Summer Reruns Worth Watching

If you are anything like me, the summer can get really boring TV-wise. There are only a handful of new shows that air over the summer, and they are mediocre at best. However, I feel that this is the season to Tivo those old shows you haven't watched in years, catch up on some newer shows on DVD, or pull out your own TV DVDs to review your favorites (Off the top of my head, I can think of at least 12 different TV shows that I have at least some DVD's of). Here are some suggestions that I am currently watching:


Ah, The O.C. I found out this show has a 2 hour afternoon block on SOAPnet that always squeezes in as much Marissa drama as possible (seriously, that girl attracts trouble). I have the first two seasons of this show on DVD, but I find watching Tivo'd episodes is much more enjoyable. I came in around the middle of season 1 reruns, with Luke discovering his dad is gay. That is definitely one of my favorite episodes because of the conversation at the end. Luke is afraid to go back to school because everyone is still talking about his dad, but the gang assures him skipping a day won't help.

Ryan: It's been months and I'm still the kid from Chino that burned a house down.
Marissa: And I'm still the girl who tried to kill herself in Mexico.
Seth: And I'm still the... I'm still Seth Cohen.
Luke: Oh, this is gonna suck.
Seth: Yep. Welcome to my world.

For those of you who don't know the O.C. (you must live under a rock), the show's premise is that an activist lawyer from a rich town takes in a troubled youth, the sexy Ryan Atwood, and adopts him after his parents take off. Sandy Cohen, the lawyer, is married to Kirsten, a rich daddy's girl who makes up most of the family's income. They have a son named Seth, played by the witty Adam Brody, who redefines the definition of Loner. Ryan bonds with Seth instantly, and the two help each other out as Ryan gets acclimated to Orange County. Ryan soon falls for Marissa, the drama magnet (attempted suicide, alcoholism, running away, befriending a psychopath....all in season 1), and that opens up a way for Seth to woo his longtime love, Summer, who is Marissa's self-absorbed friend. Once the show gets underway, the four characters begin to balance each other out until they are all somewhat down-to-earth people.


Season 1 is definitely worth checking out because it is the best of the four seasons aired. I always enjoyed the Seth-Summer-Anna love triangle and the reactions it got from those surprised to see girls fighting over Seth, and I easily get sucked into the Marissa drama. The iconic image of Ryan carrying her out of Mexico is echoed in the season 3 finale. It's not to be missed.

And Luke. As dumb and ridiculous as he is, I love watching him become part of the group. He cracks me up especially when they go to the Rooney concert.


Season 2 begins this week! Look out for Marissa dating a gardener and a lesbian, Seth fighting again for Summer, and Ryan pulling out a can of whoop ass on his brother. Oh and did I mention someone gets shot? The O.C. airs every weekday at 3 and 4 pm on SOAPnet. The 3 pm episode is always a rerun of the 4 pm from the day before (just FYI).

The opening cello theme to this show should be enough to draw you in. Angel was one of the first shows I ever watched live from beginning to end, and believe me, it was well worth my attention. I noticed a few weeks ago they were airing the episode "The Magic Bullet" on TNT. This episode comes up at the end of season 4 after a long string of cliffhanger episodes. Season 4 went off the usual Angel script by having a long running plot line instead of a demon of the week scenario. This existed somewhat in season 3 with Connor, but I remember season 4 for being exhausting the way the plot line continued on for so long. However, the ending of it was pretty intense. In "The Magic Bullet" a goddess named Jasmine has taken over L.A. and everybody instantly worships her. The only way to see through her disguise is to mix her blood with yours. Fred does this accidentally and is now on the run from all her followers. She ends up getting Angel on her side by shooting a bullet through Jasmine into him. He then is able to get Welsey, Gunn, and Lorne to see the truth, too, and they all prepare for an epic battle to end Jasmine's rule.

I figured I would just watch a few episodes, but I easily continued on to Season 5 which kind of got back to Angel's roots. The gang decides to take up an offer to run Wolfram and Hart (an evil law firm they think they can control in a way to do good) and start fighting the good fight again. One of my favorites of this last season was the episode "Smile Time" in which Angel turns into a puppet. The pictures speak for themselves.


Anyway, the series finale serves as a stark contrast to the series premiere. Only Angel is left of the original cast, the others have either died, left, or have been taken over by an ancient demon (I miss Fred). The series ends with Angel (and what is left of his group) taking on an army of demons. You don't see the fight play out or how it ends, just that the show goes out with them fighting.

Season 1 just started airing on TNT this week. I just watched the premiere and was laughing my ass off when I recognized the first vampire Angel took on. Yup, it looks like Sawyer was a member of the undead before he was shipped off to an island in Lost.

You can catch Angel reruns on TNT at 6 and 7 am weekdays and some weekends. I am never up that early, so I usually Tivo them for the afternoon. If you've never seen the show, this is a great time to start watching. Many of my favorite episodes are from the first two seasons. Look out for my official top ten list soon!

I don't watch NBC shows apart from "The Office," so I'm not surprised I didn't follow Chuck right away when it started. Chuck barely survived being renewed for a third season, most likely due to the fact it premiered during the writers strike. Viewers were able to watch 13 episodes for season 1, and then had to wait about 8 months for season 2. For a first run show, this is a hard obstacle to overcome to maintain an audience (reference Pushing Daisies getting cut down after half a second season). However, lucky for Chuck viewers, it will be back for a third season this coming spring.

I noticed that season 1 of Chuck was available at my library, and knowing the premise, I figured it was a show I could watch with my dad. Chuck is a twenty something regular guy working at Buy More as lead Nerd Herder (think leader of the Geek Squad at Best Buy). He gets an email from a former college friend that when opened, sends Chuck into a catatonic state as he views thousands of images encrypted with top secret information. Bryce Larkin, the guy who sent the email, stole this information from the Intersect, a device that compiles all the information from the NSA and CIA so they can work together when needed. Larkin is assassinated for betraying the CIA and stealing the info, and his last action is to send the Intersect data to Chuck.

Chuck is unaware of the info he now possesses when he is woken up, but two agents, Sarah from the CIA and Casey from the NSA, confront him in an effort to protect their agencies' secrets. Chuck then starts getting flashes when he runs into suspicious people, places, or things (any nouns really), and is helpful in bringing down worldwide criminals. Sarah begins posing as Chuck's girlfriend to stay close to him, and of course this leads to Chuck developing feelings for her instantly. Casey doesn't enjoy having to cooperate with Sarah, but he, too, must stay near Chuck, and therefore takes on the identity of a fellow Buy More salesman. The unlikely trio gets into a variety of wacky scenarios, and Chuck offers his own version of help when he can.

I just finished season 1 on DVD, and I find the show quite endearing. Not only are Chuck, Casey, and Sarah interesting as they battle random criminals, but the supporting cast is also quite entertaining in their own way. Chuck's best friend, Morgan, is the hopeless geek who gets into many silly situations but is also a very loyal friend. Morgan usually plays a major role in the subplots of the episodes at the Buy More. One of my favorite Morgan adventures was him leading the staff on Black Friday in crowd control. Just make sure you don't use the word Pineapple lightly.

Chuck lives with his sister, Ellie, and her boyfriend Captain Awesome (a nickname he got for insisting everything is Awesome). Ellie and Chuck's relationship is very cute, and I'm glad they incorporated her well into every episode. It's nice to have that small family aspect amidst all the chaos.

Check out the show if you can on DVD and online. Half of season 2 is available to watch on NBC's site, though you might have to result to iTunes to see the other half. The third season kicks off in March 2010 after the Olympics, so you will have plenty of time to catch up.

Zap2it's Greatest TV Character Poll Picks

My sister recently pointed out that Zap2it, a site devoted to TV listings and news, is having a poll on the best TV characters from the decade. Every Monday the site will release new categories of characters for people to vote on. This week's list consists mostly of family member and workplace roles, but the categories seem to get more random as the weeks go on. Throughout the poll duration, I will post weekly on my picks for the categories and why I feel they are the best of the bunch. Keep in mind the site has already selected characters to vote on, and that the characters included are only from shows that have solely or mostly aired in the 2000's. Feel free to leave comments about your picks. I'd love to hear your opinions!

Best Mom: Lorelai Gilmore from "Gilmore Girls"

To me, this was no contest. Everyone wants to have a mom like Lorelai. In Gilmore Girls, Lorelai and Rory are only 16 years apart since Lorelai got pregnant as a teenager. The relationship between the girls is more friendly than mother/daughter, but Lorelai steps up to fulfill her mom duties when needed. Her biggest accomplishment? Being a great role model for her daughter. She turned her life around at a young age and ended up with a great kid and a well-deserved career as the co-owner of her own inn.

Currently Leading in the Polls: Lorelai Gilmore from Gilmore Girls with 22.1% of the votes

Best Dad: Sandy Cohen from "The O.C."

You can't go wrong with Sandy Cohen. This guy's moral compass hardly ever deviates from doing the right thing. As a lawyer, he always fights for the underdog kid or political issue, and as a dad, he never gives up on his kids. He only offers support when Ryan deals with a pregnant girlfriend, he high-fives Seth when he finally gets the girl, and he helps out Marissa, Theresa, Luke, and a slew of other friends of his sons when they need his advice and guidance. He also is able to hold the family together when Kirsten goes into rehab for her drinking problem. Seriously, this guy can handle anything.

Currently Leading in the Polls: Keith Mars from Veronica Mars with 17.8% of the votes

Best Son/Daughter: Rory Gilmore from "Gilmore Girls"

I was somewhat torn on this category between Rory and Seth from The O.C., but overall, I think Rory is a better choice. She has her share of failures (sleeping with a married ex, dropping out of Yale for a semester, etc.), but is overall very successful. She takes care of her mom equally if not more than her mom takes care of her, and she excels in school every year. She goes from valedictorian of her private high school to the editor and chief at the Yale Daily News, and even gets her dream job as a reporter when she is called upon to follow the Obama campaign trail. I also have to give this girl props for getting Dean, Jess, and Logan as boyfriends. They were all very cute and charming in their own ways. She is a great support for her mom on many occasions, including one of my favorite signs of loyalty- freezing out her grandmother after she breaks up Luke and Lorelai. I give her an A+ for that effort.

Currently Leading in the Polls: Rory Gilmore from Gilmore Girls with 23.2% of the votes

Best Couple: Jim and Pam from "The Office"

These two are so normal and yet ridiculously cute together. In the first couple seasons of the show, we saw how much chemistry they had together, and I think the entire audience was rooting for Jim to win her over. When they finally got together in season 4, I was ecstatic. It was a big "Finally!" moment. They are now engaged and probably expecting a baby (though that isn't confirmed yet) after this last season finale, and it's pretty safe to assume there won't be any breaking up in their future. I should also note that it's refreshing to see a less soap opera-like romance on TV for once.

Currently Leading in the Polls: Jim and Pam from The Office with 18.7% of the votes

Best Brother(s): The Winchesters from "Supernatural"

I've always said I love how Sam and Dean play off each other in Supernatural. It really is the best quality of the show, and I think the characteristic that is keeping it on the air. With Sam being sensitive and tortured, and Dean being the tough endearing ass, you can't help but love how they balance each other out. They are constantly trying to save each other, with Dean giving up his own soul to bring Sam back from the dead, and Sam trying to thwart the apocalypse to prevent Dean from having to fight Lucifer. It's a lot of self-sacrifice, but a lot of times the episodes have moments that break away from the drama with sarcastic dialogue between the brothers. It's pure comedy in the middle of a scary story. PS- I'd definitely love to date both of them ;)

Currently Leading in the Polls: Sam and Dean from Supernatural with 27.4% of the votes

Best Sister(s): The Halliwells from "Charmed"

The Halliwells are so close that when one of them dies, another one appears out of no where to fill the void. These three (four if you include both Prue and Paige) are pretty great together as they battle evil and their own personal dramas. I was really sad when Prue died, but it was interesting to see how the roles of all the sister's changed. Piper became the responsible one, Pheoebe became the peace keeper, and Paige became the new trouble maker. If the demon plot lines didn't hold, the sisters' relationship kept up the heart of the show which I felt made it last seven seasons. The show ended well and made sure to emphasize how that close bond remained throughout their lives.

Currently Leading in the Polls: Ellie Bartowski from Chuck with 20.1% of the votes

Best Boss: Sam Merlotte from "True Blood"

This category had a lot of good nominees. While Michael Scott was the obvious choice, I wouldn't really want to have him as a boss because he is annoying as hell sometimes. I would, however, love to work for Sam. He is probably the most understanding guy on the planet. A bunch of his waitresses randomly don't show up to work, but he never really makes a fuss about it. He also hires Tara out of the goodness of his heart in the pilot, even though she doesn't have the best attitude. Oh, and did I mention he is a shape shifter and hero protector? Sam's awesome.

Currently Leading in the Polls: Michael Scott from The Office with 18.4% of the votes

Best Co-Worker: Sookie St. James from "Gilmore Girls"

Another category with some great choices! I had to go with Sookie because she is GREAT at her job. She can cook anything with hardly any notice, and even goes above and beyond and caters for Lorelai when she needs some extra help. Despite a rough start, Sookie doesn't give up on Lorelai as they strive to open their own inn. The Dragonfly turns out to be pretty amazing, and we all know this wouldn't have happened without Sookie's fabulous cooking talents as the inn's personal chef. Sookie is also a loving mom, devoted wife, supportive best friend, and enthusiastic towns person. I think Gilmore Girls has some really great characters. I'm glad to see them well-represented in these polls.

Currently Leading in the Polls: Jim Halpert from The Office with 26.9% of the votes

Best Underling: Dorota from "Gossip Girl"

I would vote for Betty Suarez, but I don't consider her an underling. An underling to me is a side character in a show that finds a way to stand out. Betty is a star in her own way, and doesn't need to be in this category. Anyway, Dorota is fabulous in Gossip Girl as Blair's maid and personal assistant. At first it was funny to see Blair make ridiculous requests, but Dorota really began to shine as she became more of a friend to Blair by helping guide her through her high school issues. I think she is just as conniving as Blair, but only shows her skills every once in awhile when her charge really needs help. I'm glad she is featured more and more as the show goes on.

Currently Leading in the Polls: Kenneth Parcell from 30 Rock with 18.1% of the votes

Best Reality Personality: Tim Gunn from "Project Runway"

I love Tim Gunn. He is so supportive to all the contestants. Even when he is criticizing, he does it in a way that makes the designers feel like he really believes in them and wants them to succeed. After all his experience, I would trust this man's opinion completely, but the designers sometimes are too stubborn and stick to their own beliefs. Too bad they always get attacked on the runway for the one thing Tim Gunn said to avoid. You would think they would learn to listen to him by now...

Currently Leading in the Polls: Simon Cowell from American Idol with 21.7% of the votes

New TV Series: 10 Things I Hate About You

Previews for this show have been confusing me since they started. First, I thought they were just remaking the movie into an ABC Family TV Movie. I thought that was really dumb, and also sad because no one could replace Heath Ledger. Then, I found out it was a TV series about a month ago, but I figured it was an hour long drama. Wrong again. Apparently it is a half hour comedy on Tuesday nights at 8 pm.


The series has the same characters as the 1999 movie version. The two sisters, Bianca and Kat, are complete opposites. Bianca is younger, and has dreams of being the most popular girl in school. On her first day she announces to Kat that she has done extensive research on Facebook to deduce who is the most popular girl in school (the superintendent's daughter, Chastity Church) and has already planned out their first meeting.


Kat is uninterested in this since she is the rebellious older sister with an activist agenda (reminds me of how they make fun of Janie Briggs' stereotype in Not Another Teen Movie). She hurts Bianca's chances of making a good impression with Chastity when she knocks off the rich girl's bumper with her old car. Bianca follows her plan anyway, but does her best to hide her sister's identity. Unfortunately, Chastity finds out and it is up to Kat to get Bianca on the cheer leading squad.

The guys of the original movie are introduced in the pilot, too: the rebellious counterpart to Kat, Patrick Verona, the hopelessly smitten with Bianca, Cameron James, and the completely self absorbed boyfriend to Chastity, Joey Donner. They don't serve much of a purpose in this episode except to introduce themselves, and so far they are exactly like they were in the movie. I'm looking forward to when the TV show will come up with something fresh and deviate from the movie plot line.

Not to be forgotten is Larry Miller playing the role of Kat and Bianca's overly preachy dad. Miller is the only person to reprise his role from the movie. He is still funny with his constant speeches about the dangers of teen pregnancy and STDs, and his unique punishments for wrong behavior. In the pilot, Kat is sentenced to a wheel chair for a few days as a mode of getting around the house after she rams Chastity's car. This part was cute and amusing.

There isn't much else to say about the pilot because it was only a half hour. As I said, I'm looking forward to fresh plot lines. The cast works for me and lives up somewhat to their predecessors (except Ethan Peck as Patrick...no one can be the adorable Heath Ledger I greatly miss). ABC Family's comedies don't usually do very well, but hopefully all the publicity for this will keep it going throughout the rest of the summer.

Make It or Break It: Where's Marty? and Blowing Off Steam Episodes

Sorry I got behind on this show. I'm still trying to decide if I like it or not. The second episode, "Where's Marty?," I did enjoy because it did what I predicted: toned down the gymnastics and turned up the drama. Payson and Kaylie are still reeling from Marty's sudden departure as their coach, and decide to sneak away to confront him while the parents meet to discuss what to do about the coach-less gym. Emily ends up coming along so she can sort out her scholarship papers with Marty, and Payson's little sister, Becca is forced to come, too, so their cover isn't blown with the parents.


Payson's confrontation with Marty was done really well. She was introduced as the calm and focused character, so it is a little jarring to see her lose her cool. You also see how much Marty cares about her because he lies to her to make her angry enough to work hard for the championship. He also agrees to finalize Emily's scholarship so she doesn't have to leave. I figured they wouldn't reveal to the audience why Marty left until much later in the series, but to my surprise they gave it away at the end of the episode. He apparently had/is having an affair with Kaylie's mom, and he is trying to protect Kaylie from getting hurt by agreeing to leave with Lauren's dad. Emily's mom sees Marty with Kaylie's mom, but so far she hasn't told anyone else about it.


Lauren is still bitchy. I was surprised there wasn't a bigger confrontation between her and Kaylie, but I suppose Kaylie can't give away that she is really dating Carter. Kaylie's brother Leo gets more of an introduction in this episode as he begins to show an interest in Emily. They bond a little bit when Leo gives her a ride home, so it's pretty obvious there is gonna be a love triangle between Leo, Emily, and Razor (the pizza guy). Stay tuned.

This week's episode, "Blowing Off Steam," annoyed me. After Marty decides to leave the gym in Denver, Lauren's dad tracks down another retired Olympic gymnast, Sasha Beloff. Beloff agrees to serve as a coach only if he can train the four main girls together. Emily, Kaylie, and Payson aren't willing to welcome Lauren back with open arms, but Beloff is too good to pass up, so they grin and bear it. Beloff only promises the girls that he will work just as hard as they do, and since the girls only have the weekend before their training kicks in, they decide to attend a blow out party in the woods.

Payson only goes to keep an eye on Emily and Kaylie, and Lauren has other plans with her dad, so she fore goes the party. Emily wears a new dress her mom buys her to the party and quickly catches the attention of Razor and his friend. She talks with them for awhile, but gives Razor the wrong impression. He thinks that she is embarrassed to be seen with him, but really she is embarrassed about how they know each other (she doesn't want the other girls to know she has a job). I thought Emily was the main focus of the show, but this episode seemed to be a lot more focused on Kaylie and Lauren.


Kaylie keeps blowing off Carter since she is so worried they will get caught. When he finds her at the party, he confronts her and they break up. She regrets this later because she was drunk, but her apology is too late. By this point, Lauren has already caught up with Carter and taken him for herself. She went to the party because her dad ruined her dinner by bringing his new girlfriend (the still beautiful Candace Cameron Blue). She and Carter, both upset, bond over their annoyance with Kaylie and end up sleeping together. I hated this plot line choice. It's the third episode and they are already dealing with sex, cheating, and drinking. Jeez. To be fair, all three of those things were in the Greek pilot, and I ended up loving the show, so maybe this will turn around. It looks like the next episode will be the girls getting over their differences and coming clean about everything. I hope they lock them in the gym and let them battle it out with gymnastics. That would be hilarious.

Summer Movie Series: Ice Age - Dawn of the Dinosaurs

Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs

Scrat: Bitch Please!

To be fair, I wasn't expecting this movie to be fantastic. But, I have a personal attachment to the first one (it was the first movie me and a group of close friends at the time saw together) and I moderately liked the second one, so it seemed logical to see this one. I went with a few neighbors and their kids and I don't think any of us really liked it. I just couldn't get over how boring it was. About 15 minutes in, I realized I wouldn't mind just walking out. I hoped that maybe I was being prematurely negative, but this feeling pretty much stayed with me the entire time.

The movie starts out with Manny and Ellie preparing for the birth of their daughter. Manny is already stressed out about keeping the baby safe, and tries to baby proof nature by building a safe playground. Diego is uninterested in being a babysitter, and he decides he needs to return to his carnivorous ways and become a nomad again. This irks Sid because Diego makes him feel that maybe he should leave, too. He sets out on his own for a bit and stumbles upon three dinosaur eggs. He thinks they are abandoned, so he draws faces on them and treats them as his kids. When the mammoths tell him he should return them, he leaves and tries to raise the kids on his own. They hatch pretty quickly and instantly assume Sid is their mommy. Sid loves being responsible for something and takes to motherhood pretty well. Unfortunately, the dinosaurs' real mother comes to look for her babies and ends up taking them and Sid back to the underground dinosaur world (that apparently no one knew they were living over).

The herd bans together again (even Diego) to rescue Sid by traveling down into the dinosaur world. They quickly meet Buck, a crazy, but resourceful weasel voiced by Simon Pegg. His methods of survival are a little out there, but he is the only choice the group has for a guide, so they follow him blindly. Buck explains that the mommy dinosaur they are after isn't the big bad of this new world. Rudy, the one who gave Buck the eye injury, is lurking around ready to strike at any moment as the group chases after Sid.

Scrat and his new female friend, Scratte, appear throughout the movie as they fight over what seems to be the last acorn that exists. This is sometimes funny, too (especially an acorn fight set to tango music), but most of these scenes the audience has already seen in trailers promoting the movie.


That's basically it. It doesn't get much deeper than that. I was surprised even Simon Pegg could not save the movie. Buck is fun, but there are too many characters in the group to really have any steal the spotlight. I thought Peaches, the baby mammoth, was really cute, but she isn't in much of the movie. Even though I'd like to see more of her, I really hope they do not make another movie. The writers obviously are out of any fresh ideas for a plot line, and nothing new was really used that made the animation stand out (such as the scenery and work with fur that was beautifully detailed in Kung Fu Panda). I would give this one star. Don't see it unless it is on TV years from now and there is nothing else on. It's not bad, it's just not interesting at all.

Love Bites

Why does our culture have such a fascination for vampire romances? And why do they all involve good guy vampires and innocent human girls? My good friend Erin and I discussed this the other day and decided I should write a book about an evil female vampire that a human guy falls in love with (I promised to dedicate it to her if published). But seriously. Vampire Diaries. Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Twilight. True Blood. They all tell the same tale, and it seems audiences everywhere just fall for the same dangerous love story (myself included). I decided to blog about this phenomenon a bit by putting together mini profiles for the couples fitting the typical storyline. I've organized them chronologically. You'll see they are a lot more similar than you originally thought....

Note: When writing this, I am assuming you have seen or read the stories for these characters. Therefore, it will be a spoiler if you haven't. Skip profiles you don't want to know the ending to.



Elena and Stefan from The Vampire Diaries Book Series (1991) and TV Series (2009)

How They Meet: Stefan moves to Elena's town, Fall's Church, and starts attending her high school. She has recently dumped her boyfriend because they were better friends, and instantly decides such a mysterious and attractive guy has to be hers. Since she is the most popular girl in school, she doesn't see this as a challenge.

How She Finds Out His Secret: He shows a lot of strength when he fights off a guy being a little rough with Elena, but she doesn't figure it out until she sees him later on the roof feasting on a bird. He then confesses his entire life story.

How They Fall in Love: Not a lot happens before they start throwing around the "L" word. Stefan is hooked after he sees her because of her similar features to his first love. Elena intensely likes him as she tries to pursue him and decides he is her's forever after their first kiss.

The Other Man: Stefan has a brother, Damon, who is also a vampire. He is enticingly dangerous and he and Elena are attracted to each other because they both exhibit powerful personalities. She doesn't ever really fall in love with him, but they share a few brief intimate moments.

Supernatural Powers: Not much besides a powerful aura. In Dark Reunion, though, she is able to contact the living from another realm and heal those who are mortally wounded as a spirit.

Drama Highlights: Damon and Stefan's first love comes back to kick some ass, killing Elena in the process. Elena wakes up a vampire and shows favoritism towards Damon before remembering her love for Stefan. Elena dies...again....to save the brothers, and then warns her friends of an evil force haunting Fall's Church. Her friends are able to defeat the force with her help, and she is brought back to life as a human.

Werewolves: Tyler, Elena's attacker from The Awakening, appears as a werewolf in Dark Reunion. He is following a greater evil that shows him the way to embracing his ancestry as a werewolf.

Chances of Staying Together: At the end of Dark Reunion, they have just been reunited and Damon isn't getting in between them anymore, so maybe that is a good sign. I haven't read the newest installment, but the cover suggests Stefan leaves, so I would say 50/50.


Buffy and Angel from the Buffy the Vampire Slayer TV Series (1997)

How They Meet: The Whistler tells Angel about Buffy, and lets her see him when she is called as a vampire slayer. He starts popping up randomly after she moves to Sunnydale and warns her about various dangers coming her way.

How She Finds Out His Secret: Buffy is instantly attracted to Mr. Tall, Dark, and Handsome, but they don't become close until they are both fleeing from a triple vampire attack. Buffy nurses Angel's wounds and insists he stays with her until the danger is gone. They share their first kiss, and it is at this point that Angel puts on his vampire face. Her research then fills her in on Angel's history.

How They Fall In Love: After realizing they can't kill each other, they become allies and fight side by side for awhile. They eventually date and become very close. On Buffy's birthday in Season 2, the couple almost dies. Thinking they could have lost each other forever, both confess that they love each other and sleep together that night.

The Other Man: Buffy dates Riley (regular GI Joe type guy) for awhile while at college, but at this point, Angel has already left. She also eventually becomes involved with Spike (only other vampire with a soul) in the last 2 seasons, but the connection is never as strong.

Supernatural Powers: Obviously, Buffy has slayer strength. Being the slayer also gives her the tendency to have prophetic dreams, which sometimes give her warnings about Angel.

Drama Highlights: Where to start? Buffy dies right in front of Angel in Season 1, but is brought back to life. Angel loses his soul when they sleep together and torments Buffy as Angelus. Angel gets his soul back right after Buffy has no choice but to kill him to save the world. Angel comes back in Season 3 by some miracle, but decides he should leave to give Buffy a chance at a normal life. When Buffy visits him in LA, Angel is turned human by demon's blood. He and Buffy share a passionate day, but he is forced to give up his mortality so that Buffy won't die early trying to save him (since he is without superhuman strength).

Werewolves: Oz becomes a werewolf in season 2, but doesn't harm or interfere with the couple.

Chances of Staying Together: This one's tricky. When Buffy's series concluded, she had survived saving the world. Angel's series ended with him running into an impossible battle which he would surely lose, but who knows. I think they are destined to be reunited. Maybe in the Season 8 comics for Buffy?


Bella and Edward from the Twilight Book Series (2005) and Movie Series (2008)

How They Meet: Bella moves to Forks, Washington to be with her father and enters the high school Edward is attending mid-semester. She is assigned to be Edward's lab partner in Bio, but he can't look at her without hatred on the first day.

How She Finds Out His Secret: Bella's friend Jacob tells of his tribe's legends about "The Cold Ones." She researches this lead after Edward miraculously stops a van from hitting her in the parking lot with his own arm. Bella eventually puts it together after he saves her again and shows other signs of being a vampire (cold skin, zero food consumption, etc.). He confirms her suspicions when she confronts him about it.

How They Fall In Love: I don't really even know. At the beginning of getting to know each other, Edward takes her to a meadow and says "So the lion fell in love with the lamb" and that's it. Basically, once Edward overcomes the desire to eat her, they are pretty much inseparable and claim they would follow quickly if one of them died. Kind of overdramatic for being 17, huh?

The Other Man: Jacob loves Bella pretty much from day one, but this relationship grows immensely after Edward leaves Bella in New Moon. Bella almost allows herself to feel the same way, but Edward is thrust back in her life before she has a chance to sort out her feelings. In Eclipse, she finally admits to loving Jacob and insists she would be with him if her tie to Edward wasn't so strong. This obviously becomes a moot point after Jacob imprints on Renesmee.

Supernatural Powers: Bella is immune to vampire powers that invade her mind as a human, and develops the ability to project this immunity on others after she becomes a vampire.

Drama Highlights: Bella catches the attention of a deadly hunter, James, and just narrowly escapes him after numerous injuries. A few months later, Edward decides to leave Bella after an accident involving his own brother attacking her. Bella goes catatonic from this for a bit, and just when she is about to move on, she must chase Edward down to prevent him from killing himself. The hunter's mate seeks revenge on Edward for killing James, and decides to do this by killing Bella. With the help of a pack of werewolves, Edward and his family are able to eliminate the threat. The couple eventually marries, but the honeymoon is cut short when Bella discovers she is pregnant with a half vampire/half human child. After the birth, Bella is turned into a vampire so she can live on. The Cullen family then has to fight together to protect the new baby, Renesmee, from the Volturri, the royal family of the vampire world.

Werewolves: Jacob becomes a werewolf in New Moon, and his pack eventually grows to 10 after almost all the boys (and one girl) on the reservation make the transformation. The wolves are supposed to fight off vampires, but since the Cullen family lives as vegetarians, the two sides end up joining forces to fight off the true evil harming Forks.

Chances of Staying Together: 100% They live happily ever after at the end of the series after surviving the Volturri. Even though more danger probably would have come if the series continued, Bella was finally indestructible as a vampire and the couple had a good group of allies to back them up. Plus, they go on and on throughout the whole series about not wanting to be with anyone else.



Sookie and Bill from the True Blood TV Series (2008)

How They Meet: "Of all the gin joints..." Okay, so not quite the same as Casablanca. Bill moves to Bon Temps, a small town in Louisiana, and walks into the bar where Sookie works. She is excited to meet her first vampire, and shows no hesitation when she introduces herself.

How She Finds Out His Secret: Vampires aren't a secret in this series. They have been identified as a race two years ago, but are still facing prejudice. Sookie senses Bill's presence when he enters the bar and figures it out on her own instantly.

How They Fall In Love: Sookie likes being around Bill because he keeps things quiet in her head, and they become close after she saves him from some vampire blood dealers. They get really intimate when Sookie's grandmother is killed and she runs to Bill in the middle of the night for comfort. After that, she considers him her boyfriend

The Other Man: Not too much competition, but Sookie's boss Sam has held a torch for her for awhile. When she and Bill get distant, she gets closer to Sam for awhile, but soon moves on once Bill comes back.

Supernatural Powers: Sookie can hear people's thoughts. She has had this ability since she was a child


Drama Highlights: People start dying from episode one, and the town begins to suspect their new vampire inhabitant, Bill, might be behind the murders. Sookie has to defend him while dealing with her own grief over the victims, especially her grandmother. At one point, Sookie is recruited to use her mind reading abilities to find a thief at a vampire bar. When the vampire culprit is revealed, it lunges to kill Sookie. Bill stops him and then is tried for killing a fellow vampire. He is forced to sire a new vampire, a whiny teenager named Jessica, who becomes a nuisance to the couple. The town murderer is eventually revealed when he goes after Sookie, and Bill almost burns alive as he tried to come to her aid. Luckily, he survives and the couple's bond is reformed and strengthened.

Werewolves: Sam is kind of like a werewolf. He is a shape shifter who takes the form of a dog, and he uses this ability to watch after and protect Sookie.

Chances of Staying Together: The series has only aired 15 episodes so far, so I'm sure there are a lot of problems that the couple will face before they can live in peace. When I left off on episode 14, Sookie and Bill had resolved a lot of their issues and seemed strong, but they also had to deal with Jessica at the same time.

Summer Movie Series: My Sister's Keeper

My Sister's Keeper

Warning: Do not let the smiles fool you! This is NOT a comedy.

I went into this movie prepared to cry my eyes out, but my first emotional reaction to the movie was not sadness, but surprisingly, annoyance. The style of the first half of the movie was very off-putting to me for two reasons. First, they use voice overs from all of the main characters to help set up the story. Anna's (Abigail Breslin) is first, and is actually okay because it explains how she was genetically engineered to be a perfect donor match for her sister. It's short and occurs during the credits, so it isn't very intrusive. However, the voice overs continue as the movie begins with each person taking their turn. It seemed so unnecessary to me, especially the way they had a person's name pop up on the screen when they talked. It's easy to tell who is talking, and the person's name is said several times before. I didn't need written help.

The second reason I was annoyed was the random ordering of the scenes. The movie doesn't start at the beginning of the family's story. It starts at the main action. Then it goes back to when the leukemia started, and then skips ahead again to Kate suffering as a teenager with cancer. You can follow the scenes, but it becomes tiresome to figure out what occurred when.

But have no fear, the movie is saved about halfway through with the introduction of the world's perfect boyfriend: Taylor Ambrose. I felt Sophia Vassilieva and Thomas Dekker did a great job portraying their characters in this particular sequence because they were able to show how even though they both had the burden of dealing with cancer, they found hope and love in each other.

Cameron Diaz is narrating a little at this point and has a great line that went something like this "While cancer was bringing Kate down, Taylor was building her up." Taylor is the perfect boyfriend. He is loving and patient, and sits happily with Kate through her chemotherapy despite her nausea saying "Don't worry. Tomorrow it could be me." I was so glad that they didn't have the parents get in the way. They weren't overprotective about their daughter dating, but instead were happy she had found love. It is a short and sweet romance, but in my opinion, also the best part of the movie. Kate looks so beautiful when she goes to the dance with Taylor near the end of the sequence, and the scene even turns playful with the women in the family taking numerous pictures as the couple leaves while the dad just looks on lovingly. This is soon followed by the line "Do I look pretty Daddy?" that is seen in the trailers. Ah, so perfect.

The movie after the Taylor/Kate saga stays pretty good, but keep in mind it just keeps getting more and more sad. They really used everything they could do to make you cry. The worst was the scene where the family goes to the beach for Kate. They play "Feels Like Home" in the background, and I was constantly swallowing the lump in my throat that had me on the verge of sobbing.

But I'm getting away from the main point of the movie. Anna decides in the beginning of the film that she is tired of donating to her sister after 11 years of doing so because it is taking a toll on her own well-being. She hires a lawyer, played by Alec Baldwin, to defend her case in pursuit of medical emancipation (a term used way too many times in the film). Her mom doesn't take to this case very well, and fights back hard. Cameron Diaz comes off kind of bitchy a lot because of how much she ignores her other children to focus on Kate. She even alienates her husband as he starts seeing Anna's point of view. A lot of people criticized Diaz' acting, but I think she was sufficient. She succeeded in making me hate her character most of the movie, while also sympathizing with her a tiny bit by the end. I think a lot of parents would do anything to prevent the death of their kids, but it brings up an interesting question of ethics about hurting one child to save the other. Don't think you have the movie figured out, because the end might just surprise you when there is a revelation in the court room. It seems like everyone has something to hide, even Baldwin's strong lawyer character.

The ending is also different from the book. I didn't read the book, but I looked up the main ending of it and realized fans of the novel might be disappointed. Apparently the movie is less sad than the book, but that is hard to believe when I've only seen the film. Don't go see this movie for entertainment. You definitely have to be in the mood for it to like it. I would probably give it 2 stars. As I said earlier, I didn't enjoy the first half of the movie. Once they got past the voice overs and stayed with a logical progression, the movie's heart finally came out.

The movie doesn't sugar coat anything, but Kate is able to find happiness amidst all the suffering. That makes the movie work, and I think Sophia did a great job in this role. It's her first major role, and she is able to pull off a teenage cancer patient dealing not only with disease, but also with the normal stresses for a girl her age. No matter what happens with the other characters, you are always rooting and loving Kate. Her optimism and peace leaves you feeling hopeful, despite the hour and a half tragedy you just finished watching.