I have a problem, and it starts with a capital RX.
Dear F'list: I feel like a tool because I have recently missed several Big Posts that I totally meant to comment on. I got this layout a month or so back, but I still haven't customized my f'list display, which I usually set at around 50. So I have read your posts, but I have a bad habit of reading and then putting off commenting until I think of suitable things to say. And then 25 new posts happen and your Big Posts float off my main f'list page and I forget. And then it is too late or by the time I remember, you have locked them and I feel bad. Sorry! :(

FNL

It kind of hurts me how bad parts of the show are right now, because this time last year it was so unbelievably awesome.

+ I like that they remembered that Matt is an artist, because I really wanted the show to remember that Matt isn't just some dumb jock who is all wrong for artsy Julie. It was on my wishlist, so I am gratified in that respect.

+ I don't understand why we are calling Julie's emo dude "The Swede." Is he from Sweden? He does not sound Swedish. Please explain!

+ I like Mrs. Saracen's live-in nurse, but obviously she is intended to be a love interest, and that disappoints me because I wanted to see Matt play the field with his newfound QB1 studliness. But, then again, no one seems to care because it is "The Smash Show," so maybe there is no field to play?

+ Which reminds me. Great setup of the Matt vs. Smash thing.

+ Am I supposed to care about Buddy Garrity's man pain? Because he's a tool, and I totally don't. Less Buddy and more people that I actually care about, kthx.

+ So Lyla broke up with Jason, but Tim's the one she feels weird around? Okay!

+ I'm so glad Julie broke up with Matt, because she really needed to man up and do it. And good on her for going for what she wants, I guess. I would never kiss a guy that I know has a girlfriend, but judging from his expression afterwards, it was exactly what she needed to do to get him to take her seriously instead of seeing her as his kid friend from work. I do not hate "The Swede." Does he have a name?

+ I felt sorry for Lois, though. It is always such a drag when a girlfriend ditches you for a boy.

+ I am glad Tammi admitted that being separated from her husband was the wrong thing to do. (Connie Britton even agrees with me that this storyline is nonsense!) But I hate that the Coach is going to give up his job when Tammi is on maternity leave and could get a job at any school in Austin. I get that he has to come back so the show can continue on, but whatever. This whole storyline is completely retarded, and there is no way that it will be resolved in a way that isn't retarded, and I should just accept it and move on.

+ I loved Landry telling Tyra off at the stadium, but I despised the end. Funnily enough, when Tyra was crying and speechifying at the end, my mom (who doesn't watch the show) cringed and said: "Wow. She's not a very good actress." Which is hilarious to me because Adriane Palicki is far and away the strongest of the teen actresses on the show. But even she is not pulling this off BECAUSE IT IS A STEAMING PILE OF CRAP.

What's more is that I find this whole ridiculous storyline vaguely offensive. Katims & Co. conceived the murder because they thought they needed something Big to put Landry and Tyra together. Take a minute to digest this: the great, but awkward and geeky guy and the tall, hot, insecure blonde have to commit murder before they can realistically be together? Cynical much? HATE. (I originally wrote a bunch more, but I am starting to sound like a broken record and I guess you all know how I feel about this and why I think it is ridiculous nonsense.)

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+ Is this the first Sokka-centric episode ever? I really enjoyed it! The best part was Sokka returning to camp, where everyone was so excited to see him. It is not the gaang without Sokka! (And I flove the Tokka crush!)

+ Muscle-bound Uncle Iroh kind of freaks me out, not gonna lie.

+ Loved that Sokka's creativity and resourcefulness are what made him a good swordsman!

+ My thoughts on this show's plot are always so OBVIOUS and LITERAL that I'm embarrassed to voice them, but I'm kind of digging all the setup so far! Sokka's got the Lotus Flower tile which TOTALLY means that Uncle Iroh will teach Aang firebending, right? Sokka's sword is made out of a meteor rocks that possibly have something to do with Sozen's Coment, which could possibly be important later on. Aang caught wind of a secret river that leads into the Fire Lord's palace, and thanks to Katara, the gaang can count on the help of the Painted Lady river spirit.

+ Next week: YOU WILL NEVER RISE FROM THE ASHES OF YOUR SHAME! Oh, Azula. It's beach volleyball, you crazy bitch!

Misc. Other TV

+ Bigshots: bactaqueen, remember how I told you that Nia Long is an executive at Amerimart, not Michael Vartan's assistant? Well, apparently, I was wrong. My sister watched the second episode too, and she said that Nia Long was giving Michael Vartan his messages and being all smiley and stuff. Which kind of pisses me off, because in the pilot, she was absolutely not meant to be his assistant! She even seemed a little disappointed when she found out that he had been made CEO because she was competing for the promotion. I also hear that she told him that his wife loved him and was generally encouraging, but in the pilot she told him in plain terms that she had never liked his wife at all! WTF, offensive and lame changes.

+ Matt Yglesias asked "Where have the Jews gone?" wrt Gossip Girl. I wondered this too, as the "minority twins" are the only minority characters in the show, and the fact that they are completely subservient to Blair (so much so that she sees them in maid outfits in her Breakfast At Tiffany's dream) could easily be construed as offensive. Jewish characters in a show set in UES New York should be a no brainer. I gave it some thought, and I decided that the lack of Jewishness has to do with two things: 1.) There are probably no main Jewish characters in the GG books and 2.) Seth Cohen. I mean, Seth Cohen's half-Jewish heritage was made a big deal of on The O.C., and Schwartz has already been fending off comparisons to The O.C. But still. They do not have to make Chrismukkah mixes and yamaclauses! Jewish characters, plz!

+ OMG, I love Blair! "Diazepam. Lorazepam. All the pams, really." Is it Wednesday yet?