White Collar: “Bottlenecked”

C: In this week’s episode of White Collar, Neal encounters a thief he looks on as an “opponent” by the name of Matthew Keller.  At first it seems like a friendly rivalry, but we soon discover that Keller is ruthless and something of a thug in spite of his finesse.  Peter calls him Bizarro Caffrey, and it’s accurate; while Neal charms everyone he meets, Keller rubs you the wrong way instantly.  But he’s a good opponent for all that – unlike Neal, he’s never been caught.

M: I thought they set this up well, too.  In the last episode Neal had a chess board in his apartment, but we never got any info on who the game was with, just that he didn’t want Peter to know about it.  In this one we find that he’s been getting mysterious postcards with chess moves.  Playing chess via postcard with a mysterious adversary is almost always great.  It’s an intellectual game, marks a battle of wits and personally it usually makes me think of early James Bond films, which is good.

State of the (Oscar) Race: Best Actress, Accumulated Oscars, and Meryl Streep

E: As February rolls to a close, I’d love to introduce you to My Movie Going Friend, with whom I’ve shared my Oscar obsession since our college days.  He’s the one who’ll go with me to movies I can’t drag my siblings to (most recently Crazy Heart and A Single Man -next week, The Last Station) and will debate with me the fine points of Academy rules and campaign nuances.  He’s much more thorough than I am – he’ll see a movie just for the Best Make-up nomination.  He’s seriously hard-core.  And he has graciously assented to guest blog with me on the Oscar race.  Some thoughts, leading up to the March 7th telecast (eek!  so much yet to see!):

E: Why did they go and have the BAFTAs during the Olympics?  All I’ve been doing for nearly two weeks is watching the Olympics, and I totally missed it.  I’m pissed.  It’s usually a wonderful show – snappy,  entertaining, suitably glamorous and ceremonious without being stodgy.  I like the winners, though and would love to think it was a trend rather than just partisanship.  Of course Firth and Mulligan are British, so you have to wonder, but generally BAFTA rewards the same people who win Oscars no matter what their nationality, so I feel almost guilty suspecting them.

MMGF: Oh, no kidding, right? (And now I finally have BBC America for the first time ever, and probably could have watched. Sheesh.)  Winners were good, although I’d have preferred Streep win, to give her a little momentum.  Feels more and more like Bullock’s trophy every day.  Oh well.

Lost Review: Lighthouse

M: Tonight we got something that we NEVER got when they were doing character-driven flashback episodes in the first three seasons of the show….  a Jack-centric episode!  Ok, so that’s a lie, back in the first three years we got so many Jack episodes that I, like everyone else, got sick of Jack.  Well, the Jack of the last season and a half, is back to being the guy that we want to learn about.  Jack has gone back to being interesting, and tonight we find that Jack is once again very important.  More on that after the jump.

ETV: Project Runway and Models of the Runway – A Little Bit of Fashion

E: I have been looking forward to this all week!  A giggling gaggle of little girls descends on Parsons School of Design – to borrow a phrase from a favorite author, a veritable girl grenade.  The very idea warms the cockles of my little heart.  O.M.G.  I could not love it more.

The designers have to create outfits for young girls, (ages 5 to 9, I think). They get a day and something like fifty dollars.  Then – SURPRISE! – they get an extra day and 100 dollars to make a corresponding looking (but definitely not just a larger version) for their models.  The looks should be, shall, in the same family.  Getting the grown up assignment after the child challenge knocked many of the designers for a loop; how do you translate childish whimsy into grown up sophistication?  It’s a great twist, and made for a great runway show, though.  Not only was it adorable to see the models sashay down the runway holding those little hands, it took care of the whole nervous flowergirl trap.  (Which is to say, this way everyone made it down the runway.)  This really lived up to my expectations. Winner and losers after the cut:

ETV: Grey’s Anatomy – The Time Warp

E: Now, this is a fun idea.  Let’s visit our favorite characters and see what they used to be like, back in the day.  Which is to say, back before they were slick and intimidating.   Chief Webber’s tale probably has the most resonance for the hospital and the show, but Bailey always and forever serves as the heart and moral center of Seattle Grace.  We’ve already established that her fierceness is layered on top of old insecurities, so it’s exciting that they’re going to slice all that open and look beneath.

And, is it just me or was that the best opening narrative ever?  For the first time I can remember, the v.o. isn’t merely a break in the fourth wall, talking out to the audience; it’s the Chief talking about his alcoholism at rehab.  The subject of the day? Surgery as adrenaline addiction.  Can you survive it?  Does it make you a better person?  Or will you sacrifice everything for that high?

Three cases, seen in flash back. Pivotal cases in the lives of three surgeons, as explained during Derek’s newly (re)instituted lecture series.  Bailey, Callie and the Chief, (who will not be given his job back, but a provisional job as an Attending, which he initially turns down) will benefit their colleagues by detailing the patients who made them doctors.  Chief Webber will give a lecture, though, about learning from your coworkers.  He just walks right in and speaks, because he is The Chief.  Callie, on the other hand, vomits in horror at the thought of public speaking.  And Bailey checks her look in a mirror, where Dr. Warren catches her, of course.  He grins and tells her she looks good.  She chases him away, gruff but clearly charmed.  Oh my goodness.  That was so adorable I can’t stand it.