Couchbound/Continued #369 - M*A*S*H: Season 1, Episode 23, "For Auld Lang Syne."

There's something about MASH that is simultaneously both infuriating and comforting.

Running eleven years, much longer than the war that inspired the novel that inspired the movie that inspired the television series, MASH is probably one of the best examples of the sitcom that most telephiles remember fondly to this day. It can also be infuriatingly dull and predictable. We forgive that though, thanks to the suave charm of Alan Alda's Hawkeye and how comically easy it is to hate perpetual heel Frank Burns (at least in those early seasons).

This particular episode is doomed from the start. Everyone and their mother knows that the rumored ceasefire is a wash, if for no other reason than there's more show to be had. There are moments of overly-saccharine honesty from pretty much everyone... and even a lot of prevarication... but overall it just feels like a filler episode because there is no possible way that Trapper is wrong and the whole thing is a wash.

It just feels anticlimactic to watch Hawkeye run through his string of nurses, giving each the brush-off (or vice versa) like the womanizing cad he is, claiming to be married when he's anything but so as to remain single... and it's really rather boring to see Frank and Hoolihan commiserate over his very real marriage and the fact that they would necessarily be over.

Honestly, there isn't a tender moment for any of them... except, maybe, for a brief second between Radar and Henry. While they never really play it up too much in the rest of the show, having Radar being more the overly competent and underappreciated aide-de-camp than anything else, in this one scene over his going away scrapbook, Gary Burghoff emotes a softness that is really rather heartbreaking, especially when Blake quickly backs off the whole father/son angle when he realizes how series Radar takes the bond.

And that's the paradox of MASH, I think. There are these wonderfully heartbreaking moments peppered through the series that keep you coming back despite the rote writing and lack of proper character arc. There are tiny messages of humanity sprinkled throughout the series. Often enough, they come through in the artsy episodes, but every once in a while, one of the 9-to-5 jobbers like this one can really kick you in the gut. Making fun of Burns and Hotlips and watching Hawkeye crash and burn is a dime-a-dozen affair, but Radar and Henry having a moment? Kinda priceless.

Until later, Potatoes~

Day Three Hundred and Forty-four - Call the Midwife: Season 1, Episode 6, "Oh, Chummy, you're a delightful bride~"

It's been a long while since I watched any Call the Midwife, probably because there is only so much I can take in regards to my heartstrings being pulled. Still, today's a busy day and I needed something familiar, but not recent... shortish, but not too brief... and proven, not untested. So, Call the Midwife it is, and this episode features the trial of dementia-ridden Sister Monica Joan for theft and Chummy wrestles with the class differences between her and her beau, PC Noakes.

It's a hard thing to watch a dear character fall under both suspicion and illness. Sister Monica Joan's deterioration leaves her prey of both as she's caught filching knick-knacks from the market and accused to swiping quite a bit of expensive jewelry as well. Watching her begin to doubt herself is almost as painful as the pained looks she gets from her adopted family at Nonnatus House.

Conversely, it's not at all difficult to watch Chummy deal with her own issues. When her prim and proper mother comes to visit and finds her dating well below her station, it puts quite a bit of strain on her and PC Noakes' relationship such that she decides to break the whole thing off. It requires being taken into confidence by a desperate young mother living in squalor to become brave enough to take the plunge and defy her mother's wishes... and quite handsomely, too, dutifully informing her that a white wedding dress would no longer be appropriate (ooo, such scandal)!

As for Jenny Lee, herself, she has to come to terms with the intense feelings that she holds for her previous lover and the ramifications of the affair on her present life. Does she reach out for what her heart truly wants... or does she hold back from becoming a married man's mistress? The drama is mildly amped by the fact that her long time crush (well, one-sided on his part anyway), Jimmy, returns to help her (and Sister Monica Joan) in an hour of need.

As the series has worn on, while I still enjoy all of its period nostalgia and remembrances, I think the only things that keep me coming back anymore are the brief moments of character drama with Chummy. I can't find myself all that interested in Jenny Lee's love troubles, and just about every other character is simply static, even if the writers try and show a measure of roundness to everyone. While it's quality television, watching poor young mothers in urban London smoke or drink or live in terrible conditions, it all just loses its shock value after a while and I find myself a bit bored. That said, I'll probably always come back for Miranda Hart's portrayal of the ever awkward and sweet Chummy. There's just something so endearing about her drive, naivete, and innocence. It's almost (dare I say) moe.

Until tomorrow, Potatoes~

Day Three Hundred and Twenty-three - Scrubs: Season 1, Episode 2, "Rowdy? No!"

I love Scrubs... well, mostly.

There was that time where it changed networks and lost (then regained) most of its cast while never truly bouncing back from the transition. Then there was all of the on-again/off-again romantic hijinks between JD and Elliot that was almost as melodramatic as its prime time drama counterparts like ER and Gray's Anatomy.

Q.E.D., early Scrubs is best Scrubs... even if I do love how JD and Elliot eventually take their forever waffling relationship... and this episode is, most assuredly, early Scrubs.

JD and Elliot are playing it cool, not together and officially trying the "just friends" thing, Turk and Carla are busy doing their pre-dating dance, and Dr.Cox? Well, Dr.Cox hasn't yet acquired his perfect foil in the form of Drew Carey alum, Christa Miller. While JD is trying connect with a good patient (with a bad habit) and looking for help from his mentor (Dr.Cox), Elliot pisses off the nurses and has to rely on Turk to help pull her foot from her mouth.

While, thematically, this episode definitely falls into the series' shakedown period, folks still growing comfortable in their roles and relationships starting to develop, a lot of the small asides and circumstantial jokes are started to crop up... like JD's fourth wall breaking and his daydream sequences.

   



I'm especially fond of Dr.Kelso's blatantly obvious two-faced nature and JD and Turk's constant repositioning of their stuffed dog, Rowdy, so as to cause Elliot discomfort. Well, that might not be their reasoning, now that I think about it. It's almost as if, by moving him around, they're allowing Rowdy to live life (or his taxidermied unlife) to the fullest.

It's also nice to see Carla and Turk before they got together. Their relationship, marriage, and family life were the social bedrock that allowed main character JD the flexibility and stability to have a consistently foiled lovelife to keep the comedy and drama going for the duration of many of its seasons. It was a great contrast... for the series... but it's good to see their beginnings, again.

I'm a little bummed how little early characterization there is for The Janitor, but I know there's plenty of good to come from our favorite JD hater, so no real worries there. I guess I don't have any real substantial complaints other than that it's just an alright series at this point. Plenty of potential, but not exactly a shining effort from the get-go. It gets better, though, so there's that.

Until tomorrow, Potatoes~

Day Two Hundred and Fifty-nine - Call the Midwife: Season 1, Episode 5, "Love Is."

It's been yet another month since I watched any Call the Midwife, so I felt it was about time... especially since it seems that Season 2 just hit the Instant Stream and I'm going to have to catch up on those so my mother and I can trade notes.

A bit of a difficult one to watch, this one was, as Jenny Lee is once again confronted with a situation almost too hard to bear... this time with a middle-aged brother and sister whose relationship is too close for comfort.

Peggy, the cleaning lady at the Nonnatus House, grew up in the workhouses of near-myth... horrible, Dickensian conditions that separated her from her brother. When they finally found each other again in adulthood, the two were much changed and only able to find solace in one another. This fact at first repels Jenny Lee, but over time and witnessing both the declining health of the cancer-ridden Frank and the true warmth that both Frank and Peggy have for each other, at least comes to a certain acceptance.

The main plot, at the very least, serves as a nice contrast to Jenny Lee's own love woes as she's actively courted by Jimmy despite receiving a phone call from her mysterious past suitor who left her heartbroken. It's a bit difficult to be sympathetic to Jenny Lee's personal problems as she seems far to selfish and self-righteous when it comes to her love life, a bit of a tragic figure of her own making. Still, her personal drama is entertaining, if not depressing.

The not quite skinny-dipping party is a little fun as they're all trespassing in their slips and underwear and boxers, risque (and somewhat criminal) for PBS, but an interesting look at the dating rituals of the age... especially in comparison to nowadays. It's only a bit of a downer when Jenny Lee has an asthma fit after spurning Jimmy yet again.

As always, there's more fun to be found in Chummy's courtship with PC Noakes as she spends pretty much the entire episode fretting over meeting the constable's mother. While it does feel like it's dragging on a bit, it's still cute to see her blossom over the course of the season. Of course, having been inadvertently spoiled already as to their fate, I'm a bit underwhelmed and just want it to get over with, it's still good times in comparison to Jenny Lee.

I think the only subplot that really annoyed me was Fred's sow and her birthing. If I want livestock drama, I'll watch Silver Spoon, thank you very much. Sadly, it's not on Netflix or I would.

Call the Midwife is still the quality series it started off as, even if this particular episode isn't one of the strongest. It always challenges preconceptions and manages to surprise, both in its tragedies and its delights.

Until tomorrow, Potatoes~

Day Two Hundred and Thirty-nine - Doc Martin: Season 1, Episode 1, "Now THAT'S the Doc that I remember!"

It's been a little while since the last time I watched Doc Martin for Couchbound. If you'll recall, I was originally interested because the British production was one of several shows that I hoped to share with my mother, her tastes running a bit more dry and... well, British, in comparison to my own (I don't think she's ever enjoyed a movie that I've brought over).

Still, it was weird having the Doc be all goofy and generally amiable as opposed to the snippets of short antipathy that I'd become used to when visiting the folks over many weekends, catching a random episode or two of the series as opposed the the prequel movie that I saw on the Stream last time.

As mentioned before, the movie Doc Martin is much different in terms of personality (and last name) than the series Doc Martin, even though they're both played by the same man, Martin Clunes.

There he was escaping a failed marriage whilst inadvertently solving a village mystery. Here, in the first episode of the series, he's escaping a blood phobia (thought you'd only get that from the description as it's only mildly implied in the first episode) whilst exposing infidelity and leering at the town's schoolmarm.

I must say, I definitely like this version better, as he's much more succinct and terse... closer to Gregory House than Patch Adams and, being the grouchy American that I am, you can certainly tell which way I would lean.

I also like how the clues for the weekly mystery are laid out nicely but not thrown in your face. Sure, the quirky medical problem is a bit of a lark, but it's not bandied about across the screen in gratuitous fashion. Instead, there's a certain modicum of, well, tact... that I very much appreciate.

While, yes, you can immediately tell who Doc Martin's love interest is going to be as she is pretty much the only woman in town the right age and challenging and intelligent enough, the implied attraction and social awkwardness is subdued enough so as to be rather pleasant as opposed to the constant Moonlighting syndrome that most (American) television shows have.

Come to think, that's something that I believe most British shows have on their American counterparts, credit that I can even give to Rose Tyler and whichever Doctor she is on during her run as a Companion.

Quick shout out to Ian McNeice who plays a supporting role in the series. He's a funny guy and plays his well meaning jack of all trades with a keen sense of comedic timing that reminds me of John Goodman... or, maybe it's just that they're both large men? Either way, I love them both dearly, most especially McNeice here in Doc Martin, though I think that my favorite role of his was in the update of Dune where he was the Baron Harkonnen.

In any case, the first episode is a fairly decent start for the series and I look forward to seeing more from the characters. Sure, it's a bit awkward seeing the transition from the film version to the television one, and that's something that will probably never leave my mind, but even so the changes that were made work really quite well.

Until tomorrow, Potatoes~

Day Two Hundred and Twenty-six - Call the Midwife: Season 1, Episode 4, "A familiar face and the tragedy of soulmates."

It's been a while since I last watched Call the Midwife, but that's the beauty of BBC and PBS shows... they often have very short episode counts to their seasons so it's not all that hard to catch up.

This particular episode had quite a few threads running through it that were interesting and pulled at the heart-strings.

For the good, we see more and more of Chummy's (Miranda Hart) courtship with PC Noakes, as well as a small bit of intimacy with Sister Bernadette (Laura Main).

For the ill, however, there are two tales... that of a young mother doomed to a tragic end by eclampsia and an infant who is kidnapped from her stroller with the shadow of suspicion falling on her postpartum suffering mother.

As ever, I absolutely adore Chummy's blossoming. It seems as though I have happily fallen into the same trap as the rest of the fans of the show, as she is absolutely my favorite character and to see her grow into her womanhood is a delight. Much kudos, as usual, to Miranda Hart for her portrayal. Of particular note this episode is the dance sequence where she and PC Noakes flail about ridiculously, enjoying themselves all the way. That's joy... and that's love.

I was also a huge fan of those brief moments with Sister Bernadette. You can obviously see her mild strain and envy towards the midwives as they giggle their way through the mildly bohemian experience of being young, independent, and frisky. It was a surprisingly heartfelt scene when she took off her wimple and let her hair down, however briefly. That longing look at herself in the mirror, reminding herself (or, perhaps, just coming to the realization) that she's still a woman was darn effective... and very reminiscent of a similar scene that I've viewed in Kaoru Mori's Victorian Romance: Emma.

When it comes to the episode's conflicts, the kidnapping was a bit of a stretch, with the acting from the husband and wife coming a bit awkward and somewhat hard to believe, but that might have been for effect, to keep the suspicion on them believable (at least from their fellow characters as the viewer knows that the kidnapping is real). It was good to see Mary (Amy McAllister) again, though, even if she has become a rather convenient villain. It would have been so much easier to make the kidnapper a faceless, anonymous waif, but tying her back to a tragedy from a previous episode reminds us that great pain can force us to insanity.

The second tragedy of the episode evoked quite a bit more emotion from me, probably because it was just pointless, random loss... a cruel twist of fate. Yes, it was nice to see Cynthia (Bryony Hannah) get a bigger part in an episode as she's often relegated to background and supporting roles, but hard to watch her suffer through the loss as she helps a dying patient's husband come to terms with the inevitable.

All in all, Call the Midwife remains a well-crafted period drama that is both entertaining and poignant. Still worth the watch, most assuredly.

Until tomorrow, Potatoes~

Day One Hundred and Sixty-six - Call the Midwife: Season 1, Episode 3, "Infidelity, Racism... Sometimes Love Surprises."

The bloom couldn't stay on the rose forever, it seems.

That's not entirely fair for me to say as Call The Midwife's third episode, is still pretty darn decent, heavy on quality both in its performances and period flair... it's just that this definitely feels sub-par in comparison to the previous ones.

Maybe it's Jenny Lee's childish revulsion at the state of new patient Joe's flat or the tedious drama of her young male friend's efforts to bum the convent's boiler room for free lodging, but the majority of Jenny Lee's screen time in this episode is boring and uninspired.

When she gets over herself and spends quality time with the old soldier Joe, though, we generally get back to the level that I'm used to from the series so far.

I also really like the B-story and Chummy's personal dramas, both of which manage to stem the downward trend of the A-story's early forced stupidity.

The middle-aged couple carry a wonderful little drama about a first time father and a reluctant mother who isn't in love with her second husband and desperately afraid that the baby wasn't sired by him.

Spoiler alert, the child obviously isn't his, but he loves the little nipper anyway, much to his credit. Sure, it feels a little cheesy as one would normally assume that most expectant fathers confronted with obvious infidelity and spoiled parentage would divorce the woman on the spot, but the man acts against trope so delightfully that I can forgive a bit of incredulity.

And, should it really be me who forgives or should I be the one asking for forgiveness at my horrible cynicism for expecting the worst?

Then there's Chummy.

Always a delight with her awkwardness, it seems this episode focuses on the beginnings of her mating dance with PC Noakes, much to the consternation of Sister Evangelina. It's so desperately cute to see them circle each other with prim politeness. So polite, in fact, that they really never say anything other than "you look well." It's like watching an Austin novel play out ad infinitum, until Sister Evangelina cuts to the chase and brokers a date between them. So moe.

In any case, like I said, this is definitely a weaker entry in the series, but is still entertaining in quite a few respects. Check it out if you haven't already as I definitely recommend it.

Until tomorrow, Potatoes~

Day One Hundred and Forty-five - Call the Midwife: Season 1, Episode 2, "Some bitterness, some joy."

With this second episode of Call the Midwife, I find myself enjoying the series more and more. While everyone else is gaga for Downton Abbey, I find the more down to earth problems of East End, London to be much more relevant and dramatic.

I'm sure it helps that babies are being born every episode, as those are always tearjerker affairs whether miraculous or tragic, but still... great stuff.

This entry into the series has several interesting plots and subplots, but I think I was most attracted by the addition of upper class midwife (and a bit of a "longshanks"), Camilla Fortescue-Cholmeley-Browne, who goes by the nickname of "Chummy."

From what I can gather, reading about the series here and there, she's kind of the darling of the show to most folks and it's very easy to see why here. Her manner is always optimistic and kind, she never lets her worries get her down, and she always puts her patients first... even excusing herself so they don't see her nerves showing before a difficult procedure during the latter half of the episode.

Yes, Chummy is a bit of a peculiarity as her manner is more the typically quaint attitude we've come to expect of the kind, overly friendly royals, but through the course of the episode, like Jenny Lee in the one previous, she wins over pretty much everyone.

Including me.

Sadly, not all is so bright and happy though, as Jenny Lee's storyline for the duration is her relationship with a former child prostitute who is pregnant. Much of the episode follows Jenny Lee's successful attempts to get the girl further and further away from her abusers with the help of an activist preacher who runs a home for troubled girls.

Just when you think everything is alright, though, the hard truths are told and the girl cannot keep her new baby, who is taken to be adopted and never seen by her natural mother again. It's a difficult scene to watch, but an honest token of the time.

I love how the episode contrasts both the good and the bad of the NHS and its policies... helping women who could only previously suffer the tragedy of stillborn children get caesarians (and healthy babies) free of charge while offering the other hand which takes a newborn from an unfit mother.

Honestly, the only issue I have is that the pimps don't get their comeuppance. At the very least, I wanted the firebrand preacher to take his fists to the girl's stalker. Grr, I'm mad even thinking about it.

Call the Midwife is definitely worth the watch, so I heartily recommend adding it to your queue if you haven't done so already. Much better than the upstairs/downstairs twaddle of DA, even if it does seem like it's going to be conveniently episodic and only mildly concerned with it's characters' personal arcs.

Until tomorrow, Potatoes~

Day One Hundred and Thirty-five - Call the Midwife: Season 1, Episode 1, "You never think of the Baby Boom as being difficult..."

...but, I do now.

I've been a bit remiss, meaning to have watched and written about Call the Midwife this past Mother's Day in honor of my own mother, who suggested the series to me a few weeks or so ago... but you know how it is, things come up and the schedule gets packed.

Not that she reads the blog or anything, it's just that we have precious little to bond over since she doesn't do movies much and the books we read are generally miles apart, I wanted this particular entry to be a bit special.

To me, anyway... and it is.

I think in a few weeks or months, I'll probably do the same for Downton Abbey (another of her shows), but I'll probably wait for that one until at least the middle of June, so we have something to talk about to get her mind off of her knee surgery.

Heh.

Anywho, back to Call the Midwife.

Set in the 50's and centering on the trials and tribulations of an idealistic young midwife joining the service in the devastatingly poor East London, this first episode gives Jenny Lee (Jessica Raine) a trial by fire as she is confronted both with the sickening conditions of a syphilitic patient and a difficult premature delivery caused by a fall in which the baby is expected to be stillborn.

I love the way it's written both to pull heavily at one's empathy while at the same time challenging the viewer to surrender the very real and visceral self-righteousness that the initial impressions about these mothers can give. The episode is balanced with smart early hostility by mothers and family members in the face of Jenny Lee just trying to do her job (and cracking under the pressure) to actual bonding and understanding by the end of the day.

Where there should be tragedy, there is... but there are also moments of hope. Sure, not every situation comes out alright in the end but, despite the losses, you end up feeling all the better about both the series and the world.

I also like the color palette here where everything is generally washed out and pale, simulating the haze of a period piece (plus, you know, all the fog). Whoever does their art and set direction did a bang up job, I think. Hopefully it will be maintained throughout the series.

Really, my only complaint would be that Vanessa Redgrave only narrates. Seeing her name in the credits made me think she'd be on screen, but apparently only her voice inhabits the role of the elder Jenny Lee recalling the series as her personal history. Effective, but still a bit disappointing she doesn't make an appearance.

Call the Midwife can definitely be a tearjerker, if this first episode is any indication, but I look forward to seeing the rest of the series... I'm just wondering how they can keep the tension, with all the required ups and downs, coming without relying on forced contrivances. It's a BBC drama, though... and they generally know what they're doing.

Until tomorrow, Potatoes~