맛있은

I may have joked that I was fluent in Korean, but those symbols above, or for at least for all I know since I trust the internet, are Korean for delicious.

Emily and I decided to trek out for Korean BBQ at San Soo Gab San Saturday night after a long day of shopping at the Chicago Premium Outlet Mall in Aurora, where we both found awesome new suits. Suit Up!

How have I never had Korean BBQ before? My god! What a delicious smorgasboard!

We were pre-warned that the service would leave a little to be desired, and while it really wasn't horrendous or anything, it was pretty strange. When we first arrived, we were piled in near the door, where there was no hostess to be found. Just an older Korean woman at a counter much farther in the distance who eventually waved us in for our table.
When we were shown to our table, we definitely had the strangest waitress in the place (I wish I had a picture of her because her face was priceless), who didn't bring us menus (though I went back to get them) and then quickly rushed us to order. The language barrier was quite obvious, but the fact that she just nodded yes, often before I had even said anything was entertaining enough. And then most entertaining, a slap-happy Emily who proceeded to make up her own variations on the name of the restaurant, created a white flag with a napkin and chopstick to wave a server over for our bill, and then counted off with her chopsticks before drumming on the dishes and containers in front of her. Plus, the competition between Team Meat and Team Chicken was palpable in the room. I hate to admit it, but I think Team Meat won with its revolutionary sauce pouring technique.
Other than beef, chicken, and rice I couldn't tell you exactly what most of what else we ate was other than like 30 variations of tofu, kim chee, sprouts, and vegetables, but what a meal!

Unstuck in Time

It's Hard to Get By Just Upon a Smile

So maybe I don't quite appreciate the tonal shifts from episode to episode. After the high stakes darkness of the previous episode, for a season finale, this episode felt quite disposable for much of its running time.

Talking about stakes is something that sort of bothers me. It's something that Sam Van Hallgren did all the time on Filmspotting But really, this episode felt like it had no stakes.
What were the stakes?
-would Maxxie go to Anwar's birthday party despite Muslim intolerance towards homosexuality
-would Tony be able to finally convince Michelle to get back with him
-would Sid be able to tell Cassie about his feelings before it was too late

While in the grand scheme of the show, those really are some high stakes, instead much of the time was spent on Anwar preparing for his birthday party and his zany DJing uncle. And while I was a fan of Angie and Chris, the plot twist that she is engaged was just lame. Even the rush for Sid to find Cassie was deflated by shear zaniness. Sid being committed. Really?
The only really strong moment for me was Maxxie and Anwar's dad, which was able to show tolerance in a mature and realistic way, and makes me wish that more people were that level headed.

Luckily, the episode was still able to pull of an astounding conclusion, in a way that made me feel that maybe the creators were so excited about the execution of the end, that maybe they quickly overlooked the rest of the episode. Of course it reminded me of Magnolia, which really can never be a bad thing, but it also really is a great combination of plot and lyrical content.

So on to Season 2. I have to wonder what the impact of Tony's accident will be. It should be interesting to see such an arrogant self-confident character who basically think he can do and get away with whatever he wants struggle. And what about Sid and Cassie? Is she still leaving?

Sometimes I Think I Was Born Backwards

While I have already made mention of the ways that Skins so deftly balances comedy and drama within each episode, the tonal shifts that the show is able to handle from episode to episode are also quite impressive. While I didn't totally love the comedic ungrounded shift of the Anwar and Maxxie episode, it could not have been any further a cry from this episode featuring Effy, which was so dark, twisted, and generally fucked up. Even the little bit of humor ("What is so sexy about thighs? What can you possibly do with a thigh?) was undercut by the present awkwardness of that exchange being between Tony and his father.
This awkwardness was then carried through the episode (at least before things just got weirder and darker) with Tony crashing Chris's. The strain of the group was palpable. Actually, and to my surprise, I was actually feeling sort of sad for Tony who was lonely enough to turn to the paperman. The fact that Tony later confesses to feeling like everyone wants a ball buster around made it seem even sadder that while Tony is conniving and manipulative, he does it partly because he thinks it's who his friends want him to be.
After finding Josh such a sweet counterpoint to Tony in his first appearance, it was really surprising to see him so dark and menacing. He first seemed to be someone that was most likely over-medicated by his psychologist mother, but there is something royally wrong with him. And what is with the villians of the series wearing scarves? Mad Twatter did too.
Though Effy really hasn't done anything since her first appearance at the beginning of the series where she had Tony help her sneak back home, it was really interesting to have an episode feature her. Though I was already told that she wasn't going to speak, I still found it to be surreal and mysterious, in a way that means that I don't want an explanation. Her dreamy monologue before passing out was enough for me ("Sometimes I think I was born backwards. You know, come out my mom the wrong way. I hear words go past me backwards.") and while I guess it makes me wonder if her inability to speak is psychological or by choice, I kind of like it as just something weird. I sort of dread the idea of her being like Silent Bob, where any time she does speak it's supposed to be profound (which is sort of what happened in the season finale with her telling Tony what a twat he is.)
I don't want to finish writing without just mentioning how much I loved the confrontation between Sid and Tony. I finally feel like I can begin to understand why Sid is so loyal to Tony, even without much of a real explanation. Also, the scenes between Sid and Cassie were so sweet.
Josh's ultimatum to Tony had to be one of the most fucked up things I have seen on television, ever. EVER.

Lunch

Boo for forgetting my lunch today. After all that effort, I have a newfound respect for mothers everywhere.

Music Now!

I don't know what it is about Scottish bands, but in between The Frames and Glen Hansard, Glasvegas, and The Twilight Sad, I can't get enough. But by far my favorite is Frightened Rabbit. I cannot stop listening to their album "Sings the Greys," and cannot wait for their new album. Here's their new single and video "Heads Roll Off":

It's Like a Fucking Episode of the OC in Here

Clearly Michelle and Tony can't be our star-crossed lovers. So is it Tony and Abigail (I'm sure she'll also be pissed when she finds out about what Tony did with those pictures, yah?), Michelle and Josh, Sid and Cassie, Cassie and her new boyfriend (though they have so much in common, depression, self-loathing), Malcolm and Michelle's mother? Boy, that's a lot of romantic conflict and potential.

While this was Michelle's episode, it was hard to feel much sympathy for her. Even she has proclaimed herself as a sexual object, so to see her actually emotionally distraught by Tony's actions really seemed like payback for her ability to take him back all the time. Thankfully, and surprisingly she did not take him back this time. "I think I might love you" just didn't cut it. Again, Michelle's weaknesses seem to be directly in correlation with her mother, who also allows herself to be treated as a sexual object (enough about her ass, gross; "I really loved having sex with him"), and has been married and divorced several times. Malcolm may not be as bad as Tony, but he doesn't exactly seem a great fit for Michelle's mother. Nonetheless, she is quick to want to take him back.
Hopefully this is the episode (and I imagine it is with only 2 episodes left in the season) that there are actual repercussions for Tony's actions, and everything doesn't just return to the status quo. It would be kind of hard to believe Sid going back after finally having the gaul to punch Tony in the face. And Michelle finally realizing that he is "lying, sneering, taunting, and manipulative."
Usually, the injection of new characters for the convenience of conflict is bothersome, but it worked for me here. Even if we never knew about Abigail's brother Josh before, he served as a nice counterpoint to Tony ("You're very upfront. Is there any other way to be.") Their relationship seemed sweet, and it's too bad that Tony was so conniving and manipulative to ruin it. I can't imagine that this is the end of it though. The truth will have to come out somehow. It's kind of hard to believe that Michelle thought that Josh's psychological problems would really come out with nude pictures of is sister, but I'll go with it.

I also loved the music in this episode with the use of Magnetic Fields and that short cue from Bright Eyes "First Day of My Life." That use of music alone could have sold me on Josh and Michelle by reminding me of this:

Lastly, I really want a Bongo Dongo Dog.