Without a Trace

I've actually had some negative reactions to my positive response to this fine show... because it's about serious crime. But as a friend of mine said, there's a Good Shepherd quality to these FBI agents who seek out the lost. They are flawed, yes, but compassionate to others. A couple of weeks ago there was an episode with Hector Elizondo who played a priest who disappeared...he needed a liver transplant and time was running out. Try to catch this one on re-runs. He gives absolution to Jack (Anthony LaPaglia) and if you watched last season, this gesture and kindness are so meaningful. Elizondo's priest gives up the kidney, to repair for a sin in his past. So it's not just repentance, it's reparation. Very useful teaching for us to contemplate. Another show whose 60 minutes fly by...

It's November 30th and I just watched the last episode of WITHOUT A TRACE about three firefighters who thought that by doing one wrong thing they could right a bad situation for two of them. The story was so simply well-told, with the moral and ethical issues clearly defined on the one hand, yet grayed by the love of these three men for one another and their families and job as firefighters.

One of the reasons I like this show is that it isn't so blatent about promoting the current government's agenda (JAG and THREAT MATRIX) even though the FBI is involved. It's about real people and a group of FBI agents (with issues that transcend electoral terms) who have their own human flaws. 

 

Everwood

One of the Sisters in my community says that Everwood is a WB show created for adolescents but that the audience is parents and middle-aged people like me. That may be, but I love the pace, the story, the sullen kid who plays the piano like a master (I think he really does). There's not even too much whining (Dawson's Creek...) The issues seem real and the dialogue is not so starched and hip as the Creek was. Maybe this is a show parents can invite their young teens to watch with them? Some issues, like abortion and homosexuality, teen death, are heavy duty, but there's a Northern Exposure sense to this program... wisdom. And I like that.

Tarzan

I think Edgar Rice Burroughs is turning over in his grave. This brought-up-to-date version of Tarzan made me cringe. Tarzan is going to be a vigilante for the NYPD? Jane is a female cop? Maybe it will grow into something, but the pilot was painful. I salute all the efforts to make watchable, even creative television, but either the Nielsons are broke or the shows are just not so great. (I have been watching the ratings for the new shows - where have all the couch potatoes gone? Or the rest of us? TV is in trouble...)

Gilmore Girls

I really do like this show but it will remain to be seen where it will go this year now that Rory is off to college. Women write better scripts than the men and these guys (characters) all drink too much caffeine, the situation is postcard perfect, but it's nice to see a prime time program with young women who don't jump into a sexual relationship every chance they get (not so mama). This is really adolescent fare, and somewhat uneven. But I still watch it. This is nowhere near Dawson's Creek, but maybe One Tree Hill will make up for that.

Judging Amy

Fine drama, fine acting, fine story-lines... I am always surprised that the hour has gone by so quickly.

Amy is now a criminal court judge in Hartford, CT. I did like her when she was on the bench in juvenile court, so we'll have to see how adult crime fares in her courtroom. Juvenile court was just as often about the crimes perpetrated against children as it was them doing wrong. Tyne Daly is a marvel. This is serious television done fine, just the right amount of serious issues, family-relationship soap, quips and pathos. Always lands in my moral comfort zone, even when I disapprove of some of the choices the characters make - but that's drama. Bruce is like this one-man Greek chorus, and I can never forget the one episode where he brought in Bonhoeffer's doctrine of "cheap grace."

Judging Amy won a Catholics in Media Award in 2002 and Tyne Daly an Emmy. Barbara Hall and her sister Karen Hall as well as CBS are to be congratulated for knowing what makes good television.

Alias

This is my must-see TV show of the week. I watch it for no other reason than it's totally engaging, unreal, and the plot keeps surprising me. And it has a female as the heroine in a television landscape that has precious few of those. I know it's "only" TV. Sydney Bristow (Jennifer Garner) is this ... spy. Now she's in with the good guys (?) the CIA. It's impossible to explain the plot, so the best thing to do is go back to ABC on cable, maybe on New Years Day 2004, when they will do a marathon and you can catch up. Are there any morals to the story? Hmm. Do you mean personal or social? Or both? What drives it is the ongoing quest for what is right. You can ask, right for whom? And is anyone "good" all the time? It's a soap opera on high gear. I won't explain "Alias" to you - if you see it, you'll get it. This is pure escapism, but the going is smart.