The Ink-Pot and the Palette

The barometer is, evidently, skyrocketing and the shower scene music from Psycho is a fairly apt representation of the way my inner ears feel right now.

And speaking of the shower scene music from Psycho, is anyone else loving Scott Caan in Hawaii 5-0? He's just such a banty rooster. I like the show way better than I thought I would, mostly because of him. Which is strange because little stocky blond cock-of-the-walk attitude guys usually aren't at all to my taste.

And speaking of taste, I made a gluten-free lime pound cake yesterday, mostly while listening (again) to pandarus' fabulous The Student Prince. (Really, some of the most stand-up-and-cheer fiction I've ever read, fan- or otherwise! Highly, highly recommended.) The cake came out yum, and now the limey deliciousness reminds me of the terrific payoff scene where Arthur grants the interview, which I was listening to while applying lime glaze.

And speaking of payoffs: I just watched episode 12 of Rubicon. Wow. Just, wow. That show! I've never encountered that kind of slow-building, totally controlled long-arc story on television before, and holy crap, did it ever pay off in this latest ep! It was a brilliant, dark climax to the arc, and will be the starting point for a scary and exciting new arc. Amazing writing and acting.

And speaking of writing, Restraint chapter 39 is almost done at last.

Wow. Rubicon. Did anyone else watch? Is anyone else as impressed as I am?

It seems to be positioned somewhere along the X-Files/Fringe continuum, but it's all conspiracy and no woo-woo (as far as I can tell so far). It features James Badge Dale as an introverted genius who works for API, some kind of company or agency involved in decoding...things. He sees patterns. He knows lots of stuff. He has up hair! He looks like Art Garfunkel's pretty son.

The pilot ep reveals just the edges of what's clearly going to be a long and complex arc involving a grand conspiracy, my favorite kind of show structure.

In one nicely symbolic scene, Will Travers (the James Badge Dale character) opens what seems to be an antique globe, but is actually a kind of cabinet, inside which is a chess board with a game in progress. I think that might be the metaphor for the whole story: at the heart of everything in the world is a game.

( Visually arresting. )

The music is moody and tense, the acting is low-key and quiet, there's a vanishingly small amount of humor, and things don't move very fast, and yet the episode is fascinating.

I'm very interested in seeing more of this show. The series officially starts on August 11, on AMC.