Blind Prophecy

Back to work tomorrow. With my law school applications in and nothing pressing, I’ve spent my week catching up on reading, movies and television. Be warned, thar be spoilers aplenty in this here post!

Books
You may have noticed that I haven’t actually read a book in months. First I started classes for the LSAT and I didn’t have time, then I moved across the country, then I was unemployed for two months but living with two friends and obsessing over the election. This is very, very unlike me. I haven’t even been reading comic books since I ran out of savings while looking for a job.

I’m not reading at the same speed I did last year, but I decided to pick up Hero by Perry Moore and reread it after the news came out that Showtime was considering turning it into a television program. I was right in my first review predicting that I would continue to love this story. Nothing really new to ad, but I’m excited to see this translated to screen. Perry Moore created a great coming-of-age story and coming-out tale. It makes me want to reread some other favorites for the last two years, although I left many behind in the most recent move and they don’t have them at the library.

After that, I read The Beautiful Miscellaneous by Dominic Smith. I picked it up while I was in New York, but this is the first time I felt like actually reading it. I’m not sure I loved it, exactly, but it was a good read. I’m coming to accept that I like my entertainment with a degree of low-brow melodrama, and this book didn’t have much of that. Instead, we get a touching story about a young man trying to come to terms with his relationship with his father. The father, in this case, being a socially awkward physicist who hopes that his son will be a genius. The son, however, is sightly smarter than average, but no genius. It all changes, though, when Nathan is nearly killed in a car accident that leaves him with synesthesia and an unusual memory capable of perfect recall, but before Nathan can figure out what this gift mean, his father develops a terminal brain tumor. Despite the extraordinary circumstances, this story is slow and small, a journey of emotional discovery without neat resolution or contrived epiphany. So, yes, I like the book, but I’m unlikely to look up more from Dominic Smith or hang on to this book.

Movies
Not much in new movies, but I did rewatch a couple this week. Kiss the Bride, Kung Fu Panda, and The House of Yes. I put my Netflix account on hold a few months ago to save money, but I’ve reactivated it and plan to take up many of my free hours with movies. Up next is Before Night Falls.

Television
My biggest bender of the week was downloading torrents of TV shows I’ve been meaning to check out but aren’t included in our basic cable package.

First, I watched the entire first season of True Blood. I’ve mentioned my hemaphobia before, but for some reason, I always have this bizarre blind spot when it comes to vampire stories. Thanks to years of self-training exposure therapy, I’ve become a lot better about blood, but every now and then it sorta surprises me. This happened in the first 15 minutes of episode 2, when Bill is trying to save Sookie’s life by feeding her his vampire blood. One minute I’m watching TV on my laptop, the next minute I’m taking a short walk outside to get my heart rate down and steady my breathing.

Anyway, I like the series a lot. It’s a lot like Laurell Hamilton’s Anita Blake series, except Sookie isn’t a hardened killer out to destroy the monsters. I enjoy the use of vampire as “other” and I’m glad to see the series isn’t limiting the story to vampires, nor is it throwing the door wide open to demonic possession and a supernatural free-for-all.

The story is progressing nicely, they better bring Lafayette back next season, and the end-of-season religious epiphany for Ryan Kwanten’s Jason doesn’t mean that they remove the contractual obligation for him to take off his clothes in every single episode.

Weeds season 4. I was a bit wary of the direction this show was going at the end of season 3, but I think the writers handled it well, with one exception.

Nancy and the family are now on the run, heading to the California-Mexico border to crash with Nancy’s dead husband’s father and grandmother. The Mexican cartel sets her up with a maternity clothing shop (foreshadowing for TV’s most often used plot cliché) that fronts for a tunnel under the border. Unable to settle into a lucrative but boring life of retail service (oh, how I relate), Nancy gets involved with the leader of the cartel, the mayor of Tijuana. Meanwhile, she’s also have a crisis of conscience about the non-marijuana traffic coming through the tunnel, so she goes to the authorities. The season ends on a cliffhanger when Esteban discovers that she’s the leak and she reveals that she’s pregnant with his child.

Nancy’s journey is the central force of the show, and if you ask me, the biggest reveal of this season is that she will never be content with a normal life. She’s a danger junkie, addicted to risk. Even though she’s a good and protective mother, a dealer with a conscience, and a smart lady. Sadly, the cliffhanger reveal of the pregnancy was a let-down for me. I feel like it’s an overused plot point in television, injecting routine domesticity into the lives of characters who are fascinating without it. What more will a baby tell us about Nancy? We already know what kind of mother she is. We already know how protective, smart and overwhelmed she is by family.

Anyway, the Andy, Doug, Silas, Shane and Celia plotlines are progressing interestingly enough. Celia, the character we love to hate, gets humbled. Shane is deciding what kind of man he wants to be. Doug and Andy are trying to have fun but learning about themselves in the process. Silas is discovering that being a man isn’t as easy as he thought. As long as the writers have decided to make it a contractual obligation that Hunter Parrish takes off his pants in every episode, I’m good.

Finally, Dexter, seasons 1, 2 and 3 (eps. 1-10). I admit it, I’m in love. A psychopath serial killer with a code that only allows him to take out other killers. Okay, I’m not so sure Dexter Morgan is a true pychopath. For someone who spends a lot of time explaining how he has no feelings, he sure does seem to emote a lot in unguarded moments. For someone who claims not to be human, he sure has a very human need for companionship and understanding (look at how he reacted to his brother, Lilah, Miguel, even Sgt. Doakes at the end of S2).

Seasons 1 & 2 were brilliant. I’m withholding judgment on season 3 until after the finale in a few weeks. Season 3 is different. The show is somewhat formulaic: Dexter stalks and kills a new murderer in most episodes (that aren’t seasonal arc dominated), those kills are relevant to the episodic story theme (much like illnesses reflect a character development in doctor shows and cases related to the personal lives of lawyer shows). Then season 3 comes along and not only does the body count drop, but other things change, too. Instead of flashbacks to Dexter’s upbringing, he imagines conversations with his adopted father Harry about his inner conflicts. Instead of wondering about the reason he is what he is, he begins playing a game of chicken with himself–seeing how close he can get to being “normal.” In fairness, Dexter’s monologue warned us at the end of season 2 that he was going to evolve and change.

But more on this psychopathy thing. I’m not so sure Dexter is emotionless and hollow. Damaged, certainly, but at this point in the story, you have to start wondering if he could have turned out differently if Harry had not decided at a young age to train and exploit Dexter’s condition. Look at the fierce protectiveness Dexter unexpectedly exhibits toward the children when a pedophile takes an interest in Astor. Look at how he seems to be genuinely affected by Camilla’s illness. Look at how he starts to bond with Doakes. Look at how he steps in to help Angel. Look at how he worries about the feelings of Deb, Rita, the kids. There’s a part of me that hears his constant voiceover explaining how he’s acting, how he doesn’t have emotions, and thinks the lady maybe doth protest too much.

So, it’s clear how season 3 needs to end: with the death of Miguel and the protection of Dexter’s secret. It’s the formula. But with (TV cliché) a baby on the way, the wedding, and Deb’s goals and careers on the line, it’s the only resolution. I’m hoping, though, that it actually shakes up Dexter’s notion of himself. I don’t want him going back to the “certainty of self” he has this season. He was at his most compelling is season 2 while undergoing the recovery process and connecting with Doakes. Unlike my criticism of Weeds, though, I have high hopes for the baby storyline. I’d love to see a season 4 Dexter shaken and confused by actual feelings of love for his child. I want to see Dexter get sloppier. Everything about Dexter is so controlled and careful, he needs to lose some of that control if he’s actually going to evolve.

I also want to see the detectives of Miami homicide get into long-lasting relationships that last beyond season’s end. The loneliness, the dating trials and tribulations of Angel, LaGuerta, Masuka, new boy Quinn, and (especially) Deb are not nearly as entertaining as the writers seem to think. Dexter can’t be the only character in a stable relationship. It’s the Grey’s Anatomy syndrome, where the writers believe that bedroom trysts are why we watch. I’m not going to say that I don’t enjoy seeing some of the characters half-naked (I even have a total straight crush on Julie Benz), but that’s the least reason why I’d tune in to this show.

Oh, and Michael C. Hall makes murderous killer look sexy.

Anyway, that’s how I’ve spent my week. It wasn’t productive. Other than laundry, I got nothing checked off the list. But it was a great way to spend the week.

Filed under: books, movies, television by Jere Keys