Allegory of Love & The Quality of Mercy

I swear this series should be re-titled, "Lewis and Hathaway:  A Bromance".  I don't know if the gay episode (as I like to think of it) put this idea into my head or not, but it seems like it's all about Hathaway's and Lewis' relationship now.  Whereas before it was all about ideas and art and me oggling Lawrence Fox, which was much more fun.

It's been a few weeks since I wrote a review, because I wasn't feeling particularly inspired by the episodes.  But just because I wasn't reviewing doesn't mean it wasn't airing, or that I wasn't watching!  The episode after Life Born of Fire was The Great and the Good.  I don't have much to say about that episode, but you can read Ruth's review of it at Booktalk & More if you're interested.

The episode after that was called Allegory of Love.  Here, we met Dorian, a very Oscar Wildesque (as you might have guessed by the name) fantasy writer who is huuuuugely successful.  HUGE.  Best thing since CS Lewis--who was a resident of Oxford and shared the same surname as Inspector Lewis (mentioned several times during the episode).  Anyway, someone dies, I forget who, and then other people die, and Lewis and Hathaway think it has something to do with Dorian's fiance, Alice--named after Alice from Alice in Wonderland, which was created by yet another Oxford resident, LEWIS Carrol (yes, also mentioned).  There's a surplus of creepy professors running around, and Dorian is obviously hiding something.  My first guess would have been that he's gay, but the writers already played that card this season.  So what could it be???

This was an okay episode, although I have to say--can we not go for the sexual shocker every single episode?  Also, Lewis' stubborn refusal to apparently read ANYTHING at all gets somewhat annoying.  Finally, Hathaway flirted with a girl in a bar (not gay, not gay at all), and I hated her.

In The Quality of Mercy, an actor in a student production of The Merchant of Venice is murdered, but no one cares because everyone at Oxford is a cold-hearted bastard.  But who cares about the murdered people?  Not me, that's for sure (hahaha).  The significant thing that happens during this episode is that Hathaway discovers who killed Lewis' wife!  Yes, it's true!  You thought they were going to drag that out until the last of the last episodes and have it be a huge dramatic thing, but no.  The actual unveiling of the murderer (or woman-slaughterer) was waaaay anticlimatic.  Hathaway, however, was quite humorous with the watching-Lewis-out-of-the-corners-of-his-eyes-as-if-waiting-for-him-to-explode bit.

And here's where it just gets too bromantic for me, because Hathaway is all concerned about what Lewis will do when he finds out.  So he... asks their supervisor's advice?  Oookay.  And then of course he has to tell Lewis eventually (duh-sigh), and Lewis ends up proclaiming, "You just proved you don't know me at all!  Or yourself!"  And they pout. Under direct questioning, Lewis refuses to admit that he ever felt anything for Hathaway other than professional admiration, and Hathaway looks like a puppy that's just been kicked by its mom.  Aw, sad.

Will Lewis and Hathaway mend their battered relationship?  Will they hug and share their feelings over a pint?  Will Hathaway ever stop with annoying quote attributions?  Hopefully we'll find out... next Sunday!

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Life Born of Fire

I did not like this episode of Inspector Lewis.

Since Ruth hasn't posted her review yet, I suppose I will have to make some attempt at writing a coherent synopsis. A kid named Will shoots himself in the head in front of a church altar. For some reason, homicide detectives Lewis and Hathaway are called to the scene. Turns out, Hathaway knew Will when they were kids, and he freaks the hell out. Lewis subsequently makes two nonsensical decisions: one, he will investigate Will's death as if it's a homicide, even though it was obviously suicide and therefore should not even be under his purview; and two, Hathaway can be on the case because he has no conflict of interest. ORLY? He literally ran out of the church, but he's perfectly all right to investigate Will's death, sure, uh-huh.

Eventually, it turns out Will is gay ("Oh yeah," sez Sgt. Hathaway), he had a girlfriend, and he was part of a Christian group that was trying to un-homophize him. Nice to know those kinds of organizations exist in Europe and not just in America. And Will knew how to use a camera because he sent all his gay friends inflammatory video right before he died.

At this point, I'm thinking this Will person was reeeeeeaaaaaaaaalllllllllly annoying and I'm glad he's dead. But unfortunately, other people connected to Will and the crazy talk Christian group are being murrrrdered, which means Lewis and Hathaway can now justify investigating his death. Blood and fingerprints point to a guy with some strange Welsh name whom Will was in love with, but who disappeared from Oxford about three years ago and hasn't been seen since. Yet Hathaway has his number on his cell phone! It seems like Hathaway is all up in Oxford's Flamboyantly Gay community. Is it because he was in the Seminary, or because he's English, or... could he ACTUALLY BE GAY??? This leads to a hilariously awkward exchange between Hathaway and Lewis:

Lewis: Are you... nah.

Hathaway: Go on and ask.

Lewis: No, it's... it doesn't matter.

Hathaway: You've been dying to ask.

L: It's none of my business.

H: Maybe you really want to know.

L: Well, okay. *expectant look*

H: What?

L: Are you?

H: WHAT?

L: Are. you. gay?

H: *extended pause* What does that mean?

L: You know what that means.

H: What, there's boys and girls and a nice, neat, straight line down the middle; and gays if you like shoes and musicals and straights if you get loaded and eat Yorkie bars?

L: No, no.

H: Find a definition then, Sir.

L: Loaded and Yorkie bars--how stupid do you think I am, man? You're right, it's none of business.

H: *heaves a sigh--of relief???*

Meanwhile, Sgt. Ambiguously Gay knows way more about the people in this case than he's telling Lewis, and when Lewis finds out, he is PISSED. And not in the really, really drunk sense of the word, either (that would be Hathaway). Lewis says he never wants to look at Hathaway again, and he might get his wish, since it seems that the Sergeant is the next person on the killer's TBK list.

I found this episode to be really annoying. The plot was badly set-up and thus felt like an excuse to preach at me about gay rights. It would have been cool to be shown into the Oxford GLBT scene, but the way this was done was really shallow and unbelievable. And the whole "mystery" about whether or not Hathaway himself was A GAY was just dumb. Obviously they aren't going to make that character gay, since he's the only eye candy on the show (sorry Kevin Whately); and personally I thought the way they played with that idea was simply juvenile. The writers need to catch an ep of Torchwood, if you ask me.

Oh, and it was painfully obvious who the killer was. Honestly, what kind of girl agrees to date a guy and meet his mom after she finds out he's gay? That should have raised a whole slew of flags. Hathaway and Lewis need a woman on the team to catch these things.

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Book Recs & Friends

Today's question for BBAW is, "Can you believe it's already day 4 of BBAW?"  Nooooooo, I can't.  Time goes by so fast!  *sniff*  Oh, and also they want to know what the first book was that I read just because a book blogger recommended it to me.

Well, this is kind of complicated answer (not really, but as usual I'm going to make it that way).  The first book I ever read because a blogger recommended it was Odd Thomas.  It was recommended by the lovely and beautiful Amethyst, who is also my adopted mom.  She's not really a book blogger (yet--mwahahaha), and I'm not entirely sure why or how she recommended it to me, but I read it and I loved it!



The second book I read because a blogger recommended it was In Sheep's Clothing by Susan May Warren.  It's one of Ruth's favorite books.  Now, Ruth is a book blogger--but she wasn't at the time she recommended it to me.  I did really enjoy the book and the yummy Vicktor, and the fabulous Russian setting.

With both of these books, I was definitely stepping outside my comfort zone.  I tend to avoid both Christian fiction and horror novels--but because of Amethyst's and Ruth's recommendations, I tried both and really enjoyed them!



If you want to get all technical about it, the first book I read because a book blogger recommended it was Mr. and Mrs. Fitzwilliam Darcy:  Two Shall Become One by Sharon Lathan.  It was recommended by MJMBecky at One Literature Nut on Twitter!  Again, I wasn't too sure about this book, since I'd never read a Jane Austen adaptation before, and I wasn't certain I wanted to read about Darcy and Lizzie gettin' it on.  But it turned out to be an absolutely lovely and romantic book that I really enjoyed.



Aha, but none of those books were ones I actually bought.  Because of my depressing financial situation, I got them all from the library.  The only book I've bought based on a book blogger's recommendation is The Strangely Beautiful Tale of Miss Percy Parker--mainly because of Katiebab's killer review of it on Babbling About Books, and More.  Then Smexy Books said the hero was like Alan Rickman and, well, I really HAD to buy it after that.  I mean, Alan Rickman's a pretty big selling point.  I haven't read it yet, but I'm looking forward to it.


And now for the philosophical portion of my day....

The main thing I've found with book recommendations is that it really seems to cement friendships between people when you read a book recommended by a blogger, especially when said book is something you would never consider picking up if he or she hadn't mentioned it.  I think this is because when you read a book based solely on a recommendation, you're not only taking a chance on the book, but on the person who rec'd it as well--on whether she (or he) has good taste, and has paid enough attention to the kinds of books you like, to make a good recommendation.  So far, I've been rewarded on both fronts and have met both wonderful people and wonderful books by taking a chance and stepping outside my comfort zone. 

Have you ever read a book you normally wouldn't just because a friend recommended it?

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Music to Die For

In the second episode of Inspector Lewis Series II, a gloriously shirtless Bradley James (I'm such a dirty old lady) is involved in boxing.  And then a very red-faced, obnoxious English guy gets murdered, Inspector Lewis is seduced, and a kid with a scarf that makes his head look like it's coming out of a vagina jumps off a balcony.  And Lewis is like, "WTF?" and Hathaway is like, "Do you honestly think you have a chance with a woman who looks like that?" to Lewis, and suddenly it all makes sense.  And then Hathaway goes to Berlin and is freaked out by Deutschlanders and takes illegal pictures of secret documents with his cell phone.  THEY'RE NOT GOING TO LET YOU GET AWAY WITH THAT, HATHAWAY!  But fortunately he also writes stuff down. 

Um, yeah, so I'm pretty sure that made no sense to you unless you've watched Mystery!, and I'm sorry for that.  But you should watch it--no free plot handouts!  Besides, if you want a review that makes sense, you can read Ruth's at Booktalk & More.  Right now, instead of a plot synopsis, I'm going to tell you all the random things I know about Wagner.  Brace yourselves.

Richard Wagner lived in the 19th century.  He was inspired by folk tales such as the Poetic Edda and many of the operas he wrote tried to revive a noble and glorious Germanic past.  Nietzsche was in love with his wife and saw Wagner as keeping them apart (duh).  Anywho, another 19th-century personage who loved the Poetic Edda was Guido von List (though he was not actually "von" List, or anywhere for that matter, and just made up that name so he'd sound more aristocratic).  Like Wagner, of whom List was a huge fan, he wanted to revive the glorious German past; to that end, he studied ancient standing stones and whatnot, and pretty much invented runes.  Well... he had visions of what the runes meant and how to read them delivered by Odin.  Or so he said.  And then, after WWI, List wrote that the dead would rise up for vengeance against all of Europe like an ancient and crusading army and that Germany would take Russia as its due.  And guess who read that?  That's right, Hitler was a HUGE fan of List (and Wagner) and that 1. is why only one of List's books has been translated into English; and 2. everything I know about Wagner.  Well, that and Inspector Morse was a huge fan.

And now for a change of topic and a token question--What do you think of Bradley James' acting skills?  I think he's okay, but Ruth says he could use some work.

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And the Moonbeams Kiss the Sea

See! the mountains kiss high heaven,
And the waves clasp one another;
No sister flower would be forgiven
If it disdained its brother;
And the sunlight clasps the earth,
And the moonbeams kiss the sea: -
What are all these kissings worth,
If thou kiss not me?
~Percy Bysshe Shelley, Love's Philosophy

I like mystery books, but I LOVE mystery shows; and last week's And the Moonbeams Kiss the Sea, the first episode in the second season of Inspector Lewis on Mystery! (or Masterpiece Mystery or whatever the hell they're calling it now) was a great piece of television:  entertaining, intense, mysterious, and fascinating.



If you don't keep up with Mystery, here's a quick run-down:  Inspector Lewis started off as the Detective Sergeant on a previous series, Inspector Morse (which I've never watched).  Then Morse died, and now Lewis is the inspector in his own series, aided by the "dishy" Det. Sgt. James Hathaway. 

Lewis and Hathaway are part of Thames Valley Police, whose environs include Oxford University.  The central mystery of And the Moonbeams Kiss the Sea revolves around one of the university's most famous students, Percy Shelley.  It all starts when several volumes of rare 19th-century literature is discovered in the flat of a murder victim and janitor at the Bodleian Library, arguably one of the most famous libraries in the world.  After getting a peek at the inner workings of the Bodleian, Lewis and Hathaway are led, strangely, into the world of gambling and fine art.  This isn't exactly a whodunnit story (it's obvious fairly early on who the baddies are), but the mystery lies in raveling why the murderers killed their victims.

First of all, let me just say that Hathaway is my favorite part of this series.  He is super-smart, quiet, funny ("Do I get to play at being a policeman, then?" Philip, suspect number one, asks at some point in the show.  "Why not?" Hathaway mutters in response.  "We do it all day."), and very intuitive.  Not to mention dishy!  And did I mention he plays music?  It's, like, Ren Fair jazz or something, but still.  He's totally swoon-worthy.  Thus I was the complete opposite of bothered by the fact that he recited Shelley's "Love's Philosophy" so many times during the course of this episode I now have it memorized.  He can recite poetry as much as he wants as far as I'm concerned.

Anyway, back to the point (assuming I have one), what I really found fascinating about this episode was, of course, the way it treated art and artists.  One of the murder victims is an art student who does conceptual pieces like videos of paint drying.  Philip, her friend and the initial suspect, is a painter with a photographic visual memory.  Lewis and Hathaway, of course, being no-nonsense policemen and blah blah blah, are completely perplexed by Nell's contemporary art pieces--works like video of paint drying and trying to bomb a building.  However, the show itself didn't treat Nell's work dismissively--on the contrary, she's called original, imaginative, and creative several times in the course of the episode.

Not so with Philip, a painter and fan of JMW Turner and John Constable, the gods of English landscape painting.  The university gallery manager calls him, "Just an eye," and Philip himself says he doesn't have ideas.  Because he paints what he sees, he's portrayed as a mere copyist--literally.  Not only that, but he's sexually and emotionally emasculated.  At the same time, however, his "copyist" powers of observation give him an almost Sherlock Holmes-esque ability to help solve the case.  Apparently, mimetic art is good for deductive reasoning and recording, but does not qualify as creative or original.  One wonders where that puts photography, then.

I also love how academics are portrayed in this series (hint:  it's not flattering).  They're snobby, completely out of touch with reality, and either abuse their specialities for personal gain or hate them--or both.  Academidiots are such easy targets.

Overall, I thought this was a great episode, but I was a bit bothered by how art was portrayed in it.  The "good" pieces were incomprehensible--which fits way too much into this myth that there is any such thing as originality, let alone that that contemporary art is the sole possessor of it.  Talk about academidiots--that's total bull crap.  But then I'm a 19th Century person, so obviously I would favor Turner over watching paint dry.

If you want to read more about And the Moonbeams Kiss the Sea, check out Ruth's excellent review of it at Booktalk & More!

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