[Giotto]

Originally Posted by Zebbers (View Post) It certainly was! Thank you for pointing that out hun!

no problem

I try to watch the new episode sometimes this week at least I hope to find time for it

[Zebbers]

Originally Posted by Giotto (View Post) no problem I try to watch the new episode sometimes this week at least I hope to find time for it

Have you watched it yet?

[Giotto]

Originally Posted by Zebbers (View Post) Have you watched it yet?

no I haven't with al my crazyness this week... but I will get to it when I'm back from Stuttgart is it ok if I make a review like the lasst time or does somebody else want to make a better one?

[maureen99]

"Now you know why I don't do the reviews normally... And I think you don't want me to do another one... I just can't pick out what is more important.. It just seems everyting is to be important....

sorry for making that post so long [/QUOTE]" Giotto




You did a great job with the review. It's good to see others are here to do the recaps and do them well. But why apologize for the long posts? In my opinion it's much better to be thorough than leave something important out. But then, my posts really are too long.

My favorite parts of the episode are the multiple themes running from beginning to end. The first was the Shandra Leer torch songs linking all the acts together from start to finish. Not only that, but they managed to do it with appropriate tunes. Then there was the gay charities theme with requests for money that seemed to touch almost every character in the show. And in the end, yet another benefit was held. But this time it was to help one of their own. But the best was the issue of Brian's pride, where in the beginning he won't even allow Justin to buy him a drink despite being broke and unemployed. But in the end, Brian is finally able to be mature enough to take the help that is offered.


I noticed Brian and Justin's reactions at the "Concerned Citizen" benefit. But what I found most memorable was the look of nervous worry Lindsay displays as everyone waits to see how Brian will react to everyone offering him "a little help".

My favorite single moment was Brian's shrug after Michael saying he was hit by a bus.

Michael and Hunter trapped in a hotel together can never not be funny. I'd like to see a whole episode of these two just trying to get through the day together.

Ben making up all those lies about where Michael was to Rita seems so unlike him. But what else was he to do? Although I can't say I like Rita, I like the way she gets right up in Ben's face for some strange reason.

I agree that Mel representing Hunter is sort of saying he's part of the family now. But having Rita win in court despite all she has done to Hunter is unfortunately one of the most realistic things this show has ever done. And it's Hunter who has to save himself in the end.

I'm not as non committal about Ted as you are, I hate the way he continues to treat Emmett. Ted is just as much a s!*t to Emmett when he's sober as he is when he's on drugs. Maybe this will teach Emmett not to take Mel's suggestions.

This might be repetitious, but Brian's journey from foolish pride to allowing himself to be helped was the center piece of the episode. And everyone was there for him.

[Giotto]

thanks maureen for your insight in the episode

we've missed you

You're always a welcome addition here with your posts

and thanks for liking my summary

you want to do it for the next episode?

[maureen99]

I'm sorry to say a combination of being very busy and the loss of most internet access has, and will continue to make it impossible for me to do full reviews of the episodes in the foreseeable future. Right now the best I can do is make comments on the episodes scene by scene. And even these comments will be infrequent. But while any new comments on my part might be few and far between, I have managed to say a few things about the 402 episode.



Queer as Folk ep 402 comments


The episode begins with Justin and battered drag queen Darrin discussing his attack. The small talk between the two is pleasant. And it's always good to see Justin interact with new people. Horrid as it is, it's hard not to sympathize with Darrin's hopes for his bashers. And there can never be too many Bette Davis impersonations.

Michael's posturing with a made up tooth malady before Emmett even arrives, hearkens back to his visually faking an injury over the telephone years ago. It's worth noting that Michael is actually aware of how much of a doormat he is. I felt Ben's short expose' on fairy gatherings sounded like a public service announcement, and an extra boring one at that. But the sight of Deb flapping imaginary fairy wings and Michael's reaction was adorable.

Ted has certainly perked up since last we saw him. As he's now completed his in-house drug rehabilitation, it's to be assumed quite some time has passed, but we aren't told how much. Suppose I could go look up how long addicts stay in rehab before being released, but I'm too uninterested and lazy to bother. So a mystery the time jump will remain. And it's too bad that such an overall happy scene ends with the dire prediction of a sour patient.

There's a nice homey scene between Brian and Justin. I like that Brian compares Justin to a Jewish mother or Michael. But why is Justin always showering at Brian's? Justin does so many non visiter things at Brian's such as showering, eating, and working on his art, you forget that he's actually still living at Daphne's.

Emmett and Michael's sojourn into the fairy world is hard to grasp due to the autumn scenery. Sorry, but fairies and fall foliage just don't go together. I also can't stop wondering how cold everyone is as they go about in various stages of undress.

The scene with Brian and the manager of "Slings and Eros" is my favorite of the episode. There is almost a complete miscommunication between the two men as Brian explains his ideas to the manager. But it all manages to end in "perfect" understanding. Still, Brian is less than thrilled to be doing this as his hilarious end reaction shot shows.

As Ted leaves rehab, he continues to overpraise Blake to an uncomfortable extent. Ted's near worship of Blake's abilities might be similar to the attachment some patients get with their doctors. Or maybe Ted just wants to get back with Blake in a romantic way. Either way is not a good idea. And Blake, who earlier had been alarmed by Ted's adoration and tried to keep him at arms length, is now agreeing to give Ted his number. Also not a good idea.

It's an understatement to say season four is having a slow start. Two of the three main story lines consist of Emmett still moping around over Ted and Ted moping around for no apparent reason. How is either of these things worth pursuing? Brian's tale of trying to get his advertising business going is the only plot line with any real substance. Cynthia has a great scene here. Maybe it's only great because she appreciates Brian's talent enough to give him a tip on stealing one of Vanguard's accounts, but that's enough for me.

Emmett's fairy outfit is totally hideous, with the hat not only being ridiculous, but also unnecessary. You'd think with Em's sense of style and ability to pull off even the most outrageous gear, he could do better. Michael's garb is less ugly, and I actually love the boots. It's interesting that Michael feels a complete fool until two attractive fairies flirt with him, prompting a totally positive change in attitude. Due to the extreme rarity of any male full frontal nudity in tv and film, I make it a point to appreciate all unclothed men onscreen regardless of age, fitness level or presentation. But have to say, the naked volleyball game really tested my resolve on this matter.

There was much confusion on my part at seeing Mel and Ben heading a meeting at "The Center". Why have these two suddenly taken over Tannith and Phillip's positions? Cody is quite the drama queen as he announces his presence with a loud whistle, takes his bold statement, and then leaves the building with a flourish.

Poor Ted, getting deserted by Deb and Justin by unfortunate chance, and by Mel and Linds through thoughtlessness. Then, to top it off, Brian does his usual. Ted really didn't need Brian's s!*t right then. Maybe Ted has a reason to hang dog around after all.

There is more of Brian working hard for very little monetary payoff. This time he's laboring at getting the accounts of both "Torso" and the local gym. I like seeing Brian work so small scale. His desire and determination show that he's a hard worker who will do whatever it takes to succeed, even if it means starting from the bottom. There's an unexpected visit from Ben and Hunter. And another not so unexpected round of Hunter hitting on Brian. And predictable or not, it's still funny. As often happens with Brian and in the real world, Mr. Kinney gets inspired by others for his ideas. This time said inspiration comes from from Ben talking about the real experience of taking HIV drugs.

Back at fairyland Emmett is alone. He's wearing a less stupid, but still stupid hat and has put something over his shoulders. Sounds like I was correct in assuming cool weather and fairies don't mix well. Em's partaking of a mind altering mushroom is handled differently, and frankly less interestingly than expected. There's no drug takers eye view of Emmett's experience, only shots of him wondering around in time lapse photography. It's the most boring drug trip this show has ever portrayed. Most disappointing of all was the music choice. This is a surprise given the way the show can stand up against even the best in it's perfect use of music to match a scene as well as the originality of the song selections. But on occasion, even this show fails with the musical score, and this is a major example. Having Emmett's mushroom experience set to the tune of the hallucinogenic drug taker's anthem is sorrowfully predictable. In fact, it's completely unlike this show's usual aptitude for matching the music to the action in new and innovative ways. I can only guess the music director (or whatever he's called) was replaced by a crewman's fourteen year old nephew when all this was done.

Still another failure comes with the Emmett and Harry meeting. At a time when this show's traditional lack of subtlety could be useful, the scene with Harry Hay/Aerial gets all vague and ambiguous. It's okay that we never know if Harry is a ghost or an illusion. But it's bothersome and leaves a small plot hole to never find out what the circle of rocks is about. The whole bit with "Aerial" seemed to go on forever with no real payoff. But I did like Harry telling Emmett his outfit wasn't very fetching.

More superfluousness comes about as we get flashbacks of Dr. Chrystal and Ted's meth taking days. This is not only unnecessary but insulting. Do they really think we're too dumb to remember this? But the scene isn't a total waste as we get another clue about the passage of time when Mel and Linds return Ted's orchid. The plant has improved to the point of being unrecognizable, suggesting a month or more has gone by. We still don't know exactly how much more than a month, but it's a lot better than nothing.

I love Cynthia's little smile as she presents the ENDOVIR ads to the drug company. She might want to jump ship for Brian, but right now she works for Vanguard. Having said this, Cynthia's hidden smirk after Brian shows up is even more satisfying. Brian sliding the fruit plate unceremoniously atop the table was a little overly obnoxious. But since Vance was such an a$$ about rehiring Brian under intolerable conditions, I don't really mind. Never did understand the fondness some viewers have for Garner Vance, but I really enjoyed him in this scene. His facial expressions when Brian starts pitching his idea border on comical. And for some reason. I love the way Vance reads the captions of Brian's ad samples. Even while being delivered with a healthy dose of condescension, Vance's "But nothing I can't handle" invites indulgent bemusement rather than scorn.

But I have scorn aplenty for Darrin and his beyond cowardly decision to let his bashers go free. They might come looking for him? Really?! What if everybody who was the victim of a crime did this? And to top it all off Darrin has the nerve to compare his situation to Justin's with Hobbes, suggesting that Justin is no better. This is bulls!*t! Justin did what he could to put Hobbes away. It was the justice system that failed. But Darrin isn't even giving the courts a chance.

Having called his counselor for no good reason, Ted and Blake have an intimate conversation where Blake declares his need to "make amends" to his former lover and Ted speaks of having difficulty reconnecting with his friends. On the surface it's all about advice dealing with substance abuse. But it seems that the two are getting closer on a personal level.

What Darrin's craven act and subsequent accusation does to Justin is near rage inducing. Justin has bought into the idea that his lack of response after Hobbes' ridiculously lenient sentence is no different than Shandra Lear's gutless behavior. Justin furiously tries to vent his frustration through his art. But the pulse pounding music and Justin violently discarding page after page show it's not working. The boy is so angry he even refuses the rare affectionate overtures of Brian. He also rejects Brian's idea about getting revenge by being successful. Gotta say, I agree with Justin on this one. No amount of success will ever make up for Hobbes going virtually unpunished.

It looks like Ted is trashing his whole porn collection, somehow blaming it for his addiction. I don't get this. Ted was into pornography long before he got into drugs. When Blake agrees to stay the night, it's not clear if he's fallen for Ted's roundabout way of getting him to do so, or if Blake has given up on keeping things on a counselor/patient level. But even with Blake sleeping on the couch, this doesn't seem very professional to me.

Out in the dark, some of the fairies have formed a circle, prompting even more concern on my part as to how cold they must have been. Carrying rocks around with Aerial must have done wonders for Emmett as he joins the circle in high spirits. Em's adopted the fairy name Clear day and changed his clothes once again. And while his new ensemble wouldn't win any awards, it has a lot more flair than his previous outfits. So apparently Emmett's previous fairy fashion disasters were due to his famous flame being on low beam. As "Clear day" launches into a monologue about magical experiences and fairy power presumably coming from within, all I can think is that I'm relieved that Emmett's finally happy. But I'm also relieved that this weak story line is coming to an end.

The scene with the Rhemson focus group is interesting if for no other reason than it's something seldom portrayed on television. I like that the group did have some positive things to say about the "wrong" advertisement, as it prevents the situation from becoming cartoonish. But while I get what Brian is trying to say, his ads still seem a bit overly grim to me.

Lots of fabulous shots of Emmett dancing in slow motion. Emmett dancing is always a good thing, but I'm not liking the eye makeup at all. Brian, Michael and Ben are a three headed sea of black as they pour over pictures of the fairy gathering. This serves to further highlight the invading pinkness that is Emmett. But as bright as Emmett shines with his fabulous dancing and colorful attire, it's Mr. Kinney who shines the brightest this time around. His uninhibited flapping of imaginary fairy wings at Michael is worth a good chuckle. And Brian's expression when he not so subtly mentions his new account, complete with sly smirk and a literal tongue and cheek motion, punctuated with throwing glitter on his friends, is well nigh priceless. We leave the four friends on a celebratory note that's highly enjoyable for us as well as them.

Unfortunately, we don't get to celebrate long as we're transported to what appears to be the most serious gay bar in the world. Cody holds court to a small group of dully dressed friends where he's still going on about forming a vigilante group. And in another of those coincidences that only happen on television, or simply because he actually followed the irate boy, Justin is there to hear it. It was an interesting detail to have Cody dismiss Justin at first, even if Justin's words didn't really seem enough to win Cody over. As Justin and Cody get acquainted, it's clear Justin has finally found an outlet for his anger and frustration. This also marks the introduction of a major story line that some viewers harbor a white hot hate over. But personally, I find the upcoming antics of Justin and Cody far more interesting than listening to Ted and Emmett talk about their feelings.

[Zebbers]

OMB, Maureen you have excelled hun! That is brilliant .. and as ever, I am not going to agree on all you have to say, but thank you SO much for your really, really comprehensive POV

I only made a brief visit to the forum just now because I'm watching other stuff .. but I got reeled into your review and I promise that I'll come back tomorrow morning ..

Jeepers hun, you are the only person we need to do an ah~mazing review and we can feed off these insights for weeks

I am so glad that you are back here .. you're a much valued member of the QaF team

[Zebbers]

Maureen .. I'm so sorry that I didn't come back here when I said I would .. I had nowhere to go post~wise .. I just thought that our fellow posters might have made some comment about your incredible post .. clearly not

So .. I adore that you adore Bette Davis the old b&w films are just the best .. and I love Justin and Darren together .. there's no explanation for why Justin is there, but it absolutely must be because Justin was bashed and feels the need to help someone who totally relates to what it feels like It's so hard to see that homophobic violence and I haven't been able to watch the end of 401 since the first time .. and the lack of music and the only sound of boot on skin is just so horrifying

I adore the fairy gathering scenes but have to admit that I'd never noticed how cold it might have been for them The next time I watch that episode, I think I might be seeing it very differently Anyway, not going to get into a discussion about the FG because, for so many reasons, it's really special to me ..

OMB though, hasn't Mikey always realised that he's a doormat? Two words .. Brian Kinney

Brian's determination to go it alone when all his Ryder/Vangard clients turn him down is just so Brian .. and starting small ( not usually a word in his vocabulary) is just what he has to do .. I think he's fabulous to do that and to say FU to Gardner. I do think the Endovir campaign is inspired and I honestly think that a lot of HIV people would have welcomed such an honest approach. I can't say that for sure because I'm not, but Brian's comment about being out with his "shirtless, hunky buds" ..

Cynthia and Justin join forces to push Brian into believing that he can do it .. He just needed that push from two of the most important people in his life

Oops, later

[SojournHeart11]

I'm sorry I wasn't here to bump it, too, but I was busy with other things. What can I do? I'm here now, at least, and hopefully Maureen's internet problem isn't for long and Maureen will return soon. Maureen writes THE best reviews.

It's an understatement to say season four is having a slow start. Two of the three main story lines consist of Emmett still moping around over Ted and Ted moping around for no apparent reason. How is either of these things worth pursuing? Brian's tale of trying to get his advertising business going is the only plot line with any real substance. Cynthia has a great scene here. Maybe it's only great because she appreciates Brian's talent enough to give him a tip on stealing one of Vanguard's accounts, but that's enough for me.

You're right about that, Maureen. It was a very slow start for the new season in contrast to the way season 3 kicked off, with a bang. I think maybe that is because 4.01 & 4.02 were concluding highlights of the later plot scenarios that began at the end of season 3. Ted's rehab stint, Brian's unemployment, and Emmett's angst were all plot devices that wafted over into the next season... a set of problems for each character in such a short amount of time. I won't say they were cliff hangers, but they did leave me with a feeling of unresolve.

Darren's tragic bashing is what kinda set things into a more transitional state due to the weight it carried.

[Zebbers]

Denise ... I love your use of the word 'wafted' ..

[Giotto]

Maureen thanks for that wonderful review

The fairy gathering was quite funny to watch Michael so didn't want to goa and he was the one who enjoyed it most and Em found hat he was looking for

I haven't watched it yet, so I have to do it this weekend hopefully and can comment a bit more on the details

[SojournHeart11]

I laughed so hard when they were picking out dresses to wear throughout the fairy gathering and Michael said he couldn't go strapless because it made him look fat. That is exactly how I feel whenever I wear anything strapless... no way, no how.

[Giotto]

Originally Posted by SojournHeart11 (View Post) I laughed so hard when they were picking out dresses to wear throughout the fairy gathering and Michael said he couldn't go strapless because it made him look fat. That is exactly how I feel whenever I wear anything strapless... no way, no how.

That was really funny

[SojournHeart11]

Originally Posted by Giotto (View Post) That was really funny

Yes, the writers gave Michael some of the funniest lines to work with. I mean they did that with all the characters, but that is the one that stuck out the most in my head.

[Zebbers]

Near strapless and not even remotely fat