Endgame!!!!!!!!!!!

[alexandral]

It has happened! A show with non-evil Russian! And even more: an awesomely fabulous Russian! Well, the Russian is a genius chess-player and blond , but nonetheless! The cold war is probably over!

Apart from the Russian thing that was bound to make me immediately interested, the new Canadian shown about a mastermind strategist who finds the solutions to various problems from the room of his expensive hotel (because he has a terrible psychological trauma after witnessing his girlfriend's death and can't get out of the hotel, poor thing) is immense fun. It pokes at "Mentalist" (this is where the blond locks come from) and in one single first episode manages to make fun of a huge number of various stereotypes: gay parents, Mexican women, and already mentioned Russians.



To add to it, Shawn Doyle (the actor that plays Arkady Balagan) is gorgeous. His Russian is terrible but his eyes are piercing blue. Quick Googling tells me that he used to look even better with dark hair.





















PS: I think I like Canadian shows.

Comments

[thinking-lotus.livejournal.com]

It must get v v tiresome what with all the evil Russians in American pop culture!

[dianora77.livejournal.com]

He does have a Russian/Eastern Slavic look about him. :)

[alexandral.livejournal.com]

Hee! I find it rather amuzing. There are some things (like blond hair stereotype) that are totally puzzling - in comparison with UK the parts of Russia I have been have less people with blond hair.

[alexandral.livejournal.com]

he totally does! Also, although when he speaks Russian he doesn't do a particular good job, I LOVE the accent he does when he speaks English.

[embitca.livejournal.com]

Sounds awesome. Now I just need to go and find a download :)

[thinking-lotus.livejournal.com]

Definitely in the US there is a perception that more Russians than not have blond hair. I read an article recently about women in Russia selling their hair for wigs (from the NY Times: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/11/22/business/global/22blond.html). Though maybe this is more about Eastern Europe than Russia itself.

I agree about England being full of blonds. I used to refer to it as "Mascara Nation" when I first went there.

[alexandral.livejournal.com]

It seems to me (this is what I notice, I don't know statistics!) that in Russia more woman have long unspoiled by dying hair, hence I think the wigs. My mother still keeps my sister's plat (she cut it when she was 20) . Often-met hair colour is light-brown (my natural colour is like is like this) which even has a name rusiy (derivative from Russian) :

http://images.yandex.com/yandsearch?text=%D1%80%D1%83%D1%81%D1%8B%D0%B9&p=6&img_url=s60.radikal.ru%2Fi168%2F0903%2Fbf%2Ffeccf3826ebf.jpg&rpt=simage

But England - yep. In my daughters' class 75% of girls are blond, and very blond at that.

[alexandral.livejournal.com]

I hope you like it!!!!!

[kiotona.livejournal.com]

I LOVED that show and I can't wait for the new episode!

And yes, its so nice to see a non-evil Russian. Although you still see it in a lot of American shows unfortunately...but perhaps Americans will see the show and realise the Cold War is over XD /shot

On a side note, I'm glad in a way I don't speak Russian so I can't hear how bad he speaks it XD

[(Anonymous)]

omg! 4 women in a show ?!

[alexandral.livejournal.com]

I can't wait for the new episode. I wonder if we get to see more about Arkady's fiancee's murder.

On a side note, I'm glad in a way I don't speak Russian so I can't hear how bad he speaks it XD

Russian language is not an easy one, so I don't really mind too much. He does a lovely Russian accent when he speaks English, though. it is very believable.

[alexandral.livejournal.com]

Oh, yes! One of them is a middle-age Mexican lady who is TOTALLY awesome.

[timescout.livejournal.com]

Ok, you talked me into it. ;P I'll check out another Canadian show.

[alexandral.livejournal.com]

I am so so glad you are interested :D

[le-russe-satan.livejournal.com]

Yay for Endgame. I do love his "Russian" accent as well and his prettiness and the fact that he walks around barefoor. I am not entirely sure about the constant drinking though, a bit too stereotypical, but I loved him making fun of suffering russian soul stereotype. XD

[alexandral.livejournal.com]

I didn't mind the drinking thing too much, I thought it was partly a laugh re: Russian stereotypes (he didn't seem to get drunk at all?), and partly a way to show how traumatised he is.

[le-russe-satan.livejournal.com]

True, true, that's why I am just unsure about it: I'm waiting to see where they go with it. :) I'd love for someone to actually comment how he doesn't get drunk. XD

(Oh, btw, I'm totally new to your journal, was looking for somebody who's watching Endgame, hope you don't mind. :) )

[alexandral.livejournal.com]

I am the same - I guess as long as they keep showing how awesome he is I don't mind it.

You are very welcome here! I am definitely going to watch Endgame, but I don't post too often (two times a week usually).

[karu-mila.livejournal.com]

Two episodes and I'm already sucked in! Arkady is freakin' awesome and Alcina is boss... by the way, I think she's Guatemalan. I remember her saying that her husband was murdered back in Guatemala.

I totally noticed the similarities to The Mentalist. I can't wait to see where they're going with the fiancee's murder.

[alexandral.livejournal.com]

by the way, I think she's Guatemalan. I remember her saying that her husband was murdered back in Guatemala.

Oh, cool! Thank you so much for the info! She is definitely my kid of lady.

The creators managed to make the similarities with Mentalist so obvious that they look as if they very going for some sort of a light parody.

[karu-mila.livejournal.com]

I wonder if they're going to delve more into back story... we don't know too much about Alcina, just that she has six children and a grandchild. Good news is that she's in all 13 episodes... *crosses fingers* So I guess we'll see how things go.

[alexandral.livejournal.com]

I hope to see more about her. The second episode was a little "hectic" for me , but I hope this is just a hiccup.

[karu-mila.livejournal.com]

Yeah, the ending seemed a little rushed, but there were lots of good scenes... I love how Arkady said that he and Sam couldn't solve the case without Alcina.

[alexandral.livejournal.com]

yes, I liked that too! But the case itself wasn't as interesting as the one in the first ep.

[karu-mila.livejournal.com]

By the way, did you see last night's episode? There wasn't much Alcina, but I loved how she took down the hit woman, quickly picked up Sam's idea on game theory and called Arkady out on his arrogance. Did you see him call her the Mayan Princess? I'd like to see the show build more on their banter...

[alexandral.livejournal.com]

No, I haven't ** is sad **. it is nowhere to be found!

[karu-mila.livejournal.com]

Aww, that's too bad... maybe it's on the Showcase website. They usually have full episodes of shows there.

[alexandral.livejournal.com]

YAy! I fond it!

[karu-mila.livejournal.com]

Yes and hopefully you'll be able to do the same with last night's episode... I'll let you catch and tell me what you think. I don't want to give anything away.

[alexandral.livejournal.com]

Yes, I hope!

[karu-mila.livejournal.com]

This episode did reveal some tidbits about Arkady and Alcina... Alcina's grandchild is a little girl, Arkady's mother was a poet and he used to go with her to a cafe where she wrote and he ate pashka and Alcina's last name is Albeniz.

Anyways, what kind of story lines would you like to see on the show?