Drop Dead Diva--"Jane's Getting Married" Review

So, what did everyone else think of the season finale for Drop Dead Diva?

I'm just going to put my notes for the episode down, because I'm lazy.

• Aw, Jane and her mom after they made up were really sweet.
• Luke is creepy. “Walls are thin.” *
• Why is it that in TV shows when people get smart suddenly, they turn a lot nastier? Would all the smart people I know be a lot nicer if they were dumber? The Eureka episode "Smarter Carter" was just like this. 
• "He was using me for my brain?"  Hah. Hah, hah, hah. I see what you did there.
• The Hannah Baker character had  a really, really, rapid turnaround. Like I would not feel very convinced, if I were her sweet, dog-faced husband. 
• * But Luke is really sweet, too! "But it was Deb's soul that evolved into the person  you are today; she is pretty awesome".  AW, AW, AW.
• FRED!
• Also, I do NOT like RealJane. I guess we're not supposed to, but seriously. She thinks Deb ruined her boring, sad life? False.
• Who are the two extra bridesmaids? For some reason that weirds me out. Just.. random women, to make the bridal party symmetrical. ...?
•  How strong is the material of her train that she couldn't rip it? I SMELL A PLOT DEVICE.
• Parker's voice kills me basically every time he speaks. I know someone in real life who talks like Parker, and I think I'm in love with him. 
• Parker and Kim. Aw. Kim looks prettier with curls. 
• Did anyone notice Luke's frowny face behind Parker and Kim when they were having their moment?
• Also, most awkward kiss I've ever seen. did they actually touch each other? 
• I do like that Grayson tried to be sort of honorable. For a little bit. I don't know. Does being honorable count if you give up once there's some pressure? 
• Oh my gosh, that's why you don't give in to your less honorable feelings. PEOPLE DIE. 

That's all I have to say.

Here's a picture of Jane and Grayson, because you have to admit he's really beautiful to look at. It's unreal. Like a blue-eyed puppy with a great jaw. 

And then here's a picture of Parker because he's really attractive and smarmy:

That's all, for now. Happy watching.!

Drop Dead Diva--"Pick's and Pakes" Review

    In this episode, Stacy went to court against a pake patent troll, and Jane dealt with a lawyer who was losing his mind. A subplot involved Luke and Kim dating, and a surprise announcement from Kim.

     

Jane’s case this week had an interesting twist in that the emphasis was on her co-counsel, not the client. The Surprise Turn For the Worse in the case came early in the episode and was quickly overcome in order to make room for the real story: Jane’s co-counsel, the famous Lawrence Brand, has Pick’s Disease. Pick’s Disease, according to DDD, is a degenerative frontal lobe disease which actually does cause the victim to lose their mind. Stories like these can be very affecting, because what’s scarier than losing your mind? It must be one of the scariest aspects of getting older, and to have it happen when you’re only in your fifties is terrifying and heartbreaking.

   Jane and Owen’s interactions were very nice this episode. It’s nice to see how they are with each other when they’re not dealing with dramatic questions like “is Owen going to drop dead” or “should we really get married”. Instead, in this episode they talked about houses and having children. Lex Medlin melted my heart with his delivery again when he said, “Kids!...No, I like the way that sounds!” His face!

     Stacy’s story was delivered with normal Stacy adorableness and another guest appearance by Kim Kardashian. It was nice that Stacy and Grayson got to work together on this one. It’s a good reminder that he’s known her fom back when Deb was alive, not just through Jane. They have a legitimate friendship.

     The pake-off? Fabulous. It was probably my favorite scene, because it was so cute, ridiculous, and had a great song playing in the background. The song, incidentally, is “The Kitchen” by Little Jackie. You’re welcome, because it was not altogether easy to find. 

      Stacy’s sadness over Jane moving is completely understandable, although the line about how Jane was “moving on with her life” didn’t really strike home. Stacy actually has a very successful business, is an absolute sweetheart (and stunning), and has great relationships and a lovely home. Really the only thing she doesn’t have is a guy. So it’s not like Jane is really moving on with her life while Stacy is just stuck in a rut. Nonetheless, it is sad to see Stacy and Jane separating.

     Kim and Luke’s sub-subplot was entertaining due to everyone gagging over their relationship. Even though they’re both fairly attractive people, their personalities are both too abrasive and unappealing to be combined. Unless they get paired with someone more charming or kind (like Kim with Parker or Luke with Stacy), it’s too much annoyingness to handle. However, right after she told him she was pregnant, Luke was really sweet. He said exactly the right thing in that situation; both kind and not insistent.  “I’m here if you need me.”

     Overall, a good episode! It was very entertaining, with a good balance between the fun (pake-off) and the weightier (Pick’s Disease) material. There was not enough Margaret Cho, however.

Extraneous Notes:

• Jane’s opening scene where she knocked over the water and elbowed the Nancy Grace in the face was hysterical. I can see why it would go viral.
• Jane’s instant recall was pretty spectacular this episode. And obvious. Doesn't anyone around her ever find it weird how she looks like she literally gets smacked in the brain by information?
• The judge on Stacy’s case was my favorite ever in the series.“No one likes a troll!”
• Stacy’s date to the wedding is super cute.
• I love how matter-of-fact Jane is about how many and what gender and how far apart the children will be.
• It’s so fun that Stacy has a successful business. I can totally see how something like that would work out, although maybe not in this economy.

Credit:
Producers: Josh Berman, Alex Taub, Craig Zadan and Neil Meron
Writers: Josh Berman

Drop Dead Diva--"Ashes to Ashes" Review

Owen returns!

In this episode, Jane and Grayson deal with the case of a woman who wants to keep her fiancé’s ashes after his recent death, but is being contested by his step-mother, to whom he left everything in his (3-yr old) will. Also, Luke helps Terri out and Parker and Kim work through some sexist whatnot.

Jane and Grayson

The case of the week involved a woman, Kathy, asking Jane and Grayson to help her keep the ashes of her dead fiancé based off of a video of her fiancé saying that he was hers, “body and soul”. Also she can see his ghost and telling her in no uncertain terms that he wants her to have the ashes, but ghosts aren’t really admissible in court. Usually Jane is the one who is gung-ho to take a case even if the odds are ridiculous, but this time Grayson wanted it because of the similarities between Kathy’s situation and his with Deb.

So they take the case and it’s going really well for them until the grossest reveal ever: Kathy has been eating the ashes. Explanation? It lets her see her fiance’s ghost.

I’m pretty sure everyone who heard that except the people in the show started thinking, “dangerous toxin! You’re going to die because of some dangerous hallucinatory toxin in the ashes! Danger, Will Robinson!” Because that’s what I did. Do TV characters never watch TV?

Anyway, Jane and Grayson still almost manage to pull the case off. Unfortunately, Kathy lets it slip in court that she’s seeing the ghost of her fiancé and then basically they lose the case because she seems crazy. The obviously evil stepmother is given the ashes because Kathy is obviously insane, and Kathy passes out because there were heavy metals in the ashes she was munching on.

And then comes the Jane-epiphany (you know, I really love this show, but it is pretty predictable) where she realizes that the dead fiancé was poisoned by his stepmother, who wanted his money, and that’s why his ashes are toxic.

And then Jane tricks the evil stepmother into confessing, like a boss.

So, yeah. Fun case, except Kathy really needs some help. Slowly killing yourself by doing something super creepy/gross just to see your dead fiancé… Not the healthiest way to grieve.

Parker and Kim

I kind of love Parker, but he’s such a pompous ass. 

He comes into the office, explains that actually, the FBI sting was just a set up, everything’s okay, and he’s probably going to get a medal. So you kind of want to smack him to start with, but then you realize that he didn’t every tell Kim what was going on. Kim, his partner. Like, business partner, not fun-times partner.

Then he sends flowers to apologize. Hah. Hah hah.

And then when that doesn’t go over so super well, he gets some awesome advice from Terri to stop being such a pompous, sexist ass.

So then he figures it out and makes Kim happy and he’s a charming, low-voiced devil again! Yay.

Luke and Terri

Luke and Terri got to bond this episode, and Terri got to wear the best, most ridiculous outfit ever.

Terri almost got conned into dropping $1000 on a producer after supposedly winning first prize in a music contest, but Luke saved the day.

Isn’t it interesting that Luke helping Stacy in the last episode and now he’s helping Terri? It’s like he started out as a terrible guardian angel to Jane, but he’s getting better at helping her and other people.

And you know, I like Luke. I know almost no-one else does, but he’s kind of awesome. I have high hopes for him.

And finally,

Jane and Owen

I’m kind of one of those people who likes Grayson a ton (although I’m unsure if I can ever see him with Jane), so I was not super excited to see Owen.

In my notes I had a list of the only explanations that would excuse him not calling: “I work for the government”, “I’m an alien”, and “your life depended on it” are about as far as I got, but I guess, “my heart stopped” was pretty good, too.

But apparently almost dying made him rather over-cautious. “I know this doesn’t seem fair” he says to a heart-broken (and then super angry) Jane after taking back his proposal. Ack. It made me so sad; you could tell it was difficult for him. But of course, it’s Owen and he's a good guy, so he’s rescinding his proposal for Jane’s sake.

There is a juxtaposition between Owen and Jane here that was kind of cool. Jane/Deb went through a death experience and basically decided to take a hold of life and live it all the more. Owen went through a death experience and retreated away from his life.

But then Grayson goes and accidentally shoots himself in the face when he tells Jane that he loves how she “doesn’t take no for an answer”.

So she goes and doesn’t take no for an answer from Owen.

You know how I said that I wasn’t super excited to see Owen? I changed my mind. The last scene was my favorite scene. Lex Medlin did a great job of expressing a pretty fair range of emotions without saying much. When he said “Of course I have the ring”, my heart kind of melted.

This is the most I’ve ever liked them together, actually. The look on his face when she proposed to him was priceless. Actually very moving. I felt as moved by the look on his face as I usually am when people hug and kiss in the same sort of situation. It was awesome, even as I was wondering in the back of my head what’s going to happen to Grayson.

Overall, a big, good episode!

Extraneous Notes:

• There wasn't enough Stacy in this episode
• Stacy interpreting Jane’s dreams for her, and then pretending to be Owen because she had “robes” on—really cute. They have such a nice friend interaction!
• I can’t quite believe Grayson’s googly eyes when he looks at Jane
• Terri had some very interesting information about the original Lady Bodacious, or rather, Boudica. Link! http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boudica
• The dead fiancé/ghost was pretty cute. In a Narnian faun kind of way. http://www.imdb.com/media/rm1216985088/nm3942723
• I like Kim’s pants in the beginning of the episode.

Credit:

Director: Michael Grossman

Writers: Josh Berman, Rob Wright

Last Note:

I am trying to get my word count down on these things, but I have so many things I want to say. It seems like once I get the brief summary down, I don't have room left to talk about the actual characters and the subtext and all the interesting bits. Anyone have any suggestions?