The Book of Rannells: Girls: Season 5, Episode 4 – “Old Loves” (2016)

The other plots are more hit-and-miss for me today, but it’s a strong episode for Elijah, and when it comes to The Book of Rannells, that’s what we’re really looking for, isn’t it?  I’m glad to be getting into this storyline more.

Hannah and Fran get into it over differing grading philosophies, with one student’s essay becoming the unfortunate battleground for their conflict.  Adam continues to undermine Jessa’s attempt to establish boundaries, and she finds it increasingly difficult to hold her ground.  Marnie is upset when Desi starts a big renovation project in their apartment that, in her mind, proves he has no real understanding of her concerns and what she wants.  Elijah prepares for a date with the “quite famous” newscaster Dill Harcourt, in which he nervously looks forward to meeting some of Dill’s friends.

In other words, all kinds of relationship stuff.  This is one instance where I pretty definitely side with Hannah over Fran.  Regardless of how one feels about the mechanics of writing, it would be unfair to tell students a particular assignment wasn’t being graded on spelling/grammar and then do exactly that, and as long as Hannah follows through on her intention to focus on mechanics in other assignments, there’s nothing wrong with having this one focus more on creativity.  Fran marking up one of her students’ assignments isn’t okay.  Of course, this being Hannah, even though she is in the right this time, the way she decides to handle it leaves a lot to be desired.

The Jessa/Adam plot is super-frustrating.  She’s been going out of her way to avoid him, probably precisely because when they do the “we’re just friends” thing, he keeps overstepping.  Now, she’s been intentionally going to women’s-only AA meetings to stay away from him, and he follows her anyway – not cool at all, and I hate that this kind of behavior so often gets rewarded in stories like this.  It doesn’t even matter that Jessa is keeping her distance in part because she’s trying not to give in to her own real feelings for Adam, because she should have the right not to see him if that’s what she chooses.  Creepy.

I don’t have a lot to say about Marnie and Desi here.  There’s a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it appearance from Vella Lovell (Heather from Crazy Ex-Girlfriend) as one of their neighbors, and I do like the way this plot winds up interacting with Hannah’s when she and Marnie get together to discuss their respective relationship woes.  Also, the warning that Hannah should stay with Fran “or [she’ll] end up alone – just like Cher” cracks me up.

And now, onto Elijah!  This is a fully-formed episode subplot that’s all about him – as I’ve said, Elijah really doesn’t get many of those, and it’s just one part of an ongoing storyline.  We get classic Elijah during a pre-date conversation with Ray:  the way he uses coffee-shop utensils in a way that no one should, the way he self-importantly states he can’t disclose the name of the celebrity he’s dating and then immediately does just that, and of course, the way he fawns at the thought of which of Dill’s famous friends he might be meeting at dinner.  All of this is just Elijah all over.

But one thing that I love about this character is that he defies pigeon-holing.  In Andrew Rannells’s hands, Elijah always feels consistent and believable, but that doesn’t mean he’s just one thing.  When he gets to that dinner, Elijah still has celebrities on the brain and is constantly looking to the door to see who might be coming in, but now that he’s actually in the situation, it all manifests differently.  Now, Dill is the one to bring up aspects of his fame while Elijah pretends to demure.  Now, Elijah nervously tells cute-but-silly stories from his childhood.  Now, Elijah wonders what kind of thing he and Dill really have, unsure of where his place is with this guy.  Elijah is generally so vain and self-absorbed that it’s always a surprise to see his insecurities bubbling up, and it’s a good reminder that he has potential beyond being Hannah’s best friend.  As the plot continues and we see other parts of Elijah and Dill’s evening together, Rannells is terrific all around and plays well off of Corey Stoll.

Relationship Spotlight: Kara Zor-El, Alex Danvers & J’onn J’onnz (Supergirl)

It seems like, on this blog, a reoccurring adage is, “When in doubt, write about a character/relationship on Supergirl!” Because even though I recognize that the show can be silly and the writing can be heavyhanded, I continue to love it pretty wholeheartedly, and a major component of that is my love for so many of the characters and the relationships between them. I’ve already written about Kara and Alex as the major heart of the series, but I want to circle back around and look at the dynamic of adding J’onn into the mix (some spoilers, including from the most recent season 5 episode, “In Plain Sight.”)

It’s wild to stop and think that J’onn, under the guise of DEO head Hank Henshaw, is initially brusque and short with Supergirl, and that Kara and Alex go through a period of thinking J’onn is shady before he reveals his true identity to them, a Green Martian who fled the genocide of his people 300 years ago. Because looking at them now, you’d never think there was ever a time when these three didn’t love each other.

Alex and Kara may be adopted sisters, but in a way, J’onn is the man these two fatherless young women have chosen to adopt as their father. The series features so many warm, loving moments that show how J’onn cares for both Kara and Alex. He and Alex have had numerous heart-to-hearts at the DEO about Alex’s career goals, her personal heartaches, and her moments of self-doubt, and he encourages and champions her every step of the way. He and Kara relate to another one as aliens on Earth, both from races that have been all but wiped out, and he gives her support and advice on her hero’s journey.

J’onn is definitely like a surrogate father to Kara and Alex, but the fact that they don’t meet until all three are adults help Kara and Alex simultaneously approach J’onn more as equals. Just as they come to him when they need a sounding board or an empathetic ear, they’re there for him to lean on when he has troubles of his own. That can mean support (Kara giving her blessing to his vow of non-violence and excitedly checking out his new alien P.I. digs,) a loving push (Alex helping him come to terms with his father’s dementia,) and, most recently, gentle understanding and validation.

This last point is what prompted me to talk about these three now. One of the main plots of this season is the return of J’onn’s long-lost brother Malefic, a White Martian collaborator who was erased from the collective Martian consciousness. J’onn works to uncover his hidden memories of Malefic and learns that he was the one to erase his brother from memory. Although he did it in a desperate bid to ease his father’s guilt at Malefic’s war crimes, this is the worst sin a Martian can commit, and J’onn beats himself up with shame when he realizes what he did. He at first hides this knowledge from the others, convinced that they’ll feel as disgusted with him as he does with himself, but when he confides in Kara and Alex, both respond lovingly, pointing out the compassionate motivation behind his actions them and reminding him of the honorable man he is today. Such beautiful expressions of understanding and accepting, making my heart swell for this wonderful little intergalactic found family.

Prince of Cats (2012)

While I’ve been acquainting myself with a handful of different comic titles in recent years, it’s been a while since I read a full-fledged graphic novel – probably not since I read Fun Home after the musical came out, or possibly the graphic-novel adaptation of A Wrinkle in Time. However, the news that this one is being made into a movie (starring Atlanta’s Lakeith Stanfield!) put Prince of Cats on my radar and made me want to check it out.

It’s Romeo and Juliet filtered through the lens of a 1980s hood in Brooklyn, one populated by hotheaded young men roaming the city with samurai swords and keeping an ever-watchful eye on the rankings of the dueling list. Tybalt has recently returned to the neighborhood, back from his mostly-white private school, and although his friends rib him about being a sellout, he quickly falls back into the routine of what they know best: Capulets vs. Montagues, steel against steel.

First off, I love the dialogue to pieces. Shakespeare is infused in the language throughout, with plenty of lines either lifted or adapted from the play. But at the same time, those Shakespearean notes are blended with AAE and hip-hop cadences, creating a book filled with clever, creative verse. Like Shakespeare, the lines can be witty, profound, soulful, or vulgar, often more than one at a time.

Retelling Romeo and Juliet from Tybalt’s perspective makes you realize how little Tybalt actually interacts with either Romeo or Juliet in the play, and of course, his ending comes quite a bit before the play’s ending, so in that way, the stories diverge far more than just the setting and the slant of Prince of Cats. The Shakespeare is more recognizable in the dialogue, the supporting players, and the sly references than in the actual plot. I’ll confess to being a little disappointed that the graphic novel spends so much time doing its own thing, but again, reading it makes me recognize how tricky it would be to really tell Romeo and Juliet’s story through Tybalt’s eyes. As such, it makes sense that it takes so many detours from the events of the play.

The edition that I picked up includes an afterword by the writer, Ron Wimberly. In it, he contextualizes the background and experiences that converged to lead him to write Prince of Cats, and I really appreciate what he says about how it “never before seemed strange to [him] that the children of Shakespeare’s Verona were so reckless with their lives.” I enjoy getting different perspectives and spins on things that many people take for granted, and in this case, it’s a cool demonstration of how diverse voices can mine a familiar topic for further richness that the white majority is less likely to see.

Warnings

Violence, sexual content, language, drinking/smoking/drug use, and thematic elements.