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fembuckLast night's Nikita ...
I can't believe I had to wait 6 weeks for that. What a lackluster re-introduction to the show.
To start off, I freely admit that I was bored from pretty much the first scene and ended up making a power-point presentation for most of the episode, so I might have missed some of the details. But, in my defense, I was bored from pretty much the first scene and so I had no reason not to spend my time making a power-point presentation. When the episodes are good I give the show my all.
So, sufficed to say the only stuff that actually caught my attention were the parts that involved Nikita's mission against Kasim (and therefore Nikita being badass). I was also interested in Michael's storyline at the end when Kasim revealed what really happened to his family and the role Percy played in it. I'm genuinely curious to see him as a double-agent now, actively working against Percy instead of trying to protect Nikita.
But dear god, the Mikita bits were cheesy, forced and boring! I like Michael/Nikita working together, but Michael and Nikita have pretty much zero sexual chemistry. It's awkward watching them try to be sexy together. Maybe it's because they're both so dour (justifiably) all the time. They're just doom and gloom and furrowed brows. They weren't so bad in the flashbacks because Nikita made expressions back then, but in the present scenes whatever tiny romantic spark they had in the flashbacks just wasn't there.
If I never hear Nikita weepily utter a cringe-worthy vomitous line like, "Don't do this to us!" again, I'll have heard Nikita weepily utter a cringe-worthy vomitous line one too many times.
I think the problem with Mikita is that there is too much weight there. They've been through too much together, and done too much to each other. They're never gonna bring each other up. They're both too damaged for it. They have feelings for each other, care about each other, and work well together, but they'd be a disaster in a real relationship. They'd just brood all the time. I mean honestly, can you imagine these two going on a picnic? What would dinner conversation between them be like?
I suppose Mikita is better than Rikita (dear god, I hate Ryan) so there's that ... but it's like choosing between buttered elephant nuts and elephant nuts. I'd rather not have either, thank you very much.
And then there's Alex/Nathan ... *sigh x infinity + 1*
First of all, that Thad guy ... not the greatest thespian in the world, is he? Lyndsy and he might have gotten a start on the same soap, but there's a reason she's became relatively famous and is likely to really take off soon, and he hasn't. Ugh. Thad's dubious acting abilities aside ...
The Alex/Nathan stuff was was painful to sit through. Why are we supposed to care about him/them? The show has not built them up at all. They have no real connection to each other or understanding of each other. They've been through nothing together. There's absolutely nothing to make me give a shit about them as a couple. Honestly, hot as Alex is, why would this guy want to just pick up his entire life and move where ever with this shady-ass girl he's known for like a month? Alex is talking about skipping the country, she's got what he should consider to be creeper friends who beat people up with baseball bats. And they're interactions together have pretty much been confined to Alex beating up some guy at a party he threw one time, and the two of them having a really awkward dinner that one other time with a guy that as far as Nathan knows is Alex's pimp.
Like I said, Alex = hot, but Nathan seems to have a life and it makes no sense that he'd give up his life for a woman he'd been on like two dates with, who as far as he can tell is probably being hunted by some crazy-ass mobsters or something because she robbed them while working as an escort.
At first I thought that Nathan was some kind of shady spy too, but at this point I don't think the writers are going to go that way. I'm pretty sure he's just going to end up as a red-shirt. He's gonna die, and his only purpose will have been to heap a pile of guilt onto Alex in addition to her other issues, because she clearly knows being with him is a terrible idea, but she's so desperate for a 'normal life' she's willing to overlook it. Nathan's gonna die, and not only is Alex going to be tangentially responsible for it, she'll have the added guilt of not really having known him/loved him. She's using him to live out her fantasy/escape her nightmare and bitch is gonna die because of it.
Yeah, okay. The pay off will probably be pretty good. I just wish I didn't have to be so bored currently.
Basically, I've come to the conclusion that the Nikita writers can't write (non-gag inducing) romance. They don't know what to do with romantic relationships, and I am going to be bored by the episodes where 'romance' is the focus of the episodes. I'll just have to enjoy the shit out of the plot based episodes (next weeks looks badass) and close my eyes and think or England every three episodes or so when they decide its time to pander to the network.
I can't believe I had to wait 6 weeks for that. What a lackluster re-introduction to the show.
To start off, I freely admit that I was bored from pretty much the first scene and ended up making a power-point presentation for most of the episode, so I might have missed some of the details. But, in my defense, I was bored from pretty much the first scene and so I had no reason not to spend my time making a power-point presentation. When the episodes are good I give the show my all.
So, sufficed to say the only stuff that actually caught my attention were the parts that involved Nikita's mission against Kasim (and therefore Nikita being badass). I was also interested in Michael's storyline at the end when Kasim revealed what really happened to his family and the role Percy played in it. I'm genuinely curious to see him as a double-agent now, actively working against Percy instead of trying to protect Nikita.
But dear god, the Mikita bits were cheesy, forced and boring! I like Michael/Nikita working together, but Michael and Nikita have pretty much zero sexual chemistry. It's awkward watching them try to be sexy together. Maybe it's because they're both so dour (justifiably) all the time. They're just doom and gloom and furrowed brows. They weren't so bad in the flashbacks because Nikita made expressions back then, but in the present scenes whatever tiny romantic spark they had in the flashbacks just wasn't there.
If I never hear Nikita weepily utter a cringe-worthy vomitous line like, "Don't do this to us!" again, I'll have heard Nikita weepily utter a cringe-worthy vomitous line one too many times.
I think the problem with Mikita is that there is too much weight there. They've been through too much together, and done too much to each other. They're never gonna bring each other up. They're both too damaged for it. They have feelings for each other, care about each other, and work well together, but they'd be a disaster in a real relationship. They'd just brood all the time. I mean honestly, can you imagine these two going on a picnic? What would dinner conversation between them be like?
I suppose Mikita is better than Rikita (dear god, I hate Ryan) so there's that ... but it's like choosing between buttered elephant nuts and elephant nuts. I'd rather not have either, thank you very much.
And then there's Alex/Nathan ... *sigh x infinity + 1*
First of all, that Thad guy ... not the greatest thespian in the world, is he? Lyndsy and he might have gotten a start on the same soap, but there's a reason she's became relatively famous and is likely to really take off soon, and he hasn't. Ugh. Thad's dubious acting abilities aside ...
The Alex/Nathan stuff was was painful to sit through. Why are we supposed to care about him/them? The show has not built them up at all. They have no real connection to each other or understanding of each other. They've been through nothing together. There's absolutely nothing to make me give a shit about them as a couple. Honestly, hot as Alex is, why would this guy want to just pick up his entire life and move where ever with this shady-ass girl he's known for like a month? Alex is talking about skipping the country, she's got what he should consider to be creeper friends who beat people up with baseball bats. And they're interactions together have pretty much been confined to Alex beating up some guy at a party he threw one time, and the two of them having a really awkward dinner that one other time with a guy that as far as Nathan knows is Alex's pimp.
Like I said, Alex = hot, but Nathan seems to have a life and it makes no sense that he'd give up his life for a woman he'd been on like two dates with, who as far as he can tell is probably being hunted by some crazy-ass mobsters or something because she robbed them while working as an escort.
At first I thought that Nathan was some kind of shady spy too, but at this point I don't think the writers are going to go that way. I'm pretty sure he's just going to end up as a red-shirt. He's gonna die, and his only purpose will have been to heap a pile of guilt onto Alex in addition to her other issues, because she clearly knows being with him is a terrible idea, but she's so desperate for a 'normal life' she's willing to overlook it. Nathan's gonna die, and not only is Alex going to be tangentially responsible for it, she'll have the added guilt of not really having known him/loved him. She's using him to live out her fantasy/escape her nightmare and bitch is gonna die because of it.
Yeah, okay. The pay off will probably be pretty good. I just wish I didn't have to be so bored currently.
Basically, I've come to the conclusion that the Nikita writers can't write (non-gag inducing) romance. They don't know what to do with romantic relationships, and I am going to be bored by the episodes where 'romance' is the focus of the episodes. I'll just have to enjoy the shit out of the plot based episodes (next weeks looks badass) and close my eyes and think or England every three episodes or so when they decide its time to pander to the network.
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Date: 2011-04-08 11:19 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-04-08 11:25 pm (UTC)Also, I will take up your rallying cry! Less love, more blood! Brilliant!
LESS LOVE MORE BLOOD!
LESS LOVE MORE BLOOD!
LESS LOVE MORE BLOOD!
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Date: 2011-04-08 11:22 pm (UTC)Oh my god, thank you for that. Good way to end my Friday! Your observations are spot on and definitely echo the sentiments of the non-Mikita fans. As of right now, Owen is the only thing I'm looking forward to for next week's episode.
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Date: 2011-04-08 11:28 pm (UTC)And I was very happy to see non-Mikita other Nikita fans found the Mikita stuff cheesy and forced, and the Alex/Nathan stuff painful like I did. I'm not a hater of het-ships, not as long as they're done well, which they're not on this show.
*sigh* Owen! How I miss Owen. Why oh why couldn't the writers have jumped on the idea of Nikita/Own. Maggie and Devon have good chemistry together and Owen's a much more dynamic character than Michael or Ryan.
I've read things that make me fear for Owne's future though. Hopefully this won't be the last time we see him!
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Date: 2011-04-08 11:39 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-04-09 02:53 am (UTC)And YES, if the writers had to throw in a man for Nikita, it should've been Owen.
This. He's the only male they've introduced on the show who seems like he's even close to being good enough for Nikita. Probably because Devon seems to produce testosterone. C.I.A agent Babyface is a joke. And Michel, is just a sad little otter who I can't really take seriously, not in comparison to Nikita.
Owen/Nikita though, there was heat there, and he seems tough enough to keep up with her (though she's much craftier than him). But that'd be okay. Nikita could toss around ideas with Alex, and then Owen could be her sexy muscle on missions.
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Date: 2011-04-09 12:26 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-04-09 02:08 am (UTC)I'm clinging to old fandoms as well!
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Date: 2011-04-09 12:47 am (UTC)In the original show La Femme Nikita, Nikita did have a neighbor who she used to fill her desires of having normal friends but it turned out she was basically put there to spy on her. I thought they could pull that with Nathan even with his Nikita scene you could have it be he didn't think he could kill Nikita so he kept his cover as being a normal loser and assumed Nikita was there to kill Alex or something but since they went that route in the original show I sadly don't think they'll do it here.
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Date: 2011-04-09 02:15 am (UTC)Yep, I think so too. It's just a really, really obvious storyline (and this show has done a fairly good job, avoiding being too obvious), and it's an obvious storyline that's been presented in an utterly boring way. Not fun.
In the original show La Femme Nikita, Nikita did have a neighbor who she used to fill her desires of having normal friends but it turned out she was basically put there to spy on her.
I think they'd have been better off doing this again. Many viewers of this show watched LFN, but many didn't as well. And though I did watch LFN back in the day, I barely number it, so the similarities wouldn't have bothered me.
It would have been nice I think if the show had really made Alex make some REAL friends/a real friend once she got out. If we'd gotten to see them get to know each other, and connect, and then if Alex had lost her it would have had a REAL impact (on the viewers and on Alex).
By the CW trying to turn the show into a melodrama, they've just ruined any actual drama the show runners could have created if left to their own devices.
*sigh*
Network tampering is the worst. Hopefully as long as the show appeases the network in small doses, the majority the episodes will be able to be what the show should be.
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Date: 2011-04-09 01:07 am (UTC)I think it's the lack of context. The show keeps TELLING us about this great forbidden romance between Nikita and Michael without ever really showing us. Worse, leaning on/cherry picking previous canon while at the same time going 'hey, it's a whole new ball game'.
And really, what's so great about Michael? All I've seen is Nikita bending over backwards to protect/love him and Michael doing what it takes to 'avenge his family'. Like, how romantic is the notion of 'sorry, I won't bone you until I avenge my dead wife'?
I'm also kinda miffed over the Gary-Stuing of Michael's background. Oh, so *he* gets to be the glory boy soldier who was forced into Division because he had nothing left to lose, while Nikita remains the junkie murderer. Nikita is ultimately about redemption so what does Michael have to redeem himself for? I've always like the moral ambiguity of the various Nikita's. By making Michael a decorated soldier instead of you know, a terrorist, it just seems like now instead of two morally gray characters trying to do good it's another obstacle for Nikita to walk on hands and knees to prove she's worthy. Hence, Nikita being the one to shoot Kasim instead of Michael.
The Alex/Nathan stuff was was painful to sit through.
Lol, my problem with the Alex/Nathan subplot was that this was soo the wrong episode to use this as filler. Particularly that first conversation between Alex and Nikita. Am I really supposed to believe that Alex is so dumb that the moment she walks in on Nikita.. NIKITA, her mentor/savior/best friend/true soulmate, on the verge of tears she'd really be all 'Nikita, I need to get out of Division'. Alex is NOT that self-absorbed!
Despite all the badness, my favorite part of the episode was Nikita turning the tables on Michael and blackmailing him. I liked the show actually showing that Nikita's 'love for Michael' is *not* greater than 'her mission' and she'll cut him too if need be.
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Date: 2011-04-09 02:30 am (UTC)This is definitely a HUGE problem. We've got these two dour people in the present, talking about how much chemistry they had in the past, and what a great connection they had, and then we see them in the past and it's a chemistry black-hole, just like the present.
It's like I can see the show trying so hard to make Mikita happen, but I feel like pulling a Regina George and yelling, "Stop trying to make Mikita happen! It's not going to happen!"
Whether it's Maggie and Shane, or the writing, or a combination of the two, Michael/Nikita is just not coming across. They keep telling us about these feelings, but a lot of people just aren't seeing it.
And really, what's so great about Michael?
I know, right! Michael's always been lame, from the very first episode. I don't actually think Michael's a bad guy, he's just boring and not that impressive. I can't conceive of him being the best at anything. I don't understand why everyone's so in love with/impressed by him. He's like the Cyclops/Scott Summers of this show (only, I don't loathe Michael with all that I am. I like the loyalty to his wife and child.)
He honestly seems too weak. Too weak for Division, and too weak for Nikita. Everyone on the show except for Birkhoff has more balls than Michael.
Nikita is ultimately about redemption so what does Michael have to redeem himself for?
I hadn't really thought about that before, but it's so true. Michael's 'flawlessness' is also one of the reasons he's so boring. I wonder if we're in for a "Michael falls from grace" scenario?
Am I really supposed to believe that Alex is so dumb that
I really hate this storyline because in addition to being boring as hell, it depends on Alex being pretty fucking dumb.
And if the acting (on Nathan's part)/writing was better, I might be able to believe that Alex being young as she is could be swayed by her emotions and do things she knows are wrong/dangerous out of desperation for some kind of "real" or "normal" life. But, Fonseca and Luckinbill have no chemistry, and Alex/Nathan is written so paper thin that Alex, Nathan, and Nikita (for half-heartedly encouraging Alex) all seem like complete morons.
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Date: 2011-04-09 06:44 am (UTC)Yes. Right now, Nikita and Michael are two sides of the same coin. Since the show is set *after* Nikita left Division, we've never seen the things that made Nikita fall in love with Michael and vice versa. God help me for saying this 'cuz I Spike-levels HATED Michael on the old La Femme Nikita but at least there you saw the little ways in which Michael cared for Nikita. Here? What have we seen Michael do in comparison to the many ways Nikita has bent over backwards for him? Hell, in this last episode he threatened both Nikita *and* Alex's life.. and *still* gets the girl!! In the end, Michael's not all Team!Nikita out of any loyalty/love for her but a continuation of his vendetta. I honestly find nothing romantic in the hamfistedly shallow way TPTB are writing this ship. Nikita deserves better.
It's why I don't like the white-washing of the Michael character. And makes the character more one-note than he was before.
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Date: 2011-04-09 01:10 am (UTC)I might care about Alex/Nathan if you know, they have DEVELOPED that relationship at all. He'll probably die by way of Daniel, but I won't care cause they haven't given me a reason to. Maybe he'll be a Division plant, and well I don't care that much either. that whole relationship just doesn't make sense, nevermind that Alex with her sex slave history would just jump into bed with a guy that quickly? meh, you are right, this show can't do romance well at all.
Which is probably why Mikita feels so damn forced. i want to like them but Shane West just is not a good Michael. Can this guy invest in some acting lessons in the offseason, please?
Next week: Team Owen! Casper grew up to be a ruggedly hot man and sells Owen so well and those two have that thing you need to sell love on tv: chemistry.
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Date: 2011-04-09 02:42 am (UTC)*sigh* That one and a half minutes started out well, but then that scene managed to irritate me as well. I loved Alex knowing something was bothering Nikita, but then the focus shifted to stupidness and I was like *le sigh*
I might care about Alex/Nathan if you know, they have DEVELOPED that relationship at all.
This. The storyline has been so half-assedly developed. It's like the writers don't even care. If the actors had mad chemistry, they might be able to overcome it (though I doubt it in this case, because the writing has been so lazy), but these two aren't boiling with chemistry, they're not even simmering. They're just a boring pot of water sitting on a unlit stove.
that whole relationship just doesn't make sense, nevermind that Alex with her sex slave history would just jump into bed with a guy that quickly?
This really bothered me. That they would just gloss over this aspect of Alex's past in such a throw-away manner, as part of a B plotline in a mediocre episode. They didn't even care enough about it to show the sex scene in order to try and make us think that it was meaningful in some way.
Honestly, if this was how they were going to have her give it up for the first time since being clean, I would have rather they'd had her sleep with Thom. At least Alex and Thom had an emotional connection to each other.
i want to like them but Shane West just is not a good Michael. Can this guy invest in some acting lessons in the offseason, please?
lol! I've never really been a Shane West fan, but I don't think Michael sucking is all his fault. Michael just isn't written that well (but granted, Shane isn't charismatic enough to make the character interesting without the writing. Like on "Camelot" Morgan is written weakly, but Eva Green is so fucking magnetic that the audience becomes interested in the character).
I am looking forward to Casper's return. Casper's been the only really badass male character. Owen's the only guy we've seen on the show who seems tough enough for Nikita, so of course they don't get them together.
I mean, I love Nikita/Alex, but I know it'll never happen on the show. So if I have to watch Nikita with a dude, I wish it could be a dude that I like/could conceive of Nikita being attracted to.
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Date: 2011-04-09 06:50 am (UTC)exactly. this. so much. I want to like Mikita, it sure as well would be nice as a fan since they're trying so hard to sell it, but i just can't because Michael is lame and Shane West sux in this role (and my teen fangirl loved me some Landon Carter), but he's just horribly miscast. You're right he doesn't have the charisma to pull off a badly written character either, and him & Maggie just don't have the chemistry to make Mikita rise above it. Maggie Q is trying her best to sell it but its like watching Anne Hathaway carrying James Franco at the Oscars (okay it's not THAT bad, but you get my point)
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Date: 2011-04-09 01:10 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-04-09 02:48 am (UTC)I can't hate on the guy about his dead wife though. I honestly think that Michael has been really loyal to his wife. She'd been dead for about half a decade in the flashbacks and he still turned Nikita down because of her memory, and 9 years after her death he was still just as dedicated to avenging her as he was right after it happened. In fact, he's always given the impression that he kind of hated working for Division, but he stuck with it specifically so that he would have the opportunity to punish the person who killed his family.
Michael's loyalty to his wife and kid is pretty much the only thing I find impressive about him.
Alex/Nathan ... like you said, the less said about that the better. That storyline is just too ridiculous and stupid to even rant about.
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Date: 2011-04-09 04:12 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-04-12 09:44 pm (UTC)This bore me. I don't HATE the pairing, the pairing is too boring to even inspire hatred. But ...
any moment where nikita isn't being flirty with alex seems like a wasted moment.
This is so true! Maggie and Lyndsy's scenes together are always the best. Alex and Nikita's relationship is the most compelling and the best developed. The relationship between Alex and Nikita is the strength of the show.
i know the writers aren't even looking at the whole alex/nikita romance but it doesnt stop me from screaming at the tv.
I know. They should be but they're not. Still, if Alex/Nikita isn't going to happen, can't the writers at least come up with a somewhat interesting M/F relationship.
I watch shows where I'm perfectly content with the M/F relationships on screen because they are well written. This is not happening on "Nikita"
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Date: 2011-04-09 01:33 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-04-09 02:05 am (UTC)Also, Lyndsy cries so pretty, so sad!Alex means good TV!
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Date: 2011-04-09 03:01 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-04-09 05:26 am (UTC)The show is at its best when it's those two working together to kick some ass and save the day (and just those two interacting in general because I need more females interacting positively on my television).
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Date: 2011-04-09 06:55 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-04-09 12:27 pm (UTC)I'm relatively easy to please, but this was really bad and boring.
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Date: 2011-04-12 09:32 pm (UTC)I'd say hopefully next weeks is better, but I don't see how it could be worse (plus, Owen!)
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Date: 2011-04-09 08:09 pm (UTC)Yes, I get it that this show isn't a real remake of La Femme Nikita. But there, the Michael character was really interesting. And he also creeped me out every time he was onscreen with that absolutely un-moving face and even voice. Uncanny valley anyone?
There, he's... not interesting. And I don't have anything against the actor, but he kinda looks like he's just doing his best impression of angry Brian Austin Green.
Also, not to offend anyone, but...ehm. The original series was made in Canada and was tons more interesting, had characters with layers to them, and stuff. The 2010 series is made in the US and has characters and story with one dimension less. Make of this what you will.
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Date: 2011-04-12 09:39 pm (UTC)I only vaguely remember LFN (I watched it, but it was long enough ago and my memory is bad enough that it's all pretty hazy), but I do remember Michael creeping me the hell out! Michael on LFN came across as intimidating, cold, badass and highly capable.
Michael here comes across as none of those things. I don't mind that he's different, this Nikita is wildly different from Wilson's, but Maggie's Nikita is awesome in a different. West's Michael, is boring. I'm just not impressed or intimidated by Michael at all. He just looks like a sad little otter to me.
he's just doing his best impression of angry Brian Austin Green.
lol! So true. And it's a sad day when you have to say that someone is a pale imitation of BAG.
The 2010 series is made in the US and has characters and story with one dimension less. Make of this what you will.
I'm Canadian, so I love the vote of confidence, but Canadian TV has it's flaws too (*sigh* "Lost Girl").
The sad thing is, I think that the CW series would have been if the network had just left the creators alone. The boring/lame elements are clearly the 90210 bullshit the network asked for. The stuff that the show was actually created to showcase almost always comes across well. All in all, I just wish it had been on a different network that wasn't trying to pander to teenagers who aren't watching the show, and instead was content giving the adults who are watching the show what they tuned in for.
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Date: 2011-04-12 09:41 pm (UTC)I'm glad my rambling has been entertaining :D
I've been so looking forward to this episode and all I got was...
I know! It was such a letdown. I can't even muster up any excitement for this weeks episode even though it has to better than last weeks crap, because the last one was so blah.
Hopefully this week will renew our spirits!
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Date: 2011-04-11 08:25 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-04-12 09:30 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-04-12 10:29 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-04-13 07:52 am (UTC)Today they just premiered Mortal Kombat: Legacy. Which is a web series that looks to be inspired by that Mortal Kombat: Rebirth faux trailer. The cast is the same, so in order words you get to see Jeri Ryan as Sonya Blade.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6s6UiEuCYXA
Should tell you though, if you're watching solely for Jeri Ryan, she doesn't have any fight scenes in this episode.