Slip of My
Tongue
Thoughts
on
You know, I always figured that I'm so
Duchovny-biased, my opinions don't really mean
much. I'm going to love
anything David's in, whether it's good or not, if you know what I mean. If the Duchov's
there, it's really all I need to enjoy it and for a lot of reasons. So, I never really saw much need in writing reviews before. You already know what I think. "Yippee!" In
a word.
But obviously, I decided, what the heck? Just because I liked it, doesn't mean I
can't see flaws here and there.
Maybe I'll hit on something nobody saw or noticed about the ep. And here I am
and here goes.
I want to start out by saying how glad I am
this show is back. V-E-R-Y. I
couldn't be happier to have Hank and the gang back, seriously. My sincerest thanks to Showtime, again,
and to everyone involved. You all
ROCK!
I loved the way the ep
starts; Hank in bed. Always a delight for a perv like me. Smilin' in his sleep.
I'll take it. But the whole
scene was cute, Hank's left buttcheek was cute, the
dialogue was sweet, and how cool was the Mulder throwback? He's become his own Thor's Hammer,
woo! How X-Files-y!
Speaking of Thor's Hammer, I have to mention
here all the many Hank winks to the formerly, ahem, Bob-obsessed. You knew I couldn't do it, didn't
you? ;-P I'm trying, I promise, but I was
just Bob-obsessed too long to go completely cold turkey. No can do, apparently. <g> Try as I might, I still gravitate
to the Bobvious, especially where this show is
concerned, and I may be doing it for a while yet.
Still, is it just because of who I am or does
anyone else notice how Hank blatantly winks at us? You know, we (and I mean the
former BI staff) always wondered if David had ever checked out the site, maybe
had someone inform him of it ..."Hey, did you know there's a website
devoted to your penis and they've named it Bob?!" And it's times like these that I feel
like he knows a lot more about Bob and the Bob Populace that he'd ever let on,
so he just ...winks at us a lot.
First time Hank refers to his penis as 'Bob' or 'Bob Johnson', I swear I
will faint dead away. You may as
well go ahead and call 911. Send
the paramedics. He has so many
names for the appendage and speaks of said appendage so often,
that I figure, odds are, he's bound to hit on that one someday.
And yeah, those winky
days may be over, and yeah, I've even had occasion to wonder if maybe we didn't
cause some problems for David, making the beautiful Bob a public thing, and
drooling over him so ostentatiously.
Not that I ever felt like we were the center of the universe and affect
all things, but I still thought about it, and that's one reason why there's no
more Bob site.
And sure, okay ...the ep
was all about the vas def, after all, and it will, by nature of subject matter,
have a lot to do with Bob, this time.
They seemed to be relishing in making Bob the star for an ep, as if they had no idea how much they were torturing me
at the same time. <g> "But
...but ...I'm not supposed to talk about this stuff anymore! No fair!" It was like an 'All About
Bob' starring Bob documentary. Like
I'm not going to love it and go on the endless pun hunt of my past?! Me?!
And as I hope you realize, I'm talking about David's WORK here, not
his personal life, and I kind of like the idea that he could be using his show
(a fantasy realm) to answer to us, as Bob fiends (also a fantasy realm) in the
...uh ...safest, most fidelity-friendly way he can. But that's just me, and I DO realize
he's playing a part. The words and
actions don't all come from David.
They come from Hank, who isn't David. I got it.
But for the sake of entertainment and Bob
nostalgia (something I remember so fondly, even now...), "one more time
for the cheap seats..."
á
The nurse
telling Hank, "Great-looking cock!" His answer was priceless, and I felt
like he was talking directly to me!
:flutters eyelashes:
á
We never used 'Thor's Hammer' to
describe Bob (although I'm wondering why now), so he got that one from Mulder,
not us.
á
My bud Suz
Bubba would LURV hearing Hank refer to his balls as 'the boys' in the 'they've seen
better days' response to Becca. The captioning said 'the boys', though
and the correct spelling is 'da boyz'.
á
All splayed out on the couch with
the ice tray?! Beastly
creature. I never before so badly
wanted to be a clunky 70's model ice tray.
Too, I realized how my consistently cold hands could really come in
handy. And here I was, thinking of
it as a drawback. For my whole
life, up until that scene. Gosh,
thanks Hanks!
á
The "two inches shy..."
tease. Did you see that smile on
his face?! What a dawg he is, but at least we know how long, after all these
years of speculating. Too, you
gotta keep in mind he's talking about Hank's Bob, which may not be anything
like David's Bob, eh? Still, they
*do* look a lot alike, after all, could be twins, in fact, so I felt so
enlightened! :big sigh: I actually said "thank you..."
out loud, just like Hank did, with the Mulder panic face on. Completely in awe of his audacious
generosity, I promise.
á
Hank said 'him', when referring to
Bob. "I don't want you to see
HIM..." he said to Karen, who really wanted to see him, in case you didn't
notice like I did. He switched to
'it' in the next sentence; "It could be bloody," but still... Even Hank thinks of him as a person, in
of himself. Are we to blame for the
Freudian-Bobian slip, hmmm?
á
Mr. Director sitting a camera maybe
two feet from his crotch and aiming it straight at his waist, of all things,
Bob just barely out of our line of vision, no less, while he stands over it,
digging around in his jeans, checking things out. For God's sake, does he have any
idea?! Cruel, much? Bob hearts were aflutter in every corner
of the globe, I bet. What a
tease! 'DD' stands for 'Double-Dawg', I'm tellin' ya. And thank you, anyway.
But enough of that politically incorrect Bob
stuff. Felt good to let it out,
anyway, admit that he haunts me still, so your patience with me while I recover
from my very own form of sex organ addiction (:blink: Did I just say that?) is
appreciated. You realize there's twelve stEPS to this
program, too, and I, therefore, have 11 more to go. Perhaps by stEP
twelve, I'll be completely free of this affliction. But probably not. <g> But maybe I'll be able to control
it better in public, at least. And
yes, I am taking recent events very seriously, way too much so, in fact, and
no, I don't think any of it's the least bit funny. But the show is, and that's where I'm
directing the humor, not at the man who plays Hank. I'm adjusting to this unfamiliar
self-censoring as quickly as I can, so cut me some slack. <g>
Back to the ep in sequence. The doctor scene was
totally silly and possibly unrealistic, but fun, anyway. I still have to wonder where the 'looks
like there's a new pope' ( :snort: ) smoke was coming
from. Anybody know
what was smoking, besides Bob, I mean, who's always smokin'? :slaps
self: I mean I could guess, but I'd
rather not, and chances are, I don't really want to know. As mentioned, loved the nurse scene in
the hall and Hank's response to the compliment that I wish I'd been there to
give him :slaps self again: as the lead-in to the new
credits.
The sorta new credits? I
never liked the credits much, and I don't like the song as much as the
images. You'll have to forgive me,
but I'm old and I'm not as fond of grating, twangy,
slightly off-key, loud music as I used to be. The music sounds too
pop-hip-teenager-y-chaotic for my taste.
I always thought something bluesy (yeah, entitled "Moody's
Blues", of course) or jazzy or groovin' would be
more appropriate for this very adult program, but music is all about taste, I
suppose, and I can't fault anybody for what they like. But I, too, was glad to see and hear
something a little different from last year in this year's credits.
Several people said they were surprised Bill
wasn't mentioned, like he never existed, but I heard many references to Bill,
the marriage, Karen's abandonment.
Hank told Karen to call him Bill in the teaser scene, Karen mentions
running off with Hank on her wedding night in the home from the doctor scene,
Mia says she hopes Hank is enjoying her father's wife (and he says 'hello'), in
the pool scene, Karen tells Hank she must've been crazy to think things would
be different (which led to her leaving Bill) in the Officer Dick scene. I don't see that as denying his
existence, exactly.
It's just that we weren't made privy to the
status of that union that's a little annoying. I would guess she's still married to
Bill, and I would've expected some explanation, and I still kind of hope they
plan to let Bill come back sometime.
Once, maybe, to give us some closure, or whatever. Maybe Bill figures Hank will screw up
and she'll come back to him someday, so he's not yet pursuing a divorce. But if Hank ever wants to actually marry
Karen and she wants to marry Hank, maybe then we'll get some clues about her
marital status.
Did I mention Hank holding his crotch for
most of the episode? Not a wink,
but the first few Bob-pained scenes were hard to watch, and bummer that our
view was blocked by his hand or an ice tray or the beloved edamame
for so much of the time. I'm sure
they'll make it up to me later, though.
Loved the interaction with
the Becca in the first scene.
Her concern for The Package was heartwarming. Really. Actually, I feel for Becca,
because Mia's right about her.
She's scared. Pissed off,
because she's scared, the way I see it.
She's 13 and shouldn't be scared for her parents or the stability of her
household. She curses because
everyone else she lives with does.
It becomes hypocritical at a certain point to tell a child, do as I say,
not as I do. You only get away with
that for so long before the kid wises up, learns what hypocrisy is, then that
power you had over them is gone. If
Hank and Karen would use some restraint around her occasionally, they might be
able to tell her to watch her language, but I don't think it's going to
happen.
I think Becca feels
like she needs the especially colorful language to not only be 'cool' and grown
up, but also to get her parents attention.
That shock value it instills in most parents that makes them sit up and
pay attention, no matter how briefly.
Anyone willing to use foul language ( :waving:
) knows how one tends to use it when one wants the most to be heard, or to
emphasize the voracity of their point.
It's not necessarily indicative of anger, although that was the impetus
for the only curse word I ever heard my mother say, and only once. A day of discovery for me; I finally
knew my mother knew at least one of the 'bad' words I did. Woo-HOO! I was 11 years old, and I thought I knew
more words than my mother, because she never used them. But wow, she was pissed, one of those
days where absolutely nothing or nobody was cooperating with her and she was
trying to fix a hole in my brother's chosen clothing, the bus was going to pull
up any second and she broke her sewing needle. She hissed, "Shit!" with her
back to me, and yeah, I was stunned.
Still, I knew she'd reached a tipping point of frustration, I mean, it
really got her point across to me that my mother was in some trouble here, if
she was angry enough to do *that*, so yeah, she got my attention. Works for me. Call me warped, because I lean toward
that notion, too, but I remember grinning briefly, because it struck me as cool
that my mother resorted to saying a bad word. Hee.
So no, my parents didn't teach me bad words
and it's not why I'll use them now.
They knew the words, but never used them around me, and consequently,
they rarely, if ever heard them out of me.
Okay, so I got my blood pumping a time or two, talking politics with my
elderly father (and we were on opposite ends of the political spectrum, for the
record), always a bad idea, and I let a few tacky words slip out, a slip of the
tongue thing, coincidentally. And
ya know what? He grinned at me when
I did. "Gettin'
a little riled up there, aren't ya?"
But my point is, it's not always anger that precedes the use of bad
words, for me, so much as it is who I'm talking to. In person, I mean. Here, I'm just typing down what goes
through my head, and I'll be damned if I can keep the bad words from coming out
of the ends of my fingers when I do.
So I guess I just have a dirty mind connected to them. Gee, ya think?
Back on topic, I think of using colorful language
in many cases, including Becca's, is more a marketing tool. It's a way to focus attention on what's
she trying to get across, and if she has to curse to do that, so be it. She'll use it. She assumes it's part of being an adult,
and she wants to be treated like one, since she's at least as mature as either
of her parents, if not more so. The
way it could look to her, she almost has to curse, speak their language, or
they may not get what she's saying.
I suppose it's a disturbing trend, that the
dollar swap for cursing is apparently out the window, but at least Karen called
her on it ...once. Two points for
Karen. But me, they're just words,
and you can probably tell how much I love words. There aren't many I would ban from the
language, if it were up to me. I
think the more, the merrier, even like making up my own. But that's just me.
I dislike Becca
bonding with Mia very much, but only because I thought Mia was a horrible and
feckless influence on such a young girl from the Pilot ep
last year on. She started out my
impression of her as a 16-year-old (rather than a seemingly older one-hit
wonder for Hank) by taking Becca to a party with a
bunch of older teenagers, where there's alcohol and drugs and sex everywhere
you look, then calls Karen when Becca gets 'in
trouble'? Why not just take Becca home, herself, if she was so
worried? But really, how
irresponsible was it of Mia to begin with, and I fear she can only get the Becca into trouble with their association. Becca's wise
beyond her years, but for all the wrong reasons, and she's still just a kid,
regardless.
I find it interesting that there's 'pack up
and move back to NY' element thrown into the first ep. I guess the idea could be history
already, but I have to wonder if it'll be a recurring theme for the whole
season or if they'll never mention it again. Moving the backdrop of the show to NYC
had some possible potential and practicality elements, all things considered
and depending on a lot of factors involved in moving production like that. The show's name wouldn't make a lot of
sense anymore, for example. They
could have cast and crew that wouldn't go with them, of course, too, and that's
always kinda sad. Still, we all
know David's capable of moving a television production, but I have to wonder if
the Moodys will ever really leave LA.
From the first ep, I'd have to say, probably
not this season, anyway. Score one
for the Becca, I guess.
The ice tray scene was a chuckle I needed, so
I liked that ...the real estate whore and the potential buyers walking in on
Hank at the worst possible time.
Yeah, it could only happen to Hanky.
Surfer Girl? I
liked Hank's interaction with the wheelchair guy, but the part of the scene
with SG made me uncomfortable. I
didn't like her much the first time, I mean ...kind of a sleaze and a thief, to
boot, although she's nice-looking.
And apparently only has one outfit to wear 365 days a year. Otherwise, that was a fabulous
coincidence. But it was Hank's
reaction to her and the way he spoke of his new situation that made me
uncomfortable.
Why?
It goes against character for me.
Hank was never the cheater, when he was with Karen the first time. The things he says here have that aroma
of long-time bachelor playboy, as if just a few months of promiscuity has
spoiled him on it, he's gotten, dare I say, addicted to freedom and variety too
quickly? He gets what he thought he
wanted, all that he struggled and made himself miserable trying to have, but he
talks to SG like gosh, he's really so sorry he can't accommodate her, but he's
back with his ex, the 'baby momma' (which sounds so demeaning in context), all
regretful and bummed that he's got that ball and chain around his neck
now. It was disappointing, maybe,
more so than uncomfortable.
If I'd been standing next to him, he would've
felt the wrath of my elbow in his ribs, perhaps more than once. <g> Prick. I mean, really. What happened to that 'pointless pussy'
mantra he carried around with him all last season, telling Charlie how nice it
can be, but it's all still meaningless?
The grass is always greener?
It seems regardless of what Hank doesn't have, that's what he wishes for
most. I just think he could've been
a little more respectful of what he claims he's trying hard to keep. Baby momma. Please. Wouldn't, "She's the love of my
life and the mother of my child and I couldn't possibly cheat on her, but
thanks," be more tactful and net the same result?
Then again, I guess that wouldn't be Hank,
either. Always the gentleman of humorous
hipspeak, when it comes to the Hank women, I
suppose. He didn't want to hurt her
feelings, perhaps, but it felt more like refusing to burn any bridges he may
want to cross later, and that makes me uneasy with Hank's chances of monogamous
success, for sure. If he can't
believe or even imagine himself able to keep his family together, what are his
chances? I shouldn't be
complaining. He turned her down,
after all. Go, Hank! I think what bothered me was that it
seemed to hurt so much for him to.
I'm glad he told wheelchair guy 'I don't do that anymore,' so
assertively, but it appears it wasn't enough for me. The damage had already been done, grrr. <g>
The scene at Bill's house was kind of weird,
but it lets us in on Mia's current lifestyle of the rich and infamous, I
suppose, and she's just as mean to Hank as she ever was. You'll have to pardon me, but that kiss
she got from the boyfriend of the day was awkwardly icky and they could've left
that out and not hurt my feelings.
However, I liked Hank's concern for Mia, probably more than she did,
actually, and I liked her Fractured Fairy Tale of Hank's future with
Karen. I'd only hope Hank would let
it roll around in his head for a while and try to act accordingly to prevent it
from coming true. Only, I guess we
wouldn't have a show, if he did that, would we? Oh, and I loved that he refused the
forbidden cigarette she tried to tempt him with, and he that threw the book in
the water on his way out. Rawr.
What can I say about the Hank/Becca scene in the car? Besides that it was the sweetest scene
of the ep?
And that I hearted it?
Two points for Hank for his little speech, and two for Becca's continuing concern about her father's obviously
vital sex organs. Hank telling her
that she was the best thing that ever happened to him and that he loved her
made my eyes all misty. Now, he
just needs to act like it.
Conversely to Hank's first Spooky former lover
encounter, I really liked the way he handled himself with Sonja in the
restaurant. But
no points for Hank, because Karen was there, and that was a good portion of the
reason for the difference, IMO.
Except I might have to reconsider a score for Hank, because he had some
time alone with Sonja later, and I thought he did great there. He gave the impression of being both
happy with his arrangement with Karen and happy for Sonja and her new
life. It was more like two friends
talking, than former sex partners, even when Hank brought up sex. Very different from his first haunting
of the ep by Surfer Girl,
and it made me feel better.
Back to the restaurant, it was a funny scene
and I thought all four of our main characters did a great job making it seem
more adlibbed than not. Loved
Marcy's "Asshole!" for Hank and the gesture to go with it. "Prema-Charlie,"
was a hoot, especially the way it was delivered, thank you. Marcy's making herself a big warm place
in my heart, for the record. I hate
what's happening to her this season, to be honest, but Pamela really knows how
to make it funny and real, anyway.
I'm sad about the direction they're taking Charlie and Marcy, but I
think it'll be temporary, and possibly, very funny, in its own way, until we
get to the end of the 'high' road.
I don't like even saying this, but the only
reason I can think of why they brought up vasectomies that don't take, is so
they can hit us over the head with it later in the season, when Hank gets
...somebody pregnant. No, a botched
or unsuccessful vasectomy wouldn't tie in to Sonja's current pregnancy, I don't
think, but as much as I don't especially like the idea of Karen getting
pregnant, I'd rather it be Karen than Sonja or some future dalliance he might
become involved in. That would
suck. But why else would it come
up? Factor in Natascha's
real-life pregnancy as filming proceeded, and well ... I can't help but think Hank's going to
be a daddy again, despite his valiant efforts to the contrary.
The party thing was a little hokey in
places. If that's a typical
Speaking of, Karen infuriates me with her
flip-flopping and talking out of both sides of her mouth. She wants him to be good,
she wants him to be bad. Which is
it? It's no wonder he has such a
hard time going 'straight', for Karen or anybody else.
I liked the way it played out, through the end
of the ep, with it all leading to Hank being
unnecessarily chided and beaten by Officer Dick[head], the cause and affect at
work. But Karen's big mouth is what
got Hank thrown in the pokey, and I know Hank never would, but I wanted to slap
her a few times. She made the
officer aware of their personal strife, and he involved himself, and as Hank
said, he was overstepping his authority.
He provoked Hank deliberately, so Dick is a good name for that guy. Still, none of it would've happened, if
Karen had just sat quietly and let Hank accept his ticket for the
headlight. But NO! She had to air all her dirty laundry for
the Officer. She can be such a
silly person.
David did a great job directing, natch. I have
to admit I've never been fond of the jumpy images; where they cut out chunks of
a pan down to a few choppy images to get you where you ultimately need to go,
but that only happened a time or two, and the rest, I thought was well
done. He's a pretty damn decent
director, IMHO, and I think the more practice he gets, the better he gets. I don't know if he directed anymore eps this season, but I know he mentioned possibly doing
more than one, in one of his pre-premiere interviews somewhere. I think he said something about
contributing to writing an ep or two, as well.
All-in-all, I think the season got off to a
good start, one that keeps me interested for the next episode, and for me, at
least, that's all it takes. I'm
pretty easy to please, when it comes to Duchovny projects, so I say, bring it
on. I'm ready for the next 11. I'd watch them all today, if I had
access. Cool show, and one I'll
always be grateful for. :-)
Did anybody noticeÉ
á I'm not sure how scenes like the one of Karen and Hank arriving home from the doctor are filmed, but I noticed the same car turn down the street to drive by at least twice; a little white Volvo (?) maybe? I guess what I'm wondering is if it was a car that was supposed to drive by (someone hired to drive cars through scenes to make them look 'real' or whatever) or just someone who happened by and saw filming, so they had to make a couple of trips around the block to gawk.
á Hank got splashed with pool water at Mia's, but when he sat down, there were no wet spots on his shirt. Black T-shirt, sure, but you'd still see wet spots, if there were any. Waterproof Tee, perhaps? Or maybe it's because Hank is so HOT, the spots dried before they could soak in good. :sssssssss:
á I'm was amazed nobody (including any of the show's characters) mentioned the billboard, first thing we see in the Beeca and Hank in the car scene. They've made a sequel! They've stuck a baby in between 'Tom and Katie' and the billboard now says, "Crazy little Thing Called Love 2." Poor Hank. I wonder if he had anything to do with the second flick, or if he gets any royalties off it.
á The arm that reaches out to grab Hank at Ashby's party was clearly wearing Karen's gorgeous leather jacket, but by the time she gets Hank inside, her jacket has disappeared! I guess if you live with Hank, you learn to disrobe with blinding speed. I'd make my best time ever, if it was me. Still, only Mulder could appreciate the X-File in the breathtaking speed involved, in this case.
á Not only did Hank go into the wrong room looking for Karen, he didn't even go into the room Lew came out of, where 'Destiny' lay in wait for Lew to come back. Lew came out of the room on the left, and Hank went into the room on the right. Oopsie. Still, if both ends of the hall looked a lot alike (which you don't get to see where Hanks emerges from initially), it would be more believable that he got turned around, so I'm assuming both ends had steps leading down to the doorways, and perhaps gold records on the wall, between them. Fact remains, Hank went in the wrong room, regardless, but I still thought of it as notable that he did it twice at once and still got himself into trouble. Nowhere but Moodyville!
I really should be a script editor or whatever
they call the person responsible for catching stuff like the above in my next
life. Or maybe being at this
distance, things like this are easier for me to spot. Always such a thing as being too close,
I suppose, but I tend to notice little snafus since I became an XF freak so
long ago. The
flipped-over-in-editing images of Mulder drove me bonkers. Nobody catches them all, I guess, so
maybe I could be an assistant script editor, like a proofreader for filming
snafus. Wonder if it pays well...
That's it for me and eppie
13. Hope to be back with more
ranting on the rest, as we go along.
Thanks for reading! ;-)
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