'Red Widow' Gets The Axe
Comedienne's Second TV Show Canceled This Year
Men in Trees: The Menaissance
(S01E09) First of all, let's all give ABC three cheers for finally giving Men in Trees a decent time slot. Actually, it's a pretty terrific time slot-- directly after Grey's Anatomy, which had more than 13 million viewers last week. That's the highest rated show on television right now and it's going to be a lead-in for Men in Trees. Spectacular! ABC has also picked up a full season of Men in Trees. It's funny, really. ABC originally scheduled Ugly Betty and Men in Trees for Friday nights and now they're both on the biggest night of television.
This week's episode, The Menaissance, just unhinged everything, didn't it? I was so excited about the way Marin and Jack's relationship was maturing. After they had sex back during episode five, "Talk for Tat," I wondered what would happen between them. But, it turns out that having the two main characters hook-up early in the first season is not such a bad thing. They backed off because neither of them was ready for a relationship, and they became friends. Then, last week, things started simmering again between them. Jack definitely was interested in Marin... and now it's all blown to hell because Marin had an article published in The New Yorker that's all about Jack. (By the way, I have that issue of The New Yorker at my house and, no, it's not actually in there)
I don't think Marin ever clearly conveyed to Jack that the publishing of the article wasn't her choice. But, it doesn't really matter to him anyway. The fact that she used their relationship as fodder for a book was enough for him to sever his friendship with her. You can't blame him, really. He was just starting to come out of his shell with her and then he gets humiliated (let's face it: no matter what she wrote, that guy would be humiliated). Marin betrayed their friendship- though not on purpose, and with pure intentions. It was a heartbreaking storyline, but I was very happy that the writers didn't easily wrap it up at the end of the episode. In fact, that's one of the things I adore about this show. Each week feeds into the next. The characters don't suffer a crisis one week and suddenly recover from it the next. Even the Patrick-Mom-MomMai storyline isn't over. You know there's going to be some lingering jealousy with Patrick's mom over Mai.
I was also happy that we got a little more Teresa. Her character has seemed so cold-hearted ever since she dumped sweet Ben, but now we finally get to learn a little of her motivation. She used to sing back-up for Jewel (who, at one point, sounded like a dying elk during her performance) and she used to get beat up by her boyfriend. When Ben learns this, he suddenly starts to feel... something for her other than hate. Maybe it's just pity. Anyway, I liked his realization that he helped her get strong enough to leave him.
The only storyline that bothered me this week was the Jane/Plow Guy story. I know he was supposed to be a smoldering hot snowplow operator, but he just gave me the creeps. He just smiled at her and tried to be all cuddly. And, is she socially inept or what?
During the next episode (which doesn't air until Thursday, Nov. 30th at 10 pm), Marin travels back to New York. But probably not for long. Oh, and Plow Guy returns.
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