"Thief of Hearts"

A review by Jenni:

Not sure about handling this one real well...  The closing lines of the poem "Remember" just popped into my head.  I really like Christina Rossetti's poems, as a whole.  And I even like the sound of "Remember" but I couldn't disagree more with this: "Better by far you should forget and smile/ Than that you should remember and be sad."  Cause even if I do end up bawling during this episode and thinking of Mr. Dye, I'd take that 100 times 100 times rather than forget all the good stuff.  Same with every person I've grieved.
 
What I love about this episode:
First, I'm psyched to watch an episode on a professional DVD for the first time in a long while!  No annoying banners!  No cut scenes!  Just TBAA as it was meant to be seen.  Yay!

OMG!  I forgot about Tess' revolving door phobia!  I hate those things!  That glass one isn't so bad but at our local zoo there's a metal one and I swear you could get killed there.  I feel Tess' pain.

"Make every minute count."  Andrew giving advice to Monica re: Corey.  But it's a good thing to remember always.

I love when Alice recalls all the places she visited when her mother was reading to her.  I think reading aloud to a child is so important.  I'm glad my mom read to me.

Aww.  I love when Alice dabs Corey's face with the damp cloth... just like he wanted from a mom.

I also like how into the hallway bowling the other patients and staff get.  Cute.

It tugs at your heart strings to see how Corey, despite his discomfort, gets so excited and happy when he learns Alice is gonna adopt him.

If/when it comes time for me to adopt... I hope I get the miracle of quick paperwork that Alice does.  That already makes me nervous. 

Good use of suspense.  I've already seen this episode but even at that I really, really wanna know what those photo frames are...  Oh...  Wow.  Just found out.  I totally forgot about this.

"God has always listened to you... from the day you were born.  Even when you stopped talking to Him, your Father has been there listening to your spirit."  A lovely quote from Monica.

"I think it takes a lot of faith to be angry at God."  Wow.  Another quote from Monica during her revelation to Alice.  I've never much thought about it but it makes sense.  When I'm truly angry at someone it generally means: 1. I care about them, otherwise their offense wouldn't hurt and 2. I think they're better than whatever's happened.  Same applies when I'm angry at God.  I wouldn't be if I didn't love Him and think He could have made for a better outcome.

Okay, the part where Monica tells Alice that God was protecting her spirit and whispering His love to her when she was trying to protect her body from her abusive mother made me tear up.  Then when Monica says, for God, "I love you, Alice.  You are precious.  You matter to me.  You will survive," it got me even more.

"God wants you to learn what it is to love without fear.  Truly, joyfully love with a love that always protects, always hopes, always trusts, and never, ever fails."  From Monica to Alice, same scene.  I need that lesson, too.  That's one thing JD's death has shown me: I am deeply fearful.  I'm afraid how I'll handle it when the losses hit closer to home.  Like with my parents.  If I was a parent, I'd be terribly afraid of losing my child.  If I fell in love, I'd be afraid of losing him.  TBAA, specifically Andrew, pretty well obliterated my fear of my own death.  But I remain afraid of everyone else's.  I hope realizing that is the beginning of conquering it.

And then in the next scene, Andrew says "There is no reason to be afraid."  God, help me to remember that.

I think I understand why Alice keeps buying Corey stuff and giving it away.  It just helps.

I love the shot of the angels on the escalator for some reason.  And that they circle back to the revolving door joke. 

What I didn't love about this episode:
While I get what Monica was trying to do, using someone else's prized possession to further her assignment seems a lil wrong to me.  She even admits to Corey that she wasn't sure he'd return it.  I can understand why Alice got so angry at her.

Lingering questions:
Monica seriously doesn't know what "perp" means?  After over 6 years of caseworking?  Sometimes I don't find the Monica humor believable.  Unless maybe she was just caught off-guard cause she doesn't regard Corey as a perp but... I'm not sure about that.

Did Corey's potential adoptive parents meet him before deciding they didn't want to adopt him because of his heart?  I just can't imagine meeting a child, bonding with him, and then changing my mind no matter what the circumstances were...  But this from someone who feels bad if she picks up a plush animal at a store then doesn't buy it.

Parts that made me feel swoony:
Gah.  Andrew's all sorts of adorable in the opening scene.  I love that lil bend he does when he's teasing about the door.  Is that jeans, flannel, and possibly corduroy?!  Or maybe that soft velvety sort of material?!?!  Either way... it's a trifecta of cuddly Andrew clothing items!  The shirt may be plaid cotton but still...  Lovely.

I love it when he protects lil kids.  And it's very sweet that he offers to go with Corey to confront Alice.

Also awesome?  When Corey asks Andrew if he just stands around waiting to rescue people and Andrew says "Yeah, pretty much."  He rescued me a time or two... pretty impressive since we don't occupy the same reality.

That scene is also a good example of how physically affectionate and comforting Andrew can be.  I love how he gently pats Corey on the shoulder to calm him after the bullies and again right before Corey talks to Alice.

He looks all sorts of cuddly in the tan sweater... especially when he's glowing.  JD is the only guy I ever felt deserved the word "beautiful."  I've used cute and handsome and attractive for many others.  But he was beautiful.  And also cute, handsome, and attractive, of course!

Aww, I wish we coulda seen Andrew's chat with Corey's "pals"!  But his facial expression when he recalls it is sure adorable.

I always loved it when Andrew didn't wear a tie with a suit.

Always good to see Andrew amused and playful!  I'm glad the episode ends with him giving Tess a bit of a hard time and not the deathbed scene, as touching as that is.

I'd just like to let it be known that whatever parts of my being JD was not able to sappify during his earthly lifetime, he's sappifying in his eternal lifetime.  Way more in touch with my emotions of late. 

Random thoughts:
Music: You can hear muzak at the mall or wherever it is that Alice has her shop.  Yep, it's a mall.  And you later hear carousel music there.

It's funny how different generations recognize actors.  I only knew Patti LuPone as the mom from Life Goes On.  I only found out later she was a famous and adored Broadway performer. 

Bernie's Espresso Yourself is the name of the lil cafe Tess is working at.

So today I learned that I should just start watching TBAA with a linen dinner napkin.  It can soak up way more than a Kleenex.  So now my weepy TBAA viewing shall be green!  ;-)

Scenes Hallmark cut:
 -As mentioned above, I watched this on the "Love" DVD collection so have not seen the Hallmark version. 

Further on down the road...
Wow.  They actually kept the PSA.  Anyhow... double feature for me tonight! 

Fun fact: Jamie Lee Curtis adopted her children with the Six Fingered Man... otherwise known as Nigel Tufnel.  Yep... I was unduly happy when I found out she and Christopher Guest were married and had been for some time.  Very cool.

Sigh...  I'm really trying to tell myself that I do NOT need another cup of chai or coffee.  And here I am watching an episode with Tess running a coffee cart.  I think I'm gonna get myself some cider...  And also a doughnut, it seems.

I just can't imagine bonding with a child, planning to adopt him, and then deciding against it upon learning he's ill.  That just means he especially needs a parent!  However, maybe it was a case of the prospective parent(s) not having money for treatment.  If that's the case, what was the agency thinking not being open about that from the get-go???  I'd say it sounds phony and like bad writing but I've seen some of the messed up elements of the foster care system so who knows...

Sigh...  John looks so beautiful in that tan sweater.  And he's just so sweet in that scene with Corey.

Wow... that nurse or whatever she is at the end is awful.  First, to be so crass with a person present who she doesn't know and might be related to the recently deceased person she's talking about... who she clearly knew was a child.  THEN not to express condolences when Alice identifies herself as Corey's mother... geez.  I get that you have to step away emotionally after a while.  So I probably wouldn't have thought anything of her being so abrupt about the death of a child IF she was alone.  But three visitors were standing right near her!

I like that shot at the end of them coming down the escalator.  It's cool and different and touching all at once.  And I really like the bookends with the revolving door.  I'm getting better with my own dislike of them.  ;-)  And I just realized I already said both those things basically.  Oh well!

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