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Wednesday, September 15, 2010

The Foot: Hellcats Episode 2 Review AND POINT BREAK/RED DAWN

[caption id="" align="alignleft" width="350" caption="Ashley Tisdale and Aly Michalka"][/caption]

Any television show ever created in the history of planet Earth has had episodes devoted to relationships between children and their parents. Execution is everything in television because so many stories have been done and so many variations of a story has been done. Boy Meets World did terrible episodes about the troubles between father and son. Did Cory have a legitimate reason to be angry at his father? No. Of course, Boy Meets World created a storyline, invented the history on the spot so their emotional father/son episodes never worked.

The second episode of Hellcats deals with family relationships, particularly mother/daughter relationship. No, Gilmore Girl fans, the relationships don't resemble those crazy Gilmores.

The pilot established the trouble Marti had with her mother. The reasons were poor, the motivation forced and the emotional impact of the relationship was lost because of the so-so acting from Aly Michalka. Marti's mother is a goofy, eccentric woman who harms Marti in zero ways. She doesn't insult her verbally nor physically. Marti is annoyed by her mother's lack of responsibility; however, Marti's mother is the sole reason Marti is even in Lancer University. In the past, Marti's mother acted too enthusiastically at gymnastic competitions, which played with Marti's head. This episode resolves the conflict between the mother and daughter. Marti eventually learns that she has to move past the effect her mother has on her. After all, her mother is innocent. She loves her daughter very much and has crazy ways of showing it. This is the same woman who brought an entire house a fancy dinner of ribs--a college aged house. The woman should be beloved. And yes, she is beloved by everyone in the house for the gift of ribs dinner. Anywho, at least the writers were aware enough to make the mother, whose name I obviously forget, the sympathetic figure in this story.

Meanwhile, we learn more about the character of Savannah. She was home-schooled all of her before she transferred to Lancer. Her old college, Methodist Christian (I think), is pretty much owned by her family. Savannah says she betrayed her family when she transferred to Lancer. The family issues surface at qualifiers, after her sister suffers an injury. We find out the deeper emotional truth that her family thinks Savannah betrayed her faith and God. Savannah chooses the Hellcats over group prayer on a Saturday morning. The decision appears to be the last straw between Savannah and her family. Quick tangent now: why is every fictional religious character opposed to forgiveness? If any religious character is offended in an episode, the last thing they do is forgive. As for the episode, the writers did such a poor job of developing the family dynamics of Savannah's family that the whole storyline fell flat on its face like her sister did during the cheer. Maybe the writers wanted the audience to see that parallel. Savannah's story allows the writers to involve the character in many zany and cliche stories because she's a sheltered daughter of a religious family who is free of their control and influence. I'm sure she'll be pregnant by February sweeps.

Marti and Savannah are, nevertheless, united by their issues with parents. Savannah helps Marti overcome her mother issue. And, well, Marti doesn't really help Savannah at all. The antagonist of the show, Alice, becomes an after thought after the Hellcats win qualifiers, securing the scholarships for every Hellcat; however, Savannah says the work gets tougher and the ease of winning qualifiers was a cakewalk. Of course, the male character with no personality makes a remark about the word cake walk. I suspect the writing staff of the show is unaware of the history cake walk but I understand the show is merely using the popular expression for accomplishing something with ease.

The director and the wardrobe people love Aly Michalka's breasts. Lots of time spent and clothes worn accentuating her chest. I'm not complaining because she has an awesome body. It made the hour bearable.

Overall, this show really isn't for me. I'll write about next week's because it looks awful but I might use the opt-out clause I gave myself in the preview for this. I didn't enjoy this episode at all. Ashley Tisdale remains delightful though.

The Foot is action packed tomorrow. My Terriers review will be posted as well as thoughts on the latest Man Vs. Wild and NFL picks. There's a good chance I write four entries tomorrow.

SCREENPLAY OF THE DAY

Point Break By W. Peter Iliff http://www.godamongdirectors.com/scripts/pointbreak.txt

You'll notice James Cameron's name if you click on the link. I researched Cameron's involvement in Point Break. Besides being Bigelow's husband at the time, I haven't found any. Anywho, since I don't trust people to click on the link, I'm quoting the best part of the screenplay--the introduction of Bodhi:
A LONE SURFER slashing through the pilings of the pier. A

real kamikaze run as the whitewater walls thunder behind

him.

SILHOUETTED against a crimson sky and backlit spray the

figure pumps among the pier pilings in a frenzy of motion

that is somehow balletic.

Laying out bottom turns, torquing his body and blasting

the lip a few times, moving so fast his long dark hair

stands straight back as if he were leaning out a car

window on the freeway.

TYLER (V.O.)

That's Bodhi. They call his the

Bodhisattva.

Utah watches as THE BODHISATTVA gets vertical with a snap,

trims down the volcanic wall, carves the bottom, pivots,

pumps to the top, gouging the lip, getting six feet of

air.

Gawkers HOWL and shout praise at the manic surfer.

TYLER

The modern savage. Guy's even

crazier than you, Johnny Utah.

C'mon.

They start to walk. The sky darkens as the sea finally

closes out completely. The Bodhisattva seems to levitate

through the shapeless mush to shore.

THE YOUTUBE CLIP OF THE WEEK

1 comment:

Camping Trips And Family Bonding said...

[...] Quad Blogs » The Foot: Hellcats Episode 2 Review AND POINT BREAK/RED DAWN [...]

About The Foot

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Originally, I titled the blog Jacob's Foot after the giant foot that Jacob inhabited in LOST. That ended. It became TV With The Foot in 2010. I wrote about a lot of TV.