Hey everyone!
Wow...what an amazing few days!
For those who didn’t know, I drove on down to R2’s house to hang out for 24 hours with her, BiddyGirl and Cleya. And what a party THAT was! I met live IManics for the first time ever, saw the pooches and met Jay, almost OD’d on IM, and of course had a blast!
One of the best things was when we all sat down to watch Diseased together. I’ve watched IM with friends before, but not people who are also fans of the show. I’d been looking forward to that hour for WEEKS and let me say I was NOT disappointed! If you think R2 is fun to watch <thud> on the BBoard, wait till you see it in person! :-)
Anyway because my first two viewings of Diseased were in the company of such lovely, intelligent and rabid fans, I can’t guarantee that all the ideas in this review are my own. :-) So I’m happy to say this review comes from all four of us (hence the "What WE saw"). Spoilers abound, so be careful!
Overall:
Some of the best stories I’ve read start out by posing a simple "What If?" question, and then spending the episode exploring all the possibilities that come with answering that. That’s one of the reasons I like scifi as opposed to say, a cop drama. Our "what if" can be almost anything as opposed to "What if someone got killed?"
This week Craig asks "What if Darien got really sick?" The fun comes from all the questions and answers that get derived from that first one: What are his symptoms? What if the gland is infected? What if the Keeper couldn’t fix him? Would the Official let someone else examine him? Is this a random illness or deliberately caused? It’s a great initial question, and a wonderful episode happens because of it!
The Good:
-Lets start by saying that Vince did sick so well I almost caught the flu! Wow...you know I have those atomic bomb sneezes, they aren’t fun.
-Never before have I seen a more eclectic group of quoters. Some Susan Sontag (the "rebel with a cause" actually had several...writing and making movies about photography, literature, AIDS, and had a HUGE impact on the art world. Fun gal, go check her out)...the Beastie Boys, Sly Stallone, Samuel Johnson, and Mother Theresa.
-You know it’ll be a fun episode when it starts right off the bat with funny partner banter!
-Once again Hobbes shows he’s got the info to play the spy game...he knew all about the Food Court for the Mob, and how to order the right contacts. It’s unfortunate Yurri ended up tarnishing his credibility.
-Just in case you ever wanted to know what to look like when you see your own death coming, check out the look of abject terror on Darien’s face as he slowly turns to Arnaud. And that moment when Arnaud pulls the trigger and it goes *click*...wow...
-"Tag, you’re dead."
*click...click*
"See, now I’m always gonna know you said that."
-I love how Hobbes’ last shot at the Ice Cream Truck of Doom takes out the speaker playing that annoying version of "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star."
-Darien does not need to be QSM to scare the crap out of me...just check out the way he growls out "I hate him."
-Although it’s nice that Claire thought to bring the old cliché of Cambels Chicken Noodle Soup, I’ve always thought OJ worked better. :-)
-Hobbes will walk right into the highly infected apartment to see his partner, but he’ll be damned if he isn’t going to do what he has to not to get sick! Love the disinfectant spray and the mask!
-While I’d like to add this to my list of great lines, you can’t write it down to really appreciate it. You have to hear Darien, stuffed up, imitating Claire’s accent..."Daharien" indeed!
-So if the Invisible Man cannot come to the Agency, I guess the Agency will come to the Invisible Man!
-Great Scene #1: Our fab five all talk at once about several things in Darien’s apartment, only to run scrambling for cover as Darien lets loose with another sneeze. We’ve got Claire playing mother and doctor, the Official explaining how important Darien is, and Eberts and Hobbes seeing who can stress the others name with more sarcasm. "What are you smirking at, Eberts?" "Nothing, *Robert*" "Oh really, *EBERTS*"
-So the first time Darien sneezed, Hobbes almost tackles Claire as if shielding her from a bomb. The second time it’s every man for himself as Hobbes yells "Another sneezure! Take cover!" and ducks behind the counter. The Official hides behind Eberts, who looks quite unhappy being used as a germ shield. Claire thinks fast, hands Darien a tissue, and then gets out of the line of fire!
-OK it was disgusting, but admit it! Every one of you opens your tissues to take a peak after sneezing!
-"Where did you get this chair anyway? Feels like it was built by a demented dentist." It makes sense Darien has never had the torture of sitting in a gynecologist chair to know what that chair really is.
-Wok Drop and Roll? *snicker*
-I love how the Italian guy (who I kept hoping would say "fugetaboutit") knows Darien from his small stint with John Castagnatchi.
-When Hobbes and Darien are talking to the Russian Mob Guy (and you know what they say about men with big hats? *snicker* Huh? Yea...they have big heads. :-) ) it’s fun to watch either one for the entire scene. Hobbes is completely focused on the Russian, playing that little spy game to get information. And while towards the end of the scene it’s very clear something’s very wrong with Darien, he’s too busy trying to hold himself together to even really banter with Hobbes.
-I have just one word to say about that "sicksilver". Bleh!
-Was it me, or did Claire look just a bit demented when she was coming at Darien with that saw?
-I’ve always wondered what would happen if Darien got hurt or sick and Claire couldn’t fix him, if the Official would let him be helped by people outside the Agency. I guess we get our answer...and it’s kinda disturbing how the Official seams much more concerned about keeping the gland a secret then helping Darien.
-"What if he quicksilvers involuntarily again?"
"Well he’s got a good handle on that now, don’t you Darien?"
(sounding completely unconvincing) "Yeah..."
-Great Scene 2: Darien and Claire attempt to answer the doctors questions as the Official denies them left and right. Claire gets pissed, Darien pukes, and the Official is left to steal the trashcan...
-...meanwhile Great Scene 3 is going on, as Hobbes grills Yurri on his double-cross. Hobbes’ friendly manner is all gone, replaced by a rather dangerous look...he’s royally pissed off at Yurri for setting them up and getting his partner hurt. Yurri bolting in the middle of Hobbes sentence was a fun little moment...as well as quite a unique chase scene involving a stolen vehicle, finally ending with Yurri getting "paid" and Hobbes feeling bad for him.
-Normally I don’t advocate stealing from children, but in this case screw the kid, GO HOBBES!
-Uh, Arnaud? It doesn’t do much good to threaten an unconscious Darien. But it’s funny to watch...
-Poor Hobbes spends a lot of this episode running around being worried about his friends...first Darien, and then Claire as he walks in on her recovering from being knocked out.
-"I’m just saying he’s very good...well you know he’s not good, he’s actually not good at all, he’s bad he’s...terrible, he’s terrible."
-Poor Darien wakes up in the lion’s den..."I just had the worst nightmare....never mind."
-I love the rant Darien gives on the ultra-convoluted Bad Guy scheme Arnaud has pulled off. Made me think of that scene from Austin Powers, where Dr. Evil is going to kill Austin through some elaborately complicated scheme that’s easily escapable from while his son just wants to get a gun and shoot them. I’m gonna go with Darien on this one...one of these days the bad guys are gonna get smart and they’re just gonna storm his place.
-"Rube Goldberg has got nothing on you pal!" Ever see a Rube Goldberg device? It’s one of those ultra-complicated machines that usually do something simple (like turn on a light) by doing a long series of cause and effect things...like that game Mousetrap.
-That’s our wonderfully demented Arnaud, "No wait....continue."
-Great Scene 4: Hobbes drops Claire off at her place, and tries to get her to hurry at the same time that he’s being supportive and a flirt. Claire then runs into the house and we get to see her go into full sarcastic bitchy mode against Arnaud...who just wants to pet her dog in a way that makes both Claire and I say "You leave my dog here."
-"Oh Claire, we playing hide and seek?"
-And now the winner of the Best Delivery of One Word Award: Claire has just asked Darien how he feels, and his response of "Headache" conveys so much info...he’s hurt, he’s worried, he’s warning Claire about the oncoming madness, he’s exhausted...
-"Volt? Where are you from, Ikea? Yo, your mama was a futon!"
-Great Scene 5: (damn, can you guess I liked this eppy? :-) ) Darien, now completely QSM, bursts in on Arnaud and goes to kill him. Claire has to reason with a madman and actually wins, and Arnaud gets a small bit of what he deserves...a good choking. Watch Darien look momentarily upset after hitting Claire. Then Claire in full desperate fast thinking mode. We also get a good few minutes of Darien completely nuts, something we haven’t seen since Tiresias...and let me tell you I don’t wana see it again, that’s gonna give me nightmares for weeks!
-"There’s a really obnoxious sculpture in the Foyer!"
-I love how, instead of the usual "Police line do not cross" the F&G tape says "No swimming or fishing."
-Hobbes will do whatever it takes to get Claire’s attention. When going on and on about how worried he was about her doesn’t work, he switches tactics mid-sentence, "God you look good in those pants."
-Gotta love the oh so happy look Darien gives when both his partner and his Keeper are telling him to "Say ahhh!"
The Bad:
-Yurri was shot at least three times right in the chest, he should be dead almost instantly, or at least completely unable to have his calm little chit-chat with Hobbes.
-Where were Hobbes and Claire in such a rush to go once Darien was kidnapped? They have no idea where he is, and I’m not sure they have any idea how to find him!
-Apparently QSM Darien is easy to confuse. Claire tells him he CAN trash the apartment, he says he’s sick of her telling him what to do and if he wants to trash it he will (wait...huh?), then Claire tells him about the sculpture and Darien just turns into a zombie and walks out? Uh...his arch-nemesis is right there!
The Crap Count:
-"Crappy." Darien, telling Claire how he feels.
-"Aw crap!" Darien, about to get the sicksilver cut off by Claire.
-"Aw crap." Darien, realizing he’s about to get the crap kicked out of him.
The Sneeze Count: Poor Darien lets loose with 6 atomic bomb blast sneezes. Duck and cover...
The Nitpicky:
-There are two things you can expect from a Craig script...it’ll be really good, and Darien will be a mess by the end of the eppy. I’m serious, go look at all the shows Craig wrote...as the eppy goes on Darien always ends up more and more hurt, or going nuts...often both.
-So Darien followed Yurri because his Con Sense tingled?
-Arnaud is really Mr. Softy!
-Oh yea...I just love watching the hero blow and pick his nose. Thanks gang. :-)
-I had a strange commercial flashback when Arnaud was playing limo driver and holding the sign for that doctor. "I am Dr. Gala-wise-ich" "Dr. Galywichice?" "Yes, yes I am!"
-So for a moment, as we panned over the remains of Darien’s clothing after they and the sicksilver had been cut off, I had wished he’d been wearing that gas attendant jacket...
-This time on Understatement of the Day: Claire, after cleaning up the cut off sicksilver, "Darien’s condition has not improved."
-When they go to Fort Levitt, you can see Claire and the Official in the front...but no one in the back. Was Darien laying down back there?
-It’s not those sharp, pointy, painful looking medical tools Arnaud had that scared me...it was the HAIR CUTTER!! No not the hair!! :-)
-"Fawkes is gone, kidnapped, vanished from right under our noses." Well yea, he is the invisible man...
-So the next time Darien goes QSM they don’t need to stick him in the padded cell to keep him from hurting anyone...just let him go nuts at Pier One for a while.
-Well we got Vince back saying "This is SciFi" but now we lost Paul. Can’t have them all I guess...
-So Claire contacts Hobbes at the end and says "Darien is safe, come and get us." Uh...he’s deathly ill, just got the crap kicked out of him, and is currently completely QSM and on a destructive rampage. Is this a definition of the word "safe" I’m not aware of?
-...plus Claire hangs up the phone before telling Hobbes where exactly to go to come and get them...oopps...
"DIE CUCKOO CLOCK DIE!!!" -Darien
...with loads of help from R2, Cleya and BiddyGirl
