24, Season 7, Episodes 11 and 12: 6:00-8:00pm

"24"

Season 7, Episode 11: "600-7:00pm"

Grade: B+

Season 7, Episode 12: "7:00-8:00pm"

Grade: A-

Holy crap. That was insane. Okay so 24 has been doing pretty well so far but after tonight and after the most insane preview for next week this season of 24 has officially kicked into high gear giving us the 2 best episodes of the season so far and if things live up in anyway next week to the preview we saw shit if definitely going down and next week should be even better than this week.

Jack pisses me off lately. He just never can work with other people, he always has to do things himself and needs to further alienate himself from everything. Even if the show insists upon siding with Jack and taking the stance that what he does was right, that does not mean that I believe it. That being said, it was cool to see him working with the President in the second episode. I liked the conversation between him and Bill before all of this happened.

Renee pisses me off as well. She is ridiculously stubborn and always goes into situations without backup and I'm amazed that she escaped from this alive. I still like her though.

Aaron: If Aaron dies I'll die. That is all.

The stuff with The President's daughter was brutal. I knew it would not happen but it was still intense.

I think Ethan is bad now because he got out of the White House before all of this started. hich sucks because I like Ethan a lot.

Also, the Vice President is a douchebag. WHat a shocker.

Hmmm what else? Nothing really. I just cannot wait to see what happens next week Because that was not a "we are going to make it look like stuff happens but nothing really will happen" preview. That was a preview for an episode where a ton of stuff will happen. DId anyone see Jack's face? Omg next week will be intense. Can't wait. 24 is officially back.

Battlestar Galactica Season 4, Episodes 15, 16, 17

Okay so because I have been really not keeping on task with this blog I have to play catchup with this show. But since I am way too confused about the show I will just clump them all together:

"No Exit"

Grade: B

I realized during this episode that I have no idea what the fuck is going on with it. All of the mythological stuff makes no sense to me and the way things were explained in this episode was in a way that had a "see we explained everything"vibe to it. I know this is partly my fault but I'm just really confused. And I realized that I watch this show for the characters and for their interactions, relationships and hopeful survival as opposed to Lost where I become obsessed with the mythology and with the characters equally which would explain why in the end I think Lost is the better show but I still think at its best Battlestar matches Lost and at times has surpassed it.

I loved the way they handled Ellen's character here. She is the same Ellen except with memories. I loved all the stuff with learning about Brother Cavil and what he did to the Final 5. ALl of the exposition with Anders though for me could have been helped with visuals. While Anders was talking I could have had silent visuals that showed what he was talking about. Still we learned a lot and even though I did not get it all it was really important.

"Deadlock"
Grade: B

So this episode let us see the Final Five together again which was very cool. I honestly do not really have a ton to say about this episode. I am glad Gaius had something to do even though I question where they are going with all of this because I still feel like they dropped the ball on Gaius completely as a character. He used to have so so so much more screen time. But he sitll brought what little humor the show has going for it because Gaius is just funny. I love that he likes a kid more when they share the same name. I liked the return of Head Six. I liked that we got inside of his head a bit. Tigh makes me cry and since I love Tigh and Adama so much it was really great to have that realization between Ellen and Caprica Six that in fact Tigh loves Adama and everything he stands for and all of the military stuff more than either of them. He loves Bill the most!!!!!! So Tigh and Six lost the baby. DEPRESSING.

"Someone to Watch Over Me"

Grade: A-

This was a fucked up episode and a complete stand out. SO much of this episode was extremely high brow for television with some really stunning sequences that basically had to do with the use of piano based music for the episode gave everything a very poetic feel. We start out with the greatest opening to an episode of Battlestar since Season 1's "Kobol's Last Gleaming Part 1". This is an absolutely stunning piece of editing that perfectly showcased the monotony of Starbuck's life. This episode has two plots going on. One with Starbuck and one with Boomer and Tyrol.

Basically Starbuck ends up talking for the entire episode to her father although she does not know it at the time and at the end we find out it was all in her head and we are led to believe that Starbuck's father is Daniel the 7th and that Starbuck is the first Cylon hybrid not Hera although this information has not been actually shown on the show yet its the popular theory so much so that it is being taken as fact by everyone. While some were upset with wasting time when we have so little time left, I thought it was really important for Starbuck's character to have her unknowingly interact with her father and it really set the scene for next week which will apparently explain everything so that the information flying at us will have been coming along for a while now as opposed to it coming out of nowhere and seeming forced. I loved the scenes between her and her dad. I thought that it was nice to see her open up to someone and to meaningfully interact with someone which she had seemed basically incapable of doing.

The use of piano music in this episode was incredible and seriously beautiful. The lead up and reveal that the song her father taught her as a kid was "All Along the Watchtower" was freaking awesome.

Okay so the Boomer and Tyrol story added a while different level of despair and disturbance to the evening. First of all I love that they went back to the Tyrol/Boomer storyline picking it up after all of this time just because it really does go all the way back even to the miniseries. Second of all Tyrol is a moron. I understand why he connected to Boomer again; he really has nothing else going for him. The protection of what there live would have been seen was really touching and seriously depressing to me. For a second there I actually trusted Boomer. Why? I am a moron. Why the fuck did Helo not know who he was having sex with? That's fucked up. Honestly he should have known it was not her just because he must have another way of telling Athena apart from the other 8's. Honestly Helo way to be an idiot. And honestly Boomer way to be a sadistic bitch by fucking him knowing Athena can see. Then way to fucking steal a child and put her an a freaking cart. Athena's primal scream was awesome. Tyrol's reaction to all of this was great too. Where will he go from here? Will people find out about this? Great end to the episode.

Great episode with a really different feel to it, both beautiful and poetic but depressing and really disturbing at times. Only 4 hours left with 3 episodes to go. Here we go...

Thoughts on Dollhouse Episodes 1-3

Okay so I have finally watched and am caught up with Dollhouse, Joss Whedon's highly anticipated but ultimately underwhelming to the critics show. I went into not expecting that much to be honest. Based on the lukewarm response that started coming in months before the show even had aired and all of the reshoots and such I was pretty much ready to write it off. But I actually enjoyed it very much although I had issues with the first episode and its not a perfect show but overall I am really looking forward to Friday's new episode. So I'll just write down some thoughts I'm having about the show.

I love that Olivia Williams is on this show.

First of all I really dig the concept of the show even if it presents some issues such as the idea of the protagonist being essentially nobody. I love the setting of the Dollhouse. Its really stunning production design. Where they sleep and do yoga and such. Its a very calming futuristic but not really at all sort of atmosphere. Something that the show does in the second and third episodes that I really think makes it stand out a bit is that it goes in directions you do not expect. Something like the Dollhouse is obviously going to bring out a lot of psychos and even with the background checks there are going to be some mistakes. So I like how they have explored that a bit.

I also love the way that hey have constructed the concept. The zombified way that the Actives act when they are not on an engagement gives the show a creepy feel during those parts. They are essentially children. I like how the Actives imprints are done through a composite of different personalities. They have really done a goo job with having the high concept make sense and making it plausible within the show.

There are also a lot of subplots going on here that I feel have a lot of potential. All of this stuff with Alpha, Echo being special, Echo's past as Caroline, where they are going with Sierra's character, VIctor, Boyd's skepticism, Ballard, the Attic and stuff like that. All of these I feel have potential and they have gotten more interesting as they have gone on.

Problems I have with the show. I have my doubts about Eliza Dushku's talent. I like her and I think she does a good job so far but I am usually aware that she is acting. I wish that Whedon hd cast an unknown because I think the show would have been a bit different and actually better if they had cast someone we did not know as opposed to someone who is good but has little range and uses the same mannerisms.

Also the show has little of the Joss Whedon humor I have come to know and love. I have nothing wrong with a darker tone but Whedon is hailed for being able to mix the drama with his unique sense of humor. The only humor that comes from the show is from the character of Topher...who I HATE. I hate hate hate hate hate this guy. Its like someone trying to copy Joss Whedon humor as opposed to it actually being that. Not only do I hate the character but its mostly the actor. I hate this guy. He is so annoying, I hate his face, I hate his line delivery. Ugh. He is a big detractor.

It is also hard to watch a show without having much of a stock in the main character because she is different every week. But its not as much of a problem as it is for other people.

"Ghost"

Grade: C+

This episode was a weak start for the show not because of the way the concept was introduced, that was actually good but I thought the negotiator plot was a really weak first story to kick off the entire series. I liked what they did with having one of the personalities that had been imprinted in her having had previous sexual abuse and having her come face to face with her abuser again. But other than that it was pretty standard and sort of uninspired. I was always aware that Dushku was acting and I really want her to be able to pull this off. I think she is trying but I don't know I really still hold on to my theory that the show would be better with an unknown as Echo.

"The Target"

Grade: B

This was the best episode of the three. It went in directions I did not expect, it had a focus. The focus being Boyd and Echo's relationship and his introduction to the Dollhouse and to being her handler. The direction that Echo's engagement went in was at times brutal and pretty scary. I do not really like Ballard's neighbor either. I do not think she's a very good actress and I do not like that they expect us to care about her after like 2 minutes of setup with her character that she likes him. Also we learned a bit more about Alpha. Something I am worried about is the apparent casting of Alan Tudyk as Alpha. Alan Tudyk a.k.a the comic relief of "Firefly" and of everything he is in. I hope they can pull this off. Someone I really like is the AMy Acker character, the Dollhouse physician. I wish she was a regular as opposed to being listed as a guest star. Because I really like her.

"Stage Fright"

Grade: B-

This one had a really great start and I loved where it went with Rayna having a sort of death wish because I did not expect that. But then I did not feel that they could back it up with any sort of plausibility and then I thought the climax of the episode was a bit ludicrous frankly. So I thought it started out with some promise but did not end up being what it wanted to be. I thought the guy they cast as the psycho fan was perfect because he creeped me the hell out. Eliza Dushku has a great voice which I am assuming is hers because it sounds like her. I'm a little confused as to why Dollhouse assigned Sierra the job if being number 1 fan. It could not have been for double protection because she was not equipped to do anything when she was taken and I do not see who would hire her to hae a number 1 fan. It seemed like they just wanted to give her something to do. I also have to say that I think Tahmoh Penikett is doing a good job here carrying his own storyline as Ballard. He is distinctly different from his Helo character on Battlestar Galactica and its so cool seeing him on his show and with such an important role. And what the hell was with that faicla exchange between Echo and Sierra at the end? They made it unclae about whether or not it was important because it was so subtle but I found it really interesting.

Despite all of my complaints and the fact that this cast no "Firefly" ensemble and even though Buffy takes the second season to get going there is no sign of it touching that even at its best with Buffy at its worst I'd go so far to say, I'm still hopeful that the series will pick up which I hear it does. But even with all of this I am really enjoying it honestly and I hope that the show can make it through the 13 episodes without being cancelled. This show will not last. Not with a network that has so many slots being taken by American Idol and with programming that only goes two hours a night and with Fringe and Lie to Me being hits, they need to get rid of any waste they can and since Dollhouse is not doing great in the ratings and with Whedon's history with the network with Firefly I'm prepared to have the show unfortunately taken away from me all too soon. So even itf its not amazing, I need to cherish the new Whedon we have because it will soon be gone.

24: Season 7, Episode 8: 5:00-6:00pm

24

Season 7, Episode 10: "5:00-6:00pm"

Grade: A-/B+

- First of all Jon Cassar who is the brains behind the show, who Kiefer himself said the show could not be done without is exiting the show. Great. Just what we need. The question now becomes just how hard is this show going to suck when this goes into effect? Not will it suck; but how hard will it suck?

Wow so everything went down in this episode being the official end of the first portion of the season.

-Marika died. : ( That was sad but neccesary. She turned out to be pretty awesome the way she sacrificed herself.

-Not only was Sean bad but Erika was bad as well. I knew they were doing that for a reason but I had no idea it would be because they were both bad. And Sean killed Erika. Erika was a dumb ass. Seriously. And then Sean got caught. He is also an idiot.

-Chloe was able to save the file with all of the moles on it. I did not think they would get that and that this whole conspiracy thing would be solved already.

- The Renee/Jack conversation was insane and an incredible scene. She slaps him, brings up Teri then hugs him and then he says "Next time you pull your weapon on me you better intend to use it" and then she says "I did". Ooooooh. I love how this whole conflict came to a head but then settled down for what is sure to be an even bigger confrontation eventually.

-Dubaku is in critical condition. Another damn surgery corner.

-Ok so then we get the Tony-Jack scene which effectively sets up the second portion of the season. Great Tony/Jack scene. I wonder if Tony has any intention of turning himself in. I loved the way the scene was shot as well. Really incredible.

-Great episode in the way it effectively wrapped up everything yet left room for other things to happen and also set up what will be the next section of the season.

24: Season 7, Episode 9: 4:00-5:00pm

24

Season 7, Episode 8: "4:00-5:00pm"

Grade: B+/B

Its been a while since it aired but I'll just talk about what I can remember. I love the way we are seeing Jack from a different perspective; that of Renee's. She is making the audience think about just how heroic Jack is. I mean he's heroic to be sure but the way he he goes from 1-10 in like 2 seconds as opposed to using his tecniques as an absolute last resort as he used to should be looked at. Jack has become completely desensitized to what he does at this point and its a problem. He's not even connected to humanity anymore yet he tries so hard to protect it if he has to een when he does not want to. So I love what they are doing with Renee and Jack.

I thought that I was going to hate the stuff with Marika but I ended up becoming attached to the character and even though we've gone down this road many times before it was still interesting to watch.

Chloe in the FBI is great and finally in the process of her arriving there we got to see a familiar face...Morris!!!!! We also got to see another familiar face...

-AARON!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I LOVE AARON!!!!!!!!!!!

-So Sean was the bad one. They were very clever the way the show went about this. They usually try to make us think it is someone and than pull the rug out from under us with someone else. But since long time viewers of the show know that is the way the show works they decided to actually make it the person they usually try to fake us out with. Clever clever. I always knew it was not Janeane Garofolo because I understood her character enough by this poing to be able to completely rationalize any actions of hers. She is a nosy person who thinks the world revolves around her. She genuinely thinks Chloe is there to replace her, she is jealous of her skills and she does not like her being there. She needs to know what is going on at all times; not because she is a mole but because that is the way she is.

-Henry Taylor has officially entered his own surgery corner.

-I wonder what role Olivia Taylor will have in the show. I do find her mildly interesting just because I love the Taylor family and I like the actress Sprague Grayden.

-Love Bill.

-Overall a solid episode that is continuing on this streak of episodes that are consistently impressing me even if their are still many familiar elements we have seen before, this cast of newbies and oldies and the stuff that is being addressed has really taken me by surprise in a good way.

Lost: Season 5, Episode 7: "The Life and Death of Jeremy Bentham"

Lost

Season 5, Episode 7: "The Life and Death of Jeremy Bentham"

Grade: A-

Another stunning installment into the world of Lost. Since this is the first episode that I posted a youtube reaction post to it ill be much easier to write the review for since I can essentially just take from that.

This episode also followed the pattern of the previous episode with its frame story (in this case Locke being back on the island and ressurected) and than flashing back to see how we got from him leaving the island to him getting back onto the island.

This is the first episode of Lost that I have cried during in a while. Why did I cry? Simple: because John Locke makes me cry. I cannot handle how fundamentally depressing his character is to me. I just feel lonliness when I look at him sometimes.

SOMEONE GIVE TERRY O'QUINN AND MICHAEL EMERSON A FUCKING EMMY ALREADY!! Honestly its just ridiculous how continually their work is looked over on the show and this episode should win Terry O Quinn an Emmy. It just should.

Anyways, what we learned:

1. LOCKE IS ALIVE!!! He has been resurrected and is on the island. But not the main island but on the Hydra Island with new characters Caesar and Ilena. He appears as a Christ like figure with his ressurection and the hooded cloak and the awesomeness. Honestly I did not expect his resurrection to be automatic. I thought their would have to be some sort of ceremony honestly. But this way is better. Not a sign of hokiness at all as usual.

2. Locke and Widmore hung out for a bit!!! Locke's leg being reset was gross. Locke and Widmore had an interesting conversation where we learned...

3. Ben exiled Charles from the island. I believe everything that was said by Charles but I do not know if he is good. They are yanking us every which way in terms of whether or not Charles is good or bad and if Ben is good or bad. I'd like to put forth this theory: Both are bad. This is my theory and I am sticking with it. Whoever said that either of them had to be good in the first place? I'm not suggesting they are working together; they hate each other. But they are both using the Losties for their own gains and both are fucking with them. Eventually they will all learn that they have just been pawns.

4. Abbadon dies. Well that sucks. I liked him. He brought a new level of creepiness to the show. I love how cryptic he is. That came out of nowhere. And now we know that Ben killed him. Okay so my new strategy is that if anything mysterious is happening (i.e someone is trying to take Aaron away, someone kills Abbadon, etc) Ben did it.

5. We learned that Jack, Kate and Sayid are huge schmucks to Locke. Okay so while I can understand where they are all coming from given their history with him, seriously way to take someone down a few pegs unneccesarily and eventually lead to his attempted suicide. I felt so bad for him. Kate was the biggest prick of them all. Her assumptions about him were cruel and after Locke opens up about Helen to her and says he was obsessed with something else and it ruined the relationship she goes ahead and comments on how he is still the same. What a bitch.

6. Walt did not go on the plane because Locke never asked him too. This makes perfect sense. Why put him through more? Will Walt be the only character on this show to walk away with a chance at a normal life?

7.Helen is dead. Is she really though? If a plane crash can be fakes surely one death can. Charles does not want Locke to be given a purpose on the island so to make sure all ties have been cut between Locke and off-island they lie and say Helen died. Now she could very well be dead. But I don't know. She could be dead of a brain aneurysm just like Abbadon said. She could be dead but not of a brain aneurysm or she might not be dead. I do not know if this will be answered or not or if it is just to be assumed she is but I found it a little fishy.

8. Locke intended to commit suicide not to get back to the island, but simply to end his life. So this disturbed me so greatly I cannot even explain how much this effected me. I cannot handle John Locke as a character. I just can't And this is why. By the end of the episode he considers himself to be a failure and he sees himself the way everyone else sees him and wants to end his life... as he sobs...and as I sob.

9. Ben killed Locke. In the best scene of the season thus far Ben comes in at the last second and manages to stop Locke from killing himself but afterwards gets a little info from him and then kills Locke himself. I saw this coming half way through the scene but holy crap that did not make it any less effective. Seriously...show this scene and I guarentee an Emmy for either Michael Emerson or Terry O' Quinn.

10. Hurley, Sun, Jack, Kate and Sayid vanished before the plane crashed. WTF? I have no theories on this.

11. Ben is on the Hydra Island and is injured and he is where Locke is.

Questions:

1. Do Caesar and Ilana not trust each other?

2. What of the war that Widmore says is coming?

3. Is Widmore or Ben evil? Or both as my theory suggests?

4. WHy did Ben exile Widmore from the island?

5. Clearly both Widmore and Ben want everyone back on the island but why? Do they have different reasons or the same reason but they want to use that same reason for their own gains or what?

6. Obviously the dream Walt had will come true but what will it entail?

7. Is Helen really dead?

8. Why did Ben kill Locke?

Other Observations/Thoughts:

-The scene between Locke and Walt was very satisfying to see since it harks back to the important relationship between Locke and Walt going back to Season 1. It was rewarding to see them speak again, to know that Locke cared enough about Walt not to drag him back into everything again and that Locke was the only one that visited Walt.

- As I said the scene between Locke and Ben was the best of the season so far.

- Locke sobbing = me sobbing.

- Overall this was an incredible character study on John Locke, one that reminds us how incredibly constructed his character is and how remarkably performed it is by Terry O' Quinn. This was a disturbing and heart breaking episode that showed us a lot of things we already knew but gave us some new information and questions to ponder over and also gave us a really incredible psychological insight into Locke that we have not gotten in a while.

Lost Season 5, Episode 6: 316

Lost

Season 5, Episode 6: "316"

Grade: A-

So everyone is back on the island. I did not expect this to happen this soon although I did expect it to happen within the next few episodes. Opening the episode as a parellel to the first scene of Season 1 Episode was a treat. Jack wakes up in the woods and has to help someone in this case Hurley. He does an awesomely absurd dive off of the cliff into the water. Hurley, Kate and Jack are together on the island again. We do not know where Sayid and Sun are. But as we know from the next episode we know where Locke, Ben, Caesar and Ilena are. It is extremely clever how the show has kept the flashback and flashforward status in its own way without actually doing what it did at earlier points in the show. In this episode we see that Jack and Kate and Hurley are back on the island and than the episode goes back and shows how they got there.

Mrs. Hawking's explanation about cetain things came off as a little bit absurd. I understand and can actually get behind most of what was said but the way she described it felt a bit hammy and campy. I like campy but Lost is not a campy show so it stood out a bit to me.

Things we Found Out:

1. The island is not done with Desmond. What does this mean? Did Ben kill Penny at the docks? Becuase it sure looked like he did or at least he tried to. This is one of many things that the episode kept from us so that they could go back to them later. This is the one of the genius aspects of Lost. The way they give us information.

2. A new station off the island called The Lamp Post. It was created over a pocket of electromagnetic energy which connects to the other pockets around the world one of which is on the island. The pendulum tells where the island will be in the future.

3. John committed suicide and wrote a suicide note to Jack. It says "I wish you had believed me". Oh boy did I feel that one. The note held a creepy overtone to it that just contains so much stuff involving Jack and Locke's relationship.

4. Locke's body acts as a substitute for Christian's father. Jeez. I still do not really get this idea of recreating the plane crash as closely as possible but for some reason it feels right and in spirit I understand it.

5. Frank Lapidus is piloting the flight. Its so nice to see Frank back. But...he needs a beard.

6. I am assuming about 3 years have passed since Jin, Sawyer, Juliet, Miles and Daniel have been working for Dharma and Jin is in a Dharma suit, with the van and a gun recognizing Jack Kate and Hurley. What a sick way to end the episode.

7. Ben went back to the island with them.

Ok so here are some questions that stick out.

1. Did Ben kill Penny? I sincerely hope not. I love Penny so much and if he killed her I will be sincerely pissed off. His scene at the phone booth was creepy as hell. The reason I am scared that he succeeded in this is that it would somehow give Desmond some reason for the island to not be done with him. Maybe he will try to kill Ben because he killed Penny and this will lead him back onto the island.

2. What made Kate decide to go to the island? And where is Aaron? And why did she ask Jack never to ask about that? And why did she have sex with him as if she were on a mission?

3. Why did Hurley decide to go back to the island?

4. Why did Sayid decide to go back to the island and what is the deal with Ilena?

5. Why was Caesar on the plane and who is he?

6. What was the deal with the scene between Jack and his grandfather? They spend a lot of time on it in a way that fit very awkwardly with the usual pacing of Lost and it makes me wonder if the scene will hold greater significance in the future.

Some thoughts and observations:

This was a great episode that gave us some new information, moved the story forward in extreme ways and also gave us some new fascinating questions that are just as intriguing as some of the big ones we have but are questions that are likely to all be answered in the next 10 episodes. I love the idea of the suicide note. I also love the idea of the Losties being stuck in the 70's and the potential it presents to give us some backstory on things we have all been theorizing about for years. It lends a surreal quality to everything. I think the things I am most fascinated about are what happened to Aaron and what happened with Ben? I loved the scene with Ben and Jack on the plane as it this episode provided me with a big reminder that Ben is fucking evil. First he apparently kills someone or something and then when Jack asks what about the other people on the plane and what will happen to them, Ben says "Who cares?". Ben you constantly remind me why you are my favorite character on the show.

-I also love the throwbacks to Season 1 in the ways that the Oceanic 6 tried to recreate the original plane crash. Sitting in the same seats, Sayid subbing as Kate the first time as prisoner, Hurley having Charlie's guitar (or a guitar, not sure which) and reading a Spanish comic (Y:The Last Man). Ben being late just like Hurley was late last time. Locke replacing Jack's dad, etc.

-How adorable was it that Hurley bought the remainding seats so that nobody else's lives would be in danger?

- There are a lot of religious overtones to Lost at times particularly with Locke sort of being like a Christ figure in the next episode and the idea of Jack, Kate and Hurley experiencing a sort of baptism in the pond with their return to the island much like Charlotte's scene when she returns to the island.

- Reading up on some stuff that happened in the episode I found that Jack says "Was it my fault?" asking about Locke's death. Ben responds "No, Jack, it wasn't your fault." Knowing what happens in the next episode - fucked up.

So yeah, this was another incredible episode really following along with Season 4 in that each episode is extremely important in some way and there is no longer any and I mean ANY time being wasted on this show. Every episode is insane.

Favorite Scene: Ben and Jack on the plane

Favorite Line of the Entire Season:

Jack: "How can you read?"

Ben: "My mother taught me"

Get it, its funny because thats not what Jack meant with the question but its also ironic because Ben's mother died giving birth to him. Genius.