Underappreciated - Until Now!

There are a hell of a lot of shows on the old tele these days that cater to everybody's needs, after all we are in a new 'Golden Age of Television', so it can be forgiven that some actors and actresses can get looked over once in a while. Well I am here to shine light on five TV stars that I feel don't get the recognition they deserve. I am always a supporter of the underdog or the underappreciated and I think it is time these people were celebrated for their craft.

 Aimee Carrero

She is one fifth of the main cast of the hugely underappreciated TV show 'Young and Hungry'. A comedy shown on Freeform in America, it stars the brilliant Emily Osment as a personal chef to a millionaire playboy in San Francisco. Aimee plays Sofia, who is Emily Osment's character's roommate. She makes me laugh in every scene she does, she is a master of comic timing and over the top reactions. My favourite thing she does is when she gets frustrated or angry and speaks in the third person using her extremely long name and beautiful spanish accent. She is also a great dramatic actress, there are times on the show where we see her vulnerable side that questions her life choices, I do get choked up sometimes. I think there will be big things for Aimee in the future - fyi she was already cast as the voice for the first hispanic Disney princess. 

Bellamy Young

I have said it before and will keep saying it until she gets all the awards she has well and truly earned. Bellamy is a gifted actress, I mean for one she has made me love and want to see more of a character that is actually repulsive at times. She stars as ex-first lady Melody "Mellie" Grant in 'Scandal' - a political drama set in Washington, shown on ABC. She executes this character to perfection, showing a strong woman who takes no bullshit, stands her ground and will not go down without the most brutal of fights. She is powerful when she is on the screen. I only hope I see more and more of Bellamy because she truly is a blessing to watch, she is so believable both in her funny scenes and serious, dark scenes. I love the character, dare I say it, more than I love the main character of the show - Olivia Pope. 

Chelsea Kane

It would be easy to typecast Chelsea as the traditional beautiful blonde woman in any show, but my days does she bring more to the table than that. She is a tremendous comedy actress, and I never use the word tremendous so you know she is something.  She is laugh out loud funny, great comedy timing and reactions. For me she is the star of the show, and this quite a feat because the entire cast is brilliant. I really hope she gets a lot of attention when this amazing comedy gets its untimely end. What I love about Chelsea's style of acting is that she can make me laugh one minute and then completely draw me in to whatever emotional turmoil she is experiencing, I am not so insecure to admit that I have cried with Chelsea's character a few times.

Max Greenfield

'New Girl' for me is one of the most underappreciated shows on TV today. It brings it every single episode, it makes me giggle like the little girl I am and cry like the woman I am becoming. I could have mentioned any actor/actress from this show for this shortlist but I had to give it to Max Greenfield. He is phenomenal as Schmidt, incase you are not aware Schmidt is the roommate to Jess, Nick and Winston and fiancé of Cece. It is hard to even describe the character Max portrays - you just have to watch it. The reason I believe Max should be celebrated is because of expertly he executes this role, it is hard to believe this character exists and then on the other hand it's hard to believe that it is acting. He commits so much to the role that it is incredibly hard to see Max and Schmidt as two different entities. He brings the most laughs to the show and it is high time that he gets the awards.

Troian Bellisario

'Pretty Little Liars' have done an expert job of casting for this suspenseful teen drama, all the main females are believable as their characters and bring so much to the roles that it is hard to separate character from actress. However, I have to tip my hat to one particular actress on this show - and this is of course Troian Bellisario (points to anyone who can tell me how to pronounce her name without being offensive). She plays Spencer, an intelligent, beautiful little liar, on the show. I get so drawn in to Troian's scenes because she is so talented, she can do dramatic, funny, sarcastic - well everything you need from an actress, but she does it with a style all of her own. Apparently the show only has one more season left, but I have heard Troian will be starring in the American version of the fantastic french horror film 'Martyrs' - which I am just chomping at the bit to see, she was perfectly casted and she will get a lot of long deserved attention for her craft. 

I ain't mad at Pretty Little Liars

A few days ago The Pretty Little Liars fandom got all their answers. After 130 episodes, spread over 6 years we finally found out who took the game over from Mona, we found out who had been torturing Aria, Spencer, Hanna, Alison and Emily, and why. 'A' had a face.

That wasn't it though. In a fast paced 42 minutes we found out who killed Toby's mother, who hit Alison in the head with the rock the night she went missing, who Red Coat is, who the Black Widow is and who killed Bethany.

For me personally I was happy with the reveals, I got a lot of frustrated closure. I have seen every single episode as they were released, and some episodes would anger me so much I must have said 'I will never watch this show again' a hundred times. It seemed like we would get answers, but all we got was more questions. In the finale of season 2 it was revealed that Mona was 'A' - just for her to then tell someone else that she did everything that they asked of her - frustrating!!

**SPOILER**

Within minutes of the last episode it was revealed that Cece Drake was behind this whole thing, she stole the game from Mona and made it completely her own. Yes, there are so many plot holes and some of it doesn't make sense - but I don't care. It was wrapped up nicely and it was justified. It made total sense for me, and it wouldn't be Pretty Little Liars if we weren't left with a lot of unanswered questions. At the end of the day it keeps us talking about it, genius move by the creators. They know that we will keep watching to find answers, and they never have to answer us.

Basically if you are wondering - Cece was Charles. Charles is Alison's brother. She was sent to Radley Mental Hospital at a young because she identified as female and her father didn't approve. This lead to Cece been locked away for years - within her time at Radley she was allowed days away to attend college classes, but instead she dedicated her time to be close to her family (even dating her own brother, icky). When Cece was in Radley she befriended a girl called Bethanny. Bethanny was certifiably crazy. This is when it all got fucked up. I have just tried to write down what happened and I had to delete because I was so confused. Basically Cece thought she killed Bethanny outside of her house, turns out she struck Alison instead. She thought she killed Alison by mistake. Alison didn't die. Alison dug herself out of her own grave and ran away. Years have passed, years filled with kidnap, murder, explosions, fires, cars driven into houses and one thing that always stuck with me is when Hanna was made to eat a box of cupcakes with cartoon pig icing in public all at once.

Even though we have been given a lot of information, we haven't nearly got all the answers we need. I honestly believe the writers may have lost their way a little bit, and I don't mean to sound nasty. They had a lot of twists and turns, so many characters coming in and out, so many dead ends. There was even a supernatural element with ghosts and psychics. They snow balled the show so much, trying to keep the main question unanswered for 6 years that they created so many more. Now we have our burning question answered it doesn't make sense to a lot of people.

I really thought this Buzzfeed article was both funny and a perfect example of a PLL fandom in melt down. How could a show have 47 questions that need answers for it to make sense? 47 Questions We Still Have After The “Pretty Little Liars” Summer Of Answers.

After finding out who 'A' was, the other thing that I wanted answered was about Maya. Why Maya? What did she know? Did she even die? On this show, if you don't see a body then don't assume anything.  I would have loved Maya to be Red Coat. Instead the writers did the worst thing they could of - they made Red Coat a character we have only known for 10 episodes!! Sara! Who the fuck is Sara? And why was she not one, but two pivotal characters in the show?

I know one thing that people are struggling with is the fact that Cece is transgender, or at least it seems that way. I am not part of the community so my opinion means squat - but I don't have a problem with it. The big baddie of the show is transgender and I can understand how a lot of people would think that this would cast a bad light on the transgender community. The reason I don't think it does at all is because what it showed deep down was a troubled young woman, a woman abandoned by her family because she wanted to live her honest life. She was put in a mental institute, not dissimilar to a struggle a lot of transgender youth may have faced. However for the pure fact of entertainment Cece, a character on a TV show - not a reflection of transgendered youth, went crazy. It was a choice by the writers to create this back story, but this story was written three years ago and it has been developed. It has been announced Cece will be in the next half of season 6 and I think it will be incredibly smart of the writers to address the transgender storyline with the respect it deserves.

So all in all the last six years have been a rush, we have had drama, tragedy, comedy and romance. And after it all we have our 'A' - Cece Drake. The sneak peak of the five year jump looks insteresting, all the girls are back together after college, Alison is a married teacher with some man after her and Spencer has bangs!

Wanna know a secret?

We all have secrets, some we eventually share but most we keep to ourselves for fear of ridicule or fear of people knowing the real us. Isn't that a damn shame? We should be able to be who we are in front of everybody. Unfortunately it can't be the way. I know for a fact I have secrets that I can't tell certain people. Some people know, but they have been entrusted with not telling the certain person involved.

I try and be as honest as I possibly can. Although recently my honesty has been put under the spotlight. Apparently I have been too honest with my feelings in some certain situations. So quickly I am learning when to shut up, it is hard because you expect to be able to trust certain people with your emotions - I have learnt that you can't. People can be selfish and two faced with you. On one hand they want you to be truthful, but woah there Mary, don't be too honest, even if it doesn't affect anything. I am quite an emotional person, I often hide it with sarcasm and I have found out that there is no time for sarcasm in this world. So now its fake smiles and small conversations.

Back to my original thought on secrets. I wish I could share everything I was thinking and wanting. I wish that I wasn't so fearful of repercussions. I wish I could turn to a certain person and empty my guts, not in a gross way with vomit but in the more metaphorical beautiful way where I reveal everything. However sometimes you have to keep something to yourself to allow someone else to be happy. It is quite a selfless act but when you want a special someone to be happy, you sacrifice your own happiness.

I hate having secrets because I truly believe that been open and honest with people is the best way to live. How else can you have a relationship with someone if they don't know everything about you, even your dark side? I would like to start an initiative here today. Lets be honest. Just that, lets be honest. If anyone I know wants to know anything just ask me. I don't want to be afraid to say anything anymore, I have nothing to lose I don't think, and if someone was to lose something because they were honest, then was it really worth keeping?

Also I would like to invite anyone to tell me anything. I love knowing people's stories. They are literally my favourite thing. I love to learn how people tick and what makes them the way they are.
This is probably what makes www.postsecret.com one of my favourite websites. We all have this world inside of us, and I think it is time to share a little bit of it.

The Most Frustrating Show On Earth

Don't get me wrong, I really like this show. I have watched every single episode and I have tried to follow every storyline (and there is a lot). Every episode leaves me with more questions, and I rarely get answers. The characters are great, the intrigue is huge and the gasps are a-plenty.

The main story of the show is 'Who is A?'. I think we were told - and it turned out to be Mona. This was genius and it totally made sense; but no - they throw a spanner in the works and we see Mona answering to a higher power. Now we are left questioning who 'Red Coat' is. I am not 100% sure what her/his involvement with the whole story is.

The show started with the disappearance of Alison, her friends Spencer, Hannah, Emily and Aria know something and this mysterious A knows something aswell - how? I still don't know. A basically controls the 4 girls lives. Then we find out there is a bunch of other people who were involved with the disappearance of Alison (the girl spun a large web of pain). If you asked me what else happens and what the story is, I couldn't honestly tell you. I am so lost. Yet I still tune in every week and I am so happy its back.

If I could request one thing, I would like the writers to get in touch with me, sit me down and explain everything to me. That would be grand, cheers.