Now that we've got that covered, let's talk about the season premiere. Not the greatest episode ever, but very, very solid. I think it laid the necessary groundwork for a stellar season. Brief synopsis: Show opens and closes with Ellen waving a gun and talking to someone off camera about lying. Flash back to 6 months earlier; Patty is setting up a foundation to feed the hungry to clear her conscience about trying to have Ellen killed. What she failed to mention is that the foundation's purpose is to actually feed the hungry to herself for dinner every night, because I don't care what anyone says, Patty Hewes is the most sinister woman in the world. Ellen has joined a support group to try to get over her grief over her fiance's death, and she's still working with the Feds to have Patty brought down. Frobisher, henceforth known as Frobie, managed to survive and is recuperating in a private hospital. Some guy named Daniel Purcell who works for some mysterious corporation and has some mysterious connection to Patty, appeals to her for help, which she intially refuses, but then reconsiders after his wife turns up dead in what I'm sure is a set up, but hope is some kind of twist that it's not. Also, Timothy Olyphant (didn't catch the character's name) wants to have sex with Ellen.
Now for my thoughts. Let's start with those opening and closing scenes. I thought it was intriguing enough, but I couldn't help thinking how much better/scarier it would have been if Glenn Close was doing the talking. I'm not talking about her as Patty, but just her as the actress mind you. I don't know what it is about her, but Glenn Close can say more with one look, or one small movement, than most actresses can say with two hours of dialogue. I think Rose Byrne is great, but I don't think she can pull off this whole unhinged woman thing. She just winds up tensing up her body and making her face look vacant. That being said, I'm hoping that that improves as we go on.
Ok, so back to Patty. First off, let me say that as soon as that guy's daughter (the one who refused to donate to her foundation) walked into the office, I knew Patty was going to do something with her. Intially, I thought she would try to get her thrown out of Yale, but having her busted for cocaine (on her son's information no less) was a pure stroke of genius. Even better was taking the guy to the cleaners when he wanted back in on donating. That whole subplot was like watching a lion play with it's prey, letting it think it can escape before it goes in for the bloody kill. It was glorious.
As for this Daniel Purcell guy and his link to Patty, first off let me say that I never saw The Big Chill, so I'm not sure what the dynamic between William Hurt, who plays Purcell, and Glenn Close is supposed to evoke. That being said, I'm betting they had an affair. Also, I want to know what Purcell thinks Patty owes him, because if there's one thing I've learned, it's that Patty Hewes is in debt to no one; she just has them killed instead. I wonder if he's the father of her dead daughter. It would be interesting and would also justify reintroducing and explaining that small plot point from last year.
As for the reappearance of Frobie, I can't say I'm a fan. I thought we had put him to bed last season, and as much as I liked Ted Danson in the role, I don't think Ellen can balance two revenge plots at once. (And I don't buy for a second, her little talk with Timothy Olyphant about chosing forgiveness, because she's supposedly loved David so much, so why wouldn't she go after his killer as much as she went after Patty, hmm?). It is nice to see that he's still a self righteous prick even after having an attempt made on his life, asking his nurse to make him look sicker than he is so that his wife will pity him. Jerkface.
As for the fake case Ellen is trying to have Patty take, I think it will be interesting, although I have a sneaking suspicion it gets pushed in favor of the Purcell case.
I'm a little worried about the whole Patty as a tortured soul thing, because while it's believable and I love any excuse to have Zeljko Ivanek (Ray Fiske who very memorably killed himself in Patty's office last season) return, I don't want it to make Patty more likable or take her off her game, because like I said I love when she is a lion.
Also, let me say I don't trust Timothy Olyphant for a second and I'm wondering if he's the mechanism Uncle Pete is continuing to use to spy on Ellen. I'm also going to make a fearless prediction and say that he's the one sitting in the chair that Ellen is talking to and shoots at the end of the episode. (I also have trouble buying Ellen being able to kill in cold blood, but I think that's because she didn't sell the crazy routine very well at the beginning.)
A few other things of note:
- Totally loved Patty telling Ellen that whoever tried to kill her was actually trying to kill Patty. She's is a master manipulator and I wonder if she's planted a true seed of doubt or not.
- The whole Regis and Kelly bit was a funny, although a little out of place.
- Did anyone else notice Paige Turco as Purcell's wife. She's been in a bunch of stuff over the years, but to me she will forever be April O'Neill from the second and third Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles movies.
- I'm betting Ellen and Timothy Olyphant sleep together by episode 3 or 4.
- I'm a bit over having Tate Donovan around, unless he does something interesting soon. Patty doesn't need a lap dog.
- Does anyone know where I can download the theme song? I love it and am having trouble finding it.
"The woman's full of shit."--Ellen about Patty after being on Regis and Kelly. Thank you Ellen for the exposition.
"Fine, watch her, I'm concerned about her well being."--Patty to Uncle Pete about Ellen, and by "concerned about her well-being" she means "waiting to see if the little bitch double-crosses me so I can kill her myself, probably by ripping her limb from limb because I'm a scary fucking bitch, so don't fuck with me, I won't be ignored, Dan, I mean Pete." (kudos to anyone who recognizes my movie reference).
"You don't know who I am, do you?" "Sure I do, why do you ask?" "Because I'm the most hated man in America, and you're being nice to me."--Frobie and his nurse. A bit dramatic, but then again Frobie was always heinously dramatic and self-involved.
"Except for the vagina."--Patty talking about why she's not one of the boys. Has anyone seen the movie Teeth? I suggest wiki-ing it and reading the cynopsis. You can draw your own conclusions as to why I suggest that.
