Grade: 88%
ABC Family'sGilmore Girls 2: Bunheads returns to complete its freshman season this week with "You Wanna See Something?" It's the end of the summer, many months after the Nutcracker disaster, and no one is having a good time. Michelle (Sutton Foster) is hiding out in Henderson, Nevada, dancing for a ridiculous magician
(yet another Gilmore Girls alum, Michael De Luise). Sasha (Julia Goldani Telles) is hiding out to avoid going home. Boo (Kaitlyn Jenkins) is caring for her pregnant, bed-ridden mother (Jennifer Hasty), while Melanie (Emma Dumont) cares for her very old, sick grandfather. Ginny (Bailey Butain) tries to sell a run down house, and Fanny (Kelly Bishop) lets her own home become rundown. It's a miserable way to start a (mid-)season.
What's more, this isn't a situation easily resolved. Things have been allowed to deteriorate to the point where they cannot be repaired in an early-episode montage. Instead, the suffering drags out for almost the entire hour, with each character forced to take stock in themselves. Well, some do, others just accept their depression, assuming they can do nothing about it. This is what sets the main players, like Boo and Fanny, apart from the supporting ones, like Melanie and Ginny.
The key to everyone's happiness is bringing Michelle back. She may have only lived in Paradise a short time, but she brings a brilliant, chaotic energy with her that enthuses everyone else. It may seem like she is rubbing them the wrong way, but keeps things interesting, and provides drive to move forward. Take away such a spark where it has already been burning, and it leaves a smoldering ruin behind.
Fanny is the first to realize this, but it is not something she comes to on her own. Annoyed with Truly (Stacey Oristano), whose attempts to cheer Fanny take "quirky" to the extreme (which is very amusing for television viewers), she turns to DVDs lying around. Some reveal Michelle at her best, teaching the young dancers in Fanny's school. One is Michelle's wedding, with Hubell (Alan Ruck) explaining to the camera exactly what he sees in his bride.
Bunheads benefits from as much Hubell as it can manage to realistically include. For a man who died in the very first episode, he has appeared quite a few times, and each number among the best moments of the show. This is one of those times. I don't know whether Fanny goes to get Michelle because she sees Michelle's worth, or out of affection for Hubell,
or both (probably both), but the end result is the same: Fanny gives Michelle the kick in the pants she needs to get out of her funk.
And funk is the right word for what Michelle is in. Crashing at Talia's (Angelina McCoy), drinking her wine, eating her food, and generally getting in the way for Talia's senior citizen lover. Her job is the absolute worst, where they won't even give her the dignity of firing her. Instead, her attitude loses her the "perk" of holding a bird. This is probably the worst we have ever seen Michelle.
Yet, Michelle hesitates to go back. Why? Yes, the town might be an uncomfortable place to be after she maces a bunch of children, but surely putting up with some mutterings can't be any worse than where she is now. At least she has her own place in Paradise, and a job that she enjoys. Her hesitation is purely a pride thing. Thank goodness she manages to get over that.
I did not care for the viral video itself in this episode, but what a great way to use it, making light of a situation that needed to be made light of, and giving Fanny an outlet to show off her sense of humor!
"You Wanna See Something" is a good episode. It takes most of the main people far enough out of their comfort zone to be interesting, but gives enough teases of normalcy to not only show that life goes on, but reminds us of the Bunheads of last summer. On a series like this, it's hard to ever have a status quo, as the serialized story telling keeps people changing and moving. However, this will stand out as an episode apart, and a good way to bridge the disaster of the previous episode onto the future of the season.
Bunheads airs Mondays at 9 p.m. ET on ABCFamily.
Want to read some of my fiction? It's on my website, JeromeWetzel.com! Also, for the latest updates and article links, as well as commentary on episodes I don't fully review, please follow me on Twitter!
Article first posted on TheTVKing
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(yet another Gilmore Girls alum, Michael De Luise). Sasha (Julia Goldani Telles) is hiding out to avoid going home. Boo (Kaitlyn Jenkins) is caring for her pregnant, bed-ridden mother (Jennifer Hasty), while Melanie (Emma Dumont) cares for her very old, sick grandfather. Ginny (Bailey Butain) tries to sell a run down house, and Fanny (Kelly Bishop) lets her own home become rundown. It's a miserable way to start a (mid-)season.What's more, this isn't a situation easily resolved. Things have been allowed to deteriorate to the point where they cannot be repaired in an early-episode montage. Instead, the suffering drags out for almost the entire hour, with each character forced to take stock in themselves. Well, some do, others just accept their depression, assuming they can do nothing about it. This is what sets the main players, like Boo and Fanny, apart from the supporting ones, like Melanie and Ginny.
The key to everyone's happiness is bringing Michelle back. She may have only lived in Paradise a short time, but she brings a brilliant, chaotic energy with her that enthuses everyone else. It may seem like she is rubbing them the wrong way, but keeps things interesting, and provides drive to move forward. Take away such a spark where it has already been burning, and it leaves a smoldering ruin behind.
Fanny is the first to realize this, but it is not something she comes to on her own. Annoyed with Truly (Stacey Oristano), whose attempts to cheer Fanny take "quirky" to the extreme (which is very amusing for television viewers), she turns to DVDs lying around. Some reveal Michelle at her best, teaching the young dancers in Fanny's school. One is Michelle's wedding, with Hubell (Alan Ruck) explaining to the camera exactly what he sees in his bride.
Bunheads benefits from as much Hubell as it can manage to realistically include. For a man who died in the very first episode, he has appeared quite a few times, and each number among the best moments of the show. This is one of those times. I don't know whether Fanny goes to get Michelle because she sees Michelle's worth, or out of affection for Hubell,
or both (probably both), but the end result is the same: Fanny gives Michelle the kick in the pants she needs to get out of her funk.And funk is the right word for what Michelle is in. Crashing at Talia's (Angelina McCoy), drinking her wine, eating her food, and generally getting in the way for Talia's senior citizen lover. Her job is the absolute worst, where they won't even give her the dignity of firing her. Instead, her attitude loses her the "perk" of holding a bird. This is probably the worst we have ever seen Michelle.
Yet, Michelle hesitates to go back. Why? Yes, the town might be an uncomfortable place to be after she maces a bunch of children, but surely putting up with some mutterings can't be any worse than where she is now. At least she has her own place in Paradise, and a job that she enjoys. Her hesitation is purely a pride thing. Thank goodness she manages to get over that.
I did not care for the viral video itself in this episode, but what a great way to use it, making light of a situation that needed to be made light of, and giving Fanny an outlet to show off her sense of humor!
"You Wanna See Something" is a good episode. It takes most of the main people far enough out of their comfort zone to be interesting, but gives enough teases of normalcy to not only show that life goes on, but reminds us of the Bunheads of last summer. On a series like this, it's hard to ever have a status quo, as the serialized story telling keeps people changing and moving. However, this will stand out as an episode apart, and a good way to bridge the disaster of the previous episode onto the future of the season.
Bunheads airs Mondays at 9 p.m. ET on ABCFamily.
Want to read some of my fiction? It's on my website, JeromeWetzel.com! Also, for the latest updates and article links, as well as commentary on episodes I don't fully review, please follow me on Twitter!
Article first posted on TheTVKing
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