One day it's here and then it's gone.
Ack, I have to write this all out before I read anyone else's episode reactions, to get out all my first impressions first and then be swayed by others' thoughts later.
Okay so I've always been a bit of a Jane/Lisbon shipper throughout my tenure with this show. But it's more complicated than that. Because their more complicated than a simple "will they/won't they" tease. I think they're relationship is more of a mixture of brother-sister, best friend, schoolkid crush, and deeper feelings. I feel that Lisbon had always loved Jane more than he loved her. Or, well, maybe just in a different way. I feel like he's had a crush on her, but more in a casual way, the kind of way that says, I think you're really pretty and a great human being and I really really like you as a person I'm just not sure if I want to be in a relationship with you. He was far too caught up in his Red John crusade and feelings for his family to focus on new relationships. (For the sake of argument, I'm pretending that the Kristina Frye thing was less than they made it out to be and that Lorelei was 100% a ploy.)
Now that Red John has been out of the picture for a while, Jane has had time to digest feelings and life. And yeah, okay, I've been interested in the possibility that those feelings would be for Lisbon. But first and foremost, I think they're friends.
I'm not sure how I feel about Pike. I liked him, still do, and I liked that he was direct with Lisbon about his feelings and honest and didn't pressure her into her decision. Okay well, toward the end there was some pressure, but I don't think that was completely uncalled for, he had given her plenty of time and it was an important decision that called for "shit or get off the pot" to use one of my least favorite sayings in the world. But I feel that with his rushed proposal last week, that the show was trying to force him into being a Wrong Choice for Lisbon, nothing more than a plot device to get her with Jane, and that's kind of shoddy storytelling. I like Jane, I like Lisbon, and I like Jane/Lisbon, but I wasn't opposed to the idea of Lisbon/someone else as long as Jane/Lisbon got to be besties forever and ever.
Anyway, in all of this, I could tell that Jane/Lisbon was where the show was headed this season and I decided to just sit back and go for the ride, supporting it but letting it play out and not getting invested in it.
Which brings us to last night's episode. I'm sorry, but what the actual fuck was that episode. I cannot believe that Bruno Heller wrote it. It was like, hey we might not get another season after this so let's just fuck it whoo hooooo! And completely disregarded his characters in doing so.
The movie played out like a rushed rom-com. The case (or cases? if you count the opening teaser?) were clearly side plots to give the main plot a setting, which was stupid, because the main case could actually have been interesting. Everything was so transparent and there was zero intrigue. It was blindingly clear that it was a Jane ploy. The constant B-roll of Miami beach scenes and Cuban music and muscle cars was annoying. Abbot's line about "all leave and transfers are postponed" was laughable and completely not believable. I had to pause the episode several times to cringe from some kind of...secondhand embarrassment or something. The climactic rush to the airport and climbing of fences and knocking on plane doors (and them letting him in wtf??????) was AWFUL.
There were four things I liked:
1. Cho and Abbot talking over wine and Cho's line about how Jane "buried a man alive once and Lisbon didn't get nearly this mad," lol, and his later line of "I just don't see it." I feel you Cho. I see it and I like it, but I also don't see it, sort of just depends on the day.
2. The confrontation with all the suspects in Jane's hotel room, lol forever.
3. Lisbon reaming Jane up one side and down the other for his douchebaggery. Truer words, Queen Lisbon, truer words.
4. The final scene, in the holding cell, which I liked, surprisingly perhaps, faaaar better than the scene on the airplane.
And one thing I kind of liked:
1. Jane's speech to Lisbon on the airplane. I liked most of it. It actually was touching. But actually what I liked about that scene was not JANE and LISBON but SIMON and ROBIN. Acting, bitches. That was acting. And okay, I did like the content of the speech, it was just...a bit out of left field and I didn't buy the circumstances (I'm sorry but I will never get over how asinine the entire run through the airport and over the fence and up to the plane and down the aisle was, UGH) which made buying the sentiment a little hard.
BUT. I don't know. I think I need to let it settle, maybe read some other peoples' episode reactions, maybe (maybe??????) re-watch the episode if I can bring myself to, and I'll probably start to like it. Actually, whether or not I like it will probably hugely depend on what the do with the remaining story they have to tell next season/half season/whatever it's going to be (yay for renewal of any sort!).
I'm just getting terrible, horirble JAG flashbacks and how they royally buggered up the Harm/Mac storyline on that show, I guess that's why I'm so squicked out by everything that happened last night.
ETA:
Oh my god okay I just read a few peoples' episode reactions and IT'S LIKE WE DID NOT WATCH THE SAME EPISODE AT ALL HOLY CRAP.
Someone commented that they were really grateful and impressed with the writers for making it romantic and not cheesy? Jane LITERALLY broke into an airport, climbed a fence, pretty much broke his ankle, then ran across a tarmac toward a departing plane, bust in the closed cabin door, and was eventually arrested and dragged off the plane yelling "I love her, take care of her!!!" HOW is that NOT cheesy???????????????????????? I mean, to each his own I guess, but that is like Love Actually level of cheese, that is.
I'm sorry, I guess, that I don't agree with everyone else. Or that I can't be more satisfied? Maybe I will give it another watch in a bit. I don't know what to think right now. I guess I'm just really torn between flailing over Jane/Lisbon (because don't get me wrong, I did flail a bit! Especially with the really sweet interaction in the final scene, which was so honest and cute.) and cringing over how the episode brought us there.
ETA 2:
I can't stop thinking about how torn I am about this episode and everything that happened aaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!! WHY WHY WHY. I love Jane/Lisbon. I read fic of Jane/Lisbon (a few, at least) for heaven's sake!!! It just. Gah. I don't know. *dramatic flop*
Okay so I've always been a bit of a Jane/Lisbon shipper throughout my tenure with this show. But it's more complicated than that. Because their more complicated than a simple "will they/won't they" tease. I think they're relationship is more of a mixture of brother-sister, best friend, schoolkid crush, and deeper feelings. I feel that Lisbon had always loved Jane more than he loved her. Or, well, maybe just in a different way. I feel like he's had a crush on her, but more in a casual way, the kind of way that says, I think you're really pretty and a great human being and I really really like you as a person I'm just not sure if I want to be in a relationship with you. He was far too caught up in his Red John crusade and feelings for his family to focus on new relationships. (For the sake of argument, I'm pretending that the Kristina Frye thing was less than they made it out to be and that Lorelei was 100% a ploy.)
Now that Red John has been out of the picture for a while, Jane has had time to digest feelings and life. And yeah, okay, I've been interested in the possibility that those feelings would be for Lisbon. But first and foremost, I think they're friends.
I'm not sure how I feel about Pike. I liked him, still do, and I liked that he was direct with Lisbon about his feelings and honest and didn't pressure her into her decision. Okay well, toward the end there was some pressure, but I don't think that was completely uncalled for, he had given her plenty of time and it was an important decision that called for "shit or get off the pot" to use one of my least favorite sayings in the world. But I feel that with his rushed proposal last week, that the show was trying to force him into being a Wrong Choice for Lisbon, nothing more than a plot device to get her with Jane, and that's kind of shoddy storytelling. I like Jane, I like Lisbon, and I like Jane/Lisbon, but I wasn't opposed to the idea of Lisbon/someone else as long as Jane/Lisbon got to be besties forever and ever.
Anyway, in all of this, I could tell that Jane/Lisbon was where the show was headed this season and I decided to just sit back and go for the ride, supporting it but letting it play out and not getting invested in it.
Which brings us to last night's episode. I'm sorry, but what the actual fuck was that episode. I cannot believe that Bruno Heller wrote it. It was like, hey we might not get another season after this so let's just fuck it whoo hooooo! And completely disregarded his characters in doing so.
The movie played out like a rushed rom-com. The case (or cases? if you count the opening teaser?) were clearly side plots to give the main plot a setting, which was stupid, because the main case could actually have been interesting. Everything was so transparent and there was zero intrigue. It was blindingly clear that it was a Jane ploy. The constant B-roll of Miami beach scenes and Cuban music and muscle cars was annoying. Abbot's line about "all leave and transfers are postponed" was laughable and completely not believable. I had to pause the episode several times to cringe from some kind of...secondhand embarrassment or something. The climactic rush to the airport and climbing of fences and knocking on plane doors (and them letting him in wtf??????) was AWFUL.
There were four things I liked:
1. Cho and Abbot talking over wine and Cho's line about how Jane "buried a man alive once and Lisbon didn't get nearly this mad," lol, and his later line of "I just don't see it." I feel you Cho. I see it and I like it, but I also don't see it, sort of just depends on the day.
2. The confrontation with all the suspects in Jane's hotel room, lol forever.
3. Lisbon reaming Jane up one side and down the other for his douchebaggery. Truer words, Queen Lisbon, truer words.
4. The final scene, in the holding cell, which I liked, surprisingly perhaps, faaaar better than the scene on the airplane.
And one thing I kind of liked:
1. Jane's speech to Lisbon on the airplane. I liked most of it. It actually was touching. But actually what I liked about that scene was not JANE and LISBON but SIMON and ROBIN. Acting, bitches. That was acting. And okay, I did like the content of the speech, it was just...a bit out of left field and I didn't buy the circumstances (I'm sorry but I will never get over how asinine the entire run through the airport and over the fence and up to the plane and down the aisle was, UGH) which made buying the sentiment a little hard.
BUT. I don't know. I think I need to let it settle, maybe read some other peoples' episode reactions, maybe (maybe??????) re-watch the episode if I can bring myself to, and I'll probably start to like it. Actually, whether or not I like it will probably hugely depend on what the do with the remaining story they have to tell next season/half season/whatever it's going to be (yay for renewal of any sort!).
I'm just getting terrible, horirble JAG flashbacks and how they royally buggered up the Harm/Mac storyline on that show, I guess that's why I'm so squicked out by everything that happened last night.
ETA:
Oh my god okay I just read a few peoples' episode reactions and IT'S LIKE WE DID NOT WATCH THE SAME EPISODE AT ALL HOLY CRAP.
Someone commented that they were really grateful and impressed with the writers for making it romantic and not cheesy? Jane LITERALLY broke into an airport, climbed a fence, pretty much broke his ankle, then ran across a tarmac toward a departing plane, bust in the closed cabin door, and was eventually arrested and dragged off the plane yelling "I love her, take care of her!!!" HOW is that NOT cheesy???????????????????????? I mean, to each his own I guess, but that is like Love Actually level of cheese, that is.
I'm sorry, I guess, that I don't agree with everyone else. Or that I can't be more satisfied? Maybe I will give it another watch in a bit. I don't know what to think right now. I guess I'm just really torn between flailing over Jane/Lisbon (because don't get me wrong, I did flail a bit! Especially with the really sweet interaction in the final scene, which was so honest and cute.) and cringing over how the episode brought us there.
ETA 2:
I can't stop thinking about how torn I am about this episode and everything that happened aaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!! WHY WHY WHY. I love Jane/Lisbon. I read fic of Jane/Lisbon (a few, at least) for heaven's sake!!! It just. Gah. I don't know. *dramatic flop*