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Tell Me You Love Me Update
2007-10-14 21:09
by Jon Weisman

Over the past two weeks, Dave (Tim DeKay) and Katie (Ally Walker) have pretty much taken over HBO's Tell Me You Love Me. The show on the whole has improved over time, but the almost seething tension between these two, particularly in the past two therapy sessions, has been the show's highpoint.

And they didn't even mention TiVo this week!

Comments
2007-10-14 22:31:50
1.   Bob Timmermann
They're like the Pieman and Chuck, but they don't touch each other because they are annoying.
2007-10-14 23:10:14
2.   Bob Timmermann
While the rest of "The Simpsons" was lackluster, the "Itchy & Scratchy" inside it was inspired.
2007-10-15 13:19:50
3.   dzzrtRatt
Another reason to watch that show: Michelle Borth (Jamie) is incredibly attractive. I don't really care what she's doing or saying. It's nice when she removes her clothing, but she's enjoyable dressed too. She's not the star of the show, but she's going to emerge from this show a star.
2007-10-15 13:54:32
4.   Jon Weisman
3 - Can't argue with that. I'm wondering how long, though, it will take her to catch on to the fact that if she's serious about wanting to settle down and make babies, she might be looking at the wrong kind of guys.

Of course, she has to learn to love herself first and all that.

Is it me, or does she not look like a "Borth." It just doesn't seem like a pretty enough name.

2007-10-15 14:32:36
5.   dzzrtRatt
4 I think the point of view of this show is that pretty much any guy is "the wrong kind of guy." Regardless of whether we're gainfully employed middle class dads or bearded kitchen workers, we're all weak, we all lie and we all carry a bunch of mean-spirited thoughts in our heads that only come out when we're forced to admit to them. We either hate children or use them as an excuse to avoid intimacy. And even if we've found the perfect woman (Michelle Borth), we're still looking for another one.

The theme of the show is really, "What are these women going to do about these awful men they're stuck with?" The men in the show are repellent, the women sympathetic. Even Jane Alexander's husband is playing weird games with her.

2007-10-15 15:30:43
6.   Jon Weisman
5 - I disagree with that. I think all three women on the show are clearly flawed, in different ways then the men.

Carolyn - wants children so much and so blindly, she isn't honest with herself about what it means to be a parent or the fact that her husband isn't allowed any feelings that could possibly upset her, however honest. She thinks she wants honesty from her husband, but when he gives it to her, she rebels.

Jamie - doesn't love herself. Can't stand to be alone with herself. Pursues unavailable men. She's nice and pretty but far from perfect.

Katie - this is tougher - she is the most sympathetic character on the show. But she's something of a martyr. While the burden for their not having sex is clearly on Dave, I haven't seen her actually do a whole lot to relax or entice him. Her method is basically is to wait until they're alone at the end of the day and hope he makes the first move, then stew when he doesn't. She puts Dave on the defensive a lot - rightly or wrongly, this is not likely to build a healthy sex life.

I find Carolyn almost as unsympathetic as Palek, if not more so. Both are pretty dreadful. Palek is selfish, and Carolyn is like a steamroller ... no one is allowed to be happy if she's not happy, and most of the time, she's not happy.

2007-10-15 20:16:18
7.   dzzrtRatt
I didn't mean to suggest they weren't flawed or didn't make mistakes in their relationships. But the men seem almost loathesome. Dave's two rants in therapy were vicious and cruel, and his door-locking completely subverted the point of their therapy. Jamie is at least open and honest with herself about her own insecurities and where they're leading her, whereas her ex-fiance behaved in a cowardly fashion. This guy did plan on marrying her, after all. As for Carolyn and Palek, I agree that Carolyn is unlikeable. But Palek comes off like a mean little twit. Maybe it's the actor they chose to play him. If I had a sister and she brought this guy home as her fiance, I'd've bribed her to drop him.

I don't have a problem with the show being unbalanced, however. From a dramatic point of view, if this show was really about how everybody's OK, it wouldn't be as interesting. There needs to be an antagonist in every story. So far, it seems to me it's the men.

2007-10-15 20:28:06
8.   Jon Weisman
I getcha.
2007-10-16 05:43:53
9.   D4P
Haven't seen episode 6 yet. Just introduced my wife to the show, and she is really into it.

Katie needs to learn to be assertive and direct with Dave. Maybe he "should" have interpreted "I'm going to take a shower (to wash my steak hair)" to mean that she was gonna clean up for sex, but she "shouldn't" expect him to have to make such interpretations. She probably fears being rejected if she explicitly offers/asks for sex, so the indirect method gives her an out if Dave doesn't take the bait.

Dave doesn't want to talk about anything or acknowledge that anything is wrong, so when he finally talks, it comes out in a huge rant. Their story is a classic example of bad communication. Each expects the other to read minds.

2007-10-16 09:04:50
10.   Jon Weisman
9 - I was trying to say that in 6 . You said it better.
2007-10-16 21:50:24
11.   dzzrtRatt
Katie and Dave both fascinate and mystify me. Katie seems to be afraid to find out why Dave has no interest in having sex with her. Instead, she asks questions around the question, such as "Do you still find me attractive?" or "Are you having an affair?"

He clearly still has some kind of libido.

What was the nature of what Katie found on Dave's computer? I couldn't make it out. Was it anything? I didn't get it.

2007-10-17 05:34:29
12.   D4P
From what I could tell, Katie didn't find anything naughty on the computer. She visited the MILF site herself and then deleted the history.

The Jamie-Nick storyline is even more annoying than Jamie-Hugo. I have a hard time feeling sympathy for her. Her "problems" are entirely the result of her own choices, and the outcomes of her choices are easily predictable. Yawn.

So, are we supposed to think that C & P had been talking about putting the house on the market, or did P really come out of nowhere with that decision, without consulting C first? Course, C didn't consult P about virtually any aspects of the pregnancy efforts/pregnancy testing/fertility testing/insemination, so maybe that's just how they roll.

2007-10-17 11:47:21
13.   dzzrtRatt
I think Palek makes his living as a house-flipper. Perhaps that's supposed to symbolize his detachment from family life.

Of all the decisions made by this show's creators, the decision to name this character "Palek" was the strangest, followed by casting "Palek" with an actor who looks like Satan's hipper cousin.

2007-10-17 12:24:52
14.   D4P
"Hugo" isn't much better than "Palek".

I initially thought I would loathe Palek, but I actually find myself liking his character quite a bit. I like how forthright he is in his speech.

2007-10-17 13:36:05
15.   Jon Weisman
13 - LOL.

I thought he was a builder.

2007-10-17 13:42:12
16.   D4P
I thought he was an architect.

But I did read somewhere that he flips houses.

I have found myself laughing more during the past few episodes. Not a lot, but more.

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