Did Will McAvoy really emerge from behind a cloud of manhole cover steam in the dark of night as if this were an ’80s video, and where was the saxaphone solo? Did I see that? Did McKenzie McHale really deliver a 21st-century version of Mickey Rooney’s “We’ll stage the play in our barn!” speech in the opening scene? Has any woman ever sent a man flowers at work? Does this happen?
The power went out at the end of Tragedy Porn/Part I and the power left Aaron Sorkin’s pen for the entire second half of what had been an ambitious two-part episode. To quote Slumdog (Dev Patel, whom I really like in the series, by the way… your days are numbered, Sasquatch!) from an earlier episode, “No words. I have no words.”
And there were precious few pop culture references in the 8/19 episode. Outside of Apollo 13 and Helen Hunt in “Castaway”, nothing immediately comes to mind.
So, instead of a rundown (“Throw out the rundown!”) I’m going to provide a little pop quiz. Name the cast member who earned the award or nomination and, for extra credit, the film or play in which he/she appeared (answers below):
- Starrring role in film that won Oscar for Best Picture
- Supporting role in film that won Oscar for Best Picture
- Starring role in film that was nominated for Oscar for Best Picture
- Won Oscar for Best Actress in a film
- Had supporting role in film that won Oscar for Best Original Screenplay
- Has twice appeared on the cover of a popular five-word title men’s magazine
- Won Tony Award for best actor in a musical production
A Case of the Munn Daze
Answers: 1. Dev Patel (Slumdog Millionaire) 2. Jeff Daniels (Terms of Endearment) 3. Sam Waterston (The Killing Fields) 4. Jane Fonda (Coming Home) 5. Allison Pill (Milk) 6. Olivia Munn (Maxim) 7. John Gallagher, Jr. (Spring Awakening)