The Book of Rannells: The New Normal: Season 1, Episode 12 – “The Goldie Rush” (2013)

Kind of an uneven episode, but overall, it mostly comes out on the side of being enjoyable.  It’s notable for featuring an appearance from one of Ryan Murphy’s favorite people:  Matt Bomer (in addition to The New Normal, Bomer also appeared on Glee, was nominated for an Emmy for The Normal Heart, and of course, appeared onstage with Andrew Rannells recently in the Murphy-produced revival of The Boys in the Band.)

David and Bryan start thinking ahead about further family planning, deciding how many kids they want and when.  Along the way, they run into Bryan’s ex Monty (played by Bomer,) who’s giving up his partying ways and ready to settle down, and they consider fixing him up with their family planning guy.  Meanwhile, Jane and Rocky try to help Shania deal with the mean girls at school.

By and large, entertaining.  Matt Bomer is used to good effect, even if a significant chunk of that is fawning over his good looks (I like Goldie saying she knows Monty’s gay but admits to “confusing feelings” and, when David suggests Monty put on a shirt, Bryan fluidly replying, “David, there isn’t time!”)  He does a nice job as an affable, slightly-dim former playboy.  Shania’s plot is also amusing, especially when we’re treated to a quick sidebar education on the art of “reading.”

Additionally, there’s some pretty good Goldie stuff in this episode.  She’s got a mini-arc going on figuring out where her life is headed, and this story shows her taking some steps in that direction.  We do see the guys being a little clueless with her here, but while the pointing-it-out part is laid on pretty thick, I think it’s reasonable that it happens – Bryan and David are nothing if not single-focused when they get on a particular idea, and I buy them getting ahead of themselves.

Decent showing for Rannells.  We get the return of Flashback!Bryan and his Johnny Bravo hair, who awesomely wrote Smallville spec scripts before he made it big.  I’m also utterly charmed by a cute scene of him and David discussing Monty while they take turns doing sit-ups, especially Bryan’s cheesy “love you!” grin after transparently pretending he remembers nothing about having had a sexual relationship with Monty.

The Return of the King (1955)

Even though The Return of the King has some undeniably-great stuff in it, I think that, like the movie, it’s my least favorite of the trilogy, albeit for different reasons  Still, the great stuff is excellent enough that it’s ultimately a very good read.

The war for Middle-earth comes to a head in the final chapters of The Lord of the Rings saga.  The corrupting influence of the Ring threatens to tear Frodo and Sam apart as they finally reach Mordor.  Gandalf tries to assist the human kingdom of Gondor as it’s set upon by Sauron’s forces, and Aragorn works to unite the kingdoms of men to fight together, as the long-awaited king they need.

We’ll start with the main detractor.  This, of course, is that the quest comes to an end when there’s still more than 80 pages left.  This is a problem the movie inherits from the book, but it’s even more dramatic here.  It takes forever to wrap up the story, and while I understand the purpose behind the scouring-of the-Shire sequence, it’s hugely anticlimactic after all that came before it.  There’s no reason it needsd to be as long as it is.

That really is the biggest strike against it, but it does have quite an effect on the overall feel of the book.  It buries the strongest, most compelling scenes and it makes the end of the book feel like a chore.  Instead of riding to a strong climax, it kind of plods to a drawn-out finish.

Which is a shame, because the great stuff is so great.  There’s Sam’s big sequence, which has always been my favorite part of the story, along with Eowyn’s beautiful storyline and the way Gollum factors into the critical moment.  I also like the fall of Denethor and how that plot builds and develops.

This book sees the original fellowship more fragmented than ever, with members scattered across a number of different locales and among different groups – it’s definitely hard to wait until the second half of the book for the resumption of Sam and Frodo’s plotline, although very satisfying when it finally does.  But if it splits them apart, it also brings them back together, and it is one of the good points of the over-long ending; I love these characters, and I especially love them as a unit.

Warnings

Fantasy violence, disturbing/scary moments, smoking/drinking, and strong thematic elements.

Doctor Who: Series 11, Episode 9 – “It Takes You Away” (2018)

I've been out of the country and without Internet access for a bit, but I'm back now!  I'll be a little behind on News Satire Roundup for a while, as I still have a couple episodes from last week to catch up on before I get to this week.  And now, onto your (belated) Sunday Who review!

The penultimate episode of the season is a doozy.  Unlike many of the strong penultimate Who episodes out there, it’s not the start of a two-part finale, but it still brings a big creep factor, features some excellent character moments, and packs a real emotional punch.

While visiting 21^st-century Norway, the Doctor, Graham, Ryan, and Yaz coming across a blind girl living alone in a deserted, boarded-up house.  She tells our heroes her dad is missing and there’s a monster outside; naturally, the Doctor can’t resist.  Things get even wilder, though, with the reveal of a portal inside a mirror.  By the time team TARDIS makes it to the other side, they’re tested in serious ways.

Where to start?  The Doctor had seven grannies (but the fifth, who told him disturbing stories when he couldn’t sleep, was her favorite.)  There are what appear to helium blood lanterns on strings, Ryan can’t say for sure that he’s not a vampire, and Yaz speaks the Doctor’s language.  Also, Who has stepped up since “The Crimson Horror” in series 7, since Hanne, the blind girl who kicks off the adventure, is played by actual blind actress Ellie Wallwork.

Those are some of the tastiest tidbits, but it’s a fine episode overall, with effective use of its locations and a story that holds together well.  It’s suspenseful, scary, and mysterious in all the right places, and as everything ramps up, it becomes deeply personal and places some big demands on the characters.

In particular, it’s a big episode for Graham, and Bradley Walsh doesn’t disappoint.  The episode setting already places him in a precarious position, because Norway is a place he and Grace always wanted to visit and never got around to.  I’ve liked how the season on the whole hasn’t forgotten about Grace, and that really comes to a head here.  (Besides that, we learn that Graham has learned from experience to always carry sandwiches in his pocket while on adventures with the Doctor, bless him.)

Ryan also has quite a bit to do, struggling to figure out how to come through for Hanne.  The Doctor tasks him with keeping her safe, but she’s a thorny kid with ideas of her own, and he doesn’t know at first how to approach her.  Yaz, meanwhile, has less focus on herself, but she acts as the Doctor’s right-hand woman through much of the episode; we also see her coming through for Graham in a moment when he really needs it.

But even though I love all the companions here, it’s still the Doctor’s episode for me.  I’ve loved her so much already this season, but she (and Jodie Whittaker) really blows me away in this one.  I love that she’s excited to be terrified, that she doesn’t promise something she can’t guarantee but still vows to do everything she can, and that she’s delighted that there are still new, potentially-universe-destroying things out there to surprise her.  Most of all, though, I love her compassion for something that could kill her.  The climax of this episode might be my favorite sequence of the season so far, and Whittaker knocks it clean out of the park.  I cried, and I loved every minute of it.