Xenos

P.S. Ace, didn't know if we were labeling the episodes by the week number or the actual episode number. Feel free to change/update the title of this post to reflect what number we're on.

Xenos

However, I must admit that I liked a few things about Illustrated Steele. It was a pleasure to see Laura so excited about going on vacation with Remington. I don't remember this type of excitement in any of the other 
episodes, but I may be wrong.

I loved the back and forth conversation on the walkie talkie. It was actually kind of a sexy thing.

My favorite one liner had to be Remington to Laura "your idea of a vacation is coming back late from lunch". It's neat that he knows her so well.

Let see, making an effort here, ah yes, the psycho scene along with the music was pretty good. Also liked Remington's brown coat, Laura's black coat, and the skiing outfits. And of course, RS with the red sweater looked awfully good.

The look that RS gave Laura when he found out that Mildred was going with him was just wonderful. 

I will read all the other posts to see if maybe I missed something in this episode. But I doubt that I will change my mind.

Isabel 

Xenos

To begin with I hated the dollface name, the plot was more than stupid, and the co-stars were unappealing as hell. In fact Arte was extremely annoying. 

I felt nothing when he died and neither did Remington or Laura.

And I hate to say this, but even the chemistry between R and L was off. It must have been one of those days in the set and not just for the writers of this episode.

The whole episode just left me disappointed. If the first season had been like this, I would not be writing this now. I would not have continued watching the show.

Sorry but you wanted to hear it.

Isabel 

It was interesting to learn something about how comic strips are done. 

Wow, that’s a LOT of files? And why couldn’t they put them into Murphy’s old office?

I didn’t think that Dashing Dave and Dollface looked all that much like RS and LH. I can see where she’d be insulted by the eyes. Why did Arte draw her that way? I never got that. Arte is VERY ANNOYING. He’s not that cute either. Don’t see how he’s attracting all those women.

Aspen received five inches of fresh powder over an eight foot packed base. I’ve never been skiing so I don’t have any idea if that’s good or not. Love the vacation talk. FUN-whassat?

Nice place Arte lives in. Inkers must make pretty decent money. If potassium cyanide capsules turn ordinary steam into deadly gas then how come they aren’t all sick since they all would have inhaled it? And if it is so deadly then why isn’t Arte DEAD? Arte plays stupid really well. And his lips are too big–really emphasizes that stupid look!

Never saw Psycho-Anthony Perkins, Janet Leigh, Paramount 1960 so I don’t know what the house looks like. Also, who would take a FOUR year old to see Psycho? And how much older is Frances that she could have gotten in either? Weren’t they stricter about that back then? When did the movie ratings thing start? Love her description that she gets of the place. Reminiscent foreboding...an aura of doom...an almost palpable feeling of evil. I liked the waterfall. Does Raymond Kelly have it so that he’ll feel like he’s playing golf in the jungle? 

“Couple of dicks,” LOL. Sounds like Ray really hates Arte. He has a big ego and he’s faced off against an even bigger one. R thinks they have their man but L typically wants to check further. Great how she has open ended tickets though. Question, don’t even open ended tickets have a certain check in time for departure? I loved the ominous music in this episode.

“Dashing Dave to Dollface.” The walkie talkie flirting was too cute! Liked this next little bit. To paraphrase “Ski lodge with a fire place......a stone fire place with a large roaring fire and people all around...I only see two people, a man and a woman there shoes off feet by the fire... mugs of hot buttered rum (WHAT IN THE HECK IS THAT? doesn’t sound very good.)...he leans into her...and she to him....and gives her a big warm (we all know its gonna be KISS of course LOL)...(SNEEZE)...HANDKERCHIF!!! Don’t know why but that one has me rolling every time.

Arte has a nice car for being an inker. I think I wanna be an inker, since it looks like they make REALLY great money. Come to think of it being a comic artist must be a huge money making career since Raymond Kelly lives in a castle! Just how did Arte kill Ray Kelly anyway?

Why didn’t Laura PACK her clothes in suitcases? Why are they all over the floor in a huge pile? WHY DIDN’T THEY CHECK ARTE’S ORIGINAL STORY? Why use non-photo blue if it can’t be reproduced? Steele had some commercial art training? That would have been great to hear about but as usual he stops just short of sharing. Loved the look she gave him and the way she taunted him for a change. Also, if non-photo blue is what the professionals use, why wouldn’t Ray Kelly be using it for his strips instead of pencil?

How to murder your wife-Jack Lemmon, Verna Lisi, United Artists, 1965. Never saw that one either but it sounds like it would be funny. Laura the race car driver. Heck I would have taken a dive out of that car after the first curve. I wouldn’t have kept going with her driving. 

If they didn’t check Arte’s story originally, how did they know exactly where his car supposedly went skidding off the embankment and he jumped?

Am I the only one who thought that drawing of Dashing Dave and Dollface that Arte gave them at the funeral didn’t look like either one of them? Whomever drew that picture must have done it without them being anywhere around. I’ve never been to a funeral where they talked about someone else.

Did Arte think that R & L were so stupid that he could get away with him setting them up? Or did he think he was smarter than two big time private detectives? And why involve them at all?

Three months before....Ray’s wife died. Did Arte kill her too? Or was that Cindy? Was the contract signed then too? I think that probably would have been signed when Arte started working for Ray not that much time later.

On the strip that Arte’s reading there are NO words that I could see so why is Arte moving his big thick stupid lips like he’s reading? His Birds-eye View strip doesn’t sound very exciting.

R’s Dancing Dave and Dollface looks more like them than Arte’s did. What’s with the tongue thing? Does Arte do that when he’s scared? How did they lure Arte to Ray’s? Thump.....guess Cindy saw Psycho when she was four too.

Love how L sends R off with Mildred and the annoyed look he gives her. Did she sprain her leg as well as her ankle? That bandage goes awfully far up her leg for just her ankle to have been sprained.

Another missed opportunity......SIGH.....when she says “Don’t bet on it Mr. Steele” is she responding to his statement or about the comment in the bubble on the picture?

Neeney

Smile, it makes people wonder what you're up to! 

You make the episode sound a hell of a lot more interesting than I found it to be. In fact, if I hadn't seen the show, I would have thought that it was 
actually good which IMHO it is not.

Fantastic job!

Isabel

"You lived with a man who wears white belts? Am I disappointed"
CR 11/17/06

Illustrated Steele

This is a turning the tables episode in a couple of respects and that’s the main reason I enjoy it. I usually always enjoy those. It's not a Top 20 episode but it's not bottom 20 either. Then I'm not sure I have a bottom 20 -- more like a bottom 3 or so.

Dashing Dave & Dollface are very 1940s private detective noir names – as is the style of the comic strip. And yikes, those blanks eyes are right out of the Little Orphan Annie playbook. I agree that Steele’s drawings of them are better than Arte’s – with or without the creepy dead doll eyes.

As concerns the vacation, Steele is playing hard to get. He's deliberately provoking Laura's interest by pretending not to be interested and not believing she'd ever actually go away with him so why get all excited which is in turn making her more proactive to prove that she's indeed interested. He's tried the chasing her around and this time he decided to stand still and see if she'd do the chasing and she does -- she basically asks herself along and then starts to make plans.

There's also the neat twist on their usual roles where Laura is being very protective of the client -- maybe too much so while Steele is the one that becomes suspicious and won't let it go.

Arte is too unbelievably puppy dog eyed/pouty lipped and the fact that all these women fall for his line is a bit much. But I guess we’re surpassed to see that he brings out some maternal (sometimes sexual – yikes) feeling in women that makes them want to protect him. Then again his male editor/publisher is also suckered in.

First Steele thinks it’s open and shut and then Laura wants to still investigate, then after Kelly is killed it’s Laura that thinks it’s closed and Steele is suspicious. It’s similar to one of their earlier episodes Etched in Season One. But here it’s added to in that Steele is also delaying their trip (one he’s longed for for years) to do more investigating – questioning witnesses, poking holes in Arte's story, figuring out who was the real Blaster creator, putting together a timeline and actually putting off a willing and eager Laura. 

And how does Steele know, because the blue pencil on the panels doesn’t make sense– and how does he know – he’s had a spot of commercial art training. I love that they used once again one of their leads talents in the show. Steele knows about commercial art because once upon a time Pierce was a commercial artist. I’m just wondering how Steele’s dabbling with commercial art fits in his time line – did it come before or after boxing, fire breathing, gold prospecting or smuggling?

I love the walkie talkie surveillance scene– from Steele using their comic strip names and Laura starting to and then stopping herself – to Steele’s wandering binoculars and convenient space heater to their little talk about the future scenario at the ski lodge.

Laura pulls out a movie reference with the Psycho House (though it’s a stretch to believe that she could name the studio) and they wind up tumbling down the stairs at the hands of a woman with a knife just like the detective in the film – although Laura is lucky to just hurt her foot -- poor Martin Balsam in the film broke his neck.

This is a rare episode where we get 3 film references -- Psycho, Gaslight and How To Murder Your Wife. I wonder what the record is in one episode? Yuliya probably has it in Counts Of Steele on her site. What's even better is that none are tenuous -- they’re all very appropriate and fitting. 

In the end though it sadly turns out as it always does, they don't go away together though Laura makes sure to saddle er generously provide him with a chaperon who'll chase off any ski bunnies er keep him company. Couldn’t she have gone to the lodge and just sipped hot buttered rum (a tradition but yes it sounds disgusting) in front of the fire with Mr Steele? Who needs to actually ski? This entire episode is proof positive that diligence and hard work never pays off – if he’d ignored his suspicions and need to tie up details he’d have finally prevailed in the vacation sweepstakes. ;-)

First off, I like the way the episode is structured, moving back and forth from the comic to the parallel events in "real life." That's neat. And especially at the end when Arte is faced with Mr. Steele's prophetic drawings accusing him of the murder. Along with the music, the drawings create a very creepy mood.

I find Arte pretty convincing as the feckless guy who thinks everyone who likes him hates him and everyone who hates him likes him. The only one who says he has a way with women is Cindy, who is the mastermind behind the scam and is trying to put him above suspicion. We don't necessarily have to believe her. But I guess we are supposed to believe that Laura has a bit of a soft spot for him since she briefly defends him against Steele's accusations.

I remember the first time or two that I watched this episode I was surprised by the plot twist. The idea that Arte would hire the Steele agency so that he could kill Raymond Kelly with impunity is --well, it's not original because variations on that theme were used a few times on the show, but it works well because it gives the agency an extra stake in the mystery. Try to use Steele and Laura as patsies, eh? Well think again. The Gaslight scheme at the end is a little rushed, but the effect is nice and creepy, if not completely logical.

My favorite thing about this episode is the banter and game playing between Laura and Steele. By making a romantic weekend into a challenge, he finally hooks Laura. He finally figures her out. And I have to say I think there's a little truth to what she says about him getting cold feet when he becomes so obsessed with the case. Unconsciously he may in fact be stalling.

At least everyone seems to appreciate the charm of the walkie talkie scene. "Dashing Dave to Dollface..." It's so cute.

There are so many great Laura moments in this episode. Her indignation at having the "ditz with the Orphan Annie eyes" modeled after her is quite understandable. This is how the public sees her. But hey, at least she wasn't "Unidentified Woman" this time. Her responses to Steele's implicit dare are endearing throughout the episode, especially the little snort just before she shows him the plane tickets. And how cute does she look in that hat? The coy line "Don't bet on it, Mr. Steele," at the very end is also just adorable.

Another favorite Laura scene is when Steele challenges her to drive down Malibu Canyon without brakes. It's one of those moments that makes you remember SHE IS CRAZY! In a brave, heroic sort of way, as long as you overlook the reckless endangerment of everyone else on the road.

Of course, there are also a few things about this episode that bug me: First, Mr. Steele just happens to be reading The Blaster at the exact moment when Arte walks in? Ooookay. It would have made a lot more sense if Arte had had an appointment. (I like it later when Mr. Steele says he will "have to take a look at it sometime," as though he's too famous and sophisticated to read comics.)Also, Steele's commercial art training is a rather mundane addition to his list of former professions. 

The very ending is also a little too coincidental and doesn't make a lot of sense to me. How does Cindy know Arte will be at Raymond Kelly's? Did she follow Laura and Steele? If so, why not drop the gargoyle on them instead of Arte? 

Two other annoying things: Laura's use of French words. I hate when people say French words with a pretentious accent, and she has at least three in this episode.

Also, when Steele explains what happened to Laura at the end as though she wasn't there. Exposition is why we have Mildred.

Well, that's my story and I'm sticking to it. Some flaws, yes, but a truly underrated episode. It looks like I'm going to alternate weekly between defending and criticizing episodes, so next week is time to do one I don't like. Steele Spawning, anyone?

Well, it's a neat intro, but we can HEAR Arte braking when he's riding down Malibu Canyon. And really, who on earth has THAT many files?! Typical Steele behaviour, tells Mildred not to disturb him when he's merely reading comics. Seriously, who laughs out loud, THAT loud, when reading newspaper comics? They must have really been funny because Mr.Steele has good taste, and most newspaper comics aren't that good.!

Orphan Annie eyes lol! and dashing dave? more like stupendous steele with his "steeley blue eyes" *sigh* so true, you can say that again. Aww, Laura was Junior Downhill Champ when she was 10. And I LOVE Remy's Rayban glasses. I went out and got myself a pair after I saw him wear them for the first time :)

"We're here to see Raymond Kelly, not Norman Bates" Hehe, I liked that quote, very cute and Steeley. 

I really loved how Laura showed she was a step ahead of him by handing him (with a smirky face) the "open return" tickets

"Dashing Dave to Dollface. Come in Dollface" Oh my gosh! I loved the walkie talkie scene! "..Big warm *ACHOO*...handkerchief" That's pretty much the closest thing to phone sex we'll ever get between them lol.

Arte sure is nice for being a murderer. What with drawing his detectives a picture of them all while taking time out of his busy killing schedule to do so. Also, he should consider a career in acting! I mean did we not see him fake cry not once, but TWICE! First time after the "accident" when he kills Ray, then the second time at Ray's funeral.

Those were UBER good drawings that Remy did to give to Arte. That man has some fine motor skills, which he may feel free to use on me. Also, even though I knew it was coming, that 'Pyscho' scene on the stairs still made me jump lol, but I WAS sitting in the dark... 

All in all, I do enjoy watching this episode occasionally. Perhaps though, the reason is because I really do have a soft spot for all things cartoon, or uh, "graphic novel" I should say. Nice R/L interaction, but not very much of it :( 

OKAY, so theres my first little review, hope you all enjoy. 

Signed, Steeled and delivered,(i'm yours, lol)
TeenSteele

"You lived with a man who wears white belts? Am I disappointed"
CR 11/17/06

Usually my notes are at least a full page long. This time just 7 lines. I just didn't find that much to comment on, but here goes...

I know I have seen Mary Beth Evans/Cindy somewhere before, but I can't place her. I know I am ON the IMDB site I could go look it up, but I'm just not that interested. 

Who is Jean Claude? Steele says that he and Jean Claude go shushing sometimes, but I can't for the life of me remember him ever talking about him before.

I did really enjoy Laura not so subtlely inviting herself on the trip. She fell for his ploy hook line and sinker. Although I think that she saw right through his plan and decided to play along. By this point in the releationship, these two have become masters of saying what they don't mean and meaning what they don't say. Oh, how fun it is to watch them play their little games.

I may be wrong here, but in the early 80's did phone sex even exist? I think these two may have been breaking new ground with the "walkie talkie sex". Of course, as usual, they never made it to the good part. =)

For me, I thought the main plot of this episode was paper thin. I knew by the end of the 1st act that Arte was the bad guy, the only surprise was that Cindy was in on it too. 

There were a lot of clever lines in this one, but my favorite was in the rabbit speeding down the hill. Laura is on the verge of killing them both and Steele calmly says..."Break with descretion please Laura". I think this was one of those moments when he comes face to face with her wild side and isn't too sure he likes it.

And finally, I agree that Arte's revised "doll face" looks nothing like Laura, but Steele's is dead on!! I wonder if that was done on purpose?

All in all, not a bad episode, just not one that makes me go....Oh I want to watch THAT one!! But I might watch bits and pieces that are cute.

So, what's on tap for next week??? My vote is for "Steele knuckels and glass jaws" Just because I want to talk about Stephanie singing. 

Can't believe that you are only "almost 17 yrs. old". Your 
review of Illustrated Steele is excellent, even though I don't like this episode.

You come across as a mature, intelligent teenager, who of course, has 
excellent taste. So glad that you are in our group.

Isabel 

To add to everybody's excellent posting on this story. 

I wanna know HOW the three of them went down that staircase with that HUUUUGE knife and NOBODY got cut!

I can't help but think in this eppie....WHY is Kayla Brady from Days of Our Lives the bad girl? It was distracting. Sorry Mary Beth. 

I also can't buy Artie being that attractive to all those women. From the get go he was too geeky/creepy for me. I guess it was his fish face. 

I thought the portrait he gave Remington and Laura at the funeral was just plain AWFUL. Didn't look a BIT like the two of them. Dashing Dave definitely looks like Steele....and Dollface does have Laura's hair. 

I agree with the pp that Laura could JUST have gone along and sat in the lodge with a big mug of mulled wine. It would have been funny to see her fend off the ski bunnies from Steele and Steele fend off the Jean Claude Killy-wannabees from Laura. But she's got those files....sigh. I do buy Laura having all of those files.

DCZinger

Neeney

Smile, it makes people wonder what you're up to! 

Neeney

Smile, it makes people wonder what you're up to! 

Like everyone else...I LOVED the walkie-talkie (almost) sex. (And there was something else you could have substituted for the missing "kiss" at the end of Remington's attempted seduction!) 

Really enjoyed the "Dashing Dave" and "Doll Face" thing. Very noir-ish. Cute!!!

Loved the role reversal...As I've stated tirelessly before, I LOVE it when Laura's the aggressor in their relationship! Yes, Remington tricked her into it, but GOOD FOR HIM!!! Love the body language between the two when they're in the limo...a sign of EXCELLENT acting. Turn the volume down and you can still figure out the dynamics of the two and what's going on.

One thing that hasn't been mentioned are the clothes. This isn't one of my favorite episodes for nice clothes, but I have to say...Stephanie looks GREAT in red. OK, the outfit was totally 80s, but that's definitely her color. And Pierce ALWAYS looks freakin' hot in a blue dress shirt (which normally I'm indifferent to)! It brings out the blue in his eyes (as if he really needs to). Is it getting hot in here?! Oh, and I loved when Laura was in her little ski bunny outfit sitting on his desk. How cute was she?! And at the end when Remington is leaning over her desk with his ski jacket on...WOOF!!!

I also thought the episode was shot well...the cartoon/reality back-and-forth was a nice touch.

HUH? Moment: How a little thing like Cindy was able to push a stone gargoile off the roof. Yeah. OK. Suspension of disbelief.

Good episode all around. (Sorry, Isabel!) 
Xenos

I'd assume Steele took some commercial art training either as part of an elaborate con or maybe for a brief time in his previous life he tried to use one of his talents in the very straight and narrow and it just didn't work out. He would probably have become bored or saw something shiny somewhere he'd rather have fun doing or stealing. Is this the first time we actually see that he can draw? He uses an easel and paints as part of his cover in Red Holt Steele but we don't get any close look at the painting that I'm aware of and it's not discussed. Of course there are those legendary napkin doodles -- but we don't get to see those either. Drats. 

The invention of phone sex probably happened right after Alexander Grahmn Bell invented the phone. :D

Forgot to add, I completely agree about how cool the insertion of the comic panels as foreshadowing in the episode was. Very inventive.

Isabel

Which is WHY I'm convinced that in Bonds of Steele, Clarissa was a ploy to put Norman Keye's off Laura's tail ( so to speak) AND also get Laura to say "Wait a minute...if you marry anyone, you marry ME!! Initially, THAT line WAS in the script, but Stephanie and Pierce didn't like it and Michael agreed. Hence what we saw. 

DCZinger

I think Arte crying may not be all acting. Yes, he's a good actor to pull off this elaborate plan, but he also may really admire Raymond Kelly and feel bad about killing him. I get the sense that Cindy was the mastermind, and Arte was just doing what she said and maybe didn't really want to kill him. 

RE phone sex: Picac said exactly what I was going to say. I'm sure phone sex has been around since the invention of the phone!

I don't think Arte felt anything at all akin to respect or caring for Raymond Kelly. Otherwise he wouldn't have been sleeping with his wife as well as trying to usurp his comic strip (though can't blame him for that when he was now doing all the work) and murder him. Cindy may have been the mastermind but I don't doubt that Arte saw Kelly as an obstacle to be removed. An interesting aspect about getting rid of Raymond was that Arte could shine on his own -- it's rather like a much darker more twisted mirror of Steele and Laura that we got a peak into in one of Laura's dreams in Dreams of Steele. :D It's also a variation on a theme used in Etched and Grappling of an artist/performer wanting to get out from under the thumb that used their talents and would ruin or impede their own career.

Xenos

The Steele that Wouldn't Die--from the moment that Juan started singing "Laura", I knew the show was a lost cause and I started throwing stuff at the TV. It got even worse once Tony showed up. 

Steele Blue Yonder-though I understand that it was incomplete because Jimmy Stewart wasn't in it. 

A Pocketful of Steele--Jackie was just toooo annoying for me. Bad casting here. I think another kid without that ridiculous hair would have made the show better. Sorry Meeno. 

Breath of Steele: Tony and Terri. Gag. Gag. I WANTED the hit man to get them! 

Steele on the Air...Ditto those DJ's. Phew!

The parts of Steeled with a Kiss that had Tony,Marissa and the Russians. The scenes with Laura, Steele and Daniel were fine. There was too much Tony, Marissa and the Russians. 

I think in all of these cases, we had characters that were just plain annoying. It's okay to be annoying and funny...a la George Edward Mulch...but Rocky Sullivan, Jackie, Tony, those DJ's, Tony and Terri, were simply annoying.

Still only 8 stinkers out of 94 episodes is excellent!

DCZinger
 

Isabel
 

DCZinger

I'm getting SO addicted again (which is why i left before haha) whenever I come back after a day, or even a few hours there have been SO many posts and I feel like i've missed so much! 
 

"You lived with a man who wears white belts? Am I disappointed"
CR 11/17/06

Oooh, I hadn't thought of that. I like it.