I loved how Porter and his sidekick of the week were driving along
and then suddenly they met the Burka Sisters.
I’ll keep my crack about what they wanted in case some of you are cheating and looking at the spoilers when you shouldn’t.
And of course, as any good little RA fan would, I thought of this.
Also, it was wonderful to have another tottie in the show. Could we have that on a regular basis? Doesn’t have to be every week but maybe every other week.
That’s all I can think of right now. Oh, and of course don’t forget about dealing with HD and getting that make-up looking realistic all the time. It wasn’t quite right in Episode 5. I’m available for the placement of facial hair if you need someone.
Screencaps courtesy of RobinHood2006.com and my own stash.
Strike Back. Strike Back. Strike Back. All I need is a Bic lighter.
MAJOR, MAJOR SPOILERS
Do you think Sky will make some more of these? I hope so. No, it’s not that intellectually stimulating and there are plot holes you could drive a truck through, but I don’t care! It reminds me of another show I used to watch called J.A.G. It alternated between shoot ’em up and pure schmaltz most of the time. Much more than this show. But I fell in love with the characters. Love of character can cover a multitude of sins. If I never was quite sure of that, I am after watching Robin Hood. So I would like a chance to love these characters. As much as I like RA, I don’t love his character or the other characters yet like I did Harmon Rabb or Mac or Bud or the one I really loved, Admiral Chegwidden, and certainly don’t love him like I do Guy and his bunch. But I might work myself up to it. ;-) Just need to see more of them.
But I have one piece of advice. Please, please, please don’t have John Porter cry anytime soon. It was bad timing and all wrong in this episode. I love RA’s acting, but that little piece of writing sucked. Porter needs to be taking names and kicking ass 98% of the time. Yes, I still want to see Beta but not like that.
I guess I have more than one piece of advice. Can the daughter angle just be completely done away with if the show continues? That really limits him. and I’d like to see him, uh, unfettered. I’m sure I’m going to catch it for that statement, but hey, do we want the show to continue or not? A single dad on the run all the time in God knows where? Really? There are writers good enough to pull that off? Somehow with this bunch I doubt it.
We need to see him getting out of scrapes
and messing with people’s heads
and, well, this post will have to be two parts otherwise it will take a week to load.
I thought RA was so fantastic looking in this episode that I didn’t even care about the plot. I mean I completely ignored the plot for my first viewing of this one. Well, that and I could not understand but maybe three words this guy said:
I think Bruce Dern had a fling with someone in Scotland and this was the result.
Then there was Toby Stephens. Toby doing the American thang. He really sounded American. I didn’t hear one bobble, and I even played this show again in slower motion so I could understand the Scottish guy. Toby’s got the American accent down. My only complaint is do we always have to be the bad guys? Can’t the British come up with something more original? Maybe that is original for them. But to many of us here, I think we’re sick of it. [off soapbox]
Thankfully, I was so overcome with RA’s beauty that I didn’t care what the Scottish guy said and wasn’t that interested in Toby or the Americans.
It can’t just be me and some of the rest of you who think that is one fine looking man. Would someone PLEASE give him a great role!! It’s almost too much to think he looks like this AND he’s a great actor too. Oh, I’m a little biased. Yes, I’m biased! But he is a really fine actor and fine looking as well. I don’t think that’s unrealistic at all.
One other thing about the Americans. Why do we always sound dumber than everyone else? Or am I getting a complex about this? LOL!
Oh wait. A closeup.
Okay my fangirling got a little out of hand, but since I’ve gone anonymous, I’m trying to make the most of it.
Deadgum! The Strike Back production needed someone to doctor the make-up on some of the actors, and I was nowhere around to volunteer (I’m a quick study).
Did you get a look at some of the beards?
I’m sorry this one is blurry, but if it were any clearer, it would look even more fake. I haven’t been to Afghanistan or Pakistan lately, well, never actually, but I’m having a hard time thinking the beards look like this. Or maybe I’m not well traveled, and really the guys there look like they have black Ferbies on their jaws.
I knew something was wrong when I was distracted from RA. He was looking mighty fine, and I still couldn’t keep from noticing the beards. Oh, the hazards of HD.
Here’s another one, and no, that’s not a scarf around his neck.
A few more so maybe you can become proficient in how a beard should not look. That’s in case you’re ever called on to be a make-up artiste any place within 100 yards of RA. Yeah, I realize these guys aren’t RA, but hey, would you care if he were standing somewhere nearby?
Okay, so this last one is starting to look a little real.
This one is definitely looking real. I had to post it. Love that jawline.
Spoilers galore for ‘Strike Back” in the video below
Notes to self:
Mantra: this show is a ride. DelicateBlossom gets it. Somehow I knew she would. Let’s hope the producers don’t mess it up by making an identity crisis where there should be none. The whole point of an action flick is to appeal to the viscera and not so much about thinking. It’s about going along for one helluva ride and feeling things rushing at you as you go. Don’t think so much; feel. I realize this is hard for some of us, but give it a chance. You might like it, and it might lead to a deeper meaning than all the thinking can derive.
Note to self: this may be the post that makes me glad I’m anonymous.
So I watched Episode 3 of Strike Back, and I got to see RA’s ass. I would say peaches, but hey, I’m anonymous, and there’s no point in a euphemism when I’m thinking ass and can say ass. Come to think of it, I would say ass even if I weren’t anonymous.
Terms aside, the reason I might be glad to be anonymous is that some of you might not be happy with me mentioning that I had a thought RA is a bit of a hedonist. Then again acting by its nature is somewhat hedonistic, so what’s the big deal? Hmmm. I don’t know except that I’m wrestling with this idea that he is a reluctant sex symbol, tottie, object. It’s kind of hard to believe that when I’ve gotten to look at him in almost all his glory on two occasions in less than a year. Not that I’m complaining. But since I’m sharing my innermost thoughts about all things RA, I thought I would throw this in as well. Oh, and I want to keep this blog “safe for work,” so I’m not posting the picture. Trust me there’s only a little left to the imagination. I’ll throw in a picture from before and after the scene.
By the way, this is the second program with RA that SO has watched, and it’s going to be interesting to see how or if he ribs me about the scene in question. He probably will since he loves to tease, and he’s good at it.
Just got done watching. Hopefully, he’ll tell me enough about what he thinks that I can post it here, and yes, he’s fine with me posting his review even though he doesn’t get to read the blog.
One thing I will relate is during the prison scene when JP is having a flashback of sex with Danni, SO was nodding his head and saying, “Yeah, that’s one of the things I’d be thinking about if I were stuck in a hell hole of a prison.” What a shock.
Screencaps courtesy of RichardArmitageNet.com
edit: yes, exhibitionist is a better fit than hedonist, but I couldn’t quite bring myself to use that word at the time of this post. And I don’t feel that way any longer.
There are spoilers, and then there are spoilers galore. This is a post with spoilers galore. You have been warned.
I’m cross eyed after watching Strike Back episodes 3 & 4. That’s not a slam. I usually get cross eyed after I’ve been on a roller coaster. This is even more intense because I usually close my eyes on a roller coaster, but for this I couldn’t look away.
Perhaps every post on Strike Back from here on out will be tagged PHWOAR. What can I say? The dude is sexy, and he’s sexy in just about any form I’ve seen him. Even as the shaggy looking John Standring. This man would look sexy in a burlap bag. But enough of that fangurling, I have serious matters to discuss. Such as his wonderful blood smears and splatters. Servetus mentioned how the camo paint went well with his eyes. I think the blood is a nice contrast. Especially on his upper body and sometimes on his pants, but of course pants are optional (more on that later).
Yeah, you’re right, this picture isn’t from Eps 3 or 4. It’s from Ep2, but will you and I ever get tired of looking at it? I doubt it.
Okay, now I really am going to be serious. Maybe it’s just me, but the one thing I cannot stand in an action flick is trying to inject a conscience where it doesn’t belong. Take this scene (SPOILER AHEAD):
Strike Back is more of a ride than a statement. If this show gets confused about that, it’s going to ruin it. Do we need a sanctimonious nun? Did we need a sanctimonious monk? How about we just let RA do his thing. He can play the killing machine and the conscience of the piece with superb balance. He’s that good in my opinion. It would have been so much more powerful if the Sister had prayed and stopped there. I guess it’s assumed that action flick audiences need the conscience stated, and that’s what I don’t like about action flicks.
But this scene was a wonderful reason to have him stand shirtless for an extended period of time. I just didn’t notice until I was writing this entry. ;-)
WARNING: Spoilers in this post especially including the video!
I would have said thoughts, but I have to use words like cogitation occasionally. Then I don’t feel guilty about how I’m using that expensive education my parents paid for (oops, another sentence ending in a preposition; good thing this blog’s anonymous).
So I’m watching Strike Back, and it gets to this scene (SPOILERS AHEAD!):
and I remember what I like about most action flicks. They have Alpha males! Oh, I know what you’re thinking. Alpha is the guy who smashes beer cans on his head and has little or no respect for women. No, no. You’re wrong. Alpha is not just the guy who needs a shag and likes to handle guns and is good at handling guns, and wants to do damage to someone with the guns. He’s also the guy who kicks the door in and saves the damsel, and the damsel loves him for it and thinks about following him to the ends of the earth. When John Porter says trust me, I do.
I’m so glad RA is getting to play an Alpha again. My first introduction to him was as an Alpha male — John Thornton. The character I’m most fond of is an Alpha male — Guy of Gisborne (when he’s not kissing the Sheriff’s ass). But Alpha isn’t enough, and those characters are not successful just being Alphas. What women want and most men have not figured out is that we want Beta too. John Thornton and Guy proved they had some Beta, and it only made them more attractive. Conversely, of RA’s characters who are primarily Betas, they are even more attractive when Alpha emerges: Harry Kennedy when he wants Geraldine to pay up on her “debt,” John Standring when he runs off Andrew, Paul Andrews when he’s manifesting Alpha in the most elemental way, Lucas North when he’s taking the rich guy down in the pool. Imagine how dull these Betas would be without Alpha.
I’m not so sure we’ve really seen John Porter’s Beta. Maybe just a little peek in the beginning when he’s interacting with his 10 year old daughter, and of course when he spares the Iraqi boy. But that’s not enough for an RA character. RA likes to balance these enough to make things really interesting. We don’t have enough of Porter’s Beta yet. We need a little more, but oh, don’t slack on the Alpha while you’re at it.
I stumbled on a blog that gets the importance of the Alpha/Beta mix. The blogger gets it so well that I had a fleeting thought it’s really a woman writing the blog. His name even sounds like a woman’s when you say it really fast (ducking in case he reads any of the links to his blog). He is so dead on that it’s scary. Oh, I don’t think he’s dead on about everything, but he’s got women figured out fairly well — at least what turns most of them on. Yes, it’s just my opinion. Feel free to disagree, and I know some women do. LOL!
Here’s what he says about Alpha/Beta mix:
I generally disagree with the entire Alpha = good, Beta = bad mindset. You really need to have both Alpha Traits and Beta Traits in a marriage to really hit the sweet spot of happiness and sex. The blog is still new, but believe me I’m going to sound like a broken record on this point as the years play out.
If you’re a decent Beta, the solution is to add Alpha traits, not reduce Beta Traits and add Alpha. It’s not a zero-sum game where you can be either Alpha or Beta, but not both. You can and must be both. You still hold a job down, play with the kids, listen to how your wife spent her day, do housework etc. That’s all vital comfort building goodness. She likes and needs that to feel comfortable, like you’re invested in the relationship and family. These things are not “turn ons”, but lacking them makes them “turn offs”.
I sometimes hear that Alpha females do not want Alpha males:
The alpha girl doesn’t need Mr Alpha to sweep her off her feet and buy her a condo in town; she has enough money to do that herself. She is successful, confident and she wants a caring man who can pick up some of the domestic slack.
Oh, a caring Beta is great, and I may not need an Alpha to sweep me off my feet, but I WANT ONE! and SO delivers. He flexes his Alpha enough that I know it’s not eclipsed by his wonderful Beta. I have several little SOs running around to prove that.
Speaking of SO, I think he’s going to love this show. Especially if it doesn’t make Alphas look like morons. Actually, to SO there is no such thing as Alpha/Beta. He thinks all of that is crap. To him it just means being a man who has the usual wants and needs of a man and of course the usual responsibilities. Okay, maybe there is no Alpha, but it’s fun to think about it, and certainly fun to watch it!
P.S. If Porter and Layla are not going to have some Alpha fun at some point, then I wasn’t watching the right show. Can’t wait to see how that plays out.
WARNING: Spoilers in this post — specifically in the video.
The sane side of me reared its ugly head and came up for air.
Last week I feasted steadily on the interviews for Strike Back. Oh, it was good, and I felt really satisfied at times, but the hunger was back the next day. Finally, at the end of the week, I was sick from consuming so much. I needed time to digest.
This is helping me get back to my crazy self:
Maybe it’s just me, but I don’t remember having quite so much press hype to gorge on with Spooks 8, and I was darn near starved to death with Robin Hood 3. Plus, RA seemed to be merely doing his duty promoting those shows, but I wanted to hear more of his take on character development, his personal development, and life in general. There was only one interview during Spooks 8’s promotion that stands out (more on that later). This time around I didn’t know which one to consume first and they’re still coming fast and furiously. Throw in some titillating comments from RA about possibilities, and it’s enough to make me pass out. A Guy of Gisborne spinoff?! I think that was either a crack or a crumb. Not sure which yet, and I’m not really sure it was for us fans anyway. I tend to think it’s for potential producers. He does mention a lot that he likes to work. Is there a producer crazy enough or creative enough to bring a Gisborne spinoff to the telly?
On a more serious note, I love Maria’s treatment of some of the interviews. I’m still digesting.
But what I know today is RA reveals a lot about himself to the point that I feel like a voyeur and a child. Sometimes he has a childlike quality in his discussions that evokes that response from me. Oh, I don’t mean he’s immature. If anything, he articulates his observations as an old sage, but it’s couched in terms of childlike wonder and a candidness that is seldom seen in adults, and certainly not in adults who are in the media. Again, the media types only seem to spin themselves for our consumption, so any childlike quality is designed merely to endear us to them and not because they really love to discover things about life. Maybe that’s what’s happening and I just like RA so much I don’t want to believe I’m being played. See what a cynic I am. I can’t just enjoy this. I’ve got to analyze it to death. I’ve got to question my reaction and his motives. SO has said many times that I question everything that moves and if it doesn’t, I kick until it does to the point where I beat the joy out of it. Maybe he’s right.
Oh, and my apologies for so many food analogies. I started a new eating regimen to accommodate my new jacked up exercise routine. I’ve returned to eating six meals a day, and it seems I can’t stop thinking about food even when I want to.
Next up: my thoughts on Episodes 1 & 2 of Strike Back, which I really am writing for myself. If you guys get something out of it, then goody. Otherwise, it’s placed here so the family doesn’t have to listen to it. LOL!
I have often found myself asking that question when I read an interview with Richard Armitage. His answers are almost perfect. Oh, my bias is showing. But let me explain. He gives answers that I actually ponder far longer than my reading requires. He also seems to have his profession in perspective and isn’t quick to believe his own press. As if that’s not enough to convince me he’s got his head on straight, he’s willing to admit he is still learning and his perspective is subject to change — more to ponder. This kind of thoughtfulness and candor is refreshing with anyone no matter what they do for a living. But to find it in an actor?
I guess I’ve been prejudiced in thinking actors are mostly caricatures and somewhat superficial and almost never thinkers. At least that’s how it seems when they’re confronted with an interviewer. Some of them state the obvious and never anything of interest that a casual observer couldn’t conclude. Kind of like the typical interview with a footballer who’s asked post-game how his team got the victory. He often responds, “We scored more points.” I would think they were making a joke, but their demeanor doesn’t suggest they’re being facetious at all. They usually have a wide eyed look about it all. I’ve often wondered if these athletes realize we already know that. Similarly, actors seem to think that they’re letting us in on something, but the reality is that we mostly get to witness their posturing, the spinning of their personalities for public consumption and hopefully increase in ticket sales or ad revenue or whatever it is that puts cash in their hip pockets. Whatever is actually happening, I almost always come away with a hollow feeling.
But I’ve never felt that with Armitage. With him I actually have to think at times. Quite simply he gives food for thought, and it’s because his comments make it clear that he thinks and mostly like a sane person and not someone inside the show biz bubble. Even this seemingly benign interview is interesting. Mostly for its unfailing honesty about the hassle to continually keep up appearances almost 24/7. Yuck.
From Times Online
April 27, 2010
The inside track: Richard Armitage
Fresh from filming the TV drama, Chris Ryan’s Strike Back, Spooks star Richard Armitage, 38, gives us his health report
Melissa van der Klugt
I’m normally one of those people who, unless you shove a sandwich in my hand, would forget to eat. The last diet I went on was in training for Strike Back and it involved six small meals a day to keep my blood-sugar level high. It was carbs during the morning and two shakes a day. I kept this up for 18 weeks of filming in South Africa, because you’re often on your feet for 12 or 13-hour days.
For Spooks I lost a stone.My character had just come out of a Russian prison after eight years. I had to weigh everything I ate and not eat too late.
I am always jumping off things on set, on an adrenaline high. At the end of a take people suddenly run up to me waving cotton swabs because I am bleeding and I haven’t noticed. Strike Back was the most physical role I have taken on and I had to work hard with an ex-military instructor to build up my physical mass and strengthen my ankles and wrists so that I wouldn’t injure myself.
I follow the Alexander Technique for 15 minutes each morning. It’s a way of helping my vocal production and control, but when my stress levels are high during filming, it gives me a break. I lie on the floor with a book over my head while I focus on the exercise. On the shoot in South Africa I fell asleep pretty much every time I did it.
I don’t take risks enough in my life. As I’m always under contract, I’m restricted by what I can and can’t do with myself, so skiing is my nirvana. I have been skiing for the past few years and being in the mountains is very therapeutic. You’re up above the clouds, it feels remote. When you’re skiing just faster than is safe there is a thrilling combination of risk and freedom.
Read the rest here ( if necessary, click again to make legible).
RAFrenzy 
