Castle Withdrawals, Dancing With the Stars, & 24

I was feeling the Castle withdrawals last night.  *sigh* It's going to be a long summer.

Although I did tune in for Dancing With the Stars.  I've been rooting for Derek Hough and his partner, Amy Purdy, who is a Paralympian bronze medalist. Both of her legs were amputated below the knee when she contracted bacterial meningitis at the age of nineteen. I couldn't believe that a woman without legs would be competing on a dance show and this season's competitors were especially good (two other Olympians, for example), not to mention that everyone else had two feet (some of them had both left feet, though! Ha!) Yeah, Amy struggled at times working with her prosthetic feet, trying to find solutions for any obstacles as to what her body could and could not do, and going out of her comfort zone in learning dances that anyone would have trouble learning, never mind someone with a disability like hers. I've been inspired every week by a woman who is gutting it out, giving her all,and showing the world that just because you have a disability that doesn't mean you can't achieve your dreams, no matter how out of reach they seem or what doctors may say. Amy has been a poster girl to just "take that first step" and bring your dream in reach and she became a great dancer in the process. I'll be cheering for them at the finals tonight!

And then I watched Jack Bauer tearing it up on 24.  One thing that show has really shown to me is how to ratchet up tension in a scene.  The writers of that show are so good at showing what the stakes are and then coiling up the scene (and the consequences) with every second that passes.  It is mesmerizing.

This ep has the president addressing British Parliament and trying to explain how a U.S. drone attacked and killed British and American soldiers.  The Chief of Staff, Mark Something or Other (are last names important? I can only think of him as Tate anyway) is deciding what to tell the president and when.  He's so shifty!

Meanwhile, Jack Bauer is trying to get the flight data recorder from the pilot who is holed up in the American Embassy in London.  He uses protesters to gain entrance, then once he gets the recording, he can't escape the dozens of Marines looking for him, so he barricades himself in the communication room with hostages. (And he flips tables! I knew that was coming, haha!)  But it was So. Tense.  I love that stuff.  Kiefer also uses the full power of his velvet voice, which is how we explain why everyone just does what Jack wants when faced with The Velvet. No one can resist the Velvet! (There used to be recaps on a website years ago that actually called Jack, the Velvet.  I should see if it's still around.)

Anyway, we shift to the the terrorists who are evil and terrible and violent.  I had to turn away during one scene, but that's classic 24 actually.  I should probably take some lessons from that, since my critique group says my villain in my current book needs to be meaner.

So, there you have it.  What about you?  Are you watching any good shows or are they all on hiatus now?