Must Watch: Life
Jan272010
I’ve been in meltdown which is pretty standard after a book is in freefall, and one of the ways to stop the story from rattling around my head is to put another story in there. So for three days, I watched the two seasons of Life on Hulu. There are a lot of reasons to love this show–good writing, great cast, incredibly good music–but it’s really the sum of all of those things working together that makes the series unforgettable. If life is about connecting, then Life is the perfect metaphor, not only because of the mantra the damaged lead character returns to again and again–”Everything is connected”–but because every story is about connections: failed connections, wrong connections, recovered connections, and the powerful, slow-building personal connections among the damaged leads.
The premise is that Charlie Crewes, a street cop beautifully played by Damian Lewis, was sent to prison for a triple murder he did not commit. Twelve horrific years later, he’s exonerated, and the city of LA gives him a settlement that includes his release from prison, fifty million dollars, and his badge back. This is the time to point out that this is not a gritty, ripped from the streets, documentary-style cop show. This sucker embraces the strange. So you’re going to encounter some WTF moments like why a police department would give a gun and a badge to somebody who obviously has some pretty deep issues, particularly with the police department that put him away. Glide past that. Accept it, just as you’ll accept all the other slightly off center stuff that emerges. It doesn’t matter. Roll with it.
Crewes is given a partner with her own issues, Dani Reese, a recovering addict/alcoholic. Reese is, of course, beautiful, but you have to work to see it because Sarah Shahi plays her as supernaturally hard and cold, the human equivalent of a frozen steak in shrink wrap. She is unrelentingly un-feminine with a dead-eyed stare and no interest in connecting with anybody. Fortunately for her, Crewes is so far off normal that he’s pretty much just existing beside her, controlling his rage with Zen and a wide-eyed gaze that makes him look half awestruck and half nuts. “Everything connects,” he tells her as he stares unblinking into the sun. “Shut up,” she tells him, and the knee-jerk ‘shipper expectation that these two literally crazy kids are meant for each other goes down in flames. They move from being distant strangers to being distant partners, but the show carefully avoids any spark-of-passion moments, most notably in a scene in the pilot where ex-addict Reese ends up covered in cocaine in the rat-infested apartment of a dead dealer and gropes panic-stricken for a shower to wash it off. Crewes finds her, picks her up, puts her in the tub, and cranks the shower on in seconds, and then stands behind her, not touching her, ready to catch her if she falls. It’s a perfect scene for showing how vulnerable Reese is and how caring Crewes can be even though they’re both cut off from their emotions. And it has no sexual tension in it at all. That’s not who they are. I’m a huge ‘shipper, but Life got that exactly right.
Shahi is very good, but it’s Lewis who holds the show together, doing a masterful job of communicating Charlie’s damage without ever going over the top, using Charlie’s repressed rage to fuel his stillness. Lewis doesn’t unleash the full extent of how changed Charlie is until the end of the last episode in a moment that’s both chilling and exhilarating when Charlie’s face, smiling and Zen calm for thirty-two episodes, suddenly twists into the savage he had to be to survive twelve years of maximum security prison. It’s the most startling and exhilarating transformation I’ve ever seen on television. The rest of the finale is silent, only Will Derryberry’s “Lifelong Lullaby” playing as the faces of the leads show their moments of redemption.
Add to that Adam Arkin as Crewes’ ex-con roommate and financial adviser, Donal Logue as Reese’s second season love interest, Gabrielle Union as Crewes’ second season temporary partner, Christina Hendricks as Crewes’s future step-mother, and a host of fine character actors doing top notch work and you have some great TV, movie-quality TV. The first season is good, the second season is better, and the series finale is stunning, everything in the two seasons of the show fueling the powerful climax.
So of course, NBC cancelled it.
There is evidently no hope that the show will be revived, but you can watch both seasons for free on Hulu until September. You should do that. It’s a cop show so there’s some tragic stuff there, but mostly it’s a character show about damaged people connecting first in spite of themselves and then because the need is overpowering. It’s just damn good story.
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79 Comments to 'Must Watch: Life'
On January 27, 2010 at 11:18 pm Keziah Hill said...
Of course Hulu won’t download in Australia. Damn those geographic restrictions! I missed this when it was on so will look out for it at my local DVD hire place.
On January 27, 2010 at 11:29 pm J said...
I love Life. It’s one of those series I can watch over and over and it gets better each time. I was devastated when they canceled it and sometimes forget and wonder when the next season is starting, only to sadly remember it won’t. But there are two seasons out there for us to enjoy!
On January 27, 2010 at 11:31 pm Venus Vaughn said...
Yeah, I liked Life, but you could kinda tell it was too good to last. And then, like so many bright sparks that season, it got side-swiped by the writer’s strike. So I stopped watching – TV’s just not worth the bait & switch anymore.
But it was very good.
Might I also recommend Life On Mars if you can find it. BRILLiant. And SO unPC you have to stand up and applaud. It was canceled after one season, but at least they let it end.
On January 30, 2010 at 12:23 pm Beki said...
May I recommend the British version, which actually was so good I watched it twice? It fully ended and I think the characters were so much better. FWIW
On January 27, 2010 at 11:38 pm Skye said...
It sounds cool. I love Hulu. But what is a ‘shipper? (I am obviously very behind in some essential slang ….)
On January 28, 2010 at 2:09 am Jenny said...
Somebody who wants a relationship between two characters on a TV show. Normally Crewes and Reese would be an automatic ‘shipper’s dream, both damaged, complete opposites, yadda yadda. And it was so good that they never went there during the run.
And then that ending . . .
I’m starting at the beginning and watching it again. I would get the DVDs in a nanosecond but as I understand it, they changed the music.
On January 28, 2010 at 1:02 pm Sure thing said...
Changed the music – generally happens to DVDs – apparently the cost is prohibitive. They keep the barest minimum that focuses a particular point that everyone remembers- in Roswell , they kept the Dave Matthews Band and Loreena McKennit but EVERYTHING else went.
They worked closely with the original music supervisors and producers to get it close to the originals but it’s still a change.
On January 28, 2010 at 7:25 pm Jennifer said...
You’d think that it’s been long enough by now that TV show producers would just pick cost-effective music in the first place that could adapt to DVD as well. This isn’t WKRP here.
On February 9, 2010 at 9:50 pm Moth said...
They did this with the Quantum Leap DVDs too. Broke my heart to lose “Georgia” in the MIA episode.
On January 27, 2010 at 11:56 pm r. said...
It made us crazy when Life was cancelled. Honest to God, loved that show. Favorite was Charlie and Ted – you’ve got to hand it to the writer who had the ex cell-mate handling the millions. Genius.
On January 27, 2010 at 11:56 pm Kiersten said...
I can say, with every overly dramatic ounce of my heart, that I adore LIFE. I think Damian Lewis is one of the best actors out there today (Band of Brothers – need I say more?) and this show was an extraordinary showcase for him. I’m so glad you’ve featured it here.
The two scenes you particularly highlighted w/Dani & the cocaine and Crewes in the last few moments of the series – those were ones I rewound again and again. That moment, at the end – man. I was watching it with my mother and we were utterly silent for about 5 minutes after, the local 11 o’clock news chattering around us, until I looked at her and said “that was unbelievable” two or three times while she nodded in agreement. We have it saved on the DVR –
at least until I get the second season DVDs.
I also really like the Farthingale two-parter aka the season one finale.They knew that a renewal was iffy, and we only got a full season two b/c of the writer’s strike, so they sewed up the murder arc right away. It’s one of the only shows I’ve ever seen with a totally satisfying conclusion to a season long mystery.
I thought Arkin and Lewis’ chemistry was great too. The scene when Arkin’s character (forget the name) is building a fence in the backyard b/c of the wolves and Crewes says “no fence” – another fantastic piece of work. And they found the funny many times as well, like the whole shooting Crewes’ dad thing. Sigh. I could go on and on – obviously.
You’ve made me want to go and crank up season one now though, and since I’ve been doing housework for three hours, that, to my mind, is the perfect reward.
P.S. If you haven’t seen the updated Forsythe saga it’s worth checking out those endless episodes if only for Damian Lewis’ exceptional work. Part One is, I think, 6 or 8 DVDs but the lesser Part Two is only 4. There’s a lot of dross but those moments of gold nearly always include Lewis, particularly in one of the very last scenes when he is finally forgiven a great wrong he could barely admit even to himself. His whole physical posture changes; it straightens and infinitesimally relaxes. Only then do you (or at least I) realize that his frame and his walk changed after he committed the offense (easily 6 or 7 DVDs earlier. seriously, it’s exhausting in parts), bowled over by the weight of the guilt and shame he could hardly admit to himself. Just genius work.
OK – I’m done.
On January 28, 2010 at 2:17 am Jenny said...
I thought Damian Lewis was terrific until that moment at the end, and then I realized that terrific was a gross understatement. Everybody in the show was excellent, literally everybody nailed their roles, but he was phenomenal.
Of course now everything else seems lightweight in comparison. I plan on watching it over and over again until they take it away from me on Hulu. And getting all the music. If ever a TV show deserved a soundtrack album.
Two places to get at least some of the music lists:
http://www.tvshowsongs.com/lifemusic.html
http://www.themusicninja.com/tv-show-soundtracks-life-season-2-finale/
I can’t hear “Lifelong Lullaby” now without thinking of that ending, all that sunlight.
On January 29, 2010 at 9:37 pm Rosemary said...
Damian Lewis was in a movie called The Baker a few years ago. Directed by his brother and set in England and Wales, it’s a comedy of errors of a hit man (Lewis) trying to leave his profession and moving to a small town. It was truly a delightful movie.
On January 30, 2010 at 2:21 pm Jenny said...
ARGH. I looked for it on Amazon but they don’t have it in a version that plays on American DVD players. It sounds amazing, though. ARGH.
On January 28, 2010 at 12:36 am LizC said...
I love Life! What really sucks, though, about not being able to watch it as it aired on NBC is that you actually miss the really fantastic music originally used. Because NBC is too cheap to secure the rights for the online episodes or the dvds for most of the songs in the series. So the original song in the very last episode was this one which was just made that final scene extra awesome.
On January 28, 2010 at 2:22 am Jenny said...
You mean “Lifelong Lullaby” was the REPLACEMENT?
I played the link. You’re right. That’s even better.
That must have been chilling.
NBC, I HATE YOU.
But thank you Liz C.
On January 28, 2010 at 1:16 am Judy Long said...
I definitely need to look it up & watch if for nothing else because Adam Arkin is in it. I love him. His character in Northern Exposure is one of my favorites. Especially the last episode of Northern Exposure that Joel was in. Arkin was great in that one.
On January 28, 2010 at 1:52 am inkgrrl said...
Thank you for the recommend babe!
On January 28, 2010 at 2:37 am RLJ said...
I have loved Damien Lewis since watching Band of Brothers, so Life was an automatic check out when it started. I instantly fell in love.
I bought the DVD’s last summer and saved them unwatched till I visited my best friend in November. We burnt through the 2 seasons in days and I was sad all over again that there was no more Life. After that last episode when everything changed I wanted to see the fall out.
On January 28, 2010 at 2:50 am Jenny said...
Okay, that whole thing I said above about how ‘shippers couldn’t make a romantic relationship out of Crewes and Reese? Go to You Tube and search for Crewes Reese or Charlie Dani. They’re working with almost nothing, but there are at least a dozen ‘shipper montages there. I don’t know how they do it, but they’re fun to watch.
On January 28, 2010 at 3:12 am DownUnderGal said...
I’m so very excited that there are people out there that love this show as much as I do. It is brilliant on so many levels. The scene you mentioned with Crews and Reece covered in cocaine has stayed with me all this time and I often go to you tube to watch it again and again because its brilliant and has all the hallmarks of being sexual and yet its just not. One of the things I love about it is that its one of the few – maybe only??? – cop shows where there just isn’t a “thing” between them despite the many youtube fan attempts to make something out of nothing. The one thing I really love about it is how deep Danni is – I so wanted more seasons so we could get more into her becuase she is seriously screwed up – using casual nameless one night stands to get over her addiction to drugs and alcohol. There’s is so much more to her. I love how they put her and the new boss together in the second series – didn’t really get “it” at first, they’re so not who you’d imagine together, I can’t believe they even thought it would work but they really pop and zing. It works.
And the relationship Charlie has with his ex wife and her new husband – funny and tortured and your heart just aches for him. For them.
It’s sublime. When I heard they weren’t making another I was shocked.
I simply cannot fathom it.
I hate NBC too!
On January 28, 2010 at 4:25 am Jenny said...
That shower scene is 50 seconds long, and it’s unforgettable. Loses impact out of context, but still so much character established so fast so well:
On January 28, 2010 at 6:58 am Angel said...
I love this show. My favorite scene is when he’s talking to Ted and Ted’s like “What are you thinking?”
Charlie: “I’m thinking about what I want and what I need.”
Ted: “What do you want?”
Charlie: ((with heartbreaking sincerity)) “A peaceful soul.”
Ted: “And what do you need?”
Charlie: ((resolute)) “A bigger gun.”
And the scene where Charlie talks at the AA meeting. And the scene where Dani’s gripping his shoulder, woozy, “don’t let me fall.” And the scene from that same episode where he talks to the woman who had been raped not as some cop with male privilege who’s never been victimized in his life, but as someone who knows what it is to be hurt very badly and live afterward. *GUH* There was just so much in this show about pain and living with it and trying to make some grace in that. I think that’s a struggle that speaks to everyone.
I find it funny that you think Charlie and Dani are an anti-ship because I’ve never seen two people I am more certain love each other then them at the end there, in all that sunlight. And it *totally* can read as platonic affection, especially considering the problematic relationship they both have to sex, but I think they are in a good place to go forward into something more eventually at that moment, I really do.
The very atypicality of their relationship–Dani isn’t a healing angel to his tortured soul! They’re *partners* in hurting and partners in caring–made me want to believe that they could have something and that between them it might be different enough from all the relationships they’d had before that they wouldn’t fall into the same old negative patterns, but find some real intimacy and joy and peace.
On January 28, 2010 at 11:13 am Jenny said...
I thought the end was an abrupt switch from the rest of the series but I bought it because of what they’d just been through and because they did so clearly love each other as partners. Also because it made my little ‘shipper heart rejoice. Does make you wonder what they were planning to do with poor Tidwell, though.
On January 29, 2010 at 4:55 am Angel said...
I had no sympathy for Tidwell. The way he used his position of power over Dani to pressure her at work into dating him made me regard him as something rather lower than slime. I know it was portrayed as sweet by the show, but the power differential and how he started in on her, sexualizing their every interaction, and kept up with it even when she kept rebuffing it and being weirded out was very sickening to me.
On January 28, 2010 at 9:48 am Kate George said...
I find the best music here. I don’t get to watch much TV – don’t have there are six people in line for the remote ahead of me. I count on you guys to keep me clued in!
On January 28, 2010 at 9:49 am Kate George said...
Shoot. Messed that up. remove the ‘don’t have’ after the dash and it’ll read ok. Must still be flu week.
On January 28, 2010 at 10:36 am Laura said...
I have come to accept that any show I find layered, intelligent, humorous (season 2′s Christmas episode especially), and must see is not likely to survive more than one or two seasons. The gross, the stupid, the ones that play to the lowest common denominator – those will survive. That said – try “Castle” while it’s still on – because I find it layered, intelligent, and humerous. And it has Nathan Fillon (all Firefly fans need to see this year’s Halloween episode’s opening scene).
On January 28, 2010 at 1:08 pm Bonnie C said...
oh god, I cackled until I nearly pee’d myself and my kids wandered out of there beds wondering what made mom lose her mind (again). I still have it on the DVR.
On January 28, 2010 at 3:10 pm LolaMac said...
LOVE LOVE LOVE Castle!!! My sister and I get together every Monday night to watch it. The show is so sparky and fun.
On January 28, 2010 at 3:36 pm J said...
Castle is wonderful, especially watching Castle interact with his mom and daughter. Those are my favorite scenes.
On January 29, 2010 at 11:49 pm Kelly S said...
I got to add my vote for Castle! LOVE IT! Caught the first episode on vacation. I have watched every one since. Actually, it is the only tv show my hubby and I watch. Of course, having only basic (not standard) cable might be influencing that a bit.
On January 30, 2010 at 2:59 pm Melissa Blue said...
I like Castle too, but they kind of lost me when they didn’t use all that wonderful tension after the 1st season’s awesome finale. Honestly, with each episode not really DEALING with it they let out the conflict like a slow leaking tire.
All that said, I will forever be a fan for the bullet proof vest with Writer on it. I still want one. Seriously.
On January 28, 2010 at 11:14 am Sierra said...
I managed to get hooked on Life when it was still on-air, and I knew (as soon as I heard that wonderful soundtrack) that it wasn’t going to last. Also, it gave me the warm fuzzies, which usually means a show’s too good to last. I loved Charlie and Dani and how damaged they were, and I loved Charlie’s relationship with his cars. I loved the music (which was probably changed, since I had to catch the show on hulu when I missed it) and I loved Tidwell standing in a doorway after the earthquake. I miss that show…I wanted to see them grow even more.
On the Castle note, that show rocks my socks off. I’ve started following Nathan Fillion on Twitter, even. Around the time of the Halloween episode, he posted notes telling Firefly fans that the costume wasn’t the only Firefly reference. Turns out that, on the bookshelf to his character’s right when he comes out of the office, sits the catalyzer from the episode “Out of Gas.” That made my day.
On January 28, 2010 at 11:18 am Diane said...
I have a somewhat funky method for consuming media — I binge. Everything available from a particular actor, director, writer, film style. I had a Damian Lewis binge about 3 months ago and watched the following in succession in about 1 weeks time:
Band of Brothers (on DVD)
Shakespeare ReTold: Much Ado About Nothing (Netflix streaming, but if you are willing to watch in 10 minute segments you can find it on Youtube, too.)
Keane (on DVD. Now available as Netflix streaming.)
Life (Hulu streaming)
Forsythe Saga (on DVD)
Colditz (Bittorrent download)
The Baker (comedy written & directed by his brother Gareth Lewis — Bittorent download)
Various Youtube clips of him on talk shows, etc.
Read every interview I could find online (PBS, Times online, reprints on fan sites, etc.)
He brought something different to every role. He’s not a flashy actor — you don’t see him working at it– and all the more amazing because of that fact.
On January 28, 2010 at 11:22 am Diane said...
I forgot to mention that if you are in the UK he’s currently on stage in a production of Moliere’s Misanthrope. http://www.themisanthropelondon.com/
Most of the reviews are about Kiera Knightly as this is her stage debut, but the show itself has gotten good reviews.
On January 28, 2010 at 12:41 pm Hellie said...
This was on NBC? WHEN was it on NBC? I don’t even remember this show; did they hype it at all? Or did they treat it like Conan O’Brien?
On January 28, 2010 at 1:09 pm Sure thing said...
RERUNS?? Series channel? Something?
Someone tell me there’s somewhere where we can watch it in original form and hey – we’ve kept our VCR – I’ll TAPE it. Just tell me.
On January 28, 2010 at 1:59 pm Sure thing said...
NBC has all the eps on their website. This is the link to episode one.
http://www.nbc.com/Life/video/episodes/#vid=160733
On January 28, 2010 at 3:18 pm Anne said...
I just started watching Life S1 on rental last week (no access to it on Hulu on Canada). It is fabulous. Fave moment so far: Ted started putting a fence around the yard to keep out the coyotes and stopped when he saw Charlie’s face. No discussion, he just stopped.
“I am not attached to this car. I am not attached to this car.” (repeat till convinced)
On January 28, 2010 at 3:39 pm J said...
Or until he has to admit he’s a little attached to the car!
On January 28, 2010 at 4:59 pm Bridget said...
The fence scene is priceless because Ted is so worried about the coyotes and Charlie doesn’t say anything.
And then they’re standing in the middle of a the beautiful yard looking at a prison yard fence and there’s this look on Charlie’s face and then Ted realizes what he’s done.
Don’t have season 2 yet so I’m going off of memory – I loved the last scene. It was so unexpected and yet so Charlie.
I loved Life so of course they cancelled it.
Now that we finally got rid of Leno, can they bring it back? (I guess not if Lewis is off on stage somewhere.
As for Castle – I’m not attached to Castle. I’m not attached to Castle.
I’m a little attached to Castle.
On January 28, 2010 at 5:35 pm Bonnie C said...
Ok, so I took a $1.99 chance and downloaded the pilot from iTunes and watched it on my iPhone during lunch. Wow. I’m convinced. Now I just have to decide if I will get them on DVD to share with my husband or download it from iTunes all for myself.
And don’t think I didn’t appreciate the synchronicity between me watching TV on my phone in my car at lunchtime and Charlie fascinated that phones are small enough to fit in pcokets now.
On January 29, 2010 at 4:59 am Angel said...
On January 28, 2010 at 8:08 pm Katy Cooper said...
Major Damian Lewis fan here. My sisters and I watch Band of Brothers every Christmas — two of us gave it to the 3rd as a present one year, and I’d never seen it, so we watched it…and we’ve watched ever since.
If you go from BoB to The Forsyte Saga, you get a sense of how good Lewis is: Dick Winters and Soames Forsyte could not be more different, right down to their souls. ::sigh:: Must have Life now…
On January 29, 2010 at 12:41 am Kimberly said...
I was a big fan of Life when it was on tv too. I think the only reason we happened upon it was because my husband was curious about Bionic Woman. That got cancelled pretty fast, but Life hung around, and we watched it faithfully. I always knew it was going to go, and here’s why–I’d have a conversation with someone, and they’d say “what shows do you like?” And I’d say “Oh, this one, and that one, and Life.” And they’d invariably answer “Life? What’s that? I’ve never heard of it.” Not sure how it was so overlooked while on-air; maybe it was up against some stiff competition on another channel. But I still feel a pang of sadness when I think of it–it was just a good, solid show.
On January 29, 2010 at 12:54 am Brooke said...
I *love* Life, and was crushed when I found out it wasn’t going to be renewed.
Here’s a question for you: do you feel like the show Castle might be a lightweight, ‘shipper-version of Life?
On January 29, 2010 at 1:50 am Jenny said...
This is where everybody here hates me:
I don’t like Castle.
I watch it the way I watch Bones, on Hulu, when I need something brain dead simple, but I don’t think I’ll keep it up because the female lead is so bad, absolutely no sense of timing, no rhythm at all, and they’ve kept Castle completely one note, no depth, no change, nothing. I have tried to like it and it’s just bad. I don’t need serious but I need some depth to the characters. Burn Notice, In Plain Sight, White Collar, those fascinate me because the characters deepen, but two years of Castle and they’re doing the same dumb dance.
I know. Go ahead, throw things.
So no, I don’t think Life is anything like Castle aside from them both being cop shows.
But do try Burn Notice, In Plain Sight, and White Collar. They’re still on and their ratings are strong so you can invest in them.
On January 29, 2010 at 3:33 pm Brooke said...
I know, I can’t stand the female lead. I wish like hell they’d just divert whatever money they’re spending on Castle toward reviving Life. So to speak.
On January 29, 2010 at 4:30 pm Jenny said...
Or replacing the female lead and giving Castle some depth. That would work for me, too.
No, you’re right. Bring back Life.
You know what makes me craziest? That Turner and Hooch line that they like so much they put it in the credits. That is word for word the WORST reading of that line, and the line is terrible, too. Plus the set-up he gives her is so blatantly a set-up that . . . ARGH. Then you look at the Mary/Marshall stuff or the Crews/Reese stuff and think, “This is the was smart people talk. If they’re really really smart with really really good senses of humor.” Good banter is so hard to find.
On January 30, 2010 at 12:47 pm Sierra said...
I actually don’t have major issues with the female lead, but I DO have huge issues with the costuming for her. Heels? Really? And long scarves that could get caught in things? Completely inappropriate. Argh.
On January 29, 2010 at 3:58 am orangehands said...
Definitely want to see this show now.
I couldn’t get into White Collar. I liked the characters, I liked the plot (huge, huge fan of Catch Me If you Can), I liked the dialogue…and yet I couldn’t care less about watching it. Gave up after…ten episodes, I believe.
I just found out Better Off Ted is being cancelled. One of about three shows that actually makes me laugh. They get some wrong but they have some of the best lines ever. “A female mentor would have been very valuable for a young Veronica, bursting with potential, yet vulnerable, like a fawn in the woods, but tough, like a fawn in the woods with a machine gun.” – Veronica
On January 29, 2010 at 4:57 am Judy Long said...
Okay – I am a fan of Life now. I just watched the first season today. All 11 episodes. I’m a little out of touch with my life due to to much Life but it was worth it. My favorite dialgoue lines came early on:
Reese: Why exactly would the universe make fun of us all?
Crewes: Maybe it’s insecure.
I’d like to say I’ll watch the rest next week or something but who am I kidding. Unless something happens I’ll watch it tomorrow.
On January 29, 2010 at 4:58 am Judy Long said...
sorry – typo should read – due to too much Life – what can i say – it’s late.
On January 29, 2010 at 1:05 pm Jenny said...
Hey, you know, you can argue with me about the Castle thing. I didn’t mean to shut that discussion down. Tell me how wrong, wrong, wrong I am.
And yes, be careful when dipping your toe into Life. I went to Hulu because I wanted a good story to bleach out my brain after soaking it in MTT, meaning just to catch up on the episodes I missed, and I’m on my second viewing of the whole series. You just can’t help it, it’s that good.
Now tell me why I’m wrong about Castle, or I’ll feel guilty about squelching happy people.
On January 29, 2010 at 3:34 pm Brooke said...
Hell girl, you didn’t shut anything down, I went to bed.
On January 29, 2010 at 11:57 pm Kelly S said...
I like the female lead in Castle but I agree about the Turner and Hooch line. I think the writers aren’t giving her enough intelligence or credit. I like that Castle is a caring Dad and that his daughter is the most responsible character in the house. The show makes me laugh and that is a good thing.
It’s fine that you don’t like it. I know some others don’t as well because they see Beckett’s role as watered down and weak. I mean that is my complaint a bit too, but it is happening more as the show goes on than it was at the start. So, maybe the direction the people in charge are going is to appeal to the males in the audience.
One of the weirdest and most successfully done things with this bit of fiction is the way they’ve incorporated it into real life. Castle tweets. There is a book published and “authored” by Richard Castle and it is the Nikki Heat novel the character in the show wrote, but I own a copy of it. Weirds me out and is cool at the same time.
Finally, I like Nathan Fillon and am a Firefly fan. So, that might be an influence, but I think it is my love of the cozy mystery that influences me as much as that.
On January 29, 2010 at 1:24 pm marly said...
R. and I are such huge fans of In Plain Sight. The writers are brilliant, dead-pan funny. We get our money out of the DVR just going back and listening to lines until we’re sure we didn’t miss anything.
Marshall: Every time I walk into a gym, it get’s my blood up.
Extra: Oh, did you play?
Marshall: See this scar? Old shuttlecock injury.
Extra: Is he kidding?
Mary: I don’t know. Either way it’s pathetic.
Extra: Excuse me (walks away)
Mary: Way to work “shuttlecock” into the conversation.
Marshall: It’s one of the funnier words.
Mary: He was one of the few, truly good, selfless people I ever met.
Marshall: You know, Ayn Rand’s central theses posits that selflessness if antithetical to good.
Mary: A hundred bucks says you’re going to die a lonely old man.
Mary: (over radio with doctor) Walk me through this.
Doc: First you need to put on a pair of surgical gloves.
Mary: No glove, no love.
Doc: You’re not allergic to latex, are you?
Mary: If I had a nickel for every time I’ve been asked that question….
Lewis: (victim) If I weren’t dying, you’d be funny.
Detective: So, do you like any of them for this?
Marshall: It’s hard to find a motive. Any one of them could have assisted.
Mary: When I kill my mother, there’ll be no doubt who did it.
Marshall: I must have bumped my head.
Mary: Yeah, that’s what happened. Then you fell on a bullet.
I could go on and on, but hopefully this is enough to get people watching. This show is funny and tragic and there’s family and unrequited love. I won’t go into all the characters, but Marshall Marshall? We were hooked from the start – shades of CATCH 22.
On January 29, 2010 at 2:31 pm J said...
This is a good way to advertise IPS. USA’s original ads didn’t encourage me to try the show. It was mostly coincidence I saw the first episode a couple of summers ago, and was hooked.
On February 2, 2010 at 4:02 pm PG said...
I think a lot of TV networks need to reconsider how they advertise new shows. They don’t seem to get at what’s awesome about the shows I like (which tends to be good dialogue). My “I will hate Leno forever because I’m convinced his getting 5 hours of primetime every week contributed to this show going off the air” is “Kings.” And I didn’t watch the first few episodes of “Kings” because from the ads I assumed it was about the Mafia, basically NBC trying to repeat the success of The Sopranos. Then I see an episode and realize it’s an alternate reality drama about court intrigue, Shakespearean influence complete with “low players” and iambic pentameter dialogue, and my husband and I are both hooked for the rest of the season.
I do reluctantly understand why it went off the air, though — it was just too expensive in a recession. Great actors, great writers, lots of extras, lots of money for luxurious clothes and rooms and battles. I still blame Leno, though.
On January 29, 2010 at 4:21 pm Jenny said...
I know, I love it all. Mary, Marshall, the boss, the secretary who hands Mary’s ass to her whenever she gets too lippy, the mom (Leslie Ann Warren! be still my heart), the sister, the boyfriend, the sister’s new boyfriend . . .
And that’s before you get to the guest actors. “Trojan Horst” with Dave Foley as Horst was my fave, but they’ve all been so good.
On January 29, 2010 at 2:26 pm J said...
I was on the fence about Castle until I saw him with his daughter. Those scenes, watching those two actors interact, is why I watch the show. I enjoy the rest as an amusing thing to watch while I knit, but I pay attention when Alexis is on.
I am utterly addicted to White Collar (one of my friends and I have an ongoing friendly argument about Kate’s motives), Burn Notice, and In Plain Sight. And if I had to choose one show not to watch any more out of the four, it would be Castle, but I’d be sad.
On January 29, 2010 at 4:24 pm Jenny said...
The stuff with the daughter and mother is excellent, no doubt about it. They never hit a wrong note there. And the two sidekick guys in the squad room are pitch perfect, too. I just can’t figure out why they cast such a wooden lead actress, and why they make Castle so shallow and dumb. I know he’s supposed to be the naive, enthusiastic foil to her smart, world weary cop, but they’re both just annoying. And I say that as a Fillion fan, although in the interests of full disclosure, it’s Lani who has the Team Hammer T-shirt; I’m Team Horrible all the way.
On January 29, 2010 at 6:50 pm J said...
It is the supporting cast that keeps me watching. I’m not really interested in the Castle-Beckett angle that they keep pushing, mostly because it reduces the time the spend on the rest of the group.
And you have to go with Team Horrible, he’s the underdog!
On January 29, 2010 at 4:25 pm Jenny said...
Oh, and Kate? I don’t trust her. But then White Collar is so twisty, she could turn out to be Jimmy Hoffa and I’d buy it.
On January 29, 2010 at 6:46 pm J said...
I’m with you, Peter and Mozzie in not trusting Kate at all. My friend is with Neil in thinking she’s doing it all under duress just like she says. We’ll have to see how it turns out!
On January 29, 2010 at 6:20 pm insanetrollogic said...
Life’s a fantastic show, one that I thoroughly enjoyed. Damien Lewis is amazing. (Much like another Brit who abandoned his accent for American TV.) I am also a huge fan of the Mary and Marshall dynamic on In Plain Sight. I haven’t watched Life since the finale aired, but thanks to this discussion I am now going to have to go back on re-watch the series.
I loved that Crews and Reese weren’t headed into relationship territory. At the beginning of their partnership, their pasts prevented them from trusting each other. They were both such broken individuals, and emotionally controlled as a result. I particularly like the contrast between how deliberately controlled Crews is with Reese whose control seems less deliberate and somehow more fragile. Crews deliberately controls his emotions, because the result would be a a flood of anger over what he’s been through. On the other hand, Reese’s control seem to be more a preventative to emotional pain. Watching the two of them grow to trust each other was wonderful. By the end of the show the best description for the relationship was partnership rather than the typical headlong fall into romantic love.
On January 30, 2010 at 1:58 am Jenny said...
I think the most powerful thing underlying the finale is that he really would give his life for her, not in the dramatic sense of stepping in front of a bullet, which he probably would do, but coldly and logically manipulate events so that he was in harm’s way instead of her. And that she had no idea that he would until he did, and even after he did, she’s still trying to figure out what the point of his plan is.
God, I love that finale.
On January 29, 2010 at 6:38 pm DownUnderGal said...
I loved In Plain Sight – naturally they canned it here in Oz. They usually do that to all the shows I love after they’ve messed with their scheduling for 4 or 5 weeks and have me chasing it around like a drunken spider until finally they put it on at 2 am in the morning in between boobylicious infomercials and I stupidly haven’t thought to look that far down in the TV guide. Weeds is another classic example of Oz television execs ignorance. Also messed around then axed.
Sorry – also dont like Castle. Possibly not fair as I’ve only watch the first 2 eps but I thought their banter was off and frankly I just cant suspend belief enough to buy that a writer would be given such access to crime scenes etc. And trust me, I’m a big belief suspender – hello Die Hard 1,2,3 and 4 love you all – but when you dont convince me with the characters then the plots squarely in my sights so if it doesn’t seem credible then …..
But hey, I dont like Burn Notice either….
Ducking now.
On January 30, 2010 at 1:58 am Jenny said...
WHAT???????????????????
On January 29, 2010 at 9:09 pm orangehands said...
DUG: I just finished watching season five of Weeds. Talk about dysfunctional, hated characters being a blast to watch. That and Dexter make me wish I had Showtime. I’m sorry they canned it there. TV Execs are up there with Kaiser in my People I Hate Indiscriminately List.
On January 30, 2010 at 2:55 am DownUnderGal said...
lol Jenny, sorry…
Again, I didn’t persevere very long. Have developed a rule over the years – if it doesn’t captivate me in the first few eps then I wipe it. Life’s too short.
And it clashes with Big Love – there’s a show I’d rather invest my time in.
OH – the suits over here canned West Wing for a few years – probably the best written show ever imho – until finally the very sensible ABC picked it up from season 4 and showed the rest in the same time slot every week. Should always have been on ABC….sheesh!
On January 30, 2010 at 3:13 pm Melissa Blue said...
Down Under Gal, I’ll throw the shoe at you for Burn Notice. Just watched an episode and The Finger Snap is the best invention in t.v. EVER.
Since Kate Beckett seems to be the sticking point for Castle maybe The Closure is the antecdote. The first season is an how-to on lead female characters. “If I wanted to be called a b#$ch to my face I would have stayed married to my first husband.” My mother got me hooked to this show so I watched it backwards. The first season is a masterpiece.
I’ll throw in Leverage. It doesn’t really have the criteria you guys have for a great show, but I love my anti-heroes. Especially when they steal stuff.
On January 30, 2010 at 5:00 pm Jenny said...
The Finger Snap. Coolest cover for Michael ever, although my number one persona is still Fiona as Jersey Girl, snapping her gum.
On January 30, 2010 at 5:21 pm J said...
The finger snaps were wonderful. That moment when he raised his hand and everyone cringed was priceless.
Leverage is on of my favorites. As Parker says, “sometimes bad guys are the only good guys you get.” The group has all grown so much, into a team that works together even on the fly.
On January 30, 2010 at 5:48 pm Stephanie said...
I’m just getting into Hulu and I’m now 5 episodes into Life and really enjoying it. I’m also enjoying seeing actors from Deadwood – 3 so far!
On January 31, 2010 at 7:48 am Judy Long said...
Okay – I watched all 32 episodes of Life. The finale was absolutely wonderful. Only problem – I didn’t want it to end.
I’m tempted to try Burn Notice but I really need togive myself a break.
ps – Damien may have to be my next pretend love affair. Yum.
On January 31, 2010 at 4:18 pm michelle said...
Holy cow, you just killed me! Life got the can?! What is wrong with these people! Damn them. I love(d) that show…I cant believe there is no season 3…Apart from that your essay was great. I’m gonna have to watch the reruns on hulu. Hugely disappointed.
On February 1, 2010 at 8:57 pm ruthie said...
“So of course, NBC cancelled it.”
A friend and I were just talking about how NBC has a long, long history of shooting itself in the foot. Spectacularly shooting itself in the foot. Doesn’t pay to get too attached to shows on NBC. Especially if the critics like them.
Love to know the guiding mentality in their Programming division. Do you think it’s something in their water?