TV time! Rectify, Tyrant, Last Ship, Musketeers, etc
Time for TV catch-up! Lots of opinions and spoilers here. So many summer shows, wow. First though - I read about the upcoming second season of a series called Rectify on Sundance, and then I backtracked to season one on Netflix, and two episodes in - wow.
This is not the kind of show I usually like. It's a weird mix of bittersweet and sad. It's about a man (Dan) who has been released from prison after a couple of decades on death row. DNA evidence tested years after the fact has shown that there were multiple perpetrators in the rape of a girl (for which he was convicted), and none of that DNA was his - but someone also killed the girl, and the show has thus far left the question of who did that up in the air. (By 'thus far' I mean, as far as I have gone in my watching.) Some of the people who believe he did it are sincere in their desire for him to go back to prison and pay for his role in the crime, politics of the situation aside, because apparently he confessed to...something...at the scene. I'm not sure what, exactly. Yet. His family wants him to be free and happy, including his stepfather and his step sister-in-law, but his stepbro is a wild card. And there is a middle group of people who have doubts and questions based on various factors. For instance, his stepbrother that he never met prior to his release from prison - in a stunning scene, he tells the man about his gang rape in prison, and that causes an internal reaction in the guy that makes him think Dan is guilty. IDEK. The thing is a glacially slow character piece, and I kind of love it. The actor playing the central character is amazing. I can only watch one episode at a time, though, because it makes me sad.
And then there's Tyrant on FX. Which I have mixed feelings about. There are a lot of cultural, societal and racial stereotypes that aren't well handled here. Also a lot of lazy writing, since to establish that one main character is a complete asshole, they made him a rapist right out of the gate. I think there was one rape and two sexual assaults in the first episode, which, ugh, WHY, it served NO PURPOSE for the story. And there is some problematic casting (apparently a white dude is playing the title role, and this is a story about a fictional Middle Eastern country...so...I have no idea what the hell that is about). But on the other hand, already there was a character twist which surprised me for that main character, who is the second son of a dictator and who tried to escape his family/has been living in America with his American wife and kids, and...that twist intrigued me a little bit, sort of against my will. I don't know. I'm going to stick it out a few more eps and see if it becomes less stereotype-driven. So many cliches. The fictional subject matter is a touchy topic anyway in today's world when there are so many issues in that region, and the stereotypes don't help.
The Musketeers on BBCA. This is a romp through many cliches of the genre. It just doesn't happen to be the selection of cliches I like, so far. There's an evil cardinal played by Peter Capaldi (he is my favorite character on the show so far, which is probably not what they intended with him), an evil female seductress, four handsome Musketeers wearing improbable leather clothing (only one of whom looks like he can actually handle a sword, which is a bit weird), and a weak king I want to punch in the face. Kings can be evil, they can be crazy, or they can be handsome and heroic, but weak is the kiss of death for me, bah. Lead or GTFO. (This probably explains why I never really liked Dumas, or that period of French history, much.) On the bright side, all the actors playing Musketeers are hot, and sometimes the first episodes of pseudo-historical period shows don't really reveal their full potential, so maybe it will get better. A lot of people I know like it. There must be a reason why. (I do not see one bit of slash in this show. Yet.)
Halt and Catch fire (on AMC) should be awesome, but it's not. Lee Pace plays a complete asshole on this show. I think he's basically supposed to be Steve Jobs, the slick visionary idea guy, and there's this other bearded dude who is the hardware guy (the Wozniak of the story). And then there's Cameron, the punk-music-playing, female BIOS programmer - she should be awesome, but she comes across as sort of confused and bitchy. I think I would find this show much more palatable if Lee Pace's character were actually likable in any way, but I don't find him so. (Don't believe all those gifs of him making out with a dude that you will see on Tumblr; that scene made me like him even less, if you can believe it. I'm pretty sure he's not gay, he's just a psychopath who uses whatever manipulation is necessary to win.) The only thing I love about this show so far is the music (period appropriate, and also the show's theme and score is kind of awesome). I don't know. I want to like this show. But I don't, even though I keep watching it. The lack of likable characters is an issue.
On to The Last Ship on TNT. The premise is not new (virus wipes out humanity, brave crew of last Navy ship soldiers on with the potential cure (and scientist who can make it) in the belly of their ship). But I love post-apoc stories, and I like most of the characters and actors, and I simply cannot resist the whole "Navy gets it done!" vibe about it. So I'm in, for now.
And finally, TNT's Falling Skies. All the reviews of this season's opener were really glowing, and I just...did not like it. Because I'm in it, always, for the Masons. And they are all separated. That does not make me happy. I don't care about the weird dystopian resettlement vibe, or the Hitler Youth vibe, or the rebellion in the ghetto...I find it all kind of disturbing, actually, and not in a good way. I really want my freedom-fighting Masons back together, fighting the good fight with Cochise. Speaking of which, none of the revisionist alien plotline makes one bit of sense, even after Cochise's exposition dump in this episode. I would really hate to have made it through three summer seasons of this show only to cut it loose now, but. We'll see, I guess.
This is not the kind of show I usually like. It's a weird mix of bittersweet and sad. It's about a man (Dan) who has been released from prison after a couple of decades on death row. DNA evidence tested years after the fact has shown that there were multiple perpetrators in the rape of a girl (for which he was convicted), and none of that DNA was his - but someone also killed the girl, and the show has thus far left the question of who did that up in the air. (By 'thus far' I mean, as far as I have gone in my watching.) Some of the people who believe he did it are sincere in their desire for him to go back to prison and pay for his role in the crime, politics of the situation aside, because apparently he confessed to...something...at the scene. I'm not sure what, exactly. Yet. His family wants him to be free and happy, including his stepfather and his step sister-in-law, but his stepbro is a wild card. And there is a middle group of people who have doubts and questions based on various factors. For instance, his stepbrother that he never met prior to his release from prison - in a stunning scene, he tells the man about his gang rape in prison, and that causes an internal reaction in the guy that makes him think Dan is guilty. IDEK. The thing is a glacially slow character piece, and I kind of love it. The actor playing the central character is amazing. I can only watch one episode at a time, though, because it makes me sad.
And then there's Tyrant on FX. Which I have mixed feelings about. There are a lot of cultural, societal and racial stereotypes that aren't well handled here. Also a lot of lazy writing, since to establish that one main character is a complete asshole, they made him a rapist right out of the gate. I think there was one rape and two sexual assaults in the first episode, which, ugh, WHY, it served NO PURPOSE for the story. And there is some problematic casting (apparently a white dude is playing the title role, and this is a story about a fictional Middle Eastern country...so...I have no idea what the hell that is about). But on the other hand, already there was a character twist which surprised me for that main character, who is the second son of a dictator and who tried to escape his family/has been living in America with his American wife and kids, and...that twist intrigued me a little bit, sort of against my will. I don't know. I'm going to stick it out a few more eps and see if it becomes less stereotype-driven. So many cliches. The fictional subject matter is a touchy topic anyway in today's world when there are so many issues in that region, and the stereotypes don't help.
The Musketeers on BBCA. This is a romp through many cliches of the genre. It just doesn't happen to be the selection of cliches I like, so far. There's an evil cardinal played by Peter Capaldi (he is my favorite character on the show so far, which is probably not what they intended with him), an evil female seductress, four handsome Musketeers wearing improbable leather clothing (only one of whom looks like he can actually handle a sword, which is a bit weird), and a weak king I want to punch in the face. Kings can be evil, they can be crazy, or they can be handsome and heroic, but weak is the kiss of death for me, bah. Lead or GTFO. (This probably explains why I never really liked Dumas, or that period of French history, much.) On the bright side, all the actors playing Musketeers are hot, and sometimes the first episodes of pseudo-historical period shows don't really reveal their full potential, so maybe it will get better. A lot of people I know like it. There must be a reason why. (I do not see one bit of slash in this show. Yet.)
Halt and Catch fire (on AMC) should be awesome, but it's not. Lee Pace plays a complete asshole on this show. I think he's basically supposed to be Steve Jobs, the slick visionary idea guy, and there's this other bearded dude who is the hardware guy (the Wozniak of the story). And then there's Cameron, the punk-music-playing, female BIOS programmer - she should be awesome, but she comes across as sort of confused and bitchy. I think I would find this show much more palatable if Lee Pace's character were actually likable in any way, but I don't find him so. (Don't believe all those gifs of him making out with a dude that you will see on Tumblr; that scene made me like him even less, if you can believe it. I'm pretty sure he's not gay, he's just a psychopath who uses whatever manipulation is necessary to win.) The only thing I love about this show so far is the music (period appropriate, and also the show's theme and score is kind of awesome). I don't know. I want to like this show. But I don't, even though I keep watching it. The lack of likable characters is an issue.
On to The Last Ship on TNT. The premise is not new (virus wipes out humanity, brave crew of last Navy ship soldiers on with the potential cure (and scientist who can make it) in the belly of their ship). But I love post-apoc stories, and I like most of the characters and actors, and I simply cannot resist the whole "Navy gets it done!" vibe about it. So I'm in, for now.
And finally, TNT's Falling Skies. All the reviews of this season's opener were really glowing, and I just...did not like it. Because I'm in it, always, for the Masons. And they are all separated. That does not make me happy. I don't care about the weird dystopian resettlement vibe, or the Hitler Youth vibe, or the rebellion in the ghetto...I find it all kind of disturbing, actually, and not in a good way. I really want my freedom-fighting Masons back together, fighting the good fight with Cochise. Speaking of which, none of the revisionist alien plotline makes one bit of sense, even after Cochise's exposition dump in this episode. I would really hate to have made it through three summer seasons of this show only to cut it loose now, but. We'll see, I guess.