Yiddish to go and fuck his grandmother with his little faggot penis. Before he dies from Van Alden squeezing his intestines through the open wound in his stomach, he tells him one of the guys at the shooting was called Jimmy. Van Alden wants to arrest Jimmy right away, but his superior, Supervisor Elliott, orders him to see his wife and get a rest, while he will consult with a U.S. attorney about their next course of action.

When Rothstein gets wind of it in New York, he sends Lucky Luciano to kill Jimmy. For his part, Nucky tells Jimmy to leave town and think about finishing college. Jimmy’s having marital troubles anyway, suspecting his wife Angela of having an affair while he was in the trenches. So he leaves her and his kid, and takes the train to Chicago, no doubt to look up his buddy Al Capone. Meanwhile, Nucky has gotten Margaret a job in a haute-couture shop Belle Femme at the Ritz with Madame Jeunet. Naturally, that means she’ll have to help Nucky’s lady friend Lucy in and out of lingerie while she rubs in Nucky has a soft spot for the charity cases. There is not much else to say about the episode. It was mostly focused on the development of the characters and their relationships. There were some scenes with Chalky White, the African-American gangster who has taken over Mickey Doyle’s bootlegging trade. I’m not too prone about the gratuitous nudity, even if Paz de la Huerta has beautiful breasts. Nor do I know why it is significant that Lucky Luciano has gonorrhea. The Cricket remains slightly skeptical and hopes our patience will be rewarded eventually.

Modern Family 1x13

Okay, so finally another funny episode. 13 must be my lucky number or something. “Can people change?” That’s the theme question this time. Claire is furious about all the high tech equipment Phil is bringing home. She cannot even work the remote. She challenges him to teach Haley how to use it. “I know this seems impossible,” he tells his airhead daughter, “but this is for all those times mom told you she was right and you knew she was wrong.” And Haley is game! For his part, Manny is stoked he found a date at his online book club. To everyone’s consternation she turns out to be a lot older. She’s a bit of a grey mouse. So Gloria decides to give her a makeover. When Cameron drops in, he compliments the woman on her dress, hairdo, and the book she’s reading. She thinks she’s met the man of her life. She better think again.

Meanwhile, Mitchell cannot believe his father still has issues with his homosexuality. He confronts Jay and teases him that one of his friends (Chazz Palminteri) is gay, too. “My gaydar is never wrong and it’s pining like we’re at a bathhouse.” When Jay encourages his friend to share his secret, Shorty admits he is twenty grants in debt, and could Jay please help him out. Payback! The best part is, though Shorty denies he’s gay, he dresses well, loves to dance, enjoys men’s company, and got Jay tickets to see Michael Bublé and have a little picnic. Then a guy passes by who looks like a slimmer version of Ben Stiller, “Hey, handsome, who does your hair?” No, Shorty is damn straight! Ahahahah!

In Treatment 3x09

Sunil begins his session preparing tea, and ridiculing the reality show Survivors, before he tells Paul he has been trying to make an attempt at expressing his frustrations. He says it’s like learning how to throw a curveball in cricket with your other hand. Then he speaks with the same excited repulsion about his daughter-in-law’s exercise regimen. Paul is trying to get Sunil to admit that he is drawn to her. He deflects the question a few times by talking about his son’s attraction to Julia instead. Sunil continues talking about honor and shame, about family and dignity. His Brahmin upbringing couldn’t be more different than Western instant-gratification consumerism. When Paul again explains he gets the feeling Sunil is fascinated and intrigued by Julia, Sunil laughs hysterically, hands him the check and leaves. What a treat these two together in one room! They are both aware of their cultural differences, but can’t break through each other’s barriers. Intellectually Paul can sympathize with Sunil’s devotion to dignity, but won’t be able to convince him of Western analytical notions about conflicting emotions, being repelled yet attracted by the same thing or person. Sunil for his part understands that Western culture is driven by desires for fulfillment, but finds this pursuit of happiness a sign of weakness, as immoral has having an affair. I wonder if they will ever find common ground, entrenched as they are in each their own worldview.

Happy New Year!

The Cricket is in Paris!

Oh, no, the French capital,
not that Hilton floozy.

Wishing you a Happy 2011
from the City of Lights!

xoxo

Dexter 5x08

This episode defied all my expectations – and after four and a half amazing seasons of unexpected twists and turns, that says a lot. At Miami Homicide the fallout from the stakeout at the club is seriously putting everyone on edge. Debra blames LaGuerta and Batista doesn’t know if he should back up his wife or include in his report that Deb was overruled. LaGuerta calls Deb into her office and suggests putting Officer Monzon on suspension, but Deb won’t let her make Cira be the fall guy. She argues and curses, all for the sake of the team. She’s not prone to keeping her mouth, but this is spellbinding. What a woman! Debra’s my girl. She’s an ace. Then, what does scheming careerist LaGuerta do? She throws Deb on paid leave – and to add insult to injury, Deb has to learn about it on TV! (Seems to the Cricket LaGuerta is becoming less likeable. What is this story arc leading up to? Will she be promoted Captain or will she be held responsible for the mess and fired? Will Batista divorce her?) In the end Batista sides with Debra and will write up his report in her support. Always the good guy, this Angel. Dex and Deb have a moment reflecting on life and death, how she doesn’t feel any regret or guilt for killing Carlos Fuentes, and how their father once told Dexter some people deserve to die. They’ve both recently lost loved ones, Rita and Lundy, who deserved to live. Maybe the world is better off without Carlos Fuentes, Deb reasons. Dex just nods in approval, with a look of stunned recognition and validation on his face.

Meanwhile, Dexter decides to attend Jordan Chase’s motivational seminar at some Miami hotel. Excellent point when Dex’ voice-over admits he feels “normal” among Chase’s acolytes. Chase’s head of security, Cole, invites Dex to speak to Chase in private. Chase knows an awful lot about Dexter, about the Trinity Killer case, about Rita and Harrison. What a creepy sleazebag that Jordan Chase! (And what a marvelous performance by Johnny Lee Miller.) Dexter plans on taking out Cole at the hotel and asks Lumen to help him prepare the kill room. On her way to the hotel, this piece of shitty Liddy slams his car into Lumen’s on purpose, and pulls an act to get her info. He’s been keeping tabs on Deb and Lumen for Quinn – even though Quinn is getting increasingly wary about Liddy’s abrasiveness, not to mention his greediness or this threat to tell on Quinn to Deb. Lumen’s fiancé arrives on the scene, too, but she’s none too pleased seeing him.

Back at the hotel, Dex is pleasantly surprised seeing how much easier it all is with Lumen there, ready and willing to kill the torturing rapist Suit Guy Cole. She starts to understand that Dexter is a serial killer, he confides in her, and she accepts him for it. He never had a partner in crime like this before. She’s not like power-hungry Miguel Prado or psychopathic Lila Tournay West. They hear screaming coming from Cole’s room, but it turns out to be merely the sounds of aggressive sex. Still, the noise throws Lumen back to her traumatic experience. Dex comforts her quietly and allows her to sleep, putting off the planned kill. They have one more day to catch Cole before Chase leaves Miami. During the day’s seminar session, Dex gets called on stage to recount the loss of Rita, while Chase encourages him to act on his primal instinct. For his part Cole spots Lumen in the hotel, chases her to the room and attacks her. Dexter comes to the rescue and together they perform his ritual. While Lumen (unseen) pulls up the SUV in front of the hotel and Dex walks out with Cole’s dismembered body in his luggage, Chase approaches him – apologizing for the confrontational session on stage. “Tick, tick, tick,” the sleazebag tells Dexter, “that’s the sound of your life running out,” just like he said to Lumen when he was abusing her. Act on your primal instinct is his motivational motto. “Take It!” “Oh, I will,” Dex replies.

Burn Notice 4x18

Everything is on the line for Michael Westen, his friends and family. Even his more distant associates are kept under tabs. Vaughn is coming to town and means business. He’s tried being friends with Michael, now Michael will find out what it means to be his enemy. Before Michael can even get the flash-drive with the list to a safe place, Vaughn’s men are on to them. An exciting car chase, some explosions, and a few car crashes later and Jesse is seriously wounded while they need to keep running. They hide out in an abandoned hotel and soon they find themselves under siege. Meanwhile, Madeline and Sam are trying to convince some shady congressman to deliver the list to higher government authorities. He is understandably hesitant, due to their earlier run in, but eventually is convinced by Sam’s pleading. Michael’s plans to escape from under the siege and get the list to the congressman keep failing. He faces death and hopes Fiona will chose life and get out safe. For his part, Vaughn has been able to kidnap Madeline. Michael and Fiona take their last stand, ready to blow themselves up so that Jesse can escape with the list. But suddenly armed forces drop in, at the congressman’s instigation. Vaughn is arrested and Michael is escorted by two men who refuse to tell him who they are. They drive him a long distance without letting him know where they are taking him. When he finally steps outside the car, he’s not in Kansas anymore, nor in Miami. It’s snowing. A suit walks up to him, who welcomes him back. He’s in Washington, D.C.

It’s been another fun and exciting season, with lots of explosions and car chases, blood and guts. This Cricket can’t always follow the plot contrivances, but that doesn’t really matter. It’s a great show with a cheesy sense of humor and an entertaining vibe. There’s a nice chemistry between the characters. Especially Madeline (Sharon Gless) unfailingly offers the emotional bedrock of the series, manipulative and scheming, chain-smoking and complaining, demanding and exacting, but always loving and upright. The writers are well aware that Michael’s obsessive insistence to get his former job back is bordering on insanity – and also point out frequently that he has no real clue what is going to happen should he ever revert his burn notice. There are at least two more seasons left. So it will take awhile before we know (if ever) what is going to happen. I’m glad that, at least for the last two episodes, they focused on the main narrative without the distraction of another job on the side. I can only hope that they will be able to avoid some of the formulaic set-ups that are starting to become just a tad predictable. At any rate, don’t miss out on the fun!

Merry X-Mas!

Merry X-Mas, my Cricketeers!

May your stockings be filled with your heart’s desires.

It does not surprise the Cricket that most of the chirps here have an audience in the U.S. and The Netherlands, nor the U.K. or Canada. I was surprised, though, that my blog statistics indicate a significant audience in Italy, Germany and Spain, and even in Russia, South Korea and Brazil. Awesome! All I can say to y’all is, feel free to leave comments, like/dislike, follow and add my blog. I’d love to know who’s reading my blurbs or why those nature documentaries keep drawing your attention!

xoxo