![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
marinaSo, Michael Ealy has a new show! I will watch pretty much anything he's in, as evidence by my willingness to subject myself to such horrors as Sleeper Cell.
This show is called Common Law! The premise is that two cops who are extremely good at working as a team professionally can't get over their issues on a personal level (they argue constantly, to the point of one of them pointing a gun at the other) and get sent to couples' counseling by their boss.
This is from the same people who brought you White Collar and Suits so you know, it's that vibe.
I was originally torn on watching this show('s pilot) because um, you know. It seemed like it would be too faily to comprehend. One endless gay joke! They act gay, but they're not gay! Ahahaha!
But you know, it had Michael Ealy and I was like WHATEVER I WILL WATCH THIS IN THE BACKGROUND FOR HIS FINE, FINE ASS. But then it turned out to be... kind of OK? And pretty wittily written? I mean just like White Collar or Suits, there's precisely enough good writing and acting here to keep me from wanting to turn it off, plus MICHAEL EALY. The narrative seemed to not be going for the gay joke at all? IDEK.
I am less than amused that Michael Ealy is playing the street wise, raised in foster care, knows all the criminals guy and his counterpart, played by a white actor, is a rich ex-lawyer, but you know. Michael Ealy got his own show! Again! And this time it's actually less terrible than Sleeper Cell! (I know that should seem impossible, considering how original the concept of Sleeper Cell was, but seriously. SERIOUSLY.)
Anyway, ON TO ENDLESS PICTURES OF MICHAEL EALY'S FACE.
This is Travis!
Sitting in a couples' therapy group with his partner, Wesley.
This whole therapy thing isn't exactly a dream come true for either of them:
At some point they catch a suspect (Travis chases him, Wes ambushes him at the other end) and automatically sink into a little routine where they pretend to be preparing to plant evidence on him and/or shoot him with "untraceable bullets" until the guy freaks out and tells them what they need to know.
Coolest cops in LA y/y?
Unfortunately their captain doesn't think so.
They totally claim they are ABSOLUTELY FINE though!
...right before breaking a window by tumbling through it as they're hitting each other in the face.
Meet the nemesis! This is the OTHER really good cop couple that the department has and they DO NOT PUNCH EACH OTHER so they are our heroes' worst rivals.
OK, some personal info about Travis:
He is a giant slut. These are not my words, this is purely Wes' evaluation! Travis is extremely charming and will sleep with absolutely anything, which unfortunately means he's slept with the majority of his coworkers by now, and since he's terrible at relationships this means A LOT OF PEOPLE DISLIKE HIM AT THIS POINT and he sometimes asks Wes to go talk to the coroner because um, things are kind of awkward between them right now.
Wes is UNAMUSED BY THIS and chastises Travis both for having to flirt with EVERY SINGLE THING and for leading girls along and not being able to tell them straight to their faces that he never plans to see them again. (Travis' response is that these are some big words coming from a dude who hasn't had a date since his previous relationship ended 1.5 YEARS AGO but we'll get to that.)
While Wes is ~trying to get work done~ Travis spends his time doing his REAL homework which is filling out forms for the therapy sessions he and Wes are attending and on the success of which their future employment depends. For the question "list two adjectives that best describe your partner" Travis puts down "bag, douche" and Wes then points out that neither one of those is an adjective.
TRAVIS LOVES DOGS, DOGS LOVE TRAVIS. He's actually much better at having long and emotionally meaningful relationships with dogs than with the people he sleeps with.
For example, this narcotics officer who introduced Travis to this puppy in the first place.
DOGGY.
This screenshot cracks me up mostly because of the PHOTOS OF DOGS adorning the WALL MADE OF WIRE behind the narcotics departments' computer. LOL.
Travis and Wes go undercover again to get some info from a car dealer and again sink into a little routine about how they're irresponsible cops who are totally going to blow up an expensive car if the dude doesn't start talking. Basically Wes and Travis are just really good at improv together. If it wasn't for their desire to catch bad guys I don't see why they couldn't just go on and join a theater company or whatever if the police let them go.
GIANT RED FLOPPY THINGS ARE TRAVIS' TRUE NEMESIS. HE WILL BRING THOSE FUCKERS DOWN.
As our heroes seek more information they have to question a scary looking gangster.
WHO TURNS OUT TO BE TRAVIS' STEP BROTHER FROM FOSTER CARE! (It's tough to see in the cap but Travis has actually jumped into the dude's arms in that shot and they're hugging.)
Tattoo dude, at the end of their scene: don't forget to call mom!
Travis: It's mother's day, how could I forget!
Tattoo dude also talks about how Travis, as a teenager, once pulled a semi-legal prank on his foster mom's ex husband to scare him into paying child support.
Anyway then they go on to talk to another witness and GUESS WHO'S THE ONLY PERSON WHO KNOWS HOW TO CALM THIS WOMAN'S BABY AND MAKE IT HAPPY AND SMILEY?
Travis! Who is very good with babies because "I used to have a lot of younger siblings growing up".
And now it's time for us to meet Wes' family. As he goes home we meet Alex, who Travis has mentioned before:
Alex is a lawyer and Wes' ex-wife. Wes also used to be a lawyer, but then something happened and idk, he ~put an innocent man in prison~ or whatever (Travis teases him about this but we don't get the full story yet) and he decided to quit law and become a cop (he is still ridiculously rich though, as Travis points out). At some point during all of this Alex asked for a divorce (Wes claims this is because she didn't want to be married to a cop, I have a feeling it was more that Wes was Going Through Some Shit and not letting Alex in and being stubborn and at some point Alex was just like "OK, I can't do this anymore".)
Every since Wes and Alex divorced 1.5 years ago Wes moved to a hotel (their parting was amicable and Alex keeps inviting him to stay at the house until he finds something but he declines) aaaand has been living in a hotel since.
He does apparently care a ridiculous amount about the house's lawn though, apparently that was like his pet project, so he occasionally stops by to bring supplies and take care of the lawn. IDEK. (At some point Travis mentions the lawn thing and calls Wes "anal retentive" to his face, to which Wes replies by calling Travis "anal explosive." I am... not making that up. I am seriously, that moment exists, on tape, broadcast on television.)
Anyway, Alex and Travis are actually good friends and clearly got along really well while Alex and Wes were married (Travis and Wes have partners for 5 years). So for example in therapy when therapists asks Wes to tell the group how Travis got his name Wes says that no one knows because Travis doesn't know who his parents were as he was given into foster care as a baby, but then Travis replies that "Alex knows." Alex indeed knows, and is clearly still friends with Travis as the two of them keep exchanging texts about how awful Wes is being throughout the episode.
Back to how awful TRAVIS is, this is yet another government employee he's managed to piss off by sleeping with her and then screening her calls. Wes is smugger than a smug thing.
Sometimes the boys pretend to be BFFs, mostly whenever their boss is around. I am grateful for these scenes because they let me enjoy Michael Ealy's SMILE *_____*
And then they have to explain themselves to Miss Parker from The Pretender!
Anyway, after another epic fight Wes acts like a jerk to Travis and then goes to apologize and ask for Travis' help in closing the case.
Travis is otherwise occupied in a trailer (the trailer he lives in? IDEK) with a lady friend, but when he hears Wes banging on the door he agrees to come out if Wes APOLOGIZES LOUDLY and BEGS FOR HIS HELP. Wes does, and as all of this is going on the lady friend decides Travis is CLEARLY MORE INTO THIS DUDE than he is into her and leaves.
Instead we get mostly-naked Travis bonding with Wes over their mutual love of catching criminals and blaming each other for everything.
THE NEXT DAY IN COUPLES' THERAPY.
Yes, lady from Rent, I also think they're pretty adorable.
BONUS:
Apparently next week they'll be wearing suits to therapy!
This show is called Common Law! The premise is that two cops who are extremely good at working as a team professionally can't get over their issues on a personal level (they argue constantly, to the point of one of them pointing a gun at the other) and get sent to couples' counseling by their boss.
This is from the same people who brought you White Collar and Suits so you know, it's that vibe.
I was originally torn on watching this show('s pilot) because um, you know. It seemed like it would be too faily to comprehend. One endless gay joke! They act gay, but they're not gay! Ahahaha!
But you know, it had Michael Ealy and I was like WHATEVER I WILL WATCH THIS IN THE BACKGROUND FOR HIS FINE, FINE ASS. But then it turned out to be... kind of OK? And pretty wittily written? I mean just like White Collar or Suits, there's precisely enough good writing and acting here to keep me from wanting to turn it off, plus MICHAEL EALY. The narrative seemed to not be going for the gay joke at all? IDEK.
I am less than amused that Michael Ealy is playing the street wise, raised in foster care, knows all the criminals guy and his counterpart, played by a white actor, is a rich ex-lawyer, but you know. Michael Ealy got his own show! Again! And this time it's actually less terrible than Sleeper Cell! (I know that should seem impossible, considering how original the concept of Sleeper Cell was, but seriously. SERIOUSLY.)
Anyway, ON TO ENDLESS PICTURES OF MICHAEL EALY'S FACE.
This is Travis!
Sitting in a couples' therapy group with his partner, Wesley.
This whole therapy thing isn't exactly a dream come true for either of them:
At some point they catch a suspect (Travis chases him, Wes ambushes him at the other end) and automatically sink into a little routine where they pretend to be preparing to plant evidence on him and/or shoot him with "untraceable bullets" until the guy freaks out and tells them what they need to know.
Coolest cops in LA y/y?
Unfortunately their captain doesn't think so.
They totally claim they are ABSOLUTELY FINE though!
...right before breaking a window by tumbling through it as they're hitting each other in the face.
Meet the nemesis! This is the OTHER really good cop couple that the department has and they DO NOT PUNCH EACH OTHER so they are our heroes' worst rivals.
OK, some personal info about Travis:
He is a giant slut. These are not my words, this is purely Wes' evaluation! Travis is extremely charming and will sleep with absolutely anything, which unfortunately means he's slept with the majority of his coworkers by now, and since he's terrible at relationships this means A LOT OF PEOPLE DISLIKE HIM AT THIS POINT and he sometimes asks Wes to go talk to the coroner because um, things are kind of awkward between them right now.
Wes is UNAMUSED BY THIS and chastises Travis both for having to flirt with EVERY SINGLE THING and for leading girls along and not being able to tell them straight to their faces that he never plans to see them again. (Travis' response is that these are some big words coming from a dude who hasn't had a date since his previous relationship ended 1.5 YEARS AGO but we'll get to that.)
While Wes is ~trying to get work done~ Travis spends his time doing his REAL homework which is filling out forms for the therapy sessions he and Wes are attending and on the success of which their future employment depends. For the question "list two adjectives that best describe your partner" Travis puts down "bag, douche" and Wes then points out that neither one of those is an adjective.
TRAVIS LOVES DOGS, DOGS LOVE TRAVIS. He's actually much better at having long and emotionally meaningful relationships with dogs than with the people he sleeps with.
For example, this narcotics officer who introduced Travis to this puppy in the first place.
DOGGY.
This screenshot cracks me up mostly because of the PHOTOS OF DOGS adorning the WALL MADE OF WIRE behind the narcotics departments' computer. LOL.
Travis and Wes go undercover again to get some info from a car dealer and again sink into a little routine about how they're irresponsible cops who are totally going to blow up an expensive car if the dude doesn't start talking. Basically Wes and Travis are just really good at improv together. If it wasn't for their desire to catch bad guys I don't see why they couldn't just go on and join a theater company or whatever if the police let them go.
GIANT RED FLOPPY THINGS ARE TRAVIS' TRUE NEMESIS. HE WILL BRING THOSE FUCKERS DOWN.
As our heroes seek more information they have to question a scary looking gangster.
WHO TURNS OUT TO BE TRAVIS' STEP BROTHER FROM FOSTER CARE! (It's tough to see in the cap but Travis has actually jumped into the dude's arms in that shot and they're hugging.)
Tattoo dude, at the end of their scene: don't forget to call mom!
Travis: It's mother's day, how could I forget!
Tattoo dude also talks about how Travis, as a teenager, once pulled a semi-legal prank on his foster mom's ex husband to scare him into paying child support.
Anyway then they go on to talk to another witness and GUESS WHO'S THE ONLY PERSON WHO KNOWS HOW TO CALM THIS WOMAN'S BABY AND MAKE IT HAPPY AND SMILEY?
Travis! Who is very good with babies because "I used to have a lot of younger siblings growing up".
And now it's time for us to meet Wes' family. As he goes home we meet Alex, who Travis has mentioned before:
Alex is a lawyer and Wes' ex-wife. Wes also used to be a lawyer, but then something happened and idk, he ~put an innocent man in prison~ or whatever (Travis teases him about this but we don't get the full story yet) and he decided to quit law and become a cop (he is still ridiculously rich though, as Travis points out). At some point during all of this Alex asked for a divorce (Wes claims this is because she didn't want to be married to a cop, I have a feeling it was more that Wes was Going Through Some Shit and not letting Alex in and being stubborn and at some point Alex was just like "OK, I can't do this anymore".)
Every since Wes and Alex divorced 1.5 years ago Wes moved to a hotel (their parting was amicable and Alex keeps inviting him to stay at the house until he finds something but he declines) aaaand has been living in a hotel since.
He does apparently care a ridiculous amount about the house's lawn though, apparently that was like his pet project, so he occasionally stops by to bring supplies and take care of the lawn. IDEK. (At some point Travis mentions the lawn thing and calls Wes "anal retentive" to his face, to which Wes replies by calling Travis "anal explosive." I am... not making that up. I am seriously, that moment exists, on tape, broadcast on television.)
Anyway, Alex and Travis are actually good friends and clearly got along really well while Alex and Wes were married (Travis and Wes have partners for 5 years). So for example in therapy when therapists asks Wes to tell the group how Travis got his name Wes says that no one knows because Travis doesn't know who his parents were as he was given into foster care as a baby, but then Travis replies that "Alex knows." Alex indeed knows, and is clearly still friends with Travis as the two of them keep exchanging texts about how awful Wes is being throughout the episode.
Back to how awful TRAVIS is, this is yet another government employee he's managed to piss off by sleeping with her and then screening her calls. Wes is smugger than a smug thing.
Sometimes the boys pretend to be BFFs, mostly whenever their boss is around. I am grateful for these scenes because they let me enjoy Michael Ealy's SMILE *_____*
And then they have to explain themselves to Miss Parker from The Pretender!
Anyway, after another epic fight Wes acts like a jerk to Travis and then goes to apologize and ask for Travis' help in closing the case.
Travis is otherwise occupied in a trailer (the trailer he lives in? IDEK) with a lady friend, but when he hears Wes banging on the door he agrees to come out if Wes APOLOGIZES LOUDLY and BEGS FOR HIS HELP. Wes does, and as all of this is going on the lady friend decides Travis is CLEARLY MORE INTO THIS DUDE than he is into her and leaves.
Instead we get mostly-naked Travis bonding with Wes over their mutual love of catching criminals and blaming each other for everything.
THE NEXT DAY IN COUPLES' THERAPY.
Yes, lady from Rent, I also think they're pretty adorable.
BONUS:
Apparently next week they'll be wearing suits to therapy!
no subject
Date: 2012-05-18 12:08 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-05-18 09:31 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-05-18 02:20 pm (UTC)I am less than amused that Michael Ealy is playing the street wise, raised in foster care, knows all the criminals guy and his counterpart, played by a white actor, is a rich ex-lawyer, but you know.
And yet, probably still vastly better than his (lack of) characterization on The Good Wife!
no subject
Date: 2012-05-18 02:32 pm (UTC)Ha, I was just thinking the same thing!
no subject
Date: 2012-05-18 09:33 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-05-18 10:11 pm (UTC)Anyway, I just watched the pilot of 'Common Law' and <333. *happy sigh*
no subject
Date: 2012-05-18 05:32 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-05-18 09:33 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-05-18 09:47 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-05-18 06:13 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-05-18 09:34 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-05-18 07:40 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-05-18 09:36 pm (UTC)The other dude I suspect is supposed to be characterized as just the opposite - a slacker who doesn't do stable and permanent by default - and also someone who grew up shuffled through the foster care system and even with a cop's salary is probably has no savings.