Season Finale Roundup

L&O - Alexandra Borgia (Annie Parisse) was shockingly and brutally murdered. Wonder who we'll get for the new ADA in the fall. I think he/she will be #7.

 

L&O:CI - Captain James Deakins (Jamey Sheridan) has apparently left the show. Too much D'Onofrio?

 
CSI - apparently Grissom and Sara have consummated their relationship (unless they're visiting a Japanese teahouse).  The attraction has been hinted at since the beginning so it didn't dismay me but I know the slashers out there are gritting their teeth. 

CSI: Miami - the heroine syndrome has struck again. Has there ever been a character so blatantly doomed to die as Marisol? She truly was a sacrificial virgin - does anyone think that she and Caine actually had sex? And this marriage to him? There was so little attraction between them and his response to her death was as if someone told him his pet worm had died. Both he and her brother Eric were more eager to catch the villains then to attend her last moments. The villain says to Caine that he should kill the villain or the villain will kill everything Caine loves - at which I exclaimed that Caine only loves himself. And how convenient is it that Marisol's graveyard is on the way to the airport so that the villain can smirk at Horatio? I never watched NYPD Blue when Caruso was so hot - what did they see in him?

 

Close to Home - Jack Chase has bit the dust and off-camera too. Doesn't anyone get to grieve with their dying sweethearts anymore? At least CK is free to pursue better jobs than his short appearances at 27 minutes past the hour and the coda scene. Best of all I won't ever have to watch this show again!

 

NCIS - apparently Leroy Jethro Gibbs (Mark Harmon) has retired from NCIS but will it be permanent as he was the main character and the rest of the gang is sort of bland (except for Abby)?

 

Without a Trace - they had me guessing since it looked so bad for pregnant Anne Cassidy (Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio) but I guess she'll be back in the fall. They're adults--haven't they heard of birth control? Unless being good Catholics they don't use any.
 

Invasion - the season finale was the last ep. At the end Russ kept asking "What happened?" as it faded to black and I was saying the same thing. I just hope when this and "Threshold" and "Surface" come out on DVD that the creators include a description of where they were headed and just what the heck was going on! As I wrote earlier I often wish that these kind of shows would get a guarantee that, in event of cancellation, they would get a last episode to inform viewers what the heck is going on and to try to at least point to a final resolution. Over the years there have been so many shows that needed a resolution: did the heroes of "Coronet Blue" and "Shenandoah" ever find out who they were? Are the Robinsons ("Lost in Space") and Moonbase Alpha ("Space: 1999") still wandering the galaxy looking for a way to return to Earth. Then there's "Prey" where Tom (Adam Storke) was imprisoned in a small cage when the series was cancelled. I'm picturing this guy sitting there for all eternity. Come to think about it I think this is what causes me to rant about unfinished fics.

 

Lost -

( cut for possible spoilers )

For anyone interested in what will be on TV in the fall try http://community.livejournal.com/fallpreview/

Favorite Fics: Unfinished Spander

I just realized I haven't posted a review since January. I think I've had a block because I've been debating with myself if I should actually rec these as they appear to have been abandoned by their creators with only a very small chance of their ever being completed. However they are so very memorable that I decided to post them and let people decide whether they wish to succumb to their allure. You have been warned *g*

 

Grungefic by darkhavens: an original, gritty story set in S1 where a sad Xander, mourning Jesse's death, runs into Spike, who has yet to visit Sunnydale. Even feral Spike is attracted to Xander.

Secrets by edibbea: Spike gives Xander exactly what he needs - D/s. Apparently RL has become difficult for Edibbea so apart from the occasional beta-ing she's no longer active in fandom.

"The Witch, the Warrior and the Vampire" (here and here) by brandil. This is a multi-character fic which is why I think she decided to abandon it as it was growing too complex. It begins as a Spuffy fic but then takes a strange turn into S/X as Spike is forced to become the sire of a newly married Xander. I just love this core story within the larger story as Spike, Buffy, Xander and Anya must learn to deal with the new situation and Spike is torn between his Childe and Buffy. I wish she'd re-start the fic, simply concentrating on the four, ignoring the rest. 

Xanpet by siegelit is one of my most most guilty pleasures. Xander and Spike are somehow sent back in time to 1889 and Xander is forced to become Spike's pet in the house of Angelus. Alone in a strange time and country (France), dependent on the vampires, he must learn to accept his place in this very graphic D/s fic. After a long hiatus from fandom, Siege has recently re-emerged and hinted that she might continue with it.

 

Finally there's ladycat777's fabulous Hunt-Brother. This is a difficult review to write as I've been slammed for voicing my dismay that it may remain forever unfinished (this according to the author). I came across this fic in my early Spander days when Ladycat was still writing it (I believe it was her first fic). It was one of the first stories I encountered where Xander's father was an abusive SOB--maybe that's why it had such a tremendous impact on me. It also was the first fic I read to make use of the hyena possession from "The Pack" (BtVS ep 1.6). It begins in S4 when events force Xander to vamp-sit Spike in the Basement of Doom. Spike notices that there are times that Xander zones out and he can make the Scoobie obey him as he regresses to a little boy who needs approval. Realizing that there is something wrong with Xander, Spike decides to claim Xander, marking Xander as his. Spike's growing concern for his boi becomes evident when Xander's parents go too far and he is badly injured. Xander was on the road to recovery when Ladycat stopped but the bois were on the outs and there are many unanswered questions. Ladycat has a great imagination and is extremely talented at creating vivid characters and scenes that immediately grab you and stay with you. If she wasn't so talented I would've forgotten the fics by now as I have so many other abandoned fics.


wen_spencer, one of my favorite SF writers, once wrote,  "Writing is foremost STORYTELLING and if you don't tell a complete story, you're not writing. You're putting words on paper."  (it's my lj and I can be grumpy)