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Smallville: Better than last week, though I have to say that I'm mighty sick of the following plot devices, which they recycle over and over again: 1) the Kents almost losing their farm; 2) Clark and Lana "breaking up" without ever having gone out; 3) Lana in trouble (not so much this ep, but in the preview for next week's ep, and in 50% of the episodes so far).

So. I'm glad Helen didn't die in the plane crash, after all. You know why? Because then it would never have been revealed that she's EVIL. Hahahahaha, how GLAD was I to finally have that be resolved. I don't even mind that she's probably alive out there somewhere, and will pop back up at a most inopportune time. Dare I hope when Lex and Lana have got something going? Oh, it's too much to hope for at the moment. But by my calculations, Lana should be turning 17 or 18 this year, so we're getting closer and closer to at least having it be possible. She and Lex have now both suffered bitter disillusions about those they had loved; might they not turn to one another for comaraderie? :D

I was thrilled -- and a bit surprised, I don't mind saying -- to see Lana kick some ass. I always knew she had it in her! I think I see her v. much the way I see Ginny; quiet and nice, but hiding a lot of fire. She just needs the right person to bring that out. And I can feel myself going into yet another dissertation about why Lex/Lana makes so much sense, so I'll just stop here. But nothing I've seen has dissuaded me from the hope of this ship. It would bring maximum angst, and fit into the mythology.

Hmm, apparently there are repercussions to the deal Jonathan made with Clark's natural father. I can't bring myself to care. Or rather, to quote Spike, "Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't care." Hehehehehee.

And as usual, Pete has no role. I think it's utterly shameful the way they keep him in the opening credits and yet never really have a significant role for him to play in any of the plotlines (be they part of the mythology or a MOTW). It couldn't be more obvious that they keep him on so the cast won't be all white. Bleh. Sam ought to tell them that it's disgraceful and he won't be used that way. Of course, then he'd be out of a job and someone else would just take on the role, so...

Angel: How can anyone not love Spike? He's not as hot as he used to be, it's true, but the important thing is that he makes me laugh. And he's so twisted, and everything about him is one big gray area. And at the same time that he's making me laugh, he makes me hurt for him, too. Maybe it's the way he tries so hard not to be pitiful, and the resistant way he expresses himself that makes every sullen word 100 times more sincere than if someone else said it. I love that. This is why, when I was first reading fanon!Draco, he reminded me so much of Spike.

The first 15 min. of the ep, while the funniest, were also the most clunky. The comedy bordered on slapstick, and I winced a few times. But, in the end, was pretty happy w/ the way things went down.

I don't think I like Spike being noncorporeal. I mean, he needs to be able to hit things and affect things in a physical way (and not just for nookie, either). I was kind of hoping the necromancer would fix that. But maybe now Fred can fix it, which would be even better. (How incredibly ODD that Jade and I were bantering about Fred/Spike last week the way we do about Lex/Lana -- in a pie-in-the-sky kind of way -- and then we were given so much potential for Fred/Spike in this ep!) Fred/Spike is kind of where I was going last week when I was saying that I was sick of the Wes/Fred/Gunn triangle. Of course, I also said at that time that I saw Fred as being rather asexual, and that hasn't changed much. However, Spike could have UST with a block of wood, so it's v. possible that if they were to start something there, I could easily come to see Fred as more of a sexual being. (Not to mention, the reason Jade and I were even talking about F/S was because I was comparing Spike to Draco and saying that F/S would be a lot like D/G.) I'm going to go so far as to put F/S in my interests. Hee!

I find it interesting that the same exact thing happened to Spike and Buffy -- they both "died" and were pulled back from where they were. Of course, Buffy had been in Heaven and Spike was clearly in Hell, but still. It makes me sad to think that despite what Spike eventually ended up doing/sacrificing, he still didn't merit a place w/ the good guys ... not that he'd really want to be stuck with that lot. But not Hell, at any rate. Maybe that's going to be what Spike being on AtS is all about -- getting his own redemption. My head spins, however, in considering that Angel was supposed to be the one wearing the amulet, and what that could mean. Not to mention, Spike's such a tricky guy; I'm not even sure if what he told Fred was the truth.

I liked the double psych out they did wrt Spike being evil, but not, but evil, but not. Considering he and Angel were acting when they were in the cemetery, I find the speech Spike made about Angel 'being his grandsire so it's appropriate that he would be the one to do Spike in' even more touching, because ... there was probably truth to it. Knowing he was just acting ... I would have expected him to gag on such a sentiment or not even go there.

Okay, that's enough about Spike, I suppose (though there's never really enough about Spike). Wes continues to be ... there. Question: Since Connor is now gone from everyone's minds but Angel's, does that mean that Angel and Wes never got in that massive fight, and therefore Wes feels no lingering animosity toward Angel? Because things do seem to be back to status quo, and without Connor, there would have been no reason for Wes to betray Angel's trust in the first place. Is this one of those things that we're just supposed to gloss over?

As for Gunn, it is as I feared. He is far too hot to be in those boring suits all the time, spouting boring facts. I'm sick of lawyerly Gunn. I want street!Gunn back!!

The previews for next week's ep look totally stupid. The idea of any character falling in love with another character in one episode -- particularly the show's principle -- gives me hives. It's ridiculous, and stupid, and unworthy. Not to mention it was far too similar to that one Smallville ep that, gee, also featured a girl who turned into a wolf. Please, AtS, do NOT follow in Smallville's footsteps.

More on 'Dreamcatcher': Saw the alternate ending, which blew even more than the actual ending. However, there was a deleted scene (more like an outtake) that made the whole movie worth it: In the car, when Henry's grilling Duddits about the worm in the water system, Thomas Jane and Donnie Wahlberg go completely OOC when TJ goes way beyond what the script calls for, and Donnie's like, "No! Yes! No! D00d. I said 'un urm ills all'!!!" Hahahahahhaa. Ahem.

Hey Jade, did you recognize the actress who played Duddits' mom? It's Rosemary Dunsmore, who played Katherine Brooke in "Anne of Avonlea." You know, the mean teacher lady who Anne brings back to Green Gables at the end. I almost expected her to say something about that crazy Anne Shirley. I'm sure if Anne were around, Duddits would have fallen in love with her. *tears up from trying not to crack up*

'Mystic River' opens broadly Oct. 15!! I can't wait for this movie, even though I'm not a big fan of Clint Eastwood as a director, nor do I think the casting made very much sense. But hopefully it'll surprise me in a good way.

After talking to

sydney_lynne yesterday (she shared the general outline of the story where the scene she posted is from, and it's kickass, but she insists that it's not going to be written because she's lazy. I think it's totally doable, especially if she were slightly less ambitious with it to make it more manageable -- so poke her to write it!!), I got excited about 'Troy' again. Have just been to the IMDB to figure out who's going to be in it. Dunno who the hell Helen is, but dude!!! The men!! Firstly, Orlando Bloom as Paris (yum), and then Eric Bana as Hector!! *keels right over* And Brad Pitt as Achilles! Sean Bean as Odysseus! It's a cast of hot, hot men! (I saw the 'Helen of Troy' miniseries, and it didn't do much for me. I'm interested to see where this version's sympathies will lie, which 'story' it will tell.)