Xenos

Mamma Mia!!! Pierce Brosnan...Proof that God loves us and wants us to be happy!

Some week I've had... I was rear-ended on Monday, then T-Boned on Wednesday. Ugh, in my dad's Lexus no less! NEITHER was my fault though (obviously, because I'm the world's best driver), so our insurance stays peachy and we get two brand new doors and a new rear bumper. My first two car accidents in my entire driving career, in three days... I am less than pleased, and still sore 'n stuff. Eh.

ANYWAYS, I shall be trying to keep up with this week's SOTW and perhaps actually post something heh.
 

"You lived with a man who wears white belts? Am I disappointed"
BoaW 08/07

Jill

I saw "Molten Steele" not once but twice today and discovered that I don't really like this episode. It lacks what I usually like in an episode, comedy, good writing, romance, etc.

Even though Laura and Remington are together in many scenes, they just don't seem "together".

I want to know how Laura got down from the helicopter.

My favorite line was Mildred's who by the way had almost nothing to do in this episode. As Laura reveals that the pills she found in the oil tanker were for a heart condition, Mildred says, "my exhusband used them - that's how I discovered he had a heart". That was the funniest thing in the whole episode.

Isabel
 

Also like when R called L on the phone at the client's house:
Laura: "Now listen. I've had all the disgusting propositions I'm going to . . ."
Remington: "Laura, I haven't made you a disgusting proposition in ages."

Also really liked both of the scenes of L & R at the club. Loved Remington comparing himself to Prince Charming: "Well, tomorrow, Prince Charming, if you will excuse my lack of modesty, shall take the glass key and try to find Cinderella's ignition."

Loved them dancing and their conversations on romance and marriage were nice - loved how R ended up defending marriage to Laura, who felt disillusioned. It was nice in the tag when the client and her husband were watching L & R dance and decided not to interrupt them.

I've also wondered how in the world Laura landed that whirleybird. Did she fly low enough for R to grab onto the landing gear and pull himself up and back into the cockpit? Did she call in an SOS and someone 'walked her through' her landing?

PB's Bell's Palsy is very obvious while he's crawling out of the cockpit onto the landing gear.

Debra

The only thing I would add is - wouldn't you like to see Lord Marchmane's memoirs?

It would have been nice if RS had shown a little more concern for LH's when she was returning from being chased down. Seemed very cavalier to me.

"Laura? Laura, where've you gone to? . . .Good Lord, Laura! All you had to do was try a key. . . Steady, girl, steady. You need a little quiet."
"Oh, Mr. Steele. You're a caring person."

That's more concern than she showed him in "Now You Steele It..." He's been beaten to a pulp, crammed into a steamer trunk, locked away in an abandoned warehouse, drugged, tortured, and shown a raucous good time and L just asks, ""What have you-been DOING?" (Personally, I think she expressed plenty of concern *and* relief when she went home with him to help clean him up before they broke into the ship, but that's another story.)

I'm not saying that she was always unconcerned about R after he was injured or threatened; I'm just pointing out that the writers were a bit inconsistent with that. In "St. Framed", "Have I Got a Steele for You" , "St. Threads", and "Steele Flying High", they showed appropriate concern for the other. But other times, like in "Now You Steele It. . .", the compassion andconcern wasn't really dealt with by the writers.

I love Laura's literary reference to the book "Uncle Tom's Cabin": "I feel like Eliza, crossing the ice, shot at, chased by dogs."

Debra

Stock broker here. Porno shop there. Work hard, play hard.
Good Lord, Laura all you had to do is try a key!
How long are you going to linger in that catalog of curves and kinks?
Laura, I haven't made you a disgusting proposition in ages.
You made me learn english for this? I'm going back to Bolivia!

just to throw in a few...poor Laura having to walk all the way back! Those writers sure did love to find new ways to give Steph a hard time.

"Mom, usually your hair looks sort of frazzled."

Memorable Stuff

- The way Steele looks at Laura when she reminds him that "among that set, beating may be considered foreplay".
- Lord Marchmaine! Love the look on Steele's face when he enters the shop and wonders just what it is he's gotten himself into...
- The poor Rabbit. Last week it was half-drowned, this week it has to barrel off the side of the road through the brush.
 

Character Development

- Several conversations in this episode have Laura pondering the nature of her relationship with Mr. Steele, both as it currently exists and where it's heading:
- As Emily describes the different phases of her relationship with her husband, you can see the wheels turning in Laura's head, wondering if the same thing could happen to her and Steele. Great acting job by Steph.
- The conversation while dancing at the supper club, speculating on the nature of the marriages in Rancho Santa Luisa.
- Laura's conversation with Mr. Dumont regarding his early years of marriage, how he lost sight of it while building his business empire and his regret at what his marriage had become.
- Apparently it IS possible to become an instant helicopter pilot - who knew? Go Laura!
 

Favorite lines

L: How long are you going to linger over that catalog of curves and kinks?
R: Laura! I'm researching a case.
L: Do you always smack your lips when you research?
--------------
Ophelia the maid: (after answering the phone) Madre de Dios! The world is ending! Senora Dumont, for THIS you make me learn English? I go back to Bolivia!
 
 

Hair & Clothing

- I like Laura's dark pants & trousers
- Who knew white coveralls could look so good - even with an oil stain!
 

Goofs, Headscratchers & Misc

- Since Emily (and her secretary) know the likelihood that each call is in response to the classified ad, why answer the phone with "Dumont residence"? That's just giving away her last name and giving more people ammo for blackmail.
- Everybody goes over to Mueller's the night he's killed. With all those cars parked outside his office, don't they think it's odd that the lights are off and it appears no one is around?

mick I'm going to totally disagree with you...I thought he looked ridiculous!

"Mom, usually your hair looks sort of frazzled."

I enjoyed this ep overall for its (for lack of a better word) "cuteness."
The dancing at the end is very elegant, classy and just plain romantic.

I agree about the coveralls.. Mr.Steele looks good in anything. And okay... if anyone ever took physics, they'd know that it wouldn't be physically possible for him to duck out of the way before the engine thingy fell on him because it would have happened too fast... unless he *knew* it was going to fall and moved out of the way... hmmmmm

The helicopter bit was only slightly unrealistic lol but I still enjoyed it.

That's pretty much it for me today.. byee

"You lived with a man who wears white belts? Am I disappointed"
BoaW 08/07

    "I'm marveling at the uh, the uh, - the creativity of the human animal."

    "Animal, yes. Creative? I don't know. Why is it so amazing that the world is filled with twisted, lonely people?"

    "Well, if some of the people in here can provide what they promise, they won't be lonely for long."

LOLOLOLOL!!!!!!!!!!!! Gotta love that Laura is so puritanical and disapproving and Steele thinks it's fascinating and amusing. He doesn't even seem too thrown by the idea of beating as foreplay and gets a kick out of Laura' even thinking that -- and then there are his "depraved" Marchmain scribblings. Though it does give one pause as to their eventual sexual compatibility. :D

Mr. Steele as the threatening muscle is always good to watch. Show's there still very much the tough street rat underneath the expensive and elegant veneer.

    "Aren't you two taking a terrible professional risk? I mean, what's it called- withholding evidence?"

    "Let's call that mislaying? Milder penalty, hmm?"

Heh! You can really see the Bells Palsey in this scene and the following conversation where Laura tries to tear off the pay off check and Steele snatches it away but agrees to be seduced by her principles and keep investigating as long as he gets to keep the check. :D

I think Steele is caring when Laura comes in. There really isn't anything wrong with her except being out of breath and he sees that after running to her and then circling her a bit to check out her status. Then makes the joke about all she had to do was check the key followed up by telling her she needs rest, guiding her to the car, covering her head when she's about to get in the car and telling her to watch her head. Soon after their car careens off the road. Dangerous business theirs. ;) But how convenient Laura just happened to be wearing running and climbing worthy wedges during her escape and not the heels we see on her next day.

    "If they protected their women around here the way they protect their property Walter Mueller would have died of starvation."

    "Based on his appointment book, I'd say he died of exhaustion."

Heh.

Then when they're checking the appointment book, Steele's' expressions are priceless -- especially his gob smacked reaction to being asked about the Senator's wife.

    "Uh... ".

    "That bad?".

    "If her 450 required half of these repairs, she has the sourest lemon that ever rolled out of Stuttgart."

Where did Steele get that white jumpsuit -- it's about 2 sized too big. Is it Walter's? And LOL on the gum he uses every time he's playing someone shady and "working class". How did Steele put together the Auburn when he doesn't seem to know what the heck to check in anyone's Mercedes? Of course that might explain why there were so many pieces of the Auburn left to sit in his desk drawer.

Laura is truly upset by the rampant infidelity among the elite set -- that they're reduced to keeping up appearances when they have everything. Of course what being rich should have to do with being more faithful or having more guarantees is beyond me. Steele seems more realistically amused at the Peyton Place activities and actually believes that for "most people the bloom never leaves the rose" and these people are not the barometer for all relationships -- let alone theirs. Laura wants guarantees and there aren't any as Steele points out -- it's part of the risk of relationships and no greater than what they do with their lives and jobs every day. Laura thinks professional risk may be enough for her. Actually a pretty good summation of where they stand in their relationship then and for the future 2 plus years.

Charles gives Laura some excellent advice and it's about the same given to her in Altared Steele:

    "Yeah, it was. Then when she told me about Mueller, I realized how much we've lost. Somewhere along the line, it changed from ecstasy to exasperation. Oh, I kept myself very busy, with grand plans, building an empire. Let me tell you something, Miss Holt, when you're smart, ambitious, independent, it's a lot easier to maintain a career than a relationship. Don't ever make that mistake."

    "I'll try to remember that."
 

The actors playing Emily and Charles Dumont are wonderful -- individually and as a couple. You really get the sense of them being together that long and the distance that grew between them and their reconnecting in the end to something they had years ago.

What kind of guess is Vietnam? Why in heck would Steele be in Vietnam? I guess being given the up and down and left to right instruction is enough to pilot and land a helicopter. Hopefully someone with a radio helped her land.

    "Your dancing shows a vast improvement tonight, heart and feet more in sync?"

    "I'm working on it."

    "Bodes well for our future."
 

The dancing here is quite lovely, the way they move around and how in the long as well as close up shots how close their faces are together -- how he dips his head in closer - almost nuzzling but quite - and how engaged they are with each other.

And we get one of the best Steele past factoids just non chalantly dropped in and accepted with a playful yawn by Laura.

    "Oh. Nothing terribly interesting. Several million in gold bullion, a beautiful but treacherous Contessa, a frantic flight across the Mediterranean."

    "Right. Just- run of the mill stuff."
 

Fashion:

Steele's opening scenes gorgeous three piece ensemble -- the tie is lovely but the brown suede vest is what really makes it work. I really like Laura's beige sweater (not so much the belt around it) and it works nicely complimenting Steele's vest and the texture of his suit. Even her large flat pendant matches up with his largish flat cufflinks. Nice work by the costume dept. Again, LOVE those sunglasses. Beautiful dark blue suit and elegant small doted tie at the end.

As for the oil leak on the Benz - I can tell you from personal experience that Benz's are difficult to work on. I could do most anything on my VW Rabbit:) but my mom's Benz was an entirely different story. We were hard pressed to find a mechanic to work on it, let alone a lay person. We always ended up at the dealership with a (you guessed it) Stugart certified Benz mechanic.

It's a cultural clunker by American writers. In some ways it's like the writers having Steele saying to Laura. "What would you say to a nice little American shag? 'Hello, nice little American shag," or asking Laura "how fanny was it". The sexual double entendres are off the charts for Steele (or rather should be) though Laura doesn't seem to notice (because probably the American writers don't). But they work in both contexts because Pierce sells both lines simultaneously as straight, playful and jubilantly wicked.

I think LH got the "fanny" one (just didn't want to let RS know that she got it though), but for the shag one, LH was so upset about her beloved Atomic Man it went right by her. Although I must say there is definetly an incosistency for the LH character. Sometimes she picks up on very subltle things and others go right by her. For instance, she figures out that in "Steele Trying" that the show girl is setting her up at the end, but in "Santa Claus is coming to Steele" she doesnt' pick up on some very obvious comments by her stalker.

Guess you have to put it on the writers shoulders and what they needed to do to drive plots forward.

As the seasons progressed, Laura seemed to become more uptight and less of the character we got to know in Season 1. I doubt the Laura in Season 1 would have missed any sexual references at all. She even had some great sexually charged lines in Season 1 herself.

Her hairstyles even got more uptight as the years went on.

I think Michael Gleason even said in his commentary over "Steele Eligible" that Laura was supposed to be a "nympho". But many of the writers made her out to be stiff in that area. Maybe Judith can shed some light on this?? 

As for character discrepencies, I do think certain writers emphasized certain aspects of the characters, but also that different aspects were emphasized for certain story arcs and situations. (Steele can leap over a wall while barely touching it, suspend himself horizontally from a ladder, catch in Trapeze, climb a sheer stone wall with ease, -- but he supposedly can't do a chin up in a gym or walk up a flight of stairs without being winded - because it gets a laugh) I also think the actors very much emphasized and built on certain characterization aspects as the series went on.
 

“Originally Remington Steele was a solo. It was a lady who was blatantly and secretly nymphomaniacal and just loved to have associates, chiefs of detectives, even criminal males surrounding her. She just loved men. Now this isn’t anything you would ever say to anybody, but this was in the original notion. Therefore, the men in her life would just change constantly except for a character, the character who would creep back into her life and she would refer to as ‘Remington Steele’.

“It was a solo show with a male character that would come back and feminize her every two weeks, five weeks, ten weeks, whatever. So there would be a series of love stories with this one master lover riding the peak of those love stories. That was the original notion.

“Whether it was decided at the time that a lady couldn’t or shouldn’t carry a show, I’m not sure, but in any case a duet was concocted and that is what was worked out as the pilot was re-thought and altered. It’s all part of the growth that a television series goes through.

“My notion was that the man would be kind of mythological (since ‘Remington Steele’ didn’t exist) but would re-insert himself into her life in various guises. She might have been on a case on a yacht and he would be the captain or at the symphony and she would look up and he would be the conductor. When this man would appear she would fall desperately in love with him again and arrange a rendezvous but something would come up and he would have to pull out at the last minute and say “I’ll see you when I see you.” So that was the original concept for ‘Remington Steele’. Then the solo act was made into the duet and that’s what Michael did. He brought ‘Remington’ to life.” 

1. edr wrote

    As the seasons progressed, Laura seemed to become more uptight and less of the character we got to know in Season 1. I doubt the Laura in Season 1 would have missed any sexual references at all. She even had some great sexually charged lines in Season 1 herself.

They did give Laura at least one great line in season 4, though. The "sperm whale" comment made me laugh out loud mainly because it was coming from her and not Steele. (And because I hadn't heard it for years since PAX, or course, edited it.)

2. Ace, I had the same reaction as you to the Vietnam question. This wasn't the A-Team.

Tony: I do all the work and you do all the bitching.
Laura: Then at least I'm doing a better job than you!

Laura: Really dear, it's a gold band.
Remington: I'm sorry Laura, I didn't mean to ramble on about the family jewels.

Laura: Tell me Tony, how did you get into Archaeology? (sorry, spelling's off today)
Tony: I kind of got into it sideways.
Laura (glaring at Remington): Always an interesting position.

Laura: What happened to your periscope?
Remington: It's retractable.
 

I also think that it was that way because of the season 4 finale. It had changed the chemistry of their relationship, the way that Steele and Laura were going to be interacting with each other. Almost like the sexual tension was gone, but really it was more built up than ever, since they had tied the knot, but still had not consumated their relationship.

Also, I think at this poiint, it was clear that they both loved each other, and knew that other loved them, but just did not come clean about it. In a sense their relationship was more "out-in-the-open," so to speak. The innuendos, I think, served as a sort of challenge from the other, to try and slip the other one up into confessing their love or at least admitting being in love. The periscope proposition was a good ploy to sort of test the waters and see if it was safe to go in for more, yet it still was playful and seemingly harmless. I don't know, the way I kind of see it is that they're just two young people in love, trying to figure things out, and that's life for you. Things are aren't clear cut, so there is a lot of trial and error when it comes to life, and I think they spent a lot of time in limbo, not really moving forward but not really moving back. It's this interesting dynamic ("lightning in a bottle," right Xenos? lol) that makes them who they are, and makes the show what it is.

In conclusion... before all you season five haters come on here ready to retort with comments about the Rat, well I whole-heartedly agree, but don't you think that the scenes between Laura and Steele aren't simply awesome and almost worth having to put up with strange Russian plots and scheming double agents? I do... :)

"You lived with a man who wears white belts? Am I disappointed"
BoaW 08/07

I have a more pressing question at the present time...

When exactly did Pierce get Bell's Palsy?!?!

I know he got it in "Elegy In Steele" while shooting that scene in the LA River. And from personal experience, I also know that they shoot scenes out of order for various reasons. But still...He was FINE in "Elegy" ("fine" as in no signs of Bell's Palsy...Not "fine" as in "hot"...Though he was, "fine/hot" of course). It was REALLY bad in "Small Town Steele" in certain scenes...and yet non-existent in others. I thought it would've been long gone by "Molten Steele", but it wasn't. So...How long did it take before it "showed up" and how long did it last?

Ace? Judith? Anyone?

Thanks in advance,
Xenos

Mamma Mia!!! Pierce Brosnan...Proof that God loves us and wants us to be happy!

From an article on Bells Palsy

Named after Sir Charles Bell, the 19th-century surgeon who first described the condition, Bell's Palsy is an inflammation of the seventh cranial nerve, the matrix of 7,000 nerve fibres that control the muscles of the face (and hence all facial movement and expression). In 99 per cent of cases it affects only one side of the face, and although an estimated one in 70 of the UK population will suffer from it at some point in their lifetime, there is still no medical consensus as to what causes it. Latest research has suggested it probably has a viral trigger (my own symptoms arrived soon after an acute chest infection). The paralysis comes on swiftly and with no obvious warning signs.

To date there is no easy cure for Bell's Palsy. Like most sufferers I was prescribed a course of steroids and anti-viral drugs as soon as the condition came on, and given a set of facial exercises to perform to get the nerve signals moving again.

Whether any of this actually works, however, is unclear. The bottom line is that you just have to sit it out. Eighty per cent of sufferers recover completely within three months. The remaining 20 per cent can take anything up to two years to get better, with a minority never regaining full facial movement. 

And yes, loved all the Quiet Man references--a fond favorite movie of mine. There was the entire scene lifted whole when they arrive at the the train station and are getting directions. Then a couple character names--Michaeleen O'Flynn, of course, and the shady lady associate of Daniel's, forget her name, tries to pass herself off as "Mary Kate O'Danaher." Were there other references I missed? Oh, I think at one point they go into a pub, and everyone is singing a tune that's in the Quiet Man. And Steele and Tony's fistfight, I suppose-- though not nearly as epic as the one in the original. I had kind of been hoping that they would sneak in the line "Here's a nice stick to beat the lovely lady!" Not that I condone wifebeating, of course! But Laura almost deserved a good whack by then, eh?

Altogether, not a total waste of my time, had some definite positive points, and didn't make me want to claw my eyes out, except for whenever the Rat was onscreen.

Susanna