Monthly Archives: February 2014

TV Time: Parks and Recreation 6.14

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Parks-And-Recreation-Anniversaries

Title Anniversaries

Two-Sentence Summary Ben’s elaborate wedding anniversary plans fall apart when Leslie spends the day before their anniversary (the day of Ben’s big surprise) trying smooth over the Pawnee-Eagleton merger, so he spends a romantic day with Jerry/Larry instead. Meanwhile, April struggles with being Donna’s boss, and Ron tries his hand at his own version of Internet reviews.

Favorite Line “Dear frozen yogurt: You are the celery of the dessert world. Be ice cream or be nothing. Zero stars.” (Ron)

My Thoughts Every time Parks and Recreation goes on a brief hiatus, I survive  without it. But as soon as it returns, I wonder how I managed without its weekly dose of genuine laughter and positivity in my life. In terms of television shows that simply make me feel good when I watch them, nothing holds a candle to Parks and Rec. Some may argue that the show is losing steam as it gets older (and I will admit to being one of those people on occasion), but then an episode like “Anniversaries” reminds me of how much fun I can still have watching Parks and Rec.

If I were making of list of reasons why “Anniversaries” was such a strong episode, its use of Ben Wyatt would be at the top. I always love episodes that focus on all of Ben’s gloriously nerdy quirks, and this episode put them in the spotlight once again. I can’t adequately express how much I love the way Ben’s nerdy qualities feel real. Ben is passionate about the media he invests in—he cares about the new Star Wars sequel so much that he needs a massage to release the tension he carries around from thinking about it; he watched Enchanted multiple times simply because he enjoyed it. There’s something so endearing about Ben’s enthusiasm and the way Adam Scott plays it. It never becomes a caricature of nerdy people; it’s never about making fun of people like Ben. It’s one of the reasons Leslie loves him so much—he’s just as passionate about the things he enjoys as she is.

Ben’s storyline was also such a joy to watch because it was one of the few times a character on this show has been genuinely nice to Jerry for more than just a few minutes. (I just can’t call him Larry.) It may have been by default, but the fact that Ben let Jerry accompany him on all of his excursions was the kind of inclusive gesture I’d expect from Ben Wyatt. They seemed to have fun together, and it was such a nice change of pace to see Jerry having fun with another character besides his own family. I’ve said for a while that the insults towards Jerry were becoming a little too mean-spirited for my taste, and this storyline was a good remedy for that.

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No Longer a Lost Girl: Emma Swan and the Power of Choice

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Emma Swan

I didn’t ask for that! I don’t want it!

When Emma Swan spoke those words in Once Upon a Time’s Season-One episode “The Stranger,” she was talking about her role as the savior of all of the cursed inhabitants of Storybrooke. However, she could have been talking about most of the events in her life up through—and even following—that point. Emma is a character who has been defined by things that have happened to her; she is an active woman whose real curse is the way others have so often rendered her passive, stripping her of any ability to choose her own path. But if Emma’s tragedy is the lack of agency she has been afforded in the first 28 years of her life, her journey to her own happy ending is a journey to finally getting to choose what she wants that happy ending to be.

Even before she was born, Emma was a victim of circumstance. She was destined to be the savior because she was the product of Snow White and Prince Charming’s true love. And once she was born, her parents had to make a choice no parent should ever after to make: keep their daughter, knowing she would be cursed along with them, or send her into an unknown world without them because it gave her the best chance to become the savior she would one day need to be. It was an impossible choice, and Snow and Charming cannot be faulted for choosing the way they did. However, their good and loving intentions still meant that Emma grew up alone because of someone else’s choice. Rumplestiltskin chose to create the curse, Regina chose to cast it, and Snow and Charming chose to save Emma from it by sending her through the portal. The only one with no real choice in the matter was the one person who would be most affected by it—baby Emma.

Little did Snow and Charming know, though, that Emma didn’t have to grow up alone. Pinocchio was also sent through the portal, but he was tasked with a job too difficult for a small boy to handle: taking care of the savior. Like Snow and Charming, Pinocchio (who we later come to know as August) was faced with choices no person in his situation should have to face: struggle to take care of a baby when he himself was just a child or strike out on his own. It should come as no surprise to anyone that he chose the latter.

The story of Emma Swan’s formative years is a story of people choosing to leave her, including her first set of foster parents, who decided to send her back into the system when they started their own family. Emma grew up believing that she was abandoned by her parents and subsequently by anyone who ever came close to caring for her. She was powerless to stop people from leaving her behind, completely devoid of control over her own life. She was—in so many ways—a lost girl.

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TV Time: New Girl 3.17

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Title Sister II

Two-Sentence Summary Abby Day’s time in the loft is starting to wear on Jess, who devises a plan to look at apartments behind her back, but the plan goes awry when Nick lives up to his “horrible liar” reputation and Schmidt falls under Abby’s seductive spell. Meanwhile, Coach tries to help Winston after the latter fails his police academy entrance exam.

Favorite Line “Girl, I got an obligation at a sandwich meeting to go to.” (Winston)

Episode M.V.P. Let’s get this out of the way right now, I didn’t really love this episode. I wasn’t the biggest Abby fan after the first episode of her arc, and I can honestly say that I liked her even less after “Sister II.” This show has a cast that can seem too big for its storytelling style and half-hour format as it is; adding another person into the group (even just for a three-episode block) is going to throw the dynamics of the show off in a major way. I wanted more of Abby and Jess and less of Abby and Schmidt (or actually no Abby and Schmidt would have been ideal). But I am thankful that the writers are giving me more of one of the twosomes I’ve really loved this season: Winston and Coach. I thought Lamorne Morris and Damon Wayans Jr. really carried this episode. They made me laugh the hardest (especially Winston at the gym and Coach trying to help Winston through his job interview), but they also had the most heart. I really believed that Coach sympathized with Winston and wanted to help him. These two characters felt like friends as well as partners in comedic hijinks, and that’s when I love New Girl the most.

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TV Time: Castle 6.16

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Castle-6x16

Title Room 147

Two-Sentence Summary When three people confess to the same murder, all signs to point to a mysterious organization that claims to help people better themselves but actually seems much more like a cult, complete with drug-induced mind alterations and a disturbingly charismatic leader. Beckett also has some mind-altering of her own to do, as she tries to convince Alexis to stop punishing herself for her decision to move in with Pi.

Favorite Lines
Castle: You should know you’re engaged to a genius.
Beckett: Yes, a genius at annoying me.
Castle: So I’m Justin, and you’re one of the several people who shot me.
Beckett: I’m starting to feel the urge.

My Thoughts This was another episode that could have just been midseason filler—albeit very entertaining midseason filler—but it was elevated by a scene that led to great progress in a relationship that has often struggled to find its own footing. “Room 147” featured an interesting case, classic Castle/Beckett banter, and plenty of fantastic reaction shots from both Stana Katic and Nathan Fillion. But it was the development in Beckett and Alexis’s relationship in this episode that made it something special.

This week’s case allowed for a lot of humor, and it brought Castle and Beckett back to their default positions in the precinct: the boy with the crazy theories pulling the pigtails of the serious girl who doesn’t believe him (but loves to have those pigtails pulled). One of my favorite moments in the episode was when Castle started theorizing about psychic connections, and Beckett couldn’t help but laugh at his enthusiasm for such a crazy idea. It was another little touch to show just how far these two have come—from exasperated looks to suppressed smiles hidden behind rolling eyes and finally to Beckett admitting that Castle is cute when he runs with an absurd theory. Castle’s enthusiasm has always made Beckett’s job more fun, and it’s nice to see that written all over her face.

Speaking of faces, boy oh boy were there some great ones in this episode. Fillion and Katic are masters of great nonverbal reactions, and they outdid themselves here. Fillion’s uncontained glee as the case got more and more twisted was perfect, as was Katic’s increasing frustration. It was so much fun to just sit back and watch their reactions in every scene. It reminded me of earlier seasons in the best possible way, and I don’t think I will ever get tired of seeing “gleeful kid Castle” and “annoyed Beckett.”

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Life Lessons from Sochi

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davis white

I love the Olympics. I’ve loved them since I was an 8-year-old girl fawning over the Magnificent Seven in Atlanta. And while the Summer Olympics still captivate me every four years, I obsess over few things like I obsess over the Winter Olympics. I can remember the exact moment I lost my heart to the Winter Games: It was 2002, and I was watching Jamie Salé and David Pelletier skate their “Love Story” pairs free skate. They made 13-year-old me cry, and, as most of you know, if you can make me cry, I will feel an emotional attachment to you forever. Figure skating (every kind of it) makes me cry. Hockey makes me cry. A particularly great bobsled run makes me cry. Maybe I’m just more emotional during the winter months, but few things on Earth get the waterworks going for me like the Winter Olympics.

The Olympics are special because they showcase what sports can be—unifying, compelling, surprising, and about so much more than who puts the puck in the net or lands their triple Axel. The Olympics are about people—real people with real stories, real sacrifices, and real lessons to teach all of us watching about the ways to handle both incredible success and unfathomable failure.

Today I want to take a moment to look back on the 2014 Winter Games in a way that celebrates what I’ve always believed about the Olympics: They’re about the stories. We may not always remember who won gold, but we remember who made us feel and who taught us something more than just the rules of curling or the correct way to execute an ice dance twizzle.

Without future ado, here are seven valuable life lessons put into practice by the athletes of these Winter Games.

1. There’s no place like home.

Medal Ceremony - Winter Olympics Day 6

Maxim Trankov and Tatiana Volosozhar were two of Russia’s biggest stars at these Olympics.

As an American girl whose favorite sports movie is Miracle, it shouldn’t surprise anyone that I wanted our U.S. teams to beat their Russian counterparts whenever we had the chance. However, I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t moved to tears more than once by a Russian winning a gold medal in Sochi. There’s an undeniable bond between a person and the place they call home. That bond was on display when pairs skaters Maxim Trankov and Tatiana Volosozhar reacted with an overflowing of emotions in the face of the crowd’s jubilant response to their gold-medal-winning performance. And it was there when Adelina Sotnikova became the first Russian to win gold in women’s figure skating, finding strength and overwhelming joy in the cheers of her fellow Russians. Those moments reminded me that we all carry the places we’ve called home with us, even if most of us will never play for our country in the Olympics.

2. A little kindness goes a long way.

This may be the most popular photograph to come out of these Olympics.

This may be the most popular photograph to come out of these Olympics.

Years from now, will I remember Gus Kenworthy for his silver-medal performance in men’s slopestyle skiing? Maybe not. But I will remember Kenworthy as the skier who saw the plight of stray dogs in Sochi and did something to help those animals. By taking home a group of stray puppies (and their mother) and finding good homes for them back in the U.S., Kenworthy became a star of the Sochi Games for far more than just his performance on the slopestyle course. Kenworthy’s act of kindness made him a household name, proving that sometimes success is measured more by the things you do to help the people (and animals) around you than by professional achievements.

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The Best Thing I Saw on TV This Week (2/16 – 2/23)

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This was another week where the television landscape was dominated by coverage of the Olympics. Monday’s Castle was the week’s only new episode, taking Castle and Beckett back to high school and ending with one of the show’s most romantic moments to date. The rest of the week featured some excellent moments from Sochi—from an ice dance final for the ages and new faces atop the podium in both men’s and ladies’ figure skating to medal-round hockey games and plenty of exciting action on the ski slopes.

While the Olympics provided some incredibly memorable moments, nothing I saw this week could top the beauty of Castle‘s final scene. That scene’s sweepingly romantic feel was made even better with the inclusion of Andrew Belle’s iconic “Caskett” anthem “In My Veins.” It was a beautiful nod to the show’s fans and a moment that will surely be ranked among this season’s best.

What was the best thing you saw on TV this week?

 

TV Time: Castle 6.15

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Castle Teen Spirit

Title Smells Like Teen Spirit

Two-Sentence Summary When the mysterious death of a prep school student is linked to a girl with supposed telekinetic powers, Castle and Beckett uncover a web of high-school bullying, high-stakes burglary, and murder. Meanwhile, Castle and Beckett reminisce about their high school experiences as they struggle to find a first-dance song for their wedding.

Favorite Line “Everything I’ve ever done, every choice I’ve ever made, every terrible and wonderful thing that has ever happened to me—it’s all led me to right here, this moment with you.” (Castle)

My Thoughts Castle always knows how to wrap up an episode. Sometimes it’s with a great moment between Castle and his daughter or his mother (or both). Sometimes it’s with a cliffhanger that leaves you breathless. Sometimes it’s with a scene that reinforces the familial feeling within the 12th precinct. And sometimes it’s with a beautiful new step in the journey Castle and Beckett have been on since their first final scene together in the show’s pilot episode.

What I’m trying to say is Castle knows how to end things on a high note. And the ending to “Smells Like Teen Spirit” may have been the highest note the show has hit in a season that is consistently nailing both the biggest and smallest moments on Castle and Beckett’s road to their wedding day. It was another bold, confident move in a season that has been defined by its confidence, and it was one of my favorite Castle/Beckett closing scenes since the Season-Four finale that inspired it.

But before we talk about those perfect final minutes of the episode, let’s talk about the rest of the episode that came before it. I found myself initially intrigued by the case and all of its Carrie references (with bonus X-Men references to make my nerdy heart happy). Any case that lends itself to outrageous Castle theories (and Beckett eye-rolls) is going to be a fun case for me to watch. However, I do think it became unnecessarily convoluted once the burglary plot began to unfold. I started doing eye-rolls of my own once German bonds became an important part of the plot.

The best part of the case was the fact that it took Castle back to his old high school. That allowed for plenty of humor (see Beckett’s reaction to Castle getting in trouble with his old principal), but it also allowed for yet another layer of the “Castle onion” to get peeled back. Remember when the show tried to make us believe that it would be hard for Beckett to see the things that make Castle who he is? Now, it’s just something that happens little by little in every episode. We’ve learned so much about Beckett’s past that Castle’s is now finally starting to see its own time in the spotlight, and it’s happening so naturally that it never feels like heaps of exposition. It’s just two engaged people sharing stories about who they were before they knew each other—and finding out along the way that they really are made for each other.

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The Best Thing I Saw on TV This Week (2/9 – 2/16)

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With the Winter Olympics in full swing, there weren’t a lot of new TV episodes to contend with the hours of sports coverage airing from now until the end of next week. Tuesday was the only night to feature new episodes of shows I watch, and both of them were entertaining. New Girl introduced us to Jess’s sister, and Brooklyn Nine-Nine introduced us to the concept of going “full-Boyle” and the organization AAGLNYCPA.

The real star of the television landscape this week was the Olympics. From T.J. Oshie’s incredible shootout performance in the U.S. hockey team’s victory over Russia to the U.S. slopestyle ski team earning a medal sweep, there were some excellent winning moments for Team USA this week. And Maxim Trankov and Tatiana Volosozhar’s euphoric reaction to winning gold in pairs figure skating on their home ice was a gold medal moment I won’t soon forget.

My favorite moment of the week, however, wasn’t one that led to a gold medal. In fact, it didn’t lead to a medal at all. When Jeremy Abbott took a brutal fall during the men’s figure skating short program, I thought he was going to have to quit. But not only did he keep skating, he finished his program with skill, style, and a huge smile on his face. That emotional performance was followed by a free skate that was truly beautiful. Abbott may not have won a medal in Sochi, but he gave us what was perhaps the most inspiring moment of the games so far. He reminded everyone that true strength comes not from doing something perfectly but from getting back up after you fall down. I might not remember who won gold in the event years from now, but I will always remember what Abbott did at these Olympics.

Because the official NBC website doesn’t like to make embedding Olympic videos easy, here’s a recap of Abbott’s short program skate. 

And here’s his free skate. 

What was the best thing you saw on TV this week?

Feeling the Love

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I love you all like Leslie loves Ann.

I love you all like Leslie loves Ann.

Happy Valentine’s Day, friends!

For a long time, I was one of those girls who openly and adamantly disliked Valentine’s Day. But then I realized something: Valentine’s Day is a day to celebrate love, and love encompasses so many feelings beyond just romantic attraction. I love my friends, I love my family, I love my jobs, and I love my hometown. I love dancing, writing, reading, watching sports, and eating chocolate. I love books, movies, TV shows, and theater. And I love Nerdy Girl Notes and everything it has given me in the nearly two years since I started it.

Take some time today to think about all of the things and people you love, and do something today to honor that love. Re-read your favorite part of your favorite book, watch a favorite episode of a TV show you love, or cheer for the country or athletes you love in the Olympics. Have dinner with a friend, call your mom, or surprise your significant other with a thoughtful gesture.

And don’t forget to take a moment today to do something nice for yourself, too. Loving yourself doesn’t make you conceited, and treating yourself to something nice doesn’t make you selfish. You should love yourself, because everyone deserves love.

If you’re single and kind of depressed about it today, don’t think you’re alone or unworthy of love. You’re worthy of the best kind of love; it’s just waiting for the right time to make itself known to you (and you have plenty of people—myself included—waiting right along with you). You’re not defined by your relationship status, so don’t define yourself by it. Instead, choose to define yourself by the things you love about who you are. Because—from what I know about the kinds of people who visit NGN—there’s plenty to love.

I am a hopeful romantic—there’s nothing hopeless about me. I am a passionate, enthusiastic person who thrives on encouraging others to be passionate and enthusiastic. I find inspiration and joy in loving things instead of hating them, in embracing hope instead of cynicism, and in caring about things and people with my whole heart instead of being apathetic. Valentine’s Day is one of those days when I feel proud to be a person who wears her heart on her sleeve.

I’m not shy about expressing how much I love the things I love, but sometimes I can be shy about expressing how much I love the people who make my life better just by being themselves. So if you’re reading this—no matter who you are—thanks for visiting NGN today. I really do value every single person who takes the time to read what I write. And to those of you who are frequent (or even infrequent but still awesome) commenters, I love the way you brighten this place with your own enthusiasm and passion.

I hope all of you are having and continue to have a wonderful Valentine’s Day. I hope it’s filled with the things and people you love, and I hope it reminds you that, in the words of Once Upon a Time, love isn’t weakness; it’s strength.

Ladies Celebrating Ladies

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Courtesy of the official Parks and Rec Twitter account.

Courtesy of the official Parks and Rec Twitter account

Happy Galentine’s Day, everyone! This wonderful fictional holiday was created by my personal hero Leslie Knope as a day to honor all of the beautiful and talented women who make our lives special. Valentine’s Day may be traditionally about romance, but Galentine’s Day is all about female friendships.

The idea behind Galentine’s Day—ladies celebrating ladies—is still such a rare thing in the media. I was looking back through my Top 3 Female Friendships on TV that I compiled last year, and I was saddened to see that two of those three are no longer really a part of their respective shows due to cast departures. And there aren’t very many friendships I would add to that list, either, despite the huge increase in the number of shows I watch nowadays.

For most of the mainstream media, it’s still common practice to feature one woman who’s friends with a group of men (see The Mindy Project or the Harry Potter series) or a female friendship that exists solely for exposition purposes in terms of the show’s romantic relationships (see Donna and Rachel on Suits or Lanie and Beckett on Castle). There aren’t too many examples of women forming deep, lasting relationships with other women based on factors other than needing a sounding board for their romantic problems. And that needs to change.

Women are often seen as superficial, backstabbing, petty, and prone to jealousy towards members of their own gender. If you were to make assumptions based solely on the media (a horrible way to form opinions, if I’m being honest), female friendships are mostly a series of interactions between “frenemies” instead of the supportive, inclusive, and warm relationships they usually are in the real world. Female friendships are all-too-often portrayed as being far less meaningful than the ultimate relationship goal: romance. Having friends is great, but what would a woman talk about with her friends if there were no romantic prospects to discuss?

The answer: Quite a lot, actually. You see, women can and do actually have conversations about things other than their romantic relationships (or lack thereof). We can form meaningful relationships with people of our own gender that often last longer and fulfill us on more levels than romantic relationships at any given point in our lives. As I said in my review of Parks and Recreation’s ode to friendship, “Ann and Chris,” our first soul mates are often our best friends. Women (especially young women) don’t have to be catty, petty, and suspicious of other women just because the media says that’s how we often are. Instead, let’s change the narrative and celebrate the fact that women are often incredibly generous, affectionate, and supportive towards other women. We don’t have to be each other’s biggest rivals and enemies; we can be each other’s biggest cheerleaders and most trusted confidants.

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