Drop Dead Diva: The Final Farewell

After a final season that felt rushed, convoluted, and, at times, over the top, the series finale of Drop Dead Diva left a lot to be desired.

 

I can still hear viewers’ disapproval and disappointment over the left-field storyline of Stacy (Jane’s best friend and roommate) and Owen (Jane’s former fiancé) procreating and eventually getting engaged. The relationship felt forced, unrealistic (considering the serious circumnstances), and a stab in the back to fans who saw Stacy treat Fred like crap but still get a happy ending. Kim’s happy ending romance felt awkwardly shoved down our throats in about a 15 minute span of time. This season also saw too little of Teri, and her series finale return centered around a botched Star Search audition storyline. The explanation was like pulling teeth to get out and didn’t utilize the pizzazz and wittiness of Teri at all.

 

For a shining moment within the season, fans got to see Grayson and Jane embark on what looked to be their destined, happily ever after. However, a cheap shot to the gut from writers would send Grayson to his deathbed, and his soul into a new actor fans had to quickly adjust to; many never made it that far. Some fans were downright irate. I don’t know about you, but after five and a half seasons of heart flutters between Jane and Grayson, to expect instant chemistry between Jane and Ian to close out the final few episodes was asking a lot. Owen was especially upset over Jane's rebound to Ian and voiced his concerns several times. It felt more like a scorned lover fuming rather than a friend looking out for a friend, considering Jane and Owen hadn't really been friends since their tense break-up and his choice to impregnate Stacy. He spent the majority of the series finale acting like a huge d-bag taking out his angry feelings on Jane's client. It was despicable. At that point, the writers had to expect that  no one would really possess any positive emotions when he became a father. Further, there were no details about the twins; just a more than usual loopy Stacy.

During the rush of the finale and the final season in general, I was left with a lot of questions that were never answered:

1. Why wasn’t the series finale two hours? Not all shows need it, but I believe it would have helped alleviate some of rushed feeling.

 

2. What happened to Britney (the real Jane Bingum)? I loved her character and the last we saw, her heart was broken and she angrily called Jane out for failing to tell her about her mother's death before rushing off.

3. Let's be honest. I'm pretty sure fans' top favorite characters were Jane and Fred. So what became of Fred helping send Grayson back to earth in another body? Was he punished? Forced to start guardian angel training all over again? I would have appreciated Fred having a happy ending (and a cameo in the series finale).

4. Why didn’t Ian (the new Grayson) have his own personal guardian angel? That part just felt off as though the guardian angel unemployment rate was too high. Britney had a guardian angel, but viewers had to deal with Paul doing double duty for Jane and Grayson when he's barely been a good guardian angel to Jane. While I realize she was quite self sufficient, the transition from Fred to Luke to Paul was a continuous downward spiral.

5. Why did this show avoid following through with wedding ceremonies like the plague? Viewers never got a wedding but we saw plenty of wedding dresses.

Now that Drop Dead Diva has come to an end, I hope to see more of Brooke Elliott. Her personality, voice and smile are amazing and she shines on the screen. Since she left the firm I wouldn't mind seeing a spin-off show still starring her, but focusing on her own firm and fabulous adventures.  

What did you think of the Drop Dead Diva series finale? What would you have like to see happen differently? 

 

 

Drop Dead Diva: One More Thing...

The irony of the "Stacy is so...kind!" comments flooding in during episode 5.10 "The Kiss" was not lost on me. Considering this is the same person who fooled around with her co-star, got a big head, alienated her friends, attacked a real star, and kissed Grayson, all while dating Fred in season 3, makes Stacy the epitome of stank. However, when Fred returned to Heaven and took her memory of him, she got what I consider a restart on her life and from all the selfish choices she had made. I'll admit, Jane kissing Grayson on her wedding day to Owen was vile. However, she tried to make true amends to Owen (who made some mistakes of his own during the engagement period) and give him space to decide what he wanted to do moving forward. Therefore, the writers' current attempt to make Jane seem like the lowest of the low, in a perpetual state of atonement, while everyone around seems to commend Stacy's choice to get knocked up by and begin a relationship with her best friend (and roomate's) ex-fiance, is sloppy writing at its finest. The ratings have plummeted and I'm not surprised. No viewer appreciates their intelligence being insulted; especially not this viewer. This season has three more episodes with the season finale 5.13 titled "Jane's Secret Revealed." That seems to imply all Heaven is about to break loose with the possibility of a return from Fred not too hard to imagine. At this point, a cameo from Fred or Jane getting feisty and standing up for herself are the only two things that could really resuscitate this show for me. I don't need to see Jane ride off into the sunset with some man because, honestly, none of the former suitors of Jane are above par to me. And I think Jane has lost a lot of herself (x2) in her quest to pin down a love. We'll see what these next episodes hold. We shall also see if DDD gets a renewal for next summer....

Drop Dead Diva 5.8: 50 Shades of Grayson (Spoilers)

I'm not going to delve too deep into tonight's Drop Dead Diva 5.8 episode, "50 Shades of Grayson" because 1. I didn't see every scene and 2. the moral of the DDD story appears to be, "You can get a second chance at life, but your love life is going to stink and you won't get a happy ending. Oh and by the time you get to your third guardian angel, well he just won't really be around." Time to crank up Beyonce's "Single Ladies" and get your groove on, Jane.

Highlights:

Kim's water broke in the middle of a case and she attempted to push through, no pun intended, and surmised she would be back to finish up closing arguments after a lunch break and quick delivery of her baby. Tough gal.

Jane and Owen can apparently be civil, all things considered, while casually overlooking the fact that Stacy will most likely make Jane the godmother of her and Owen's future child.

Stacy got shot up with Owen's sperm and in The Back-Up Plan type scene, she sat in a hospital bed with her legs up figuring that she was presently conceiving Owen's child while simultaneously urging Jane to go confess her love to Grayson (again) because that didn't make the scene awkward at all.

Jane stumbled upon Grayson smooching Nicole and was heartbroken yet again.

Paul wasn't around.

Parker sold the firm which seemingly means everyone is out of a job...until you see the fall preview which shows everyone in their respective offices.

**Side note: Jill Andrews' cover of Trent Dabbs' "I'm Not OK", which was playing during the heartbreaking scene of Jane stumbling upon Grayson and Nicole, is going on my playlist ASAP.

What did you think about tonight's DDD episode? Did I miss any key highlights?


Now it's time to sound off on the poll below and in the comments section:

Will you be tuning into the fall return of Drop Dead Diva on Sunday, October 6?

Drop Dead Diva 5.6 "Fool For Love" (Spoilers)

**Update 8/2
We are less than 48 hours away from Drop Dead Diva episode 5.7, Miss Congeniality. The plot will be revolving around the left field twist of Stacy wanting Owen's sperm in order to birth the 'perfect' baby. If you haven't been paying attention to her storyline, Stacy attempted to be an actress, cheated on Fred, made out with Grayson, started a pakery business, sold the pakery business, wants a ba--SQUIRREL! Sorry, I got distracted. She now wants a baby. Oh boy. A preview was uploaded on Facebook, and just like I predicted Stacy accuses Jane of not truly wanting to be with Owen or she would never have kissed Grayson.

S: "Do you really think that I would have even asked if I thought for one second that you and Owen would get back together again?"

J: "Excuse me?"

S: "Jane, I don't believe that you still believe that you're gonna marry Owen. In fact, I don't even think that you want to marry Owen because if you had you would have nevvvver kissed Grayson."

J: "How dare you."

S: "How dare you! You are denying me the best, available genetic material for no good reason!"


The irony is that Fred did some guardian angel memory mojo on Stacey to forget about him and their relationship after she cheated on him, broke his heart, and tried to win him back.I guess she never wanted to be with him either. Needless to say, this storyline is wonky and unnecessary.

How do you feel about the DDD sperm donor storyline? What do you think of Stacy's actions? Do you think Owen will say yes?

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Maybe I'm not radical or quirky enough because the latest two major twists in Drop Dead Diva left me very disappointed. Has Drop Dead Diva jumped the shark? Is that what we've come to?! Coming off of last week when I was practically clicking my heels at the potential for Jane and Owen reconciling, I am now not left on the edge of my seat, but rather left with a lacking interest in seeing what comes next.

1. If you haven't noticed in my previous DDD posts, I am not a Stacy fan. Tonight, Stacy once again shows her selfish, shallow side (remember her cheating on Fred, and making out with Grayson?) as she tells Jane that she has decided that she wants Owen to be her sperm donor. Uh, seriously? What kind of friend is that? Mind you, she was only hours before advising Jane to touch Owen in order to re-ignite their spark.

2. Oh and speaking of sparks, Jane felt a spark upon accidentally touching Grayson, but not when she touched Owen. So we're back to that plot point, I guess. Womp. Clearly there would be an attraction to Grayson because they have history, but for there to all of a sudden be no spark with Owen is just wrong.

The preview clip for next week shows Stacy asking Owen for his sperm, despite Jane's hurt and disgust over the prospect. All the men in the world and Stacy picks the man her best friend is in love with? And not only men, we've had guardian angels inside her own home, one of which she completely blew it. Based on her actions, if Fred does make another cameo appearance, she definitely does not deserve him. Paul may not be the sharpest spoon in the drawer but I think this episode proved that he is very insightful, caring and loyal. But, no. Stacy wants Owen's sperm. I'm assuming she'll use some argument that Jane is the selfish one and if she truly appreciated Owen she never would have kissed Grayson, so why not let her have his sperm? Ugh. I'm hoping Stacy propositioning Owen for his sperm will help him realize that in having children, he'd want to have them with Jane.

Drop Dead Diva 5.5 “Secret Lives”

*Sap Alert*

 

This Monday morning I had a residual smile on my face because last night’s “Secret Lives” episode of Drop Dead Diva left me with happy thoughts. Considering over on HBO a popular character met his death on True Blood, I’m glad I stuck with DDD this week. It appears that Owen is finally opening back up to Jane and reconciliation between the love birds may be in the works. I hope the writers don’t fudge this up and instead take time with their relationship. I wouldn’t expect two people to rush back into something after all they’ve been through, but their mutual love and respect could help them mend fences. #TeamOwen

 

After working together on a murder case of a high-profile baseball player, where Owen was initially rude and abrupt again, Jane and Owen had a moment where he reluctantly let her know that her eyes still hypnotize him. Awww! Also, Owen has always loved the way Jane’s mind works, and you could see that admiration conveyed as he watched her represent their client. The episode ended on a high note for me as Owen unexpectedly stopped by Jane’s home and let her know that the success of their case was all on account of her. He then proceeded to apologize for acting like a jerk and allowing his personal feelings to intrude on his business feelings and actions. He asks her if she can forgive him and she tearily responds back of course she can forgive him. He smiles a big smile and Jane smiles back and tells him, “I miss that smile.” I’ve missed it too! Their chemistry is dynamic. Warm and fuzzies here, people.

 

Meanwhile, in Reboundville, Grayson is having frequent drinks and swapping spit with Kim’s new, younger assistant. Grayson is forever bouncing around from woman to woman (remember when he was engaged to the cute red head and then dated the eeevil Gina Blunt?) which is fine, I guess, if you’re a bachelor, but it is also one of the reasons I never wanted to see him with Jane. (Along with the fact they’ve all resembled Deb, not Jane.) I appreciate Jane and Owen’s relationship because though it has had its ups and downs, I believe their hearts always gravitate to one another. After Jane’s rejection I get that Grayson’s lonely and needs an ego boost, but seriously dude, don’t s**t where you eat. I have a feeling his new office hook-up is going to cause trouble.

 

The casting for this show is wonky to me because they removed the character of Parker due to what I heard were budget reasons, but added on Paul the angel who is barely ever around. This casting change immediately painted a seemingly well-liked Parker as a deadbeat who left his current, pregnant girlfriend and unborn child for his ex-girlfriend and son. Also, the need for an angel at this point is a bit played out since their main job is to keep Jane away from Grayson or from revealing her secret. Luke definitely dropped the ball on keeping Jane and Grayson from kissing, but considering Jane rejected Grayson’s subsequent desire for a relationship, I’d say she’s doing ok, but what do I know? What I do know is that the caliber of Jane’s angels have gone down since Fred, and since Stacy now wants to be a mom, it makes me think of Fred even more. (However, putting aside the fact that he’s an angel, I always thought Fred was too good for Stacy’s cheating ways.)

 

Also, has anyone ever wondered, since guardian angels are unsuspectingly walking around, that evil beings could be walking around, too, causing trouble? I was certain Gina Blunt (Mädchen Amick) from season 4 was some sort of devil wearing Prada considering she seemed to know and detest the angel Luke, she squirmed her way into Grayson’s love life, and she attempted to crumble the law firm of Harrison & Parker to the ground. They didn’t touch anymore on that storyline, but I certainly think it’d be an interesting one. 

What did you think of Drop Dead Diva “Secret Lives”? Are you happy to see Owen warming back up to Jane? What do you think of Grayson’s new love interest?

Hell Hath No Fury Like An Owen Scorned

If you had any question whether Owen was still extremely angry with Jane, Drop Dead Diva 5.4 episode "Cheaters" more than likely answered that question. I've been cheated on so I know how angry, hurt, and betrayed Owen is feeling, but considering he took the job as a partner of Jane's firm, a role that pits him as her boss and co-counsel at times, he seems to be using their propinquity to take out his frustration on Jane daily. Space and distance is usually the best course of action in breakup situations such as this but Owen hasn't had time to process his emotions so they're snowballing onscreen. Within the episode Owen proceeded to yell at Jane, forcefully reprimand her, question her morality (hence the title "Cheaters"), and treat her as if she is beneath him with an air of unforgiveness and superiority that, as a Team Owen fan, was actually hard to watch. He came off like a bit of a jerk who clearly wants Jane to feel his pain, but still loves her, which only fuels his temper more. Jane had the right idea to attempt to avoid him by timing his morning activities, but no such luck. It'll be interesting to see where their storyline goes considering that, despite her new found singleness and vulnerability, Jane didn't accept Grayson's romantic dinner gesture and declaration of love. The irony lies in the fact that she couldn't be that steadfast on the day of her wedding which brought us to this messy and tense situation.

What did you think of last night's episode of Drop Dead Diva? Do you agree with Owen's actions? What do you think their future holds?

Photo courtesy TVEquals (http://s2.tvequals.com/tv/up/2013/07/Drop-Dead-Diva-Season-5-Episode-4-Cheaters-16-550x366.jpg)

'Calamity' Jane

This past Sunday’s episode of Drop Dead Diva entitled "Surrogates" ended with Jane imploring with Owen to start over, a heartbroken and revealing speech by Owen, and the placement of Jane’s engagement ring on his desk in a move that appears to signify the conclusion of their relationship and any hopes of reconcilitation. (Tear.) Owen (played by Lex Medlin) delivered a raw and relatable speech of his feelings and mindset after Jane’s betrayal, during their wedding ceremony no less, of kissing Grayson.

 

“Before I met you, I was fine. Single, sure, but I was happy. I thought I had a rich and fulfilling life. And now that I’ve lost you, I feel lonely. Lonely…all the time. No matter where I am, or who I’m with, I feel….Alone.”

 

I don’t know if anyone else was feeling overwhelmed with emotion, but I was sobbing by the time he wrapped up with the word “alone” and Jane’s face showed a mix of both pain and understanding that her actions had broken them and she needed to let him go.

 

Honestly, I’ve been over the Jane/Grayson story for a while. In the beginning when Deb was getting used to being in Jane’s body and life, it made sense that the transition would still include residual feelings for Grayson, but after dating and many attempts from more than one angel to keep them apart, Jane still found her way back to Grayson. I had hoped that when Owen came into the picture and wooed Jane into a new, healthy romance that she’d move on from Grayson, but no such luck. Interestingly enough, after Jane and Owen had that messy break up last season with Owen going M.I.A. and having heart surgery, and Jane having a Ya-Ya Sisterhood burning of items from their relationship, Jane goes back and re-proposes to Owen touting faith in their love to see them through hard times. I’m guessing those hard times didn’t include her cheating. I don’t want to see Jane with Grayson, but when I think realistically about how I’d respond if I were in Owen’s shoes, despite the loneliness and residual love, I’d have to move on from Jane. However, Owen’s new position as a partner of Jane and Grayson’s firm will make for interesting storylines since that puts him around them both, often. Here’s hoping for another chance for Owen and Jane, but we’ll just have to wait and see. 

Are you hoping Jane and Owen get back together? Who do you think Jane will end up with?

Drop Dead Diva: Ashes to Ashes

SPOILER ALERT: Don’t read until after you’ve watched Drop Dead Diva "Ashes to Ashes".

I don’t think anyone was as anxious about the return of Drop Dead Diva last night as I was. I’ve given up hope on True Blood, so I had a two week wait for Drop Dead Diva: “Ashes to Ashes” and the bombshell explanation that was to come with Owen’s return. See, Jane and Owen’s relationship was similar to my last one in that it started off with skips and giggles, smooches and hugs and ended with him deciding to seemingly drop off the face of the earth without any communication. Yeah. Now, while my ex opted to return to his single and mingling days to leave me cleaning up the mess of a drive-by relationship, Owen had open heart surgery and was put into an induced coma.

What I found interesting about this episode was that while Jane was going through the pain and confusion of Owen returning only to formally withdraw his proposal, she was simultaneously representing a client who was fighting for possession of her deceased husband’s ashes in order to digest them for visions of her late husband to appear. While Jane seemed to lose hope with her client after that revelation, (interestingly enough considering she’s rolling two souls deep in her own body) it seemed to trip an emotional trigger in Grayson both for the understanding for the varied processes of grieving and the belief in the presence of her late husband’s spirit. He reveals to Jane that he went to therapy after Deb’s death, and he has a lingering belief that her spirit may be present in Jane.

I am an avid fan of Maya Angelou’s quote, “The first time someone shows you who they are, believe them. Owen mentioned in an earlier episode that he did not believe in the institution of marriage. Last night’s episode sealed the deal for me in that he kept Jane in the dark about his health condition and he lied as to his whereabouts before his heart attack and coma. He was already showing that the whole “in sickness and in health; til death do us part” wasn’t part of his mindset for their relationship. This was highlighted further when he returned, not to apologize for keeping Jane in the dark, but to withdraw his proposal and describe how his condition and surgery had changed him to the point of no longer wanting to continue their relationship. Now, Jane inferred that he was afraid of dying so he was choosing to not get close to her, but to me, real love is wanting to spend every minute with the person you’ve given your heart (figuratively) to because we never know when we could pass on. Why waste that time without the one you love if they’re willing to be with you through thick and thin? Jane’s client depicted the lengths someone would go, even after consuming the ashes began to make her sick, in order to maintain some semblance of a connection to her husband. Her love was not dictated by what others thought of her actions. (And there were definitely some grumbles, headshakes and gasps.) Jane, who Grayson describes as “never taking no for an answer”, decides to deflect Owen’s change of heart and propose herself. After a courtroom like argument from Jane, Owen finally accepts. Probably. I think. I’ve kind of felt like a tennis fan watching this relationship go back and forth. Call me old fashioned, but when someone withdraws a proposal that you never expected to hear anyway, I get an uneasy feeling about whether this is marriage will see the light of day.

Update: The beautiful and fabulous song playing during Jane's office proposal to Owen is "The Last Thing We'll Ever Do" by The Daylights

What did you think of the episode?

Drop Dead Diva: Legally Fabulous

First off, I can't tell you how fabulous Brooke Elliott is, who plays the lead character Jane Bingum on Lifetime's Drop Dead Diva. She's gorgeous, funny, strong, and smart all wrapped up into a character who essentially plays two roles simultaneously. Former actress and model Deb Dobkins died and her soul went into the body of 'plain Jane' lawyer Bingum upon a flatline due to a gunshot wound. Elliott plays Bingum with an intellectual sassyness, courtroom runway walk, and hair flip that creates a charming sensation onscreen. Drop Dead Diva is one of my favorite shows, but with it's timeslot conflicting with True Blood in the past, I often missed episodes and would try to catch up via DVR. However, with the lackluster appeal of True Blood recently, DDD is getting top tier of my viewing choice. 

While I love Elliott and the cases and plots of the show, season four of Drop Dead Diva has been especially frustrating for me solely based on the recurring characters intertwined in plot lines.Ummm, firstly, Kim Kardashian has the acting range of a waffle so her appearance on the show as the love guru named Nikki coaxing Stacey over to the dark side on the allure of cookies, while actually planning on stealing all of her money was difficult and very annoying to watch. While comically alluding to real life aspects of Kardashian's life, I was waiting patiently for Jane to slap the makeup off of Nikki who was clearly her archnemesis. Brandy's character Elisa had a prior relationship with Parker, then seeks his legal assistance eight years later, accepts his offer for a job when she faces legal troubles and, oops, decides not to reveal that they have a son together. However, this season, when their son, Eric, ventures to spend quality time with Parker it isn't too long before Elisa comes to take Eric away to Canada for a new job. She continues to refer to Eric as "her son" and how "they did just fine without him [Parker]" I was quickly tired of Brandy's character for using Parker when it was beneficial for her, but not allowing him to form a real relationship with his son.

Luke. There are a quite a few words that come to mind when I think of Luke but for the purpose of this blog, I'll leave most of them out. Rather than a guardian angel, Luke seems like some type of slickster who doesn't have Jane's best interest at heart, as Fred once did, as much as striving to eliminate Deb's spiritual presence altogether. He has gone out of his way, physically and magically, to keep Jane and Grayson apart, but when it came to keeping Jane from experiencing the heartbreak of Owen leaving her in last Sunday's episode, he was no where in sight. WTH? I'm ready for Fred to come back, or a new guardian angel to be assigned to Jane.

UPDATE: July 15, 2012 Drop Dead Diva A very emotional episode which brought an end to a few storylines. Or are they? Time will tell where the characters go from here. Rosi Golan's "Can't Go Back" playing at the end of the episode put a cap on my tear fest.

Photo courtesy of http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1280822/