Podcast Episode 2

In this episode I discuss Supergirl (00:37), The Flash (3:07), Agents of SHIELD (4:29), Scream Queens (5:21), Blindspot (6:46), Arrow (7:40), Code Black (7:50), Grey's Anatomy (8:55), Scandal (11:18), The Vampire Diaries (11:58), How To Get Away With Murder (12:55), Doctor Who (13:38), and entertainment news (17:17).

Also mentioned in this episode is The Televixen. Please visit thetelevixen.com. 
Theme song by Marian Call. mariancall.bandcamp.com
Corrections: The Doctor Who episodes mentions should be called The Zygon Invasion and The Zygon Inversion.

Podcast: Episode 1

In this episode, I talk about The Flash (begins at 1:48), Arrow (begins at 4:42), Agents of SHIELD (begins at 7:54), Grey's Anatomy (beings at 9:50), Scandal (begins at 12:22), and some entertainment news (begins at 14:03).
Theme song by Marian Call. Visit her at mariancall.bandcamp.com. 

Christina Watches: Gilmore Girls S01 E4

This week on the Gilmore Girls watch, we're up to The Deer Hunter.

In this episode, Rory gets a D on her first big paper, so she and Lorelai stay up studying for a week to prepare her for her big Shakespeare test.

Unfortunately, they both sleep in on the day of the test, and Rory gets hit by a deer while driving Lorelai's car on the way to school. That makes her too late to take the test. Yes, you heard that right. She gets hit by a deer.

She argues with her teacher, and when he doesn't allow her to join her classmates in taking the test, she loses it. She (finally!) calls out both Paris and Tristan, and she's sent to the office.

Lorelai is called, and when she arrives and learns that Rory wasn't allowed to take the test, SHE loses it on both Mr. Medina, and the headmaster, Mr. Charleston. Mr. Charleston sends the women home with orders to give serious thought about whether or not Rory belongs at Chilton.

Rory and Lorelai have a heart to heart, and Rory chooses to stay at the prep school. She knows that once she catches up with the other students, she'll start to shine again.

Meanwhile, Sookie is having her own issues. The inn's restaurant gets a great review in a local magazine, but Sookie focuses on the fact that the reviewer called her risotto, "fine". Just fine won't do for her.
Sookie does some sleuthing and figures out that the reviewer had paired the wrong wine with the risotto. 
Sookie finds the reviewers address, goes to his house, and in a very weird scene, makes the reviewer eat her newly prepared risotto with the proper glass of wine. 
It's a weird scene because Sookie never once looks at the reviewer--she actually keeps her back to the guy the whole time she's talking to him, and stares off at nothing. Because of this, we also never get to see his face.
I don't know if this was because he's going to be someone important in the future and we need to be surprised about that, or if it was just an oddly (and stupidly, imo) written scene.

There's also some obvious chemistry between Lorelai and Mr. Medina, and I'm going to guess they start dating, making things awkward for Rory. 

So, another mostly boring episode. And this time, I didn't even get enough Michel to make it worthwhile.
Come on, Gilmore Girls! You're killin' me here! Please, please, get better!

Christina Watches: Gilmore Girls S01 E3

Welcome back to my "Gilmore Girls" watch! This time it's Kill Me Now. 

In this episode, Rory has to choose a sport to play at school, and so she goes golfing with her grandfather to learn the game.
Along the way they bond, and they actually have a great time together.

Lorelai, on the other hand, is planning a huge double-twin wedding at the inn, and when she hears that Rory and Richard actually had fun together, she gets jealous and petty. She starts a fight with Rory about boob sizes, which, of course, is resolved before the episode ends.

Michel is his usual grumpy self, and I actually laughed out loud three or four times during this episode because of him. He gets some awesome lines.

Sookie is another great background player, and her banter with Jackson is adorable and amusing.

In the end, everyone learnt a valuable lesson, and I've learnt that the show is slowly improving and finding it's stride. 

However, I still feel like I'm waiting for something to happen....anything, really. I'm not yet emotionally invested, and that's very important for me when it comes to TV shows.
I'm also not yet in love with the main characters. I hope something happens soon to fix that.
I know, I know, it's only episode 3...but if I compare this to other shows I love, like Grey's Anatomy, Veronica Mars, or Friday Night Lights, by now I was already completely hooked and invested in the show.

Will that happen soon with Gilmore Girls? I truly hope so. I want to feel the way you all did when you watched it for the first time!

Until next time!

Christina Watches: Gilmore Girls S01 E2

Welcome to episode 2 of my "Gilmore Girls" watch, The Lorelais' First Day At Chilton!

In this episode, Lorelai oversleeps on Rory's first day at her new school, which sets off a bad day domino effect.

Because she's slept in, she can't make it to the dry cleaners first to pick up her nice clothes. She has to resort to wearing a "Daisy Duke" outfit to meet the headmaster at Chilton. Great first impression!

To make things worse, Emily, who is apparently a good friend of the new headmaster's, has also decided to lend her support to Rory by showing up at Chilton. Lorelai is not only horribly dressed, but more nervous and awkward than usual. 

Once she's actually able to get to class, Rory notices that she's already made an enemy. Paris, the current smarty-pants "it" girl was able to steal Rory's school file. After reading that Rory is smart, motivated, and possibly after a job with the school paper--Paris's territory--jealousy rears its ugly head.
And to make things even worse, Rory accidentally ruins Paris's history project when she knocks it out of Paris's arms.

The boys of Chilton don't seem to be much better. The rich hottie, Tristan (played by current hottie, Chad Michael Murray!), weirdly insists on calling Rory, "Mary", which Lorelai later explains is because of Rory's "virginal" demeanor.

Lorelai herself isn't having the greatest day. Emily calls her numerous times, telling Lorelai she'd like to buy Rory's school clothes, a school parking spot...a car...
While she means well, Lorelai finally blows up at her. She wants to do it all herself, and she doesn't need her parents help, thank you very much!

We also get to know a teeny bit more about our background players:
Michel is as French and sassy as ever.
Sookie is as endearing as she is a death trap.
Lane desperately wants to be a normal kid, but her very overprotective mother constantly gets in the way.
Miss Patty, the chain-smoking dance teacher seems to be a town staple.
Drella, the slightly-rude harpist that Lorelai hired to play in the lobby of the inn.
Babette, the hillybilly neighbour (played by legend, Sally Struthers!).
And in some possible foreshadowing, Luke comes across as a wee bit jealous when one of the Chilton dads asks Lorelai out. Surprisingly, considering how promiscuously she comes across, Lorelai declines the offer. She's more worried about Rory's rep than in her own. I feel like this will be a trend throughout the show. 

While the second episode was better, it's still a very slow-moving show. Literally EVERYONE is full of sass, and that gets on my nerves. One or two characters, okay. Everyone? Just stop.

But I can tell that it's still trying to find its feet, and it has huge potential, so I'll keep watching. 

Can someone who's seen the series please let me know how soon it gets GOOD? ;)

See y'all next time!

Christina Watches: Gilmore Girls S01 E1

Hello, and welcome to what I hope will be a new series of posts here on Just A Girl Geek!

Many moons ago, I put up a poll and some of you voted for the next teen show you wanted me to watch, and blog about, from the beginning.
Well, with many apologies, I threw that poll out the window. Now, I may go back one day and blog about the show you all chose....but today is not that day.

Yesterday, huge news hit the interwebs when it was announced that Netflix would be reviving Gilmore Girls. I've been meaning to watch the show forever, and this feels like a great opportunity to finally write about a show from the very beginning.

Please understand that I don't have a timeline here. I may go weeks between posts about Gilmore Girls. Life happens. I know you all understand. But I do hope you'll stay with me as I watch, write, laugh and yeah, definitely cry over Rory, Lorelai, and the seven seasons of their lives.

So, let's begin with the pilot!

In episode 1, we're obviously introduced to the cast of many characters. There's Lorelai, the fun, beautiful, young, open and moderately successful mom. Lorelai runs an inn.
Rory, the 16 year old daughter of Lorelai.
Sookie, the incredibly clumsy cook that works at the inn.
Lane, Rory's best friend.
Michel, the French, and absolutely hilarious desk clerk that works for Lorelai.
Luke, the health nut who owns the diner Lorelai and Rory frequent.
Dean, the hot boy that crushes on Rory.
And Emily and Richard, Lorelai's rich, and estranged, parents.

Of course, I may have some of these characters wrong. I've only watched one episode, and I'm guessing what most of their roles are.

So! In episode one, Rory is accepted into a very expensive prep school, and Lorelai has to ask her parents for help with the tuition.
Her parents agrees to pay, on one condition: they must be a bigger part of their daughter, and their granddaughters, lives.

It's explained that Lorelai had Rory very young, at age 16, and a mysterious baby daddy named Christopher is somehow still in the picture.
Lorelai's parents were none too pleased when she didn't marry Christopher, and this, along with the teenage pregnancy, is what caused the rift between them.

Meanwhile, Rory, at first very excited to have gotten into Chilton Prep school, meets a new boy at her soon-to-be old school and has second thoughts about leaving.

By the end, Rory realizes the sacrifices Lorelai has has to make to send her to the prep school, and she agrees to go.

My first impressions of Gilmore Girls is that it's a very dated show. There are tons of late '90s/early 2000s pop culture mentions, and the music is also classic.
I absolutely love Michel, and I hope he sticks around for the duration.
Jared Padalecki is absolutely adorable as Dean--and it's so hilarious that his character is named Dean.
I've already fallen in love with Lorelai--I can relate to her on so many levels that it's kinda spooky.
I like Rory as well, but I feel like it's going to take me a few more episodes to get to know who she is and why I need to love her.To be honest, if I didn't know from friends and reviews and Emmy nods that Gilmore Girls is a great, must-see show, I don't think I would have continued past the pilot.

But most shows have a rough first season. Buffy comes to mind, as does Supernatural. And so I'll stick with it, and I hope you do too.

See you all next time!

Doctor Who: The Girl Who Died

So we’ve all been waiting MONTHS for this episode, right?! I mean, MAISIE WILLIAMS is guest starring! I just hope we haven’t worked it up to be bigger than it is.

Well, let’s see!

Clara is floating in space (wearing Ten’s spacesuit, I might add!), with a space-spider crawling up her leg.

The Doctor is under attack on the TARDIS.

He figures out where Clara is and materializes around her, just in the nick of time…oops, but out of the frying pan and into the fire!

When he they land, they’re surrounded by Vikings who draw their swords and break the sonic sunglasses!

Queue the opening credits…which aren’t nearly as rocking as they were last week!

A Viking village; The hero Vikings return, with a chained Doctor and Clara in tow. But the Doctor has a plan, as he keeps telling Clara….Riiiiiight.

Maisie Williams greets the heroes as they return. She’d had a nightmare that they’d all died. But yay, they’re all okay. A Viking gives her half of the broken sonic sunglasses.

The Doctor stares at her. Does he know her? He says he doesn’t but….Hmm…

The Doctor breaks out of the chains and tries to scare the primitive Vikings with a deep voice and a yoyo. He says he’s Odin…Um, and then Odin appears in the sky, so….whoops.

Odin sends huge mechanical welder-type dudes down to take the strongest Vikings to Valhalla.

Clara gets to Ashildr (Maisie William’s character) and tells her how to open her chains with the sonic sunglasses. The welders see the technology being used and take both Clara and Ashildr.

Valhalla is apparently a metal room, and if you try to leave it, you get vaporized. So, yay?

They have no choice but to leave when the walls of the room start to get smaller and push them into the corridor where the vaporizer is.

The Vikings are all vaporized, but Clara and Ashildr get through the door on the other end. Odin arrives and asks about the sonic sunglasses.

Clara realizes that Odin hasn’t killed them because he’s worried about their advanced tech, and he may not win the fight against their people if he starts one.

Odin then drinks a yummy juice of testosterone from the warriors he just killed. Mmmm…testosterone…

Clara almost has him talked out of fighting, but Ashildr’s anger gets in the way as she challenges him to war for what he’s done to her people. D’oh!

They make a date to have a nice war the next day, and then he changes his face to…something we don’t get to see. Yet!

The Doctor is reading his diary as Odin sends Clara and Ashildr back to the village. Um what is that diary?!? Since when is that a thing?!

He’s read in his diary that the race is a deadly race called the Mire.

The Doctor tries to convince the rest of the village to flee, but they decide to stay and fight. Of course.

A baby starts to cry, and the Doctor translates. It’s absolutely heartbreaking. Wonderful writing by Matheson and Moffat so far.

The Doctor leaves. He won’t help them fight a war. The earth is safe, humanity isn’t in danger. It’s just one village….and this is sounding awfully familiar. Just one village. Just one person…Like Pompeii? Like Donna asking to save just one? Whoa…

The Doctor tries to explain to Clara that if he saves this one village, the Mire will return like ripples in a pond.

The baby starts crying again, and Clara makes him translate. He does, and again it’s heartbreaking. The baby says something about fire and water…Again, I’m reminded of Pompeii. Is this purposeful??

The Doctor has decided to stay. Clara knows before he says so because the baby stops crying. Babies can sense danger, and I suppose there’s less danger now that he’s staying to help.

The Doctor begins to train them in sword fighting—and he gives them new names!

He trains them with wooden swords, and then gives them real swords…which starts a domino effect when one of them faints and a horse starts a fire in the village. It’s a really hilariously written scene.

Clara and the Doctor have a long chat. He seems tired of always having to watch out for her. She’s tired of him never having a plan until he’s almost killed. So…they’re kind of at a stalemate, then.

The Doctor enters Ashildr’s tent, where she’s fighting a wooden puppet. They talk, and she tells him she knows they’re all going to die.

The Doctor tells her she should leave, and in a very touching scene, she explains that, although she knows she’s different…although everyone there knows she’s different from them, she’s loved. It’s her place in the world. For her, leaving would be death itself.

Her father enters and promises to keep her safe. Through the window, they all see Lofty taking his baby to the boat house.

Something about that gives the Doctor his epitome! Fire in the water! I have no idea what it means yet, but his excitement is always so contagious!

The Doctor calls Clara and explains his plan, which involves the electric eels that the village has in the boat house…Yeah, I don’t get it either. Let’s watch as they prepare the plan!

Okay, that was fun! But now, WAR!

Odin and his ten welders arrive on the planet, where a merry party has begun! Lofty is playing the ring toss, and he tosses a ring at one of the mechanical welders. After the welder grabs the ring, we see that it’s attached to a copper wire (where did they get copper wire?!), which is attached to the eel barrels. The welders are electrocuted, while others are broken apart by very strong magnets! 

WAUGH, THEY’RE NOT MECHANICAL AT ALL, THEY’RE UGLY CREEPY ALIENS FULL OF TEETH-FACES!

The Doctor has gotten his hands on one of the welder helmets, and it’s Ashildr’s time to shine!

She puts the helmet on, and a huge snake enters the party! It’s HUGE and ANGRY!

The welders all retreat and teleport away, leaving Odin by himself. The snake turns into one of Ashildr’s wooden puppets—I guess she was able to project what she wanted them to see into their minds with the helmet?

Clara has recorded everything on her phone, and the Doctor threatens to send it out into the universe, destroying the Mire’s reputation. I mean, no one would really be afraid of them if they’re shown running from wooden dragons and fishermen, right?

The Doctor teleports Odin back to his ship, which leaves with its tail between its legs. But not before promising that “we haven’t seen the last of him”, or some such.

Ashildr’s father goes to celebrate with the girl, but she doesn’t respond from beneath the helmet. They pull it off the girl, and find that she’s dead.

Her heart failed, and the Doctor realizes that it’s his fault. He plugged her into the helmet and “used her up like a battery”.

Clara tries to console him, but he’s sick of losing people. And then…something happens.

Flashbacks to the first time he saw his new face.  Reflections in the water. “Who frowned me this face?” What is happening? Why do I have goosebumps?! WHY AM I ALMOST CRYING?!

He knows why he chose his face! HE KNOWS!

OKAY, WAIT. WAIT. I CAN’T SEE. I CAN’T SEE THROUGH MY TEARS TO EVEN WRITE. I CAN’T BELIEVE THIS IS HAPPENING. I’M LITERALLY SOBBING. UGLY TEARS. YOU GUYS, HALP ME. I CAN’T.

POMPEII. DONNA. MY BELOVED DONNA. I KNEW IT. I SAW IT DIDN’T I?! DIDN’T I SAY IT UP THERE?! POMPEII!!!!! HIS FACE! TEN! AHHHHHHHHHH MY HEART!!!!!

I’M SORRY I’M SCREAMING. I CAN’T SEEM TO STOP. I STILL CAN’T SEE VERY WELL THROUGH THESE TEARS.

His face. He chose the face he did…the face of Caecilius to REMIND HIM that HE’S THE GOD DAMN DOCTOR, AND HE SAVES PEOPLE. Like Donna had to remind him so long ago! MY SWEET, SWEET DONNA.

YOU GUYS THIS EPISODE! AND IT’S NOT DONE YET!

The Doctor runs to where Ashildr is lying. He takes a medical kit from the Mire helmet and reprograms it. It dissolves into Ashildr’s forehead, and starts to repair her. She wakes! She’s alive!

But, ohhhhh….he’s made her immortal. Oh my god. He gives a second medical kit to her father to give to, “Whoever she wants”. Which means “to whomever she can stand being with for eternity”. 

Oh, this is going to come back to haunt him forever. And it’s wonderful! I can see her being an enemy way down the line, right? Like, ten thousand years from now, when she’s half-insane from losing everyone she loves over and over and over...Er, is that dark? Yeah, that’s dark. Funny, how my mind works…heh…Um…

As Clara and the Doctor get back to the TARDIS, he explains to Clara what he’s done to Ashildr.  He was angry, emotional. He wonders he he’s made a terrible mistake.

And, oh my god. There’s more. THERE’S MORE. He explains that now, in a way, because of the alien tech inside of her, Ashildr is now, A HYBRID.   A HYBRID, YOU GUYS! DO YOU UNDERSTAND WHAT THAT MEANS!?!?!?

Okay, okay! Let’s go back to Davros. Remember? What did he say? Something about a prophesy on Gallifrey? A prophesy about a HYBRID RACE?!?!?!?!?!!? YOU GUYS! WE THOUGHT THAT MEANT A DALEK/TIMELORD HYBRID!

Did the Doctor just make the prophesy come true?! A human/Mire hybrid instead?!

AND THAT ENDING!!! I TOLD YOU! I TOLD YOU SHE GOES EVIL!  Look at her poor face. Look at how it goes from happy, to curious, to sad, to EVIL, as the world revolves and eventually explodes around her. I LOVE THIS!

Guys, this season is so far blowing it out of the park! The last three episodes have been great!

Okay, I remembered this time. Here are my favourite lines:

• The Doctor: “I’m not actually police, that’s just what it says on the box.”
• 
  
• The Doctor: “No, no, not Vikings! I’m not in the mood for Vikings!”
• 
  
• The Doctor: “People talk about premonition as if it’s something strange; it’s not. It’s just remembering in the wrong direction.”
• 
  
• The Doctor: “When I say jump, you say ‘How high?”. Unless it’s across a gap of some kind, which of course means you jump horizontally.”
• 
  
• The Doctor: “Why has Lofty stolen a baby?!”
• 
  
• Clara: “What’s happened?! Have you trapped your finger in something again?”
• 
  
• Donna: “Just someone. Not the whole town. Just save someone.”
• 
  
• The Doctor: “I’M THE DOCTOR, AND I SAVE PEOPLE. AND IF ANYONE HAPPENS TO BE LISTENING, ANYONE WITH ANY KIND OF A PROBLEM WITH THAT, TO HELL WITH YOU!”

Go watch the next time trailer, and I’ll see you next time!