Greek 410- Satisfy My Soul

Spoiler Alert...Below are some thoughts on last night's series finale of Greek, "Legacy." So before reading any further, watch the ep, spoil the original Star Wars movies for somebody, then read what I have to say.

After finishing the Greek series finale this morning, I tweeted that it "passed out Friday Night Lights for most satisfying finale of the year." Maybe I was a bit hyperbolic in that statement, but I really couldn't have asked anything more of "Legacy" as we said goodbye to our favorite students at Cyprus Rhodes University.

I didn't think we were really building up to a series finale as the last few episodes went by, but I was pleasantly surprised at how much this episode both continued the current story lines, and wrapped up many of the long running themes of the series beautifully and succinctly.

The episode in and of itself had plenty to work with. It had its excitement as the gang pulled together to perform its best caper to date. Albeit stealing that fraternity paddle didn't end up saving the day, but it was still a really fun moment watching them pull off one last set of antics. It also had its sad moment as Rusty, Beaver, and myself all shed a tear for the Kappa Tau house as it was demolished following the unsuccessful movement by Rusty with the frat paddle.

But what the episode really did was leave me completely satisfied with the long running character arcs. Cappie grew up. He was slowly doing so throughout this final season, but in accidentally graduating from CRU and deciding to join Casey in whatever her plan was, Cappie proved that he was a different man than the one we met those few years ago. In standing up to her law professor, Casey proved that she wasn't going to just follow the crowd because it was the right thing to do for her future. This more free-wheeling Casey Cartwright is someone I'm happy to finally see show up.

Oh Rusty Cartwright, how I hated you so. The one they call Spitter sure did get on my nerves time after time, but that won't stop me for being proud of him for stepping up to the plate and being the new President that Kappa Tau needs. Sure he'll probably do some lame things on occasion, which will embarrass the legacy that Cappie left, but it was a perfect arc for this nerd turned frat guy. Him being with Ashleigh though? That's something I'm not as thrilled about. It felt extremely rushed, and that they needed somewhere to take her character. I feel like her going off to be independent might have been a better ending, but I'm just picking nits at this point.

Sure there was Calvin heading off to some foreign country to help people, but the other conclusion I was most pleased with was the fact that Evan finally made up for all his douchery when he sided with Cappie and his friends over his future. This is a character that was so easy to hate at moments, but you could always see how he got off the wrong path. To watch him be the nice guy in the end was so very satisfying.

The best part of the episode though, was without a doubt, finding out Cappie's full name. That was the only thing I went into this finale needing to know. If they never told us what his name was, I would have been extremely upset. More upsetting than any non-answer a Lost fan had following that finale. And to find out his name was as awesome as it was, that was just the icing on the cake...Captain John Paul Jones!?!?! Why I never guessed that Cappie was short for Captain is beyond me, but I'm so glad that I didn't. I was surprised as Ashleigh as she read the name on Cappie's diploma aloud. Fantastic stuff.

The funny thing about Greek is that I started watching the show almost jokingly. If I remember correctly, it was Jackie Boy and Jon the Bon watching it that first summer it aired. I checked it out with them and was laughing at how ridiculous it was and how much I hated some of the characters (Rusty, Calvin, etc.). The show grew into one the series that I took more seriously over the years. It used comedy extremely well, with more pop-culture references per minute than Community, and seemed to be more in touch with the young adult demographic than anything else on tv. They weren't glorifying the life of a young adult, or debasing it, like a 90210 or Gossip Girl tends to do. It just felt real, and that was one of the reasons I enjoyed it so much over the years.

Greek- The Famous Clapper Caper

Beaver- "Then I didn't mean to sleep with your girlfriend, Bing!"

The most disappointing moment from last night's season finale of Greek? Cappie and Casey breaking up? Nope. Rusty's magnificent revenge plan being all about getting Calvin to be president of Omega Chi? Nope. JJ missing the Cyprus Rhodes crew in Myrtle Beach by only a couple days? Yes. Oh sure the Kappa Taus, Zeta Betas, etc. weren't there last night. And they probably weren't shooting on location in the South Carolina Spring Break destination, but that doesn't mean I can't rib JJ for missing out on all the Greek action.

In all seriousness, the most disappointing part was actually the fact that Rusty's evil revenge plan ended up being a stupid little plot made out to get Omega Chi and Kappa Tau as friend frats. You see, I've hate Russell Cartwright since this show first started. I gave him my first place vote for the Lily Finnerty Award for the Character I Love to Hate in a Comedy at last year's Poolies. I went into every episode of Greek knowing that I was going to cringe at everything the young college student did.

During last night's ep I realized that this guy was actually turning things around. For the past four or five episodes I didn't detest him more than everything in the world. I even started thinking that I disliked Calvin and Calvin's ridiculous gay partner more than Rusty. His normal idea to get revenge on the Omega Chis for getting some Kappa Taus expelled got him some points in my book.

Phase 1, phase 2, phase 3 all go according to plan and I'm thinking to myself "is Rusty actually being sweet right now?" You lose on purpose in the golf contest so that the Omegas get the party house in MB. You hire a fake mobster to kick them out of said party house. You make it look like you're paying off mobster so that they try to take back the house. All good. But when the cops that come to arrest the Omega Chis for throwing a party in a house that's not theirs, end up being fake I lost all the minute respect I had for Rusty.

You go through all of that so that Calvin can pretend to sweet talk his way into getting the Omega Chis out of trouble? And now the one or two dudes that see him do this say that they'll vote for him in the presidential election? Wow what an awesome plan. There was no other way to get this done? In the words of Lee Giordano, I doubt that! You could have gotten some Omegas kicked out of school, gotten their charter taken away, but no you want the two frats to be friends with each other. What a bunch of pansies. How did Cappie go along with this? Disappointment inevitably ensues.

This worthless revenge plot by Rusty reminded me of the fantastic moment in Saved by the Bell: College Years when Mike Rogers explains that he concocted the best frat prank ever back when he was in school. He took the clapper out of the bell on top of the school so that when someone went up there to ring the bell..."There was nothing! No sound!" Hilarious moment because Zack, Slater and the gang all made fun of him for it. Unlike here where everyone congratulated Rusty for his useless prank.

Other Points

- Cappie and Casey's break-up was extremely anti-climactic. We all saw this coming a mile away. What happens form here on out? I always wanted the show to end with them getting together, but now that we've seen them together I don't know if that's really that sweet anymore.

- This summer will be the next and final season of the college dramedy. What can they do with another 10-12 episodes. I did hear that they're bringing Franny and Casey's nerd ex-bf back so there should be a couple stories there, but I think this should've been the last one.

- Dale and Beaver obviously killed it again this week. The Beav's quote at the top in response to Evan saying that they didn't mean to get the Kappa Taus expelled from school, was the highlight of the ep.

- Check that. It might have actually been when a drunken Dale asked "who ordered the fat, ugly strippers?" when the fake cops rolled through the party house.

Monday Musings- Once Upon a Time in Good Heroes

Greek
This week's semi-season finale was less than epic. By all means a quality ep, but last week's Cappie/Casey get together seemed more like a finale than this one did. What I continue to enjoy about Greek is the underrated writing habits. My favorite is the way they can hammer a joke into the ground and then find a way to turn it on its head and get so much more out of it.

This season Casey's sort-of nemesis, Catherine, used the phrase 'moving on' in every way possible. She would say it rudely to make her points clear, but Casey finally had enough and used it back at her. Classic.

The growth of the joke that Evan is not funny keeps getting better and better. This week it was portrayed through the fact that Evan knows that something is wrong when Cappie laughs at his joke.

Heroes
Just when I thought that Heroes couldn't get any worse, they go and do something like this week's episode....and totally redeem themselves!!! Now I'm not usually one who enjoys an ep that brings the story nowhere and totally diverts from the plot of the season, but 'Once Upon a Time In Texas' was definitely an exception. Seeing the same scenes that we saw back in season one, in a different fashion, was fantastic. It was extremely nostalgic to a go back to a time when Heroes was actually a great show. To see Sylar and Hiro both in the early stages of their season one heroics was great. But to have future Hiro there, overseeing the whole thing...whew. Awesome! On the flip side...how pointless was the Noah story with this random chick? Just bad.

Monday Musings- Rusty Cartwright's Awkard Comic-Con

Heroes
I think this week was the first episode in a while that I can actually say was GOOD. Here's the thing though...What is the deal with the deaf girl? It's all well and good that she has this new type of power, but who cares? She can see sounds! That may help her in every day life, because she's deaf, but how will she help the world as a hero? (Fast forward to later on in the episode) Oh now I see...Sound can destroy things, that makes sense.

How come when the girls came to accept Claire into the sorority they didn't pour green slime on her? (Saved by the Bell- College Years)

At the end of the ep we finally got to a great story line! Samuel had a mole at Claire's college! Some girl has been doing all of the horrible things around Claire this whole time. Because her power is invisibility (we've seen this before) she could kill her first roommate and get Claire to hate Gretchen by throwing the flag at her and dropping the book in the dorm room so she could see Gretchen's computer. The question that arises for me is 'what is Samuel's end game with this?' Where do Claire and/or Hiro fit into his master plan? And then there is Sylar/Nathan who stumbles onto Samuel's invisible carnival. Is this thing just a figment of some people's imagination or is the whole thing, and all the people, invisible? Interesting prospect.

Greek
Who would have thought that a major Cappie/Evan friendship would be the main thing holding Greek together at this point? Choking down every Rusty Cartwright scene, while shielding my eyes from the awkwardness, continues to be the most difficult thing to watch on television. I can't tell if I hate his story lines because of how much I can't stand this kid, or if I actually love them because of how much I can't stand the Spitter of a boy. This week it was him trying to talk to girls at Comic-Con and then professing his love to his ex-girlfriend via video chat that was on display for everyone at the convention. The epitome of 'tough to watch.' Luckily Dale was there from time to time for comic relief. By the way when Rusty found a computer at Comic-Con it took him all but 2.7 seconds to pop open a screen with video chat that required no login and his ex, Jordan, appeared on screen 3.2 second later. I gotta find a program/computer that works like that!

One Tree Hill
To start from where I left off last time, I'm beginning to build the relationships with the new characters that I need to sympathize with all of their TRAGIC situations. Of the three major, new characters, Quinn is the only one that I am truly indifferent toward. Clay and Alex are similar in that they have gotten bad reputations based on their prior behaviors. In this week's episode they are both beginning to turn the corner and become very likable. There are not many character archetypes that are more profitable than the bad boy that turns sensitive (see: Dylan McKay and even Nathan Scott of season two). Clay has always been a jerk but he is now reaching out to a wounded Quinn. Alex is a major slew with a drug problem. In this ep we see our first glimmer of hope in her as she decides to try and take her writing career seriously. Her encounters with Julian were obviously hilarious so we'll see if this idea of her pans out or she returns to the wreck that she was. Either way, Clay and Alex are definitely two of my favorites on the horribleness that has been the start to season seven.

Monday Musings- Greek Parties Down

House
The fact that we were back to the same old procedural format this week was doubly bad because House still wasn't back at his old job, so guess who was the center of the show. Dr. Foreman. Yikes. He should really go back to playing basketball players who fall in love with their neighbors because he is awful on this show. Or better yet, instead of wasting all this time trying to fill House's position, he could spend a little more time with his football team! Maybe if he didn't drive back and forth between Princeton Plainsboro and Pittsburgh so much, his squad could be better than 1-2 with a loss to the Bengals!

Greek
So when Evan needed to get a new job so he could stay afloat Cappie suggested this cater-waiter position he saw on the bulletin board. Cap obviously joined him on this venture 'cause there was a cute girl working with the company. When they got the the building it said Party Down Catering on the signage. Are they allowed to do that? Isn't that a show on Starz? I thought maybe it was just a nice quick hitter, but then Cappie and Evan started to put on their pink bowties for the occasion. Okay. I've seen the commercials and promos. Those are their outfits on the show! How is it possible that they can do this?

In other Greek news of the week, they made fun of ABC's medical drama not once nor twice, but three times. I am sure glad I stopped watching that show after one season, or I'd feel embarrassed right now.

Heroes
I know that I'm the type of guy that generally likes villains more than protagonists, but are the Heroes creators intensely trying to glorify its villains? Sure Sylar has been one of the best characters on television for a few years now, and this week's ep didn't stray from the statement, but now this Samuel character is getting me excited all over again. Maybe he isn't going to be a villain in the long run, but right now they're making him seem like one, and a really cool one at that. Peter is lame, Claire is a chick and Hiro is nowhere near the character he was in season one. Don't even get me started on Parkman. This week's highlight...Noah saying, "I'm gonna have to call The Haitian." Hearing the characters on the show call him The Haitian just sounds funny to me, and I enjoy it every time.

One Tree Hill
Another big gripe here. Not only did they bring in new characters that we have no relationship with this season, but they've toyed with our prior relationships with the main characters with all the time jumps they've done. After season four they jumped ahead five years and kept flashing back to the time gap so we could get a fell for what happened while we missed them. This time all we have is the guessing about what might have gone on while we were gone. For example: we haven't enjoyed the journey with Nathan through his first full season in the NBA, so I can't feel for him through his current problems. The only minor storyline that holds any strength is Dan's. This is the only type of thing where the jump helps. He shows up so drastically changed from where we left off with him. Through flashbacks, they give us that back story we need to feel for what he went through to get where he is now. Maybe they want us to like Dan the most (I do right now), but it's sad that I'm losing touch with Nathan, Haley and Brooke because of the jumping around.

Monday Musings

House
I really enjoyed the new format. I really don't like procedurals in general. Other than House and The Mentalist, I haven't gotten into any. This week's two hour premier was pretty much just a solid House movie. It was a nice break from the ordinary dynamic we see of House with his team. He was so good in the Cuckoo's Nest role. It's too bad that next week and every week there after is just going to back to the regular procedural format that we know and like.

The two moments I enjoyed most: The first was when I went from so happy with what House did for the Freedom Master (taking him to the carnival so he could fly), to so sad for what the Freedom Master did (jumping off the parking garage) because of House in a quick minute. The second was when House got the No-Talker and Freedom Master out of their funks. It was so awesome that he didn't just make Run Lola Run tear up, he got the kid to as well.

One Tree Hill
I used to think this show was great because of its dramatic moments and the ability to use music fantastically well. Whether it is because I have been watching a lot of Beverly Hills 90210 lately or something about One Tree Hill has changed, but I have been more and more unimpressed with Schwan's ability to hit me with the intense moment. The problem I realized last night, and JJ realized upon his first and presumably only watch of an episode last year, is that music plays throughout almost the entire episode. And not score mind you, but actual songs that could be used a gut wrenching anthems. When you play songs through the entire episode it takes away from the moments that could use it the most. When I watch an episode of 90210, I'd say 1/3 of it has no sound, 1/3 has score and 1/3 has songs. That is the ideal way to build up the action of an episode and portray certain moments as calm and comical or highly dramatic. One Tree Hill's technique of playing music throughout gives the impression of the entire episode being important, but all this week's ep did for me, was downplay the entire 45 minutes.

Greek
Unlike Gossip Girl, in which Jaydon explained has been lost on him because of the way everyone just trades off boyfriends and girlfriends, I feel Greek portrays the relationships of their characters in a realistic fashion. First let's take what happened earlier in the season with Rusty, Jordan and Andy-licious. After Rusty steals Jordan away from his friend Andy, we never see Andy again. That is definitely what would happen. Then we have Casey who went from Cappie, before the show started, to Evan who she then broke up with for Max. Cappie and Evan have been mad at each other for the entire series because of the Casey triangle. Sure they're slowly becoming friends again, and Casey may end up back with Cappie at some point in the future, but it's a very plausible situation. In Gossip, Nate and Blaire are an item forever, he cheats on her, she gets with Chuck in a strange non-relationship and then all of a sudden gets back with Nate, and then back to Chuck. Besides a semi-arc of a storyline where Nate and Chuck hate each other, they act like the two of them are completely okay with all of this, and that isn't right.

Heroes
It's like they're trying to start over, but it's way too late. They've screwed up the flow of the series enough that a feeling of new beginnings now seems too weird. Hiro used to be so focused on saving the world and thinking about the grand scheme of life, and now he has started 'Dial a Hero'? Interesting. I was so excited to see the Haitian, even if it was only for two seconds. Parkman's dream Syler is absolutely the best character on the show, and might even be better than the real Syler. He might be the only reason I will stick with this show 'til the end.

Cable Fall Preview

Although many of these cable shows have already started, I believe they need their just due here.

HBO
Entourage
I thought I'd mention the two HBO programs that are finishing up their current seasons. Entourage has four episodes left and it has been as lackluster of a summer as ever for the entertainment dramedy. Lowlighted by Tom Brady's awful performance, season six has been less than stellar. Stop following E's love life. Nobody likes him. It's torture.

True Blood
True Blood, on the other hand, has taken as giant leap in the right direction in its sophomore season. What started out as a weak-charactered vampire show, has turned into a fantastic-storylined supernatural thriller. The 10th episode of this second season was one of my favorite eps of any show in a long time. After this past Sunday's penultimate ep, there is only one left this summer.

Curb Your Enthusiasm
Curb Your Enthusiasm finally returns on September 20. After what was one of the two best seasons in the show's history, Larry David had a lot to live up to this fall. He found a way to get me even more excited. Prettttty, pretttttty, pretttttty excited. A Seinfeld Reunion. All four of the main actors from Seinfeld, yes Jerry Seinfeld, Jason Alexander, Julia Louis-Dreyfuss and even Michael Richards, will be major contributors on this season of Curb. Not only that, but the premise of the season will be Larry and the gang putting a Seinfeld Reunion in the works.

Disney
After the DVD release of Hannah Montana The Movie this month and the television premier of Wizards of Waverly Place The Movie this past Friday, the Disney Channel's big three are picking up major steam. Joined by Sonny with a Chance, these three shows have gotten me hooked on the Disney Channel as I used to be with Even Stevens back in the day. They don't come without major success either, as the Wizards Movie recorded the highest viewership of the summer, with 11.4 million viewers. I'm assuming most of them are not 23 year old dudes.

Greek
I have yet to watch the season 3 premier of Greek that aired tonight (Monday) but I'm definitely excited for it to be back. Whether it's hating on Rusty's awkwardness, loving Cappie's wit, or crushing on Casey for some inexplicable reason, Greek always brings plenty of entertainment.

Mad Men
Mad Men is three eps in now, and it started up where it left off. Interesting, but not entertaining. I find myself a bit intrigued by the stories and historical elements of the show, but they don't manage to portray them in a way that gets me excited for the next episode. I'd much rather watch a show that can entertain without being smart (the late Las Vegas) than a smart show that fails to entertain (Mad Men).