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RSSThe waiting is the hardest part . . . questionable storylines
People who know me know patience isn't one of my strongest attributes.
You so don't want to be with me when we are waiting for a table at a restaurant. Or a delayed flight. Or in a traffic jam when I'm running late (the perfect storm of my impatience).
And often, let's be honest, I show the same impatience with story lines on TV shows. Often I can't sit back and tolerantly wait for the story line to unfold. I'm quick to judge.
Let's take a look at some of the storylines this summer that I dismissed as bad ideas:
Mary's family drama on In Plain Sight: Since the series premiered, I've questioned the show's decision to focus on Mary's family which seemed so incongruent to Mary's work as a U.S. Marshal. But what do you know, last week Mary's two disparate worlds collided. A drug dealer mistook Mary for her sister Brandi and now Mary is all wrapped up in Brandi's botched drug deal and torn between her career and her family. Add in that Brandi is turning to Mary's ex-boyfriend for emotional support and things just got much more interesting. I'm still not convinced that Mary's family life is a necessary part of the series but I have to say it is more compelling than I originally gave it credit for.
Denise is tempted to have an affair on Army Wives : The whole story line simply screamed cliche to me. I thought Catherine Bell deserved and was definitely capable of a much more complex story line. But having Getty die tragically was a twist I didn't quite see coming. Like that famous quote from President Carter, Denise cheated in her heart (and briefly with her lips) and was all wrapped up in her feelings for Getty when he died. This is so much more interesting to me. Denise will have to explain these emotions to Frank and the show will explore the effect this non-affair will have on their marriage.
Most bad storylines stay bad (see Kimberly, cougar) but sometimes ideas that I dismss as bad turn out to be not so bad actually. Addison's arrival on Grey's Anatomy immediately comes to mind. When she first arrived, I thought "Really, a wife we didn't know about? Yawn." But she turned out to be the best thing ever to happen to Seattle Grace.
So today's topic is: Do you have a story line that you initially thought was a bad idea but then you ended up liking? What do you think of In Plain Sight and Army Wives? Talk about it below.
Checking in on The Cleaner
I have to confess that the more I see of this show, the less I like it. I still think Benjamin Bratt is doing some great work but he's let down by the script that has his character behaving a little preposterously even if it is based on a true story. And it's not even the elaborate schemes to trap a drug addict that bug me, it's the interaction among the team members and how silly some of the team members act when trying to infiltrate a group. II still really don't understand Grace Park's character or what she's all about. Gil Bellows was fantastic in the pilot and I think the team would benefit from having another team member with an equally intricate backstory. I would love to see the show expand even more on Darnell. But I am still watching the show every week, so obviously something about it is pulling me (maybe the always interesting guest stars?) What do you think about The Cleaner? Are you still watching? Talk about it below.
Quotes of the Week
"Things could be worse. I could be a civil servant with a bad haircut and ugly shoes." Brandi to the FBI agent on In Plain Sight.
"I just dropped by to tell you I'm never going to retire ... ever." Lt. Provenza to Asst. Police Chief Pope on The Closer.
"Rad is going to be 17 sooner than you think. He's a good looking boy." Nancy to Lisa, her teenage son's lover about Lisa's son on Weeds.
"Don't look at me, the FBI stopped manufacturing evidence in the late 90s." Fritz to Brenda on The Closer.
Exchange of the Week
"How do we get to the Candle's lair?" Wendy to Guy on The Middleman.
"Well, maybe Scotty can beam us there .It's an obscure reference to a cancelled television show. I'm sure you've never heard of it." Guy's response to Wendy.
That's all for today. I'm back on Monday. I'm postponing my conversation of Mad Men until Monday (that way we'll have seen four episodes this season). Have a question? Seen a familiar face? Want to nominate a quote of the week? Write me at amytvgal@zap2it.com. Have a great weekend. Talk to you on Monday.
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Hello!! Amy did you miss The Mole finale?
Not necessary a storyline, but I hated it when Kate was killed on NCIS, but I now like Ziva's character and the story dynamics even more
Bad storylines? ER immediately comes to mind. I can think of so many:
Mark's 'bad-boy' phase
Peter in love with Cleo
Susan and Carter together
Dr. Romano vs. Helicopter (parts 1 & 2)
Luka sleeps with prostitutes
Luka knocked up a random waitress, who then aborted the baby
Sam's son (everything about him, basically)
And let's not forget Nikki and Paulo of Lost and the South American wonder twins from Heroes. Both completely useless pairs. Although...I was mildly amused when Nikki and Paulo got buried alive, so...I guess that was worth something.
I'm sitting here watching an OC rerun from right before Marissa died and I have to say the death of that character is definitely a storyline that I thought was a bad idea but actually turned out to be very good. Initially I thought that Marissa and her relationship with Ryan were so central to the show that it could never work without her. But killing her off gave everyone something new and different to work with and allowed for the introduction of Taylor, who was a great character. Plus, it meant we didn't have to deal with seeing Marissa put through any more Kelly Taylor-like trauma, which was starting to get old.
It took me awhile to warm up to the "Marked" storyline on The 4400 (mainly because of the way they introduced it), but it ended up being one of the best parts of the show. Maybe if I'd known Penny Johnson Jerald would be a part of it I would have had more faith in it.
In general, the "storylines" I usually hate at first but then completely change my mind on are the ones where they get rid of one character and bring on a new one. I can think of several examples:
NCIS - Killing Kate and adding Ziva. I'm definitely OK with it now.
Charmed - Killing Prue and introducing Paige. After only a few episodes into season 4, I was sold. I didn't miss Prue (or Shannen for that matter) one bit, and to this day would much rather watch an episode with Paige.
Buffy - Oz taking off and introducing Tara as Willow's love interest. I never adored Tara herself, but I think her character worked quite well into the mix and into where they went with the show.
Bones - At first I was very adverse to replacing the director (can't remember his character name) with Camille (Tamara Taylor) without any notice or hardly any acknowledgement in the storyline at the beginning of season 2, but now I finally feel like her personality is becoming more likeable. I now appreciate her sense of humor, which is clearly different from any of the other characters - it's a nice additional perspective to have. Hopefully she'll grow on me even more.
I agree about Marissa on the OC. I actually liked her and thought killing her off was a bad idea. But Taylor was fabulous and I never missed Marissa.
Bad storyline: all of "Prison Break" post prison break.
Amy,
You neglected to mention the other two little annoyances on "In Plain Sight" that pop up on every other episode.
1) Most of the male characters on the show having a secret crush on Mary. Granted, the writers/producers have backed away from that behavior for the most part and moved onto...
2) Most of the male characters on the show telling Mary how 'hot' she is. In response Mary blushes, and acts simultaneously surprised, delighted and a little confused.
Lacey: You got to stop looking for the emotional rip-cord, Dub-Dub, or you're going to find out that your parachute is really a backpack.
Wendy: What's that even mean?
Guy: Sorry, toots, but the only thing more dangerous than an attractive woman is an intelligent woman. (The Middleman)
Love this show! Do we need to start a SaveMM campaign yet?
Two recent big storyline blunders:
The 4400 -- The m*** manufacturing of "promicin" giving anyone a 50% chance of either dying or developing a unique power/ability. It took the show down a very slippery slop by introducing too many characters with special abilities and set the stage for an eventual final confrontation or war between normal people vs. promicin positives/4400's. It was such a convoluted idea (i.e., the second half of Stephen King's "The Stand") that it probably led to the show's cancellation.
Heroes -- Claire, Mohinder or Adam Monroe's blood being able to cure the injured or bring the dead back to life. That's a storyline cheat (deus ex machine) that should never have been introduced.