Miracles-athon is over!
Jan. 2nd, 2004 02:52 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
sailorhathorMy first impressions of the unaired episodes:
These WILL contain spoilers, so I'll put them under a lj cut.
First off, Kaye and I had fun obliterating out the audio on the commercial bumper where Skeet says, "Miracles will continue, here on ABC." Just when he got close to saying the call letters of the channel that killed "Miracles," we'd go, "AYAYAYAYAYA!" or clear our throats really loud or just growl loudly. ^_^ Heehee. We silly.
You Are My Sunshine - I've seen this before, but just wanted to say it's even better the second time around. Evil, smarmy, sarcastic Paul just cracks me up. Okay, I hate it when he smacks Rebecca; that makes me mad. But otherwise, Skeet is so fun to watch when he plays evil. Add in ass-kicking Evie, and a really exciting fight between Alva and Paul, and you've got happy Laurel! My two favorite moments (besides the above) are when Paul does the evil stretch ("Keel and I have to talk...")((It's so damn creepy and sexy at the same time; sends a chill up my spine!)); and when Paul offers to take Alva's coat, Alva obligingly hands it over even though he knows Paul's all messed up, and Paul promptly and casually tosses the coat on the floor. XD I laugh every time. I still wonder why the wife had the blood spot on her forehead in so many of the visions; kinda seemed like they were hinting that the ice man stabbed her in the head with the ice pick, but that's not what happened.
Battle at Shadow Ridge - The timeslip stuff in this ep was so BADASS. I LOVED the moment where the army guy is about to shoot Henry, and for just a moment, Paul slips back in time long enough to get shot, taking the bullet for him, and then bam, they switch back again. That was such a cool idea! Henry was so confused as to why he didn't get shot! XD I can see why people would have gotten mixed up by that, though. And the way the timeslip made the trees seem to rearrange themselves, when actually, they just kept seeing the forest as it looked in the past, when the trees would have been different. Some really cool concepts with time in this ep! I usually get so tired of time travel stuff because it's all the same ideas over and over, but this, this really felt new and original. I also enjoyed the banter between Alva and Paul. They fight so entertainingly. ^_^ "Kids have a tendency to lie." "That's why I wasn't interviewing them." XD
Two things that bothered me - why did the mother and her kids pretty much wind up being the new members of SQ? XD GO HOME. Not that they weren't funny, but it was like, what is she still doing there with Paul and Alva?! Helping them do research?! That was strange. Second, and someone from Virginia will have to answer me this (Joe?), but do people from Virginia really have extremely thick southern-sounding accents? Some scenes I was cringing so hard... the accents were really bad for some of the actors.
Ooh, did enjoy Paul obviously in a lot of pain. Poor baby. Mama kiss it and make it better. >:)
Mother's Daughter - I liked reading the write-up of this episode better than watching it. It was okay, had some very nice moments, but the outcome was just too unfair; it affected my ability to enjoy the ep. This is the way I look at it - Lucinda killed herself. She gave up her chance to live. She didn't deserve a second chance if that second chance meant she had to steal someone else's body. Hannah didn't deserve to be squeezed out of her own body; it wasn't her fault how things happened, and she may have died temporarily, but she was brought back. That whole thing just really bothered me. It was almost like Hannah was being punished for her father's death, when she didn't do anything wrong. I know that's probably not what the writer intended, but that's how it felt to me.
Saint Debbie - Certain moments of this one, I really really enjoyed, and others I didn't. Overall, I think the outcome of the story was corny. Debbie pretends to be a saint for money, she jumps in the way to save Alva's life, and bingo! Turns out she really is some sort of saint! Cornball. I'm really not sure what ending I would have liked better, but that one... it just makes me roll my eyes. But the interaction between all the characters was very nice. I liked seeing a very human side to Alva. He can't always be right, his judgement is sometimes clouded by caring for someone. That was nice for a change, that Alva be the one lead by his emotions. Oh, and it was kind of hard to believe (for me) that someone possibly being a saint would generate that much tourism. I would think most people would laugh, shake their heads, and move on to the next news story.
Ohhhh, the dream sequence at the beginning! VERY funny! And Paul called him Alva, but only in the dream (the only other time he called him Alva was in "YAMS," but that was during a fight, and he was imitating Alva's mother). That whole thing is very emotionally significant, IMO, the fact that Paul will not call him by his first name.
Some very good interaction in this ep, though, so I did like it a lot. Paul could SO totally tell that Alva was smitten with Miss Debbie, and it shocked him! That was cool. ^_^ Heehee, Debbie's brother did the Interrupting Cow joke. I love that one.
The Ghost - Ahhhh I LOVED this one. SO funny and SO cool. (In general, I love ghost stories about stuff being moved around in wicked ways, so I'm not surprised I liked this one so much.) First of all, it's Graham from "My So-Called Life"! Another actor I like a lot. I'll have to look up his name. The opening scene with the scissors and the other sharp thing whittling out that message on the desk, that was SO, SO COOL. Bdbdbdbdbdbdbd I'M BACK! LOVED. IT. And the office furniture winding up on the ceiling, down to every last detail - also totally awesome. Although, I was talking to the tv... "Paul, you should probably get out of there incase it all comes down." And then here comes Mr. Kittredge: "I can explain." XD
A VERY well researched episode. All of the paranormal details were correct! That is so rare for a show like this; I'm used to these kinds of shows using the same generally accepted ideas about the paranormal that other shows have used. So, in that instance, Alva would have said a poltergeist was a ghost. But that's not what he said! He had the definition right! SO COOL!
The Letter - Another episode I really enjoyed. Took a classic paranormal thing (automatic writing) and did something new with it. That was a very cool idea. I just about freaked when Alva used the word "apport" and used it correctly!! The writers really researched this stuff!! Again, totally awesome! I know many fans think Poppi is evil, but I just can't agree. I think he is simply there to cause a little conflict. (Or a lot, depending on your view.)
Paul is Dead - I loved everything about this episode except for one thing, and I'll get to that in a second. First off, loved Evie's freak out. "You should have told me you weren't safe!!" Very well acted, I'm proud of Marisa. The scene showed, though, how SQ is still sort of emotionally awkward around each other. I mean, they've saved each other's lives several times, yet they can't even hug Evie while she's freaking out and crying.
It's official: Mattie is an aggressively cute kid. ^_^ "I got to stay up past midnight." ^___^ Reminded me of when my niece and nephew were little and I could take them by the hands and spin them around without danger of one of us getting killed. XD They loved that so much; I'd get pooped before they ever would. "Spin me again!" Hee, I esp. liked when Mattie was whispering in his mother's ear about how he wanted her to spin him like Paul did. Soooo cute.
I'm going to have to go back and watch this again, but did the psychic guy say that Paul carried the pain of all humanity inside him?! That's what it sounded like.
I liked everything else in the ep; all the performances were wonderful. Even the Pupsicle was believable. :D It must've been mighty cold in that bathroom before he ever got in the tub, because Skeet's nipples were like, "ATTEEEEEN-TION!" XD
Okay, here's what I had a problem with. Paul suggests that in order to find Mattie, he has to die for four minutes, so he can talk to Tommy. Tommy knows something, blah blah blah. Of course, Alva's like, "NO. Bad idea." But then eventually, he agrees to help Paul. Um, okay... Alva's an experienced paranormal dude. He's not going to suggest that they try to contact Tommy some other way before they go the extreme, possibly deadly, possibly murdering Paul route? What about Ouija boards? Automatic writing? A quickie psychomantium chamber? A seance?! You cannot tell me Alva doesn't see the value in those methods. I am a rank amateur when it comes to the paranormal, just another regular person who enjoys reading about it and doing a little dabbling, and I know from my own experience that you CAN contact something through a simple Parker Brothers Ouija board. Just one experience I had involved me taking my fingers off the planchette for a couple of seconds to stretch them, and the GODDAMN THING KEPT MOVING. On its own. Nancy saw it, I saw it, we both saw it. It did not jerk or jump like I had pushed it, it just kept moving across the board very smoothly. So I highly doubt Alva is going to agree to kill Paul so quickly, when there are other safer methods they could have tried first. Now I understand that this is a tv show, and they have limited time, and they must keep it exciting, so I know why they had Alva agree to it. I just didn't find it believable. He would have exhausted every other possibility that Paul would allow first. I could see Paul getting antsy for answers and insisting, but at least Alva could have *suggested* these other methods of talking to Tommy.
Anyway, those are my major impressions at this time. I'll probably flesh them out even more when I write my own summaries and reviews of each ep (oh, for fun!).
These WILL contain spoilers, so I'll put them under a lj cut.
First off, Kaye and I had fun obliterating out the audio on the commercial bumper where Skeet says, "Miracles will continue, here on ABC." Just when he got close to saying the call letters of the channel that killed "Miracles," we'd go, "AYAYAYAYAYA!" or clear our throats really loud or just growl loudly. ^_^ Heehee. We silly.
You Are My Sunshine - I've seen this before, but just wanted to say it's even better the second time around. Evil, smarmy, sarcastic Paul just cracks me up. Okay, I hate it when he smacks Rebecca; that makes me mad. But otherwise, Skeet is so fun to watch when he plays evil. Add in ass-kicking Evie, and a really exciting fight between Alva and Paul, and you've got happy Laurel! My two favorite moments (besides the above) are when Paul does the evil stretch ("Keel and I have to talk...")((It's so damn creepy and sexy at the same time; sends a chill up my spine!)); and when Paul offers to take Alva's coat, Alva obligingly hands it over even though he knows Paul's all messed up, and Paul promptly and casually tosses the coat on the floor. XD I laugh every time. I still wonder why the wife had the blood spot on her forehead in so many of the visions; kinda seemed like they were hinting that the ice man stabbed her in the head with the ice pick, but that's not what happened.
Battle at Shadow Ridge - The timeslip stuff in this ep was so BADASS. I LOVED the moment where the army guy is about to shoot Henry, and for just a moment, Paul slips back in time long enough to get shot, taking the bullet for him, and then bam, they switch back again. That was such a cool idea! Henry was so confused as to why he didn't get shot! XD I can see why people would have gotten mixed up by that, though. And the way the timeslip made the trees seem to rearrange themselves, when actually, they just kept seeing the forest as it looked in the past, when the trees would have been different. Some really cool concepts with time in this ep! I usually get so tired of time travel stuff because it's all the same ideas over and over, but this, this really felt new and original. I also enjoyed the banter between Alva and Paul. They fight so entertainingly. ^_^ "Kids have a tendency to lie." "That's why I wasn't interviewing them." XD
Two things that bothered me - why did the mother and her kids pretty much wind up being the new members of SQ? XD GO HOME. Not that they weren't funny, but it was like, what is she still doing there with Paul and Alva?! Helping them do research?! That was strange. Second, and someone from Virginia will have to answer me this (Joe?), but do people from Virginia really have extremely thick southern-sounding accents? Some scenes I was cringing so hard... the accents were really bad for some of the actors.
Ooh, did enjoy Paul obviously in a lot of pain. Poor baby. Mama kiss it and make it better. >:)
Mother's Daughter - I liked reading the write-up of this episode better than watching it. It was okay, had some very nice moments, but the outcome was just too unfair; it affected my ability to enjoy the ep. This is the way I look at it - Lucinda killed herself. She gave up her chance to live. She didn't deserve a second chance if that second chance meant she had to steal someone else's body. Hannah didn't deserve to be squeezed out of her own body; it wasn't her fault how things happened, and she may have died temporarily, but she was brought back. That whole thing just really bothered me. It was almost like Hannah was being punished for her father's death, when she didn't do anything wrong. I know that's probably not what the writer intended, but that's how it felt to me.
Saint Debbie - Certain moments of this one, I really really enjoyed, and others I didn't. Overall, I think the outcome of the story was corny. Debbie pretends to be a saint for money, she jumps in the way to save Alva's life, and bingo! Turns out she really is some sort of saint! Cornball. I'm really not sure what ending I would have liked better, but that one... it just makes me roll my eyes. But the interaction between all the characters was very nice. I liked seeing a very human side to Alva. He can't always be right, his judgement is sometimes clouded by caring for someone. That was nice for a change, that Alva be the one lead by his emotions. Oh, and it was kind of hard to believe (for me) that someone possibly being a saint would generate that much tourism. I would think most people would laugh, shake their heads, and move on to the next news story.
Ohhhh, the dream sequence at the beginning! VERY funny! And Paul called him Alva, but only in the dream (the only other time he called him Alva was in "YAMS," but that was during a fight, and he was imitating Alva's mother). That whole thing is very emotionally significant, IMO, the fact that Paul will not call him by his first name.
Some very good interaction in this ep, though, so I did like it a lot. Paul could SO totally tell that Alva was smitten with Miss Debbie, and it shocked him! That was cool. ^_^ Heehee, Debbie's brother did the Interrupting Cow joke. I love that one.
The Ghost - Ahhhh I LOVED this one. SO funny and SO cool. (In general, I love ghost stories about stuff being moved around in wicked ways, so I'm not surprised I liked this one so much.) First of all, it's Graham from "My So-Called Life"! Another actor I like a lot. I'll have to look up his name. The opening scene with the scissors and the other sharp thing whittling out that message on the desk, that was SO, SO COOL. Bdbdbdbdbdbdbd I'M BACK! LOVED. IT. And the office furniture winding up on the ceiling, down to every last detail - also totally awesome. Although, I was talking to the tv... "Paul, you should probably get out of there incase it all comes down." And then here comes Mr. Kittredge: "I can explain." XD
A VERY well researched episode. All of the paranormal details were correct! That is so rare for a show like this; I'm used to these kinds of shows using the same generally accepted ideas about the paranormal that other shows have used. So, in that instance, Alva would have said a poltergeist was a ghost. But that's not what he said! He had the definition right! SO COOL!
The Letter - Another episode I really enjoyed. Took a classic paranormal thing (automatic writing) and did something new with it. That was a very cool idea. I just about freaked when Alva used the word "apport" and used it correctly!! The writers really researched this stuff!! Again, totally awesome! I know many fans think Poppi is evil, but I just can't agree. I think he is simply there to cause a little conflict. (Or a lot, depending on your view.)
Paul is Dead - I loved everything about this episode except for one thing, and I'll get to that in a second. First off, loved Evie's freak out. "You should have told me you weren't safe!!" Very well acted, I'm proud of Marisa. The scene showed, though, how SQ is still sort of emotionally awkward around each other. I mean, they've saved each other's lives several times, yet they can't even hug Evie while she's freaking out and crying.
It's official: Mattie is an aggressively cute kid. ^_^ "I got to stay up past midnight." ^___^ Reminded me of when my niece and nephew were little and I could take them by the hands and spin them around without danger of one of us getting killed. XD They loved that so much; I'd get pooped before they ever would. "Spin me again!" Hee, I esp. liked when Mattie was whispering in his mother's ear about how he wanted her to spin him like Paul did. Soooo cute.
I'm going to have to go back and watch this again, but did the psychic guy say that Paul carried the pain of all humanity inside him?! That's what it sounded like.
I liked everything else in the ep; all the performances were wonderful. Even the Pupsicle was believable. :D It must've been mighty cold in that bathroom before he ever got in the tub, because Skeet's nipples were like, "ATTEEEEEN-TION!" XD
Okay, here's what I had a problem with. Paul suggests that in order to find Mattie, he has to die for four minutes, so he can talk to Tommy. Tommy knows something, blah blah blah. Of course, Alva's like, "NO. Bad idea." But then eventually, he agrees to help Paul. Um, okay... Alva's an experienced paranormal dude. He's not going to suggest that they try to contact Tommy some other way before they go the extreme, possibly deadly, possibly murdering Paul route? What about Ouija boards? Automatic writing? A quickie psychomantium chamber? A seance?! You cannot tell me Alva doesn't see the value in those methods. I am a rank amateur when it comes to the paranormal, just another regular person who enjoys reading about it and doing a little dabbling, and I know from my own experience that you CAN contact something through a simple Parker Brothers Ouija board. Just one experience I had involved me taking my fingers off the planchette for a couple of seconds to stretch them, and the GODDAMN THING KEPT MOVING. On its own. Nancy saw it, I saw it, we both saw it. It did not jerk or jump like I had pushed it, it just kept moving across the board very smoothly. So I highly doubt Alva is going to agree to kill Paul so quickly, when there are other safer methods they could have tried first. Now I understand that this is a tv show, and they have limited time, and they must keep it exciting, so I know why they had Alva agree to it. I just didn't find it believable. He would have exhausted every other possibility that Paul would allow first. I could see Paul getting antsy for answers and insisting, but at least Alva could have *suggested* these other methods of talking to Tommy.
Anyway, those are my major impressions at this time. I'll probably flesh them out even more when I write my own summaries and reviews of each ep (oh, for fun!).
