I’m going to keep it pretty simple this week, because it’s been an absolutely exhausting weekend, and not much extremely noteworthy happened in any of the shows I watched this week.
I watched the Royal Rumble last night, since it’s one of my favorite Pay-Per-Views. Not to mention that, this year, there were possibly more WrestleMania main event possibilities than we’ve seen in many, many years. It seems pretty likely that Angle will go into the event as World Champion, but either Edge or Angle could easily go into the grand-daddy as WWE Champion. Therefore, the ending to that match was very difficult to predict. In the Royal Rumble match itself, Randy Orton and Triple H each had a great chance of winning, with guys like Mysterio, Benoit, Michaels, and a few others as possibilities as well.
Overall, I enjoyed the show, but I was ever-so-slightly disappointed. First off, I thought it was a terrible idea to put the title back on Cena. Don’t get me wrong, I’m one of the few people actually willing to admit to being a Cena fan, but interest in the product only went up with Edge as champion, and since the fans had only recently become prone to cheering Cena again, it was a bit too soon to give him the belt back. I definitely would have kept Edge as Champion going into WrestleMania, with Cena winning the title there. That would have been easily accomplished by having a screw job ending last night. By the way, this doesn’t make Edge a transitional champion. If I’m not mistaken, a transitional champion is when you have person A as champion, and person B wins the title for the sole purpose of getting the title on person C. This usually happens when they want to get the title from one face to another, or one heel to another, without having to do a face/face or heel/heel battle. And it figures, Edge FINALLY brings the sunglasses back, and he loses the title.
The Rumble itself was very good, in my opinion. Perhaps not great, but very good. A big thing the Rumble was missing this year was the guy who comes in, and eliminates a shitload of people. Most were predicting Lashley would do that. It also would have been appropriate for Kane and Big Show to do that before eventually being eliminated the manner in which they were. That said, I did like MNM working together all night, and Rey winning was a huge and pleasant surprise.
Oh, and it was strange booking to have a RAW guy make a surprise appearance to determine a new Smackdown champion, only to win the belt twice in the past couple weeks.
By the way, everybody be sure to read my Smallville 100th episode recap/review. It was a tremendous show, and definitely very emotionally charged.
LOST:
Okay, regarding Ana-Lucia. One line. It took one frigging line. After all the super negative things I’ve said about her, all she had to do is say “you hitting that?” and suddenly I like her. I think it also helps that the show is no longer being overwhelmed by her character, and when we do see her, she’s a bit more light hearted and likable. That said, I could easily go back to not liking her in a second.
The stuff with Hurley and Libby is a lot of fun. Throughout the series, we’ve had a lot of male/female relationships that have a sexual undertone, but always skirt around the issue that they’re attracted to each other. We’ve seen Jack/Kate, Sawyer/Kate, Jack/Ana-Lucia, Charlie/Claire, and a few others. Aside from Sayid and Shannon, which seemed really random, we haven’t really had any relationships in which the participants were outwardly honest about their feelings. With that in mind, its fun seeing Hurley obviously attracted to Libby, and wanting something to happen there. Oh, and how strange was it seeing Sawyer and Hurley all buddy-buddy playing Blackjack?
The Charlie stuff was interesting, as it allowed us to get a better idea of his family life. I found Locke’s behavior especially unusual…almost sinister. It seemed like he cared more about accentuating the problems between Charlie and Claire than trying to resolve it. I also found it really strange that he opted to keep the statuettes instead of disposing of them. That’s really odd. Also, how sad was it seeing Eko looking at the burnt remains of the trees he liked? I’m also curious how the baptism will come into play later on.
I’ve been thinking more about the idea of the survivors on the island being part of a Utopian society. Consider the cast of characters: We have a doctor (Jack), a man of religion (Eko), a hunter/outdoorsman (Locke), a builder (Michael), a pregnant woman who will be able to raise her child in this new society (Claire), a musician (Charlie), an enforcer of law (Ana-Lucia), a psychologist (Libby), a business person (Boone), a soldier (Sayid), a fisherman (Jin), just to name a few. Then, there are also interesting X-factors to keep in mind. What will happen when an addict is put on the island, with no real choice but to get clean, only to discover drugs on the island later on? What happens when a man who cannot speak English is put on an island with only English speaking survivors? What happens when a looter is amongst the survivors? Or when a person with a criminal background is given a second chance, with people who have no idea about what she has done? Perhaps most significantly, what happens when the characters discover a hatch, and learn that they must press a button every hour and a half, with no idea but a threat of what might happen if they don’t oblige.
When you think about it, the cast of characters certainly represent every realm that you’d want when creating a new society. I think, eventually, we may discover a central character has a political background. Additionally a lot of outside factors come into play that can severely alter the course of events and the characters’ behavior. This certainly adds credence to the idea that this may all be an experiment.
24:
Not all too much to say about this episode, however I did enjoy it. I actually have to give a great deal of credit to whoever is in charge of the show’s music, as the background during the First Lady’s scenes is perfect: It’s a great combination of the classic 24 theme, but with a twisted tweaking to it. It adds to the aura of her scenes and character quite effectively.
I was also pleasantly surprised that Spencer, who turned out to be a mole of sorts, was doing it unwittingly. Honestly, the whole “mole within the office” plot device needs to be abandoned after five years, but at least this they’ve modified it slightly here. But, again, this plot device needs to be put to rest. After a while, you wonder how on earth they keep hiring these people who have terrorist ties, especially when it’s happened so many times in the past.
Oh, and apparently John McCain will be making a cameo appearance sometime this season. That should be fun.
THE OC:
I may drink like a sailor, but I’ve never smoked pot. Never done any drugs, and never smoked anything whatsoever. Just not my cup of tea. That said, nearly everybody I know has, at one point, smoked pot. Some of my friends do it quite frequently. That’s why I always find it funny when a character on television smokes pot, and acts like they’re tripping out on acid or something. Seriously, it seems like whenever any television character smokes pot, you’d think they’re doing cocaine.
Criticism aside, high Seth is pretty funny. I especially enjoyed Ryan’s lengthy silence, only to finally ask “are you high?” This will definitely add some tension to the Summer/Seth relationship, as well as their chances of going to Brown together. Let me just tell you this: Once you bag a girl like Summer, any other obstacle in your life is child’s play.
The stuff with Katelyn, Marissa, Johnny, and Ryan doesn’t interest me all too much. However, I am pretty intrigued what’s going to happen this week in the last five minutes. Also, after all that build, is the Julie/Dr. Roberts romance over? If so, that’s pretty disappointing.
RANT RELATED TO TELEVISION:
One question: What in the blue hell is with Adult Swim showing the same F’N episode of Ranger Smith every single Sunday at 1:00 am? It is literally the same freakin’ episode every god damn Sunday. It’s not as if they don’t have a wide variety of shows they can put on at that hour. In fact, I used to quite enjoy Home Movies at that time. Or even Baby Blues or Oblongs or SOMETHING. It’s not as if Ranger Smith even fits in with the line-up (which has gotten worse with their line-up of new programs), so what gives? Bring back Venture Brothers, or Stroker and Hoop, or some other show I enjoy. It’s really getting me pretty annoyed.
RANT UNRELATED TO TELEVISION:
What the hell is up with the Geico gecko’s new voice? I have seen the commercial of him talking to the little geckos a hundred times, and I am YET to remember what he says, because I am so distracted by the new voice. It’s like super Australian. It sounds like the guy from Wayne’s World 2 who helped Wayne and Garth run Wayne Stock.
Further, what’s with the gecko now advertising FOR Geico? The original premise of his character was that he’s a gecko, but kept being confused WITH Geico. Now suddenly he’s an employee? What’s going on here?
Alright, I need to lie down or something. Hopefully the column will be back to its natural form next week. Until then, Case Closed.
