Showing posts with label Elena. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Elena. Show all posts
Friday, May 17, 2013
Ben Sherman -- Epilogue, Part 2
AFRICA, THREE YEARS LATER
It is already hot as the sun rises up over the valley in the middle of this ancient continent. This ancient continent where families and lives were once ripped apart by those who thought bartering in humans was a God-given right. This ancient continent full of a multiplicity of cultures. War-ravaged in some places, disease-ridden in others, but full of great beauty and majesty and life. Life wild and free, alongside life shackled and oppressed. Great poverty and great riches, sometimes in one place.
She lies next to me -- this woman, my woman -- breathing softly. Her skin soft and brown and warm. The dark curls of her hair gently brushing my shoulder. Her belly swollen with the child. Breasts full and ready to give milk to a new babe. Soon he will come. Or she. I don't know. The woman -- the lovely woman whom I love -- doesn't want to know, so the decision is made. We will be surprised. Isn't life just one long surprise, anyway? We plan, God laughs -- isn't that what they say?
Who knew, almost three years ago, that my life would come to this? Who knew that my life would come to anything? Fuck 'em all, I thought to myself back then. Sammy and Cooper, Brooke -- fuck 'em all.
They were rather awkward, those initial days after my confrontation with Sammy. I mean, we couldn't work together, anymore. Not one more day. Sammy pulled some strings, got us new partners. Not too many questions were asked. Hell, I thought. I'm taking the Detectives' Exam, anyway. I'll be out of this fuckin' squad car in a few months. And I should have been. I got the second highest score ever recorded in the department. But, the promotion got "held up." One fuckin' excuse after another. No one ever said it directly, but I know that fucker Sammy was responsible. It became clear to me that I was going to be riding in that patrol car forever -- or humpin' the pine. I had been blackballed -- by the guy who told me that "you always have your partner's back, especially when he's wrong." That fucker.
And then there was Cooper. Brought down by his own team, he lived through it all. But, after all that -- after his own psycho trip -- he still thought he was better than me. The guy pistol-whips his neighbor, disgraces himself after almost 25 years on the job, and he has the audacity to treat me with disdain when I go visit him. Maybe I stretched my authority a bit in going after a few bad guys, but they were the BAD GUYS. Not some Joe Lunch Bucket who couldn't pay his electric bill.
The one bright star amongst all this fucked-up crap? Elena. I really did love Elena. Not like I love the woman who lies next to me now, the woman large with my child. But, I did love her. She was the little bit of light in the middle of all my darkness -- as corny as that sounds. And Brooke knew it, too. I should have been more careful with Brooke. Should have taken her unstable behavior more seriously. I was a cop, after all. But, I wasn't willing to admit to myself what I knew deep down to be the full extent of her anger, of her hatred. Because if I admitted that to myself, I would have had to admit that maybe I was a little bit responsible for it. Yes, she was crazy. That wasn't my fault. But, in how I treated her -- in how I screwed around on her -- I probably did tip the scales a bit. Probably did uncage the beast that was inside of that tiny lady. And now one lives in an institution, unable to even feed herself. And one lives in prison. Elena didn't mean to cause that trauma to Brooke's brain. Brooke, after all, did start the fight. The fight that ended in a fall when Elena pushed Brooke away from her. And when a head meets concrete violently, the head doesn't stand much of a chance. I really didn't think Elena would face prison time. It seemed a simple matter of self-defense to me. Evidently, the D.A. saw things differently. He maintained that Elena used unnecessary force. And the D.A. prevailed.
So, that's how it was. That's where I was. Trapped in a life I had never anticipated. Looking for a way out. The usual escapes -- sex, alcohol -- they weren't doing it, anymore. And the other cops? They were polite, professional. But, they were no longer my comrades.
So, I made a decision. A decision that involved putting into practice one of the things I had learned from John Cooper -- skimming pills from perps I took into custody. (Of course, Cooper always denied that he did this. I never fuckin' believed him, though. No sane person would. The guy was a fuckin' addict. And addicts say whatever they need to say.) Nobody noticed a few pills missing here and there -- especially when I made sure I was the one to book the things into evidence. It only took a few months, and I had enough to do what I needed to do. Kill myself. You may wonder why I didn't just eat my gun. Basically, I was too polite for that. Didn't want anyone to have to clean up after me. And there were Olivia and Chloe to think about. And my mother. Chances were, it would have been one of them who found me. And I didn't want them to find a bloody mess. With the pills, it would have been far more peaceful -- for me and for all the rest of 'em. I go to sleep and they find me that way. A fuckin' Sleeping Beauty -- guy version. Except, no kiss could or would have magical powers in this rendition of that classic tale.
To be continued...
Wednesday, April 10, 2013
"SouthLAnd" -- I Look To "Reckoning" While Eating My Words
I would normally write this post tomorrow, after I had time to digest all the happenings of tonight's "SouthLAnd" episode. Due to circumstances beyond my control, though, I will be unable to blog for the next several days. So, I'm going to get some basic thoughts down and maybe come back to it next week, before the season finale.
My insides are still trembling from the happenings of this evening's show.
And I have to eat my words. At least some of them.
Ben is bad. As my daughter said, "Ben is bad. BAD, BAD, BAD, BAD, BAD." Yep. Totally and completely bad. I knew he had Elena's brother break into Sammy's house to steal the tape and some other stuff -- to make it look like a robbery. But, I admit, I didn't think he had it in him to have the young idiot wreck the place. I also believed he wouldn't want it to look like the gang had broken into Sammy's home. I thought Ben would figure that Sammy would go after Strokeface. But, I FORGOT one very important thing. Sammy had discouraged Ben from going after the gangsters who allegedly shot Mendoza. So, I guess Ben thought this meant that Sammy wouldn't go after Strokeface. Leave it to me to forget such an important piece of information. I guess it's a good thing I'm not a detective. If I were a detective, I'd have to have the world's greatest and most detailed detective notebook, or I would completely blow all my cases. But, Ben also forgot one very important fact. The fact of TESTOSTERONE and that Sammy has plenty of it. No self-respecting cop dude is going to let a gang break into and wreck his house and say to himself, "It's ok. I'm cool. I'll just relax and do the logical thing and let the detectives handle it." HA! Ben should have, as a guy himself, realized this. "Pride goeth before the fall," is the old saying. And Ben certainly has plenty of pride. Enough for several people, in fact. And it seems that his pride got in the way of his planning.
And I must apologize to Sammy. He is a saint. Well, maybe not a saint exactly. But, the questionable things he does are in NO WAY comparable to the crap Ben pulls. And when Sammy does wrong, his conscience does get the better of him and he backs away from the abyss. Ben just plunges over the edge. So, Sammy -- I am VERY, VERY sorry. I grovel in the dust at your feet. Although, I'm still not convinced you didn't steal the money from the robbery.
So, what can we expect from next week's season finale? I know Ben McKenzie tweeted that he is doing the pilot of his new show in second position to a sixth season of "SouthLAnd." I know he has stated that he loves "SouthLAnd" and wants to remain. I don't know what he will remain as, though. Is he going to join forces with Elena and her brother, going south of the border and eventually establishing himself as the new head of a big drug cartel? He certainly has the personality for that. "SouthLAnd" could go on for several more seasons, with the LAPD waging war against "Ben Sherman's Drugs 'R' Us." Heck, he could throw a little arms dealership in on the side. Maybe he will be caught, though, and he will spend Season 6 in prison, with much drama swirling about him. In my last post, I discussed the fact that Sammy is going to be in a helicopter in Episode 10, and I joked that perhaps he is chasing Officer Ben. Well, now I think I might have (inadvertently) been correct. Although, unlike I jokingly stated in that last post, there probably won't be any "Happily Ever After" for Ben Sherman.
It's possible that Ben McKenzie will do his new show -- "The Advocates" -- while occasionally popping by "SouthLAnd" to be on trial or run the cartel (or the bar, if he does get that happy ending I dreamed up for him). I don't know if that would be allowed in television land, though. It would be one heck of a contract negotiation.
I also heard a little something that made me believe that "The Advocates" is being looked at as one of the hot new shows for the upcoming season. So, was Ben McKenzie's tweeting just a little purposeful misinformation meant to throw us off track? Or, am I wrong again, like I was in thinking Officer Sherman hadn't done all of those wicked things? Time will tell...
And if Mr. McKenzie's tweeting was purposeful misinformation, I must admit that I will have a hard time believing anything he says ever again. But, I'll always be a fan. ;-)
Oh, one final thought. How is it that Brooke thinks that by giving b-jobs to all the other cops she is somehow going to make Officer Ben feel repentant or bad or whatever??? That girl makes no sense. But, she is colorful.
My insides are still trembling from the happenings of this evening's show.
And I have to eat my words. At least some of them.
Ben is bad. As my daughter said, "Ben is bad. BAD, BAD, BAD, BAD, BAD." Yep. Totally and completely bad. I knew he had Elena's brother break into Sammy's house to steal the tape and some other stuff -- to make it look like a robbery. But, I admit, I didn't think he had it in him to have the young idiot wreck the place. I also believed he wouldn't want it to look like the gang had broken into Sammy's home. I thought Ben would figure that Sammy would go after Strokeface. But, I FORGOT one very important thing. Sammy had discouraged Ben from going after the gangsters who allegedly shot Mendoza. So, I guess Ben thought this meant that Sammy wouldn't go after Strokeface. Leave it to me to forget such an important piece of information. I guess it's a good thing I'm not a detective. If I were a detective, I'd have to have the world's greatest and most detailed detective notebook, or I would completely blow all my cases. But, Ben also forgot one very important fact. The fact of TESTOSTERONE and that Sammy has plenty of it. No self-respecting cop dude is going to let a gang break into and wreck his house and say to himself, "It's ok. I'm cool. I'll just relax and do the logical thing and let the detectives handle it." HA! Ben should have, as a guy himself, realized this. "Pride goeth before the fall," is the old saying. And Ben certainly has plenty of pride. Enough for several people, in fact. And it seems that his pride got in the way of his planning.
And I must apologize to Sammy. He is a saint. Well, maybe not a saint exactly. But, the questionable things he does are in NO WAY comparable to the crap Ben pulls. And when Sammy does wrong, his conscience does get the better of him and he backs away from the abyss. Ben just plunges over the edge. So, Sammy -- I am VERY, VERY sorry. I grovel in the dust at your feet. Although, I'm still not convinced you didn't steal the money from the robbery.
So, what can we expect from next week's season finale? I know Ben McKenzie tweeted that he is doing the pilot of his new show in second position to a sixth season of "SouthLAnd." I know he has stated that he loves "SouthLAnd" and wants to remain. I don't know what he will remain as, though. Is he going to join forces with Elena and her brother, going south of the border and eventually establishing himself as the new head of a big drug cartel? He certainly has the personality for that. "SouthLAnd" could go on for several more seasons, with the LAPD waging war against "Ben Sherman's Drugs 'R' Us." Heck, he could throw a little arms dealership in on the side. Maybe he will be caught, though, and he will spend Season 6 in prison, with much drama swirling about him. In my last post, I discussed the fact that Sammy is going to be in a helicopter in Episode 10, and I joked that perhaps he is chasing Officer Ben. Well, now I think I might have (inadvertently) been correct. Although, unlike I jokingly stated in that last post, there probably won't be any "Happily Ever After" for Ben Sherman.
It's possible that Ben McKenzie will do his new show -- "The Advocates" -- while occasionally popping by "SouthLAnd" to be on trial or run the cartel (or the bar, if he does get that happy ending I dreamed up for him). I don't know if that would be allowed in television land, though. It would be one heck of a contract negotiation.
I also heard a little something that made me believe that "The Advocates" is being looked at as one of the hot new shows for the upcoming season. So, was Ben McKenzie's tweeting just a little purposeful misinformation meant to throw us off track? Or, am I wrong again, like I was in thinking Officer Sherman hadn't done all of those wicked things? Time will tell...
And if Mr. McKenzie's tweeting was purposeful misinformation, I must admit that I will have a hard time believing anything he says ever again. But, I'll always be a fan. ;-)
Oh, one final thought. How is it that Brooke thinks that by giving b-jobs to all the other cops she is somehow going to make Officer Ben feel repentant or bad or whatever??? That girl makes no sense. But, she is colorful.
Tuesday, April 9, 2013
Ben Sherman's Little Love Triangle, Or -- Just A Silly "SouthLAnd" Post
This is just a silly post about my fave TV show. I am just going to be having fun. If you are not in the mood for silly or for fun, you should probably click away now.
The writing for "SouthLAnd" has always been outstanding. This year, though, those writers are outdoing themselves. And one thing that is just a little gem of storytelling in the midst of the whole glorious crown is "Ben's Little Love Triangle."
Toward the beginning of the current season, Ben and Sammy do a darling little community service puppet show for an elementary school class. This class is taught by a darling little teacher who recognizes Officer Ben from the LAPD recruiting posters. Barely able to contain her excitement in front of all her tiny charges, she manages to communicate to Officer Ben her attraction to him. Later in the episode, she calls him up and they arrange to meet for coffee at one of the more "sophisticated" coffee establishments favored by Officer Ben. He jokes with her that she needs to be careful of "talking to strangers" -- alluding to the chat which he and Sammy had earlier in the day with her class. But, in the end, he concedes that having coffee is probably a safe enough option. Little does he know that he, in this moment, should be heeding his own advice, as this darling little teacher is inevitably going to turn out to be "Psycho Chick."
(Aside: I had a feeling this little lady was going to end up being a problem for Officer Ben when she gave him a "B" for his "romantic performance." Anyone who has seen Officer Ben's alter ego kissing Marissa on the ferris wheel should know that he would never get a "B" in this area. So, from the very beginning, it was obvious there was a something awry with the mind of this beautiful woman.)
Meanwhile, though, before we know that Teacher Lady is actually Psycho Chick, Officer Ben -- for some reason known only to him -- takes up with another darling little lady. This lady's name is Elena, and she is an artist, cook, and lover extraordinaire. I think, at first, we are not really supposed to like her. We are, at that point, rooting for the schoolteacher. I mean, she is a SCHOOLTEACHER! Who could be more perfect for Officer Ben than a drop-dead gorgeous, well-educated, down-to-earth schoolteacher??? And in comes this little firecracker of a girl with a no-good brother who has no-good friends. "Ben," we are thinking, "BEN!!! What are you doing??? Have you lost your FREAKING MIND??? You have found the perfect woman, and you are SCREWING IT ALL UP!!! You are going to catch a disease and give it to the schoolteacher, and then she will break up with you and you will never get married and have beautiful babies!!!"
Those "SouthLAnd" writers, though. They were just playing little mind games with us. Because, as I said, the "perfect woman" is evidently an unstable loon -- while Elena is turning out to be the most lovable gal. She just adores Officer Ben. She is so nice to him. She cooks for him and fusses over him and begs him for a "quickie" in the morning. She sure as heckfire is not giving him any "B" in the "romance" department. She just loves him -- really, really loves him. And she is a doll.
I'm not saying I think Officer Ben necessarily deserves all this love and affection from this adorable girl. I'm just saying that maybe she is turning out to be the right one for him, after all. So, perhaps this is what will happen:
In episode 10, Sammy is going to be in a helicopter. (As I said in a previous post, I know this from Instagram.) What do I now think he will be doing in that helicopter? I think he is going to be chasing Officer Ben.
I believe Officer Ben is going to be found out for one or more of the following: murdering the pimp, lying to IA, and having Sammy's house broken into. I think he is going to run to Elena for help, as she probably has connections "south of the border." She and her brother are going to hide Officer Ben in a "borrowed" vehicle and make a run for her country of origin. And I think they're going to succeed in their escape, which will leave Sammy circling around in the helicopter with a rather frustrated look on his face.
Once they arrive at their destination -- a place where there will be many of Elena's friends and relatives waiting with open arms -- the local priest is going to frown disapprovingly at poor Officer Ben. He will want Officer Ben to do the right thing by Elena. And because this priest will let Officer Ben know that he has friends in the Border Patrol, Officer Ben will agree to marry Elena. Which won't be so bad, because Officer Ben really does (in his heart of hearts) love her.
So, there will be a wedding with wonderful food and music and ruffled dresses. Ben will open a bar, where he will mix the drinks, while Elena's brother wipes down the tables. Elena and Ben will have beautiful babies -- at least 5 of them. These babies will have beautiful, wavy, golden-brown hair. They will have beautiful golden-brown skin. They will have big hazel eyes. As they grow, they will run around the bar and sit in the customers' laps and make everybody smile and laugh. And Elena will, each and every morning for the rest of her and Ben's mutual life, beg him for a "quickie."
And they will live happily ever after.
--- THE END ---
The writing for "SouthLAnd" has always been outstanding. This year, though, those writers are outdoing themselves. And one thing that is just a little gem of storytelling in the midst of the whole glorious crown is "Ben's Little Love Triangle."
Toward the beginning of the current season, Ben and Sammy do a darling little community service puppet show for an elementary school class. This class is taught by a darling little teacher who recognizes Officer Ben from the LAPD recruiting posters. Barely able to contain her excitement in front of all her tiny charges, she manages to communicate to Officer Ben her attraction to him. Later in the episode, she calls him up and they arrange to meet for coffee at one of the more "sophisticated" coffee establishments favored by Officer Ben. He jokes with her that she needs to be careful of "talking to strangers" -- alluding to the chat which he and Sammy had earlier in the day with her class. But, in the end, he concedes that having coffee is probably a safe enough option. Little does he know that he, in this moment, should be heeding his own advice, as this darling little teacher is inevitably going to turn out to be "Psycho Chick."
(Aside: I had a feeling this little lady was going to end up being a problem for Officer Ben when she gave him a "B" for his "romantic performance." Anyone who has seen Officer Ben's alter ego kissing Marissa on the ferris wheel should know that he would never get a "B" in this area. So, from the very beginning, it was obvious there was a something awry with the mind of this beautiful woman.)
Meanwhile, though, before we know that Teacher Lady is actually Psycho Chick, Officer Ben -- for some reason known only to him -- takes up with another darling little lady. This lady's name is Elena, and she is an artist, cook, and lover extraordinaire. I think, at first, we are not really supposed to like her. We are, at that point, rooting for the schoolteacher. I mean, she is a SCHOOLTEACHER! Who could be more perfect for Officer Ben than a drop-dead gorgeous, well-educated, down-to-earth schoolteacher??? And in comes this little firecracker of a girl with a no-good brother who has no-good friends. "Ben," we are thinking, "BEN!!! What are you doing??? Have you lost your FREAKING MIND??? You have found the perfect woman, and you are SCREWING IT ALL UP!!! You are going to catch a disease and give it to the schoolteacher, and then she will break up with you and you will never get married and have beautiful babies!!!"
Those "SouthLAnd" writers, though. They were just playing little mind games with us. Because, as I said, the "perfect woman" is evidently an unstable loon -- while Elena is turning out to be the most lovable gal. She just adores Officer Ben. She is so nice to him. She cooks for him and fusses over him and begs him for a "quickie" in the morning. She sure as heckfire is not giving him any "B" in the "romance" department. She just loves him -- really, really loves him. And she is a doll.
I'm not saying I think Officer Ben necessarily deserves all this love and affection from this adorable girl. I'm just saying that maybe she is turning out to be the right one for him, after all. So, perhaps this is what will happen:
In episode 10, Sammy is going to be in a helicopter. (As I said in a previous post, I know this from Instagram.) What do I now think he will be doing in that helicopter? I think he is going to be chasing Officer Ben.
I believe Officer Ben is going to be found out for one or more of the following: murdering the pimp, lying to IA, and having Sammy's house broken into. I think he is going to run to Elena for help, as she probably has connections "south of the border." She and her brother are going to hide Officer Ben in a "borrowed" vehicle and make a run for her country of origin. And I think they're going to succeed in their escape, which will leave Sammy circling around in the helicopter with a rather frustrated look on his face.
Once they arrive at their destination -- a place where there will be many of Elena's friends and relatives waiting with open arms -- the local priest is going to frown disapprovingly at poor Officer Ben. He will want Officer Ben to do the right thing by Elena. And because this priest will let Officer Ben know that he has friends in the Border Patrol, Officer Ben will agree to marry Elena. Which won't be so bad, because Officer Ben really does (in his heart of hearts) love her.
So, there will be a wedding with wonderful food and music and ruffled dresses. Ben will open a bar, where he will mix the drinks, while Elena's brother wipes down the tables. Elena and Ben will have beautiful babies -- at least 5 of them. These babies will have beautiful, wavy, golden-brown hair. They will have beautiful golden-brown skin. They will have big hazel eyes. As they grow, they will run around the bar and sit in the customers' laps and make everybody smile and laugh. And Elena will, each and every morning for the rest of her and Ben's mutual life, beg him for a "quickie."
And they will live happily ever after.
--- THE END ---
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