While the eggplant is kashering...*

[mamadeb]

I didn't see Studio 60 last night - just forgot it existed, which was a tad premature, but only a tad. Fortunately, ABC has streaming video, so I watched it this morning.



There was just so much wrong with it. Not the tidy tying of loose ends - what probably would have been a cliffhanger episode to get us into season 2 ended up a finale in time for it to be written as such. That was awkward but understandable - but how some of those ends were tied...oy.

Now, I'm not going to comment on the Nate Cordrry plot except to say that he deserves a better series - he just made this plot work, and, yeah, it had to end the way it did. And the Simon plot - he needed to apologize for wishing people dead. He just *did*, and that has nothing to do with race. Steve Webber, though - also deserves better series.

And the flash back - I feel a tad betrayed. We've been told from the first episode that Matt and Danny were fired. We were told since these last few eps started that we'll find out why Matt and Danny were fired.

Except they weren't.

Bzuh?

No, let's get to the heart of the episode - the relationship between Matt and Danny Matt and Harriet, and between Danny (nearly said Josh) and Jordan. And I hated this. I'm not really a Matt/Danny shipper. They're just another one of Sorkin's heterosexual life partnerships, like Dan and Casey, or Josh and Sam, or Jed and Leo. Maybe Tom and Simon, too. I have other reasons for not liking the Matt/Harriet storyline - and he really went out of his way to make Harried obnoxious, didn't he?

They may love each other, but they don't *like* each other. And that's a real problem for any relationship. Nor do they understand each other. And, yeah, I really HATE the implication that either you're a right-wing, hardline, born-again Christian or you're not religious at all. Judaism is only for making political points about foreign countries (it's a show made on a Friday night. Religious Jews are automatically out.) In none of Matt's arguments with Harriet is there ever a hint that some other religion might interpret the same works differently. Mostly, though, they just don't like each other.

Also - Danny blaming Matt's drug problem on Harriet? Ugly. Her accepting it? Uglier.

As for Jordan and Danny - well. He stalked her for weeks. And then it turns out she was *waiting for him to propose*? She runs (or is supposed to run) a network - surely she could be a tad more assertive. And then - Jordan, at considerable risk to her life, has the baby, but *Danny* feels like he could conquer the world? However much he might love this baby, the creation of it had nothing to do with him. Doesn't mean he won't be a good father (other things might point to that), but it still felt. Weird.

And why didn't he have to wear a mask and gloves (well washed hands - bah!) to see Jordan after she woke up? And where were her IVs? And if Rebecca needed to be in NICU, why was there no support at that point? And...she couldn't have had Danny sign those papers before she went to surgery? Yeah, he might not have proposed, but he still considered that baby his. Although - good for her that she had them drawn out. (Why his name, though?)

My problem here is that she had so much more chemistry with Jack Rudolph that this relationship barely registers. And, there's still the fact that most important relationship for Matt and Danny is each other. It's telling that the only "I love yous" were between *them* because they're the central relationship in series. Only one who might come between them would be Rebecca.

Anyway, NOT buying this DVD.

*The best way to cook eggplant is to salt it heavily to let the bitter liquids drain. Which is similar to how one draws the blood out of meat - or kashers it.

Comments

[sistermagpie.livejournal.com]

This show had the ability to constantly irritate me every minute of the show. Like every time I had a second of thinking "phew, we're away from those annoying people" they'd be replaced with more annoying people with problems I didn't buy. (I would have loved to see Nate Cordrey's brother come back and be angry that his brother was considering funding terrorists, with everybody at the station lining up to contribute--this and 24 both seem to love the idea that terrorism and torture really works--though usually it works best on liberals or something.)

I was watching it with jlh and when Matt and Harry kissed I just said, "They're relationship is so doomed to fail." I mean seriously, it is. They really don't like each other. In important ways.

And not only was Harry crazy for accepting blame for somebody else's drug problem even in a small way, she was crazy for wanting to be the person he told about using. Blech.

[mecurtin.livejournal.com]

I had a real moment of "eggplant isn't always *kosher*?!?!" there ...

You know how you often get sucked into a show because every time it comes on your flist is barely keeping the squee behind the cut-tags? (e.g. SPN) Well, Studio 60 is the opposite.

[mamadeb.livejournal.com]

I could never get into 24 because, well, a terrorist attack (and a move to a new apartment) made it impossible to receive FOX for the first few weeks of the series.

The funny thing is, they know it's never going to succeed, either. They won't marry and they won't have kids, and that's probably a good thing.

I'd want to know if the person I loved was having problems, so I can see where she was coming from here.

[mamadeb.livejournal.com]

Gotcha! :) (It's now simmering, on its way to becoming ratatouille. No animated rats involved.)

I started watching because I loved Sports Night and West Wing, and it followed Heroes.

[cellio]

I was watching the show at the beginning, and it started to go downhill, and then they pulled the stupid Matt/Harriet plot and it accelerated downward. We never got around to watching the tapes of the last episode or two before the hiatus, and I never bothered to come back after that.

It had such potential, but oh, the stupidity...

[sisyphus91.livejournal.com]

About the part regarding Danny not wearing a mask and gloves to see Jordan...

When my dad was in ICU after his heart surgery, not once did they make us wear gloves or a mask. All we had to do was wash our hands on our way in. He was in there for a week due to complications and we were allowed to touch him, kiss his cheek, etc.

Same thing for my friends son who was in NICU for a bit after her cesarean. They were just monitoring him as a precaution. Jordan's baby was supposedly only two weeks early. Not so serious. My daughter was a week early and delivered cesarean and she was in NICU for a bit without a great deal of support.

Jordan, though, should have had quite a few IV's though. I totally agree. They messed that up. She should have been a lot more groggy, too. There's a great deal of that first day after Abbey was born that is very hazy for me.

[sistermagpie.livejournal.com]

I'd want to know if the person I loved was having problems, so I can see where she was coming from here.

Oh, I could see where she was coming from. I just thought it was a pointless thing to ask, because addiction doesn't work out the way she meant it.

[bookworm1212.livejournal.com]

Re: Studio 60. I just started watching an episode or two... trying to decide what I think still. I was also set to be a fan because of West Wing but I'm still reserving judgment.

Going back to "kashering" eggplant... Every time I've salted it to absorb the bitter taste, it ends up uber-salty. How do you salt it, and how do you remove the salt afterwards?

[mamadeb.livejournal.com]

The series has been cancelled and the final episode has been broadcast, so judgement is pretty moot.

I layered the eggplant in a colander - layer of sliced eggplant, coating of salt until no more eggplant. Then I put a layer of paper towels on top and weighed it down with a large can. Then I put the colander under a stream of cold water, transfering the eggplant slices by handfuls to a bowl, rinsing each handful thoroughly first. I didn't bother seasoning the ratatouille, though - there was enough salt left on the eggplant plus tomatoes (canned crushed tomatoes in this case) have a lot of salt just naturally.

Also, I used kosher salt, which works as well on eggplant as it does on meat.

[mamadeb.livejournal.com]

The thing about the mask in the ICU was that Danny had been told by the nurse that he'd have to wash his hands really well and wear a mask if he wanted to see Jordan. Otherwise, I wouldn't have noticed.

(And, yes, the baby was healthy plus I don't think NICUs see all that many 6 pound babies - they let them out when they reach 5 pounds normally. 6 pounds is practically a normal birthweight.)