Musings of A Telly Watching Fish.
Yay! Good telly is back! Well mostly. Thanks to the miracle of streaming technology it is nowadays a piece of cake to catch US shows the day after they air (and I've been told, in some cases, at the same time.)
These are the shows I'm following this autumn and my opinions on their season premieres or current episodes. Some spoilers.
Once Upon a Time:
I watched it last year, dropped it and then gave it another chance over the summer. I managed to get over the stuff I didn't care for ( the lead being "Cameron" from House, the irritating kid) and really enjoyed the main concept. Trying to find out which fairy tales characters the town people are is tremendous fun (WHO IS DR. WHALE???) and I love the various plot twists (Little Red Riding Hood's back story was brilliant!) The Evil queen is a complex and layered character, and so is Snow White. Honestly if you're not watching this, you should, it's possibly the most creative show around. And the second season premiere which aired last week was simply extraordinary.
Dexter:
A weak plot, rubbish villains, ridiculous situations and story writers probably trying to cash on the Supernatural incest vibe - trying to make Deb realize that she had "feelings" for her step brother turned last year' season into an awful mess. I seriously considered giving up on Dexter. But then the season finale ended up on one hell of a cliffhanger and as a result the first episode of the new season turned out to be - still flawed in places - but overall pretty awesome. If you found out your brother was a serial killer, what would you do? Oh, yeah, you're a police officer by the way.
If they don't botch it up like last year, this season could be a fun ride.
Supernatural:
I'll be honest, with Castiel being seldom around last year (and being a midly tedious nutjob when he was) I haven't enjoyed Supernatural as much as I used to. And I keep being frustrated at the way the show uses grand words and concepts like Apocalypse and Purgatory and terrible evils and whatnot and fails to deliver, because, in order to be able to do so, they would need 10 times the budget they currently have.
So we get the Apocalypse being dealt with in a field with a hole in it - we'll just push Lucifer in shall we? We get last year's main baddies, the Leviathans turning out to be little more than big bullies with a big gob who tried to turn humanity into happy meals. Not really an original idea. And this year we have the dreaded Purgatroy where all the monsters go, which sofar looks like monochrome woods populated by a handful of regular looking folks with CGI piranah teeth. And I don't want to sound pessimistic but methinks this is all we're gonna see of this Terrible, Godawful place. And unlike the X-Files where I could disregard the flaws and weak plots and focus on the Ship instead, the Winchester brothers, sadly, do nothing for me. I'll say it again: this show lacks a strong female lead.
At the moment, I think I keep watching for Mark Sheppard, who still amuses me as Crowley. I was underwhelmed by the season premiere. The writers turned Sam into an irresponsible douchebag, who quit his calling to look after his dog and his girlfriend and Dean has made a pact with yet another devil - what's new?
Amanda Tapping is going to have a role in the show, so I'll keep watching until then but methinks the show lost quite a bit of steam since its heydays. I read a fan comment which said: "stop the self referential fan wank and give us back the scary stories" and you know what? I think I agree with that.
Hell on Wheels
Like good wine, it keeps getting better and better. Sadly there are only two episodes to go before the end of Season two. I hope they will get the greenlight for a third because this series has a lot of potential as it tackles so many issues about race, gender, social classes, the nature of evil, etc...
Last week Durant (Colm Meaney - O'Brien on Star Trek) the rail road owner brought his wife (Virginia Masden) back with him (how creepy, the mistress and the wife looking so much alike) - who behind her socialite charming manners is an uber bitch, determined to get Lily - her husband's former mistress - out of the picture. Durant is in a lot of pain from his gunshot wound, but his morphine intake doesn't prevent him from guessing that Lily and Cullen have done the naked pretzel in his absence. Lily's future as surveyor of the railroad seem numbered. And the Swede played by the most excellent Christopher Heyerdahl (Alistair in Supernatural) still thinks he's Loki, the god of Chaos and acts accordingly.
God I love this show to bits, and I don't even like Westerns!
Revolution
The pilot was so crap I stopped watching. It's Terra Nova bis. Boring family show maskerading as sci-fi. Good looking, well groomed Hollywood type hunks and gals, live in a post apocalyptic earth with no electricity and yet manage to wear perfectly ironed clothes. I could panel my study with all the wood from the lead actress' acting. It's rubbish, avoid.
American Horror Story
Oooh, that one *is* a scary show and Jessica Lange is deligtfully creepy. Not really using new ideas (mind you, as far as the horror genre is concerned I doubt there is anything left that hasn't been done before) but its all in the delivery and the oppressing atmosphere. Season two will take place in an Asylum. Same cast, different characters. I can't wait.
The Big Bang Theory:
Still manages to elicit a chuckle here and there but this show has outlived the life span of its pony methink.
Castle:
See my previous LJ post on the matter. Cute. Now if they could improve those plots and give Beckett a haircut...
666 Park Avenue:
Watched the pilot. Terry O'Quinn and Vanessa Williams are fun as...well we're not sure who they are yet...evil, that's for sure. The other two leads - the young couple who get the job as hotel managers are bland and uninsteresting but still I will give this Devils Advocate rip off a chance.
Grey's Anatomy:
Booty Call Bailey: this nickname sums up everything that's been wrong with Bailey's characterisation these past years. If I were the actress I'd be seriously pissed off. And they killed Mark, one of the last watchable male around. Every year I ask myself why I keep watching that show. I guess it's more out of habit than anything else now. Still Meredith and Cristina having Skype-pad coffee was cute.
So what are you guys watching and is it any good?