Yeah, it was supposed to be 5, but blame @mhysaofdragons, she started it and tagged me. So blame her. Thanks you for the tag. Also @trixareforeveryoneaq also tagged me (just saw that! Thanks😘)
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I'm tagging @chrringoftheprintingmachine @bensoloshotfirst @xxthewolvenstormxx @northernlights37 @phoebemaybe @violet-eyes-silver-hair @notpmahalem and who else feels like doing it 🤗 and you can do just 5 if 10 is too much!
Ally McBeal Review a.k.a MY IMAGINARY THESIS FOR MY IMAGINARY COLLEGE.
WARNING: This contains SPOILERS! SPOILERS! SPOILERS! So you have been warned!
PS: DO NOT READ THIS POST IF YOU HAVEN’T WATCHED ALLY MCBEAL. YOU WILL GET SPOILED AND WILL REGRET IT. SHOO.
P.S. More: THIS IS JUST ME RAMBLING/RANTING ABOUT MY FANGIRL FEELS. IT’S VERY LONG. YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED.
And I give credit to those pics I used. Thank you.
Ally McBeal
I’ve seen a lot of shows which I come across and watch just to try something out but I ended-up completely investing SO MUCH into them…like I feel lost when I finish that show.
Now…”Ally McBeal” was NEVER really one of those shows that I was expecting to completely fall in love with. I’ve heard of it. I’ve read about it somewhere sometimes. But I certainly never would have thought EVER that it would eventually become one of the most life-turning shows that I would remember for always.
I don’t like Law. I don’t like Law shows that much or anything related to Law tbh. That subject always disinterests me. Plus politics bugs me. But one random day I found myself so eager to start-up a new show to binge over…and as I remember I was pacing back and forth between “Gilmore Girls” or “Felicity”…I think? So I don’t know how “Ally McBeal” ever came into the mix but I just remember looking it up on imDb and reading comments and I guess that was kind of it. That was that.
So I watch the “Pilot”—c’mon from THAT very first scene itself…I was kind of hypnotized or whatever that was. The very first scene with the bg music and the narration and flashbacks and Ally looking at the window. It felt very different. Very odd. Very worthwhile. And it was. I mean there were special effects and all that which was very overwhelming the first time around but what REALLY-TRULY got me was just the characters in general. I mean every-single-character is so well defined. I found myself falling in love with them really slowly…that was enough for me to keep watching. Great characters with great chemistry and I’ll love that show so much it’d hurt.
Season 1—If I had to describe this whole season in 1 word…it’d probably be “poignant”. I don’t know…it’s just when I look back and replay Season 1 in my head, all I remember is how carefully handled those characters were, how they were introduced, what their view-points in life were, how they behaved, their awkward yet endearing quirks, the oddity in their cases. They all seemed so fragile to me in Season 1…NOT in a bad way but they were just SO SO SO precious that season. They were babies.
And yes, I loved every single character. The characterizations are really what drove me to ‘awe’ and just want to keep watching. The cast has one of the most perfect cast-chemistry I’ve ever seen. I mean sheer-perfection. And the character-dynamics is just unbelievable. Here’s why: Because when I first watched this I thought this would be a very predictable show…it’s like a romcom where Billy&Ally get back together in the end but it wasn’t. The dynamics were so complex and layered and nothing I expected happened. One of the most profound and interesting things I found is how different this show tackled certain storylines…it’s never 1-sided or obvious what would eventually happen. I found that rare and I just fell so much harder for this show as the season went on.
Ally is definitely one of my most loved characters now—she was so flawed and imperfect that I found her so perfect(If that makes sense), Billy was like the good guy who was Ally’s ex who is so charming that you cannot NOT love him, Richard Fish(well I pretty much fell in love with him even before watching the show…I read imDb and loved him instantly for some reason) was Richard with his ‘Fishisms’ and ‘Bygones’, Elaine was the annoying(I don’t hate her…but I do think they intended her to be “annoying”) secretary that I fell in love with along the way, Renee was the best-friend who talks in a provocative-sense and I didn’t mind…she was so the opposite of Ally in Season 1 and I loved it, John Cage was like this unpredictable hurricane that came along with his eccentricities and weirdness and I loved him so darn much, and lastly Georgia who’s Billy’s wife—see she holds a very special space in me because her character kind of solidified the ‘feel’ of the show for me, because when she was first introduced…I was ready to hate her because she’s the ‘wife’ who stole the ex-boyfriend and I was really dumb for stereotyping her and this show as that predictable romance shows that have the “obvious” pairing to end-up together and the one in between would just be a useless character who complicates things BUT didn’t happened on this show. NEVER(well maybe once or twice…..). But in regards to the Ally-Billy-Georgia love triangle. It wasn’t predictable. It was complex and may be the most mature depiction of a ‘love-triangle’ I’ve ever watched EVER. I love how Georgia was her own character and that her marriage with Billy wasn’t just to complicate things. It was real. It was honest. Ally&Georgia even became friends and that sealed the deal for me. That made me fall in love with this show. And it was SO GOOD to watch TV like that.
The quirks on this show which were established in Season 1 were so genius that sometimes I have to pause to recollect myself from what I just watched. Every single one pretty much gave birth(this is a weird adjective but whtvr) to their characters.
Richard Fish & John Cage, yes the 2 senior partners are a little more precious to me because they are both so fragile that I just want to shelter them from the world. I mean everyone is pretty much broken in this show but these 2 are a little more broken than the rest. They’ll always be the 2 most broken. Most afraid of the world characters on the show. I guess that’s why I love them…because they’re just broken and I just wanna hug them.
This show was weird.
It introduced me to Wattle(I mean…I have never heard of such thing)…festish(again…I have never heard of such thing).
It had this.
The unisex bathroom. I mean c’mon. How could you go wrong with a unisex bathroom!?! The answer is…you simply cannot. I mean that is just AH-MAH-ZING.
And they gossip in the unisex bathroom. They fight. They pull each other’s hair. They do “it”. And they dance inside the unisex bathroom…preferably to Barry White’s “You're The First, The Last, My Everything”. It doesn’t get more genius than that.
And of course who could ever forget this…..
THE DANCING BABY. I MEAN C’MON!!!!! HOW WEIRD YET ENDEARING AND ODD YET SPECTACULAR ALL AT THE SAME TIME.
So…yes the weirdness surrounding these characters and this show is what makes it so special to me. That’s why it’s so hard to find another show after this one because it’s one of a kind. It’s rare. Very rare.
So season 1 wrapped-up pretty darn perfectly. It really really really did cap off a season with one of my most beloved season closings ever. I mean there weren’t any explosions or anything like that but it was so poignant and real that it will always stick-out for me.
When Ally walked in on Billy&Georgia “you know”…and she went to her office to recollect herself. Everything that has happened that season really culminated in that ending. Like how much Ally has grown as a person and how she’s starting to let go of Billy.
And John Cage’s so precious line that I will NEVER forget…..
“If you think back, and replay your year - if it doesn't bring you tears of joy or sadness, consider the year wasted.”ßThis quote will always stay with me.
And that ending montage of Season 1 with “Neighborhood” as the bg music with Ally crying and smiling as she remembers everything that has happened. I have never seen so much meaning and depth in a show before. And that was the moment I realized that I was in it for the long haul…like no matter how much devastation this show will bring me(and it did)…I’d push forward through all of it because it doesn’t get any better than that.
Then we have Season 2…..
Here’s what I was thinking: I really wish the show continues to be great and poignant and precious and lovable and weird and just as it was in Season 1. I always hoped that the dynamics wouldn’t change because the original cast had the most perfect cast chemistry I’ve ever seen.
Here’s what I got: The dynamics did change. And they introduced 2 new characters. And the season felt different…..IN A DAMN GOOD WAY. I mean I knew that they were gonna introduce new faces because I read spoilers beforehand so I was scared that it would ruin the “magic” of the perfectness of the cast but it didn’t. It even made it better…if that was even possible.
Nelle Porter and Ling Woo—I mean the introduction of their characters was just perfection. It was so perfect that I fell in love with them instantly and that doesn’t happen often for me…it usually takes time(A LOT OF TIME) for me to fully love a character so for them to introduce these 2 and do what they did will never NOT astound me. They’re just brilliant.
Season 2 was just perfection(FOR ME PERSONALLY). It continued to explore the characters more and expanding the cast(which I will forever love) without ruining the already perfect dynamic and even making it better. To be honest…I don’t really know why THIS season was just absolutely perfect(FOR ME PERSONALLY). I can’t pinpoint it. But it just was.
So Season 2 started with this…..
“The Real World”, I think when I first watched it—I was still in a ‘high’ from the Season 1 finale but either ways I thought that the opening dream sequence was very “Ally”. It’s just the way THIS particular show would start-off a new season. Now I thought it was weirdly random that they’d open a season with Ally liking this ‘boy’—like why’d start off a season like that? But as the episode progressed, I found myself just loving it. The characters were all still so well-defined and each of their view-points in life were all so different and unique. How could you NOT love them? By the end of the episode I found it so fascinating that Ally was recapturing her youth(at least that’s what I think) but still having a clear grasp at life(altho that’s hard to believe given her fantasies and all). This wasn’t a special episode but it just continued the way I see this show as—which is a very weird show that looks at life/reality in a very different way compared to other shows.
Season 2 just hit its stride for me. I will never know why/how that became the effect on me…it just did somehow.
Now when I was just starting-out being a fangirl…I was so dense that all I cared about were the “ships” and I was one of those “shipper war-freak”(or smthg). Like in every single show…all that mattered were the “ships” for me. Then I kind of grew-out of that phase and realized how dumb I was—from then on I started to see a TV show as a whole(The whole package)…and individual characterizations became my main focus although I still “ship”…but I just kind of broaden my view-point(I guess…I am a weird person so I know I don’t make sense).
Now with “Ally McBeal”—I STILL have my “broader” view-point or something BUT then they gave me THIS…..
Cage and Nelle.
I CANNOT FIND A GOOD PICTURE. I APOLOGIZE.
Now at the beginning—I understood why Cage was “drawn” to her. She’s tall, blonde, smart…with GREAT hair(Yes, I’m talking about THAT courtroom scene) and he’s kind of the weirdly-odd small little Biscuit and that’s basically how it always goes. Individually as characters…I never really would have thought to put them together—I mean I understand a “crush” but actually getting together was something I never imagined UNTIL THIS SHOW PROVED ME WRONG.
Now there was an episode where John talked to Billy about liking Nelle or something like that and Billy assumed that Nelle was only using him for “sport” or something and she replied by saying “I actually like the guy so take that…”(I’m paraphrasing but smthg like that). I don’t know but that scene was “IT” for me. I fell in love with Nelle more as a character and I fell in love with this ship(which I shipped till the very end and STILL now). I guess I was so closed-minded that I never imagined 2 complete opposites(altho Nelle has a weird-side too) to actually worked but then I’ll have these 2 engraved in my head for future judgements.
Oh and this show also brought me to THIS…..
Fish and Ling.
I do admit that before watching the show I watched a trailer for “Ally McBeal” on YT and there was this small bit with these 2 in there…and I swear I pretty much fell in love with them at that small bit(I will never understand how that happened). And as I started with Season 2…I knew they were coming and I knew I loved them right from the trailer but I didn’t know if I’m actually gonna love them on the show. Then they introduced Ling(LOVEEE HER). They had that snarky banter-ish at the beginning. Then he asked her out in the cutest way(he looked like a kid asking a girl out for the very first time). Plus they pair Richard(who I love) and Ling(who I love)—2 damn characters who I absolutely LOVE. You just cannot go wrong with that.
And this season also had THIS…..
Ally and Dr. Greg Butters(I mean DAMN he is fineeeee)
Now from what I remember he was introduced in Season 1 and they had a brief thing but he left but came back on Season 2. Ally dated a LOT of guys on the show who you KNOW aren’t really for the long-haul…..I knew Greg wasn’t for the long-haul(because I read spoilers). Not only that but I just always felt that they weren’t going to work-out somehow. But here’s the good thing about this relationship. It was simple. It was short but meaningful. It felt so natural. And they have chemistry. They were beautiful.
But of course somewhere along the season THIS resurfaced…
The Ally-Billy-Georgia love triangle
You know that episode where Billy tells Ally that he’s still in love with her. I guess because everything was sort of going well…I wasn’t expecting that ‘confession’ at all but it was necessary—I think she was starting to move-on after Season 1 but this never got truly resolved. I feel like they definitely had to address this because if they didn’t…I don’t think these characters would have TRULY gone somewhere…..
So Billy kissed Ally…..
Now, I’ll forever have a hard time summarizing the “Love” aspect of this show because it really is the most complex depiction of “Love” that I have ever seen.
Billy and Ally will always be the forefront of the complex “Love” aspect because everything started with them. Eventhough they weren’t together in Season 1 and he was married—they were so tender and gentle and precious. I find them extremely crucial for this show and definitely for Ally’s character. Now somewhere along Season 1 eventhough they were so precious…I always had this feeling that they weren’t “meant for each other”(not because I knew what was ahead in Season 4)—which is weird to feel because their chemistry specially in Season 1 was exploding but I always did think that they’re not meant to be.
That episode at the beginning of Season 2 where Ally learns that Billy actually left for Michigan because he met Georgia—I mean GAME CHANGER!(for me).
And the episode that is one of the most heart-wrenching episodes I’ve ever watched. EVER.
“Sideshow”
The episode after Billy kissed Ally. The episode when they went to therapy together. The episode that had one of the realest depiction of how absolutely complex and confusing “Love” actually is. The episode with one of the most brilliant piece of dialogue combined with the acting that will wreck you after you finish the episode.
This episode is so crucial for the story—a turning-point even. It’s not because Billy and Ally had that huge fight but because you kind of saw why it didn’t work-out for them…as perfect as they may seem to be which they were. I do think their personalities were perfect for each other and they had the same morals and goals in life. But then there’s just some things that don’t work-out…no matter how desperately they wanted it to work out.
This episode made you think. It made you feel. It’s what TV is made for.
But of course after that—Life went on…..
Here’s to honorable mentions(that sticks-out for me):
George and Ally? A what could have been. He did that “wiggle” dance or something like that and Ally’s reaction melted my heart. They could have been something special tbh—they were both weird.
Fish’s closing in “Just Looking”. BRILLIANT.
Ally’s closing in “Love Unlimited”. BRILLIANT.
And any John Cage closing. BRILLIANT.
“Angels And Blimps”—the episode where Ally and Ling meet a boy with leukemia. He wants to sue God. And Ling cried. I mean how can I NOT love Ling?—one moment she’s this selfish-vicious client who sues everybody then the next moment she buys a blimp to restore Ally’s faith in God. It doesn’t get any better than that.
“Happy Trails”
Awww Judge Happy Boyle. Show me your teeth.
Speaking of judge—this is random but Judge Seymore Walsh is one of my favorites(really hard to find pics for this show). I mean he pretty much grounds the show. He calls-out their BS.
“Making Spirits Bright”
This has to be one of the signature episodes of THIS show. When you watch it—you just KNOW that you’re watching “Ally McBeal” because…..
It had a damn unicorn…..
But no seriously—It had a unicorn…..
“Civil Wars”
C’mon a cat-fight at the unisex bathroom HAD to happen at some point…..
“Those Lips, That Hand”
Barry White. C’mon.
That ending dance scene with everybody dancing on stage—That’s as epic as it can get.
This epi also had THIS…..
I LOVE HER SO MUCH.
“Let’s Dance”
When this little nugget…..
Helped Elaine in her dance competition…
Okay…I will forever think that Ling and Elaine are secretly BFFs all throughout the show because there are these few but meaningful moments that are unnoticeable BUT I notice them. “Let’s Dance” obviously sticks-out. Then Ling supported Elaine so much on her baby trial. That time when Ling trips over a contestant who’s up against Elaine for that Tina Turner back-up dancer thing—Yes, I think she was just being Ling but whatever. And of course that time when Ling paid someone to comfort Elaine when she lost the Tina Turner contest to Ally—THAT WAS SO RANDOM AND SHORT YET IT WAS THE SWEETEST THING.
“Only The Lonely”(I think this is that episode but I’m not sure)
That time when the 2 senior partners “danced” at that bar? C’mon that was so dope and epic.
Then ‘THE’ episode which I’d like to call as Ally’s signature episode…..
“Love’s Illusions”
There are so many episodes to choose from but THIS is IT. This is where Ally’s character completely broke me. From those flashbacks when she was young. To her talk with John in jail about “the world she makes-up” in her head(their dialogue was SPOT on). To her talking to Renee about her mom cheating on her dad—and that was why she started ‘pretending’. And lastly…THAT ending scene with “Both Sides Now” playing in the background as Ally breaks down along the streets. My heart was literally(not joking) breaking watching that scene. That is truly, without a doubt one of the most powerful scenes ever.
And then of course…..
“I Know Him By Heart” a.k.a The Bachelorette episode(kidding!)
The Season 2 finale—after the previous episode…it was nice to get back to the lighter side of things. With Fish giving Ally a pep talk(you cannot go wrong with Fishisms). To Ally getting mauled by a group of men(not really) but that looked like straight-out of The Bachelorette. To tying-up the season with some sense of hope—just a sweet season-ender for just a perfection(for me) of a season.
