48 replies to this topic

[TWoP Mars]

From ABCMediaNet:

The Darlings deal with the aftermath of the shooting spree at Patrick's inauguration by Ellen's brother, Chase. In the confusion that followed, Jeremy got amnesia, Chase was shot and someone was killed. Simon, Nick and the Darlings all have their reasons for not seeing Chase come out of his coma, but Chase's wife, Janine, isn't ready to pull the plug. Meanwhile, the newly-divorced Nick and Lisa discuss custody arrangements for Kiki, and Brian finds himself back in the pulpit while dealing with his relationship with Andrea.

Edited by TWoP Mars, Dec 23, 2008 @ 2:30 AM.

[meknownothing]

Don't care about Brian. Don't care about Tripp. Don't care about Letitia. Don't care about Karen. But, Jeremy? Love Jeremy.

And why couldn't we have these hints about Nick's dad earlier? LIke last season.

[Magsi2]

Sadly, I forgot it was on tonight, again. I watched the last 2 weeks online. I guess I'll catch this one there too. I only saw the last 15 minutes tonight. I'll refrain from commenting too much about it, but Tripp & Nick's scene at the end seemed more season 1 type material than we've been seeing this fall. Karen's hair looked better too. Was this a better episode overall?

[nasentbystander]

I just wish they would get rid of Simon for once and for all. I know that we keep hearing this show is cancelled but I couldn't help tonight but look at Simon and mutter "you killed my show. You truly ARE ebil."

[divinemadness]

If I didn't know there were only a few episodes left, I would probably quit watching this show after this episode. Fake amnesia? Dutch may not really be dead? The show has always been soapy but this too much. I'll stick it out to see the end (and to see as much of Peter Krause on my tv as possible) but I won't be lamenting the end of this series as much as I was a few weeks ago.

Edited by divinemadness, Dec 18, 2008 @ 1:19 AM.

[mandigirl]

Was this a better episode overall?

No. Not really. The show is now like a special episode of the Young and the Restless where they have A-list actors playing all the main roles. It's just insane to me that such talent is in such a soapy mess that DSM has become.

Amnesia? Comas? Fathers coming back from the dead? And Simon should just go ahead and get a big fluffy white cat to pet while he talks to Lola. And a swivelly chair.

I'm so frustrated! This new showrunner is fucking idiot and making the show 'soapier' was probably the worst idea ever.

I can't stand any of the characters. Nick is a complete asshole, and a horrible parent. While "Lisa" overreacted, the fact remains that whenever 'something needs to get done' for the Darlings, he's gone in a flash. You'd think with his upbringing he'd be different...

Karen actually was very entertaining this episode but shrug.

Why did Tripp have on gloves at the end?

[theponderer]

I don't care what else happened..I no longer care about much for this show, but I passionate care and am infinitely grateful for the fact that Donald Sutherland got to do a real scene where he was given the time and space to deliver his complex goods. Tripp and Nick re: who killed Dutch.

I love that kind of acting.

[reckless]

The final scene really reminded me why I fell in love with this show in the first season. The scene that hooked me was when Nick opened Dutch's briefcase using Letitia's birthday as the code, while Tripp watched. It really is a shame that the writers lost track of what really made this show work.

mandigirl, I suspect the reason Tripp was wearing gloves at the end was that we were supposed to think he was the one who pulled the plug on Chase. He tried to get Patrick to do it through verbal encouragement, but that failed. And Nick made clear that he was not going to help, so Tripp was the logical person to pull the plug.

I don't mind the soapy contrivances. I've always considered DSM to be a modern-day Dynasty, just with better writing and acting. I just think the "Dutch is alive" stuff seemed to come way out of of left-field and would have been better with some earlier hints. Or maybe it just seems like a twist that should have come earlier because we know the show is ending.

Oh, and nasentbystander, I absolutely agree with you. Simon Elder should have lasted for a story arc and then disappeared. Making Simon an ubervillain really hurt the show.

[nilyank]

I have no sympathy for Nick in regards to Lisa going for full primary custody. She gave him that weekend to see how things worked out, and even knowing that, he didn't think that Kiki spending time with Karen would set Lisa off when he knows that she is a hot button for her. I actually expected that Nick would have invited Karen to movie night as they she kept hanging outside his apartment without leaving until she finally decided to go.


And frankly, his job with the Darlings is 24/7 job and there is no way that he will be able to put his daughter first. A lot of Nick's resentment with his father was that he also felt second to the Darlings as they monopolized all his time with all their petty demands.

I wouldn't be surprised if Dutch faked his death just so he could take a well-earned vacation from the Darlings. I really wouldn't.

Edited by nilyank, Dec 18, 2008 @ 6:54 AM.

[Sandman]

I'm so frustrated! This new showrunner is fucking idiot and making the show 'soapier' was probably the worst idea ever.

Sing it, mandigirl!

I can't stand any of the characters. Nick is a complete asshole, and a horrible parent. While "Lisa" overreacted, the fact remains that whenever 'something needs to get done' for the Darlings, he's gone in a flash. You'd think with his upbringing he'd be different...

This is frustratingly true. I like to think that the writers of the first season, Craig Wright among them, could have made us see the logic in Nick's falling into the same patterns that his father did with the Darlings, up to and including his father's failure as a parent, and still have made Nick a compelling and perhaps even likeable character, but that kind of sustained dramatic irony seems beyond these people. I was entertained by Karen's admission that for three minutes after they first met, she was friends with Nick, and then she fell in love with him. That seemed almost like the kind of rueful self-knowledge that First Season Karen had.

But I gave up after Simon Elder was Mwa-hahahaa-ing his way through yet another dire yet pointless secret telephone conversation with Nola. I was just too tired last night to put up with any more dorky, snoozy malarkey. Maybe I'll watch from the DVR tomorrow. And maybe I won't.

[WhineandCheez]

And the wind-down begins......

So Dutch is alive? Ok, what A- list older actor is going to cameo as Dutch in the last show?

I love Donald Sutehrland's courtliness and mannered Olde World way of playing Tripp.

IF Nick and karen end up together I am going to spit.

[Shooflypie]

Peter Strauss played Dutch in previous episodes that had flashbacks of him with Nick. It would make sense to continue with him if he is available, if indeed Dutch is alive. Also, where is the episode with Juliet returning. She is so cute and flighty.

[terris2030]

I don't mind the soapy contrivances. I've always considered DSM to be a modern-day Dynasty, just with better writing and acting. I just think the "Dutch is alive" stuff seemed to come way out of of left-field and would have been better with some earlier hints. Or maybe it just seems like a twist that should have come earlier because we know the show is ending.

Oh, and nasentbystander, I absolutely agree with you. Simon Elder should have lasted for a story arc and then disappeared. Making Simon an ubervillain really hurt the show.

Word. And I do miss the days of Dynasty and Dallas, which is why I still love this show. However, based on the number of posts today, I suspect I'm one of the few.

I, too, think they're trying to wrap up the storylines, as we've heard they would.

Last season, the antics of the Darlings themselves were enough to propel the plot forward. ITA that Simon elder should have been a shorty story arc, then disappeared for good.

Every week I love a different character. Brian always, and lately Jeremy's really been killing it. And every week I marvel at Donald Southerland's hair - it's truly stunning.

Edited by terris2030, Dec 18, 2008 @ 9:32 AM.

[zumpee]

Honestly, I loved the show last night! My only issues are Simon Elder does need to go (at least he was on minimally) and I still don't get why Nola dresses like she's off to a summer cocktail party in NYC, in the winter, during the day. But otherwise, this was a quite good episode with some interesting plot developments. Found Jeremy's fake amnesia highly entertaining.

I actually LIKE Nick with Karen, so I tend to root for them. He seemed to me to almost be disappointed by the "friends" thing and he always looks like he wants to start making out with her, but maybe that's just my wishful thinking. And Dutch "back from the dead" always seemed a distinct possibility to me

[Sandman]

... I still don't get why Nola dresses like she's off to a summer cocktail party in NYC, in the winter, during the day.

At the office. Where she works for a public official.

(I'm sure Simon Elder has something to do with it. After all, he has her brother.)

[ftfrankie]

Oy, this show. Seriously the NIck/Lisa/Kiki drama is so stupid. There's no way Nick doesn't know that it is impossible for him to look after Kiki half the time - just flat out impossible. IT'd be a lot less stressful to himself and his family if Lisa got full custody and he asks for very liberal visitation rights - so that he can just pop in and hang w/ Kiki when he has the time (of course there would still be dates that he would have to keep come hell or high water). The only alternative, which would be kind of cool, would be for Kiki to follow her father everywhere while she's w/ him. She'd be privy to all the Darling business and shenanigans - think of Batman and Robin or Sean Connery and Christian Slater in Name of the Rose. That way they'd be together all day and she'd get a first class education in the life and business of being uber wealthy and powerful.

How in the hell is it not revealed to the world that Carmelita - a "woman" killed on live television during the attempted assasination of a US Senator and eldest son of the most famous family in America - was born a man? Ridiculous.

[ImNotLeesa]

... I still don't get why Nola dresses like she's off to a summer cocktail party in NYC, in the winter, during the day.

At the office. Where she works for a public official

And, to court. After being suspended for highly unprofessional behavior. During a case regarding the fate of a man’s life. (Seriously, a black, crepey, shoulderless halter dress in the daytime, in court?)

I found this episode really odd. It seemed to have its share of things that reminded me why I loved this show in the first place, but also things that are spoiling the show.

The good:

• As you all have mentioned, the last scene with Tripp and Nick, very reminiscent of their scenes last year. And Tripp returning to the complex character that he should have been all along.
• Jeremy, being his ridiculous, leading with his heart self – this is the same boy-man who thought faking being a poor artist was a good idea. And Tish with Jeremy – The flashcards were funny, and I especially liked Tish chasing Nola w/the camera to make one of her.
• Karen seemed back to her fun, flighty, self-aware self, now that she’s escaped the zone of Simon Elder (who had her weepy, stupid, and boring for most of the season)
• The scenes with Nick and Brian. I really like those two together. And raising the idea of a not-so-dead Dutch is kind of interesting (and like The Italian Banker, this episode had a title that could be applied to two very different things)
• And, oddly, Patrick’s scene w/Chase in the hospital (even though it was shot like a melodramatic scene from an afternoon soap). Seeing him work through the motivations and emotions, and finally honor Carmelita by being not-vengeful (because she never was) but…compassionate is the wrong word..non-violent, maybe?

The bad:

• This show, especially recently, has developed the habit of killing any emotional resonance that it builds up (like having Nick stop his meaningful, 10-year-marriage-ending conversation w/Lisa after the wedding to go awkwardly chitchat w/Wrenn). This episode was the mega-example of that. After building up suspense and lots of energy w/ the end of last week’s show, this episode opens: a) 5 weeks later, b) showing a fictional THS version of the events, w/a no name reporter dryly telling us what happened c) having us first see the characters we do know in non-emotional headshot interviews calmly talking about the event d) showing the characters detachedly dealing with the event, watching it on tv. Way to kill the buzz, show, putting the audience at giant-sized armslength away from the events of the prior episode. Yeah, I know TPTB probably wanted to flash forward since they were running out of time to finish the show’s storylines, but they could have accomplished the same thing by opening this episode with the immediate aftermath of the shooting, and then putting up a “five weeks later’ card and moving on from there. Couldn't we have at least seen Tish and Tripp relieved they and their children were relatively safe? Or Karen actually apologizing to Nick and making up with him? Or Lisa reacting to the fact that Nick was shot, or saved the life of several people, or been furious at him for risking his life to save Darlings?
• Simon Elder’s bwa-ha-ha-nish…which many have you have commented on
• Still refusing to acknowledge Brian's first wife and children. Or for that matter, dropping plotlines w/no payoff. Simon owns half the company....Tripp chose Nick for vice-chair and set off animosity between Nick and the Darlings...Hello?
• Killing Carmelita, randomly, and offscreen to boot. Like demonizing and killing Ellen in one episode, or disappearing NoFun and kids, this seemed to have been done entirely out of simplistic plot-twisty convenience. It destroyed a whole lot of more interesting potential storylines and moments. (Plus, see above, TPTB didn’t even give the audience the emotional payoff killing Carmelita should have given us.) It also made me think of the recent Grey’s Anatomy cast/character purging. And then making me think how much better GA would have handled the shooting aftermath. (And I do not want to be thinking about GA during DSM)
• The continuing personal and professional stupidfying / character mangling of Nick: He wants Chase dead. No, he doesn’t. He can be a lawyer representing the hospital trying to pull the plug on a man who shot him. Really? And he’s not very good at it, even before he changes his mind. He’s very passive (again) about the fate of his marriage, divorce, child care, the future of his relationship w/Karen. He (after his childhood w/Dutch) thinks he could possibly devote half his time to Kiki. He spends quality “proving I’m a good parent” time w/Kiki by bringing her to a church event at night and then leaving her alone. (Granted he went off to prevent a murder…just about the only proactive thing he’s done since pushing Jeremy down the stairs, but still). And Lisa, who’s known him, as a husband/father, for 10-15 years is being cold and irrational. Did his being shot and/or her having sex w/Jeremy cause her to become more one-dimensional? Plus, I thought it was strange to have him say “I believe you” to both Nola and Tripp w/in 10 minutes. And I couldn't quite figure out what exactly he was believing from Nola.

I’ll continue to watch, if/when new episodes air, since I still like almost all the actors and want to see how all this ends up. But I really hope that whoever was responsible for the good stuff has more control in the last few episodes. So much amazing potential here with this show…..it’s just too bad it’s been handled this way (both from a creative and a business perspective).

[meknownothing]

And raising the idea of a not-so-dead Dutch is kind of interesting (and like The Italian Banker, this episode had a title that could be applied to two very different things).

And this is the final piece of evidence that I'm getting stupider as I get older. That concept never occurred to me, even when Nick and Brian are going on and on and on about the church organ.

Edited by meknownothing, Dec 18, 2008 @ 1:30 PM.

[TheRabbi]

Heh. The church organ never evern occured to me as the episode title until you mentioned it explicitly, which means I'm getting stupid as well. I kept thinking someone would be donating an organ to Chase.

As many have said, there was some good, and some bad about the episode. ImNotLeesa summed up my thoughts just about perfectly. And like a few have said above, if this show wasn't ending in 3 episodes, I probably would have ditched it by now (right around episodes 5-7), but will continue to stick it out til the end.

[Rosebud1970]

This has been seriously bothering me, but it may fall into the same mysterious space as Brian's first wife and two little girls...

Ventilators are hooked up to alarms. If they are disconnected, stop working, whatever, an alarm will sound at the nurse's station. There's no way (that I know of) to mute the alarm or prevent it from sounding. Assuming Tripp did disconnect Chase's vent, Paddy's fingerprints will be on the hose from his attempt.

There's so much that's been going on with this show in that sort of suspending reality zone that's been hovering. But this really got to me last night.

[msmplm]

Something that bothered me about Chase and mysterious disconnecting ventilator: If in fact it was disconnected on purpose (and no alarm went off,) how could his organs be viable to donate?

I've come to love Jeremy. At first I thought he was just a spoiled brat but I really love his I'm rich and you're not and I'm not going to apologize for it attitude.

I like Brian better when he's being snarky - not mopey.

[ImNotLeesa]

To balance off my earlier, longish post, which ended a bit negatively, I should say that I actually liked this episode more than several of the episodes that aired this season. It seemed more pulled together and less train-wrecky, with more good stuff than some of the other episodes. Though, not to be all sweetness and light, there is really no excuse for this clunky exchange

Simon: What happened?
Nola: I have no idea. Nick short-circuited like a space heater in a railroad flat.

Oh wait, back to being positive. I realized we may be a bit spoiled after S1, and with all the potential on this show. DSM is a show that can give us scenes like this scene , one that proves this show can pull viewers in, build on complex characters/emotions and pay them off in a scene (with just 2 people sitting on a static set). Before tuning in last night, I checked out Criminal Minds for the first time. (The combination of AD Skinner from XFiles, Zoë from Firefly and Corky Sherwood Forrest sucked me in.) Maybe I’m missing something, but that show was just dull, predictable and flatly written and acted (even while portraying the meltdown of a serial killer). I forget what other shows can be like and I’m still glad DSM was with us this season.

As far as Chase’s death, though Tripp’s gloves were probably designed to give room for doubt, I suspect Chase really did just pass away. In that case, the alarms would have gone off, and people would have been able to work on him quickly, giving time for his organs to be salvaged. If this were any other show, it’s possible that Patrick barehandly touching the respirator tube would come back to haunt him, but this show has left way bigger plot points sitting on the side of the road, so I’m guessing we won’t hear any more about it.

Edited by ImNotLeesa, Dec 18, 2008 @ 9:40 PM.

[lighthouser41]

So many things to bitch about. It wouldn't matter if anyone pulled the plug on chase. He wasn't on a ventilator. He was wearing an oxygen mask hooked to a ventilator, but he was not intubated, so it was not breathing for him. So sloppy, they could at least try to get that right. And whoever said the nurses would be alerted as soon as the machine was disconnected were so right. I am a nurse and have a hard time tolerating any hospital dramas because the how unrealistic they are. House drives me crazy.

Also, why were they all so scared of Chase? If he woke up from his freakin coma, he was going to prison for life. He could't hurt them there. Even if he did wake up, he would have massive brain damage.

Also, he was an organ donor, but they acted like all he donated was I kidney to a little girl. Or maybe that was to make the point to Nick that a child's life was saved.

Nola was wearing the evening wear everywhere because she was wearing the classic wear of soap operas. The women on those shows dress in cocktail dresses and heels every where they go.

[RianD]

I like Brian better when he's being snarky - not mopey.

This may make me sound like a heartless wench, but I really kinda wanted him and Andrea to break up. She made some really, really good points about his personality--that he likes to have the last word; that he can't stand to be alone--in that fight, and I truly honestly think that he only married her because she was dying and he felt guilty. I was almost kinda impressed with the show when it looked as if Brian realized what he had gotten himself into, and was royally disappointed when he came back to her with that lame, lame, laaaame "...but I'm staying in this [marriage] for the right ones." What exactly are those reasons, writers? They really don't have any chemistry, and other than Brian Jr., they really don't connect on any other level. So why exactly are we supposed to buy them as a happy couple? Yes, giving her the boot after only a month would be heartless, but it would be very (S1)Brian, and signal a bit that he's growing up a bit and not hiding behing his asshole-one-minute,-mumbly-softie-the-next persona.

For the msot aprt, I thought last night was pretty good, w/ people really talking to each other and not merely at one another. I could even stomach the useless Jeremy/amnesia storyline because Seth played it with such odd charm. And I was ever so happy last night to see the return of a silver-tongued interesting Karen (my God, she even made Kiki likable!) and even Tripp, for the majority of the show, seemed to be in his old form. While I weirded out by his gloves in that final scene, that was about the best Nick/Tripp exchange we've had this season.

The dream for the final show is to have the opening scene feature a piano falling and killing Simon Elder.

[zumpee]

Nola was wearing the evening wear everywhere because she was wearing the classic wear of soap operas. The women on those shows dress in cocktail dresses and heels every where they go.

And it IS an ABC soap, after all. None of the ladies on AMC or GH seem to know what sleeves even ARE---or at least not until it's July or August. THEN it's time to wear a tight, long sleeved black suit. Cause what else would you wear in 90+ degree weather?

But I still think Nola looks absurd (and given she ran around like that in her DA days would've definitely heard about it). And most of the other women do dress reasonably appropriately. Even Tish, who is basically the ultimate lady who lunches. Even Andrea, who dresses like an aging, insane vaudeville star, seems familiar with sleeves.

[witwhitherwilt]

Bravo, ImNotLeesa--I couldn't agree more with everything you said. Brilliant analysis of how they sucked the Drama out of every possible storyline. I was feeling the same way about the organ donation plot point. So his kidney saved some kid we've never heard of? Offscreen? Oh...um..ok. If the writers had any sense at all, they'd have had Carmelita shot through the kidney and desperately needing a transplant, with comatose Chase a perfect match. At least it would have given Patrick some motivation for pulling the plug.

I was sad that this show didn't get picked up, but I think if this was where the storylines were going, I probably would have lost interest soon anyway. C'mon, killing off Carmelita? She was one of the best things about DSM and the only reason to have any interest at all in Patrick's storyline. Someone should give Candis Cayne her own show ASAP.

Edited by witwhitherwilt, Dec 19, 2008 @ 7:34 AM.

[Sandman]

The dream for the final show is to have the opening scene feature a piano falling and killing Simon Elder.

Aw, don't tease me, RianD! And, yeah, ImNotLeesa. Brilliant.

Edited by Sandman, Dec 19, 2008 @ 9:16 AM.

[Mitch0046]

Something that bothered me about Chase and mysterious disconnecting ventilator: If in fact it was disconnected on purpose (and no alarm went off,) how could his organs be viable to donate?

Tripp said he'd died in his sleep, which, if we can believe it, would mean his organs would be fine. Did we learn the ventilator had become disconnected? Because that wouldn't fall into the "died in his sleep" category, Tripp.

witwhitherwilt, that would have been perfect! Keep us hanging on if Carmelita lives, did Patrick kill Chase, and was Tripp there? And what is Tripp's fascination about Carmelita all of a sudden? At first, I thought he was just throwing around the "he shot Carmelita!" thing as an excuse to react, but then when he was standing in front of the statue, he seemed genuinely sad. I thought he only saw her as an impediment?

[nilyank]

witwhitherwilt, that would have been perfect! Keep us hanging on if Carmelita lives, did Patrick kill Chase, and was Tripp there? And what is Tripp's fascination about Carmelita all of a sudden? At first, I thought he was just throwing around the "he shot Carmelita!" thing as an excuse to react, but then when he was standing in front of the statue, he seemed genuinely sad. I thought he only saw her as an impediment?

I just thought he was doing it to manipulate Patrick into pulling the plug.

[nilyank]

witwhitherwilt, that would have been perfect! Keep us hanging on if Carmelita lives, did Patrick kill Chase, and was Tripp there? And what is Tripp's fascination about Carmelita all of a sudden? At first, I thought he was just throwing around the "he shot Carmelita!" thing as an excuse to react, but then when he was standing in front of the statue, he seemed genuinely sad. I thought he only saw her as an impediment?

I just thought he was doing it to manipulate Patrick into pulling the plug.