'Big Shots': Men in tights
I'm back after a week's hiatus - thanks so much to Sarah who filled in for me last week. I know, I said there'd be shirtlessness. I apologize that you covered the one episode in which there wasn't any. On this week's Big Shots, we finally (hopefully) resolved one big plot point that was working my nerves and featured two grown men fighting in tights. That's what they call a win-win situation.
Spoilers, if you care...
James goes to pick up his kids and some random dude is loading them into a car. He confronts the guy - because, well, he doesn't want some random dude loading them into a car - and it turns out said random dude is his cheating whore of an almost-ex-wife's new boyfriend, named Nick (I've seen the guy who plays Nick on all sorts of stuff but I can't for the life of me remember his name...it's killing me). Katie (Nia Long) pumps the kids for info and finds out that not only does Nick not suck, they think he's fun. In an effort to become "Fun Dad", James calls all these costume shops to find a Captain Clobber costume to wear for his boy's birthday party. He could only find a Silver Comet costume, which he doesn't find out is the bad guy to Nick's Captain Clobber until the party. So of course they end up fighting and wrestling around on the ground dressed in glittery spandex. Good times. Nothing says fun like two grown men fighting in spandex tights - the WWE banks on it. Afterwards, Stacey, the cheating whore almost-ex-wife, chides him for starting a fight and James tells her that she shouldn't be bringing some dude she's dating around the kids. She capitulates and says she'll break up with Nick, making another half-assed attempt at getting back together. James, smartly, slaps it down. That Stacey is a piece of work, boy.
The stupid black book stuff is still going on and Duncan is now being asked to fork over $100,000 to get it. To complicate matters even more, this whole ransom drop caused him to cancel his weekend with Elizabeth. Of course, in order to do that, he lied about the reason and she stopped by the office and found out there was no hostile take-over crisis. And on top of everything, the drop got messed up. Elizabeth confronted Duncan and it didn't go well. Duncan gets another text saying that someone else bought the book so he decides to tell Elizabeth the truth. Before he can, the doorbell rings and it's Terrence to take her on a drive. Elizabeth tells Duncan that she can't let her heart get broken again. Terrence ended up buying the book and gives it to Duncan to protect Lizzie as he really cares for her. Thank goodness this whole black book thing is over because man, was I tired of it. I enjoy the interactions between Dylan McDermott and Paul Blackthorne - they should do more with that, pit them against each other or make them uneasy allies for some reason or another. That and the whole Dontrell as a Reveal model thing I mentioned two weeks ago, that would be extremely enjoyable.
Other Highlights & Tidbits:
- Karl is bad at sex. He gets better at it by the end of the episode. Anymore about this particular plotline would be a waste of space.
- Brody is strangely emotional right now because he's experiencing sympathetic PMS. Karl gave him an experimental drug his company is working on to counteract this (they call it "He-MS" at the office) which gets him all hopped up -- they're full of testosterone and he's acting very aggressive. The whole sequence of him attacking and his reaction to attacking the guy he thought was the blackmailer was great. He did this riff on feeling like Russell Crowe. Why Russell and not, say Bruce Willis or Harrison Ford, I don't know. But funny nonetheless.
- Duncan tells Cam she can hire someone to help with all the grunt work she's doing around the office. After interviewing several candidates, an unnamed cute guy (Ryan Devlin, Veronica Mars) show's up and Cam hires him, asking him to get food after the Saturday work day is over. When she walks away, he calls someone on his cell phone and tells the anonymous call-ee that he got the job...and "no, of course I haven't told them." Ooo...mysterious. My first thought is that he's Terrence's son. I'm not sure who he's going to end up being, but I don't think it's going to be as nefarious as they're making it out to be.
- At the beginning of the episode, when Terrence drives up to them on the golf course, Brody calls him "Frau Blucher." I expected a horse to whinny. (That's a Young Frankenstein reference for all of you who don't know.)
- The quote of the night goes to Katie for stating her preference of the Silver Comet over Captain Clobber when James gets off the phone after reserving his costume. Her opinion is in no way based on the characters, but simply on the names as Captain Clobber sounded like a bore - meaning the Silver Comet was much more doable. How much of that had to do with the name or the fact that James was going to be in the costume, I couldn't say. But I'd bet on the latter.
- Cam and Duncan's relationship continues to be enjoyable. Just enough sweet and just enough bitter...like sour candies. Mmm, sour candies...
How relieved are you that the black book crap is over? Aren't Paul Blackthorne and Dylan McDermott great together? Didn't Michael Vartan look good in spandex?
I really wasn't sure about this show, but I sorta like it. I too am glad the idiotic black book controversy is over ... but I can see it coming back at some point. That said, McDermott and Vartan's characters seem somewhat real, in a very Hollywood type of way of course. The scene with Vartan and Wendy Moniz was very well done ... as comical as the preceding scene was.
The one thing I wish they would do is to give Christopher Titus a bigger role. He's been on the periphery so far, and yet, he also gives this show a bit of it's kick IMO.
Yes, Michael Vartan in spandex is a good thing. I like these characters and the writing was definitely better this episode. I agree that Christopher Titus needs more to do. I'm looking forward to seeing more of them. Give them a chance, ABC.
I really enjoyed last night's episode. I thought all the guys did a good job, like they are finally getting comfortable with their roles. Michael Vartan in spandex was definitely a treat, and his more serious scenes were dead on. Rob Thomas did a great job with this script!
This show is turning into one of the best surprises of the season. Even though every one critizized it, it's been improving immensely. Goes to say, DONT TRUST THE CRITICS
One thing I would like to see is for them to find some more sets. It's so limited - they go to that country club every hour of the day it seems. For big shots like they are supposed to be, not much of a life.
On a side note, I know they want you to root for Michael Vartan's character, but I do sort of hope that he gets back together with Wendy Moniz. Granted, it seems like they are planting the seeds for something with Vartan and Nia Long.
Oh yes, Michael Vartan looked wonderful in spandex!
I really liked how well they showed James' frustration at having so many responsibilities and the boyfriend gets to be the 'fun' guy in the kids' lives.
How sweet was it to see James/Vartan with the kids at the table looking over the rock collection?
This show is a "BIG LOSER" and a complete waste of talent. I would like to see Paul Blackthorn back in the "Dresden Files". Hope Paul's cashes his checks before this mess is cancel.
John
I'm really surprised that I don't hate this show! Especially since I only started watching in order to see Paul Blackthorne again! I also didn't expect to like his character, but he was SWEET tonight!! He's awesome in whatever character he plays, anyway, but I still like him best as Harry Dresden. :) Did you know that Sci-Fi is showing repeats starting 11/9? I know where I'll be!
And I agree about Christopher Titus' need more of a story - his parts totally keep all the buddy dialog from being boring.
I love this show. It's an hour long guilty pleasure that doesn't take itself too seriously. It's good, over-the-top fun. That said, yes, hurray that the black book story appears to be done.