'The 100'

was very good tonight, for the finale, and had a great twist at the end, which I won't disclose here. They're showing the episodes from the beginning again starting next week, so if you haven't seen it, you might want to check it out, especially if dystopian survival stories are your thing.

I broke down and called my doctor's office today about the knee issue, and getting a general checkup, and I have an appointment at 8:30 tomorrow morning. I just got in a little while ago from my friends' house and from watching the show, have put away groceries, have eaten a light snack, and I am very seriously considering going to bed. But first I must mention something YKWIA found and it so hurt his brain that he called me this afternoon and told me. It's a reality show, 'I Wanna Marry Harry', where American women are set up Bachelor-style to supposedly get coupled with Prince Harry (as in the fourth in line for the British throne, if I'm doing my math right), when in actuality he's just a guy who's not-really-that-closely-resembling Harry and the girls don't get it. As if the Queen would allow her grandson to pick a wife that way. Apparently if you start to get an idea that this whole thing is fishy, they bump you from the show. Gee. I think reality shows in general are stupid (and they shouldn't call them that, as they are far from it; unscripted might be a better term), but this one seems dumb, dumb, dumb.

YKWIA also showed me a 'M.A.S.K.' episode (you know, the animated series from the mid-80s) that was set in Australia that is, shall we say, beyond the pale of racism. The Aborigines are drawn as dim-witted savages who make ape sounds when encountering a guitar. It's like they took the worst of racial stereotypes of Africans and American Indians and put them together and set them down in Australia. They also blew horns (yes, the mighty horned marsupials) and had lots of minted gold in their temple under Ayers Rock. It was terribly 'ooga booga' and just plain horrible and the worst thing of all is that this series was released in Australia. Hello, the Aborigines do have TVs. Granted it was 30 years ago, but that's really no excuse. And don't even get me started on Bruce Sato, the inscrutable Asian that no one but Matt Trakker can understand because he speaks in riddles. Also, you really have to suspend disbelief, as YKWIA pointed out. After all, where do those masques go in terms of storage when they're not using them? In the vehicles, right? So where does the motorcycle one store its, or the sports car with a low roof? YKWIA also pointed out that Matt Trakker is quite possibly the worst father in the TV world. He leaves his son Scott with random strangers or a ineffectual robot, usually right where he's going to go into danger, only to need a rescue from the team. It's yet another one of those precocious kid with either cute robot or animal sidekick that was once so popular on TV (often having both, like the original 'Battlestar Galactica' with Boxey and his Daggit, but sometimes one or the other (Wesley Crusher on 'Star Trek: the Next Generation being an example of annoying super teen, or the Bear on 'BJ and the Bear' as the chimpanzee companion to the trucker BJ.)) It was a plague in TV land which with any luck has run its course. Dont' believe me about the racism? Check out io9's article: The time M.A.S.K. took a super racist Australian vacation". It's a little inaccurate (Scott says at one point that the Aborigines are doing a 'war dance', not a 'water dance'), and the author admits to knowing nothing about Aboriginal culture, but hey, he got that it was racist as hell. Sorry to trample over a beloved childhood show, but, goodness it's so wrong.....

Okay, enough about TV; time for bed.