Monday

Some quick updates on a couple of shows for you this fair Monday.

Firstly to The Thick Of It, where we welcome the return of the opposition party who, I think, we haven't seen since the release of the specials. Nicola Murray gets to do some breaking down over the fact that her family life is hanging by a thread, and this serves to demonstrate how government policy actually affects real people. This is something we haven't really explored in any real depth on the show before -- and what made it particularly powerful was seeing how a government minister can be bought down by their own over-zealous policy making. Brilliant.

True Blood. I didn't want to believe what happened at the end of Sparks Fly Out. Grandma was everyone's favourite character! The warmth and sympathy of the woman provided a good emotional touchstone for an audience who could perhaps become somewhat bewildered by the show's overarching, and largely theoretical, themes. What baffled me at first was Sookie's lack of emotion. However, the rest of the episode played out beautifully and the funeral was a great cathartic centre piece. Tara and Lafayette, once again, stole the show both as characters and as performers, taking the situation in hand and making sure Sookie was protected.
And, not for the fusty among us, Lemon Mej, Sookie and Bill finally got down to business. Good for them. So, is she now a vampire? Series continues...

On to Medium. Now, after Bite Me turned out to be a little bit too uninvolving compared to the rest of the season, I had high hopes for its successor, New Terrain. Unfortunately, this episode too was rather dull and I began to believe that perhaps season 6 may not quite deliver what it had initially promised.

Luckily, Once In A Lifetime restored my faith once again. Directed by David Arquette, who has helmed several episodes before, this was a real family affair -- behind the scenes and in the narrative. The writers have played to the show's strengths and centered the episode's crime story around Allison and her family, while intertwining the subplots taking place within the home. It worked marvellously as we saw how Allison's work, her gift, and her family life occassionally collide for reasons beyond anyone's control. Patricia Arquette has said she likes it when Allison's visions don't quite work out as intended, therefore making her more human, more vulnerable. Having to juggle Joe, Scanlon and Ariel was a great central conflict for the episode.

What really stood out to me was the confrontation scene between Allison and the boy's Mother. Now, episodes of Medium tend to fall down at this point. We have an interesting build up often followed by a clunky and unsatisfactory denouement. But we got to see Allison act like a real detective here. She teased information out of the suspect while simultaneously wrapping up how the crime was commited for the audience. Patricia Arquette gives good sassy detective. More of this please! And what a final scene. Allison vaguely wondering about how the boy could have known all about his dead father followed by a rather tender scene where the Father's ghost visits his baby son. This season definitely has a lot more heart than previous years. Great fun.

However, where the feck is Devalos? He has barely been in this season and most of the detective work has been left to Scanlon. He wasn't even in this episode! Hmm...

Peace xx

On Thickness

So to The Thick Of It, where yet more head-banging frustration is the order of the day. As I commented after last week's episode, this show is at it's best when the characters are exposed to pressure-cooker level intensity from all directions. So, this week we have the intensity of the party conference, where emotions are naturally running high. And how high! Nicola's magnificent breakdown was the first time we had seen her really lose control, performed wonderfully by Rebecca Front. Now, Front's previous high-profile role was in the wickedly dark Nighty Night as downtrodden (to put it lightly) Kathy. After years of seeing her calmly accept everything that was dished out to her, it was a real treat to see her explode with rage.
Similarly, we have waited years to see Malcolm Tucker finally go over the edge and become violent -- and this he did, with poor old Glen on the receiving end. This series served to somewhat humanise Tucker. Instead of raging constantly, we get to see what his job actually entails as we see him mopping up the messes of the assorted idiots that make up the cabinet. The genius of the writers has been to further explore this aspect of the character without softening his wonderfully hard edges.
What is also nice this series is to see Teri being utilised a bit more. Jo Scanlon is a fantastic comic actor but her character has always been put-upon, put-down and pushed around. However, in these recent episodes, probably due to the introduction of a female minister, she has had a more important role to play. We get the sense that Nicola has no faith in the apparently more qualified Glen and Ollie, and, perhaps being the only other woman around in an office full incompetent men, she is more inclined to trust Teri. What was also pointed out last week was that Teri has no official political alignment as she is simply a civil servant -- therefore has no secret agenda to fill. Yet....?

On to Medium, where their special Halloween episode was suitably creepy. I'm glad I watched this episode during the day, as watching a dead tarantula haunt Bridgette's dreams was particularly unpleasant. Allison's dreams were fantastic -- utilising footage from Night of the Living Dead in order to explain what was going on with the crime story of the episode was great fun. However, the procedural storyline of this episode was not outstanding, and if it wasn't for the sub-plots and dream sequences, it would have been very run of the mill compared to the strong standard set by this season's previous episodes. Though, not bad at all, I do hope this season won't slip back into more familiar and less exciting territory. Come on, CBS!

Peace xx

Smallblog

Just a heads up to let you all know of an exciting new blog coming soon.

Smallblog will be a collection of general rants written by a dear friend and fellow writer. I review, he will rant. Mostly over the latest political developments....although there will also be heavy emphasis on preposterous television advertisements and annoying contestants on Come Dine With Me.

It's going to be epic. Watch this space for updates.

Peace xx

Charlotte 'Chilli' Wright

Chills., as she is known, wore some lovely trousers the other evening. They were like Aladdin pants but they were black and covered in sequins. Rather like Joan Crawford at the end of Humoresque, had her dress been reused after her body washed up on that beach and turned into some very on-trend pants 65 years later by some natty seamstress. Anyhoo, Chills. also has a friend with a paunch who thinks I watch too much t.v. I would just like to point out I have a job (sometimes) and over two friends. Take that.

We are all consumers. We consume media of one form or another constantly. I hope to produce media soon enough. It makes sense for me to analyse and comment on it. Got it, dear?

So, to Chills, I say *click click* arms in the air to you. Yeeeeeeaaah.

Night

Firstly, to Julian Casablancas' solo album. Most of us know him as The Strokes front man and were positively damp with anticipation over this new album. And what fun it is! Fusing the traiblazing Strokes' sound with a healthy dose of whimsical folk, upbeat electro and, dare I say it...disco? What a lark!Yes, you read correctly. There are times when JC's nods to 80's electro-pop does seem to verge on disco. What a plunge! You won't hear me complaining, of course -- but neither are many other people, because this album simply works. Granted, there are a couple of songs that sound like they would fit neatly into the Strokes songbook, but this album definitely avoids the trap of sounding like that of a stripped-down version of it's parent group. There are nods to the Blondie sound (again, no bad thing), and a number of tracks that bring out a twisty, lilting folk sensibility almost reminiscent of Want One-era Rufus Wainwright. All in all, this album is an excellent, exciting experience.

So to The Thick Of It. One of the best comedies the BBC has ever produced returned to our screens last week in a somewhat disconcerting Saturday night BBC One slot. Evidently the beeb is trying to make this show available to as mainstream an audience as possible. Which can only be a good thing. All I can say is how glad I am to have a third series. The first episode did not disappoint, but Saturday's second episode was by far much stronger and funnier. It commented on topical issues while also providing all of the show's players with the opportunity to tear their hair out in frustration -- frustration at the press, the public, their own department and their own government. This show is at it's most watchable when at it's most cringe-worthy, because it works best when the characters are in this state. Best line of the episode? Malcolm Tucker saying to Nicola Russell "You have a face like Dot Cotton licking piss off a nettle." Brilliant. I thoroughly look forward to the remaining four episodes.

Coming soon: the latest episodes of Medium and True Blood.

Bright Star -- A Spark To Pierce The Dark

In anticipation of Friday's release of Jane Campion's Bright Star, here is something to get us in the mood.

Bright star, would I were stedfast as thou art--
Not in lone splendour hung aloft the night
And watching, with eternal lids apart,
Like nature's patient, sleepless Eremite,
The moving waters at their priestlike task
Of pure ablution round earth's human shores,
Or gazing on the new soft-fallen mask
Of snow upon the mountains and the moors--
No--yet still stedfast, still unchangeable,
Pillow'd upon my fair love's ripening breast,
To feel for ever its soft fall and swell,
Awake for ever in a sweet unrest,
Still, still to hear her tender-taken breath,
And so live ever--or else swoon to death.

Can't wait.

Peace xx