Leo isn't really a character. He operates primarily as exposition fairy, but even in that role his information is mostly useless. He obviously has his relationship with Piper, but for me they never exhibited the chemistry nor the huge romantic obstacles that usually affect and endear 'endgame' couples on TV. I bring this up because whenever Leo is pushed center stage, the results are usually appalling. Because of this, Saving Private Leo drags something fierce, and it's not helped by Brian Krause's whiny-voiced emoting. Gah. He's never been more heinous.The Lang brothers story is mildly intriguing, another exploration into long-held resentment and an epic quest for revenge, but its performed in such a flat way that it has none of the power it could have had. The fact that so much of the story (Leo's teacher charge, the hoodoo with her nutty student) feels tagged on doesn't help either.
Phoebe is super obnoxious throughout the episode. She's taken on one of those annoying characteristics people sometimes get whenever they get a new job or start doing something different, where they act so precious about their shit and make sure you know exactly how important they suddenly are. Ugghh! I enjoyed Cole's continued machinations, including his skank-o-rama new secretary, but Phoebe's attitude drowned out most of the subplot. Annoying crone. D-
Crimes of Fashion Phoebe's party dress is reprehensibly ugly. It's completely ill-fitting, the top is way too revealing and nothing screams 'elegance' like a peek at Alyssa Milano's crotch tattoo during a business dinner.
Credits
Guest stars Costas Mandylor (Rick Lang); Louis Mandylor (Nathan Lang); Deborah Kellner (Julie); Evie Peck (Maria); James Greene (Veteran); Rene Heger (Greg)
Teleplay Daniel Cerone Story Doug E. Jones Director John Behring
It's funny reading some of your reviews and realising that there are some points I myself haven't discussed, buta gree with completely.
ReplyDeletePhoebe is so annoying here, God I know EXACTLY what you mean about the new job thing; Well annoying. As for Krause, I disagree with you there, I think he was lovely during this hour, heinus isn't a word I would use to describe him here at all.
I think that Leo as a character is exactly what you said though, and a lot about this epiosde is off, especially where it appears in the season. It ruins the flow a little bit. I alway liked Piper and leo though, and I think the chemistry only grew as the show progressed, I'm surprised you don't feel the same!
God, rambled there, sorry! Great reviews, I'm lookforward to your thoughts on the 'Wizard and 'Long Live the Queen'!
And not to add to the already long rambl I just posted, but I started following Billie Doux after finding it through your blog a while back, and I'm glad to see you've been posting up there too! You should see about getting your 'Charmed' ones up there.
ReplyDeleteA couple of great points that I need to reply to:
ReplyDelete1) Heinous was probably a little harsh. But what about that scene at the end when he's shrieking about his dead charge? He's so loud and shrill! It's so funny to me.
2) I should probably take back the 'chemistry' thing, too. Because they obviously had chemistry as actors. But I just never got into them as a couple. Thinking about it, none of the Charmed couples ever did anything for me, especially all those six-episode long boyfriends like Nick Lachey or the Sex and the City guy. I liked Phoebe and Cole but that was mostly because of the story and Julian, not because I thought he and Alyssa generated a lot of heat. Eh.
3) The Billie Doux thing came as a complete surprise. They have such a huge readership over there, so it's pretty scary going from this (where a well-read post is like fifteen views) to something like that. And Billie actually mentioned maybe posting some of my other stuff over there (the shows that they haven't covered already). Charmed does sort of fit into their wheelhouse (mostly genre stuff), so maybe.
Thanks for commenting, Panda.
I'm completely with you on lachey and lewis who were the two most one dimensional characters the series had. Just awful.
ReplyDeleteIf you're talking about the "My demons, not yours!" I do actually smile a litle if only because of how funny my and my little sister used to think it was when we were kids! Other than that i think he comes off as a complete professional.
And your Charmed reviews will slot right in there quite nicely, so i would really consider it, especiallys eeing as how it still has a massive internet following this long after it's been off air, not as large as a Whedon series, but still quite impressive. Until next time!
"Leo isn't really a character".
ReplyDeleteHaha you took the words right out of my mouth. I just couldn't stand Brian Krause. He really was the most annoying aspect in Charmed. The actor is just so useless and devoid of any talent whatsoever. And don't even get me started on scenes where he had to CRY! God horrible. Obviously the episode was horrible because of the focus on him.
And by the way, wasn't it true that he and Alyssa dated for like a year during season 4? I remember finding that out and being shocked!! She's waaaaaaayy out of his league!! Come to think of Charmed behind the scenes couples, Shannen Doherty & Julian McMahon! Such funny pairings!
Such an amusing review as always!