Doctor Who: 705 – “The Angels Take Manhattan”

Before I start this episode review, I just wanted to let people be aware that it contains massive spoilers about the fates of Rory and Amy, so please be warned. Also because of the dense and in-depth nature of this week’s plot line, I have broken it down to its bare essentials. Enjoy.

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Dexter: 7.01 – “Are You…?” Premiere Review

The long-awaited Season 7 premiere of Dexter was last night, and though I had very low expectations following the disappointing season 6, I was pleasantly surprised. The premiere began right where season 6 ended; Dexter was caught sticking a knife into Travis Marshall by Deb. As she stood there, eyes wide and jaw dropped, the season ended and we were left to speculate what might happen next.

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Countdown to Halloween #30: Michael Jackson

Regardless of your perception on Michael Jackson, he was the biggest pop star on Earth for the better part of three decades, and he totally redefined the music scene in the 1980’s. Maybe Michael Jackson did become white, maybe he did molest kids, but as David Chappelle would say, “He made Thriller. Thriller.“

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Boardwalk Empire: 3.03 – “Bone for Tuna”

Where were we? Last week was all slow-moving build up. Nucky is hiding in New York with Billie Kent,  just wanting everything to run on its own. Margaret is stomping around the hospital and, unfortunately, not smacking the crap out of lippy servants. Eli’s out of jail, Gyp is hanging out in Tabor Heights waiting around for Methodist bible camp, and sticking it to Nucky in the meantime. Chalky tried to convince Maybelle that his life is not that interesting and she should just marry the boring doctor. Oh and Mickey is amazingly still alive. After that slow as molasses episode, I had high hopes for this week. I was not disappointed.

Apparently if you kill the man you spent decades treating as your son, it turns out that it can f–k with your head. Here we finally see Nucky start to come unhinged over killing Jimmy. He’s dreaming of kids shot in the face, and then seeing the same kid as a choir boy. Of course this is also tied to his own childhood and it involves a lot of bacon. There was a lot of “alone Nucky” in this episode and it was just sad. If ever there was a man who needed to just get his shit together, get back together with his wife, spend time with his kids, and have a large bottle of zoloft nearby, it is Nucky Thompson. Dude.

VanAlden returned this episode and so help me god if the writers try to make me feel anything for him like they did Eli last week, I’m gonna be pissed. I don’t want to feel sorry for him. I don’t want to sympathize with him. I don’t want to see him all lovey dovey with his new wife. Are you hearing me writers? I DO NOT WANT TO LIKE HIM!

 Alas, I sort of did. I really do feel badly for him when he’s getting picked on by his coworkers. But then I just remember him “baptizing” Sebso and my distaste for him returns. Ahhh, all is right with the world. Seriously though, the fountain pen and then the constant picking at him, it makes me want to never want to buy an iron from these jackasses. Sigrid however? I daresay I never saw a scene like that in Door to Door (if you haven’t seen this movie, you should), so I was completely unaware that door to door sales can be such a turn on. Lesson learned.

If I were to take my dislike for VanAlden and add the heated hatred of a thousand forest fires burning at once, that would come close to my feelings for Gillian Darmody. She’s got her claws in everyone. It’s possible I missed it earlier, but did we know that Lucky Luciano was an investor in the whorehouse? That was news to me. Unwelcome news of course, and while we’re discussing those two- I really wish little bubbles would pop up telling us who all knows Jimmy is dead and who really believes he went back to the Army. It would be like a flow chart in the style of Pop Up Video, very helpful. I mean Gillian has to know right? She and Nucky aren’t talking, clearly illustrated by the looks exchanged when Nucky drops Gyp off at the house of ill repute. So is she just pretending he’s still alive so people like Lucky take her more seriously? Is she just trying to convince herself he is still alive because she’s an out of touch creepy hobag? It’s a mystery. [Editor’s Note – She knows he is dead, but must play along because he gives her clout. My though anyhow…]

Another mystery? Gyp Rosetti. Good lord this guy is off his rocker. And at the same time, he’s a good businessman. When he was talking to Gillian he seemed quite normal and sane. He was even capable of laughing at himself when he starts to take offense to Nucky saying something about being in “your neck of the woods”. BUT THEN HE DOES THIS!!!

Oh my god. Seriously. That was all I could say. You would think that watching a show where people’s heads are blown off on the regular, something violent wouldn’t be all that surprising. You’d be wrong. Gyp dropped that lighter and all I could see was this.

If we learned nothing else this episode, do not wish Gyp Rosetti good luck. Or buona fortuna. Or “bone for tuna”- you know that kid’s Irish so the spelling is off. Seriously, Nucky nailed it on the head with his “you’d find offense in a bouquet of roses”. What the hell is wrong with the guy? And why do I enjoy his psychosis so much?

[Little tidbit- the movie Gyp’s driver was talking about (when you could see Gyp come undone over Nucky wishing him bone for tuna) was Nosferatu. I am not a horror/scary/monster movie fan by any means so I had no idea, but thankfully the internet came to my rescue on that one. Stay tuned the GrizzlyBomb because coming up this month we are highlighting our favorite Halloween characters and I’m pretty sure Nosferatu made the list.]

Speaking of people I enjoy- Lucky Luciano and Meyer Lansky made an appearance!

They are still doing their heroine thing and Lucky is not happy with their dealings with Masseria. Of course the adorable Meyer Lansky was the voice of reason telling him that they just needed to bid their time with him. In perfect gangster fashion though, he goes from ‘let’s be calm, cool, and collected’ to shooting at Masseria’s men in the street with none other than heroin delivery boy extraordinaire/Benny ‘Bugsy’ Seigel. Shit is getting real there in New York.

The honor of “second best part of episode” belongs to Richard Harrow and Mickey Doyle. Especially this particular moment:

Mickey takes credit for Manny’s death to make himself look like a bad ass and gets ratted out by a delivery boy during a drop to the whorehouse where Richard is tending bar. Richard gets Mickey at gunpoint and then trots his happy ass over to Nucky telling him to deal with Mickey- it was perfect. Everything about it. Especially when Richard greets Mickey with a gun right as he drops trou. I mean seriously, perfection. However, it does make us ask once again, how the hell is Mickey Doyle still sucking air? HOW? He’s a lucky bastard.

And when Richard tells Nucky that he killed Manny for Angela Darmody?

It was too much. I think I died a little with that one. I’m really glad that he came out and said it was just for Angela though. I mean I always assumed, but it’s nice to hear. The part about Jimmy being a soldier, fighting and losing, was also very well written. Nucky you are safe once again- from Richard at least.

You know who you aren’t safe from? This woman:

Last week I was a little meh with Margaret, but this week is a totally different story. Margaret wins the “best storyline of the episode by far, so much so that no one else even had a chance”. And to think, I was sort of annoyed with the prenatal care hill that she was so intent to die on. I thought it was going to be slow and boring.

I. Was. Wrong.

Before that though, Margaret needs to be recognized for coming up with the best alternative for “f–k you and the horse you rode in on” I have ever witnessed. Nucky tells her that he can’t sleep, after being gone for god only knows how long, and she just gives a slight shrug, saying “some warm milk perhaps”. In other words Nucky, she isn’t listening to your shit anymore. Perhaps if you hadn’t been a complete ass who got pissed over money (okay, it was a lot of money) and then ran off to New York with that Broadway chippy you would still have a wife who gave two shits about you and your obvious mental issues. Instead you have a wife who will stand at the back of a church, remind you of your wedding day, give a slight nod to the aforementioned showgirl with her statement about “the show must go on” and pretty much say your marriage is in shambles but you must still put on appearances so walk your ass down this aisle and be happy about it.

I’m sure if Nucky weren’t so caught up in his hallucinations over the “shot in the face” choir boy, he would have been as equally as impressed by Margaret’s next move as I was. There they were, enjoying the nice reception for Nucky’s St. Gregory Award. Margaret is called over for her previously requested moment with the bishop and she takes the opportunity to introduce him to the doctor who had earlier commented that landscaping was more important than prenatal care.

All of a sudden- BOOM- Margaret thanks the doctor for opening a women’s clinic and isn’t that just the greatest thing bishop? Isn’t he amazing? Isn’t this going to be the best thing ever, your excellency? Margaret Thompson, you are f–king awesome. From shy and timid pregnant housewife to cornering an asshole doctor into doing the one thing he would never do- impressive.

Even though there wasn’t any Chicago (outside of VanAlden) or Chalky, and Nucky was a bit annoying with the constantly calling Billie Kent and then going back up there in a very stalkerish manner, this was by far my favorite episode out of the three so far. Gyp was entertaining and disturbing, Gillian was creepy but still moved the story along, and Richard and Margaret were amazing.

I’m going to have to go ahead and give it a five out of five.

I just hope that don’t make me regret renewing my love for Margaret’s storyline. I will be quite disappointed. I’ll be back next week and we’ll see!

‘Bates Motel’ Could Be as Heart-Pounding as ‘Psycho’

Alfred Hitchcock may no longer be walking this earth, but his cinematic influence has yet to disappear entirely.  Directors of horror films will still say they are going for that Hitchcock-like sense of terror and tension, and other directors simply decide to remake his stories entirely.  We’ve seen several well-known remakes already, including Mission: Impossible II in 2000, Flightplan in 2005, and Disturbia in 2007. Now it’s time for Hitchcock’s Psycho, possibly his most famous title, to get some new attention.

A&E recently announced their plan to produce a series called Bates Motel, a prequel to Hitchcock’s Psycho.  Coming from executive producers Carlton Cuse (Lost) and Kerry Ehrin (Friday Night Lights), the series will chronicle the relationship between Norman Bates, the famous serial killer, and his mother Norma. It will reveal how he became the murderer we know him as today. Cuse said: “We are incredibly excited to start production on Bates Motel. We think our take on the Bates family will both be surprising and subvert expectations.  We can’t wait for people to check in” [The Hollywood Reporter].

Your son is gonna grow up crazy, woman.

Though the series will not debut until next year, plenty of decisions have already been made.  A&E announced fairy early on, for example, that Vera Farmiga (The Departed) will be playing the role of Norma Bates.  TV Guide also announced two weeks ago that child star Freddie Highmore snagged the role of young Norman. You may remember Highmore as the wide-eyed, innocent-looking chap from Finding Neverland and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.  Bates Motel will also star Max Thieriot as Dylan, “Norma’s oldest son and the big brother to Norman who is described as a petulant and rebellious James Dean-type” [The Hollywood Reporter].

As a Hitchcock fan, I am ashamed to admit I have not had the opportunity or made the time to see Psycho yet.  I have adored Rear Window for years, marveled at the three-shot-only The Rope, flinched at the heights of Vertigo, and mentally pictured Hitchcock filming North by Northwest when I visited Mount Rushmore my sophomore year of college.  And yet after all of this, I have not seen Psycho.  It’s also a degradation considering I’ve been at two of its filming locations – the old Jefferson Hotel building in Phoenix, Arizona, and the I-99 between Fresno and Bakersfield, California.

There are several reasons I’m determined to see Hitchcock’s classic and then watch the A&E prequel.  First of all, because I’m one of those people who generally wants to see or read the first version of a story before I watch another interpretation of it, I’m going to have to add Psycho to my list.  Fortunately, I have plenty of time to get to it since Bates Motel is not coming out until next year.  However, since I’ve managed to avoid the original film for 25 years, I better not just assume I’ll “get to it” given another year, either.  I’ll have to be diligent this time around.

In addition, I cannot wait to see Freddie Highmore’s interpretation of Norman Bates.  Freddie fascinated me from the first time I saw him act in Finding Neverland, and has not lost my respect since.  Definitely impressive is a young boy who can consistently hold his own against a veteran favorite like Johnny Depp.  His role in Bates Motel will reveal much about how he’s developed as a young man and as an actor.

I only have one trepidation regarding the new series, though, and that has to do with Cuse’s comment that it will surprise and “subvert expectations.”  To me, that implies, “We wanted to try something new that may not have anything to do with the original intent of the previous director/writer.”  I automatically think of films like The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor that were intended to be in the same “spirit” as the first film(s) but failed miserably.  My one consolation is that the teaser poster released for Bates Motel produces the same chilling aura as when someone mentions the word Psycho.  Hopefully these artists’ skills of capturing that Hitchcockian atmosphere transfer over into the entire cast and crew, as well.

Bates Motel promo poster
This looks promising.

Seeing classic filmmakers’ works be appreciated, copied, and referenced in this day and age gives me hope that television and Hollywood magnates will not altogether forget their past so we can continue to pass on these stories to our children.  Hopefully, this is the way that A&E is viewing its Bates Motel, and if so I’ll be ready to turn on the television.  I just need to make sure to add Psycho to my “things to watch” list this week.