Not What I Should Be Doing

If you've come here looking for Fallout or "Serpents," they've moved! From here on out, all updates will be posted in bookishy_fic, so feel free to add and follow. 

The people downstairs have a new kitten named Tidbit, and he is friendly friendly friendly. He is so friendly that as soon as you step outside the door, he will galumph upstairs and attack your feet with purrs before enthusiastically chewing on your hand mid-pet. It has made me a little sad that Mango spent most of her kittenhood hiding in the knife drawer and just generally being weird. She has become much braver in the past few years, but, as we learned this weekend, she is still thrown off by stray blonde wigs and the presence of menfolk in the apartment.

Just got back from celebrating Doctor Who Day at Chris and Liz's apartment. Doctor Who Day is celebrated by gathering together and watching the new episode while eating extravagant concoctions of which cheese always plays a very large part. (Nacho Mountain!) Afterwards, I was coaxed into playing another level of Resident Evil 4, where the zombies sometimes sprout TENTACLE HEADS after they are shot. Oh no, no, no, no, no. And this is after watching [REC] last night, a Spanish zombie movie that was apparently remade into Quarantine in the states.

I have been seeing a lot of movies lately, and suddenly it hit me that, "Hey, I should totally ramble on at length about them rather than do any of my reading for work!" Sometimes I can't control these sorts of genius epiphanies, no way, no how. I bring you one good movie, one bad movie, and one movie that has cemented the terrifying fact that, yes, my feelings for Zac Efron are strange and inappropriate. All are spoilery, especially Jennifer's Body. 

( Bright Star. Spoilery of history.  )

( Jennifer's Body rant  )

( 17 Again.  ) 

Anyway. I probably shouldn't admit that between that last section and this section I decided to watch the collected works of Zac Efron on YouTube. 

THINGS TO DO THIS WEEK: 

+++Catch up on work reading. 
+++Write something. Anything. Please. 
+++Turn 27. 
+++Feel old. 

Ahhhh, Greek, I love you, I love you, I love you. I am so glad that you are back to bring exaggerated collegiate shenanigans into my life! Without you my Monday night would have been . . . well, I probably would have just played Bejeweled Blitz, so nothing all that dramatic would have befallen me except for more feelings of sparkly failure. But you did come back to me, you did, so instead I got to be hopelessly frustrated in the best of ways. Some call this DRAMATIC TENSION; I call it THINGS DESIGNED TO MAKE ME CRAZY. Anyhoo, let's recap this biznitch*: 

( Points! And spoilers! Spoilpoints!  )

*I don't know why I'm talking this way. 

( Why this isn't a recap (YET).  )

( Cut for the very unspoiled.  ) 

( Points!  )

 Oh, Robin Hood, I can't hate you for long. You're like . . . you're like. . . a beloved pet that sometimes kills people I like? Hmm. I will have to work on that comparison. Maybe I will just say that I love this show like "a Mystery of the Orient." That seems to stand for a lot these days. 

Anyway, part of me suspected that I would love Guy and Robin, The Medieval Odd Couple, to pieces, even though I hated the way the show got them there. WAY TO GO, Part of Me. You are very astute! I actually thought this was one of the (intentionally) funniest episodes that the show's had in a good long while, mainly because they used Archer to poke fun at some of the show's sillier aspects. Also, seeing Guy try to function like a normal person is just comedy gold. 
( Like, some points?  )

 Well, Robin Hood, that was . . . . different. I like that you're trying new things, I do, but maybe you should have practiced a little more before you dove headfirst into Flashback Land. (And by "practiced," I mean watch any of the first two seasons.) Yep, this was definitely the television equivalent of a bellyflop. 

I'm not really sure what to say about this episode other than it resembled really bad fanfic brought to life, so much that I wanted to jump and down and yell "Mine next! Mine next!" at the computer screen.  There wasn't much to love about this episode, but there were a few things. 

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 This breakdown was delayed because my initial response to this episode was to just roll around on the couch for awhile in a fit of delirious joy. Really, it was all I could do to keep from running around the apartment drawing hearts on everything--that's how happy I was. You know all that stuff I said about not minding if Guy doesn't get a redemption arc as long he's still a complex and interesting villain? LIES. TOTAL HOGWASH. I was just trying to play it cool so the other kids in the Robin Hood playground wouldn't point and laugh at me for still believing. But now that it seems like it might be happening. . . . *clings to the redemption arc's leg* Promise me that you won't go away. *Sobs* I love you so much. 

Oh, and then some other non-Guy stuff happened, most of it bad. Let's take a look. 

( Where Kate ruins things for everyone )

I can use this icon now, because this episode saw Robin "lying in a tomb" with other women, if you get my drift, which is that he was actually lying in a tomb with another woman. . . . Cur! Especially because I would really like that woman to be with Allan, if that woman does not end up crushed beneath her own sheer uselessness in the next few episodes. Don't get me wrong--Kate showed promise this episode, she did, but then she lost all her points because she ended up in peril yet again. Also, I think she totes has a crush on Robin, and we all know how I feel about that. But I here I am wasting things that could easily be pointed!  

(Note: I have spent the past three days editing a novel and there is a very real possibility that it has driven me insane. Also, I have absolutely no idea what I did with my notes for this episode. I have searched high. I have searched low. I have searched under the futon. The only logical explanation is that someone broke into my apartment and stole them in the hopes that I would be prevented from posting insanity on the internet. But I will show this mysterious crime ring that insanity needs no notes!) 
( P is for Points!  )

 So I was doubly excited about writing this week's review because I thought it would be the perfect opportunity to use the new RYDW (aka "Remember Your Dead Wife") icon that the lovely and talented lalumena  made for the good of the world and all humanity. But then Robin kind of did remember his dead wife in this episode, which is a good thing in the context of the show/character growth/establishing emotional maturity that is greater than (or at least equal to) a plank of wood. Out of context, however, it just proves something that I've suspected for a long time: Robin is actively trying to ruin my life. First with all the spying during G/M's sexy moments, and then with all that creepy philanthropy, and now by ruining all of my icon plans! Villain! VILLAIN!  Why can no one else see it? 

. . . Moving on. 

( Mini spoiler )
( Everything is really hot!  )

 Before we begin, I would like to direct your attention to a picture of the notes that I took while watching the episode for the first time: 



That's one of the reasons that this review is a little delayed. Another reason is that there's a lot to talk about. A lot of good things, a few small quibbles, one horrible thing, one thing that was half-naked but not half-naked for long enough, and one giant freaking game changer that has both reinvigorated my excitement for the next few episodes and yet kind of made me a little sad, because I think one of my big "Could Go Either Way" questions about the third series--whether Guy might still be redeemed--has been answered. (Probably not.) But anyway: POINTS! 

( I am a little giddy!  )

 Guy's back! And he's . . . well, he's being kind of a dick. So is Robin. Oh, and there are gladiators! And the least threatening lion ever! Yeah, this was a weird episode. But Isabella goes a long way in proving what I've always suspected: "Gisborne" = "awesome."  But you're not here for Robin Hood math!  (Although "Kate" - "Hairbraid" = "better" and "Allan" + "Doubleswords" = "Continues to Be Hot")  You're here for the points! So, without further ado... 

( Let the points commence!  )

I've recently realized that the show I most enjoy watching right now is ABC Family's Greek. Unlike everything else that's currently running, I always watch it immediately after it airs. And if for some reason I have stumbled on a Monday-night life,  I will watch it as soon as I get home, no matter if it is already one in the morning. Taking place at the fictional Cyprus Rhodes University, it's a college dramedy with brief and inspired flashes of satire, kind of like a Disney Channel sitcom all grown up.
( More  )

So I don't really know what to say. Because I kind of LOVED this episode and thought that it was legitimately good, not just I'm-obsessed-with-this-stupid-show-so-I'll-take-anything good. IS THIS OPPOSITE DAY AND NO ONE TOLD ME? Because by all accounts, I should not enjoy an episode that is so Guy-less. It feels wrong. It feels dirty. And now I am having a weird sort of existential crisis where I wonder if the thing I love so much is really the thing that is bringing the rest of the show down. Is RA such a goodness magnet that he sucks all of the goodness from the things that surround him? I need to get some philosophers on this, I think. But for now . . .
( The points )
And that's that. My world has been rocked. And now for next week, where GUY IS BACK AND HIS HAIR IS NICE ENOUGH THAT I CAN START CALLING HIM SIR 
LOVELYLOCKS AND ISABELLA LOOKS AWESOME AND I THINK IT WILL BE REALLY GOOD.
Ahem. This is what happens when you surprise me and make my expectations inch even higher.

If you won't put Guy in the episode, I will put him in the episode by way of icon! So there! I am just imagining that this is him in Prince John's dungeon, where they are becoming BFFs.  Now for the actual episode, which is less fun.

( The Good )

( The bad )( The bad )

I have used this Marian Looking Slightly Shocked icon because I imagine that she is thinking: "This? This is what happens in my absence? Are you sure that I can not come back and fix things? I am totally feeling alive better! Because Robin hardly seems to remember me, and Guy has gone so far off his rocker that he's become almost competent, albeit in an evil, quick-to-flog way. Still, I do like that open black shirt, or at least I would if he resumed bathing. Also, why did he never tell me that he was part French? That's kind of hot. I guess the name should have given me a clue, but I kind of just thought that he had weird parents." 

I don't know how long I'm going to make it in this fandom, guys. I just don't know.

( Points!  )
I have a feeling the positive numbers are not long for this world if it turns out that Guy really isn't in the next two episodes.

All of my Robin Hood icons suddenly feel out-of-date. *cries* Otherwise, I am cautiously optimistic about this season after seeing "Total Eclipse." CAUTIOUSLY. I've broken my opinions down into a simple adding and subtracting method that I completely stole from New York Magazine and Gossip Girl.

Here's the final tally:

( 3x01 Spoilers Abound  )