James Callis on Twitter!

(He took his original tweets down so I took the original post down. I'm not sure what his plan is for now, but people are allowed to change their minds, and I have often wished I could erase or edit something from this blog after people read it. So I can relate. If his Twitter goes down, this post disappears too.)

So - James Callis! On Twitter! Here! I won't quote any tweets but it's very cute and very James, highly recommended. Deep thought mixed with silly jokes. Also: he likes rhymes. (Which goes well with his name. Even after two years as a fan, I giggle at the rhyminess of James Callis.)

What does his Twitter say about him? That he's pretty much like I expected. Which is kind of odd. I think it's because he sounds the same as in his Forum messages, so I knew what to expect. (And most likely the private James is different, and this is just his public persona.) He's following some pretty philosophical sites - Dalai Lama, Deepak Chopra, etc. - and seems very influenced by Oriental philosophy. Also: many book sites. (L)! Apparently he's also following WebMD and a family health thing, so maybe not as non-healthy as I imagined? And he seems politically liberal. Whew! I thought he would be, but you just never know. I'm not going to start a political debate with him or anything, but if he had been fiercely conservative, I may have been more than a little disappointed.

I still feel like a gushy fangirl every time I talk to him, so I try not to talk to him very much. (Not that I have all that much to say except "LOL" or "so true" to every tweet, so maybe it's best to shut up.) Most of his tweets bring a smile to my face though. It seems like a safe way to follow James without an uncomfortable closeness or distance. Which, ironically, was pretty much what the James imposter said about Twitter last year.

He still seems super nice and interesting based on the tweets. I'm a little surprised at this, because usually when you get more exposure to a celebrity, you realize how normal and boring they really are. I don't get that vibe with James. It might be because he doesn't post fiercely private or mundane stuff; if he tweeted things like "scratched my neck, wonder why it's itching", it might get tired real fast. (Incidentally, that's pretty much how I tweet.) On the other hand, when he mentioned cornflakes, I squeed at the fact that I, too, eat cornflakes. So I may be biased.

Some fan-feelings stuff here on my LJ, for those who care to read. I'm still very emotional, but I will post on Eureka soon, I think. Still very happy, it's just all new and I need to give things some thought.

New James Callis Post!

James has posted at the Unofficial website! Read the post here (it's spelled lazarus, lol.)

James asked that people NOT reproduce the post elsewhere, so I won't quote anything this time.

He took down his tweets today - not sure if he's taking down the entire account - and discusses that in the post, among other things. Other news: he's in India, and while there, had his appendix removed. Apparently he's been in a lot of pain. Poor James. (L) And the appendicitis also caused some belly distention during Eureka shootings. Um, now I feel a bit bad for all the gushing. But he did look good.

Read more at the link! It's long and lovely. :)

This Face.

OK, I think I was finally able to figure out the order of screencaps here.

Grant tries to share something with Carter (see the post on "Momstrosity"), but Carter shoots him down. Grant's face goes through three stages - open and ready to share, disbelieving and hurt, and then hardened and angry. Beautiful.

I don't know how James Callis does this, but he does. Note the very subtle changes in his eyebrows and mouth, and the way his eyes change expression. It's hard to spot in still images, but I just had to make this its own post.

Meet Pursuit Delange - Video Clip!

Hey, they actually finished Meet Pursuit Delange! And there's a video clip here on imdb!

The blurb about the movie reads:

It is definitely not a wonderful life for Pursuit Delange. What do you do when it is the week before Christmas, you're penniless, have just been fired from your job, are in love with the wong girl and your saviour is a sociopath. Meet Pursuit Delange - a short film about the last great art form - failure.

So his name is Pursuit Delange? That's a really strange name, the strangest he ever played. (He's done some pretty regular-named characters before - Tom, Charles, Gabriel, etc. It's only Gaius who was odder.) Sounds like the movie is dealing with similar themes to Beginner's Luck. Is it strange that James is so drawn to films about failure, when he himself is a success? Maybe all actors start out being failures of some kind, feeling like this will never go anywhere, so this is something very relatable to them.

James described the film last year at the Evening with James Callis panel:

It was a comedy and it was very risqué, very very risqué. So risqué that the pilot possibly won't be made, but now, people are interested perhaps in a movie that will be less risqué. Do you understand risqué? Essentially risqué is rude.. I think, essentially, rude or crude, or both. I play this guy who was a wannabe, he wanted to be involved in the media in some way. And he's very naïve and a bit... sweet, like a nice guy, sweet, but he gets... he meets up with an old school friend who never was actually his friend at school. And the old school friend is really mean, really nasty. So it's like a duo between myself who was like Bambi and my friend who was like Satan. (laughter) It was very funny to do.

Heee! It really looks like that from the video. The "friend" is talking, saying crude stuff and being generally offensive, and James is like shrinking in his seat, very insecure and mellow, like a nice guy who's very impressionable.

Based on that clip? I love it. I'm not a huge fan of "shocking for the shake of being shocking", but I think Pursuit's naïveté sort of balances it and brings it back around to "shocking meets sweet and innocent". That works really well. Looking forward to seeing the full thing!

James Callis on Eureka: "Momstrosity"

I'm kinda disappointed in this week's episode. I know, last week was a gushfest of fetishes that probably won't happen again, but I have a legitimate reason to be disappointed here. It is: no Grant and Allison on a date. We were led up to it last week with two awesome flirtation scenes, and this week - they don't really even interact. So. Disappointing. I knew Grant was going to be part of the love triangle - actually, James called it a "horseshoe", and I might wanna steal that term - but I thought he was at least going to have something with Allison first. I was hoping for romantic scenes. He didn't get to do those on FlashForward or Numb3rs or god forbid Merlin, and I realize I've missed that side of his acting. Suave romantic 40's gentleman? Yes please! But alas, it's all "Grant gets in Carter's face".

Don't get me wrong, I did enjoy everything he did this week. I loved Grant and Carter's pissing contest, even if it was utterly silly. Both actors were funny. And yes, I want to apologize to Colin Ferguson, because he IS a good actor, he IS funny, and I completely misjudged him before. James said Colin cracks him up onscreen and off, and I see what he means now.

BUT. Here comes my biggest pet peeve with this episode and Grant's role so far: it seems way too much like he's with Allison just to piss Carter off. Instead of spending the weekend in Eureka with Allison, he forces his way onto Carter and Kevin's camping trip. Instead of playing it cool in front of Kevin, he gets all rude and nasty at Carter. It was fun to watch, but character-wise, it's a step backwards for Grant. I worry about what they're going to do with him beyond this, because we still know nothing about his past, his interests, his plans, etc. I get that he's a plot device to get Carter and Allison together, and I don't mind it as long as he's given something else as well. I care about Grant, and I want him to have something when he leaves Eureka. Something like a life in 2010, with or without Allison.

That said: PARKA LOVE!!! (L)


Look how tight it is! His tummy looks exquisite! I want to see him in this parka in every episode.

I guess I can abandon my fat suit (conspiracy?) theory, because they didn't refer to his weight once, and he wasn't shown eating in this episode. Fat suit plots are generally not subtle (see Fat Lee, Daphne on Frasier). So it's probably unintentional. We'll see what next week brings though. Maybe, between this and Gabriel McDow's super-tight coat, we can conclude that James isn't overly vain about his tummy. Which is awesome.

Plot: Carter is going on a camping trip with Kevin and Fargo, and Grant just shows up all "If I know about something, it's the outdoors!" Of course, he's an expert on every topic.

Carter: "Umm, that's.. not.. really.. what I had.. in mind..." See Allison's face; she's clearly telling him: "Be good and play with him." Grant asks Allison if she has plans, and at that, Carter says he can come along. Grant looks suspiciously happy, as if he was only asking Allison to annoy/blackmail Carter. Grr.

They set out in the forest, and Grant decides to annoy Carter again: "Tired already? You should try the Bavarian mountains in December. Now that's a hike." Bwah!! I'm sure he's very outdoorsy and in great shape, and I'm SURE he's been to Bavarian mountains. Judging by Twitter, many people were annoyed by Grant this week, but I loved him. I loved every silly comment he threw at Carter, because it was FUN. And because James sells it so well. I'm not sure if we're "supposed to" like Grant, but I love him. Smugness aside, he seems like a good guy underneath.

Fargo - who is always hilarious by the way; props to Neil Grayston, you are funny! - has brought an AI tent with all the modern luxuries. Kevin is immediately on board with this. Grant says sort of sternly and fatherly: "Kevin? This isn't camping." Fargo, gleefully: "I call it clamping!" Hee. :D (Kevin is played by Trevor Jackson, and I must say he's one of those child actors who don't come across like they're acting. Good job on the casting, there.) Also: the tent's name is BUFFY - "biomechanical unfolding fully automated yurt."

But Carter removes all gadgets from the campers. Fargo has about 20 of them, in every pocket. Hee again! (I wish they'd had more of Fargo this week; he spent most of the episode trapped in his own tent as AI went awry.) Grant - is busy widdling. So Carter doesn't check him. It's really cute to see James widdling! I loved his expression here:

Carter takes Kevin's game console and Kevin asks what they can do here "without being bored to death." Grant thinks they could just marvel at the beauty of nature. Kevin is unimpressed. Grant probably likes being in nature, because that's one thing that hasn't changed in 60 years. I can imagine he feels at home.

Carter wants to talk to Kevin about how his little robot filmed Jo in the shower today. "I know, you're 13, you're curious about the female .. form.. and what it does to your..form.." :D :D :D This is so... Of course, Kevin is embarrassed and wants him to stop, and Grant agrees. Carter says he thinks people should be open about this stuff: "In fact, I think you're showing your age!" (Um, but they're the same age. I get the joke but wouldn't it be risky to refer to his "age" in front of Kevin who doesn't know?)

Kevin says Carter is lame. "What happened to you? You used to be cool." Awww. Grant takes him aside to build a fire. He may be trying to stop them from fighting, or it could be a "see, I'm Kevin's buddy and you're not!" moment. It's hard to tell with him.

And now: the great Carter/Grant pissing contest! It starts as a "making a fire" contest, as Grant can't get anything to happen with the firewood. (That was how they spent time in the Bavarian mountains: hours upon hours of trying to make a fire.) Carter shows up with his fire gun and says he thinks gadgets are just fine, since it's so much cooler than the 40's.

He gives Kevin a new game. Now it's Grant's turn to get fatherly; he says Kevin was supposed to finish his "EMO project". (It's a cute little robot named EMO. Sadly, the plot around it is just stupid.) Kevin doesn't get all "Aww Grant, you're lame." I think maybe he should, for consistency's sake.

Tummy!! (L) (L) *drools* Also - I like the way his butt looks in these pants. Oy, hormones. Maybe I need a talk with Carter about James' FORM.

Carter says: "I think Allison would trust my judgment on this, like she's trusted my judgement on many things. Long history of judgement-trusting with Allison." I love the way he says that line, one word at a time. Hilarious!

Grant says that on their DATE, Allison told him what a "remarkably chaste relationship" they have.

Wow, James making a meanface! You don't see that very often.

"How you're friends - but without the benefits." Um, why does he say this in front of Kevin? He'd probably know what "friends with benefits" means, and be horrified.

Carter says Grant is "a distraction".

Grant: "Distraction! Is that what the kids are calling 'boyfriend' these days?"

Carter says soon she'll see Grant for what he is: "A smug, selfish Einstein-wannabe with no moral compass and only one functioning kidney." Heee!

Grant: "Both of my kidneys function fine, thank you."

Carter: "Day's not over yet."

Grant: "You want a piece of me, sport? Say the word."

Grant: "The w-ord..." and now he realizes Kevin is gone.

Grant is annoying in this scene, but I don't really think he's doing anything wrong with Allison. Carter hasn't told Allison he loves her; he hasn't tried to take her out on a date; it's not Grant's fault that the writers think Carter+Allison= match made in heaven. In fact, Grant has every right to be interested in Allison, to woo her, even marry her and have children together. It's Allison who has to pick one - or as the case may be, neither - of them. They won't be able to fight it out amongst themselves. So this is male machismo bullshit, but very entertaining to watch. I'm not really complaining, just saying that I'm not automatically on Carter's side here.

(Hey, wasn't the parka buttoned just now? Mystery parka that flies open within seconds! Woo! Sorry for focusing on this so much, but it's always nice with some chub visuals.)

And now, I'll pause for another pet peeve. Unlike some tweeters, I enjoy "sport" and the other 40's phrases. What I don't enjoy is that they keep putting TV phrases in his mouth, ones that sound pretty new and not even like things people would say in real life. This was already happening in last week's episode, but I was gushing too much to care.

Some of the phrases they've had him say:

"Call me old-fashioned but".

"I need [x] like a hole in the head."

"I'm full of surprises."

"Have a heart."

"I'm with [x] on this one."

"Oh, is that what the kids are calling [x] these days?"

"You want a piece of me?"

"Say the word."

I'm not a 40's phrase expert, but this just seems really off. Even if he were a 2000's person, who talks in TV catchphrases? I would love to see more of Grant's personality, and we won't get there with these; he needs his own language, his own frame of reference. I realize James wasn't given this trite stuff in BSG; the show had some annoying tics perhaps - overuse of "frak" sometimes just because they could - but there was something of its own to the dialogue. Eureka is just packed with reference upon reference upon cliché. Which doesn't mean it isn't funny or fresh in some ways. But perhaps, because it IS funny and fresh in other ways, I feel like they could have done better on some dialogue bits.

Speaking of BSG, there were two references this week: Fargo saying "Holy frak!" and Lupo calling a robot "toaster". Nice touches.

They're looking for Kevin, and Mr Bavarian Outdoorsman is out of breath and several steps behind Carter. But Carter doesn't take this opportunity to quip back: "Tired already?" He does, however, tell Grant that he would have run off too if somebody bragged about being on a date with his mom. "OK, I'll make sure to never tell you," Grant comebacks. Hee! He's really going out of his way to be annoying, but a moment later, he admits to something personal. He was hurt Carter didn't ask him on the camping trip: "Being a man out of time - not as much fun as it sounds."

Look at him all genuine and touching! Awww, my heart melted here. (Not that it was icy before, but he's a bit of a cad.)

Carter: "Whose fault is THAT?"

Grant's face goes through a change: hurt - upset - hardened. (Edit: I think I got the screenshots in the right order now. Beautiful and subtle!) He tried to share something genuine there, and Carter just shot him down. He's clearly disappointed. I feel for him, although I also know where Carter's coming from; he's the one almost stranded in the 40's because of Grant's selfish "I wanna see the future" trek. So maybe he has a right to remind Grant of that.

It's getting dark and they're still looking. Grant says they're getting near the camping site, and Carter's annoyed by his show of outdoor skills. Except when he looks back and realizes Grant is using a GPS device. Hee!

LOL! :D Mischievious little boy look right there. (L)

And we apparently jump ahead in our picspam, because they find Kevin and then AI-gone-awry finds them and tries to kill them. But what it really wants is its baby, the EMO robot. This was a bit silly. The point: Kevin is angry with Carter, and doesn't want him as Allison's boyfriend. Also, Grant is obnoxious again: "Look on the bright side, sport: you get to keep your friendship, and Kevin isn't so bothered by the idea of me dating his Mom. So, all's fair in love and war!" I'm not sure what his motives are here; maybe he's trying to be nice, but it comes off as "All's well that ends well - for ME." Hee! Cue Fargo shouting and plot moving on.

The AI plot is all kinds of silly this week. BUT: It brought Carter and Grant together, trying to save Kevin's life. Nice moment, but the screencaps didn't work out. (I'm starting to hate the quick cuts of this show.)

Afterwards, Carter says he's lucky Grant was there.

..and there's their male bonding: a sweet, natural moment of gratitude. They're both good guys, I think; they care about Kevin and Allison, and they don't really wish each other harm.

Back at Café Diem, Carter meets Kevin and they have their male bonding moment. Carter admits that he loves Allison, and Kevin says it's OK, but Carter better not hurt her. It's a cute moment, but it's also macho bullshit. He should be telling this to Allison, not her teenaged son. Why not drive over to Allison's parents' house while he's at it, and ask her father for her hand? Sometimes it's hard to believe Grant's the one from the forties.

Sitting behind a newspaper, it's Dr Bavarian Mountains, back in his suit. Carter tells him that he's going to fight for Allison. Once again, tell Allison. "Okay, sport?" he says and leaves. Hee!

"May the best man win," says Grant. (OK, I'll give him a pass for macho bullshit, because he's from ye olden times. Also the phrase seems accurately old.)

Not sure how to read this look. Concerned? Or sinister? (I'm not sure James can do sinister.)

Non-James this week: Henry tells Grace the truh about time travel, and she's broken hearted that he doesn't remember her. And - she leaves him. That was some intense stuff from Joe Morton and Tembi Locke, and I hope we see her on the show still. It'll be interesting to see if the others end up telling about the time travel.

Next week: hopefully Grant gets a plot of his own that doesn't circle around the horseshoe of Carter and Allison. I wish we could see the parka again too. Maybe Grant could go camping/dating with Allison? Moonlight! A chaste kiss! Marshmallows roasting on an open fire! Allison remarking on how fattening marshmallows are! Yeah, I'm just dreaming here.

Facebook Glee

(Written on LJ on the 7th, so I'll just cross post here. I'm slightly calmer now, a week after it happened. But still happy. The only part that didn't apply was the idea that I would fetishize him less. Um, much fetishizing coming in the next Eureka post.)

I'm incredibly hyper in one way, but on the other hand... I feel at peace. Because I know James Callis reads my stuff, and thinks kindly of me, and is an awesome guy. I'm at peace with him. It feels good. It feels healing and cathartic and... I don't even know.

I may need a day or two.. or week or two.. to just chill out and get used to this. It's a huge thing for me. I feel so good right now. I feel like it would be boring to keep repeating how good I feel, but I will indulge myself at least with this one post.

I can't believe he contacted me. Obviously I've fantasized about him doing just that, but when it happened, I was blown away bc it was like... an alternate universe or something. Worlds colliding. My first reaction was just pure shock. The joy came after I had time to parse through it a little. Even if you fantasize about something, that doesn't mean you expect it to happen. It's a bit funny because I started my relationship with him in my head, so in that sense it's like marrying someone first thing and then getting to know them. And I'm shy and nervous and want to keep a certain distance, after being all over him for so long. It's all sort of blown away when I talk TO him. Or - swoon - HE talks to ME. (I should probably talk in imperfect tense, because I doubt he's meaning to start a long-term correspondence.) HeadJames is still in my head, though, so it will probably stay on the side. Or not? we'll see.

Does this change anything about the blog? Probably not ALL that much, because I've always written knowing he might read - and suspecting he does - so I haven't really censored any of my feelings. I won't send him PMs about his belly/hair/smoking/whatever, but I may squee about them in the blog bc it's a part of my fandom. Obviously nothing I see on his FB goes on my blog. I may have to separate the two realms a little.

It's possible that the nature of the fangirling will change slightly. The main difference for now is that I see him more as a real person, someone with a personality defined long before I became a fan. I think I've seen him slightly as an extension of my own dreams and fantasies. I imagined it would be, on some level, disappointing to have contact. It's not. It's not HOW I pictured it, but it's really joyful, soothing and rewarding. In a way, it makes him appear smaller though, like he's more equal with me than before. I don't know what it is. It's not specifically anything he does or says, just that... he's just another guy using Facebook, not presented as "THE STAR OF THE DAY, JAMES CALLIS". His updates show up highlighted, but then so do everyone else's - there's no difference between "Nicole likes x's status" and "James Callis likes x's status". I've never considered this, but the fact that he's always on stage, on camera, etc. is probably a part of why I see him as something Higher. Maybe I need to bring him back on my level a bit.

In time, this might lead to him becoming less fascinating and attractive in my eyes. BUT. I think it will be really good for my self esteem and the way I treat James on the blog. Knowing he approves of me, I can't imagine becoming crushingly disappointed or upset, even if he said something I can't really agree with. I don't have to build him up as a superhero. I think. This has not yet been tested, but I'm pretty good with people disagreeing with me once I trust them.

I can't see the most private stuff on his FB, and that feels comfortably distant, like he has a space for himself too. I'm not intruding on something he doesn't want to share. I'm still a little shy and don't feel overly comfortable communicating with him on FB. I've browsed thru his photos but so far, I'm not "liking" any, bc I don't want him to come to FB to "you have 300 notifications - Deniselle Baltar likes your photo, Deniselle Baltar likes your photo, Deniselle Baltar commented on your photo, etc. etc.". I don't want him to regret adding me.

So I'm a little nervous still. But then I do this with everyone I find cool. The first times I interacted with Nicole, for instance, I always thought I must sound SO DUMB. Because, you know, Nicole is so judgemental and scary that there's real reason to worry. :D

James Callis on Eureka: "Crossing Over"

OK, so I don't know what's going on, guys. It's like I ordered "Deniselle's Fetish Special" at Café Diem and they brought me just what I want. In this episode: smoking! Defying attempts to make him quit smoking! Even more chub! And even a possible weight gain reference. Did they steal this out of my brain or something? Also, James is hilarious, and in nearly every scene. The notable non-James plot this week is Allison Scagliotti aka "Claudia Donovan" visiting from Warehouse 13. I was sure it would be dull for me since I don't watch that show. It was, instead, a lot of fun. Fargo and Claudia have great personal chemistry. In fact, I'm pretty sure I'd watch a Fargo/Claudia spinoff. And Allison was a big squeeing James-fangirl at the panel, so I love her already.

But I'm here to write about James. Everybody's calling him "Charles" by now, but I seem to stick by Grant, not sure why. (Probably because I like Trevor way more than Charles.) Before we see Grant, Carter talks to Henry; he kissed Allison, but "now Old Spice is here with his stupid hats and his 'Ooh, smoking is so cool', and it's complicated." He should totally change his Facebook relationship status. And I love the nickname Old Spice. Not enough to use it, but still, hee!

Allison was last seen getting a double espresso for Grant, because he's going to quit smoking! So of course, when the scene cuts to him, he is smoking...

...and jamming to "Car Wash". It looks hilarious either way, but it's somehow funnier because it's "Car Wash".

Henry comes in and tells him that smoking and asthma don't go together. "It's ok, I don't have asthma," says Grant. "Charles? I do," says Henry. Duh, Grant. He puts it out and apologizes: "Old habits die hard." (How about old spice?)

He jams again: "Working at the car wash, baby!" He manages to look SO lame. Henry asks if he's catching up on the lost decades of music.

"70's music is OFF THE HOOK!! Ya know what I'm sayin'?" LOL!!! :D More of this, please!

Now they try the bridge device. Do they get the engine to run? Grant seems nervous.
They do!! Yay! I love James' "youthful excitement" look. It makes him look like a boy.

But then, as usual in these scenes, Henry's wife Grace shows up. This is all kinds of awkward because Henry can't remember their life together at all, it happening in an alternate timeline. In this episode, he tries to tell her but can't, and I keep yelling: amnesia! But this isn't a soap so I doubt they'll use it.

Grant excuses himself. Note the mischievious look as he turns the music back on. Hee! I love these little touches he adds to his performance.

Cue piano music. It's James, and he's playing really well. If that really is him playing, and I think it is. I'm not going to go all overboard and say he should be a pianist, but you know, I'd pay to see him in concert. I love that he gets to show his love of music in this role.

He's also smoking while playing, really enjoying the cigarette. This always looks particularly sexy. Allison walks in.

She says, "Wow... nice office." I thought she was going to say "Wow, you can play the piano." I love how they gave him an office that's kind of vintage, to help him feel at home. Also: suspenders!

But of course, she has to nag him about the smoking: "Don't make me call Martha to put that thing out." Hee, Martha!! (i.e. the surveillance robot from episode 2.) "It's my last one, have a heart," Grant says. He says smoking is "such a sensual ritual", which may be an attempt to flirt with her and distract her from the whole quiting thing. She doesn't fall for it: "No, emphysema, cancer, heart disease." (Well, it may still be sensual and enjoyable to him, right?)

Grant: "You doctor types really got away with sucking the fun out of life, you know that?"

Allison: (pulls the cigarette out of his mouth): "Well, these things will suck the life out of you if you don't quit. You've gotta start thinking about your future."

Grant: "You're right. And from where I'm sitting - it's looking pretty inviting."

I don't know about you, but that was one hot scene in my book. Allison pulling the cigarette out of his mouth and him trying to suck on it still = HOT. I'm not sure, however, about the whole health aspect. Not a fan of tough love (and does he even want to quit?) In case someone's interested, I got political about it on LJ, here.

Allison injects some sort of device into Grant. "What is this torture device?" he asks. Allison says it has nanobots that "purge the nicotine out of your system". That sounds practical. Grant thinks so too: now he can just smoke and they will "scrub him clean"! Hee.

..but it sends a huge jolt of pain through him as soon as he inhales. Ow!

Is it just me or is Allison annoyingly smug/sadistic in this scene? She doesn't even warn him that it's going to hurt. I mean, she's gorgeous but would you really want to date someone who treats you like this? Grant does.

He gets to his favorite topic: now that you're torturing me, please at least go out with me. Pleeease? (He's a little more suave than that, but that's the gist of it.)

*PUPPY EYES* How could she not go on a date with him?! She promises to consider it. I would have been all over him by now. Maybe she has better self control, or maybe she's just more into sheriff Carter. To each her own. (But I mean come on.)

OK, so then a scene very important to ME. Lupo has a super health smoothie at Café Diem, and Grant walks in and looks derisively at the smoothie, and Lupo lists all the healthy stuff in it.

And then she says, "You look like you could use one." And - wait what? Was that a reference to his weight gain? First I thought I was reading into it, but then... she does look straight at his gut. And the coat is really tight on him. Much tighter than it was the first few episodes (remember, he had the vest on and could still button it up). What the frak is going on here?

So... Either James gained weight during filming (donuts?!), and they decided to have fun with it. Or they put him in a fat suit because they're building up for a big weight loss episode. I'm not sure how to read this. It doesn't LOOK like a fat suit, but if it's not, why would they have him in a tight suit and, in the next episode, in this super-tight parka? It's like they're emphasizing it: look how chubby! I'm going to assume the universe doesn't exist only to make me horny, so there's gotta be some reasoning behind this. Right?

Either way: GUSH! DROOOOL! *evaporates in fat fetish glee* *tries to come back together to finish the post in a sensible way. We're not even at the A plot yet.*

EDIT: Apparently he was just suffering from appendicitis and had a swollen abdomen. Awww. I feel kinda bad for going on about it. Kinda sorta. Actually how was I to know and, like M said, "he makes appendicitis look good!" So maybe it's all good. James' post here. 

..moving on, Grant says, "Like a hole in the head! Call me old-fashioned but I prefer to eat my food, not drink it." He sells it well, but to me, "Need x like a hole in the head" and "call me old-fashioned but" are specifically modern phrases. But whatever.

Grant orders "a steak - potatoes - eggs - butter - two fingers of Scotch." (And you know it's TV because café owner Vinnie doesn't ask him how he wants his steak, what kind of potatoes and eggs. But the point is that these foods are BAD for you, and possibly referring to his weight gain as well, but I can't be sure.)

Vinnie is pretty excited: "A man's order if ever there was one!!" (Edit: I didn't know Vinnie was gay. I think he has a total crush on Grant.) Lupo smugly lists all the bad things in his food: "Cholesterol, starch, salt AND liquor. You'll be dead before dessert." Grant realizes something's missing from his heart attack special: "Dessert! -Coconut cream pie." Lupo, grossed out: "No wonder the life expectancy for men your age is 20 years shorter." (Is that men in their late 30's or men from the 1940's?) Grant is unphased, like he still can't really believe all these health rules. I wouldn't blame him; it's a lot of information to take in in such a short time! "They've been telling me everything that makes life worth living is going to kill you." "Pretty much," agrees Lupo.

Grant's solution to this, and pretty much everything: "I can't take this, I need a smoke."

I must say it's utterly sexy how he smokes here. Maybe it's the look of pleasure on his face or the general sexiness of I don't even know, you guys!

In addition to being a hedonist, Grant seems to have some masochistic tendencies, because he says it's worth the pain. But he looks more like "Ahh, the pain!" I think a device like that might actually get you addicted to the smoking-pain cycle.

Lupo is indignant that he's lighting up: "Second-hand smoke is terrible..." but then she doubles over and falls into Grant's arms.

At the hospital, Grant tries to be helpful: "Listen, I still think it had something to do with that swill she was drinking. They called it a 'smoothie'." :D :D Hee! It's not the smoothie; it is, in fact, a gigantic bullet inside Lupo. Which is pretty weird considering she wasn't shot. She's saved, but turns out the bullet is from... the 1940's. Dun dun dun!

Also: a couple of trees just grew out of the GD floor, a 40's plane showed up at Café Diem, etc. Our time travelers are trying to figure out what happened, and hear about Henry and Grant's tests with the bridge device.

Grant defends himself: the device doesn't have THAT kind of power! Then he coughs terribly and says quitting smoking made him feel worse, rather than better. And he goes out for some air...

And next thing we know he's being CGI'd something fierce.
After some science babble, it turns out he's the magnet that's pulling all those 1940's things to him. And if they don't stop it, the two times will collapse into each other. What? How does that even work? The CGI here is meant to represent how Grant is falling apart one molecule at a time. I think. (It looks kind of pretty, with the light and the colors.)

Aww, at least take the pants off him! -Um, not sexually. Just that they look really tight and uncomfortable. Ahem.

Grant coughs blood and a 1940's nuclear missile appears in the room. Grant says that his body will be stuck here even if he dies, and he will continue to pull in stuff from the 40's. They realize that the only way to do this is to somehow neutralize Grant's molecules or whatever, close the wormhole or whatever, science babble bla bla, and Grant will be stuck forever in the 2000's. He thinks about a few minutes, and is willing to do this. It's really kind of heroic. See this, all the people on Twitter saying he's ruining the world again? He's SAVING it. Hero!

I took quite a few screenshots but feel like I can't use most of them. I cannot stand to see James in pain. He just plays it so real. *shuts eyes* *grimaces* *moans* then after a while, he ups the ante: *shuts eyes much tighter* *grimaces harder* *moans harder* Honestly, it's just... real and hurts to watch it. In these scenes, I was hoping he wouldn't be quite such a good actor.

But you know, they use the nicotine patch nanobots to purge the 1940's out of his system - it makes less and less sense to me, but whatever - and it works. Here's two screenshots, I think from when he wasn't yet in terrible pain:

(Trust me, he looks even sicker in a few other screenshots. This one is already almost too much for me.)

And here he is lying there, all healed. Asking Allison out again. He really has a one-track mind.

Awwww, stroking a sick puppy (L) Just do it already, you guys!

Later, Allison meets him at his office. "No, I said get home and rest," she scolds. He hides the stock pages he was looking at (why now?) and says he's just "dotting the i's, crossing the t's, making this transfer permanent." Allison is compassionate now: "You must miss home." Grant says his home is here now: "I'll always have memories of those people." Umm, what people? I wish we'd gotten something of a backstory, but OK, I hate to gripe when we got so much of him int his episode.

Grant tells Allison that now that she saved his life, the least he can do is buy her a drink.

"OK, one drink," Allison agrees.

Grant: "One? What, are we gonna share?" Hee!

But they agree to go on a date, finally. So we'll see if they ever get there, perhaps in next week's episode. Either way, I'm loving the brown shirt on James. It's a good color on him.

This just in: according to a Comic Con int, James is doing 9 episodes (and possibly a few more after). So we're ... five episodes into his story. I hope we get a little more of Grant in the episodes to come; I really enjoyed this one, but Allison hasn't even had that date with him yet, and they've been foreshadowing it since episode 1. We don't know very much about Grant in general, and if he's only going to stay for four more eps, I'm hoping for VERY Grant-heavy. James mentioned 7,8, and especially 9 are going to have more Grant, so we can look forward to that. Am I whining too much? I didn't expect to like this role at all and I've loved every minute he's been on screen. So maybe I should just be happy.

I'm consciously omitting 404 "The Story of O2" for now, because it had very little James and I was disappointed. Grant had some cute interaction with Kevin and Allison, but he didn't really get to DO much - he was just there to observe things happening to others. I'm really relieved, though, that his whole role hasn't been like that. Next week: if noting else, James in an amusing-looking parka!