iCarly: iGet Pranky (4×03)

Evening, my fellow humans. How life goes on….No, wait, it doesn’t! The world has just stopped! And that is due to the premiere of another iCarly episode, iGet Pranky!

Now, the leadup to this episode was nothing short of pumpy. See Dan – I can come up with weird words too! Basically, everyone (at least from the official Danwarp page and the Bickering Sidekicks forum) was pretty excited for this episode – the members of the forum especially so, hoping for some ‘Seddie’ (Sam and Freddie) interaction. But then again, they are ALL ‘Seddie’ shippers – every episode contains ‘Seddie’ according to them.

Me? Well, I’m a ‘Seddie’ shipper too – I’m just more realistic. I tend to believe that if something like that occurs, it’ll be pretty clear in the title name. The title, ‘iGet Pranky’ just doesn’t connote the same feeling, eh?

So, with hearts pumping and emotions all tizzy with excitement, I sat down to watch it tonight. And I have to say – I was bitterly disappointed.

Oh, don’t get me wrong, I appreciate that this is a random episode aimed at humour and bolstering the interactions between all the characters. It just didn’t live up to general expectations. Unlike iBeat the Heat, where the ‘Seddie-verse’ was frenzied with rumoured Seddie-Griffin interaction, the general consensus was that of a moderate episode, one that just did it’s job of providing a laugh. That it failed to do.

I’ll give my reasons…..or rather just one. There was a lack of a secondary plot line. In most other episodes, Carly and one other character would be involved in the crisis enunciated in the title, and the others would be up to their necks in some other trouble. ‘iSam’s Mom’ was a great example of two totally segregated storylines – they were hilarious, each had its own funny stuff, and they worked so well.

iGet Pranky, and indeed even iGot a Hot Room, just had one storyline that meandered on for the whole episode. This would be good if they were able to go into the story in depth, but instead it felt like an episode of The Suite Life on Deck. And looking at my previous post, you all know how I feel about that. What a secondary storyline provides is a change of pace, different interactions, and a moment to take a breather. With just one, it just doesn’t work.

Now, just some more comments about this episode. In the style of Dan’s ‘Fun Facts’, Imma be gonna dividing it up into several sections:

The Good and Hilarious

1. I luv the new intro video.
2. Oh my word….Gibby and hair, and then Gibby and Fish. What will that boy do next?
3. Did anyone catch the Drake and Josh reference in there? If not, you haven’t been worshipping Dan Schneider enough.
4. Catheters. L-O-L.
5. Despite all the trouble he caused, Spencer’s pranks were freakin’ hilarious.
6. And the montage video was good as well.
7. I have to say, the extra Gibby interactions in the episode kinda made it seem more that he’s a main character instead of a supporting one, despite what it says on the intro video. I also appreciate the randomness that he brings to the iCarly party (figuratively), but unless he is actually involved in a main plot to the same level as the iCarly trio (+ Spencer), he should go back to being a supporting character.
8. “Ye – it makes it more official.” Oh, Carly.
9. Spencer’s dancing when he pranked someone. Oh, how I wish I had the same moves.
10. Nunchucks. Sam. Win. Guess that crush wasn’t that deep….

The Bad and the Ugly

Funnily enough, most of it’s already been stated above. I just also feel that the humour was a bit lacking in this episode….perhaps they went over the limit in iSam’s Mom (which I felt was the most hilarious episode ever) and had to take some away from here.

The Downright Unbelievable

Time to do what this blog was designed to do.

1. No Carly – “ye” doesn’t make the contract more official. Even the Bible is still official in The Message version. I know that this was deliberate, but still…
2. If Spencer was so good with his ‘3 days in law school’ that he could find loopholes in a major company’s contract (see iPromote Techfoots), why didn’t he just read the contract himself instead of wanting to send it to Socko’s friend?
3. Come on – no one noticed a big bag of garlic powder on the ceiling? I’m pretty sure that their eyesight was affected AFTER the bag dropped, not the other way round. Maybe it was just because it was the nineties.
4. And how did Spencer get the bag up there anyway?
5. Carly, Carly, Carly – your brother got beat up and you didn’t hear a thing?

Random Thoughts

1. The big talking point – Sam has a crush on Spencer? O-M-G! -.- I have no comment to add to this, save for three things: (1) ‘Spam’ will never happen, because it’s against social standards and Nickelodeon’s code on conduct, (2) It was probably meant to be random (a la Dan) but it didn’t come off right, and (3) I concur with the views of a commenter on the Bickering Sidekicks Forum called Archnemesis, who holds that this was merely a nod by Dan to the other unlikely ships out there in the fandom.
2. A bit random – but has anyone noticed how tall Gibby’s got? It’s incredible!
3. Another thing about Gibby – his fashion sense is horrible. By the looks of the collar shirt and cardigan, it’s almost worth him taking it off.
4. Why did past Spencer have the same hair as present Spencer?

Final Thoughts

This episode was one that was not advertised as a special – and it was because it really wasn’t anything special. It’s not because the Seddie shippers wanted Seddie and got Spam instead. Its because there is a lack of secondary storylines in Season 4 episodes, and it’s detrimental to the effect of the show. I really appreciate the hard work Dan and the other iCarly writers do, but if you’re really stuck for ideas, please take a hiatus – I know the fans will hate having to wait for ages, but if it allows you to think of new and interesting storylines, it’s worth it.

I liked the episode, I really do. But you would have  thought that a better episode should have been chosen to follow the hilarity of iSam’s Mom. Ah well. Here’s hoping ‘iSell Penny-Tees’ will be much better…..and deliver the Seddie goodness that many, including me, are hoping for.

Overall score: 5.5/10
Funniest part: The Catheters reference by Gibby. Can’t beat that.
Best performer: Spencer’s dancing won this for him.

Till next time, ta ta!

Do you agree or disagree with this assessment, or do you just want a place to rant? Leave a comment right here!

The Suite Life on Deck: Rock the Kasbah (2×23)

I stumbled across this episode on the Disney Channel while waiting for HOUSE MD to begin, and out of boredom, I scrutinised it with an Eagle Eye (No, not the evil supercomputer). While it’s clear that kids (probably >11) watching this would be LOL-ing at the jokes, I personally feel that as a mature young adult, the jokes are kind of kiddyish. And how dumb is London Tipton? For shame, it’s a disgrace on the reputation of that ethnicity.

For those who haven’t seen The Suite Life on Deck, it’s basically about 2 twins, Zack and Cody, travelling the world with their friends upon a cruise ship and having adventures. For a more detailed summary, there’s the Wikipedia page for you.

A short and sharp summary of the episode is this: The group arrives in Morocco. Zack and Cody find some earrings that Cody wants to buy for Bailey, but due to Zack’s meddling, Cody misses out on the deal. Zack then eats some weird and disgusting foods in order to buy it for Cody. Meanwhile, Bailey, London, Marcus and Woody discover a “magic” lamp and fight over the wishes. Yep. Such deep profound things are the plots of these episodes. -.-

But that’s not why I’m here. Just want to point out a few inconsistencies that I noticed (and you may have too), and other related items:

1. 100% Inspiration, 0% perspiration. The whole episode was set in Morocco, a hot and humid place. As I used to live in Singapore, I know that humidity and/or heat gets people sweating. And yet, did you notice anybody with perspiration on their body, or their shirts wet on the chest and/or armpit area? Even at the end part, when everyone was running around stupidly, not a drop a sweat appeared. Dang, they’re fit.
2. Uh oh Mummy, I wet my pants. If Cody really had “ice-cube underpants” on, the transfer of heat from his body and the outside air would have caused the ice to alter their solid state to a liquid one. Simply put, the ice would have melted, showing a stain on the pants and dripping down his legs. Odd to see that the pants were dry for the whole episode.
3. Not sure whether it’s really a mistake or not, but during the scene when “the sun disappeared from the sky”, the lights on the windows resembled strobe lighting from a light show. And unless London’s blimp is transparent, shouldn’t it stop more light than that, or even turn the area a different colour?
4. Yes, can I have a bag of poisonous snakes? The bazaar seemed pretty upscale, not some kind of roadside stalls. Why then would they have a venomous cobra in a basket? Was it a pet? A lucky dip? Not only is that dangerous (what if someone tips the basket over, or puts it on someone’s head?), but it’s bad for the snake too.
5. Gordon Ramsey, eat your heart out! Forcing a little kid to eat goat’s eyeballs to make a sale? That’s just disgustingly unethical. Man, that guy would be in trouble. I guess though, if it’s voluntary…..Plus, what person puts live beetles in ice-cream to eat?
6. There was a mention of an Achmed at the knife-throwing part. Did they mean the “Dead terrorist“?
7. Maybe the taste is in the expiry! Bailey’s pies came from America in a cardboard box? Unless the pies are made from plastic, anyone would have taken precautions to stop it from going off. Hermetically sealed container, perhaps an airtight Tupperware box, but a cardboard box that wasn’t even sealed?

Altogether, while lame, immature, disgusting, and kiddy, it still is much better than some of the other cartoons and TV shows out there. I give this a B-

P.S. I’m also doing a review of Twilight on my original blog, THE WRITE STORIES. Have a look right here!

What did YOU think of this episode? Leave a comment and share your thoughts here!

NCIS 6×02: Agent Afloat

A better episode of NCIS, and while this does seem similar to the season 1 episode “The Immortals” (1×04), it was finally good to see Tony come home. A character episode, mostly, and one that made few discernable errors.

<Overview from tv.com>

With the rest of the team still missing Tony, who is still an agent afloat on the USS Seahawk, Tony finds that a sailor, Lieutenant Brad Evans, has committed suicide by way of jumping overboard. As McGee and Ziva go to inform the victim’s wife, Linda, in Washington about her husband’s death, they discover that she has been beaten to death – with some blows delivered post-mortem and with snot in her hair.

The team finds out that Evans was actually killed before he had boarded the ship and that someone who pretended to be him had entered the ship. McGee cracks his computer to find that the imposter is believed to be carrying an anthrax vaccine to protect himself from an attack. As Evans was a computer specialist in charge of the ship’s defence system, a biological attack could be lethal. The man that was reported to have contacted the imposter is Lieutenant Jason Kaplan and he soon becomes a suspect as Evans’s imposter.

Later Kaplan suffers from a drug overdose and is found to have left DC before Evans’s wife died, eliminating him as a suspect. McGee finds that the ship’s system was hacked to steal cases of anthrax vaccine to sell on the black market, and Abby finds that the snot contained a Samoan flu strain. A cross-check finds that the doctor’s assistant is the murderer.

Evans had owed the assistant, Taylor Henley, money and Henley made Evans order more anthrax to sell via the black market. Evan’s wife found out about the entire thing and Henley killed both of them to make sure that he wouldn’t be found out. Then he drugged up Kaplan to try to escape. As Henley tried to hijack the plane to escape, Gibbs enters and saves the day.

In the end, Tony goes back to NCIS and is reunited with his team – permanently.

Surprisingly, not many errors tonight. Just a few things:

1. McGee’s hacking skills must be almost magical. While an entire team of computer techs on the ship takes days to try to find out if anything was wrong with the computer network, McGee takes way shorter time to find that it was the shipping that was affected. I know that they were looking for a flaw in the defence system, but McGee should have been too.
2. Gibbs is kinda like Dr. House. He’s good at what he does, but you have to cater to his every whim. Why else would Director Vance put Tony back? That guy needs to stick to a decision.
3. The bad guy did seem a little fake and nervous when he appeared on the screen. Too obvious.
4. And I know this is a little petty, but Ziva keeps changing her hairstyle. In DC, it was mostly straight, in Cartagena it was permed, and then on the ship, it was straight. Is that something ALL women do?

Good Crime, interesting premise, though it stunk a little of Season 1: B+. Bringing back Tony into the team was nice, though expected, and the bad guy was a little too obvious. B. Overall, this was kind of a character episode (as far as NCIS character episodes go), and good to see Tony get back on his feet, and the team together again. B+

Quote of the episode: “Maybe you’ll get lucky, Doc, and your little dope dispensing caper will stay locked up tight like a Samsonite!” – Anthony “Tony” DiNozzo

NCIS 6×01: Last Man Standing

The Season 6 premiere of NCIS was only slightly above average. They randomly threw characters in, took characters out, and had a convoluted plot. However, the occasional humourous scenes salvaged it from a total write-off.

<Overview from tv.com>

After Director Shepard’s death, Vance has split the team up. Gibbs and his new team are investigating the murder of a high-ranking petty officer who was selling classified information to someone in NCIS. The officer tried to reveal his source to Vance but he was killed before he was able to. Vance has split up the team so that they could all gather intelligence on finding out who the mole is within NCIS.

In the meantime, McGee is running his own computer intelligence team in the sub-basement, Ziva is working undercover in Morocco, and Tony is working in the USS Seahawk. There are three suspects that Vance wants investigated and they are all assigned to Gibbs’ team. They consist of Lee, Langer and Keating. As part of the investigation, Palmer confesses that Lee suspiciously logged into the strategic office, where the murdered petty officer worked, but Lee has a legitimate alibi. Gibbs finds a stolen security clearance badge in Keating’s backpack when he questions him. The badge belonged to the petty officer.

During the interrogation of Keating, Lee goes with Langer to see what computer archives the card accesses. While they are there, Langer pulls out his gun. Cut-scene to Gibbs getting a call from Lee telling him that Langer is the mole as shots are heard. Shortly after, Gibbs, Vance, and McGee arrive to find Lee on the ground, shaking uncontrollably and holding her gun. Langer is dead, shot by Lee.

In the end, Ziva is recalled and McGee is re-assigned back to Gibbs’s team. Happy scene.

As Lee is in the elevator getting ready to leave, she receives a text message that reads, “Do they suspect?” Lee staged the whole thing; she is the mole. A flashback shows her shooting the petty officer through a pillow, taking the security badge and planting it in Keating’s pocket. We also see her shoot Langer in cold-blood and then shooting the glass with his gun to make it look like he shot at her. In the elevator, she responds to the text with a simple “no.”

Alright, this is where I shine.

1. Who the heck were those three in Gibbs’ B-Team? We know Lee, I have the sneaking suspicion that I’ve seen Langer before, but who was Keating? Ronan Keating? I wish. Though they did do a good job of making us wish for the A-Team back.
2. If the Director had such fears of the three being a spy, why would he put them together with Gibbs? Is he Internal Affairs now? I know he’s good and all, but usually a spy would be something for a department, or at least a team, to handle. Not one guy, not even Gibbs.
3. And it would be a good idea for Vance to tell Gibbs first, eh?
4. And again, if Vance was so worried, he should have put the three under constant surveillance. That would have caught Lee in the murder and avoided all this mess.
5. How on earth did the men who planted the bomb in Morocco manage to get out of the club without getting injured? The bomb apparently went off almost immediately after they exited, and was powerful enough to cause near-structural collapse. They must have been moving at the speed of light or be made of steel or something.
6. We are suspicious of the three agents, yet when we turn our backs to interview one, the others run off? Isn’t there an entire building full of agents who could monitor the bullpen for half an hour?
7. I know this may have occurred to others in pervious seasons, but how come the entire NCIS department of Washington only has one ME (and one assistant) and one lab rat? Don’t they have enough money? No wonder taxes are so high.

The mystery wasn’t really a mystery at all, though it had an interesting premise: B- . The conclusion did have an interesting twist (Lawyers are actually spies!), and brought Ziva and McGee back to the team. B+. However, overall, the dearth of characters nearly killed it, and the whole thing seemed convoluted. B.

Quote of the episode: “Tell Agent Gibbs that he can send the B-Team in now!” – Donald “Ducky” Mallard

Remember to leave a comment and tell us what you think!

In the Beginning…..

Salutations, everybody! I’m Andrix, avid watcher of shows and reader of books. Whenever I do that, and I spot an inaccuracy somewhere, I get annoyed. So, I decided to put them up on this blog. I’ll watch an episode of a TV show or a movie, or read a book, and if I see anything of interest, I’ll post it right here!

Currently, I’m watching Season 6 of NCIS, so, I’ll start with it. If anyone has any requests for a post, just leave a comment and I’ll get back to you as soon as I can.

Ciao!