Appreciating the NCIS franchise: Ellie Bishop continues to be awesome and a new record for NCIS:LA

Can we take a moment to appreciate how wonderfully entertaining and lovely Ellie Bishop is! Today was her second episode with NCIS and I absolutely loved her character. She is very refreshing and unusual and so different from the other characters. I was grinning from ear to ear at so many of her scenes. It is hard to find a favorite, whether it was her 'getting acquainted' with the dead bodies and saying hello to them, learning whether to warn Tony and McGee or not and learning the ropes. I was delighted to see how well she has been established and how well she fits in with the team. I also enjoy how they have incorporated her working style into the show, taking a moment to focus and talking it out loud to herself. Ellie as a character feels realistic and fun and I can't wait to see more of her. The actress that plays her does a fabulous job it bringing the character to life and giving her nuances and her own strong personality. As an NCIS fan I am more than thrilled with everything concerning the character, absolutely thrilled, and I am looking forward to seeing more of her.

I am also going to say how much I loved last episode. Everything was fabulous regarding the humor. I was enjoying myself so much while watching it and it got me laughing more than once.

NCIS has been on a roll lately and it's been a pure pleasure to watch. Absolute pleasure. I am reminded once and again of how much I love watching the show and what it is I love about it: the combination of incredible characters, humour and interesting storylines. So consider me one very happy NCIS fan!

I was also watching the American edition of the show 'The Bridge' and it is sooo good. I am so thrilled with it. But I realized quickly after watching it that Sonya Cross reminded me quite a lot of Ellie Bishop and the character in the danish/swedish version, Saga Norén, did as well. Both Sonya and Saga are exceptionally well created characters and Ellie as a character is in a similar vein. 

I am also going to take a moment to appreciate the fact that NCIS:LA has now made it 3 episodes without mention Russia. That must surely be a record for them!They did mention Communism but only for historical background.  In fact, NCIS:LA has also been on a roll this season. Á la NCIS:LA, there have been some major mishaps this season but it's largely been highly enjoyable. I have been loving how they've been crafting the characters and transforming them. Nell is going through some great developments as a character and I love watching how they continue to mold her and how she changes. I really appreciate how well they do it. I have also been enjoying Sam Hanna a lot this season, he has been on a roll as well and I've been surprised with how much I have enjoyed him. 

And let's not even begin with Densi. They are truly making fans squirm but it's a good squirm. They are developing the characters and their relationship with care and it feels both realistic and well crafted. It's pure pleasure to watch, it's so good it's even á la Caskett. I am also getting completely caught up in the latest story line. What on earth is Kensi doing in Afghanistan with Granger and how will this develop? Who is she meant to kill? One of the things I enjoy about this story line is that it is placing Kensi in different circumstances where she is not in control and where she is more vulnerable and insecure than usually. It's a shift for the character and it'll be interesting to see how they play around with it. It also adds strength to the characterization to have her in such different circumstances which reveal another side of her. I am looking forward to seeing how it'll develop.

And before I go. I am looking forward to seeing agent Sabatino again. I really like his character. I also discovered recently that the actor that portrays him was also a part of ER. I was a devoted ER fan in my younger years and still am at heart, purely for the nostalgia. For years, I nursed a secret crush on Dr. Green and my sister on Dr. Kovac and we both loved the character Abby. So, I am reminded of me ER fan years :) Just like I was swept back to my 'Without a trace' fan years when I watched NCIS season 9 and Ray Cruz was dating Ziva. I loved that show so much and it's such fun to be reminded of my infatuation with it. So TV can bring back nostalgia. 

The endless Densi jig and the woes of being a clandestine fan

Last episode of NCIS:LA 'Frozen Lake' goes down as being one of my most favorite NCIS:LA episode of all time. I was initially wary of watching it as I hate being emotionally manipulated by TV shows and to be honest, I was not too optimistic about how things would turn out. NCIS:LA does have an impressive track-record of messing things up after all. But this episode they did very right. I needn't have worried - and after all the script writer was Mr. Kalstein. I always love the episodes he writes and this one did not disappoint at all.

Good things

-The frozen lake metaphor! I was all over that one - it was such a well crafted and incredible metaphor. It was very well applied during the episode and well woven into it. And realistic, I can't imagine how many times people have experienced something like that - always waiting for the one thing they think will make everything right. And it was a pure dream for an English nerd like me.

-The Ghurka. I really liked the character and the way they incorporated him into the show. They manage to give him a back-story and motive and you get a really good feel of him. He was very well developed as a character. I was straightaway caught up in him and interested in knowing more. And the actor who played him was incredibly good. It is not often I get so caught up extra characters on NCIS:LA. 

-The acting was absolutely incredible. Just brilliant! NCIS:LA despite its many mishaps always delivers incredibly good, spot-on acting which is certainly not always a component of tv shows (CSI being a good example...). It is one of the reasons I watch the show. I got completely caught up with the characters and watching their journey and I was very impressed!

-Sam noticed Kensi was wearing the same shirt. Considering Sam's track record with always wearing the same clothes (I imagine he is meant to owe like 15 pieces of the same clothing in the same style) I was surprised but it was amusing.

-NCIS:LA did not mention Russia for the first time in forever. It was a definite plus. Instead they futured India and Nepal and did it quite well and were accurate with the information they used. It was a definite plus for them and yes, this does show that they can do absolutely fine with material that does not involve Russia.

And there was movement on the jig. Something did happen between them and they acknowledged it. Yes, NCIS:LA did pump it for all it was worth but it didn't feel manipulative or drawn out. It felt realistic and I highly appreciated that. There are ways to go but with luck this will turn out well. It reminded me of the last episodes of season 4 of Castle before C and B got together. It was so heart-wrenching to watch but so well done.  

In any case I highly enjoyed the episode 'Frozen Lake' 

Bad things (yes I am mean)

-Deeks walked around as if nothing was going on wearing a shirt with a bloodstain on it! And he was completely calm. I did not get that. This is the second time NCIS:LA has had a mistake like this - the best example being when they had a person with PTSD who had been in a gunfight and yet he wore the same blood-stained t-shirt for most of the episode. Who does something like that?! I imagine had this happened in the NCIS world Abby Sciuto would have thrown a fit had she seen it. I know I would be screaming my head off in fright. But then again, NCIS:LA characters are not exactly the definition of normal, rather the very definition of dysfunctional and I expect this was part of it. 

-Nuclear weapons again - not exactly working the creative front but at least it did not have Russia so there is hope.
-The use of intensive dramatic close ups. This was a very dramatic episode and whenever something important was going on emotionally with the characters, they used very dramatic close-up frames. Every single time. With me being the terrible fan I am I was laughing every time it happened. It felt like: "Ok, dramatic scene. Cue to close-up, the more the better". 

And before I go: I am a terrible NCIS:LA fan. I am happy to discuss NCIS with people but NCIS:LA, that's another thing. I instead sneak into conversations lightly that I watch it as well as NCIS, that it's not the best show but I like it and watching it is an excellent way to forget studying and then I do not comment more on it. I have been watching it for over two years now and only last week was the first time I ever discussed the show with someone. The first time and incidentally it was a fellow NCIS fan and friend that has seen some episodes of NCIS:LA (our convo included a 'Yay Nell'). So I am an absolute clandestine fan of NCIS:LA that likes watching it (hell, I write about it) but feels embarrassed about it at the same time. 

I am however quite happy to let everyone know I am a devoted Castle fan :) And I love the word 'clandestine'

Exploring Names - the NCIS franchise and Criminal Minds

I am a nerd in many ways and have a strange fascination for all sorts of things. If there is one thing I love it is names. I have loved names ever since I was little and discovering new names, reading about names, debating names has always been an interest of mine. I am such a nerd I even have special lists containing my favorite names from various cultures. So far I have Chinese, Russian, English, Spanish, Indian and Nordic. I love names and I enjoy writing a lot so I employ the names I've discovered and love on the characters I create and use.

I also come from a culture where names are regulated by the authorities and people cannot name their child anything they want. This is very much a European thing and nobody questions it. Names are regulated in all the Nordic countries, Portugal, Italy, France, Germany and many other countries. This is both a good and a bad thing but personally I support it. Not to mention I find it hilarious that it's like: "Congratulations, a child is born, here is a long winded booklet/statue of laws that tell you what you can name your child and what not. Enjoy!" It is so incredibly European. Up here in the north we view Western cultures, where the custom is that names are not regulated, as being as being a practically uncivilized in that regard. For us, hearing stories about unusual, unregulated names equals hearing a horror story

This article explains this culture well

So as a name fanatic, I naturally have formed opinions on some of the names employed in the shows I write about here. So with further ado, here is the TV matters and me official name column detailing my favorite names, the curious one's and the one's I took some time accepting, all with the personal opinions of a Nordic nerd.

NCIS:LA - Their names are a mix of good and bad

Kensi Blye - When I first heard the name Kensi I loathed it. I thought it was such a bad name, much too preppy and modern. To me it sounded like the name of an overly cheerful fitness coach or Zumba teacher. It took me months to actually start liking the name but I admit it has grown on me and I kind of like it now. It has a lovely meaning and at least they didn't inventive with the spelling like they could have. I however love the name Blye. It sounds very similar to a word that means 'light breeze' in one Nordic language and I love the sound of it.

Martin Deeks - I like the name Martin a lot but the character is always called Marty. Whenever I hear that nickname I associate it with someone overly happy and cheerful but I kind of like the name. It means 'warlike' which is cool. An alarming amount of Nordic names have meanings that have something to do with war - remnants of Viking heritage I guess. I can however not possibly take the last name Deeks seriously. Marty Deeks is meant to be Norwegian-American and his last name is the least Norwegian name ever. I am well aware of the fact that the character was not originally meant to be Norwegian-American, rather it evolved as the actor came in, and hence the name. I am also aware of the changes in last names that occurred when people emigrated to America so this does not surprise me, I just find it funny - bit like when NCIS had a Russian named Viggo. I think of Deeks as the Norwegian-American with the least Norwegian name ever.

The actor Mr. Olsen has a very Nordic last name however. In fact it's so Nordic it's one of the most common last names here, it's also the name of a popular candy bar, the name of a famous Danish comedy trio and the name of a classic card game everyone knows. You can't go much more Nordic than Olsen

And I can't go without mention the Olsen brothers, the winners of Eurovision 2001 with their lovely song 'fly on the wings of love'. The Danish version is called 'smuk som et stjerneskud' which means 'beautiful like starry night' and the lyrics are actually really sensual. Leave it to the Nordics to be rude in their own language but polite in English :)

Nell Jones - Nell has to be my most favorite TV name. It comes from  my most favorite name Eleanor and it means light. I love the soft and unusual sound of it and how similar it sounds to Nellica which is a flower I love. It's unusual and uncommon but also classic.

NCIS - an absolute name jackpot! All the names are lovely and classical.

Ziva David - I absolutely adore the name Ziva. It is such an unusual but beautiful Hebrew name. It means 'brightness'; I happen to love all names that mean something having to do with light. And I am going to explain further about the last name David. In English the name is pronounced phonetically 'Dayvid' whereas Ziva's last name is pronounced phonetically 'Dahveed'. Not to mention, I loved how they played around with this on NCIS. In my country we pronounce the name according to the Hebrew version (except with a soft 'd' at the end) and I find it far more beautiful. We always go for the European pronunciation and spelling of names instead of the English. Consequently it is very easy for us to adapt European names into our culture but it's more troublesome with English names.

Eleanor Bishop - I have loved the name Eleanor ever since I saw Sense and Sensibility 1995 movie and was fascinated with the character Elinor in that film. And just like 'Nell' and 'Ziva' the name means light. I typically end up falling for names whose meaning is 'light' for some reason. Not to mention I also like the nickname Ellie. NCIS has an incredible knack for choosing beautiful, classic names.

Donald Mallard 'Ducky' - It wasn't until this year I finally learned the reason for Ducky's nickname. I was looking at a video from a friend featuring 'mallard ducks' - we refer to them by a completely different name in my dialect. So the moment I saw the name something clicked for me. Finally, after having been a fan of NCIS for over two years I figured it out. Oh the many joys of being an EFL speaker.

Criminal Minds - they have such beautiful names

Spencer Reed - I love both names; Spencer is an old English name and I saw it written on a gravestone from the 1600's when I was in England last year. It brought Spencer Reed to mind instantly. It also brings to mind the old English play 'The Faerie Queen'. The name Reed I associate with trees (which I love) and I just love the sound of it.

Alex Blake - I love that name. Alex is a diminutive of Alexander/Alexandra which means 'defender of mankind'. It's a strong name and classic. William Blake happens to be one of my most favorite poems of all time and I really like the name Blake. So for me, the CM producers couldn't have figured out a better name than Alex Blake. I do wonder thought whether her name is Alexandra or Alex. Either way it is an awesome name.

Derek Morgan - Such a bad-ass and cool name. Derek means 'peaceful ruler' and Morgan 'from the sea'. I love both the names and the meanings of them and the character is awesome. Basically a win-win in every way.

Aaron - That name is a thorn in my eye. I mean the name is spelled 'Aaron' yet it is pronounced like 'Erin'. And if I do not see the names in writing I cannot for the life of me fathom whether the phoentic sounds 'Eerin' are the names Erin or Aaron. It is one of these things I do NOT like about English. In Nordic countries we pronounce the name phonetically 'Ahrohn' which makes far more sense in my humble opinion.

Penelope - I absolutely love that name. It is so beautiful and has such a nice meaning 'weaver'. Yet again, I will add we pronounce it differently here. We go according to the Spanish pronunciation here which is 'Pehnelopeh'. Except I in my infinite wisdom have been pronouncing it like 'Pehnelop' for years and have gotten to use to it. I am bad-ass like that (and have a reasonably wonky pronunciation)

All in all TV has a mix of both good and bad names but I love exploring them.

The token linguists - English language and the rest of the world

As I've made explicitly clear I am an EFL speaker. I spend all my day dealing with English as it's my major at Uni and I've been functioning in two languages for years, since childhood actually. English feels natural to me and I feel more than comfortable with it. But that does not change the fact that it challenges me on a daily basis and I must keep up. And a part of that is watching TV shows to help my auditory skills. I can read English as well as any native speaker but my auditory skills are not as good. So hence, TV is a great resource to train.

I also read a fascinating statistic recently that 1/4 of the people of the world speak English, ranging from a native level to rudimentary. That's a lot. But that also means that 3/4 of the world speak no English at all. So even if English has become a global language, it is still imperative to study and know other languages. And this is reflected in the TV shows I deal with here. They are all American and use English as a primary language but still every single show has a character that can speak more than one language. I find it interesting how they deal with language and I listen intently to all language related things on TV. It's my bread and butter really when it comes to TV.
And today's topic is presenting an overview of those token linguistics

NCIS
Ziva is the multilingual wonder there - She speaks French, Spanish, German, Turkish, Arabic, Hebrew and English. That is quite a lot but it is fully possible in the real world. I have always loved this aspect of Ziva's character and enjoyed a lot how they have dealt with her journey of discovering English. As an EFL speaker it has taught me a lot and given me great enjoyment.

Abby speaks ASL and uses it regularly which I really like. I can finger-spell in ASL and I highly enjoy seeing how NCIS has incorporated ASL easily into the show.

NCIS has always provided me with the most language jokes and it's an aspect of the show I absolutely love. Plus, I never run into trouble understanding what the characters are saying which is nice. The show challenges my English abilities but in a good way.

NCIS:LA

Sam speaks Arabic, Japanese and Spanish - Japanese and Arabic are two extremely different languages with two different alphabets, systems of writing, pronunciation, vocabulary. It's not like French and Spanish which are derived from a similar source. These languages share no similarity. And apparently Sam is comfortable with them both! And they have never bothered to explain how on earth he learned them which I find annoying.

Callen - He is a fluent Russian speaker. It's been implied he learned it from a foster sister of his for a few months but that does not account for his remarkable skills. Yet again, NCIS:LA does not bother with explaining! His pronouncation seems good though.

Nell - She is meant to be fluent in Spanish but I have yet to hear her say a single word in Spanish.

Kensi - She speaks French, Spanish and German, basically she takes care of all the main European languages. She is by far the one most comfortable with dealing with languages and I enjoy it when she deals with them. But, to be nit picky, it has never been explained why she has an extremely good command of French, well beyond any general school level (I say this as a former French student and sufferer). My personal guess is at that Kensi grew up as bilingual with French and English.

Hetty - apparently she speaks German but it feels really forced every time she uses it. I'd rather listen to Deeks and Eric gleefully butcher German.

NCIS:LA contains by far the biggest number of linguists but it goes way overboard with it. I mean way overboard. It supplies a good number of language jokes but also the biggest challenge for me as an EFL speaker. It sometimes takes all my concentration to keep up with what the characters are saying so I regularly run into trouble. I notice pronunciation differences between my own English and theirs which helps me evaluate my skills and learn words properly. And whenever I run into words I am not completely familiar with I mentally spell them. The latest was 'thingamajig' and noticing how they say the words 'vehemently' and 'awry'. I apparently go British with these words. Watching NCIS:LA helps me improve but it can get vastly frustrating not being able to catch properly what the character say. Sometimes I don't get it at all, it just becomes a bunch of meaningless syllables and consonants thrown together in my ears - something I heartily dislike and to be honest, I feel super annoyed by it. I have great pride in my English abilities and being caught off guard like that when I feel I should be able to catch everything makes me frustrated.
I am typically on my toes the entire time I watch: listening, processing, spelling, concentrating. It really challenges me but it pays off sometimes like feeling a bit proud when I get things right (like managing to understand all the acronyms and slang). I'll never associate NCIS:LA with relaxing my English abilities in any case.

Criminal Minds

This show contains my two favorite linguists, Alex Blake and Reed.

Alex Blake - she has a PHD in linguistics and teaches them. I love how they've incorporated this fascinating aspect into her character and I really enjoy all the scenes she has dealing with language. I am a sucker for anything linguistic related and I love how CM works with it. Plus, all interactions between Blake and Reed involving linguistics are great. Two people fascinated with language is absolute heaven for someone like me to listen to.

Spencer Reed - quite possibly my most favorite nerd on TV. He speaks Russian, Spanish, French and I think German. And best of all, his linguistic abilities have been explained (NCIS:LA might take note!). I love how he is enthusiastic and passionate about language and how it's been used to help solve crimes and evolve his character. Linguistics are a fascinating field and I love exploring it. CM has done a fabulous job incorporating it into their show and showing a different and wonderful side of English

I have no trouble understanding CM which I love. It instead keeps me enthusiastic and interested as I pick up new things about language and its usage and I don't need to concentrate all the time. It is instead vastly enjoyable.

Cultural references and a clueless Nordic

One of the topics I cover here is my inability to grasp language and cultural references. And today's topic is dedicated to my complete and utter inability to understand certain cultural references and traditions.

Entering houses and apartments while wearing shoes and walking straight into the living room
Here where I live, people always take their shoes of before entering any house or apartment. Not doing so is considered is considered to be the height of rudeness. I would  personally never ever do it. And when entering any house or apartment, there is always a space or a room for leaving once clothes a shoes before entering.

So you can imagine my look of terror every single time I see people enter /burst into houses and apartments in shows while wearing their shoes. I get that agents/cops cannot be bothered with moving their shoes (it'd just be weird) when taking a suspect down but not once have I seen any of the characters on the shows I cover here take their shoes off. Not once. Not even when visiting houses. It seems normal in the context of the shows but I can say that here in the North, the characters would be considered absolute brutes for not taking off their shoes.

Weird food

I personally come from a culture that is filled with weird food. Our national cuisine literally reads like something out of a horror magazine. So I do have a lot of experience with strange food but there is one instance in which I was ready to throw up when watching NCIS:LA.

Deep-fried bacon. They had deep-fried bacon and what was worse, the characters were eating it! I am no bacon lover but I can eat it if necessary (like say in a full English breakfast) but combining deep-fried and bacon just sounds like a recipe for a heart attack.

But they did score a definite point with me when Deeks said he loved liver. Liver is a part of the national Nordic cuisine and I eat it regularly. It is the cheapest kind of meat you can get and in the past it was known as poor man's food as it was so cheap. Plus, it can be cooked in some really good ways. So I was very surprised to hear Deeks express his love for liver and counting the many ways in which it can be cooked but it made me grin my ears off. Nordic food references for the win!

Sports

Nordics love football and handball. We take it so seriously that you'd think the national happiness of the Nordic countries depends solely on our achievements in sports. If one Nordic country does well, we all feel proud. If the Nordic countries are competing against each other, things go dark for a while. Currently Sweden and Iceland can potentially go the World Cup in football in Brazil in 2014 and let me tell you, even if it's only two countries out of five we are behind them. One Nordic country typically means all.

But aside from that - two sports I will never ever get are American football and baseball. These sports are not practiced here and I have less that zero knowledge of them. Not that I have absolutely no interest in sport but I can at least talk about football a bit. So any and all times these sports are mentioned and referenced, there is one Nordic that sits with glazed over eyes and shakes her head. NCIS:LA, NCIS and Castle have all had extensive references to these sports and I have never gotten them. The only one I have gotten was when NCIS:LA mentioned the football team 'The Vikings', I know they come from Minnesota - that's it.

Monster trucks and cronuts

These have been mentioned on NCIS:LA and I was completely lost what on earth they meant. I had a vague idea of what monster trucks are but didn't bother looking them up. So imagine my surprise while I was rolling through TV channels and saw a promo for a Monster truck show. And my first thought was: "Ah, so that's what they were talking about on NCIS:LA".

And cronuts - It looked to me like a weird kind of donut and I knew it somehow mixed together French and American cuisine but more than that was beyond me. So I was yet again mightily surprised to be flipping through an advertisement from a local boutique showing what they were offering on 'American theme days' (my country mostly imports from Europe so there are regular themes days in shops that offer more specialty items from countries) and I came across a cronut. Turns out it's a mix of a donut and croissant. And yet again I thought: "Ah, now I get the reference".

So my inability of grasping cultural references continues but I enjoy the ride.

Seasons Premiers - TV Matters and Me Opinion Column 102

After seeing that my post about the NCIS:LA finale last season has become my most read post for some odd reason I decided I needed to cover the season premieres - so settle in!

NCIS:LA - Well.. I am happy to report that they managed to redeem themselves. The season premiere was certainly not without its faults but it was a definite improvement on the finale. It was amped up NCIS:LA but it was not on steroids thankfully. All in all I was impressed. What I enjoyed by far the most was how vulnerable everyone was and the way the feelings came across the scene. Rarely, if ever, have I seen the characters so jarred and pained. I have to hand it to the actors that they all did a frigging amazing job - especially portraying emotional vulnerability and difficult feelings. But what surprised me most was the depth by which Sam Hanna was portrayed and how he behaved throughout the episode. I did not expect it to be honest and getting such a good exposure of the character' vulnerable side was wonderful. Never has Sam been so human. For me, the star of that episode was LL Cool J hands down - he did an incredible job with Sam. If this continues, the series will be on a roll. 

I do have a special post coming up however covering how spectacularly badly they portrayed Deeks's oral trauma. As someone that has been through oral trauma after surgery I am well versed on the subject. 

NCIS - All in all the premiere was excellent. It wasn't particularly exciting but the story line had some crazy twists and turns I was all over trying to discover. Most of all it was pure NCIS and I loved that. I do admit it was strange not to see Ziva there though. All the characters returned in their glory but I most enjoyed seeing Palmer and Ducky interact. These two are such a wonderful pair and keep me laughing all the time. It seems this season will be taking some good twists and turns and I am looking forward to seeing the new agent Emily Bishop, I've got a feeling she will be lovely. And of course the actors were good - I mean it's NCIS!

Castle - The best premiere hands down. It was sooooo good. I was glued to the screen the second it started and stayed glued till the end. The plot was tight and controlled and superbly exciting. I mean it was the perfect Castle - wit, humor, nail-biting action, tension and incredible character interactions. And I absolutely enjoyed the twist of Beckett being a federal agent. It felt quite natural and it displayed a new side of the character. I honestly really liked that part in the episode. It will be good to see Beckett at the precinct again but they did this bit incredibly well. I instantly liked all the agent characters. And I have to mention Lisa Edelstein as Rachel McCord - she was amazing! I enjoyed the character so much. She was a nice mix of spunk and professionalism. She reminded me of Alex Blake on Criminal Minds who is a character I really enjoy and I enjoyed her and Beckett's interaction. So nice to see two professional women working together.

And yes, I grinned like an idiot when Beckett got engaged to Castle. I mean!!!!!

Parks and Recreation - To be honest - this was not a good episode. Considering the incredibly high standards Parks and Rec has set for itself, the premiere fell really short of it. I do not think I've ever before been bored before while watching or even offended. But I was both. I mean, the premiere had some good points but mostly it was just really thin - the only interactions I liked were Andy and the British gentleman and Leslie interacting with Ulee. Leslie somehow did not feel like Leslie in the episode. I personally found it incredulous she would stoop so low as to help a woman remove slugs from her lawn. Leslie has always been portrayed as being a woman of great self-respect and dignity and responding to people's petty demands did not feel like the character at all. Doing this just to stay in office just did not feel right. Leslie as a character is not a doormat in the slightest so I found this strange. 

Somehow all the characters felt off in one way or the other. Even Gerry and Donna.

But the worst example was Ron. It is common knowledge that Ron dislikes Europe and I have enjoyed that tidbit about him. When praise of Europe can often be so senseless it is a refreshing thing. But what I did not expect was Ron's behavior in the episode. I was honestly surprised at how disrespectful they portrayed him to be towards Britain and European culture. I mean, he refused to use pounds and insisted on using dollars as the finest money there was, talked about the 'stench of European socialism' and referred regularly to 'the godforsaken continent' and referring to everything before 1776 as rough draft instead of history - to me, this is not funny at all, instead it played really badly on a stereotype of the American traveler that can not handle anything European and insists on everything being like in America. Something which really frustrates Europeans. I get the point that Ron Swanson does not like Europe and I am fine with that - I enjoy how they poke fun at Europe regularly. But what irked me was how disrespectful Ron came across. He has been portrayed as someone that values education and is respectful towards people so this shift in his character was not something I enjoyed.

Parks and Rec has never before relied on stereotypes and it is something I really enjoy about the show. So I hope this is just a hiccup and that Parks and Rec will return in all its glory this week. 

So all in all - I enjoyed the majority of the premieres. There were some bad moments but on the whole, they returned with a bang. 

So stay tuned!

NCIS:LA and PTSD - a rare chance to portray mental illness

Right now, NCIS:LA is heading in for an interesting season with Deeks. He suffered massive torture and trauma and now has to recover from it, he has PTSD - a mental illness common after excessive trauma, especially among military personnel returning from war. PTSD is a serious and complicated illness and not easy one to handle. But if treated right, people can recover from it.

There is a huge stigma towards mental illness in today's society and it is treated as a source of shame. It is debilitating and sickening that people that deal with mental illnesses face such prejudice and lack of understanding in today's society. Things are changing ever so slowly and mental illness is gaining more awareness. It are normal people that get mental illnesses, anyone can get them. Such a thing deserves understanding, awareness and support - not stigma.

As things are shifting, it is important to validate mental illnesses in media and approach the issue with sensitivity and care. Stephen Fry has been a major figure in that regard. And now, NCIS:LA now has a rare and important chance now to contribute to a changing view of mental illnesses. If they portray Deeks' mental illness with sensitivity and care and acknowledge the illness, its complications but also the potential for healing - they are doing something very important. They'll be validating mental illness and showing how it can affect people, portraying it in its many complicated forms while showing the potential of recovery, of hope. Deeks is a fictional character but it's been proven time and again that validating difficult issues on TV can be an important stepping stone in provoking discussions on them and contributing to more awareness and understanding.

Castle handled PTSD in season 4 in a wonderful episode. They treated the matter with sincere respect and understanding. This episode later won an award for truthful portrayal of a mental illness and it is one of their best episodes.

Now NCIS:LA has the chance to do the same and I hope they step up to the challenge. If they do, they will contributing to an important debate and increasing awareness of an issue that touches people everywhere. They have the capacity to change the opinions of millions towards PTSD and validating the experience of so many that have the illness. Who wouldn't want to use that chance?

It is my hope that they will step up and deliver. It is their duty to do so. 

What is it that makes Deeks stand out as a character? The human factor

Recently I was reading through this interview with Mr. Olsen that plays Deeks on NCIS:LA and one thing caught my attention. The reference to the fact that for some reason, Deeks as a character has made a lot of emotional attachment with fans.

Now, I am personally iffy of using the phrase 'emotional attachment' in reference to TV characters. I'd rather say he's the character that has elicited some of the strongest responses. But I would certainly agree that Deeks is a character that a lot of fans, me included, have responded strongly to and enjoy watching so much. He is without a doubt the character I enjoy the most on the show; as a character he makes me grin and laugh heartily and I respond to his stories. 

And this all got me thinking, what is it precisely about Deeks that makes him so popular?

What hit me personally about the character was the fact that from the beginning he was so human, so relateable. From the moment he entered the screen he was an impressive, complicated character with an intensive back-story. He felt like someone that could exist in real life. From the beginning, Deeks was presented as someone that had deep personal integrity and loyalty and was dedicated to his job. But he was not immune to it. The thing that impressed me from the start was how strongly Deeks would react to things and how his job was seen to affect him. While the other character felt like cardboards at times (Sam, Callen, Hetty) when it came to displaying their feelings, Deeks was from the start open emotionally and was shown to respond strongly to things, both good and bad. 

He as been presented as a character that is not perfect. While the rest of them sometimes seem to inhabit a bubble of perfection, never doing anything wrong (Sam especially), Deeks is different. He blunders, has a strange humor (Germany f.ex.), is sometimes very awkward, has a tendency to talk far too much, listens to musicals and Donny and Marie (I do not know who these are!), does not always have social communication down to a tee, has a horrendous British accent, is Norwegian (whoop!), does some pretty strange things when he's undercover, can be very sensitive, hates forests and the desert, plays violin and knows classical music, in no way in tune with nature and many other things. He does not like shooting people and defends those he feels have been wronged. He is in love with Kensi but has trouble acting on it, he has some unresolved issues with his father and his past does not feel impressive or grand. It feels realistic.

In other words he feels delightfully human, has a lot of strange quirks and vices and habits just like anyone else. From the start, Deeks as a character did not live in the bubble of perfection the other characters still sometimes do. From the start, he has felt human. 

And I have to mention his humour. Deeks is without a doubt the character that makes me laugh the most and grin like an idiot. I have said it times and again that one of the things I look for in my favorite TV shows is that they make me laugh, that they make me feel happy. NCIS:LA does that well and that is in large part thanks to Deeks. 

NCIS:LA has radically improved in terms of their character development, especially in regards to Kensi. But Deeks will always be their best created character in my opinion. The human factor is pivotal when it comes to creating a good character and concerning Deeks, NCIS:LA did extremely well from the start. 

Football and soccer - negotiating American and British English vocabulary

As someone that learned English as foreign language one problem I have ran into in my vocabulary building is the difference in words between British and American English. Since I am European, I learned British spelling, vocabulary and even accent. We do love our British English here in the North. Generally speaking, I would say I am more comfortable personally with British English but I've concentrated more on American English lately, as I have been exposed much muh more to British. But the fact is that any way we slice it, it is not enough for someone to know English vocabulary specific to one country only. So I am in the unique position of having to learn and develop my vocabulary in many different types of English, with emphasis on British and American. One can throw into that mix as well Australian, Canadian, New Zealand, Indian and so much else. So I got my hands full. Generally I enjoy this challenge and it fascinates me. But sometimes it can throw me for a loop.

One such instance is the word 'football'. In Nordic language the sport is called 'fodbold'. And in British English and every other European language I have studied and am familiar with the sport is referred to by the two words that directly reflect it, 'foot' and 'ball'. 

This is the sport which is known as football here in Europe

And then there enters American English in all its glory. In American English the word 'football' refers to something completely else, a totally different sport that has nothing to do with feet or a ball. 

It refers to this sport here

And the sport that is referred to everywhere else as 'football'/fodbold/fútbol in every other language is called 'soccer'. I mean where does that word even come from?! How on earth did someone figure out that a sport that involves both feet and balls should be called soccer but a sport that involves clutching the ball and using excessive force when competing should be called 'football'. It makes no logical sense whatsoever!

This used to drive me nuts. I have a distinct memory of arguing about the meaning of the word soccer with my brother when I was little as I refused to believe it existed and that the word football referred to a completely different word in American English. One of the many benefits of having grown up learning English is that it opened my way into the fascinating world of languages and discovering English. I wouldn't trade that for the world. 

Since that time, my vocabulary has grown. This annoyance does still mildly exist but I have learned to see the humour in it.

And there enters a show like NCIS:LA which thrives in a way on language jokes and they have poked fun at this.

In episode 2x20 'The Job' Deeks pretends to be injured when he meets a British woman and he pretends to be a footballer. And the following conversation ensues (paraphrased):

British woman: "Oh my God, are you a footballer?"

Deeks: "This is America, so we call it soccer, but yeah".

And I sat there grinning like an idiot while listening to the conversation. I love the fact that this discrepancy between British and American English was taken a light jab at and acknowledged. And typical Deeks to correct the British woman. And kudos to NCIS:LA for pulling off such an awesome language joke!

I love language jokes and playing around with language so it are scenes like this that make me grin and laugh. I am happy and grateful to be an English major and to be an EFL speaker. It puts me in such a great position of learning English, experiencing it and being fascinated by it. 

Conspiracy theory 103 - What will next season bring?

I am in a conspiracy mood so here I go. The TV world has been delivering some excellent bites of conspiracy meat and I cannot wait to begin. So like Joan Callamezzo so wisely said: 'Let's pull out the world map and speculate wildly'.

NCIS:LA - Things have been heavy on the conspiracy front here. Due to some delightful changes in real life for some of the actors, things will be changing around NCIS:LA. It seems obvious now that Kensi will be the team member to leave the team, for some time at least, which opens up the door for Nell to start training as an agent. It has been hinted that Hetty will be making some changes around the place so it seems quite logical that Nell will step in for Kensi with her being away. And if that comes true, I cannot wait to see it. Nell is a great character and nicely different from Kensi and plus I cannot wait to see what kind of dynamic she and Deeks will have. They are two such lovely goofballs. And I am curious to see what will happen with Michelle Hanna. I do hope they continue having her on as a character. Aunjanue Ellis is such a good actress and I enjoy the dynamic between Sam and Michelle. And I am getting excited to see what Callen's name is and learn more about his family. I have tried coming up with G names for Callen and honestly he looks like a George to me. Names like Graham, Gunnar, Gideon, Gregor are just so not Callen. So he'll always be a George in my opinion.

And I am still holding on to the hope that Jack Larsen will turn up ;)

NCIS - What will happen to Ziva?? I am very excited to see that and I expect things to be delivered on the Tiva front, like an actual resolution. It seems that NCIS will be heading down a fun road. I am already breaking my mind over how the complications with Palmer adopting will affect his relationship with Ducky and what will happen to this awesome duo. There will be a 'love triangle' with Abby, McGee and his new girlfriend Delilah. I cannot wait for that - just the thought of the humor that it'll bring makes me smile. And how will life continue for Tony and Gibbs - who is still technologically challenged I might add (they are teasing a hashtag scene with him, I can't wait!).

Castle - I am so very much excited about Castle. It's obvious that Beckett will take the job and that Castle will tag along with her but knowing Castle, they will deliver 150% on the story line front. I have seen great reviews for this episode and I am psyched to see it. I am also excited to see how Lisa Edelsteins's role will play a part in the show. And I cannot forget my favorite bro duo, Ryan and Esposito. I am looking forward to the pregnancy story line and seeing how things will develop with Lanie and Espo - two characters I really like. So I am psyched about next season of Castle, totally psyched.

Parks and Rec - So much going on! I am very much looking forward to the pregnancy story line with Ron and how he will handle it. It's already been indicated that he will be really happy with the news so I cannot wait to see what it'll bring and how it will change this epic character. I am a teensy bit annoyed that Chris Traeger and Ann Perkins will exit the show midseason - they are such epic characters and my favorite one's on the show (aside from Leslie) but knowing how wonderfully parks and rec deals with the characters I cannot wait to see Ann adjust to pregnancy and Chris take on fatherhood. And what will happen with Leslie and Ben? So many good things coming up!
And I am looking forward to the dose of Donna awesomeness, Tom annoyance/laughter and the lovely pair of Andy and April.

All in all, I am looking very much forward to next TV season and what it will bring. And I will continue blogging and documenting and most of all, conspiracy theorizing.

'Slam dunk' and 'hashtag' - when TV teaches idioms

One of the reasons I maintain this blog is to chronicle how TV shows challenge my English skills and how it helps me improve my English. I have stated here a million times that I am fluent in English and it feels natural to me to use the language. However, English is my lingua franca - meaning I learned English in a country in which English is not the official language and I am a native speaker of a language that is completely different from English. So while I am comfortable with English, it still challenges me. But I am determined to learn as much about the language as possible. Therefore, English major

And on my quest in discovering all the secrets of the English language, TV has proved to be a resource of the best kind. It challenges my auditory skills, my writing skills (maintaining this blog f.ex.) and my knowledge of colloquial English which is a a weaker area for me but I am very strong in literature and written English. So I use it to my advantage as much as my can to learn more and more.

And the past days TV has taught me a lesson twice.

In Parks and Rec episode 4x11 'The comeback kid' Lesle tries to get a former basketball star to endorse her and designs the slogan for him 'Voting for Leslie is a slam dunk'. Now I know what slam means and I know what dunk means but I had never heard this idiom 'slam dunk' before and did not even know it was an idiom. Putting in contest I gathered it was some kind of weird basketball euphemism and that it meant that something was 'cool'/'great'/'a really good shot'.
So imagine my surprise when I was reading a book about humor in American English and I came across this idiom. I had learned an idiom from TV! I was quite happy to discover that.

In episode 3x10 'The Debt' of NCIS:LA, Deeks and Kensi have a conversation involving the word hashtag.

Deeks: Hashtag, I'm in love, l-o-v-e
Kensi: Hashtag, my partner is a loser

Now enter the clueless Nordic also known as yours truly. I had less than zero idea what the word hashtag meant when I first saw this scene. It bothered me for some time that I did not understand the joke properly (I have a mental list of jokes on NCIS:LA I still have not figured out). But I did not bother looking up the word hashtag. I was too lazy to do it and not to mention, I have zero experience in Twitter speak. And lo and behold, late last year I finally learned what the word means and what it signifies on Twitter. So a year after seeing the episode for the first time I finally figured out the joke.

So TV continues to teach lessons and I continue to be challenged and loving every second of it.

(The best thing was when they had Kensi rattle on about the difference between alligators and crocodiles. I had no idea there was a difference first of all and found it extremely interesting).

Is the Densi ship ever going to leave port? Because Caskett/Beslie are having a smooth sailing - Shallow Rant 101

A whiny shipper post as Uni has began and I do need my shallowness every once in a while :) And it's my 100th post!!!!!!! Yay osom me!

Soon Tiva will be ending. The NCIS producers have promised to deliver on the Tiva front in the first two episodes and I expect them to keep that promise. Tiva has had a good, long-winded and frustrated run but now the journey comes to an end. And I want a resolution that will satisfy the ending of the fabulous Tiva.

This on the the other hand leaves the Tiva shippers needing another couple to ship. But there is hope. Those that watch NCIS:LA have got not only Neric but also Densi! I mean, two potential couples in one show, it's a pure gold mine!

But NCIS:LA producers have been threatening a watershed season for Deeks and that he and Kensi will have bucket loads of issues to go through, their partnership will not be the same, there will be a major complication in their relationship, they will split up as partners mid-season and what not. Basically - the Densi ship won't be sailing off for quite some time. Instead the incessant jig around the issue of them loving each other will continue. So it seems we'll be having another Tiva on our hands, only it's called Densi. Otherwise its the same package - two awesome characters that work together, love each other fiercely and yet cannot get together. We are not exactly working the creative front here are we NCIS:LA producers?

As someone that has enjoyed watching Castle and Parks and Rec and seeing the relationship between the main characters change and develop and being consistently sweet, I love those kinds of things. I  am fond of good romance stories and I love seeing seeing sweet romance stories unfold, be it in books or TV. Sweet, realistic and loving stories are pure joy to see and it brings me warmth. Castle and Parks and Rec has more than delivered on that front and I find those relationship to be such a sweet and integral parts of the show. I gladly admit I am a complete sucker for Caskett and Beslie.

Seeing those series pull off portraying a relationship between the main characters so sweetly and realistically makes me wonder why the NCIS:LA team seems determined to drag that Densi thing out as long as possible. It is perfectly possible to portray a relationship without the show losing its spark. Castle and Parks and Rec are a prime example of that. If anything, the series got more popular and better after the main leads got together.

But it seems that NCIS:LA is going to drag out the Densi thing as long as possible, and probably Neric as well. So I am expecting it either to be either resolved never or to be resolved in the absolutely last episode. As much as I enjoy the Nerid/Densi dynamic now, it will get tired one day. The fun and challenging dynamic between the characters is one of the reasons I watch the show but if this thing will drag on forever... oh dear.

The Caskett and Beslie ships have sailed off into a calm sea while the Densi and Neric ships will most likely remain in port until eternity. Unless the producers see how excellently the Caskett and Beslie ships have done. Then who knows what might happen! I am hopeful in any way.

PS - If it turns out that Kensi's former boyfriend's name is Jack Larsen I will dance around.

Lacking middle ground - the highs and lows of NCIS:LA

One of things I have been written to some extent here when it comes to NCIS:LA is its extremes in highs and lows. Both how incredibly good the series is and also, how bad it can sometimes. One of the reasons I write more NCIS:LA than other series is because these extreme fascinate me. Unlike the other series I cover here, NCIS:LA completely lacks a middle ground. It is either absolutely wonderful or terrible (at least considering the high standards it sets with its good episodes). NCIS:LA is in many ways much better than most shows on TV and it has a lot of great things about it, that's why is disappointing when it does not deliver.

When NCIS:LA is bad, it gets pretty terrible. It seems to me that this generally happens when the show becomes too ambitious and there is too much going on. When NCIS:LA amps up on steroids , is generally when thins go awry. The humor turns way off, the characters become stiff in their interactions and general demeanor, the level of violence is increased to a ridiculous level and the story lines become far too unrealistic. There is also ridiculous reliance on stereotypes and the writing is not good. When such episodes come, I don't like watching them and therefore I make a point of avoiding them. There are some episodes of NCIS:LA that I have only seen once because I disliked them so much.

Those episodes include:
Pretty much all of season 1
2x14 'Lockup' - that episode has never sat right with me - the level of violence is far too much
2x19 'Enemy within' - The foreign policy in that episode is quite simply way off and I find it disrespectful towards Latin countries and enforcing the stereotypical attitude that everyone is America's enemy - and it has the typical scene of Kensi going badass when dressed in fine clothes and high heels - how anyone thinks that is a good idea is beyond me
3x19 'Vengeance' - It did not sit right with me the whole time - the idea of someone being redeemed of killing someone just because said person is a navy s.e.a.l. is not something I like
4x02 'Recruit' - It was described as being the funniest episode ever but I ended up disliking it a whole lot. The humor felt entirely too forced, the level of violence is far too much and it relied on bad stereotypes about Muslims in order to further the story. It is my least favorite episode of the entire series.
4x11 'Drive' - Kensi went undercover as a stereotypical Latina - the entire setup felt ridiculous and unrealistic and was a low for such a great character.

But there is always an plus side. When NCIS:LA does something well, they blow me out of the water! When NCIS:LA feels more laid back but retains the drive and ambition it has, it produces some high quality shows which I can re-watch over and over again. It has the wonderful humor I adore so much, the character reactions are gold, the characters are alive and the story lines are ambitious and delivers some excellent points. When it does something so well it is one of the best TV shows I have ever seen and I mean that. The episodes I can re-watch over and over again are a few

2x20 'The Job' - This is probably my most favorite episode on NCIS:LA. It has the good humor but has a seriously good character focus on Kensi and the story line keeps me on the edge of my seat every single time. I watched the episode on my last birthday as a treat, it's that good.
2x01 'Human Traffic' - Holy smokes. That episode is more than awesome! It has Deeks character focus, the story line is intense and exciting and you really feel for the characters. It is one of those classical re-watch episodes I can see over and over again
2x05 'Little Angels' - It is just such a good and intense episode and Sam is excellent in i. It is also highly creepy which I enjoy
2x07 'Anonymous' - This episode has the best Kensi and Deeks undercover action - it is so funny, light and delightful I grin just thinking about it. I laugh so much every time I see it. There is something so earnest and clusmy about it which I love.
2x10 'Deliverance' - It has nail biting exciting action and twists and turns
2x17 'Personal' - A Deeks heavy episode, need I say more? One instant favorite
2x22 'Plan B - A Deeks heavy favorite which is one of the best character episodes yet - It is interesting and intriguing and I really feel for the characters in it
3x07 - This episode is their funniest one ever. Ranging from Nell and Eric playing airport staff to Sam speaking Japanese and Kensi and Deeks pretending to be waiters - it is comedy gold for 40 minutes which I love.
3x10 'The Debt' - Deeks/Kensi heavy and it has some awesome twists and turns and some seriously good character interactions. It gets to me every time I watch it
3x16-17 'Blye, K.' - seriously good character focus on Kensi, nail biting action and tension and as some really sweet Densi scenes
3x18 'The Dragon and the fairy' - This episode is too good. It deals with the difficult issue of human trafficking and the Vietnam War with seriousness and respect and one can tell they wanted to do it right. It is absolute gold to watch.
3x22 'Neighbor Watch' - Kensi and Deeks go undercover as a married couple and it is nonstop humor for 40 minutes - ranging from the epic dinner scene to the scene where Deeks discovers Kensi cut her foot - it is nothing but highly good humor. I laugh every time I watch it and it makes me happy.
4x01 'Endgame' - This episode has non-stop epic action, twists and turns in the story line and some comedy gold in between - it is so good!
4x06-07 - A wonderful Sam two-parter which had some wonderful twists and turns and the action was very good.
4x13 'The Chosen One' - It attempts to deal with the subject of bombinh in the name of Islam and to a certain extent it does a great job
4x14 'Kill House' - This episode was epic! The action had me at the edge of my seat the whole time (also closing my eyes regularly), the tension was palpable and it so so exciting. Not to mention, Nell kicking ass is great.
4x23 'Parley' - A great Deeks heavy  episode with some good tension between him and Kensi

So as people can tell - I enjoy more episode than I dislike. And to add, the acting in NCIS:LA is always consistently good. Whatever the standard of other things, the acting is always top-notch and that is something I appreciate.

Undercover mishaps and awesomeness - NCIS:LA style

One of the things I love about NCIS:LA is all the undercover characters they have. I am a big fan of acting, theatre and storytelling and I love all the little stories they spin with the undercover characters and how easily they have the main characters flow between being undercover and being themselves. They are like chameleons and it it such fun to watch. But a la NCIS:LA style they sometimes proper middle ground. They have both had terrific undercover characters and characters that were so bad I could barely watch. So today's topic is delving into those undercover characters goodies and define my favorite and least favorite.

Sam: His worst undercover character was hands down in episode 3x10 'The Debt' when he impersonated a rapper. Sam wore his regular work outfit of jeans and a well fitting black shirt. The only thing he did was to put on a gold chain. His entire undercover outfit consisted of a gold chain!!! To me, that shows low standard. 

I was also not a fan of when he pretended to be a wine taster/cork collector. I never got that scene entirely because the accent that he used was very difficult for me to understand which frustrated me. 

To explain a little further: I have trouble with deciphering/hearing properly what people say sometimes and that frustrates me on a general level, both in my native language as well as English. I am well aware of differing accents (English major here!) and I am used to listening to and interpreting all sorts of accents, both from native speakers as well as foreign speakers of English. But I am not perfect it it. When I can't grasp properly what people say I don't like it. It frustrates me quite a lot actually. I have to rely 100% on my auditory English skills when watching TV when I generally rely on a mix of subtitles and auditory and as I am not a native speaker of English it has challenges. When I have to pause and replay over and over again scenes from my favorite show just to understand what's going on I get annoyed. It detracts from my enjoyment from the show. Generally this is not a problem for me when watching TV but it does occur most often with NCIS:LA for some reason. 

I am pointing out the challenges I face when I watch American TV shows and how English continues to challenges me. It's a part of consuming media in a language I am still learning and dealing with. I don't think this is something that people generally realize can pose a challenge so I am pointing it out as one of the many facets and challenges of consuming American media as a European. 

Frankly, I prefer Sam when it's just him and his lovely humor. He is at his best then, not when he's undercover.

Callen: His worst undercover character was also in the episode 3x10 'The Debt' when he pretended to be Sam's lawyer when he impersonated  a rapper. Not only did Callen adapt an extremely obnoxious accent in that scene but his behavior was also completely off. He became very obnoxious, annoying and cocky. Another undercover low for Callen was when he pretended to be a hotshot in order to get into a 'clandestino' in season 2. He had the same arrogant attitude

It seems to be a constant for Callen to adopt a very disrespectful and cocky attitude and  generally behave like dusch which I do not like. I understand it's all about playing roles and molding personalities but still....

Callen is such a nice character and has some great moments. I prefer him on his own, NOT when he's undercover.

Kensi: Her worst undercover was in in season 4 she played a Latina girl in the episode 'Drive' when they were bursting an illegal car selling ring. There was just something about the character that bit me. It was so incredible stereotypical from the tatto 'Krafty' to the braids, the gum, the hoodie, the clothes and the accent. It was a hyped up stereotype in my opinion and the character just felt flat and unreal. It was a low for a character as great as Kensi. That's why I was so happy when they had Kensi roll back into being herself and correcting Deeks' bad Spanish Grammar. 

The best one in episode 4x01 when she played the mean, rich house wife in the bank. Her rant about her idiot husband who was a sheep and how much she hated being married to him was an absolute hoot. I laugh so hard every time I see that scene. It is one of the funniest scenes of the entire NCIS:LA franchise and it's absolute comic gold. Scenes like that are the reason I watch NCIS:LA.

Deeks: He is my most favorite character when going undercover. You can never figure out what stunts he will pull next and watching him spin something out of thin air is always as much fun. He also as the best array of undercover characters.
His worst one's are when he plays the hobo. It just never feels right in some way, not the way he plays it or how the character is. I cannot pinpoint it exactly but I don't particularly like it when he plays the hobo.

His best undercover character is Max Gentry. Gentry is the only undercover character on NCIS:LA which has genuinely freaked me out. In episode 2x22, I felt repulsed every time he came on screen and he was the very definition of someone creepy and sadistic. The scene where he shouts and threatens actually made me scared and I felt really uncomfortable when he kept touching the hair of a girl in the bar scene. Gentry as a character had me terrified. He is so completely different from Deeks so it's a fascinating change to observe, how much Deeks changes when he becomes Gentry and how reconciles playing such a repulsive man to do something good. It is fascinating to watch, makes for great TV and is an example of NCIS:LA goodiness. 

So all in all, the undercover part is both good and bad but it's an integral part of the show and an aspect I love. NCIS:LA continues to challenge my English skills as well and while it's annoying sometimes, it helps as well. 

The TV Matters and Me Opinion Column 102 - NCIS/NCIS:LA galore

I was catching up on some much needed spoilers to satisfy my NCIS/NCIS:LA obsession and boy, was I ever lucky!

I, as a rule of the thumb, generally never read gossip magazines or websites I did read 'Hello' today to get news pf the sweet little British prince (but that's beside the point).

But today's satisfaction in terms of TV spoilers is provided by Entertainment Weekly

Click here!

NCIS: I have already covered my own reaction to Ms. De Pablo leaving the show earlier and I am clear in my position that I respect her choice of doing so. I will miss the character of Ziva but things will move on. I am looking very much forward to seeing how they will play things out in the first two episodes of season 11 and how Ziva's story will come to an end. And Glasberg has promised to conclusion to TIVA and that the fans will be happy with the result! Now that is intriguing.... But other than that, NCIS seems to be shaping up to have a wonderful season 11 and I am looking forward to it returning to screen. They'll be doing a Bones style rotation of agents in Ziva's place and that'll be interesting to see. And I am happy that the producers are aware of and committed to honoring the fans of NCIS. As always, NCIS delivers.

NCIS:LA: There will be an honest scene between Kensi and Deeks. Finally, finally, finally! These two will hopefully start moving forward after that and unto a blooming relationship. I am curious to see how it'll play with the lovable but highly dysfunctional duo. And I politely point to my own comparison between Caskett and Densi should there be any doubt whether a relationship between Kensi and Deeks would work or not. And the trauma and torture which Deeks will experience will have long-lasting effects on him. NCIS:LA has always done well with continuing story lines and this will be interesting to watch. I have covered my clear disgust with the season 4 finale and it's use of torture and trauma. While I am interested to see how the aftershock will play out, I hope there will never be a repeat of torture scenes. Once was terrible enough.

So all in all, it seems the NCIS franchise is shaping up to have a positively delightful TV season ahead and I am looking forward to it. And as always, I will watch it with eagle eyes and continue reporting.

Imagining Kensi's boyfriend - Part 2: Deeks and the Norway/Sweden of it all

Now, it is no secret that I love the dynamic between Deeks and Kensi on NCIS:LA. They are so incredibly dysfunctional as people and yet work so well together. They are without a doubt two of the most frustrating characters to enter the TV scene and still so much fun and nicely realistic. So I am looking mildly forward to seeing how things will turn out between them. And I will write about it!

But today I am going all Nordic and extremely shallow on ya'll!

In my last coverage of imagining Kensi's boyfriend Jack Larsen I emphasized the fact that he would be Swedish-American. This may come across as quite strange to those readers that are not Scandinavian are not aware of the relationship between Norway and Sweden. As I explained earlier Norway is a former colony of Sweden, they were always poorer and had less military power and influence. However Sweden has always been a big country, was the leading power in Europe at one point, is influential in international matters and hold a greater military power. Today the countries stand on far more equal ground but there are still lingering remains of dissatisfaction between them and how Sweden treated Norway

Seeing that Deeks is 100% Norwegian-American (looks the Norwegian part to a tee and is of full Norwegian descent (the actor, that is)), his family would probably have moved to America from Norway in early 20th century, right around the time they got their full independence. So Deeks would have gotten to known presumably strong nationalistic ideas, filled with pride and a bit of dislike towards the Swedish. Plus, stereotypes of the perfect Swede and the coolness of everything Swedish are abound everywhere and he would have seen them (there is no way escaping them sadly). I am guessing that someone with a turbulent past like his would have found his identity (at least in part) in being a descendant of Vikings and a Norwegian. No one messed with the Vikings and they had a wonderfully rich and interesting culture and Norway is a wonderful country.  He would have found strength in that and would still in his adulthood. Because the Vikings were conquerors and ruled the world and

So I can imagine him fussing over Mr. Jack Larsen being Swedish with Nell and Eric (he would never do it with Sam and Callen!) and Neric would not understand in the slightest but lend a sympathetic ear. He would then fuss about Vikings and their culture. That'd be the beauty of it, a completely Scandinavian reference which no one would get except Nordics or those that love Nordic history!

Some might say I am probably reading way too much into this but that is the fun part of it. Making connections and creating things :)

And to add a comment:

I found a comment on TV Line (Click here!) about how Deeks' turbulent past lends to his inability to establish a romantic connection with Kensi. I just wanted to say: The incredible relationship dysfunction between the two characters goes both ways. Kensi is just as dysfunctional as Deeks. So in theory, two dysfunctions should be wonderful together. And lest we forget, the spark is there and it just has to be flamed. Hell, they've kissed twice and are eerily comfortable playing romantic partners. And please do not turn this into another TIVA! Look to the Caskett dynamic and go from there.

Conspiracy Theory 102 - Deeks and Castle - Two sides of the same coin

Deeks and Castle are two of my most favorite characters ever to enter the TV screen. They are a wonderful blend of humor, drama and realistic nuance which I greatly enjoy. They appear on two different shows running on two different networks but are still very much alike. And today's topic is dedicated to this alarming similarity and is the second installation of my "Conspiracy Theory" series.

So here goes the list of eerie similarities between Castle and Deeks

1)They both have father issues. Deeks grew up with an abusive, alcoholic father he ended up shooting and Castle grew up without a father (literally, he did not even know who he was)

2)They are both in love with a coworker. Caskett and Densi. The difference is that Castle and Beckett are already dating. So, NCIS:LA producers, I am looking at you! Let's get Kensi and Deeks together before we have another Tiva on our hands. The "Moonlighting Curse" does not exist, folks. Castle put their main leads together and the show is still working wonderfully.

3)They both behave very silly at times and have a weird sense of humor. Castle is often portrayed as being like a little boy with his obsession with gadgets and playing around and Deeks has been known to play horrible music to have the car to himself.

4)They have both saved their female coworker whom they are in love with several times and acted very heroically. I am mentioning specifically when Deeks saved Kensi from a bomb in season 2 and when Castle did the same in season 3 with Beckett.

5)Their female coworker freaks out when they are not around and fear for their safety as they are in love with them but dare not admit it. There is this constant tug-o-war going on between them.

6)They both have communication difficulties with their female partner and annoy them very much. The first seasons of Castle where spent on him annoying Beckett and Deeks has been doing the same relentlessly as well. And they are afraid to share their true feelings with the person they are in love with but instead dance a jig around the issue.

Castle has manned up, it is your turn now Deeks!

7)They both have endless stream of girlfriends but are unable to settle down because they are waiting for the one and only coworker to see what is right in front of them. Castle was married three times and regularly had a new lady upon his arm. Deeks seems to have had an endless stream of girlfriends throughout the series without ever settling down.

8)They are both very silly and people do not take them seriously all the time but when the pressure hits they are more than capable of finishing the task and doing their best. Sam does not take Deeks seriously like ever and Captain Gates still doubts Castle. But they are proving themselves bit by bit.

9)They are both very much monolingual. Deeks has this strange obsession with German and has been shown to speak a bit of Spanish but generally he seems to be very monolingual. He didn't even understand Kensi's very simple French. Castle has never been shown speaking another language and truthfully, I doubt he's able to.

10)Despite their flaws,they are both shown to have a strong moral compass and approach their work with integrity and care

11)Deeks is a cop, working with a federal authority. Castle is a writer, working with the police. Each is doing something outside of his work experience.

Deeks and Castle are two wonderful characters in my opinion and I enjoy them both very much. But I am starting to think that the NCIS:LA producers are working closely with the Castle producers on their duos Caskett and Densi. Making sure they both got the right blend of humor and drama, infuriating behavior and chemistry that keeps the viewers coming back.

Because, having 4 characters being that much alike as Kensi, Deeks, Castle and Beckett are is just crazy.

And yes, I do love conspiracy theories :)

"The Dubious Awards" 2013 - NCIS:LA edition

I am not leaving on my grand vacation until next week so I'll be popping in a few times over the next few days to share some posts that have been swirling around my brain lately. One of the things I enjoy getting from writing this blog is that it encourages to evaluate culture and how I view it from a new angle. It challenges me and I really like maintaining this blog. I hope people enjoy reading it as well.

The next few posts will in part be dedicated to the little 'dubious' things I  see on my favorite shows which make me sigh. I genuinely like the shows I watch but sometimes they go overboard and feature things which either make absolutely no sense or lose their grounding. And as always, NCIS:LA is my favorite series to pick apart, evaluate and judge. And they are the definite winners of the dubious contest. And here is why:

1) For some odd reason, there is a regular appearance of either a bikini bar or a strip club as a major part of an episode (and even once a pole dancing studio!) on the show. And let us not forget the scene where they had Kensi enter undercover at a call girl agency (a segment I thoroughly hate for many reasons and was a complete disservice to a great character!). It never fails; The male characters enter the place wearing tuxedos, there are plenty of scantily clad women dancing all around (and all with Russian accents) and the agents chat to some seedy villains that have either an illegal operation going on there or this is their meeting place. And of course, there are also regularly young navy males that go to such places to entertain themselves.

I am going to go knock my head against the wall now. Is this really the best place the writers can think off for an undercover operation or as an evil villain hideout? I am not going to elaborate on my feelings and views towards such places (let it suffice to say I am an ardent feminist) but this regular appearance makes me groan. I did enjoy the scene when Kensi ask Deeks what was the difference between a bikini car and a strip club (I had no idea there actually was a difference) but I had to agree with her response of incredulity. And apparently Deeks had spent quite some time in such places. Not to mention this constant objectification of women seems to serve no purpose except "sex up" the show which is has no need for. It stands on strong ground already.

You writers and producers can do better than this!

2)Product placement. Now, NCIS:LA will never be a very smooth show. It operates on embellishment, big things, testosterone and a freaky version of reality. And of the areas in which they are extremely obvious is their product placement. I can think of three examples which are noticably bad:

-Every time they pull out a camera, you always see the sigh "Nicon" very clearly visually. It is almost front and center just so that we can definitely see who sponsors them with the camera
-LL Cool J's music. He is a great actor and I respect the man but I am no lover of his hip hop music (classical musician). I made an very honest attempt to get into his music last December but found out that it did certainly not suit my music taste. "Accidental racist" had me sitting open-mouthed and shaking my head as it was one of the worst songs I have ever heard.  I have since come to the conclusion the song was made intentionally bad to raise awareness of racial issues and I have to say that was a clever ploy because it did certainly get people talking. But aside from that, one can regularly hear his hip hop music being a prominent part of certain scenes.
-The discussion of Cross Fit in season 4. It had me grinding my teeth. Last year I worked in a place where everyone was pretty much obsessed with the sport and it dominated all cafeteria discussions. So the episode where the opening scene began with Kensi and Sam praising the sport gave me an eerie flashback to all those discussions. Rarely, if ever, have I witnessed such incredibly bad production placement on TV. It was so blatantly obvious I have decided to deem it: "The worst production placement ever!".

3)Number of kills. I have already written here about gun culture, how I view violence on TV and how it is treated. So, when you have a series like NCIS:LA which operates to a certain extent on gun violence and deaths, you have people like me sighing/grinding our teeth. It never, ever fails, that in every single bloody episode at least 5 people are killed. Granted, it is always in self-defense but still. One can guarantee that no matter what subject they are dealing with, it'll bring along a major death toll in its way. And the characters hardly ever answer to their actions or are reprimanded for their insane death toll. And why hasn't there been a single mention of angry families of they people they've killed pursuing them demanding justice?  They always enter the scene guns blazing and killing everything in their path. There seems to be the rule "Shoot everyone in our way and to hell with the rest!"

Again, writers and producers, you can do better than this! Look to series like NCIS and Castle that have built up a strong and solid fanbase and are very popular and well crafted without major death toll.

4)Display of violence. Yet again, a major pet peeve of mine which plays into my dislike of the prominent gun violence on their show. Another feature of the NCIS:LA agents is that whenever they arrest a subject or take  someone down they always do it with as much violence and physical harm as possible. They've slammed people into walls, the car, the ground, hit them, attacked them, punched them and what not. And they have also threatened torture and displayed it which is something that should never bedone in my opinion. It never seizes to amaze me how they manage to pack violence into pretty much every scene in which pursuing a subject is involved. The characters seem to resort to violence in everything they do which is terrible and again it undermines the characters they have built.

5)Kensi's seeming inability to handle another female agent/law enforcement/a strong woman entering the scene without going crazy. I think the character of Kensi is great on most levels and it is one the reasons I love watching the show. But it has come to my attention that every single time a strong female enters the scene Kensi pulls back, becomes jealous and resorts to threats, defensive and bitchy behavior. It happened when Ava Espinoza came and they had Kensi threatening her and attacking defensive in every scene. It also happened when Monica entered the scene in season 4 and yet again, Kensi sparred with her. It amazes me she is always displayed as being incapable of handling another female entering the scene that is as strong and capable as she is. It shows genuine insecurity in her which is frustrating to see. Someone like her should be able to handle things like that without feeling threatened or resorting to violence. I am not saying Kensi should be perfect (her imperfections are one of the reasons why I enjoy the character so much) but she should be portrayed as being more mature. She could be shown handling things in  her own way but being insecure as well (without the violence). I've noticed Nell clearly has a much better ability of handling people.

6)Their foreign policy. Everyone is an enemy and anti-American and apparently Europeans have a mad desire to destroy LA. One of these days, I will write about   what it's like for people to travel to America from here. It all begins and ends with A) The cost of flight which is super high B) The terrible logistics of travelling there and C) The terror it is to deal with security at American airports.
It is an experience in itself for us Europeans. Because of the Schengen agreement over here, when travelling within Europe, we only flash our passport at the airport we fly from. In general, when we land at our destination, we just go on our merry way. It's one of the perks that comes with being a European :) So, the security at American airports throws us for a loop. Last time I went to the country I got into a hazzle as I have a very ethnic name that is written in two different ways, one is the Scandinavian one and the other is the International one. Try explaining that to airport authorities as they thought it was very suspicious I had one name on my green card and another one in my passport :)

And sometimes you just gotta love the NCIS:LA logic of things. It has passed through my mind that one of these days they might go for Nordic villains. I am thinking they'd have Icelandic and Faroese villains conspire to do something crazy in L.A. And frankly I would not put it past them to cook up something like that :) Or a conspiracy between all the smaller nations of Europe. The possibilities are endless!

And to conclude

NCIS:LA is a good show but there are also areas they fail in, in my opinion and hence the dubious awards. And since I take it so much apart and criticize it then why do I watch it? I genuinely enjoy the show on many levels, not least because it makes me laugh and smile which is something I look for in a show. I love laughing, smiling and feeling happy and NCIS:LA never seizes to make me grin and laugh. I watch an episode and it makes me happy. And that it something TV shows do not generally manage with people like me. It has on many levels excellent characterization and the story line is often great. And it has brilliant actors that do a wonderful job. Good acting is certainly not always a feature of TV and I appreciate the fact that NCIS:LA always has top-notch acting. Not to mention that there are truly great episodes in between that I can watch over and over again (The Job, Human Traffic, Personal, Kill House, 4x17).

So I will continue watching and picking apart.

And next up for the dubious awards is Criminal Minds!

When characters 'click' for me

As this blog will be taking a summer vacation soon as I'll be abroad for 4 weeks soon and will not access the internet much during that time, both because of internet instability as well as stepping back from media to contemplate what role I want it to play in my life. But I will be returning with a vengeance and ready to continue in August and I am set on continuing my scathing analysis and sharp-eyed observation. So do not stray far!

But today's topic is characterization. One of the main reason I tune into TV is because of the characters. If a show does not have realistic, well-nuanced characters, I do not watch it. I have already written extensively about some characters and what it is I like and do not like about them and how they are portrayed. And what I will cover today are the specific episodes in which characters genuinely 'clicked' for me and I began enjoying them in earnest. The moment when I knew they were good, interesting to watch and follow their journey.

I´ll begin with the NCIS franchise

NCIS
Ziva- I have always loved Ziva's character and her personality. She is one of the best created characters on TV in my opinion and it continues to astound me how well she is portrayed and represented. The episode in which Ziva 'clicked' for me was "Silver War" (3x04). I loved that episode and it is one of my favorite one's ever of NCIS. Ziva in that episode was exploring her new environment, testing the waters and figuring things out. I genuinely enjoyed watching her and how she was beginning to find her way and who she was as a person. Another Ziva episode which clicked for me and zealed her as the most awesome character on TV was the episode in which she stays in the hospital with a marine that has been potioned and falls in love with him even if he is dying. That episode was very affecting emotionally and it was a great display of who Ziva is as a character and of her vulnerability.

Tony - I used to dislike Tony a lot in the first season and it took some time for him to rub on me. But the episode in which Tony 'clicked' for me was "SWAK". It began with typical Tony behavior but suddenly the character burst forth fully and wasn't just the 'overbearing frat boy' but a genuine character with emotions and flaws and it was a treat to watch him.The performance of Mr. Weatherly was astounding in that episode And since seeing that episode I have come to like Tony a lot. He really is a good character! Another episode in which Tony clicked is 7x19, "Guilty pleasures". I love the humor in the episode (it is one of my favorite ones) but also the underlying exploration of Tony's and Tim's relationship and it was a good display of who Tony is.

Gibbs - I always liked Gibbs a whole lot. He clicked for me in episode 2x01 in which it was great to watch the character reach out to a little girl and get her the help she needed. It was Gibbs at his best, quiet, kind, excellent and dedicated to his job and with some sweet humor in between.

McGee - My favorite TV nerd of all time (aside from Eric Beale and Abby, obviously). McGee was a character I enjoyed straightaway because of his awkwardness but also sincerity and quiet strength. Watching him felt at times like watching a version of myself with all his blundering and clumsiness (which sums up me pretty well). He clicked for me straightaway but my favorite episode where he 'clicked' is episode 3x09 in which he believes he accidentally shot a man. It was a harrowing episode to watch and it was great to see the character react with horror and guilt to what had happened. It made him feel very real and well-nuanced. And it is one of my most favorite episodes to watch.

Abby - She is pure awesomeness that character! I always grin and laugh when she comes on and I love watching her antics and what she comes up with. She feels very genuine and well-nuances as a character and from the beginning she has been incredibly sincere as a character and just very real. She just feels so human and is lovely to watch. She clicked with me straightaway but my favorite Abby episode is 3x20 (or 21) when she is being stalked. The episode freaked me (stalking terrifies me) out when I first saw it and it felt like a little movie, creepy and tragic. I have seen in an interview with the actress Ms. Perette (behind the scenes) that the episode felt therapeutic for her to play and in my opinion it is obvious in the episode. It was just all around a great episode to watch and one of my favorite one's ever to watch.

Ducky and Palmer - These two are the best pair ever and the most adorable and wonderful characters. I grin just seeing them on the screen. They clicked me with straightaway and there is not one specific episode in which they rocked more than in others. They are just awesome all the time!

NCIS:LA

Kensi - It took me a long time to get a feel for the character and start enjoying her. It wasn't until season 2 that the character really burst forth and I began liking it and it was all uphill after that And Kensi has now emerged as a fascinating and fun character to watch and is at equal level with Ziva. The episode in which the character clicked for me was 2x20 "The Job". It is one of my most favorite episodes ever and I can watch it over and over again. It was one of the first episodes I saw a season 2 and it was wonderful. What I enjoyed so much was seeing the emotional journey it took Kensi on and how she reacted very humanly to it and how it affected her. She felt genuine for the first time in my opinion. Ms. Ruah performed incredibly in that episode. Episode 2x17 is also worth mentioning as a good Kensi episode.

Deeks - My favorite Norwegian-American! I enjoyed Deeks from the moment he stepped unto the scene. He was a real, fun and nuanced character from the beginning and just a bundle of awesomeness, blundering, awfully silly humor and genuine emotions which I instantly liked. He has felt real and genuine from the start and still does and he is well crafted as a character. Deeks clicked for me in episode 2x01 "Human Traffic" in which the emotional journey he was on was a treat to watch and harrowing as well. It is one of those episodes I watch regularly and still gives me shivers because of the subject matter and how the characters handle it. Another Deeks favorite is 2x22, Plan B. Rarely, if ever have I enjoyed so much the complete change of a character and at the same time felt uncomfortable. Max Gentry was the very definition of a creepy male and he creeped me out. Not to mention that it was interesting to see the switch being portrayed and how Deeks dealt with it. Kudos to Mr. Olsen for pulling of that great performance. Episode 2x17 "Personal" is of course great as well and it was nice to get a Deeks focused episode.

Eric - My favorite nerd. He was my first favorite on NCIS:LA and he continues to make me laugh with his antics and strange behavior. And he blunders and is awkward which in turn makes him more realistic. Eric was awesome from the start and still is.

Nell - Another awesome character. I first of all want to kidnap her awesome wardrobe. Secondly, she feels smart and capable without being 'weird' (while she is quirky) and feels very human. She clicked for me in episode 2x07 when she refused to be helped by Sam and Callen and did everything on her own. That was awesome. But an honorary mention goes to episode 4x15 "Kill House". That was a tour de force from beginning to end and an awesome Nell centric episode where it was interesting to see her reaction and how she dealt with things. Nell is all around a great character and a breath of relief from the general types of girls played on TV.

Callen - I liked him in the beginning, then grew very annoyed with him and now I really like him. He took a dip for me in terms of how he was established in season 1 and for some time he felt very thin and vapid. Then season 2 rolled around and Callen epicness finally emerged. He clicked for me in episode 1x24 when he was searchinf for his family. Finally, he stopped being the unfeeling, serious, lone wolf agent and became a real character. I really enjoy Callen now and his subtle sense of humor and he is all around a lovely character.

Sam - It took me a looooonnng time to start enjoying him. He just felt so unrealistic and boring as a character. The perfect NAVY SEAL that could do anything and everything without batting an eyelid. I did so not enjoy watching him at first. But in episode 2x05 "Little Angels" when they portrayed an incident from his past and he pushed for a case involving an incident to that he felt great. Suddenly there was a real character with a history and something to push for and he showed emotion for the first time (in my opinion). It is one of my favorite episodes to watch and it always surprises me how good Sam was in that episode and how realistic he felt. Since then, he has grownon me (not like ringworm!) and I really like him. He is of course embellished  a whole lot but he's really grown as a character and it's been a treat to watch.

Hetty - Like with Sam, it took me a looooonnng time to start liking her. She did not click for me until in season 3 really when I unexpectedly really started enjoying her and what she did. She is a legend, a matriarch and a very mysterious figure (that part tends to annoy me) but she is also funny as hell. There hasn't been one specific episode in which she clicked, rather she simply became more human and a whole lot more enjoyable.

So I'll be off to enjoy summer for all its worth and returning with a vengeance in 6-7 weeks time (might pop in in July). I wish everyone the best of summer!