'Bred Crumbs

Raymond's Gone, and I'm Not So Blue

As if we need to look for even more divisions within this country, "analysts" are scanning network television schedules, looking for signs of the Rupture (as foretold in semi-cancelled prophecy). One suggests that Everybody Loves Raymond represents red states, and Arrested Development is preferred blue-state viewing.

Which lands me again squarely in the purple, since I'm not a fan of either one. If forced to make a choice, I'd go with Raymond, since it at least meets the minimum sitcom requirements of occasionally being funny.

If Raymond does really represent red values, that explains a lot about the resistance to gay marriage, and the resentment of gays overall. It would mean that red-staters (who, for the sake of this lame argument, we'll pretend are a homogenous mass) have become convinced that society requires not just that everyone marry someone of the opposite gender, but in fact that people must be married to someone of the opposite gender that they can't stand.

I missed Raymond's big finale this week, but I'll assume the series reached its logical conclusion and everyone snapped and brutally murdered each other, right?

I did catch this week's Lost, which after weeks of blatant padding has arrived at its season finale and decided to be worth watching again. It created actual suspense; provided three truly touching moments; served up a flashback platter of everyone's memories of the day of the flight; and brought back the crazy French woman, delivering unto the camp dire warnings, plot points and mysterious tales of The Dark Ones and their war a thousand years ago*. Above all, it left us with a sense that next week's cliffhanger might really have a punch to match the hype.

To be followed next season by 20 episodes of meandering uselessness.

Cynicism. That's a blue-state thing, isn't it?

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* Oops, sorry; that's what she was always going on about on Babylon 5.**

** I totally stole that joke from Robbie. I have no idea what anyone went on about on Babylon 5, except that half of it was barely disguised Lord of the Rings references.

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