Guest Clacker A. Camille Nicholson is now an ABD in Cultural Studies and English Literature who due to the dearth of available academic positions has returned to the seemingly, yet not fully desiccated heart of the E-Commerce fold.
MARY’S CHARACTER
Mary’s strength is my main reason for continuing to watch IPS, even as they mute it in season 3 to reflect maturity and introspection. Admittedly, I have always had a problem with contemporary female characters who I find either aren’t flawed enough, outside of their stereotypical relationship difficulties, or strong enough, when contrasted with male characters (despite their high pressure jobs). Equally admittedly, the 1990s have had a hand in improving the weakened female with the inception of Buffy, Xena, Cleopatra 2525, Queen of Hearts, and every single other syndicated/Raimi-affiliated/Raimi-assumed affiliated TV show, but can any contemporary heroine really compare to the hardcore characters created by Greta Garbo, Jen Harlow, Marlene Dietrich, Bette Davis or Joan Crawford?
Confession Time: I hated Jenny Shepherd during her first season on NCIS for rocking green paisley her first day of work while acting like a doe-eyed four-year-old. Seriously, should the head of a minor federal agency exhibit such cry baby ways (pre-her uber-butch haircut and smoky voice makeover)? So, whenever Mary threw a temper tantrum or pushed someone’s back against the wall during S1&2, I always thought “score one for real womanhood.”
Double Confession-Time: I love Jennifer Love Hewitt in the Ghost Whisperer. I think Chuck’s Sarah is bad-ass. And, I covet Kahlan’s hair in LOTS. However, no matter how well-acted or well-written, we never see these women act like brats similar to Shawn, Neal or Morgan without a bit of sexuality thrown in. Sure, Kara is a bit of a psychopath. But, she’s a psychopath in a leather cat suit with a zip-front cleavage opening. So, everytime I see a female character act like a jerk in the non-histrionic (‘why doesn’t he like me’), non-sexual sense I do a little dance and make a little love and quote other pre-21st century songs from my childhood.
ROMANCE
OK. Romance time (yet another randomly girlie-affiliated topic). Although I didn’t skip over to team Rafe until 3.2 (right when they broke up), is Marshal truly right for Mary? I could see a slightly better relationship with Bobby D or even her protectee from S1. Although I’m all for the match-up, does Marshal love her or does he adore her? Plus, does he love her because he respects her or because she’s his partner? Clearly, they’re intertwined as his understanding of and mutual dedication to the job in addition to their 24-7 car location helps. But, if he didn’t have that Marshal 3-generation dedication, wouldn’t he stand in Rafe’s place now? What if Mary left WitSec. Would his feelings remain? Also, my cynical side still finds it hard to believe that a man could carry a torch for that long (even if the first four years focused on getting to know each other).
ODD CONTRADICTIONS
This has nothing to do with romance or feminism reborn, but an odd question about ret-conning. Last season Stan stated that Mary and Marshall working together helped to reduce the office size and the budget. This year, AJ’s character questioned their budget’s size while the flashback episode revealed an even smaller two-person WitSec office. If the office is so efficient, why such a large budget? Also, if it only needs two officers, why did they absorb the other office? Finally, why is it that this season Mary and Marshal have started encountering high-powered individuals who have no understanding of WitSec (a la Mary in the flashback). It seems as if this season’s covert themes surround character maturity and character ignorance.
RANDOM QUESTIONS
Clacked by Guest Clacker
on Apr 30, 2010 @ 16:00 EST5EDT
I would be happy to see IPS leave the review board, after being a die hard fan this season has made me delete IPS from my TiVo season pass.
Too many changes that don’t make sense, don’t gel once made and even the characters seem tired fo themselves.
I’m an avid television watcher, but considering all the time I spend in front of the giant screen I really don’t analyze shows very deeply most of the time. IPS has been my least favorite of all the USA Network original series and lately it’s gotten to where I just don’t really care about the show any more.
I think it started last year with the office manager, or whatever her title was supposed to be (harpy?). It was bad enough that we had to endure Mary’s annoying sister and mother, both of whom by then I’d warmed to and then “wham” they toss another annoying character in the mix. This year she’s not really gone, only morphed into AJ and now the initially annoying family members whom I grew to love are all but cut from the show.
Now the show just feels bland to me and I’d trade it for the return of Monk in a heartbeat.
Hmm. Clearly I am the only one who still likes the show. Sure, I liked the formula that S2 gave us, but, in my mind, if the acting, writing, and directing are still good, even if it doesn’t go the way I expected, then I’m on board.
However, as was pointed out by Ryan last week, the board sweeping was accidental as opposed to deliberate. For example, Dershowitz is on another show, Eleanor was the previous showrunner’s wife and the actress playing Brandi is pregnant.
I’m impressed at how the show has managed to handle these multiple gaps (although I admit, Lenny, I did not need Eleanor 2.0, the adult mean girls version) by focusing on the lead character and allowing her to grow. I do want the show to return for S4 and I’d hate these sudden uncontrollable staff changes to affect its possible return -
IPS is not my favorite show on USA, but it is one of my top dozen in both network and cable. Of course it should have a season 4, and continue reviewing it. I’m a little “put off” by the negative suit types, that know very little about the nuts and bolts of the day-to-day job; however, this seems to be the latest trend in introducing new characters in all of the shows.
I assume you meant to refer to Queen of Swords above, not Queen of Hearts, whatever that is. It’s particularly heartening because I thought I was the only one who had ever heard of that show. I loved its earnest and unpretentious action, and the fact that all the characters, good and evil, exhibited a minimum of stupidity. It’s also where I first encountered Peter Wingfield, whom I now see everywhere.
In Cara’s defense, her character is one of the few kick-ass women whose sexuality is an inherent part of her backstory and personality, not something tacked on after the fact. To put it another way, all the Mord-Sith seem to relish being a little slutty.
Not quite sure I want to see Morgan Grimes with a bit of sexuality thrown in. Other than the smoking jacket he likes to rock from time to time.
I agree with Lenny that the new season feels more bland (“muted” is what I called it), but I’d like to see the reviews continue, as I still love Mary, Marshall, and Stan, no matter what the writers do to them.
I think Mary and Marshall are perfectly matched, although I’m not sure I’d ever want to see them get together, as the best friendship is far more preferable to me. I don’t get the sense that it has anything to do with their jobs, however, just that Mary seems to eat any other man alive. And if not Marshall, I’m fine with Mary choosing to remain single for the remainder of the series, with her friends and family for companionship.
I think it was less a question of the actual size of the ABQ office’s budget than Pearson just wanting to swoop in and slash costs immediately to puff up her reputation. Particularly since she didn’t appear to have a clue as to the actual workings of the department. And I believe that the other office (Phoenix?) was said to be downsized and merged with Albuquerque to cut costs, Stamford-Scranton style. Stan absorbed both their personnel and their jurisdiction, so the new Marshals are still responsible for their old witnesses.
I liked season 2 Brandi, but I think she’ll definitely be back a lot, unless the actress picks up another regular role, so Dershowitz is definitely missed the most. Since they haven’t replaced him, the Marshals no longer interact with the APD in the course of their duties, which is simply ridiculous.