Homeland

Guys, I think I may be falling in love with Damian Lewis all over again. I watched the first two eps of Homeland and was scouring the net for more eps because I downloaded the pilot ages ago, which made me think that the series was half over by now but it's NOT, and it's driving me crazy because all I want to do is stare at Damian's face some more. But in something that I haven't already watched a billion times. He is SO GOOD in Homeland. SO GOOD. He gets to shine more in the second ep than in the pilot. He was kind of low-key in the pilot, but the second ep really delved into his emotional state of mind. Also, I ship Carrie/Saul and Carrie/Brody pretty evenly. Like, Carrie/Saul is that mentor/mentee age gap subtle UST chemistry kind of ship that I adore so much, but Carrie/Brody is messed up and she's totally obsessed with him and she's the only one who seems to understand how his brain works, and the one scene that they had together was freaking hot because they are both trying to figure each other out and simultaneously hide things, and they just... yeah, I'm totally on board if the show goes there, which I think it might. Maybe. Possibly. I just don't see how it can't seeing as how the girl spends every waking minute watching him. She's going to get to the point where she over identifies with him. As for Sgt. Brody, I love how the show is revealing in bits and pieces what happened to him in the POW camp. It's never straight-forward, and we just see flashes, but it's enough. It's enough to make us understand the hell that he was in and the hell that he is still stuck in.

Basically, I love Homeland, and I re-love Damian, and remember those days when my Damian tag was this big? Yeah... it might get that big again. Maybe. Possibly. We'll see.

Also, I watched The Fades the other day since half of my f-list is in love with it, and OMG do I love it. It is so delightful and gross and awesome. And I ship Paul/Niel so freaking hard. Like, it's been a long time since I've been so thoroughly enchanted by a slash ship, but these two just have so much inappropriate UST that I can't resist it, and I think the show is kind of deliberate about it, too. That scene at the dance where Niel is just hiding out in the shadows and some kid asks him what he's doing and he says, "Protecting a boy I care about from the evil forces of darkness"? I swooned. Well, I laughed, and then I swooned. Niel loooooves him. And then he was so heartbroken over Paul not answering his phone calls, and then when Paul actually showed up and he says something about having a reason for looking for him, Niel goes, "I hope it was because of my phone calls," OMG, I died. I love Niel's love. But I also adore Paul/Mick, which is just a really beautiful friendship and I love that it is so central to the show (rather than the romance, which is probably the weakest bit of the show, but since it's a romance from a boy's POV, it just seems fitting that the romance lacks depth). And, well, I'm even intrigued about Paul's relationship with his twin sister. She was very obviously jealous that he was sleeping with her best friend, and not because she's into her friend (like I had originally thought), but because she has this twisted sense of possession over him even though she acts like she doesn't want to know him, but he's her mess of a brother and she doesn't want anyone else to have him. IDK, their relationship just seems rather incestuous, at least from the sister's side. And, well, none of that even pertains to the actual plot of the show, and the plot of this show is pretty darn cool. I love this interpretation of the after life, and OMG, I cannot freaking wait for the next ep.

Firthgal's slow descent into k-pop

So, you remember how the whole K-pop thing used to just plain baffle me and I was like, "Pfft, I'll never be into that"? Well, I find myself completely addicted to the classy stylings of 2NE1. I mean, the name alone is wondrous, but they also give us gems like this:

THE OUTFITS. THE HAIR. THE POODLE. THE ATTITUDE (they basically just keep saying "I am the best" over and over and over again). I WANT TO BE THEM. But, these girls aren't just wacky badasses, they also sing songs that make a statement:

Sometimes I wonder if the reason why this one's my favorite is because it's the only one where the entire chorus is in English, but it really is a wonderful song, and one that I think everyone can identify with (it's not even ironic that a group of teenage girls who have all probably had plastic surgery are singing it). I am also very in love with this one:

You can bet that I do that "I don't ca-a-a-a-a-are" dance right along with them. I am always massively jealous of Dara's crazy ponytails. I want so badly to fix my hair in such a way that my ponytail totally defies gravity, but I just don't think that I could pull that look off, unfortunately. *sigh*

Also, ever since Kim Hyun Joong got a haircut, I seem to be totally enchanted by him. Which is baffling, because pre-haircut he always reminded me of Michael Jackson circa the early to mid 90s, which is not attractive in the least, and yet all the girlies were still swooning over him, which made me scratch my head quite a lot. Especially during Playful Kiss, because I just did not understand how the girl could so faithfully follow him around her entire life and just completely ignore the fact that he was a total douche to her. But now? After the haircut? Oh man, I totally get it. He's like a different person! It's crazy! No, seriously, look:

Would you even assume that that's the same dude? Dayum.

( MORE VISUAL AIDS FOR YOU )

Some quick thoughts...

Community - SAASKLDHADFSKJLFJKDSFHSFFKLJEFFANDANNIEJEFFANDANNIEJEFFANDANNIE!!! *ahem* Brilliant episode. I love it when this show challenges itself, and this ep was possibly the most ambitious it's ever been. It ran the risk of being terribly repetitive and losing our interest, but I was fascinated the ENTIRE TIME. All of the timelines were fantastic, but clearly Troy's wins. Especially when he looks at the troll and goes, "YOU!" all dramatically. And the tag was epic. I expect that its ramifications will resurface some time in the future. In fact, I'll be disappointed if it's never revisited. And did I mention Jeff and Annie? I MELTED. SEVERAL TIMES. Even though the moments amount to nothing since none of them happened on the real timeline, but, you know, it still pleased me. Actually, I'm not sure what the real timeline was, but I choose to believe that it was the last one, especially since it's continuing the theme of the group being just fine without Jeff (actually, they tend to be better off without him, which probably hit him in the gut). I love that Jeff is finally accepting that he loves the crap out of these people, and now they are becoming self sufficient and it's scaring him.

Parks and Rec - RON AND LESLIE RON AND LESLIE RON AND LESLIE!!!!! I love them. Which you already know. But this ep just re-emphasized why. They get competitive, she ruins something he loves, he accepts that she's more awesome than everyone ever, and then she realizes that she totally broke him and fixes him so that he's better than new. And that works the other way, too. They challenge each other and genuinely care about each other and know how to make each other smile. They know each other better than anyone. I LOVE THEM.

The Office - ANDY! Oh, my Andy. Interesting side note: when I was 13, I had a super huge crush on Stephen Collins. I would tape every ep of 7th Heaven and watch them on an endless loop just for his scenes, and I watched The First Wives Club a billion times just for him, so, it's kind of fitting that he is playing Andy's father. It's just sad that Andy's father is such a douchewad. But, we expected that, especially after that quote a few seasons back where Andy mentioned that he was originally named Walter after his father but then they had it changed after his brother was born. OH ANDY. His entire personality just makes so much sense now, and I just want to hug him. He will forever be that little boy that is desperately seeking approval from his father. My heart has always broken for Andy when he tries so desperately to win people over and fails miserably, but tonight? His dejection was felt so thoroughly that I actually wanted to reach into my television and strangle everyone. Also, I loved the bit where Andy got angry and knocked the tray out of that one dude's hands, because sometimes this show is terrible at continuity when it comes to Andy, so it was nice to see some of his anger issues resurface for a brief moment. Also, Erin and Kelly's hats, OMG. Dwight and Jim = ♥ ♥ ♥