Revenge...

I started watching Revenge for one reason:  I loved Emily VanCamp on Everwood.  In fact, I loved Everwood so much that I religiously check twice a year to see if the entire season is out on DVD yet.  Thus far, all I can find is Season 1.  If anyone is reading this and has Everwood DVDs. please post a comment about where you found them.  Anyway, due to my loyalty to the Everwood cast, I'm typically willing to at least watch one episode of whatever television endeavors they pursue:  Parks and Recreation, Grey's Anatomy, etc.

Last week, with a little trepidation, I watched the series premiere of Revenge.  The show was well marketed over the summer, and I'll admit that I had some doubts.  My primary concern was that crime shows typically don't hold my attention.  And I was worried that Revenge would be some crazy mix of CSI and Dallas (yes, I am old enough to vaguely remember Dallas).

What I've learned over the past two weeks is that I was so incredibly wrong.  Revenge is the best new show of the fall in my humble opinion.  The following is a list of 10 reasons you should tune into ABC at 10 on Wednesday night.

1)  Emily Thorne/Amanda Clark/whatever alias you want to call her (VanCamp) is unbelievably awesome.  Think of a cross between Sarah Michelle Gellar on Buffy and Jennifer Garner on Alias.  Truly, in one scene, she will be sipping champagne at a polo match, and in the next, she will have her elbow up to a guy's windpipe.  I have so missed having a strong female heroine on the television.  And VanCamp can sell it.

2)   The main plot of Revenge is that Emily is setting out to seek revenge on all of the people who got her father incarcerated for life, thus ruining her childhood.  It just so happens that most of these people are snotty and pompous.  Let's be honest; who doesn't love watching someone who is condescending get knocked down a few notches?

3)  I am 90% certain Emily kills the son (Daniel) of the main antagonist in the first five minutes of the show.  Yes, you read that correctly.  Here's where things get interesting, it was a flash forward.  Thus, when the show goes back 12 weeks, Daniel (Joshua Bowman) is very much alive.  And I hate to say it, but I really like Daniel right now on the show.  I'm not sure how I'm going to feel about her killing him at some point.  Also, the flash forward reminded me of Lost.  God, I miss that show.

4)  Madeline Stowe as Victoria Grayson.  Victoria is Emily's main target.  And quite honestly, I think Emily will meet her match in Victoria.  I'm a viewer at home, and I'm genuinely terrified of Victoria.  It is a cat and mouse game at its best.  I expect some major fireworks between Emily and Victoria as this unravels.

5)  The unlikely partner in crime:  Nolan Ross (Gabriel Mann).  I think some of the best scenes of the show are with Emily and Nolan.  Nolan is the only one who knows Emily's secret.  We get a flashback (have I mentioned I miss Lost?) where we see Nolan unwittingly giving Amanda (Emily) everything she needs to basically start her on her road to revenge.  Moreover, Mann seems quite capable of providing the character

Awkward w/ a .

I love a good television show:  Buffy, Lost, 24, Sex and the City, Friends.  I went to the prom around the same time as Buffy.  I've asked someone "How you doin'?"  I've broken up with an Aiden in search of my Big.  Ok, so I technically haven't done a single thing that any of the characters on Lost did. Although I did take a quiz once to find out which character I would be.  And I am a Jack (I'm sure you care).  The moral of all of this is that I have always loved a good television show.  I don't always watch the most popular shows, but the ones I watch typically pack a punch.  This brings me to "Awkward." or "Awkward with a ." as I call it in conversation.

I started watching "Awkward." on a fluke one day.  I don't really tune into MTV much anymore.  It's not a shot at the network, but most of their programming just isn't for me these days.  Anyway, one day back in August, I was flipping channels late night and I stopped when I arrived at MTV's "Rivals".  I was mainly intrigued by that because the cast of Rivals was full of people I recognized from the Real Worlds of my generation.  As it turns out, CT of Real World Paris is still an athletic beast.  How old is that guy now anyway?  I'm in my twenties, and he is certainly older than me.  The first time that I ever felt "old" was the day that I realized I am too old to apply for Real World.  I would never actually want to go on Real World, but I still took the age cap as a blow nonetheless.  Do they not believe 25 yr olds are capable of getting drunk and having sex in the hot tub?  When the show was over, "Awkward." came on the air.  Lazy and intending to go to bed soon, I decided to watch the first five minutes.  Thirty minutes later, I was hooked.

Now I could review the show as a whole.  I admittedly watched all ten episodes.  But I don't think I could do the show justice if I review it in its entirety.  It would sound like one of those silly TV guide summaries that you read.  Sure it would give you an idea to the plot, but it wouldn't really tell you anything about the intricacies of the characters or the nuances of the plot.  Instead I am going to focus on the most recent episode, "No Doubt".

"No Doubt" starts shortly after Jenna Hamilton's 16th birthday.  On a side note, how is it that Jenna was taking her driver's test on her 16th birthday?  Don't you just take the permit's test on your 16th birthday?  Have I missed some major change to driving laws and procedures?  In any case, Jenna is still on the outs with her best friend, Tamara, for kissing a guy Tamara liked.  Jenna's crush, Matty, has just admitted that he wants more with Jenna than friendship.  And Matty's best friend, Jake, is struggling to come to terms with his growing feelings for Jenna and diminishing feelings for his own girlfriend, Lyssa.

As it turns out, Jake either can't deal with his guilt anymore or is looking for the nearest exit sign because he tells Lyssa of his indiscretion. Like any high school girl (or most girls of any age group), Lyssa reacts by getting mad at Jenna more so than Jake.  Within minutes of finding out, she hulls off and slaps Jenna.   

This scene leads to one of the more entertaining moments of the episode: the counseling session for Jake and Lyssa.  A few points here:  Firstly, I always support any reference to Meet the Parents.  My father, to this day, refers to his small circle of trust.  Second, I cracked up when the the guidance counselor told Lyssa that she has a twitchy eye.  Third, Brett Davern (Jake) deserves some recognition for this scene.  It is so clear that he wants to break up with Lyssa and equally clear that he would prefer not to confront Lyssa any further.  I think it must be some universal, ironic truth that guidance counselors are always the people who you would never actually ask for advice.  

Moving forward, Matty finally asks Jenna out on a real date.  I'm not what one would call a shipper.  I think the show has done a decent job of making both Matty and Jake equally nuanced.  In a less sophisticated show, Matty would be a complete jerk, and Jake would be a dork that no one looked twice at in terms of dating.  I like Matty, but this is by far the most we have actually seen him and Jenna communicate.  They tend to exchange about five sentences and then proceed to make out.  While that seems accurate to high school relationships, it also makes it hard to completely root for Jenna/Matty.

 Ah, finally, Tamara and Jenna make up which I'm grateful for right now.  For some reason, I think Tamara plays off of Jenna better than most characters.  Plus, I've missed Tamara's abbreviations.  Anne Franking, though?   Eeeps.  Perhaps not the path I would have gone.  It doesn't matter though, Ming steals their scenes this week.  Shock of all shock (insert sarcasm), Tamara didn't write the letter.  Tamara and Ming suggest it's Matty.  I'm no Sherlock Holmes, but I suspect that to not be the case. As Jenna helpfully notes, Matty is a "remedial speller" and writing a note is just not how guys operate.  Plus, Matty just had sex with Jenna like an hour before the note.  The US Postal Service does not move that quickly.  I suspect  Jenna's mom wrote the note.  At the moment, I barely tolerate that character as is.  I'm not entirely sure how I feel about that plot twist.

Finally, it is time for Jenna's date.  I particularly enjoy Jenna's comment of "Where the F is Reseda?" as the drive further away from the town in which they live.  This part of the episode is eerily familiar of a Sex and the City episode.  Big takes Carrie to the same hole in the wall Chinese place on back to back dates.  Let's be honest, we've all been there, wondering why our dates didn't take us to a big party or introduce us to someone they knew while we were out.  It happens.  I was happy to see that Matty's character didn't completely lose ground here though; he does tell Jenna he doesn't date and introduces her to his uncle.  Forward progress after all.

When they get back to Jenna's house after their date, her parents aren't home.  Of course.  Am I the only person whose parents were always home when I was in high school?  I blame this on Dawson's Creek.  While Jenna's parents aren't home, Tamara and Ming are still there.  Still on the trail about the note, Tamara and Ming start a game of "What's your secret?"  Is this an actual game that high school students play?  If so, I am glad it did not exist when I was in high school.  I do miss rounds of Never Have I Ever though.  It is always the wording, people. All about the wording.  

It becomes increasingly obvious that Matty did not write the note.  He did feel up a girl with special needs though.  Then, Ming asks the question that we have all been wondering:  How does Matty get his hair to look like that?  Beau Mirchoff does have awesome hair or the show has awesome hair stylists.  I'm not entirely sure which it is, but it works.  And Ming, I too am won over by Matty's hair products and flip.

Meanwhile, in Mean Girls 2.0, Lyssa and Sadie are coming up with ways to make Jake atone for his sin of kissing Jenna.  This all culminates in Jake being forced to read a note to Jenna which was written by a brunette version of Regina George.  What is it with this show and notes?  Jake takes the letter and walks to the door.  Before Jenna answer though, he proves that he is intelligent: he reads the note.  Disgusted by what they wrote, he lies to Jenna and says he is just there to apologize.  When he gets back to the car, he breaks up with Lyssa.  Someone is free to pursue Jenna now!  By the by, Molly Tarlov (Sadie) and Greer Grammer's (Lyssa) reactions to Jake were priceless.  Lyssa had already moved on to discussing what kind of pizza they could go get, and Molly Tarlov has certainly mastered the raised eyebrow and scoff.  

I suspect that Jenna will end up with Jake in the long run.  I said before that I don't think Matty is a bad guy, and I don't.  I think it's pretty clear he likes Jenna as much as he knows how, but he can't provide Jenna with the one thing she needs:  public support.  Jake doesn't seem to have that problem though I'm not sure how he'll handle finding out she has been banging his best friend.  I suspect not well as Jake seems to value openness.  

The show epitomizes high school:  hip, funny, sweet, complicated, and Awkward.  

In My Life....

Why am I starting a blog?  It is an excellent question.  Quite honestly, I hadn't thought about starting one until thirty minutes ago.  Sure, I enjoy perusing other people's blogs, but I hadn't really ever considered starting one myself.  Once I get an idea though, I run with it.  I am not what one would call methodical.  If I want to do something, I do it.  Come hell or high water.

I suppose I have two goals for this blog:  to write about everyday triumphs and failures and to review television shows and movies.  If you knew me, you'd know that I am highly sarcastic and observant about the intricacies of life and that I have an unwavering enthusiasm for pop culture.  I'm not talking about hot blockbusters (though I do love you Harry Potter).  Trust me, I won't ever be reviewing Transformers on here.  Fool me once, Michael Bay, shame on you.  Fool me twice, shame on me.  

I hope any of you reading my ramblings enjoy them.  Please feel free to comment and tell that I am horribly wrong.  I don't mind a solid debate.  Or you could tell me that I am right.  I enjoy that even more.