elaby: (Minako - SQUEE!)
[personal profile] elaby
Man, did I ever have a wonderful Memorial Day weekend.

On Saturday, we ran around to a bunch of antique shops so I could look for Victorian things, and it was really a lot of fun. For all that everything else at antique shops is really expensive, old photographs are cheap. And don't take up much space, which is always a good thing. All evening we watched The Melancholy of Suzumiya Haruhi, which seriously just keeps getting more interesting, and more Princess Tutu, which is adorable and crazy and full of things that make us think of Utena and Tenshi ni Narumon (little red shoes, what?).

Sunday we did a scavenger-hunt type geocache in Portsmouth in the rain. We found all of the clues, saw bagpipers, and went to the Loaf and Ladle for lunch. The Loaf and Ladle has moved into the space where this wonderful deli I used to go to with [livejournal.com profile] coastal_spirit was up until I went to college. There were several restaurants in there in between, and they were all very much unlike Goldi's, but the Loaf and Ladle is an acceptable substitute :3 And Monday, we went to look for another geocache (which we unfortunately didn't find) and I got my new pocketwatch.

In between I played Wind Waker and on Sunday and Monday evening we had Starsky and Hutch marathons. The wonderful [livejournal.com profile] _melisande_ lent us the first season, bringer of all things awesome that she is, because [livejournal.com profile] coastal_spirit recommended the series to me. I imagine her thought process went something like this: "My daughter likes detectives. My daughter especially likes physically affectionate detectives. ...Why hasn't she seen Starsky and Hutch yet?"

Yeah, okay, I love it.


I guess I'm not familiar with many serious 70's tv shows, because I expected this to be a great deal goofier than it is, and I was very pleasantly surprised. I also expected it to be more brain-hurty in terms of progressiveness, but so far it's been very well done (I think). We've seen nine episodes.

The clothes continually fascinate me. I wish I knew what I was supposed to think of a character based on what he's wearing – looking at a particular character now, I go "How did anyone ever think that shirt was a good idea?" But at the time, would I have been meant to think he was really fashionable? Over the top? Dressing young, or old, or flashy, or average? I have no idea. Starsky and Hutch generally both dress in a way that doesn't draw my attention in particular (except that huge ridiculous sweater in the first episode, Starsky, WTF was up with that?) but they are, regardless of that car, undercover policemen, and they really wouldn't be able to stand out too much. I love the hair on the women – it looks kind of like they haven't hit the "Charlie's Angels" wing hair era yet, and most of the girls have had pretty ringlets and head scarves and the like. And the bellbottoms. The bellbottoms on the women remind me of these old anime movies I watched when I was little, like "Unico" and "Journey through Fairyland", where whenever somebody went all stylized they would have bellbottom-shaped legs. And I actually think they look pretty hot on the men, too XD

The slang is pretty awesome, too. There were only a few instances where I didn't know what they meant, but we figured it out soon enough from context ("hype" meaning druggie, for example - coming, I expect, from hypodermic needle). I'm sure somebody has compiled a "101 ways to say 'kill'" list at some point, and this show makes good use of it. Speaking of which, the only thing that has really surprised me so far is how often people get shot O_o It luckily seems like most people survive being shot in this show, but there's a gunfight every few minutes, and the boys apparently have no qualms about shooting someone who stole a car or held up a store. I have no idea whether this is realistic or not, as my crime fiction experience is either pre-1900s or on the science side (CSI, anyone?) but it surprised me all the same.

The point of this post is, of course, Starsky and Hutch themselves. I love them already, and at this point I love them equally, and I hope it stays like that. There's nothing quite as wonderful as devoted friendship bordering on hoyay, and oh man, this is the jackpot. And you know me – strictly platonic? Fantastic! Secretly shagging? Awesome! As long as they keep up the grabbing and touching and hugging and significant looks and... well, I don't care how you interpret their relationship; the way it's portrayed onscreen is good enough for me.

I'm impressed at how much character depth they've managed to cram into the first nine episodes. Starsky and Hutch both have very distinct personalities, despite how people get their names mixed up (*giggles*). My early interpretation is thus: Starsky is tougher, meaner, more volatile and rebellious, but also more intellectual – he gets more philosophical about things, thinks a little more deeply, and occasionally makes references he has to explain to Hutch. He's much more likely to ignore the rules and do what he thinks is right. Hutch, on the other hand, is more concerned about regulations, about doing things by the book. I love that he's a health nut, and works out and eats soy products and throws away Starsky's chilidogs and tricks him into drinking protein shakes. He's also normally the one that ends up keeping the other from punching somebody's face in, although they really share that responsibility. I also think, and I'm not sure if it's going to stay this way, that Hutch is the one who's more upset by the general badness of the world, while Starsky seems a little more used to it. Which isn't to say that I think Hutch is less tough, because they're both very tough, but just by way of comparison.

And of course the amount of time they have their hands all over each other doesn't hurt my appreciation of them. Watch especially for whenever they go through doors – the hand on the back and the arm and the chest and just about everywhere. Not only that, these two could put Aragorn and Legolas to shame with their manly shoulder grasping. Because this is a crime show, there's enough angst to go around, and plenty of opportunity for worry and comfort and all of those lovely things. This show, speaking of which, is a hurt/comfort circus. In one of the episodes we saw, some bad guys were trying to get Hutch to tell them where his girlfriend was (the former girlfriend of a mob boss, I think) so they kidnapped him and roughed him up and forcibly injected him with heroin to get him addicted.

[livejournal.com profile] caitirin: *while watching* This means there's going to be withdrawal cuddling, doesn't it?
[livejournal.com profile] elaby: I think it a distinct possibility.

And was there ever. Hutch managed to escape, and of course Starsky got to him the minute he was found by a policeman who'd heard the APB they put out on him, which led to Starsky manhandling the guy to keep him from telling anyone about the state Hutch was in. They holed up in an apartment above Huggy Bear's bar to ride out the withdrawal. The writers of this show must have been from the "torture your characters so your other characters get to hold them and hug them and threaten others on their behalf" school. And besides, they did a great job showing how horrific drug addiction is.

Starsky got his turn a couple of episodes later, when he shot and killed an armed robber who turned out to be a sixteen-year-old kid. On top of that, a guy whose son Starsky had put away some time earlier and was then killed in prison started targeting cops to try to get Starsky to resign, which he tried to do multiple times, but was stopped by Captain Dobey. I love Dobey. That whole "mean grumpy boss who really loves his guys like whoa" thing gives me such joy. Between the dead kid and the cops who got killed, there was tons of guiltangstguilt, and Hutch nearly clocking another cop for insulting Starsky, and a scene near the end where Starsky has to go face the guy alone, and after a great deal of grabbing Hutch agrees to let him go by himself and then follows anyway.

[livejournal.com profile] caitirin: *quoting another set of detectives* "You are not coming." "Then you are not going!"
[livejournal.com profile] elaby: <3!!!!! *luckiest wife ever*

But yeah. All physical displays of affection aside, they have wonderful chemistry, and their banter is delightful in a Hawkeye-and-Trapper/BJ-esque sort of way. Any conversation about the car or about food is sure to be a winner. Not to mention their frequent "Who do we trust?" "The only ones we ever trust – me and thee" exchanges. I just— I love it. And there's 83 more episodes left in the series XD

Date: 2009-05-27 12:04 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] le-russe-satan.livejournal.com
I've not seen Starsky and Hutch yet. x_x And now I wanna! *wails*

CSI: I'm so happy they have Fishburne now! :D

Date: 2009-05-27 12:08 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] elaby.livejournal.com
I haven't watched CSI since the end of... the season before last? I don't know! When a horrible thing happened o_o And we weren't brave enough to watch the aftermath ^^;;

I'm quite in love with Starsky and Hutch! I hope you get a chance to see it :)

Date: 2009-05-27 12:11 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] le-russe-satan.livejournal.com
Ah, oh. I see. Poor dears. :)

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