Wow. The pace is definitely picking up around here. Canadian funding deadlines are looming, VIFF is shifting into high gear, my online UCLA extension class starts today and TeeVee continues its deluge of new shows.
What's been on lately?
Chuck
I quite liked Chuck. Josh Schwartz is channeling the funny, pop-hipster bits from the OC. The action sequences were good, and there's some great comedy (the western showdown at the end may have been a joke we've seen/heard before, but it was well executed).
There are some problems inherent with the premise though. It feels overly familiar, hard to escape when every second show at the moment is an "ordinary man develops special abilities" show, but Chuck also reminds me a bit too much Jake 2.0.
Also, as others have noted, wouldn't all the super secret information in Chuck's head be obsolete after a couple of weeks? Last I heard intelligence was...ahem...time sensitive...
Journeyman
I'm a sucker for time travel stories, so I really, really wanted to like Journeyman, but it just left me feeling "meh."
The love triangle is interesting and offers some fun dynamics to play with. The scenes of Dan in the past, interacting with friends and family, were by far the best parts of the show. The modern drama (trouble with his wife, intervention, etc) fell flat because the audience is out ahead of the characters. We know that Dan's not doing drugs. We know he's not cheating on his wife (does time travel cheating count?). So all the speculation by his wife / brother / boss lacks drama because we know they're wrong.
I loved the murky morality of the time travel plot (he's going back in time to save a guy, only to kill him in the end), but it lacked cohesion in my eyes. I kept wondering what he was doing, how the pieces fit together, and even once it had all played out (turns out he was meant to save the guys unborn child) I couldn't help but think "what's the point of all that?"
Reaper
Reaper and Chuck are the same show. I found the sidekick in Reaper to be more obnoxious than the sidekick in Chuck. The comedy in Reaper was broader, more slapstick. It had some nice moments (love the dogs and the DMV), and the I think that the premise is better than Chuck (at least there were less logic gaps in Reaper than in Chuck). And there's nothing cooler than sucking up souls in a Dirt Devil.
Safe to say I'm a fan.
Cane
I love Jimmy Smits. He's almost enough to make Cane watchable, but in the end he can't save it. At the end of the day this show was flat out boring. I'm falling asleep writing this...
Heroes
Heroes is starting to piss me off. As I watched the first season on DVD all my old niggles (poor payoffs, annoying characters, muddled storylines) really started to come to the fore. The second season premiere didn't do much to alleviate my concerns.
The biggest problem with Heroes is the number of characters and plot lines they're trying to juggle. There are already too many, and the premiere introduced two more!
So the premiere had: Claire and HRG adjusting to their new life (which was good), Suresh infiltrating the company (Suresh irks me to no end), Parkman kicking ass and taking names (detective? nice!), Hiro in feudal Japan (and with a gaijin Kensei? WTF?), Ando and Hiro's dad sitting around drinking coffee and getting death threats, Nathan as an alcoholic with a beard, Peter tied up naked in a cargo container, oh and the two new people on the run in Honduras (if they were heading south they could guest star on Prison Break!).
Anyone else confused by all that?
Scary thing is it's only going to get worse if they follow through with their plan to incorporate a character introduced on Origins into the main show.
Anyways, so much was going on that the episode really just served to reintroduce everyone (with some heroes not even mentioned...Sylar? Nikki / Jessica?). I can't help but feel that they're just throwing bucket loads of stuff at the audience in the hopes that some of it's going to stick.
I think Heroes would be better off if they just focused down onto some of their core stories (Claire/HRG, Hiro, maybe the Petrellis) and get rid of the rest.
All in all there are a lot of shows I want to like this season, but most of them just aren't there yet.
Wednesday, September 26, 2007
Monday, September 24, 2007
VIFF
The Vancouver International Film Festival (and Forum!) is starting up this week. Exciting, exciting!
So far I've got tickets to see Young People Fucking, Persepolis, The Walker and Relative Humidity (a friends short is screening). Anyone have any recommendations for stuff I'm missing?
As far as the forum goes I've got day passes to TV Day (writing panels with Peter Blake of House and Paul Lieberstein of The Office? Yes please!) and New Filmmakers Day. I'll probably slip into a couple of other panels as well (Viral Marketing and Creative Producing look really good).
There are also going to be come good parties around town. I'm still in the process of wrangling invitations for myself, but it's looking like I'll be going to the BC Film 20th Anniversary party and the NSI party.
If any of you fine folks from the scribosphere find yourselves in Vancouver for the festivities drop me a line and I'll buy you a beer...
So far I've got tickets to see Young People Fucking, Persepolis, The Walker and Relative Humidity (a friends short is screening). Anyone have any recommendations for stuff I'm missing?
As far as the forum goes I've got day passes to TV Day (writing panels with Peter Blake of House and Paul Lieberstein of The Office? Yes please!) and New Filmmakers Day. I'll probably slip into a couple of other panels as well (Viral Marketing and Creative Producing look really good).
There are also going to be come good parties around town. I'm still in the process of wrangling invitations for myself, but it's looking like I'll be going to the BC Film 20th Anniversary party and the NSI party.
If any of you fine folks from the scribosphere find yourselves in Vancouver for the festivities drop me a line and I'll buy you a beer...
Wednesday, September 19, 2007
K-Ville and Gossip Girl
The new TeeVee season is here. Huzzah!
So far I've caught K-Ville and Gossip Girl, and now let me tell you what I think (you're all dying to know, right?).
K-Ville
K-Ville's a cop procedural set in post Katrina New Orleans. It's a premise with huge potential, though I didn't feel the pilot quite lived up to it.
My main problem was one of inconsistency. There were some absolutely fabulous bits, and then there were ones that left me groaning and scratching my head. Boulet (Anthony Andersen) and Cobb (Cole Hauser) have good chemistry. Boulet is an interesting character, a cop dedicated to saving his hometown, but not all that concerned how he goes about it (drinking on duty, torture, pulling a gun on his partner). In a lot of ways he reminds me of Vic Mackey (of The Shield). Cobb's character reveal at the end of the pilot was nicely done, and made for an interesting twist. The rest of the shows characters get little but lip service (tough but lovable captain? Check!), but you can't develop EVERY character in a pilot.
The city of New Orleans made for a nice backdrop. It's cool to see a city that's not LA or New York up on the screen. I also thought that the show made good use of its premise, namely that it's about cops in a city recovering from tragedy. Just like Rescue Me is about firefighters dealing with the aftermath of 9/11, K-Ville plumbs the same depths in New Orleans. All of its characters were damaged by the storm. Some of the best sequences of the show were the ones that dealt directly with this issue. The opening sequence where Boulet's partner Charlie abandons him. The super creepy firehose through the window bit and the Boulet's family reaction to it. Cobb's revelation of his past. These are the sequences that set this show apart from the rest.
There were a couple of things that really didn't work for me. The action sequences were so over the top as to be ridiculous (I haven't seen a cop fire so many bullets since Live Free or Die Hard), the procedural mystery of the week was, well, weak, and the preachiness started to get to me after a while (yes, we know New Orleans got hit hard by Katrina. Yes we know you're fighting to get it back to where it was. We can SEE that on screen, do you really have to keep telling us the same thing?).
Tone down the action melodrama, get rid of the preachiness (we really don't need it), beef up the mystery (in all fairness I think a lot of this problem can be attributed to the fact it's a pilot. Tough to set everything up and still have a compelling, complex mystery) and we'll have a winner. Until then K-Ville's average. I'll give it a couple more episodes to see if it finds its feet. If it doesn't then it probably won't make it into my TV schedule.
Gossip Girl
Now this might cost me my RMC (that's Real Man Card for the uninitiated), but I actually quite enjoyed Gossip Girl. Sure it's full of sturm und drang, and populated by some thoroughly unlikable caricatures...erm...characters, but for all that it's pretty fun.
Like everything else, it all comes down to execution. Say what you will about Josh Schwartz, but the guy can do some pretty darn good teenage soaps. Gossip Girl feels like you're watching The OC: New York (and we're talking first season OC here). There's some nice banter and verbal fencing (especially between B & S), the plot moves along at a nice clip (though some early strands were seemingly forgotten...little suicidal brother I'm looking at you), and (for once) the use of a voice over narrator didn't piss me off to high heaven (a lot of which I attribute to Kristen Bell). It also helps that none of the actors are as bad as Mischa Barton (ugh).
On the down side Gossip Girl's missing the humor that made The OC enjoyable (it's hard to see them celebrating Chrismukah on Gossip Girl). Like The OC they seem to burn through plot at a prodigious rate (now is this endemic to all things Schwartz? or is it merely a blip in the pilot?). Also the characters really aren't all that interesting (not sure how much depth they have to plumb).
All in all I'd say that Gossip Girl's one of the new shows to watch, I think it'll find an audience.
Oh, and boys, my RMC's in the mail...
So far I've caught K-Ville and Gossip Girl, and now let me tell you what I think (you're all dying to know, right?).
K-Ville
K-Ville's a cop procedural set in post Katrina New Orleans. It's a premise with huge potential, though I didn't feel the pilot quite lived up to it.
My main problem was one of inconsistency. There were some absolutely fabulous bits, and then there were ones that left me groaning and scratching my head. Boulet (Anthony Andersen) and Cobb (Cole Hauser) have good chemistry. Boulet is an interesting character, a cop dedicated to saving his hometown, but not all that concerned how he goes about it (drinking on duty, torture, pulling a gun on his partner). In a lot of ways he reminds me of Vic Mackey (of The Shield). Cobb's character reveal at the end of the pilot was nicely done, and made for an interesting twist. The rest of the shows characters get little but lip service (tough but lovable captain? Check!), but you can't develop EVERY character in a pilot.
The city of New Orleans made for a nice backdrop. It's cool to see a city that's not LA or New York up on the screen. I also thought that the show made good use of its premise, namely that it's about cops in a city recovering from tragedy. Just like Rescue Me is about firefighters dealing with the aftermath of 9/11, K-Ville plumbs the same depths in New Orleans. All of its characters were damaged by the storm. Some of the best sequences of the show were the ones that dealt directly with this issue. The opening sequence where Boulet's partner Charlie abandons him. The super creepy firehose through the window bit and the Boulet's family reaction to it. Cobb's revelation of his past. These are the sequences that set this show apart from the rest.
There were a couple of things that really didn't work for me. The action sequences were so over the top as to be ridiculous (I haven't seen a cop fire so many bullets since Live Free or Die Hard), the procedural mystery of the week was, well, weak, and the preachiness started to get to me after a while (yes, we know New Orleans got hit hard by Katrina. Yes we know you're fighting to get it back to where it was. We can SEE that on screen, do you really have to keep telling us the same thing?).
Tone down the action melodrama, get rid of the preachiness (we really don't need it), beef up the mystery (in all fairness I think a lot of this problem can be attributed to the fact it's a pilot. Tough to set everything up and still have a compelling, complex mystery) and we'll have a winner. Until then K-Ville's average. I'll give it a couple more episodes to see if it finds its feet. If it doesn't then it probably won't make it into my TV schedule.
Gossip Girl
Now this might cost me my RMC (that's Real Man Card for the uninitiated), but I actually quite enjoyed Gossip Girl. Sure it's full of sturm und drang, and populated by some thoroughly unlikable caricatures...erm...characters, but for all that it's pretty fun.
Like everything else, it all comes down to execution. Say what you will about Josh Schwartz, but the guy can do some pretty darn good teenage soaps. Gossip Girl feels like you're watching The OC: New York (and we're talking first season OC here). There's some nice banter and verbal fencing (especially between B & S), the plot moves along at a nice clip (though some early strands were seemingly forgotten...little suicidal brother I'm looking at you), and (for once) the use of a voice over narrator didn't piss me off to high heaven (a lot of which I attribute to Kristen Bell). It also helps that none of the actors are as bad as Mischa Barton (ugh).
On the down side Gossip Girl's missing the humor that made The OC enjoyable (it's hard to see them celebrating Chrismukah on Gossip Girl). Like The OC they seem to burn through plot at a prodigious rate (now is this endemic to all things Schwartz? or is it merely a blip in the pilot?). Also the characters really aren't all that interesting (not sure how much depth they have to plumb).
All in all I'd say that Gossip Girl's one of the new shows to watch, I think it'll find an audience.
Oh, and boys, my RMC's in the mail...
Wednesday, September 5, 2007
Three Weeks...
...and I'm going to be starting my first Television course through the UCLA Learning Extension. Exciting times.
In other news that has me excited Ross rules out a Friends reunion! Yay! Ten years of Friends is more than enough, time for some folks to come up with the next great sitcom (and no I don't think that The Bill Engvall Show quite cuts it).
And I'm off...
In other news that has me excited Ross rules out a Friends reunion! Yay! Ten years of Friends is more than enough, time for some folks to come up with the next great sitcom (and no I don't think that The Bill Engvall Show quite cuts it).
And I'm off...
Tuesday, September 4, 2007
Scheduling Dumbassery
Just how stupid can a network be?
Well, if the rumors are true, pretty fucking stupid.
What could possibly possess Sci-Fi to consider running the final season of BSG in two parts over TWO YEARS! Yup...that's right. They'd air 10 episodes in 2008 and then the other 10 in 2009. Sure you could stretch out the final season into two (sort of), but at what cost?
You'd think that the suits would've learned their lesson after watching shows like Jericho implode after a long lay off. Audiences don't want to stick around, twiddling their thumbs.
Then again, they might just be counting on the rabidness of BSG fans. We may bitch and moan, but at the end of the day we're still going to tune in to watch the finale.
But boy do I ever hope this is just an unfounded rumor.
Well, if the rumors are true, pretty fucking stupid.
What could possibly possess Sci-Fi to consider running the final season of BSG in two parts over TWO YEARS! Yup...that's right. They'd air 10 episodes in 2008 and then the other 10 in 2009. Sure you could stretch out the final season into two (sort of), but at what cost?
You'd think that the suits would've learned their lesson after watching shows like Jericho implode after a long lay off. Audiences don't want to stick around, twiddling their thumbs.
Then again, they might just be counting on the rabidness of BSG fans. We may bitch and moan, but at the end of the day we're still going to tune in to watch the finale.
But boy do I ever hope this is just an unfounded rumor.
Monday, September 3, 2007
FNL Break Down
As it was promised, so shall it be delivered...
Episode 10 - "It's Different For Girls"
Official Synopsis: The cheer team definitely has something to yell about when Lyla is the victim of brutal high school harassment, and Coach Taylor tries to keep his daughter, Julie, away from Matt.
Teaser
Recap - 00:45 (00:00 - 00:45)
• Matt & Julie relationship
• Smash steroid arc
• Riggins / Lyla fallout
Scene 1 - 00:26 (0:46 - 1:12) - A Story
Lyla cleaning graffiti (Slut, Whore, etc.) off of her locker.
Scene 2 - 01:43 (1:13 - 1:56) - A Story
Cheerleader practice. Catty comments from the other cheerleaders, Lyla struggles with her focus.
Scene 3 - 00:45 (1:58 - 2:43) - B Story
Julie tells Matt that for their budding relationship to work he's going to have to learn to stand up to her Dad. She invites him over to her house to watch TV the following night.
Scene 4 - 01:26 (2:44 - 4:10) - A / D Story
Jason's homecoming. We get to see how his parents have renovated the house (ramps, widened doors). His father's moved his office upstairs. Hint of money trouble ("we'll renovate the utility closet as soon as we can afford it"). Jason gets rid of a picture of him and Lyla.
TRT Teaser (not including recap) - 4:20
Act One
Scene 1 - 01:19 (4:54 - 6:13) - B Story
The Taylor's are driving to school. Julie tells her parents that she's going to be going out with Matt on Saturday. Coach Taylor says that's not going to happen because Matt and the rest of the team have to go to the cheerleading championships.
Scene 2 - 00:56 (6:14 - 7:10) - D Story
Jason's parents tell him that he's going to have to meet with a lawyer about suing the school / Coach Taylor.
Scene 3 - 00:57 (7:11 - 8:08) - C Story
Smash tries to pick up the "New Girl" who just happens to be Waverly, a childhood friend he hasn't seen for a long time, and daughter of the local pastor.
Scene 4 - 00:57 (8:09 - 9:06) - B / C Story
Some friendly locker room ribbing. Riggins says Smash hasn't got a chance in hell of hooking up with Waverly. Someone suggests a bet that Saracen will be able to sleep with Julie before Smash can sleep with Waverly. Unfortunately Coach Taylor overhears all of it and isn't happy.
Scene 5 - 01:00 (9:07 - 10:07) - A Story
Cheer practice again. Her fellow cheerleaders deliberately drop Lyla. Shoving ensues, the Cheer coach demands to know what's going on. They all say nothing's going on. Lyla commits to being with the team.
Scene 6 - 01:49 (10:08 - 11:57) - A Story
Jason sees his neighbors for the first time since he's been home. Challenges the little boy to a race (boy on his bike, Jason in his chair) down the street. At the end he notices Lyla's come to visit. She leaves after Jason says "I have nothing to say to you, don't come back here."
TRT Act One - 6:01
Act Two
Scene 1 - 01:00 (11:59 - 12:59) - C / A Story
Classroom scene. Smash and Waverly discuss the Odyssey, specifically the double standard that exists between men and women. How it's alright if men cheat, but not alright for women. Monogamy is unnatural according to Smash. According to Waverly it's a higher state of evolution.
Scene 2 - 01:26 (13:00 - 14:26) - A Story
Lyla eating in the cafeteria. She's harassed by a couple of other students until Riggins shows up and sits with her. She asks him to leave, that he's making it worse, reiterates the double standard mentioned in the previous scene, until Riggins finally leaves.
Scene 3 - 00:36 (14:27 - 15:03) - A Story
Tyra and Riggins talk in the hallway outside of the cafeteria. Tyra tells him that he's just making things worse for Lyla by sitting with her. He asks her to stay out of it. She realizes that he's in love with Lyla.
Scene 4 - 01:01 (15:04 - 16:05) - A Story
Buddy Garrity's approached in his car dealership by one of the cheerleaders' fathers, who apologizes for his daughter putting some nasty rumors about Lyla on the internet. Scene's intercut with Buddy searching the net for the website.
Scene 5 - 00:42 (16:06 - 16:48) - A / B Story
Coach and Mrs. Coach are playing cards discussing Lyla's situation. "It was like the Scarlet Letter." Saracen shows up for his TV date with Julie, much to her parents dismay.
Scene 6 - 00:34 (16:49 - 18:23) - D Story
The Street family meets with their lawyer. He asks whether or not Jason ever did any tackling drills. Jason realizes that that means they're going to be suing Coach Taylor as well as the school, contrary to what he thought the plan was.
Scene 7 - 00:21 (18:24 - 18:45) - B Story
Coach Taylor pacing in the bedroom while his wife tries to keep playing cards. Wondering what Matt and Julie are doing in the living room. Finally, despite his wife's objections, he decides to go and check up on his daughter.
Scene 8 - 01:07 (18:46 - 19:53) - B Story
Coach scares Saracen away, pisses Julie off in the process. His justification; "They had a blanket." His wife's reaction; "You're an idiot."
Scene 9 - 00:53 (19:54 - 20:47) - A Story
Lyla's looking at the burn website the other cheerleaders have set up in her honor. Buddy checks in on her, she pretends that everything's okay, he pretends the same.
TRT Act Two - 7:40
Act Three
Scene 1 - 02:27 (20:49 - 23:16) - A Story
Pep rally for the cheerleaders. Smash, Saracen, Riggins (and a few other players) dress up in drag and put on a little routine. Lyla's no where to be found.
Scene 2 - 00:27 (23:17 - 23:44) - A Story
Lyla's at her locker. Someone's slipped her a note "For a good time call..." Mrs. Coach finds her and brings Lyla to her office for a talk.
Scene 3 - 00:55 (23:45 - 24:40) - A Story
Lyla tells Mrs. Coach that she's going to quit Cheerleading. Says it used to be the most important thing to her, and ever since Jason's accident she's been pretending that it still is, but now she's done pretending.
Scene 4 - 00:29 (24:41 - 25:10) - C Story
Football practice. Before hitting the field Smash takes some of his steroids, proceeds to dominate practice. Coaching staff comments that he must be eating his wheaties, Coach Taylor "well whatever it is let's make sure he keeps eating them."
Scene 5 - 00:55 (25:11 - 26:06) - B Story
Saracen tries to stand up to Coach after practice. Says that he can't stop him from seeing Julie. Coach Taylor "If I don't want you seeing my daughter, you're not going to be seeing my daughter."
Scene 6 - 00:42 (26:07 - 26:49) - A Story
Lyla crying on her couch. Her Mom tries to comfort her, saying the most important thing is that you learn something from the mistakes you make.
Scene 7 - 01:39 (26:50 - 28:29) - C Story
Smash has Waverly and her Pastor father over for dinner. Wants her to tell them about her time in Africa as a missionary, Waverly's father asks Smash about how his SAT prep course is coming. It's awkward, obvious that something hinky's going on with both things.
Scene 8 - 01:26 (28:30 - 29:56) - A Story
Riggins comes to tell Jason about Lyla's situation. He says that Lyla's always been in love with Jason, that it was a mistake and that he's sorry. Jason's not having any of it.
TRT Act Three - 9:00
Act Four
Scene 1 - 00:55 (29:58 - 30:53) - B Story
Taylor's as they get ready to go to school. Julie says that she's going to get a ride from Matt and Landry, and that she's going to be going with him to the movies on Saturday before the cheerleading thing. Coach Taylor says he's going to have to sit Saracen down for a little "Matt chat."
Scene 2 - 00:35 (30:54 - 31:29) - B Story
Coach Taylor gives Saracen a bunch of game film to review on Saturday in preparation for the next game, and in conflict with Matt's plans to see Julie.
Scene 3 - 00:48 (31:30 - 32:18) - C Story
Smash asks Waverly to go out with him after the game. She ribs him, finally forcing him to drop his Smash persona and be genuine before she agrees to go play miniature gold with him.
Scene 4 - 00:55 (32:19 - 33:13) - A / B Story
Montage of several people watching highlights of the game on television. Jason watching, and then noticing Lyla outside his house. The Riggins brothers hanging out. Saracen and his Grandma, Saracen trying get the TV so he can watch the game tapes. Other families picking up their young kids from the church (which has babysitting for every away game).
Scene 5 - 01:59 (33:14 - 35:13) - C Story
Smash and Waverly on their date, talking about future plans. Smash wants to go to U of T, Waverly's concerned over his academics. Waverly also says that she's going to give up on her dreams of med school "It's probably not the best thing for me right now." Eventually they both call each other's bluff, Waverly doesn't think that Smash used that money for a SAT prep class. Smash doesn't think that Waverly went to Africa.
Scene 6 - 00:56 (35:14 - 37:10) - A Story
Jason and Lyla have it out. Jason says he's unable to forgive her, both cry, Lyla walks away leaving Jason in his chair in the street.
TRT Act Four - 6:08
Act Five
Scene 1 - 00:22 (37:12 - 37:34) - A Story
Panther cheerleaders arrive at the State cheerleading championship.
Scene 2 - 00:58 (37:35 - 38:33) - B Story
Coach and Mrs. Coach get ready to go to the cheerleading championships. They're running late because Coach was playing golf. He's surprised to find out that Julie's going to meet them at the championship because she's getting a ride with Saracen. She decided to help him go over the game tapes. At least now she's interested in football.
Scene 3 - 01:04 (38:34 - 39:38) - A Story
Riggins shows up at Lyla's house, does his best to convince her to go to the championship. She needs that "nothing else matters feeling" that they both get when they're competing.
Scene 4 - 00:33 (39:39 - 40:12) - A / B Story
Coach and Mrs. Coach arrive at the competition, sit with Julie and Saracen, just as one of the referees explains the rules to the cheerleaders in another area of the gym.
Scene 5 - 00:22 (40:13 - 40:35) - C Story
Coach Taylor runs into Smash in the washroom. Smash is cleaning himself up after a monster nose bleed, Coach starts to get a little suspicious that something might be going on.
Scene 6 - 01:48 (40:36 - 42:24) - A Story
Everyone settles into the stands in anticipation of the competition. Lyla shows up at the last minute, checks herself in with the ref (he recognizes her, her response "yup, the whore with the website"). Cheerleaders compete. Jason's there to watch as well. We end with Lyla actually looking happy.
TRT Act Five - 5:07
TRT Show - 39:45
DVD player was glitching a fair bit, so the times are a best guess I'm afraid (things are running short otherwise).
This is one of the heavier episodes of FNL in the early season (at least in my humble opinion). It's also one of the first (only?) episodes that's really all about Lyla. Now I'm not the biggest Minka Kelly fan, but I wanted to break this episode down because it's one of the first times that we're really taken out of the football world and into the realm of the personal.
Now, because of this, it shouldn't come as any surprise that this is a "relationship" episode. All of our main plotlines are about various couples.
Our A story is all about Lyla, and specifically the fallout of her relationship with Riggins and Street. It also has some of the best moments for Riggins and Lyla in the entire show (at least the first half of the season). Scene 3 of Act 5 in particular is solid gold.
Matt and Julie's B story provides most the comic relief, as well as a nice counterpoint to their more dysfunctional counterparts.
The Smash C story is more about his ongoing steroid arc (Waverly acts as a source of continuing, nagging doubt), and Street's D story (so small it'd be a runner if it was comedic) is more about setting up the future lawsuit arc.
The plot lines tend to run in clumps, which works really well actually. The A story gets some momentum and then, just as it's getting a little too dramatic, we're hit with a refreshing burst of B or C.
Anyways, I'll probably follow up with a couple more episodes of FNL (if there's an interest), and then move on to some Dexter.
Oh, and if anyone has any suggestions as to what would improve my breakdowns, please don't hesitate to let me know!
Episode 10 - "It's Different For Girls"
Official Synopsis: The cheer team definitely has something to yell about when Lyla is the victim of brutal high school harassment, and Coach Taylor tries to keep his daughter, Julie, away from Matt.
Teaser
Recap - 00:45 (00:00 - 00:45)
• Matt & Julie relationship
• Smash steroid arc
• Riggins / Lyla fallout
Scene 1 - 00:26 (0:46 - 1:12) - A Story
Lyla cleaning graffiti (Slut, Whore, etc.) off of her locker.
Scene 2 - 01:43 (1:13 - 1:56) - A Story
Cheerleader practice. Catty comments from the other cheerleaders, Lyla struggles with her focus.
Scene 3 - 00:45 (1:58 - 2:43) - B Story
Julie tells Matt that for their budding relationship to work he's going to have to learn to stand up to her Dad. She invites him over to her house to watch TV the following night.
Scene 4 - 01:26 (2:44 - 4:10) - A / D Story
Jason's homecoming. We get to see how his parents have renovated the house (ramps, widened doors). His father's moved his office upstairs. Hint of money trouble ("we'll renovate the utility closet as soon as we can afford it"). Jason gets rid of a picture of him and Lyla.
TRT Teaser (not including recap) - 4:20
Act One
Scene 1 - 01:19 (4:54 - 6:13) - B Story
The Taylor's are driving to school. Julie tells her parents that she's going to be going out with Matt on Saturday. Coach Taylor says that's not going to happen because Matt and the rest of the team have to go to the cheerleading championships.
Scene 2 - 00:56 (6:14 - 7:10) - D Story
Jason's parents tell him that he's going to have to meet with a lawyer about suing the school / Coach Taylor.
Scene 3 - 00:57 (7:11 - 8:08) - C Story
Smash tries to pick up the "New Girl" who just happens to be Waverly, a childhood friend he hasn't seen for a long time, and daughter of the local pastor.
Scene 4 - 00:57 (8:09 - 9:06) - B / C Story
Some friendly locker room ribbing. Riggins says Smash hasn't got a chance in hell of hooking up with Waverly. Someone suggests a bet that Saracen will be able to sleep with Julie before Smash can sleep with Waverly. Unfortunately Coach Taylor overhears all of it and isn't happy.
Scene 5 - 01:00 (9:07 - 10:07) - A Story
Cheer practice again. Her fellow cheerleaders deliberately drop Lyla. Shoving ensues, the Cheer coach demands to know what's going on. They all say nothing's going on. Lyla commits to being with the team.
Scene 6 - 01:49 (10:08 - 11:57) - A Story
Jason sees his neighbors for the first time since he's been home. Challenges the little boy to a race (boy on his bike, Jason in his chair) down the street. At the end he notices Lyla's come to visit. She leaves after Jason says "I have nothing to say to you, don't come back here."
TRT Act One - 6:01
Act Two
Scene 1 - 01:00 (11:59 - 12:59) - C / A Story
Classroom scene. Smash and Waverly discuss the Odyssey, specifically the double standard that exists between men and women. How it's alright if men cheat, but not alright for women. Monogamy is unnatural according to Smash. According to Waverly it's a higher state of evolution.
Scene 2 - 01:26 (13:00 - 14:26) - A Story
Lyla eating in the cafeteria. She's harassed by a couple of other students until Riggins shows up and sits with her. She asks him to leave, that he's making it worse, reiterates the double standard mentioned in the previous scene, until Riggins finally leaves.
Scene 3 - 00:36 (14:27 - 15:03) - A Story
Tyra and Riggins talk in the hallway outside of the cafeteria. Tyra tells him that he's just making things worse for Lyla by sitting with her. He asks her to stay out of it. She realizes that he's in love with Lyla.
Scene 4 - 01:01 (15:04 - 16:05) - A Story
Buddy Garrity's approached in his car dealership by one of the cheerleaders' fathers, who apologizes for his daughter putting some nasty rumors about Lyla on the internet. Scene's intercut with Buddy searching the net for the website.
Scene 5 - 00:42 (16:06 - 16:48) - A / B Story
Coach and Mrs. Coach are playing cards discussing Lyla's situation. "It was like the Scarlet Letter." Saracen shows up for his TV date with Julie, much to her parents dismay.
Scene 6 - 00:34 (16:49 - 18:23) - D Story
The Street family meets with their lawyer. He asks whether or not Jason ever did any tackling drills. Jason realizes that that means they're going to be suing Coach Taylor as well as the school, contrary to what he thought the plan was.
Scene 7 - 00:21 (18:24 - 18:45) - B Story
Coach Taylor pacing in the bedroom while his wife tries to keep playing cards. Wondering what Matt and Julie are doing in the living room. Finally, despite his wife's objections, he decides to go and check up on his daughter.
Scene 8 - 01:07 (18:46 - 19:53) - B Story
Coach scares Saracen away, pisses Julie off in the process. His justification; "They had a blanket." His wife's reaction; "You're an idiot."
Scene 9 - 00:53 (19:54 - 20:47) - A Story
Lyla's looking at the burn website the other cheerleaders have set up in her honor. Buddy checks in on her, she pretends that everything's okay, he pretends the same.
TRT Act Two - 7:40
Act Three
Scene 1 - 02:27 (20:49 - 23:16) - A Story
Pep rally for the cheerleaders. Smash, Saracen, Riggins (and a few other players) dress up in drag and put on a little routine. Lyla's no where to be found.
Scene 2 - 00:27 (23:17 - 23:44) - A Story
Lyla's at her locker. Someone's slipped her a note "For a good time call..." Mrs. Coach finds her and brings Lyla to her office for a talk.
Scene 3 - 00:55 (23:45 - 24:40) - A Story
Lyla tells Mrs. Coach that she's going to quit Cheerleading. Says it used to be the most important thing to her, and ever since Jason's accident she's been pretending that it still is, but now she's done pretending.
Scene 4 - 00:29 (24:41 - 25:10) - C Story
Football practice. Before hitting the field Smash takes some of his steroids, proceeds to dominate practice. Coaching staff comments that he must be eating his wheaties, Coach Taylor "well whatever it is let's make sure he keeps eating them."
Scene 5 - 00:55 (25:11 - 26:06) - B Story
Saracen tries to stand up to Coach after practice. Says that he can't stop him from seeing Julie. Coach Taylor "If I don't want you seeing my daughter, you're not going to be seeing my daughter."
Scene 6 - 00:42 (26:07 - 26:49) - A Story
Lyla crying on her couch. Her Mom tries to comfort her, saying the most important thing is that you learn something from the mistakes you make.
Scene 7 - 01:39 (26:50 - 28:29) - C Story
Smash has Waverly and her Pastor father over for dinner. Wants her to tell them about her time in Africa as a missionary, Waverly's father asks Smash about how his SAT prep course is coming. It's awkward, obvious that something hinky's going on with both things.
Scene 8 - 01:26 (28:30 - 29:56) - A Story
Riggins comes to tell Jason about Lyla's situation. He says that Lyla's always been in love with Jason, that it was a mistake and that he's sorry. Jason's not having any of it.
TRT Act Three - 9:00
Act Four
Scene 1 - 00:55 (29:58 - 30:53) - B Story
Taylor's as they get ready to go to school. Julie says that she's going to get a ride from Matt and Landry, and that she's going to be going with him to the movies on Saturday before the cheerleading thing. Coach Taylor says he's going to have to sit Saracen down for a little "Matt chat."
Scene 2 - 00:35 (30:54 - 31:29) - B Story
Coach Taylor gives Saracen a bunch of game film to review on Saturday in preparation for the next game, and in conflict with Matt's plans to see Julie.
Scene 3 - 00:48 (31:30 - 32:18) - C Story
Smash asks Waverly to go out with him after the game. She ribs him, finally forcing him to drop his Smash persona and be genuine before she agrees to go play miniature gold with him.
Scene 4 - 00:55 (32:19 - 33:13) - A / B Story
Montage of several people watching highlights of the game on television. Jason watching, and then noticing Lyla outside his house. The Riggins brothers hanging out. Saracen and his Grandma, Saracen trying get the TV so he can watch the game tapes. Other families picking up their young kids from the church (which has babysitting for every away game).
Scene 5 - 01:59 (33:14 - 35:13) - C Story
Smash and Waverly on their date, talking about future plans. Smash wants to go to U of T, Waverly's concerned over his academics. Waverly also says that she's going to give up on her dreams of med school "It's probably not the best thing for me right now." Eventually they both call each other's bluff, Waverly doesn't think that Smash used that money for a SAT prep class. Smash doesn't think that Waverly went to Africa.
Scene 6 - 00:56 (35:14 - 37:10) - A Story
Jason and Lyla have it out. Jason says he's unable to forgive her, both cry, Lyla walks away leaving Jason in his chair in the street.
TRT Act Four - 6:08
Act Five
Scene 1 - 00:22 (37:12 - 37:34) - A Story
Panther cheerleaders arrive at the State cheerleading championship.
Scene 2 - 00:58 (37:35 - 38:33) - B Story
Coach and Mrs. Coach get ready to go to the cheerleading championships. They're running late because Coach was playing golf. He's surprised to find out that Julie's going to meet them at the championship because she's getting a ride with Saracen. She decided to help him go over the game tapes. At least now she's interested in football.
Scene 3 - 01:04 (38:34 - 39:38) - A Story
Riggins shows up at Lyla's house, does his best to convince her to go to the championship. She needs that "nothing else matters feeling" that they both get when they're competing.
Scene 4 - 00:33 (39:39 - 40:12) - A / B Story
Coach and Mrs. Coach arrive at the competition, sit with Julie and Saracen, just as one of the referees explains the rules to the cheerleaders in another area of the gym.
Scene 5 - 00:22 (40:13 - 40:35) - C Story
Coach Taylor runs into Smash in the washroom. Smash is cleaning himself up after a monster nose bleed, Coach starts to get a little suspicious that something might be going on.
Scene 6 - 01:48 (40:36 - 42:24) - A Story
Everyone settles into the stands in anticipation of the competition. Lyla shows up at the last minute, checks herself in with the ref (he recognizes her, her response "yup, the whore with the website"). Cheerleaders compete. Jason's there to watch as well. We end with Lyla actually looking happy.
TRT Act Five - 5:07
TRT Show - 39:45
DVD player was glitching a fair bit, so the times are a best guess I'm afraid (things are running short otherwise).
This is one of the heavier episodes of FNL in the early season (at least in my humble opinion). It's also one of the first (only?) episodes that's really all about Lyla. Now I'm not the biggest Minka Kelly fan, but I wanted to break this episode down because it's one of the first times that we're really taken out of the football world and into the realm of the personal.
Now, because of this, it shouldn't come as any surprise that this is a "relationship" episode. All of our main plotlines are about various couples.
Our A story is all about Lyla, and specifically the fallout of her relationship with Riggins and Street. It also has some of the best moments for Riggins and Lyla in the entire show (at least the first half of the season). Scene 3 of Act 5 in particular is solid gold.
Matt and Julie's B story provides most the comic relief, as well as a nice counterpoint to their more dysfunctional counterparts.
The Smash C story is more about his ongoing steroid arc (Waverly acts as a source of continuing, nagging doubt), and Street's D story (so small it'd be a runner if it was comedic) is more about setting up the future lawsuit arc.
The plot lines tend to run in clumps, which works really well actually. The A story gets some momentum and then, just as it's getting a little too dramatic, we're hit with a refreshing burst of B or C.
Anyways, I'll probably follow up with a couple more episodes of FNL (if there's an interest), and then move on to some Dexter.
Oh, and if anyone has any suggestions as to what would improve my breakdowns, please don't hesitate to let me know!
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