I think I know what I’m going to write about for my next Storytellers Unplugged essay. Except, before I write about it, I have to finish what I’m writing. So I can write about it. Get it? Me, neither. But I will. I hope.
I finished The Last Kind Words by Tom Piccirilli last night (review forthcoming) and moved on to Long Gone by Alafair Burke. I have this stack of review copies that I’m finally getting back to. Some good books in it—makes it hard to choose.
Heard today that Alcatraz has been canceled. C’est dommage. I liked the show. It’s always a shame when a program gets dropped in a state of limbo.
CSI had its season finale last night. It was fun seeing Jacqueline Smith back again as Hodges’ mother, who’s now dating Conrad Eckley and forcing Hodges and Eckley’s daughter to tag along as if it’s a double date. I wonder what eye-opening experience Hodges had in Italy that means he can’t date Brody. Also good to see Peri Gilpin (from Frasier) as DB Russell’s heretofore unseen wife. Quite an ending. I was thinking that the corruption scandal was somehow going to lead back to Eckley. He was acting so squirrely. But no, the under-sheriff is a stand-up guy. And what of Nick? His exit or will he come back next season to help solve the crimes committed in the last few minutes? I really liked the way they used that continuous drum beat for several minutes at the end to build suspense. It’s a cheap trick, I know, but effective.
Was that Martha Stewart I saw on Law & Order: SVU as the headmistress of the private school? Sure looked a lot like her. What a convoluted case that one was. Another Law & Order specialty, where the initial crime is just the leaping-off spot for something almost totally unrelated. Munch was funny as the rabbinical figure. Good episode for Ice-T.
Vance has been conspicuously absent in recent episodes of NCIS. And how he’s kidnapped. Is his character on the way out? Though I like Jamie Lee Curtis, I think if I were Gibbs I’d be totally exasperated by her circular way of talking around things. Guess it’s an occupational hazard for someone in her line.
An interesting episode of Criminal Minds this week. Instead of taking on a new case, the team presented an old case to an inquisitive class of students. It’s always good when a show breaks with the formula every now and then.
Still enjoying The L.A. Complex after three episodes. With everything else coming to an end, it’s good to have something to watch during the summer. The Closer should be coming back for its final episodes soon, too, right?
And then there were five. I was afraid for Chelsea last night—I was sure she was a goner. But at last Tarzan’s time was up. I wondered what sort of reception he’d get at Ponderosa, but there were no grudges or hard feelings, apparently. Once he took a shower, everyone was cool with him, though he remains one of the strangest dudes ever on Survivor. He put on retro calf-length boots (and it was a struggle to get them on) and one spur before going to tribal council. And his reaction upon seeing himself in the mirror has to be one of the greatest ever. He couldn’t stop laughing and pointing at himself. If Chelsea makes it to the end, she might give Kim a run for the money. Kim has an idol, which she’ll presumably play at the next tribal whether she feels in jeopardy or not. She’d be stupid not to—it’s the last time it’s of any use and she has to know there’s a target on her back if she doesn’t win immunity.
