TS- "Attraction"
This was my favourite episode yet. Yes, it was! Very stylish. Lots of shirtless, horny Jim. A Bitch-of-the-Week who did not irritate. Blair got nice clothes, and there was that scene when he was all sexy!geek with his glasses on and hair pulled back, just the way spikedluv likes him. Well, Mel and everyone else with eyes in their heads- a geeky Blair is a sexy Blair. Not that there are any Blairs I can imagine that aren't sexy, just... this particular look makes you want to brew him some mint tea for that all-night study session, and offer to rub his shoulders. Or any other part he might like rubbed.
Everything was good in this ep, pretty much. The fight choreography didn't suck. The action shots were actiony. Even the background music was good.
The opening scene with the thieves crashing through the window in slow motion was beautifully shot- very high production values.
The two old jewelers kvetching about the robbery were delightfully cast. in terms of bad guy guestage, he husband was pleased to see the guy who played Marcus on Babylon 5. Am I right in remembering that he also played a Goa'uld named Seth on SG-1? And if so, is there some secret Underground Railroad that ferries character actors round to all the science-fictiony shows?
There was a lot of heat in this ep. They picked a really pretty girl for the love interest, which was a relief, because I don't think I was ready for another Maya/Blair-type lack of chemistry. Good thing, because the underpinning of the whole story was chemistry, literally- the girl's pheromones (and her lithe, curvy, strawberry-blonde self) were supposed to be turning Jim into a blissed-out, super-focused horndog.
Happily, the director really went balls-to-the-wall in the love scenes, and Burgi really sold it; I was squeeing with delight at the sight of his big, muscular arm snaking up over the girl's back to snap open her bra one-handed. (The husband sourly noted that the Wardrobe Dept could've rigged the bra to do that, but I prefer to think that ol' Burgi knows his way round lingerie, and the removal of same.)
When he strolls into the loft the next morning, almost purring like the kitty who most assuredly got the cream, did it not appear that Blair was a little... jealous? And not of Jim. He actually followed the guy up to his bedroom to declaim on pheromones while Jim was changing clothes, which afforded us another gratuitous look at Burgi with his shirt off. And really, that just never gets old. lit_gal has pointed out that these guys are SO very married, because it's not exactly normal behaviour for straight male roommates to have chats in each other's rooms whilst changing clothes. I checked with my handy in-house Straight Male Native Guide, and the husband grudgingly confirms that, no, that is not at all standard guy operating procedure.
He won't admit that this implies any slashiness, no no no. But he does enjoy watching me *squee!* and giggle like the shameless fangirl I am.
Wardrobe notes: I loooooved the sweater the Costume Lady gave Blair- a longsleeved ribbed pullover with a collared V-neck (and I can see it written out exactly like that on the costume plot and hangtags) in a rich shade of smoky blue that exactly matched his eyes. Yummy. I noted a small continuity error in a scene in Simon's office- sleeves pushed to elbow, sleeves down- but COMPLETELY missed the biggest boner of the entire episode.
It was sunnyd_lite who pointed it out to me. Ready? It's huge.
At the fancy party, Jim and the BotW are making out like lust-crazed teenagers in the coat check. She's wearing a sapphire-blue cocktail dress that, when Blair unwittingly interrupts, is unzipped and pushed almost up to her waist. Later, she asks Jim if he'd like to take her home. His answering grin suggests that yes, he'd like that very much, thanks.
Next scene: Jim and the girl are rolling around kissing hotly. She breaks away to turn and unzip her dress, then faces him and lets it fall to reveal her very nice black bra and briefs. Mmmm. Macking occurs, with agreeably R-rated kissage.
So where's the big costume error? Well, her dress isn't sapphire blue. It's a maroony purple. What, she brought him home from the party and changed clothes before making out? Don't think so. I was mortified to have missed such a biggie, but Sunny kindly offered that all the Pretty must've distracted me. Yeah... you could say that.
All this, and hints of bondage fun in the last scene? Woof! You better believe my ass was home from the gym in time to watch the repeat the next morning!