As some of our regular readers undoubtedly know, I am involved in hosting a few weekly live tweets on twitter and occasionally Mastodon. I host #FridayNightFlix every Friday, I co-host #ScarySocial on Saturday, and I am one of the five hosts of Mastodon’s #MondayActionMovie! Every week, we get together. We watch a movie. We snark our way through it.
Tonight, for #MondayActionMovie, the film will be 2 Lave 2 Lantula!
If you want to join this watch party, just hop onto Mastodon, pull up 2 Lava 2 Lantula on YouTube, start the movie at 8 pm et, and use the #MondayActionMovie hashtag!
I have listened to this so many times that I think I should take Jerry Goldsmith’s family to dinner. It has this hauntingly hopeful melody, which is in stark contrast to having a monster shoot out of your stomach.
Welcome to Late Night Retro Television Reviews, a feature where we review some of our favorite and least favorite shows of the past! On Sunday, I will be reviewing the Canadian series, Degrassi: The Next Generation, which aired from 2001 to 2015! The series can be streamed on YouTube and Tubi.
Oh no, Emma’s got a cause!
Episode 2.19 “Fight For Your Right”
(Dir by Chris Deacon, originally aired on February 2nd, 2003)
This episode is a good example of Emma being the worst.
Emma and Ashley approach Principal Raditch and tell him that they don’t want genetically modified foods in the cafeteria. Raditch tells them to buzz off, which is the right response when you consider that Raditch is probably just following the orders of the school board. Emma responds by standing outside the school and handing out flyers that announce that Sheila the lunch lady is “poisoning” the students with the food she’s serving.
Now, to me, this is the moment that Emma goes from being a young idealist to being arrogant brat. Sheila works for the school. She’s a lunch lady. I doubt she lives in a nice big house like Emma. Sheila probably needs the job. Emma is accusing Sheila of poisoning people. When Ellie sensibly points out that saving money with GM food — as opposed to the expensive organic crap that Emma wants the school to serve — allows Degrassi to give free meals to poor students, Emma accuses Ellie of not caring about the fact that the students might get cancer in 20 years. Principal Raditch finally comes out and tells Emma that she’s not allowed distribute “propaganda” on school property.
And again, it seems to me that Radtich is within his rights. Number one, why isn’t Emma in class? Number two, Emma is accusing a school employee of being a potential murderer. Number three, Emma is causing a disruption on school property.
The show disagrees with me. The show wants me to say, “Yay, Emma!” Even when Emma goes into the cafeteria and accidentally starts a food fight by knocking Toby and JT’s lunch on Jimmy, we are meant to be on Emma’s side. When Emma gets offended at Raditch’s insistence that she apologize to Sheila, we’re meant to be on her side. One thing that we don’t see is who gets stuck cleaning up the cafeteria after the food fight. I’m going to assume that it was probably the same Sheila that Emma accused of poisoning the students.
Emma is suspended for the day so she stands across the street and holds a sign, claiming that her right to free speech has been violated. Raditch tells Emma that if she doesn’t apologize on the next day’s video announcement, she’ll be suspended for a week.
At home, Emma asks Snake what she should do. Snake encourages her to …. NOT APOLOGIZE! Well, he doesn’t directly say that but he doesn’t say that she should apologize either. Snake, in case you had forgotten, is not only Emma’s teacher but also her stepfather. Spike is on a trip so he’s the only parent at home. Snake, at this point, should be saying, “This is a dumb protest and you should at least apologize to Sheila. No matter what else happens, you’re not getting your organic food in the cafeteria so there’s nothing to be accomplished with any of this.”
Instead, the next morning, Snake just sits there with a big dumbass grin on his face when Emma goes on the video announcements and refuses to apologize. Okay, Snake, do you think it’s cool that a school employee has been accused of poisoning the students? Oh, and Snake — are you the one who is going to call Spike to tell her that you got her daughter suspended from school for a week? Spike, who had to fight so hard for the right to go to school when she was pregnant with Emma, will certainly appreciate hearing that!
Seriously, Emma is the worst! But the only she’s the worst is because this show was convinced that she was the best. One gets the feeling that Emma’s character was a case wish-fulfillment for the show’s writers. Imagine a world where you can be obnoxious and self-righteous and everyone loves you for it!
There is a B-plot and, to be honest, it probably should have been the A-plot. Spinner, jealous that Jimmy’s parents buy him everything, steals Jimmy’s CD player and attempts to sell it. When Jimmy finds out, he overturns a trash can. Spinner takes a job at the cafeteria to earn money and gives Jimmy back the CD player.
“You are my best friend!” Spinner says.
“Was,” Jimmy replies.
Oh my God! Spinner and Jimmy, no! Actually, Spinner and Jimmy were always ending their friendship and then eventually restoring it. They’ll be fine. Still, their storyline was a lot more interesting than Emma’s latest crusade.
When in doubt, always focus on Spinner. That’s a lesson the writers should have taken to heart.
I’ll be on a much-needed vacation during the upcoming week but I’ve already got so many movie reviews scheduled to drop that I doubt anyone will notice. My Retro Television Reviews will return on June 8th!
These predictions are still too early to really be taken seriously. The year is getting off to a slow start as far as the Oscars are concerned. That said, here are my predictions for May!
Welcome to Retro Television Reviews, a feature where we review some of our favorite and least favorite shows of the past! On Sundays, I will be reviewing Homicide: Life On The Street, which aired from 1993 to 1999, on NBC! It can be viewed on Peacock.
This week, Kellerman finally clears his name and Bayliss takes the job too personally …. again!
Episode 5.12 “Betrayal”
(Dir by Clark Johnson, originally aired on January 1oth, 1997)
It’s finally time for Detective Kellerman to testify in front of the Grand Jury. At first, Kellerman is thinking of taking the Fifth so that he won’t have to testify about what any of the other members of the Aron squad may or may not have done. However, when Kellerman realizes that another member of the squad has named him in order to try to make a deal with the prosecutor, Kellerman changes his mind. He says that he will testify. He will throw his career away. He’ll do it because he’s not going to let anyone think that he’s a dirty cop. The prosecutor (Rebecca Boyd) is so moved that she allows Kellerman to testify that he never took a bribe but then declines to ask any follow-up questions. Kellerman is cleared.
This, of course, is something that would never happen in real life. A prosecutor declining to ask follow-up questions because she respects the witness? Seriously? That said, if it means the bribery storyline is finally wrapped up and Kellerman can return to active duty, I’m happy.
Meanwhile, Pembleton and Bayliss investigate the death of a teenage girl who was found abandoned on the side of the road. When it’s revealed that the victim was horribly abused, Bayliss — of course — takes the case personally. For Pembleton, it’s just another case. It’s what he does for a living and he knows better than to get personally involved. For Bayliss, it’s a crusade. At the end of the episode, Bayliss reveals that he was abused as a child. He also says that he no longer wants to be Pembleton’s partner.
WHAT!?
Dammit, Bayliss, we just got Pembleton back and now you don’t want to work with him!?
Don’t get me wrong. This was a good episode but it did leave me feeling a bit frustrated. Hopefully, Bayliss and Pembleton will make up soon. The Kellerman bribery subplot went on forever. Here’s hoping the same doesn’t happen with Bayliss and Pembleton’s divorce.
The son of a mailman, Clifford Benton was born in Colorado but grew up in Idaho and got his education at Chicago’s Art Institute. After serving in World War I, Benton found success as an illustrator and photographer. Along with his work with the pulps, he spent 20 years working for the National Safety Council, illustrating pamphlets and books about how live safely in a changing era.
Seeing as how today is Clint Eastwood’s birthday, it seems only appropriate that our song of the day should come from the score of one of his best films. From 1973’s Magnum Force, here is Lalo Schifrin’s theme:
