What Are You Currently Watching (on tv/dvd)?

[fish]

...The one in which Toby build a robot double for Dina so it can cover her shift at work while she goes on a date...

Well that was always going to happen.
So obvious.

[Ian]

Just because you can do something, doesn't mean you should.

[Ian]

Some more 2004 Neighbours episodes, that veer from the genuinely uncomfortable to watch to - at last! - a happier one. Lana is so desperate to quell the rumours of her being gay she's actually planning to sleep with some creep at a party, which Sky is completely freaked by. Freaked to such an extent that she shows up at a party she otherwise had no intention of even going to and pretty much openly begs her not to go through with it, which has the effect of making her look like a jealous girlfriend. Fortunately her display of - it's hard to say public humiliation, since Sky seems to be so focused on protecting Lana that she could genuinely GAF about her own reputation - whatever it is works. Lana finally stands up for herself, outs herself and marches off arm-in-arm with Sky. Yay!
I did lol at the line from Sky when Lana marches out of the party to tell her what she's done.
LANA: You are my friend, right?
SKY (smirking): You think just anyone would make a complete fool of themselves like I did in there?


This happiness lasts for half the next episode, when she gets attacked in the girl's locker room in a scene that's actually excruciating to watch. Jesus Wept. Can this chick catch a f*****g break?! Lana is terrified again, and Sky is just absolutely f*****g livid.

We then finally - finally - get a lighter episode. Sky and Lana's comic strip is being published by an underground gay magazine, whose editor wants to interview them. The pair of them trying not to laugh as she starts waffling on about post-modern metatextuality and patriarchal theory - when they're just having fun with these things - is very funny. She also makes the - entirely understandable - assumption that they're "partners" in another sense. Cue moment of cute embarrassed, shy, awkwardness (though it's interesting that neither actually denies it). And they're soon happily posing cheek to cheek for photos with big cheesy grins on their faces. Aww. They really do have a fantastic chemistry together, and it's so nice to finally have an episode where they can just be giggly and happy and have fun with each other.

[fish]

...giggly and happy and have fun with each other...

Sounds good. And I'm only a couple of decades late in catching it, eh?

[Ian]

Sounds about usual.

I'm just so glad they brought them back for that brief little stint in March. Not just because it was lovely to see them again, and as a couple, but because it reminded me how much I loved them back in the day, and how much I liked Bridget Neval (Lana) in particular, and inspired me to seek out these old episodes (which I was very lucky to get hold of) to see again as well as Wicked Science for her too. Both of which I'm thoroughly enjoying (if you hadn't noticed ).
Not that I'm reliving an old crush or anything. No sirree. Not me.

[fish]

...No sirree. Not me...

I never noticed a thing out of the ordinary.

[Ian]

And I thought I was hiding it well.

[Ian]

Wicked Science: Vigilance. After nearly getting caught using the school's science lab at night, something that could get her expelled, Elizabeth tries to persuade Toby to let her use his home lab and even join in with her new project. Rebuffed as per usual, she resorts again to using the school lab - unaware that the teachers have placed a hidden camera in the room to catch the persistent intruder. Is this the end for Elizabeth? Oh wow. This was a turnaround! I really didn't remember them starting to hit on Toby/Elizabeth so strong and so soon (not quite halfway through season 1) but here we are. Faced with the real possibility of Elizabeth being permanently removed from his life, Toby finally gets off that fence he so likes to sit on in regards to her, and takes direct action to safeguard her and prevent that happening, much to his friends' disbelief. And his feeble excuses - well, if Elizabeth gets caught it might somehow lead to my secret being exposed - aren't fooling anyone, not a shocked and furious Dina (ha ha, swivel on it, bitch! ) or an equally stunned but seriously warmed Elizabeth. This was a great episode! Low to non-existent on the sci-fi wackiness but high on the character stuff, which is what interests me anyway. Toby forced to show he cares about Elizabeth more than he wants to admit, Elizabeth positively a-glow with happiness and hopefulness (to the extent she's even being genuinely nice and sweet with Verity at the end, when she normally just yells at her ) and the smug smirk well and truly wiped off Dina's face. It's now becoming clear to everyone that what Elizabeth's been saying since the accident - that she and Toby are now connected in a way he can never be with anyone else - is actually true, and the implications of that are obviously fairly seismic.
Loved this one!

[fish]

...Loved this one!..

Quarantine finished a week ago, but Ian has yet to venture outside.
I think he's starting to like it.

[Ian]

I hadn't noticed.

[Ian]

Noah and Saskia. Currently rewatching (for the first time in like 15 or 16 years) this mid 2000s Aussie kids/teen show about a British teenage boy and an Australian teenage girl who become best friends via the internet, despite neither being entirely honest about who they are. It's still pretty entertaining, and there are some recognisable Neighbours faces in it, primarily Lara Sacher (Serena Bishop) in a small but recurring role as one of Saskia's schoolfriends, Marcella Russo (Liljana Bishop) as a teacher, and that "Shazza" girl that Stingray briefly dated is Saskia's best friend. Y'know, I have no idea how or why I even watched this in the first place. I mean, I know why I watched Wicked Science - and so do you - but this one baffles me. Maybe I was just flicking channels, spotted someone from Neighbours and wanted to know what the hell it was? Possibly. But, while I don't like it as much as WS, it's watchable and amusing enough with an interesting central gimmick and likeable characters.

[fish]

... - and so do you - ...

Don't blame me, I'm completely lost.

[Ian]

More from 2004 Neighbours... The Sky/Lana stuff continues to be compelling on so many levels, though Lana is more the inadvertent cause rather than the centre of it this time. Lana herself is looking a lot happier now she's out and doesn't have to hide or pretend anymore, and seems to more or less being left alone. She's also doing her level best to just see Sky as her best friend and nothing more, telling her she's been neglecting Boyd and should spend more time with him, and looking for romantic prospects elsewhere.

But just her presence is causing ripples of tension. Although Boyd seems to like Lana as a person, he's increasingly uncomfortable with how close Sky is to her, especially given she's actively choosing to spend more time with her than him these days. (When she comes round to ask him to lunch, after basically being urged to by Lana, his sarcastic response is, "Lana having the day off, is she?" Ouch!)

But he's furious when Sky blithely tells him that the gay magazine that publishes their comic strip has mistakenly outed them as a lesbian couple, particularly given that she had the chance to correct that assumption and didn't, and that she doesn't seem bothered by it. He makes a valid point that it's disrespectful to him and to Lana ("You think it's funny? Pretending to be her girlfriend when you know how she feels about you?")

Tellingly, Sky doesn't even deny it. I expected her to insist that Lana was over her crush, but she doesn't even blink at the assertion. Typically, though, Sky digs her heels in and insists he's being ridiculous, and that the idea that anyone could think she and Lana were really a couple is hilarious. And then proceeds to later look taken aback and rather discomfited when Lana tells her she's got a date with another girl, as though the idea this might happen had never occurred to her before. Oh boy. Y'know, I do think Sky honestly believes what she's saying at this point, but I also think she clearly enjoys being the sole focus of Lana's attention and is rapidly setting up camp on the lakes of a river in Egypt.

But the best line of these episodes came randomly from little Summer, excitedly telling Max what's been happening at school lately: "Lana's coming out as a lesbian... I wonder if Sky will decide she's a lesbian too?"

Out of the mouths of babes...

[Ian]

In a bid to try and watch something other than 2004 Neighbours and Wicked Science I had a retro night last night, beginning an encore of season 1 of Whatever Happened to the Likely Lads?, starting season 2 of Some Mothers Do 'Ave 'Em and picking up season 1 of Secret Army again.

Fine stuff.

[fish]

...retro...

I'd climb over the top of some really nice people if it gave me the chance to see replays of "Men Behaving Badly".