TV round-up (of the opinionated variety)
Oct. 15th, 2012 09:13 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
ariadnes_stringThere is too much to watch on TV! Some things have already been regulated to the status of “okay, I’ll watch it with the boys if they feel like it after dinner” (sadly, this seems to mean that H50 and Elementary and Arrow are duking it out with Dr. Who, Alphas and Psych).
Here’s what’s rising above that at the moment (idiosyncratic, I admit):
Last Resort:
I continue to like this show, though I’m not at all sure it’s going to succeed. It has far too much going on. Its attitude seems to be: throw a jillion sub-plots into the wind and let God sort them out. Some fare better than others:
Anything involving Andre Braugher and Robert Patrick throwing down is gold.
Anything involving Andre Braugher and Scott Speedman holding hands (no, really) or staring soulfully at each other isn’t quite gold, but it’s certainly silver.
Anything involving Scott Speedman and the French lady (imbd tells me her name is Sophie Girard) is silver too; they have great chemistry. The plot involving Scott Speedman’s wet blanket of a wife sucks.
Also sucky, sadly, is the plot involving the gorgeous Dichen Lachman. The series seems to want to use her and her Navy SEAL friend as nothing but eye candy, which is silly, since there’s a global political crisis going on.
I think I can live with the Autumn Reeser plot, if it gets better. Bruce Davison is good.
And I love Cortez—I hope she gets more to do.
You can see why something is going to have to go, yeah? But 1x03 was quite convincingly brutal, and managed to end on a genuinely affecting note. And I still want to learn more about the backstory of all the (interesting) characters, so I’m in.
Merlin: Yeah, who would’ve thought that Merlin would have such staying power? But I continue to really enjoy it on both the cheesy (shirtless knights, anyone?) and emotional fronts (stories of good leaders are my number one bullet proof kink).
I know people continue to be upset and disheartened by the lack of a magical reveal, and I can understand that. I’m not too bothered, though. Surprisingly, the show has produced something even rarer for TV than satisfying plot resolution, imo: genuine character change and growth. The relationship between Merlin and Arthur seems to have actually changed and deepened since the end of the benighted S3 and the beginning of S5, and Arthur, especially, has matured (and Colin Morgan appears to have achieved a life-sustaining weight, so, hey, I’m happy).
I know this character growth is straight out of canon, but it doesn’t make it any less gratifying to me. I like that Arthur’s loyalty (and love for) his knights isn’t just lip service to an ideal: they have all demonstrated extraordinary loyalty to him, and he is paying them back in kind. In other words, the plots laid down since the end of S3 are now adding depth to the show.
S5 promises added pleasures, too, like a newly queenly Gwen and a very well-cast Mordred.
Plus, bless Bradley James for being able to toggle back and forth so easily between goofy slapstick and convincing nobility.
(Son #2: Why does it always switch to slow motion when Arthur fights?
Me: It’s not slow motion. That’s just the way he fights. Everyone is so cowed by it they slow down too.)
I blame tumblr for this
but after not watching since the beginning of S6, I have now watched the first two episodes of SPN S8. IKR? But apparently gifs of muddy!Dean are my kryptonite. I have only the vaguest idea of what happened in S6-7, but you know what? I don’t really want to know, so please don’t tell me. Sacrilegious as it is, I don’t care about brotherly amity, I don’t even care that much about Cas (though I do a little). I am just in it for the pretty.
Homeland: I’m not sure what’s going to happen now that the “is he or isn’t he?” question has been answered. But I don’t care, because I’m still mesmerized by Carrie, Saul and Brody (only halfway through 2x02 on this one)
I have also, thanks togarryowen’s persuasive abilities, been watching Wallander. I watched the third, most recent, series first, because it was streaming on PBS (yes, this is one of the simple pleasures of sad souls like me that Mitt Romney would take away). I usually associate Kenneth Branagh with bombast, but he’s lovely and restrained and vastly appealing in this—middle-aged and poignant and tough and smart (and a hot mess). Also: Sweden is beautiful. I’m making my way through S1 now, which is grimmer and shot with a lot of surprise!close-ups and surprise!blurriness which bug me, but still well worth watching, if you like your procedurals with a lot of angst.
And that's more than enough!
Here’s what’s rising above that at the moment (idiosyncratic, I admit):
Last Resort:
I continue to like this show, though I’m not at all sure it’s going to succeed. It has far too much going on. Its attitude seems to be: throw a jillion sub-plots into the wind and let God sort them out. Some fare better than others:
Anything involving Andre Braugher and Robert Patrick throwing down is gold.
Anything involving Andre Braugher and Scott Speedman holding hands (no, really) or staring soulfully at each other isn’t quite gold, but it’s certainly silver.
Anything involving Scott Speedman and the French lady (imbd tells me her name is Sophie Girard) is silver too; they have great chemistry. The plot involving Scott Speedman’s wet blanket of a wife sucks.
Also sucky, sadly, is the plot involving the gorgeous Dichen Lachman. The series seems to want to use her and her Navy SEAL friend as nothing but eye candy, which is silly, since there’s a global political crisis going on.
I think I can live with the Autumn Reeser plot, if it gets better. Bruce Davison is good.
And I love Cortez—I hope she gets more to do.
You can see why something is going to have to go, yeah? But 1x03 was quite convincingly brutal, and managed to end on a genuinely affecting note. And I still want to learn more about the backstory of all the (interesting) characters, so I’m in.
Merlin: Yeah, who would’ve thought that Merlin would have such staying power? But I continue to really enjoy it on both the cheesy (shirtless knights, anyone?) and emotional fronts (stories of good leaders are my number one bullet proof kink).
I know people continue to be upset and disheartened by the lack of a magical reveal, and I can understand that. I’m not too bothered, though. Surprisingly, the show has produced something even rarer for TV than satisfying plot resolution, imo: genuine character change and growth. The relationship between Merlin and Arthur seems to have actually changed and deepened since the end of the benighted S3 and the beginning of S5, and Arthur, especially, has matured (and Colin Morgan appears to have achieved a life-sustaining weight, so, hey, I’m happy).
I know this character growth is straight out of canon, but it doesn’t make it any less gratifying to me. I like that Arthur’s loyalty (and love for) his knights isn’t just lip service to an ideal: they have all demonstrated extraordinary loyalty to him, and he is paying them back in kind. In other words, the plots laid down since the end of S3 are now adding depth to the show.
S5 promises added pleasures, too, like a newly queenly Gwen and a very well-cast Mordred.
Plus, bless Bradley James for being able to toggle back and forth so easily between goofy slapstick and convincing nobility.
(Son #2: Why does it always switch to slow motion when Arthur fights?
Me: It’s not slow motion. That’s just the way he fights. Everyone is so cowed by it they slow down too.)
I blame tumblr for this
but after not watching since the beginning of S6, I have now watched the first two episodes of SPN S8. IKR? But apparently gifs of muddy!Dean are my kryptonite. I have only the vaguest idea of what happened in S6-7, but you know what? I don’t really want to know, so please don’t tell me. Sacrilegious as it is, I don’t care about brotherly amity, I don’t even care that much about Cas (though I do a little). I am just in it for the pretty.
Homeland: I’m not sure what’s going to happen now that the “is he or isn’t he?” question has been answered. But I don’t care, because I’m still mesmerized by Carrie, Saul and Brody (only halfway through 2x02 on this one)
I have also, thanks to
garryowen’s persuasive abilities, been watching Wallander. I watched the third, most recent, series first, because it was streaming on PBS (yes, this is one of the simple pleasures of sad souls like me that Mitt Romney would take away). I usually associate Kenneth Branagh with bombast, but he’s lovely and restrained and vastly appealing in this—middle-aged and poignant and tough and smart (and a hot mess). Also: Sweden is beautiful. I’m making my way through S1 now, which is grimmer and shot with a lot of surprise!close-ups and surprise!blurriness which bug me, but still well worth watching, if you like your procedurals with a lot of angst.And that's more than enough!
