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The Pretender 201: Back from the Dead Again
I've seen some more Pretender; yay!
New season! And new people to go with it! The mysterious Mr Lyle, whose name rhymes disconcertingly with Kyle, and the blonde and British Brigitte with startlingly (for an American series) short hair. How strange that Sydney and Parker have never come across either of them before. Just how big is the Centre? And what have they done with Mr Parker?
Awww, Mr Parker kept the rabbit ornament Miss Parker gave him! She seems to have a thing about rabbits. Why isn't she kinder to Broots, then? ;-)
Why did they want to stop Jarod's heart? They can't have got any interesting data from that. Are there any procedures that require a stopped heart?
My problem with the A story is a similar one to that of the Christmas ep: why was the killer unnecessarily cruel? Why not just kill the person? What's the point of burying them alive (or paralysing them so that they were conscious for an autopsy)? Neither killer seemed the sort to want to torture anyone, so what was the point? Why didn't the surgeon just use his heart-stopping drug?
Brigitte seems very much at ease in Lyle's company. It seems to me that most Centre employees tread carefully around each other, but she's arrogantly casual. Is she higher than she says, has she something on Lyle, or is she just good enough to behave any way she likes?
What with all the brothers in this, I was almost sure that Raines was going to tell Parker that Lyle was hers, but no. He's the "boogey man"? He still seems young enough to be someone's brother. :-)
This looks like being a very good season.
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ETA: I should warn you, if you're going back to read my reviews, that there are spoilers in the early S2 ones and/or their comments for a handful of episodes. It should all straighten out and be spoiler-free around 2x07/08/09, in that area.
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Oops, answered your unedited comment. Yep, I saw that warning in Astro's post. :-)
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Now I think of it, Jacob's and Jarod's names have some similarities. But Sydney didn't name him, did he?
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That keeps striking me, too, I think mostly because I've been typing them a lot. :) But, no, when Jarod asked if that was even his real name, as I recall, Sydney said he thought so, and that that's what he was told. So any similarity seems to be a coincidence.
I do wonder about names on this show, though, and not just the fact that most of the main characters appear to be missing parts of theirs. They do have some characters with remarkably similar names (e.g. Kyle and Lyle), and I've also noticed that often when there's an important guest character in the B-story, the same first name will show up on a completely different character in the A-story an episode or two later (or possibly vice versa). I can't decide whether there's some deep, hidden meaning there, or whether they're just not very creative with names. :)
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I haven't noticed the reusing of names. I'll have to be more alert. Lyle and Kyle have to be deliberate on the writers' part though.
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I haven't noticed the reusing of names. I'll have to be more alert.
Actually, now that I think about it, the examples I remember are from S2, so you don't have to be more alert to catch them, just alert. :)
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startlingly (for an American series) short hair
Short hair is really that startling on American shows? Huh. I guess Hollywood does like its flowing blonde locks, but I never got the impression short hairstyles were particularly out of the norm. Maybe it's just the shows we export to you. :)
Why isn't she kinder to Broots, then? ;-)
Hee! :)
Why did they want to stop Jarod's heart? They can't have got any interesting data from that.
I have no idea, but the folks at the Centre do have a really, really strange concept of what constitutes a worthwhile experiment. (What I wonder is why on Earth they'd use Jarod, who was easily their most valuable asset, in such a dangerous experiment. I imagine they must have had some reason, but I'm not even going to speculate about what.)
My problem with the A story is a similar one to that of the Christmas ep: why was the killer unnecessarily cruel?
I didn't have a problem with that in either case, really. In the Christmas one, it seemed to be made pretty clear that that was just the drug she happened to have, and then after that she didn't give him anything else because somebody might have noticed her doing it. It's unimaginably awful, but it makes practical sense. In this case, I just figured the guy was an evil bastard.
Is she higher than she says, has she something on Lyle, or is she just good enough to behave any way she likes?
Or maybe she's just arrogant, and not smart enough to know better. (I don't have a super high opinion of Brigitte, personally. :))
He's the "boogey man"?
Takes one to know one, I guess. :)
This looks like being a very good season.
I thought it was an excellent season! A bit darker than S1 in some ways, but I'm not complaining about that. :)
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Yep! Women of all ages have hair at least to their shoulders in US shows. It's incredibly rare to see someone with short hair like Brigitte's. I can't think of anyone else off-hand but Ezri Dax and some Vulcans.
Oh yeah, I remember you saying that about the Christmas killer. This was totally gratuitous though. That graveyard scene was disturbing, and I do worry about how that kid will turn out. I also agree with Jarod about Halloween being extortion. :-P
Lyle seems a bit young for a boogey man. But that Raines thinks so--and used that term--is somewhat worrying.
I thought it was an excellent season!
And you've finished already! I will only catch up when you guys have finished it!
I should go to bed now.
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What, you never watched Northern Exposure? (Man, I loved Maggie O'Connell's hair in that.)
That graveyard scene was disturbing, and I do worry about how that kid will turn out.
It was extremely disturbing, and I think it was meant to be. It was the Halloween episode, after all. And it's not too surprising, I think, if Jarod's in a worryingly dark frame of mind after the end of last season.
I will only catch up when you guys have finished it!
Maybe. But it's gonna be a few weeks, probably, before I start S3.
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Greg's off work for 11 days from Thursday, so maybe we'll watch more than usual since he doesn't have to get up early the next day. Though we do still have to catch up on House and Heroes. :-P
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Yep, Ruth-Anne! I liked her, too. But in my secret inner fantasies, I look like Maggie O'Connell. :)
in a show I shall not name to spare your feelings.
Hee! Thank you. ;)
Though we do still have to catch up on House and Heroes. :-P
Yeah, those were the main interruptions to my Pretender viewing, too, although I think they're both off the air for a while now. Of course, Lost and BSG will be starting up again soon...
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We're a few weeks behind on House and Heroes (and I assume your comment elsewhere about the woobification of a character referred to the latter). I tend not to watch either just before bed, or with dinner in the case of House, esp after the exploding colon. [whimpers] And awww, we have the last ep of Boston Legal to watch too. I'll be sorry to say goodbye to Denny Crane and Alan Shore, glorious nutters both.
Ooh yes, Lost starts on the 21st. It's Greg's major fandom so I can't not know! I saw some trailers already, but they were just confusing. I have to say, Locke being dead sort of takes some of the fun out of it. Poor bastard; he got what he wanted, only to have it probably turn to ashes. But dude, Hurley will be back too!
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Sadly, all I have is a vague, and far less attractive approximation of her hairstyle, and a collection of denim shirts. :)
and I assume your comment elsewhere about the woobification of a character referred to the latter
They did, yeah, although... Well, anything I might specifically have to say at this point is probably a spoiler for you, but suffice to to say that I don't think Heroes really knows what the hell they're doing this season. :)
I tend not to watch either just before bed, or with dinner in the case of House, esp after the exploding colon.
Yeah, I have a rule about not eating during House, which I keep breaking, and regretting. :)
I saw some trailers already, but they were just confusing.
I don't think I have seen any, which is perhaps just as well. :) I kind of hope they do another recap, though. I think I could use it.
Locke being dead sort of takes some of the fun out of it.
Eh, dead is a relative thing on this show. A very, very relative thing. :)
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You're not the only one!
Eh, dead is a relative thing on this show.
I know, but I prefer a live Locke to a dead one with Vorlon-like inscrutability. We'll see him in the flashbacks though.
And now I must go to the library and swap my books.