Catching Up With Girlfriends & The Game

I'm baaaacccckkk! Sorry I've been remiss in posting about Girlfriends & The Game, but honestly, I haven't been all that impressed. Girlfriends, in particular, has turned out to be a MAJOR disappointment. It really should have ended last season. To get caught up, here are my previously written thoughts on Episodes 1-4. Enjoy!

Last night:

Girlfriends....





*Sigh.*





*Snooze.*





*Booooriiiinnngggg!*






Moving on to The Game....

Jason used to be one of my favorite characters on this show, but I've lost all respect for him. I can't believe he didn't fess up to Kelly about the steroids, instead letting her think that her brother was back on drugs. Whatever punishment he gets from this dishonesty - and I know Kelly is gonna get him good when she finds out - will be well-deserved.

At least Kelly finally got a handle on Brittany's hair.

Melanie clearly "loves Derwin" as the back of his shirt proclaimed. Because if she didn't, she wouldn't be wasting her time making cocochews and rolling up in Malik's Porsche wearing daisy dukes. All she's doing is showing him that she still cares about him. What she needs to do is ignore him completely and make him sweat it out. Derwin's little wink at the end was telling - I may not get ya now, but I will eventually get ya!

The best line of the night was when Tasha asked Melanie for two forms of ID and proof of insurance before letting her drive the Porsche. I don't blame her!


Episode 3:

Why, Girlfriends, why? Last night's episode was one big snooze - very predictable with the same recycled storylines.

I'm glad Lynn decided to do the HOB gig, but what a contrived way to get there? The whole college dorm room/moment of conscience scenario was useless.

The only moment of original hilarity was Jabari's MySpace video blog. He was really feelin' himself. And he did call his mama out for using the B-word. William cracked me up by tossing a wad of bills into the "Fitna" jar without even saying a word (but we know what he was saying in his head!).

Debbie Allen directed the episode, but her genius was lost on me. There's only so much she can do with the material the writers give her. Keep hope alive, Debbie!

Moving on to the The Game, which is clearly surpassing it's lead-in.

First of all, Renee needs to chill. She was doing too much, too soon. See how Malik checked her: "When did the memo get out that you were my girl?" Women need to learn that you can never force a man to change. He'll only do it if he wants to. If Renee doesn't like what she sees - the TVs, bling-bling, and dogs -- then perhaps she just needs to move on -- or as Malik suggested, take it back to the hotel room, then.

Personally, I don't see anything wrong with Malik and Tasha living together - they're relationship is just cool like that - but I do think that Malik needs to strike out on his own two feet. He's a multi-millionaire for goodness sake -- it's not like the has to live with his mom because he's broke.

Tasha should not have taken it so personally, though. Wasn't it just a few months ago that she went out and bought herself a little love-nest condo for her and Coach T to get their snuggle on? But then Malik balked, and she moved back home.

"Girl" Melanie was on point last night. When she's not sniffing behind Derwin, she's got a good head on her shoulders. I'm proud of the way she stood her ground with Tasha. A true friend isn't going to just tell you what you want to hear - she's going to tell you the truth.

From what I've gathered, in an upcoming episode, Melanie and Derwin are going to try to reconcile, but he gets caught out there (once again!) with Drew Sidora, which causes Melanie to run right into Malilk's open arms. Imagine if Mel and Malik become a couple?!? Yikes!

I am ashamed to admit that I cracked up the way Jason read the Scripture, with the "JEE-zus" pronunciation and then using different voices to quote Jesus and Peter. Hilarious! Jason is grasping at straws to keep his career alive, and he's resorted to desperate measures -- leading Bible study -- and next week, using steroids.

But the funniest moment was when the new Coach called out Jason for his "fake tan."

Jason: "But Coach, I'm Black."
Coach: "The lies!"

Episodes 1 & 2:

Girlfriends

• I am really disappointed that Mara Brock Akil chose to write Aaron off the show by sending him to Iraq. Dammit...why can't Joan get her happy ending? But just when Joan shows me that she's turned over a new leaf, as she appeared to have done so last season in getting over "herself," she regresses back to the very beginning. Her snide comment- in front of all their friends - stating the obvious - that he doesn't make as much money as she does - was an unnecessary low blow. Joan clearly wants to control everything about her life, and that control freak nature has driven many a man away over the past seven seasons. Joan needs to learn that in a relationship, you have to let the man be a man. She's always emasculated her boyfriends by throwing her bougie lifestyle in their faces or proving how much smarter than them she is. I feel like we're back to watching the Joan of earlier seasons. Where's the growth - or at least the appearance of some growth in her character? Though I do have to give her props for the final scene of her crying in the kitchen - it was very touching - I'm really going to miss Aaron. He was the only boyfriend Joan has had that's stood up to her. That's what she needs, and I fear what's going to happen to her now that he won't be around.

• Speaking of deja vu...Maya. Here we go again with Maya taking things to the extreme and blowing everything out of proportion. Isn't this the second (or perhaps third) episode where she's gone off the deep end because she mistakenly thinks that Jabari is doing drugs? Can we switch the script and move on? Please? It seems like the only time we ever see Jabari is just for Maya to berate him. Maybe that's the way it is having a teenage son - I wouldn't know. But the writers are obviously setting up Maya miscarriage as she's going on-and-on-and-on about all the stress she's under, mind you, stress she's only bringing on herself.

• William and Monica...no comment = a total waste of time, energy, and space.

• Lynn...again, no comment (see above), other than to say that I really like how she redecorated Joan's house.

The Game

• I don't know what's worse - Melanie turning in to a slut or the fact that she still wants to be with Derwin? Okay...well maybe not a slut...but as Tasha said, a ho may suffice. Melanie is supposed to be a strong, independent woman, but being with Derwin clearly broke her resolve. Instead of laying up in the hotel room with Trey and taking advantage of him and his generosity, why was she not on her grind - looking for a job, trying to secure a loan for college, or looking for someplace to live? I hate to see my Black women loose themselves due to the triflingness of some man. It was a mistake in the beginning for her to allow Derwin to pay for her education and support her financially (ladies...let this be a lesson to us all). And I totally see that the Mara is going to put them back together, basically because she's so dependent on him, she probably can't figure out how to live without him. But that's not to say that she needs to run into Trey's open arms. He's clearly sprung off of her, and it's wonderful that he offered to step in and help her out AS A FRIEND, but it should really go no further, unless Melanie is definitely going to let go of Derwin. So now Melanie is living with Tasha. *Sigh* And based on the previews we can expect some yucky hanky-panky between her and Malik. A mess! But I did LOL when Tasha yelled to Melanie to "Tell your company that's it's almost 8 o'clock," meaning, it's time to be out.

• So we finally got to see some real football action last night. Loved it - I'm a football girl! All I can ask is for more, more, more!

• I kind of feel bad for Jason - that is until he got nasty with Kelly (even though I agree she really didn't need to be there, he totally disrespected her). So I guess his benching is going to drive him to the pills...steroids, that is. And we all know Jason is cheap as hell, so make those generic steroids. There's a lot of potential there for his character - I'm curious to see how the writers try to transition him (and Kelly) to life post-football. Wait...who would be president of the Sunbeams? Sad to say, but my money is on Melanie.

Aside from some funny moments on The Game and Melanie and Derwin's big fight last week, I've felt somewhat uninspired by what I've seen so far this season. But as they say, stay tuned...