Best 'Ally' Episode Ever: "Angels & Blimps"
Mike Harris
McBeal" ever. I am quite definitely a sucker for a tearjerker, especially
when it has some of my favorite characters in it. And, as a surprise, the
return of Talia Balsam and Gary Graham ... Talia played Alex's first love,
Carrie Newman, in a 1983 "Family Ties" episode, and Gary Graham played
Detective Matt Sikes in the "Alien Nation" television series back in 1989.
First, Mike, since you do read this forum, please accept my thanks and my
congratulations for some of the most heartwrenching, touching special
effects I've seen in a while. (As well as one of the most hilarious ones
... Ling into an Alien, indeed! I thought I was going to double over! Was
that actually the Alien from the movie series, or did you guys tweak it
enough to get past copyright?) Eric as an angel leaving at the end of the
episode. The luminous lighting around Ally when Eric first sees her as an
angel. And that blimp was CGI, wasn't it?
Plus, even the less flashy ones add so much to the mood ... Ally walking
several feet above the rest. Jeez, only on 'Ally' would a woman walking
several feet above the floor be considered a *LESS* flashy effect! :) I
bet you get quite a workout! :)
Not to mention fulfilling half the list of songs I had wanted Vonda to
cover: "Rainbow Connection" (from _The Muppet Movie_) and *and* Don
McLean's "Vincent", and they were perfectly suited for each of the scenes
they played behind.
I don't mean to press a point, but the scene with John and Richard at the
conference table was a perfect example of why that question in the FAQ
needs to get fixed ... it proves conclusively that Richard hears the bells,
too, as a cowbell ... no offense meant to Tara in the *slightest*, as I
know how difficult making a FAQ can be. Just think that one needs to be
tweaked as I had suggested previously.
There were a ton of comic moments to match the heartwrenching ones ...
comic lines such as:
+ "I think she's senile." [Ling speaking of Whipper]
+ "The way it works, counsel, is you ask questions and
you should *appear* not to be on drugs."
+ "You thought a blimp was God? Were you a really stupid
kid?"
+ "I have a brother who lives on his wits. Half a
living's better than none."
+ Nelle on her racoon makeup: "See that guy? Looks like
a Ken doll? He likes it. But it *bugs* Barbie."
(Speaking of which, the racoon glasses bit struck me as Nelle trying to
make a forced effort to be wacky as the rest of them, and failing because
it was forced. Everyone else's wackiness is spontaneous and natural.) And
there were other wonderful comic moments, such as the little physical comic
theater bit with John and Fish tripping over each other's feet when John
got up to further interrogate the witness. Eric stomping on Ally's feet at
Ling's urging. Ally's dog-self whimpering at Ling's growl.
"One of my New Year's resolutions. Less fantasy, more reality."
Interesting. I wonder if this says something about the future of the show.
Will Ally be making more of an effort to stay away from fantasy?
I thought that there were excellent dramatic monologues *all* around,
whether it was Ling kicking ass in the settlement negotiations, Cage doing
a fantastic closing statement, or Eric's many wonderful monologues
throughout the piece. And Renee's closing monologue was good, too ...
although anyone notice she stole John's "please" tactic that he mentioned
in a previous episode? :)
Of course, there were so many tear-jerking moments I thought I was going to
burst a tear duct. "What kind of questions?" "That's between me and him."
Ally's revelation of her sister's passing ... my God, what a little piece
of family history *we* got tonight. How Eric immediately jumped from there
being no Santa Claus to there being no God. "Or ... maybe he sent you."
"Can you be strong?" "When you talk to me, I never feel like I have
cancer." "I had a dream that I was your angel." Ling holding it in
throughout the whole thing, and the camera following her as her pace
gradually quickens, as she runs and begins to cry. Ally losing her faith
in God, and Ling caring enough about Ally's emotional well-being to hire
the blimp and set that up for her ... what a wonderful scene.
And next week ... <groan> well, I knew as soon as she was outed as a
lawyer, they were going to hire her. I was kind of hoping they wouldn't.
But I suppose there's only so many frivolous suits she could file before
that particular shtick would get old. But, hell, that bit with Billy
coming after Ally ... that looks **interesting**! Are we talking about
Billy falling for Ally once more? My goodness ... this bodes some definite
interesting developments. (Obviously *JUST* in time for sweeps month!)
Well, enough with my blabbering. What did y'all think?
Mike
Michael D. Most
> that actually the Alien from the movie series, or did you guys tweak it
> enough to get past copyright?)
Fox gave us the go-ahead to use the actual Alien Queen likeness.
> Eric as an angel leaving at the end of the
> episode. The luminous lighting around Ally when Eric first sees her as an
> angel.
The lighting effect was designed by Billy Dickson (our Director of
Photography), using a filter effect. For the shot where Eric walks through
the wall, we duplicated the effect in post production.
>>And that blimp was CGI, wasn't it?
Nope, it was the real Goodyear blimp. The kind folks at Goodyear airship
operations in Carson, CA, agreed to do it for us, as long as they could read
the logo on the blimp. We went over to the blimp landing site and shot it.
The stars (and the shooting star, if you noticed it) were added in post
production, though. As was Calista in front of it.
> Plus, even the less flashy ones add so much to the mood ... Ally walking
> several feet above the rest. Jeez, only on 'Ally' would a woman walking
> several feet above the floor be considered a *LESS* flashy effect! :) I
> bet you get quite a workout! :)
On this one, I did.
Oh, BTW, I agree with most of you -- I think this was one of our best
episodes.
Mike Most (Visual FX Supervisor on "Ally")
teresa ha
: (Speaking of which, the racoon glasses bit struck me as Nelle
: trying to make a forced effort to be wacky as the rest of them, and
: failing because : it was forced. Everyone else's wackiness is
: spontaneous and natural.)
no no, it's only cause nelle handled her freakiness with such aplomb. "i
didn't have any meetings today so i felt like it, what's the big deal?"
everyone else is aware that they should feel some sort of embarassment,
but nelle handles it in stride.
: And Renee's closing monologue was good, too ...
: although anyone notice she stole John's "please" tactic that he mentioned
: in a previous episode? :)
i think that was intentional. a switcheroo of tactics, if you will. and
i didn't think renee's going to win any more cases if she keeps on trying
to bully the jurors. they're obviously not buying it.
Nita Dee
They should have had Vonda do
"The Dance".
My nephew watched it with me..he has
also had some trials and death in his life
(he was the soul survivor of a plane
crash several years ago). I think I hooked him.
Nita Dee
Beth Morgan
Thanks for all you do!!
Beth
Michael D. Most wrote in message ...
> >>Was
>> that actually the Alien from the movie series, or did you guys tweak it
>> enough to get past copyright?)
>
>Fox gave us the go-ahead to use the actual Alien Queen likeness.
>
>> Eric as an angel leaving at the end of the
>> episode. The luminous lighting around Ally when Eric first sees her as
an
>> angel.
>
>The lighting effect was designed by Billy Dickson (our Director of
>Photography), using a filter effect. For the shot where Eric walks through
>the wall, we duplicated the effect in post production.
>
>>>And that blimp was CGI, wasn't it?
>
>Nope, it was the real Goodyear blimp. The kind folks at Goodyear airship
>operations in Carson, CA, agreed to do it for us, as long as they could
read
>the logo on the blimp. We went over to the blimp landing site and shot it.
>The stars (and the shooting star, if you noticed it) were added in post
>production, though. As was Calista in front of it.
>
>> Plus, even the less flashy ones add so much to the mood ... Ally walking
>> several feet above the rest. Jeez, only on 'Ally' would a woman walking
>> several feet above the floor be considered a *LESS* flashy effect! :) I
>> bet you get quite a workout! :)
>
me...@my-dejanews.com
Mike Harris <mha...@enteract.com> wrote:
> "Angels and Blimps" has to be, hands down, my favorite episode of "Ally
> McBeal" ever. I am quite definitely a sucker for a tearjerker, especially
> when it has some of my favorite characters in it.
I agree totally. This one was my favorite so far.
> Of course, there were so many tear-jerking moments I thought I was going to
> burst a tear duct. "What kind of questions?" "That's between me and him."
> Ally's revelation of her sister's passing ... my God, what a little piece
> of family history *we* got tonight. How Eric immediately jumped from there
> being no Santa Claus to there being no God. "Or ... maybe he sent you."
> "Can you be strong?" "When you talk to me, I never feel like I have
> cancer." "I had a dream that I was your angel." Ling holding it in
> throughout the whole thing, and the camera following her as her pace
> gradually quickens, as she runs and begins to cry. Ally losing her faith
> in God, and Ling caring enough about Ally's emotional well-being to hire
> the blimp and set that up for her ... what a wonderful scene.
I didn't realize that Ling hired the blimp. If so, that makes the scene even
more touching and makes me like Ling even more (she was already one of my
favorite characters). It was really something to see a blunt, abrasive
character like Ling break down. The last few moments of the show had me near
tears.
>
> And next week ... But, hell, that bit with Billy
> coming after Ally ... that looks **interesting**! Are we talking about
> Billy falling for Ally once more? My goodness ... this bodes some definite
> interesting developments. (Obviously *JUST* in time for sweeps month!)
About the Billy thing ... I just don't like him. He seems so bland and
boring.
--Meiya
-----------== Posted via Deja News, The Discussion Network ==----------
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aml...@my-dejanews.com
> I agree totally. This one was my favorite so far.
There were a lot of great, understated performances in this episode. Lucy Liu
and Calista are the most obvious. I liked the moment when Elaine answered the
phone and you could tell by her change of character from somewhat flightly to
totally serious that it was bad news. Jane K. conveyed a lot with just few
words and expressions.
> I didn't realize that Ling hired the blimp. If so, that makes the scene even
> more touching and makes me like Ling even more (she was already one of my
> favorite characters). It was really something to see a blunt, abrasive
> character like Ling break down. The last few moments of the show had me near
> tears.
This sort of brought the whole Ling/Ally connection together for me. The
ironic part is that Ally will probably never know that Ling even knew why the
blimp meant something to her, since Ally wasn't aware that Ling overheard her
conversation with the kid.
> About the Billy thing ... I just don't like him. He seems so bland and
> boring.
I would assume that Billy knows about Ally's sister -- I have my suspicions
about what killed her sister. Ally never said it, but it was there none the
less. We've never heard Ally or Billy bring up her sister before, so it's
probably still a tender subject for her. Once again, what wasn't said said a
lot more than what was.
Amletto di Milano
It's a 24-hour service guaranteed to make you tell...
ann-chuck
>McBeal" ever. I am quite definitely a sucker for a tearjerker, especially
>when it has some of my favorite characters in it.
I agree! This episode was one of the best so far. I am SO glad that
"coolLing" is no longer such a one-dimensional character. Lucy liu can do
so much more than that, and they gave her a heart without having her lose
the edge that draws viewers to her in the first place.
What was with Nelle's raccoon glasses? That was just weird.
.> But, hell, that bit with Billy
>coming after Ally ... that looks **interesting**! Are we talking about
>Billy falling for Ally once more? My goodness ... this bodes some definite
>interesting developments. (Obviously *JUST* in time for sweeps month!)
It might be interesting if Billy re-falls for Ally, but that better not mean
no more Dr. Butters!! I love him and I think it would suck if Ally and
Billy actually got together. I'm for more Fish in the courtroom, though,
he's too funny! I'd like to see Ling in the courtroom, too. I wonder if
she could turn off the venom and charm a jury.....
AC
sula...@my-dejanews.com
aml...@my-dejanews.com wrote:
> me...@my-dejanews.com wrote:
>
> > I agree totally. This one was my favorite so far.
>
> There were a lot of great, understated performances in this episode. Lucy Liu
> and Calista are the most obvious.
Great performances yes. But even more outstanding was the obvious research
that went into this episode. As I lucky survivor of bout of childhood cancer
I thought the whole concept was incredibly well-conceived and carried out.
Nothing hit home harder than when the boy said (about Ling) 'She makes me
feel like I don't have cancer.' By then I knew that not only would we
see a caring Ling but that we would also see her show it (even if it was
only to us -- but so much better than an epiphany in front of someone else!)
The scene with Ling crying was a nice touch but by then unnecessary for me.
DEK was able to sum up what any person who has ever faced feeling or looking
different due to an illness. Maybe I read more into it, but I think that
in a sense it was Ling's understanding of the real need of this boy to
not feel like he had cancer and then to have the chance to actually provide
the ability to remove the cancer for real that shaped a grief that truly
transcended Ally's.
And thus the blimp. A master stroke. Even more so by having Ling watch.
Yes it could be seen as a tip-off the whys and hows of the blimp being
there. Yeah she did it for Ally in a sense. But Ling was doing it
for herself too. Yet another wonderful layer to the onion that is Ling.
I liked the moment when Elaine answered the
> phone and you could tell by her change of character from somewhat flightly to
> totally serious that it was bad news. Jane K. conveyed a lot with just few
> words and expressions.
Definitely. In one short moment Jane was able to play upon the dynamics of
the relationship between Ally and Elaine. It was a wonderful and even
slightly subtle reminder of the fact that these two do actually care for
one another. It was nice reminder to the hidden facets of Elaine too.
<snip rest>
Antman
is it jut implied. I watched the whole thing and for some reason didn't pick
up on that. I just thought it was a coincidence.
sula...@my-dejanews.com wrote in message
<79q1fm$mvo$1...@nnrp1.dejanews.com>...
Your Name here
>Just curious, but was there any real proof that Ling paid for the blimp, or
>is it jut implied. I watched the whole thing and for some reason didn't pick
>up on that. I just thought it was a coincidence.
Nope; you had to watch pretty closely to catch on, though. Remember the scene
when Ally was talking about the blimp she saw as a girl, and Ling was
eavesdropping? In describing what a blimp does, Ally said "they just look
down." The message on the side of the blimp at the end was "Just Looking."
--
For e-mail replies, change the utx$v$ to utxsvs
Mike Harris
| Just curious, but was there any real proof that Ling paid for the blimp, or
| is it jut implied. I watched the whole thing and for some reason didn't pick
| up on that. I just thought it was a coincidence.
It's extremely strongly implied. The scene directly before it has Nelle
asking Richard if he's heard from Ling, and Richard responding that she's
not responded to his calls, and that she had said she had something to do
tonight. Cut to the blimp, to Ally seeing it, and to Ling watching Ally's
reaction. Once she sees Ally's reaction, she leaves. It's not outright
*said*, but you can't quite get more obvious than that without her coming
up to Ally and saying, "Like my blimp?" :)
--
Mike Harris
Victory! Preliminary injunction against CDA II granted!
Read the decision at: http://www.enteract.com/~mharris/copa
aml...@my-dejanews.com
> Just curious, but was there any real proof that Ling paid for the blimp, or
> is it jut implied. I watched the whole thing and for some reason didn't pick
> up on that. I just thought it was a coincidence.
Aside from the obvious clues, it's a simple process of elimination. Of the
three people who knew (other than Ally) Ling was the only one left who could
have.
Amletto di Milano
It's a 24-hour service guaranteed to make you tell...
-----------== Posted via Deja News, The Discussion Network ==----------
Stuart O. Bronstein
>
>Sometimes I feel like I *am* a character on this show. If you're
>listening, Mr. K., I only live about 40 miles south of the Fox lot,
>and I have some singing and acting experience, and I could kick Ling's
>ass and Nelle's too, for that matter. <snicker>
Kick their asses? But Bev! Neither one of them is even *married*!
--
Stu (delete * from email address)
"The urbane activity with which a man receives money is really marvelous,
considering that we so earnestly believe money to be the root of all
earthly ills, and that on no account can a monied man enter heaven. Ah!
how cheerfully we consign ourselves to perdition!"
Herman Melville, Moby Dick
jaZZmanian Devil
>
> "Antman" <anth...@maxstrat.com> wrote:
>
> > Just curious, but was there any real proof that Ling paid for the blimp, or
> > is it jut implied. I watched the whole thing and for some reason didn't pick
> > up on that. I just thought it was a coincidence.
>
> Aside from the obvious clues, it's a simple process of elimination. Of the
> three people who knew (other than Ally) Ling was the only one left who could
> have.
>
> Amletto di Milano
Oh, aren't we just the little Perry Mason today?
<g>
jaZZ md
--
"If I wanted to hear the pitter patter of little feet, I'd put tap shoes
on my cat."
--- unknown.
aml...@my-dejanews.com
> aml...@my-dejanews.com wrote:
> >
> > Aside from the obvious clues, it's a simple process of elimination. Of the
> > three people who knew (other than Ally) Ling was the only one left who could
> > have.
>
> Oh, aren't we just the little Perry Mason today?
Objection! Badgering the witness.
jaZZmanian Devil
> jaZZ:
> >> Oh, aren't we just the little Perry Mason today?
>
> Amletto:
> >>Objection! Badgering the witness.
>
> Permission to treat the witness as hostile, Your Honor? <snicker>
AAAAAAAAACCCCCKKKKKK!!!!!!!!!!
[runs screaming from the court room]
jaZZ md
--
"'That will happen on Usenet. It's a snap to gather up a darkling host.
The trick is to get them back in the old trunk under the bed when you're
through with 'em."
-- Bill Cleere
Stuart O. Bronstein
>Me:
>>>Sometimes I feel like I *am* a character on this show. If you're
>>>listening, Mr. K., I only live about 40 miles south of the Fox lot,
>>>and I have some singing and acting experience, and I could kick Ling's
>>>ass and Nelle's too, for that matter. <snicker>
>
>Stu:
>>>Kick their asses? But Bev! Neither one of them is even *married*!
>
>Okay, ya got me. What does *this* mean? Do I have to kick your ass,
>too? <G>
But Bev, I don't have a ... oh, wait a minute. I thought that when you
said "kick Ling's ass" you meant you would beat up her *husband*! Silly
me. Sorry for the misunderstanding.
--
Stu (delete * from email address)
A burro is an ass.
A burrow is a hole in the ground.
You'll be expected to know the difference.
--opening page of the Associated Press Style Book
Doru Cojoc
(shame on me, I know, I know) and I don't know why Biscuit is called
that. So, why?
Doru Cojoc
aml...@my-dejanews.com wrote:
> me...@my-dejanews.com wrote:
>
> > I agree totally. This one was my favorite so far.
>
> There were a lot of great, understated performances in this episode.
> Lucy Liu
> and Calista are the most obvious. I liked the moment when Elaine
> answered the
> phone and you could tell by her change of character from somewhat
> flightly to
> totally serious that it was bad news. Jane K. conveyed a lot with
> just few
> words and expressions.
>
Brandon Rowlett
This thread has been cut and snipped so much that I don't know who made
this comment, but here it is. What points to the idea that Ling hired
the blimp? It doesn't sound like it couldn't be a possibility, but
I didn't interpret it that way. I thought that there happened to be
a blimp hovering over, and then Ally, in one of her dreams saw the
words "Just Looking" (I think that was it).
Ling hired the blimp you say...hmmm...interesting interpretation. I like
it.
Brandon