I want to touch Malik Yoba’s chest. Not in a fondly, filthy way or anything.
OK, in a totally fondly, filthy way.
I love how bulky he is, like a brick wall. A really hot brick wall.
Here he is without a shirt in Why Did I Get Married?:
I’m really liking that the Alphas team is having trouble getting back together, which is a steady reminder of Dr. Rosen’s absence. Everything and everyone isn’t back to normal. Some team members have a lot of work to do to get back to the place they were in eight months prior.
Especially Gary and Nina.
Gary’s settling back into his routine has been disrupted by the office’s huge new staff, who are all apparently animals who don’t bloody understand the concept of labeled food or personal space. If my name is on my pudding and you eat my pudding (heh), I’m going to have a problem. You don’t eat food that has someone else’s name on it. For eff’s sake, we’re a god damn civilized society.
Nina has totally reverted, stealing a Van Gogh from the Met because it matches her sofa, then unleashing her ability on Hicks and Dr. Rosen. The thing is, it seems like it’s coming from a place of hurting rather than sociopathic tendencies. Nina is no dummy – she knew that bringing a stolen Van Gogh into the office would garner a lecture from Dr. Rosen. She wouldn’t have brought it in unless she wanted someone to pull her back. Nina didn’t need a mission right then. She needed a session.
Then there’s Eli, this week’s rogue Alpha. The interesting thing about Eli is that it’s not clear if he was born an Alpha or made one via an experimental ADHD treatment perpetrated by Stanton Parrish. Either way, the ADHD reference, the experimental treatment, and the resulting aged-before-his-time speedster, all together, are a clear statement. And one that’s going to be really, really uncomfortable for a lot of people:
- We’re screwing around with our kids’ brains.
- We don’t really understand the life long effects of “treating” ADHD.
- We’re making our kids age before their time with this.
They may not be physically aging as rapidly as Eli, but we’re still forcing kids to be quiet, still little office workers at a time when their bodies and minds crave and need a ton of physical activity.
The ADHD message of Alphas is the same as the Autism message last season: the disorder isn’t the problem. Our rigid society and garbage expectations of “normal” are the problem. And the treatment just screws up life for the kid.
The kids aren’t the ones who have to change. We are.
That said, C. Thomas Howell did an awesome job acting like a 22-year old. Too bad his character is dead, though. I liked that kid.
Related Stuff:
Lisa Fary's earliest influences are Princess Leia, Rainbow Bright, Astronaut Barbie, and her 6th grade teacher, Ms. Palmer. She's angry that it's 2011 and she still doesn't have a hovercraft, but will accept a jetpack as consolation. That jetpack had better be pink with a rhinestone monogram. 
There’s a chest other than Tasha Smith’s in that picture?