The Bachelor – Episode 7

Posted by Jeff on February 21, 2010

This episode finds Jake, Gia, Vienna and Tenley spending time together in St. Lucia.  Jake gets to spent time with each of the women on beautiful beaches and exotic locations.

Early on in the episode, we see that Ali called Jake and wants to come back.  She realizes that she made the wrong choice and she wants to fight for him -more on that later.

Jake and Gia spent some time enjoying the culture at local shops.  It looked a lot more fun that it could have been.  Keep in mind there’s an entire camera crew there to make sure they’re not mobbed.  I had to laugh at one of the scenes that were shown, as brief as it was.  When they approached a few locals selling stuff of a table on the street, I saw Jake shake hands with one of the vendors.  That was the same handshake that was taught to me when my wife and I visited Jamaica!  I couldn’t believe it!

Jake took Tenley on a helicopter ride and later they had a picnic together.  Tenley told Jake that she feels like she’s living a dream.  Uh, hello – you are!  During their date, she let us know that the fantasy suite was in the back of her mind the whole time.  It’s a big deal for her to spend the night with Jake.  When the time came, I think she said yes a little too fast based on what we were shown.

Jake’s date with Vienna took place on a pirate ship – the same pirate ship that was used in The Pirates of the Caribbean.  They both enjoyed exploring the ship and just having fun.  Jake pointed out that he and Vienna have a natural affection for each other.  I think that of all three of the girls, Vienna was the best choice to take on the pirate ship.  She’s playful, and I could tell that she brought out the playful side of Jake.

One of the things that kept running through my mind as the show progressed was that he’s telling all three of these girls that he’s falling for them.  Now, maybe what he’s saying is true, but when this is all said and done, only one woman can win.  It’s like he’s lying to two of these girls; it’s almost wrong.

Toward the end of the show, we got to see the phone call from Ali.  As the call was being teased throughout the show, I knew that he wasn’t going to tell her to “get on a plane and get there.”  That was so cheesy; I think we all realized it wasn’t going to happen that way.  As long as we’re on the subject, didn’t Ali already make her decision?  Now she wants to be back with him and admits that she made the wrong decision.  Maybe she should have spent more time thinking before she made her choice.  It was great when Jake told Chris that these three women have stuff in their lives that they’re worried about, but they’re still there.  He’s right, if Ali really wanted to be with him, she would have made that choice the first time.  I think that too much time was spent on their phone call – there was too much dead air.  It was really drawn out.  Maybe ABC is really trying to build up the heartbreak she’s going through to get us interested so that we’ll watch her as the next Bachelorette.

Before the Rose Ceremony, Jake got to watch personal messages from each of the girls.  He actually got to watch them on what seemed to be the biggest screen in the world.  Seriously?  Did they really need that big of a TV for that?  After the messages, Jake was shown studying pictures of the three women.  I wonder if he wants to laugh as they’re filming that.  Jake eventually chose Tenley and Vienna – Gia was sent home.  What a disappointment for her!

A few things that you might not have picked up on:

At the beginning of the Rose Ceremony, Jake told all three women that they looked “drop dead gorgeous.”  Didn’t he say that to Gia on their date?  Maybe that wasn’t the best choice of words.  That takes some of the meaning away from what he told her.

It was probably pretty hot out there in the sun during the Rose Ceremony – at least it was for Gia.  Did you see all of the sweat on her face?  I realize that she was crying, but there was lot perspiration on her upper lip.  Give the girl a towel, man!

Finally, do you really think that Ali sleeps with 2 glossy photos of Jake next to her bed?  C’mon, really?  Are we supposed to believe that?

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Lost – The Substitute

Posted by Jeff on February 19, 2010

Coming off of last week’s episode, I was really looking forward to this week’s show.  When I found out it was going to be about John Locke, I had a feeling that it would be pretty good.

We started out by seeing John’s wheelchair lift fail to work just as it’s about to touch the ground.  He’s forced to roll off the lift which causes him to fall flat on his face in his front yard.  We saw him back at the box company where his actions in Australia were questioned by his boss – he eventually got fired.  When John reached his van, some jerk had parked his Hummer too close to John’s van for him to use the wheelchair lift.  John tried to operate the wheelchair lift anyway, hoping to damage the Hummer.  When the lift failed to fully operate again, I thought, “Of course, poor John”.  When we learned that the Hummer belonged to Hurley, it dawned on me – Hurley owned the box company!  In the first episode of this season, Hurley claimed to be the luckiest person in the world.  I’m starting to think that he must be; that wheelchair lift could have done some serious damage to his Hummer.

On the island we learned a little bit more about Smoke Monster John.  For instance, Ilana told Ben, “he’s stuck that way” – so the Monster can only take the form of John Locke, interesting.  Later on, it the forest when talking with Sawyer, Smoke Monster John admitted that Of Mice and Men was a little after his time.  Hmm.  He goes on to say that he was once a man and that he’s trapped just like Sawyer.  That raises a few questions – was that man the one that we’ve seen before with Jacob, or was that just another host for the Monster?  And how did a human being actually become the Smoke Monster?  I hope that we get to see that in an upcoming episode.

We also got to see John at home with Helen.  At one point he told her not to “spend her life waiting for a miracle, there’s no such thing.”  This really drives home the point that this John is not a believer.  Why would he be?  He never got to experience the special power that the island offers.  Toward the end of the episode, John is shown working as a substitute teacher.  While in the teacher’s lounge, he meets the school’s European History teacher – none other than Ben Linus.  It’s fun to see how inter-connected these people’s lives are even when Oceanic 815 didn’t crash.

At the end of the episode, we saw Smoke Monster John take Sawyer to a secret cave where some questions are answered but more questions are raised.  Jacob had written names on the ceiling of a cave.  We’re shown the names of several survivors along with corresponding numbers.  Smoke Monster John tells Sawyer that he is a candidate to be the protector of the island.  Obviously, all of the names on the ceiling must be candidates.  At one point in a previous episode, Smoke Monster John mentioned that John Locke was a candidate.  Now we know what he was a candidate for.  Actually, he was probably the best choice out of all the survivors – he was the only one who truly worked to protect the island.

There were so many things to see and think about in that cave – the scale that had one light and one dark stone on it, the fact that the first ladder broke loose from the cliff, not to mention all those names.  When Smoke Monster John tossed the light colored stone out into the ocean, I couldn’t help but think that the stone must represent Jacob and that in a way he has been cast from the island.  Part of me also thinks that the boy that popped up a few times may actually be Jacob.  Smoke Monster John was surprised to find out that Sawyer can see him too.  I also though it was interesting how Smoke Monster John crossed out John Locke’s name; now that John is dead, he’s no longer a candidate.  One final thought – Where to now?  One of the ladders that lead back up to the island is gone, is there another way out of that cave?

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Survivor – Week 1

Posted by Jeff on February 14, 2010

Well it’s official, I’ve started watching Survivor.  It was cool to become a fan again; it’s been a few years since I last watched and getting back into was fun.

The first challenge was a little physical, I thought.  After it was over, the castaways were a little roughed up; there was a dislocated shoulder and even a broken toe!  Ouch!  The Villains lived up to their name and played a little dirty; it will be interesting to see if that continues.

The team chemistry couldn’t be any different.  The Heroes seem to be working well together, while the Villains had some issues.  Boston Rob noticed that everyone is lazy on the Villains team, and he’s right.  He eventually creates fire by rubbing two huge sticks together.  One of the castaways actually tried to discourage him from trying because he figured they’d probably get fire at some point in the game.  What a cop out!

How about that Russell, huh?  He’s a low-down-dirty-snake.  You can see the wheels turning in his head as he assesses a situation.  It will be fun to see how things play out with him around.

For those of you that read my first post on Survivor, you’ll enjoy this.  The first immunity challenge involved putting together a puzzle on the beach!  Ah, Survivor!

At the Immunity Challenge, the Heroes started out with a huge lead only to lose it at the end.  They had trouble putting together the puzzle and lost to the Villains.  At Tribal council, Sugar is voted out.

It’s a long game and things can change quickly, it will be exciting to see how everything works out.  There are some pretty good players out there, some may be a little rusty, but once things really get going it will be tough to beat them.

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The Bachelor – Episode 6

Posted by Jeff on February 14, 2010

There are only 4 women left, Gia, Ali, Vienna and Tenley.  In this episode Jake got to visit with all of their families which were fun to watch.  I’m sure it was nerve wracking for him, meeting one woman’s parents for the first time can be stressful enough.  Poor Jake had to go through it 4 times!

The meeting with Gia’s family went well – her family doesn’t want to see her get hurt.  Again, some of the questions he was asked were pretty easy to answer.  For instance, “Would you have her back?”  How’s Jake supposed to answer that?  No?  I guess it might put the family at ease to her Jake say it though.  I think Gia really sees the big picture – she tells her mother that Jake acts the way he does for all of the other girls too.  She’s reluctant to really fall for him yet.

I though it was sweet that Ali brought Jake to her grandmother’s house.  She was such a big part of her life that it would have been a shame if she didn’t share that with Jake.  Ali’s mother spoke very highly of her, saying, “she’s got a heart of gold.”  What mother wouldn’t say that though?  Now that I think about it, these mothers are almost sweet talking Jake by building their daughters up.

Jake’s time with Tenley was special – she choreographed a special dance for him and he really loved it.  Preparing that dance was very thoughtful of her.  Tenley’s father seems like he is really down to earth.  He had seen Jake on The Bachelor last season and asked him if the perception shown on TV was correct.  He knows how it works and he lets Jake know that he is really protective of her.  There was a touching moment between Tenley and her father.  They have been through so much together and seeing her happy again must be wonderful.  At the end of the visit, we see Jake ask Tenley’s father if he would have his permission to take her hand in marriage.  It was nice to see that.  Based on some of the things Jake said, I’m sure he did the same thing with the other girls’ families but ABC decided not to show us.

Finally, Jake got to meet with Vienna’s family which was very interesting.  Vienna’s father starts crying as soon as they walked in the door.  Later he takes Jake aside to “drill him a little bit.”  They talked in a garage and were standing near a motorcycle – obviously not Jake’s motorcycle.  As the two men talked Jake was leaning on the handlebars of the bike!  I couldn’t believe it.  Dude, that’s not your bike!  I think it was a little forward of him and almost disrespectful.

At the rose ceremony, Ali had to make a tough decision – whether to stay and compete or go back to work.  After talking with Jake, she ultimately decides to leave.  Chris comes out and lets us know that it’s the first time in history that no rose has been given out at a rose ceremony.  I find that hard to believe – I’ve never seen any previous episodes though, so he may be right.

I’ll wrap things up with a few notes of my own.  First of all, did you see the size of the watch that Chris was wearing when he was talking with Jake?  Pardon me, do you have the time? That thing was huge!  You could tell me it was a sundial and I’d believe you!

As far as the whole Ali thing, I though Jake could have had more of a visual reaction (or even a verbal one).  He kinda just sat there in awe for a few minutes.  At first, it seemed like he didn’t even want to help her make that decision.  I guess later on he justifies it by saying he didn’t want to bring that burden on himself, but still.  C’mon man, you’re falling for this girl – show it!  Why on earth would Ali’s work do that to her?  They must know where she is and what she’s going through.  Personally, I would have said forget it.  She took the chance when she began this journey; why not go all the way?  Sure, she loves her job, but how many millions of people know her now?  Even if she wasn’t chosen by Jake, I’m positive that there are quite a few companies out there that would be willing to hire her.  Oh by the way, wouldn’t that be something if she was the next Bachelorette?  I’m not sure how they go about really choosing the Bachelorette, but if it’s her, guess what?  She’s going to need some more time away from work!  One last thing – how hard do you think it’s going to be for her to go back to work knowing that they pretty much made her give up on a chance at being with a really great guy?

When this is all over with, Jake’s getting more than just a woman – he’s getting in-laws too.  The potential in-laws that we saw all have issues that Jake would have to deal with.  It seemed like Tenley’s family thinks that she’ll have emotional spillovers due to her divorce.  I really don’t see it happening, but her family knows her best.  Gia’s family is very protective of her, which is absolutely fine.  Except, her brother mentioned physical harm at one point.  As far as Vienna’s family, her father made a point of saying that he expects his daughter to be treated like a princess.  From some of the things we’ve seen and heard, that might be a tall order.  Having her father looking over his shoulder won’t make it any less stressful.  Did you like how he walked in on them kissing?

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