20x04 "Reality Bites" episode discussion
20x04 "Reality Bites"
DISCUSS!
Okay, since I keep doing the multiple-comments thing, I thought I'd go back to posting my commentary all at once, on the initial post. Also, my wireless works again so that makes it a LOT easier...
Here we go:
- “The following story is fictional…” disclaimer amuses me.
- Jim Gaffigan!!! I love this opening.
- Joy Johnson, killed by trophy.
- Is Anthony Anderson losing weight?
- Lupo looks gooood.
- “bouncy Hispanic woman leaving the building.”
- Olivia! Love that they reuse that. (Olivia Curtis, Olivia Benson - Olivia and Elliot are the names of Dick Wolf’s kids, in case anyone didn’t know that.)
- I love that the kid loves cop shows on TV.
Tim: The police always think it’s the person nearest to the body. Or sometimes the boyfriend.
Bernard: Or sometimes the person who didn’t call the police.
Tim: I didn’t see that one.
Self-referential, L&O? Hehe.
- Van Buren immediately knows that Tim’s lying about killing his mom. Tim’s friend takes his fanny pack w/ key to the Johnson house.
- Joy got into a fight with “psycho woman” on the phone before her death.
Bernard: Number Two was from the fraternal order of police. Probably asking for money.
Van Buren: Those people never take no for an answer.
- Belinda Alvarez = Octomom! Or….ten-mom…And she even references Nadya Suleman.
- Lupo looks around like WTF?
- Reality show competition!
“Like Jon and Kate - only less depressing.” A-ha!
Lupo: I don’t think anything that woman’s involved in could be called reality.
Bernard: When this is all over, I say we arrest her fertility doctor on general principles.
- So did Johnsons drop out or was Belinda lying?
[Commercial break: Preview of Anthony Anderson-directed short film on responsibility. Aw, I love him. Starring Jeremy with…a kid? Haha, wut?]
Lupo: Can we maybe talk to you without the cameras?
Van Buren: When do I get to see my detectives on TV?
Bernard: Lupo didn’t want to be on camera.
Lupo: I was having a bad beard day.
Van Buren: I didn’t want to say anything.
Ahahaha. Win.
- Van Buren having insurance problems. Only covers about three more months of her illness.
- Michael Showalter as the (sleazy?) producer! Excellent.
- Larry wanted more money, Joy possibly dragged her feet.
- Accountant. Fun times. Ick, rats. *vomit*
- Larry’s sister flew in from Chicago to help out. …they’re all playing Twister. Raandom.
- Larry lied about when he left work/what he did that day.
- Larry had an affair! Suzanne Giuliano, babysitter/mother’s helper or what have you.
- “He loved Joy. He did. He just…loved me, too.” Hahaha. You keep telling yourself that, lady. “I loved Joy, too.” …right. Ookay.
- Shirt he left at Suzanne’s had specks of her wife’s blood.
Van Buren: This guy has answers for everything.
Rubirosa: Oookay, I’d convict him.
- Kids always run out to see their mom, but the day of her death, dad told them to wait in the car.
Lupo: What if he held them back because he knew his wife was murdered and he didn’t want her to see them?
Rubirosa: That would be the nicest thing I’ve heard about this guy so far.
- Bernard asks Tim to help them. “Help you detectives? Sure.”
- Why do I have a feeling this is going to come back to bite them in the ass - talking to the kids w/o the dad present and all…
Lupo: Larry Johnson, you’re under arrest for murder.
Bernard: [to cameraman] That’s a wrap.
Ahahaha. BERNARD, I LOVE YOU.
Defense Attny: His wife is dead.
Rubirosa: Since he smashed in her head with a special athletics trophy.
- Larry Plus Ten. So original. I do love the “Larry on the phone from prison.”
Rubirosa and Cutter look amused at “That’s a wrap” - like, “Really, Bernard, really?”
McCoy: Very entertaining. Whatever happened to the Cosbys?
Cutter: They didn’t have enough kids.
- Larry can’t appear on camera as part of bail agreement.
- Mike’s white and blue coffee mug is back!!
- Connie went to Swarthmore College! And knew the producer of the reality show, Artie Cramer. Yay for random Connie tidbits! Something about people they both knew...I love that she seems disgusted by him - like, ohhh, you were a douchebag then and you're a douchebag now.
- Will the DA’s office make a deal w/ the producer? Hahahaha. OMG. WUT.
- Jack and Mike are for it.
Connie: Fine. Why don’t you be on the show?
Mike: Well, he didn’t ask me.
Connie: *PISSED*
Cramer: Can you arrive again?
Connie: Arrive again?
Connie: Tell who?
Cramer: The camera.
Connie: [answering phone outside courthouse] What?
Mike: [watching from a distance] You having fun?
Connie: I’m gonna kill you and then I’m gonna kill McCoy.
Mike: [mocking] On camera??
Connie: I don’t care, I’d be better off in prison. Where are you?
Mike: I’m in the courthouse.
Ahahahahaa. Mike totally lied as to where he was. Also, they are totally a couple. Regardless, though, even if you disagree as to Mike/Connie, that scene was basically THE BEST THING EVER. So funny and random and cute. I totally watched it twice in a row and I'll definitely be watching again.
Connie: First I have to tell my friend, the CAMERA, what’s going on.
Connie: Here’s the video we got in exchange for peddling my ass on TV.
- Septo-mom on the stand.
- Defense also has video from the producer, showing Septo-mom in a bad light.
Belinda: You think I’m one of those wise Latina women? Not me.
Connie: *brow raise*
Mike: [to Connie] I guess your friend Cramer made a deal with them, too.
La la la Cramer on the stand…*distracted by Hot!Cutter* Oh, and AccentWatch09 - sounding pretty American, Mr. Linus. Hee hee.
- Wow, Cramer is a smarmy asshole. Go Connie for telling him NO.
- Something about Sammy Shiner the Loan Shark.
- Hello, Mike In The Tight White Shirt.
- Connie and Mike concoct a plan! Yay!
Cutter: You were thinking…that you shouldn’t go see your girlfriend…and then you…went to see your girlfriend?
BAM. Got him.
McCoy: How much longer must this go on?
Cutter: Not much.
Shiner’s gone. Uh-oh. They knew. How did they know?
- they got the info from Connie’s legal pad. Dammit!
McCoy: Now that’s reality television.
Shiiit. Connie’s gonna kill that guy.
Damn. Cutter’s eyes are SO BLUE when he’s angry.
Judge: Mr. Cutter, do you have anything else?
Cutter: No, Your Honor.
…both families in bizarre new reality show to decide who killed Joy Johnson…WITH ARTHUR BRANCH JUDGING?!?!?!! HAHAHAHAHAHAA. I’m not sure if that was an insult to Branch/Fred Dalton Thompson or not, but I freaking LOVE that it’s how the episode ended, with Jack looking like “….um, barf?”
This episode was way better than I thought it would be. I was absolutely bowled over by the adorableness that was Connie and Mike during the phone call scene. THEY EVEN USED SPLIT-SCREEN!!!!
Overall, it seemed like the actors really had fun with the episode. It’s definitely going down as one of my favorites.
DISCUSS!
Okay, since I keep doing the multiple-comments thing, I thought I'd go back to posting my commentary all at once, on the initial post. Also, my wireless works again so that makes it a LOT easier...
Here we go:
- “The following story is fictional…” disclaimer amuses me.
- Jim Gaffigan!!! I love this opening.
- Joy Johnson, killed by trophy.
- Is Anthony Anderson losing weight?
- Lupo looks gooood.
- “bouncy Hispanic woman leaving the building.”
- Olivia! Love that they reuse that. (Olivia Curtis, Olivia Benson - Olivia and Elliot are the names of Dick Wolf’s kids, in case anyone didn’t know that.)
- I love that the kid loves cop shows on TV.
Tim: The police always think it’s the person nearest to the body. Or sometimes the boyfriend.
Bernard: Or sometimes the person who didn’t call the police.
Tim: I didn’t see that one.
Self-referential, L&O? Hehe.
- Van Buren immediately knows that Tim’s lying about killing his mom. Tim’s friend takes his fanny pack w/ key to the Johnson house.
- Joy got into a fight with “psycho woman” on the phone before her death.
Bernard: Number Two was from the fraternal order of police. Probably asking for money.
Van Buren: Those people never take no for an answer.
- Belinda Alvarez = Octomom! Or….ten-mom…And she even references Nadya Suleman.
- Lupo looks around like WTF?
- Reality show competition!
“Like Jon and Kate - only less depressing.” A-ha!
Lupo: I don’t think anything that woman’s involved in could be called reality.
Bernard: When this is all over, I say we arrest her fertility doctor on general principles.
- So did Johnsons drop out or was Belinda lying?
[Commercial break: Preview of Anthony Anderson-directed short film on responsibility. Aw, I love him. Starring Jeremy with…a kid? Haha, wut?]
Lupo: Can we maybe talk to you without the cameras?
Van Buren: When do I get to see my detectives on TV?
Bernard: Lupo didn’t want to be on camera.
Lupo: I was having a bad beard day.
Van Buren: I didn’t want to say anything.
Ahahaha. Win.
- Van Buren having insurance problems. Only covers about three more months of her illness.
- Michael Showalter as the (sleazy?) producer! Excellent.
- Larry wanted more money, Joy possibly dragged her feet.
- Accountant. Fun times. Ick, rats. *vomit*
- Larry’s sister flew in from Chicago to help out. …they’re all playing Twister. Raandom.
- Larry lied about when he left work/what he did that day.
- Larry had an affair! Suzanne Giuliano, babysitter/mother’s helper or what have you.
- “He loved Joy. He did. He just…loved me, too.” Hahaha. You keep telling yourself that, lady. “I loved Joy, too.” …right. Ookay.
- Shirt he left at Suzanne’s had specks of her wife’s blood.
Van Buren: This guy has answers for everything.
Rubirosa: Oookay, I’d convict him.
- Kids always run out to see their mom, but the day of her death, dad told them to wait in the car.
Lupo: What if he held them back because he knew his wife was murdered and he didn’t want her to see them?
Rubirosa: That would be the nicest thing I’ve heard about this guy so far.
- Bernard asks Tim to help them. “Help you detectives? Sure.”
- Why do I have a feeling this is going to come back to bite them in the ass - talking to the kids w/o the dad present and all…
Lupo: Larry Johnson, you’re under arrest for murder.
Bernard: [to cameraman] That’s a wrap.
Ahahaha. BERNARD, I LOVE YOU.
Defense Attny: His wife is dead.
Rubirosa: Since he smashed in her head with a special athletics trophy.
- Larry Plus Ten. So original. I do love the “Larry on the phone from prison.”
Rubirosa and Cutter look amused at “That’s a wrap” - like, “Really, Bernard, really?”
McCoy: Very entertaining. Whatever happened to the Cosbys?
Cutter: They didn’t have enough kids.
- Larry can’t appear on camera as part of bail agreement.
- Mike’s white and blue coffee mug is back!!
- Connie went to Swarthmore College! And knew the producer of the reality show, Artie Cramer. Yay for random Connie tidbits! Something about people they both knew...I love that she seems disgusted by him - like, ohhh, you were a douchebag then and you're a douchebag now.
- Will the DA’s office make a deal w/ the producer? Hahahaha. OMG. WUT.
- Jack and Mike are for it.
Connie: Fine. Why don’t you be on the show?
Mike: Well, he didn’t ask me.
Connie: *PISSED*
Cramer: Can you arrive again?
Connie: Arrive again?
Connie: Tell who?
Cramer: The camera.
Connie: [answering phone outside courthouse] What?
Mike: [watching from a distance] You having fun?
Connie: I’m gonna kill you and then I’m gonna kill McCoy.
Mike: [mocking] On camera??
Connie: I don’t care, I’d be better off in prison. Where are you?
Mike: I’m in the courthouse.
Ahahahahaa. Mike totally lied as to where he was. Also, they are totally a couple. Regardless, though, even if you disagree as to Mike/Connie, that scene was basically THE BEST THING EVER. So funny and random and cute. I totally watched it twice in a row and I'll definitely be watching again.
Connie: First I have to tell my friend, the CAMERA, what’s going on.
Connie: Here’s the video we got in exchange for peddling my ass on TV.
- Septo-mom on the stand.
- Defense also has video from the producer, showing Septo-mom in a bad light.
Belinda: You think I’m one of those wise Latina women? Not me.
Connie: *brow raise*
Mike: [to Connie] I guess your friend Cramer made a deal with them, too.
La la la Cramer on the stand…*distracted by Hot!Cutter* Oh, and AccentWatch09 - sounding pretty American, Mr. Linus. Hee hee.
- Wow, Cramer is a smarmy asshole. Go Connie for telling him NO.
- Something about Sammy Shiner the Loan Shark.
- Hello, Mike In The Tight White Shirt.
- Connie and Mike concoct a plan! Yay!
Cutter: You were thinking…that you shouldn’t go see your girlfriend…and then you…went to see your girlfriend?
BAM. Got him.
McCoy: How much longer must this go on?
Cutter: Not much.
Shiner’s gone. Uh-oh. They knew. How did they know?
- they got the info from Connie’s legal pad. Dammit!
McCoy: Now that’s reality television.
Shiiit. Connie’s gonna kill that guy.
Damn. Cutter’s eyes are SO BLUE when he’s angry.
Judge: Mr. Cutter, do you have anything else?
Cutter: No, Your Honor.
…both families in bizarre new reality show to decide who killed Joy Johnson…WITH ARTHUR BRANCH JUDGING?!?!?!! HAHAHAHAHAHAA. I’m not sure if that was an insult to Branch/Fred Dalton Thompson or not, but I freaking LOVE that it’s how the episode ended, with Jack looking like “….um, barf?”
This episode was way better than I thought it would be. I was absolutely bowled over by the adorableness that was Connie and Mike during the phone call scene. THEY EVEN USED SPLIT-SCREEN!!!!
Overall, it seemed like the actors really had fun with the episode. It’s definitely going down as one of my favorites.