#msec discussion

[87hawkeye]

4.09.... Painful

Call me distracted with "Gladiator" on a different channel as I love that movie.

But I had a tough time with the episode. The Mike B and Kat tit-for-tat bombed. Didn't feel anything but just snottiness. I love protagonist chemistry but they don't have it.

The Stevie storyline was the best part and as the third storyline, that's a fail.

I love Tim but not really as a lead in a drama. He's just too robotic through his lines.

Elizabeth winning the day, yet again, convincing her nemesis and hard liner to not be a Grinch and back her bill was just too much frosting for me.

Yes, this show is an increasingly tough sell when the U.S. has a seriously fucked up government. I find I'm not in the mood for Fantasyland because Msec no longer approaches reality.

Edit to add: While the Dmitri/Stevie romance is intriguing, albeit weird, it's completely off with these two actors. No chemistry. Everything seems forced and off kilter.

[87hawkeye]

Good episode, except....

1. Missed Henry in it but he’s stuck his foot in a pile of goo from the 3.22 previews.

2. Found the music tracks highly distracting, especially with them at full volume. Really feel it was disjointed.

Otherwise, a good episode.

[87hawkeye]

A Overtly Solicitous Téa

After watching 3.17 another couple times (for my screencaps), it does feel like Téa was watching Tim a little more closely. He's back to the set after being injured and a fractured knee is no small thing. I do think they're both professional and act in their roles but it just felt like a little of that protective mate thing kind of shined through in their scenes this past week. What do you think?

[87hawkeye]

If the next ep. is with the extended McCords, it's my guess that the graveyard is related to Patrick.

Good point! It very well could be given that we know that Henry will be with his brother and niece (Tim’s actual daughter).

[87hawkeye]

Is the Madam Secretary election arc actually hurting the series?

We have had a few conversations drifting past over the weak promotion given to the show.

The entire election arc of Season 3 was written well in advance of the actual U.S. election on November 8th and one would strongly assume, like most everyone else, they expected the results to be different.

Explaining it a little more, the campaign was so unbelievably rotten. I’d conjecture that the majority of the voters disliked the two main choices so much half of them didn’t bother to show up and the ones that did, still had a queasy feeling in their stomachs after voting.

The Msec writers knew it was an ugly election as they chose to find their more idealistic way of approaching it.

But you have to assume, like most everyone else, they expected the results to be different and the country to normalize after that.

Neither of those have happened and many people I know, are actually retreating into themselves to regroup, gather strength and, hopefully, stay strong for those who need our strength.

But they don’t want to talk about the election right now. It’s a raw and open wound, regardless of who you voted for.

No hate here. This is a safe place post.

It just made me wonder if the continuation of the prolonged election on TV may have the impact of people still feeling the angst that is present across the country.

What do you all think?

[87hawkeye]

I'm actually amazed the writers had the story arc with Jason and actually debunked him. I'm going to have to straddle a line here and be careful with my comments. But it gave me a teachable moment because I really didn't think much of Hollywood saw the flawed thinking in a candidate like Reynolds. It's good in theory. Tactically, it's impossible. But I remember having a similar discussion with my dad when i was a teenager and very interested in politics. My dad helped focus my attention to looking at the entirety of the candidate while also honing in understanding the tactical aspects of implementing policies. Both of my parents spent time with groups in DC, meeting with Reps & Senators. They understand the process. Btw, I'm independent, politically.

[87hawkeye]

Young Elizabeth McCord & her last parting words 3.07 | Tectonic Shift We had far too brief a glimpse of young Elizabeth. Dressed in the Preppy Look of the time, which was my era growing up as a teenager, we immediately learned how serious she was about school. Hats off to the strawberry shake request as I'd choose that over chocolate any day. 😉 She gave grief to her younger brother as one would expect when he flung her closed door open. Her parting words to her family was "close the door". Words I'm sure came back to haunt her when news of the accident came. Many of us have often conjectured that Elizabeth insists on saying "I love you" whenever she can. It's her salutation to her family. We can now confirm why. 😖 Thinking on open versus closed doors, it does strike me that Elizabeth and Henry tend to keep their door open. I'm sure that's just by chance but it would make sense for Elizabeth to want to put her parting words/actions well behind her.

[87hawkeye]

Want to review 3.04 The Dissent Memo in pics. I have my own dissenting views but actually need to re-watch it and capture some screencaps. Trouble is, I have 3 major deliverables at work either due tonight or tomorrow so no chance until after that. I will say two things: 1. They're calling out a party w/o actually saying the name and that's 👎 2. Jareth's actions, per Stevie's words, in England aren't sitting well with me that everything's OK now. This isn't a fluff issue.