Don't Tell Me What I Can't Do!

Oh my goodness, today's topic is such a hard one, I've been mulling over it all day:

Day 09 - Best scene ever

I could probably answer all of these types of questions with answers from Buffy the Vampire Slayer but that seems silly considering the ridiculous amount of TV that I watch. And just because I didn't want to include Buffy, it didn't stop me from pondering this scene:

- The season two finale of BtVS where Angel regains his soul but the world's still going to end so Buffy has enough time to kiss him and tell him to close his eyes before sending him to hell.



I also pondered these scenes:

- Rory graduates from high school on Gilmore Girls (season 3 finale). I'm pretty sure I was as proud as Lorelai, Luke, Sookie and the grandparents!

- That screaming match in the pilot of Everwood where Ephram screams at his dad that he hates him and his dad (Andy Brown) screams it right back.

However, I decided to go with one of those scenes that totally shocks you and causes you to reassess everything you knew and wonder exactly what this show is all about. Also, the scene is brilliantly acted and it is....

The final sequence of "Walkabout" (4th episode in season 1 of Lost) in which we learn that John Locke had been unable to walk before the crash.



Click the link here to watch the scene.

A brilliant revelation in one of the best episodes of Lost ever which established we were going on a wacky ride with this show! However, the scene is grounded in the always phenomenal acting by Terry O'Quinn who has viewers feeling anger and despair along with him as he shouts "Don't Tell Me What I Can't Do!" And then when we revisit him moving his foot and standing after the crash, we experience that joy and wonder with him. A scene that had me hooked on the show and on Terry O'Quinn's brilliantly portrayed John Locke!

So tomorrow I will talk about: A show you thought you wouldn't like but ended up loving

That's for me to know and for you to dot, dot, dot.

So today's topic is, I think, probably not possible to accurately answer:

Day 08 - A show everyone should watch

People have very different tastes, so telling my brother he should watch Gilmore Girls? That's not gonna happen, plus I know he doesn't like it despite how awesome I know the show is. Same as trying to convince my mom that Buffy the Vampire Slayer is a brilliant show which she must watch. No matter how much she believes me, she isn't going to watch it and if she did, she likely wouldn't enjoy.

I pondered trying to think of a show that would appeal to the most demographics and I can think of something like Modern Family, which is funny, smart and a genuinely modern comedy. However, I have friends who don't like comedies and find them too cringe-worthy, so that still wouldn't cover it. So instead, I'm going to select a show that's given me a lot of pleasure this season and I think would appeal to most of my fellow TV-lovers around online:

The Vampire Diaries



I just have so much fun watching The Vampire Diaries. When I watched the pilot I wasn't sure, it didn't have that sparkle that BtVS had or the fun dialogue of Kevin Williamson's other teen drama, Dawson's Creek. However, this is one of those times when I'm glad that I stuck with a show because it just got better and better. First of all, I don't think the show would be nearly as fun without Ian Somerhalder's delightfully bad vampire, Damon. He's so charming and fun that I have to keep reminding myself that we've seen him kill people and do crappy things on the show. But it's not just Damon that makes the show. Nina Dobrev, in particular impresses me with her strong and confident Elena Gilbert. Also I think the pace of stories is perfect. Whenever I've become bored of a particular storyline (Vickie as a drug addict, Elena and Stefan's sexual tension, whiny Jeremy), the writers seem to sense that and have a resolution and move onto to new plot developments, new characters and/or new stories.



What also really adds to the show is the history of the town and the dynamic between Damon and Stefan over the years and their dynamic with Katherine (also played wonderfully by Dobrev). The developing relationship between Elena and Damon and the established relationship of Elena and Stefan is really great TV! The show is fun, sexy, well-paced, funny and just a blast to watch.

Oh man, tomorrow's topic is going to be HARD: Best scene ever

This will give them some time to ponder the geo-political ramifications of BEING MEAN TO ME!

If you're a die-hard fan of your favourite show, like me, this is a tricky topic to write about!

Day 07 - Least favorite episode of your favorite TV show

Even if a Buffy the Vampire Slayer episode isn't as fantastic as something like "Once More with Feeling", "The Body" or "Hush", there's still normally redeeming moments and things I enjoy. Even in the episode I picked there are a few things I like but I feel this is one of the few BtVS that really really doesn't work: "Beer Bad"

Really? An episode that demonstrates that when college kids drink they regress to cavemen? Really?! This has to be the most unsubtle "metaphor" that BtVS ever tried to pull off. Thanks for the anvil of a metaphor! And did we really need all those extended scenes of these guys being cavemen? Really?! Really?!



Sure I enjoyed the Xander parts and Cave!Buffy was kind of adorable, but was this really the best they could do with the concept?


For a show that so poignantly illustrated how first love can go horribly wrong and the man you love can become a monster, this has all the subtly and deftness of an episode of Charmed. At least they didn't dress Buffy up in a skimpy cavewoman outfit, but really is that how low my expectations are about this episode?! Also, the whole fake-out conversation with Willow and Parker just annoys the hell out of me. hahaha, apparently talking about this episode brings out my crankiness!

So, okay, that wasn't very hard to write about after all!

Upcoming tomorrow: A show everyone should watch

"Dawn's in trouble. Must be Tuesday."

After talking about what I don't like yesterday, it's great to be back to talking about what I do like!

Day 06 - Favorite episode of your favorite TV show

The episode I'm picking is the classic Buffy the Vampire Slayer musical episode "Once More, with Feeling," which should come as no shock to any Buffy fans!



I think that "the Body" is the best episode of BtVS but it's so sad and I inevitably cry which means I rarely rewatch it despite its brilliance, so it ultimately isn't the one I picked. The musical episode succeeds at being an excellent musical in its own right and also a seamless part of the sixth season. I like that all the actors sing their parts because even though they don't have the best voices (with a few exceptions of the really excellent singers), it meant that we got the characters' emotions. There's great songs, fun dancing, that awesome quippy Joss Whedon humour and just general brilliance. One of those episodes I can endlessly rewatch!



And tomorrow I'll talk about the: Least favorite episode of my favorite TV show

Really? This is a show? Really? People watch this? Really? Really?!

Hmm, so this is a tricky question today:

Day 05 - A show you hate

Despite watching a crazy amount of TV there is still a lot that I don't watch, most of it because they're just not shows I'm interested. I'm not really someone who likes things about law and order, or medical scenarios. So, that eliminates a lot of shows! The other issue is that if something bores me or I think it's stupid (eg. Smallville, Supernatural, One Tree Hill), I don't have an issue with other people enjoying it - we all have different tastes and that's cool! So I tried to think of what I will flick off quickly if it's on (and will eliminate shows with lots of gore cause that just grosses me out) and that gives me....

TMZ.com

I have never seen a whole episode of this sorry excuse for a show but what I have seen absolutely appalls me. Okay, so I should note that I really don't like the whole paparazzi culture (and totally think that we - as consumers - are just as responsible for it as the paparazzi are) but this show takes it to a whole new awful level. So it starts with a bunch of the "journalists" (ha!) at TMZ.com discussing story ideas and writing them on the board, and what appalls me is that they'll laugh at the people they're talking about, ie. "Some D-level 'celebrity' you've never heard of was walking his dog and when one of our camera guys got in his face, he told him to 'Fuck off' - haha, what a loser!" I'm like "Yeah, he's the loser, not you guys who stalk poor people who are just out living their lives trying to mind their own business." I've watched that part of the show through in absolute horror. The candid things they catch tend to always seem really stalkery and creepy and not actually interesting celebrity journalism. Man, I really hate that show!

Tomorrow's topic is more upbeat: Day 06 - Favorite episode of your favorite TV show

I'm Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and you are?

Okay, this is definitely an easy TV question for me today!

Day 04 - Your favorite show ever
Without question, the answer is Buffy the Vampire Slayer!! Forever and always my favourite show.



I think what best describes why I love Buffy is the love letter I wrote to the show over 4 years ago:

Dear Buffy the Vampire Slayer,

I didn’t fall in love with you immediately. Sure, I’d seen you around, and adored your cuteness (especially Willow & Oz). My friends had told me that you’re cool, with a kick ass heroine and queer-positive. I’d seen your sensitive side when you made me cry in the season 5 finale and season 6 premiere. But it wasn’t love ... yet.

I remember exactly when I fell in love, and the circumstances surrounding it. My family had been dealing with my beloved grandma’s rapidly deteriorating Alzheimer's. My mother and I had just done the heart-breaking task of admitting my grandma into a long-term care facility. I was on the train returning to Toronto after visiting my grandma, reading an Entertainment Weekly when I first really noticed you.

Entertainment Weekly raved about this musical episode you were doing. I was intrigued and eager for distraction. So that Tuesday at 8pm, I settled in front of the television. Mid-way through the first song, I realized this could be more than a fun distracting one-night stand. This is brilliant!! I thought. During the next song I debated finding a tape to record the episode, but didn’t. I wasn’t missing a second of the episode!

At the next commercial break, the phone rang. Dare I risk interruption? I wondered. My curiosity got the better of me, so I answered. ARE YOU WATCHING THIS? My friend Miguel - who’d been trying to hook us up for years - excitedly asked me. OMG THIS IS AWESOME!!!! I replied. (Trust me: we really were speaking in caps.) We then quickly hung up to watch the rest of one of the best BtVS episodes ever.

The next episode of yours that I watched was “Smashed” (6:9) and that confirmed for me you were the one for me. I’ve later discovered that this was a divisive time for your fans, but I was impressed by your daring, especially your provocative sexuality. As with any new love, I only saw your good side. I started taping whatever episodes that aired and ended up seeing “The Body” (5:16), “Hush” (4:10), “Surprise” (2:13), “Innocence” (2:14), and “Fool for Love” (5:7) – I definitely tasted the best of you first!!

The next couple of months were our honeymoon period. We spent all our time together. I recall devouring every one of your episodes in about a month’s time thanks to tapes from Space (Canada’s SciFi channel) supplied by a friend. Ah, the nostalgia of a time before tv on dvd!! Sure watching you was a distraction from my grandma, and from my grandpa’s sudden illness, but you were more than that. I was drawn into this complexly drawn world with characters that I genuinely cared about. You aren’t just a television show; you are storytelling at its finest!



I sobbed along with Buffy when Angel lost his soul, and again when she had to kill the re-souled Angel. I was impressed by Willow’s growing strength and Xander’s gradual maturity. I loved evil Spike, drunken heart-broken Spike, chipped Spike and in-love-with-Buffy Spike. Cordelia and Anya’s very different frankness entertained me. Giles’ fatherly affection for Buffy made my heart melt. … I was hooked.

After my discovery of you, I found out that most of my friends were also admirers. In fact, two others were won over by you at the same time as me. Since they approved of our relationship, we’d all watch you together. One of my favourite memories is my living room erupting in applause and cheers at Giles’ return at the end of “Two to Go” (6:21).

That was the neatest thing about watching you when the episodes were new, the Buffy parties. After new episodes we’d dissect, debate, swoon, cry (okay, that would mostly be me) and/or just bask in the fabulousness of the show. A few of us would also watch Angel together, which we were converted to when Wes talked to a giant hamburger (“Loyalty” 3:15), but that’s another love letter!!

Watching you has always been about more than just the show, there’s always been that community of fans who love you too. My friends and I still get together for parties to watch our favourite episodes. Even now, we can dissect and debate about episodes or points of canon. Just the other day, I came across a Buffy/Angel vs Buffy/Spike debate on livejournal, almost three years after you ended, that’s awesome!



Just today, I awoke to a message from my friend Amy, who's a professional singer, who told me that she’d just listened to this beautiful recording which had made her burst into tears. She said “It’s like how I feel after a really good Buffy episode. You know what I mean.” Oh yes, I think every fan of you knows exactly how she feels!

I think the reason I love you the most, is that you’ll never really be over or finished. I can watch any of your episodes (yes, even the worst ones) and be captivated by how awesome you are. And I’m not the only one, there’s so many other fans who are also still in love with you!! I know that I’ll never get bored of you, or look at my BtVS dvd collection with embarrassment years from now.

You see, you may have started off as a distraction and something to help me through a really rough year, but you’ve stayed with me. To paraphrase Xander, you’re not the rebound guy, you’re the one that comes along once in a lifetime. (5:11)

Since this is a love letter, I must quote Spike to conclude my emotional ramblings: “You’re the one, Buffy.” (7:20)

Love always,
Rebecca

Tomorrow I will talk about: A show I hate

Corroborate? Did you really just use that in a normal conversation?

This is a great topic because I feel there's been a lot of good new TV this season (2009-2010).

Day 03 - Your favorite new show (aired this TV season)

Since I listed Community yesterday, I want to go with a different choice. I'm torn between Parenthood, Vampire Diaries, Glee and the Good Wife and have ultimately decided to go with...
Parenthood!!



This is a show that reminds me what I loved about shows like Joan of Arcadia, Everwood and Gilmore Girls: an engaging family dynamic, stellar writing and excellent acting from a strong ensemble cast. What's neat is how ultimately functional the family of Parenthood is. Sure they have their issues but I never feel so bogged down by seriousness on the show that I leave it depressed, instead I normally finish with a smile on my face. Of course, this doesn't mean that there isn't touching scenes, I've cried more than once watching this show. In particular, the storyline of Max having Asperger's is handled with seriousness and there's been some incredibly moving scenes related to it, but we also get moments of humour and happiness. I'm impressed at how well the show balances the feeling of realism with entertaining TV. I'm so happy this show was renewed for a second season!

Coming up tomorrow: Your favorite show ever