I guess I haven't done this in a while
MY THOUGHTS ON TV, LET ME SHOW YOU THEM
Survivor: Heroes vs. Villains: ARGHBLARGHARGH. I'm out of our household betting pool already because I picked Cirie and Tyson and we all know how that ended up. Now the focus shifts to cheering against Candice, Sandra, J.T., and Evil Russell so I don't owe anybody beer! Granted, there was some pretty awesome second-guessing that went on in the last episode and it was a pretty great reversal, but I'm really just over Evil Russell even more so than I already was at the end of last season. Good thing he's a marked man now. I don't understand why so many Survivor seasons lately have been just utter blowouts, with one tribe sucking and the other dominating - that was only ever interesting in Palau, and this is no exception. Plus I was cranky already because they didn't cast the two people I most wanted to see play again (Jonathan Penner and Shane), and then I found out that frakking Russell was the one who bumped Shane that jerk. Ah well, it is what it is and I'm enjoying it decently anyway.
Supernatural: I can't believe this got renewed again. Absolutely floored by that. Quite honestly, this season is the lesser for it. I feel as though the writers have been coasting ever since they got the renewal notice, filling time with pointless crap instead of actually resolving metaplot, because they know that once they do, there's nowhere left to go but downhill. The comedic episodes are still pretty funny, but the trouble is that once they saw how successful those episodes were, they started putting comedy into everything even when it's not necessary or appropriate. I have absolutely no idea where they are even trying to go with their story right now, and very little faith that things will come to an interesting or compelling conclusion. Apparently, they do intend to wrap up the metaplot this season and Eric Kripke will leave - not sure if that will make things better or worse. Shark jumpage is probably imminent if it hasn't already happened (which I suspect it may have with "The Monster At The End Of This Book" - as funny as that episode was, the fourth-wall-breaking and pandering to the fanbase that ensued have really made a mess of everything that came afterwards).
Lost: There are only eight episodes of this show left ever and I haven't posted about it yet this season at all! So far I am impressed with how the writers are wrapping everything up. The "sideways" timeline is really interesting if a bit confusing as to how it came about, and I love the fact that we are actually getting believable and sensical answers about some of the show's biggest mysteries. I also thought the most recent episode was very good, even if it probably could have spent about 20 minutes less on semi-relevant aspects of Richard Alpert's backstory and still been just as good.
Caprica: I can't believe it's been almost a year since I watched and greatly disliked this show's pilot - where does the time go? Anyway, I am glad to say that Craprica (I still call it that even though I like it now, kind of like how Supernatural = Stupornatural I guess) has vastly improved since that time. It took me a few episodes to get into it, but as the series picked up steam and branched out beyond the plots from the pilot, it really grew on me. The characters are taking on a lot more depth than they first seemed to have, and gaining power and agency in unexpected ways (though Joseph Adama is still a pretty pathetic dude and I don't like him very much, QQ MOAR N00B L2PLAY). Zoe and Tamara are both fascinating characters; I love the visual trick of switching between Zoe and the Cylon body, and I thought the scenes between her and Daniel in last week's episode were absolutely riveting. You know it's good writing when you realize that no matter how a scene is resolved, the result is going to be awesome! Additionally, Bear McCreary is easily one of the best composers working right now and I love his score for this almost as much as I love his work on BSG. I'm really looking forward to the "season finale" (which is really just the last episode before the midseason break I guess) tonight.
Torchwood: Children of Earth: This owned. It categorically owned in every way and if you think it didn't own, I'm sorry but you are completely wrong. ;p I actually watched this a few months ago but never got around to writing anything about it at the time because it was right around Christmas, but I do have things to say about it. The thing that I loved the most about it was how incredibly alien the aliens actually were - you don't see that a lot on TV, and even less so on Doctor Who. I've never really had an emotional attachment to any Torchwood character, so I wasn't very affected by the event that so many other fans were so upset about (being coy so as not to spoiler). Instead I was much more drawn to the "throw-away" characters who were involved in the aliens' arrival - they seemed a lot more human than the main Torchwood cast did, and I am such a sucker for stories about ordinary people who find and/or lose their moral backbone under extraordinary circumstances. John Frobisher's whole story arc was particularly remarkable - riveting and relatable and ultimately heartbreaking. Anyway, suffice to say I was absolutely floored by this miniseries after two seasons of being alternately bored and embarrassed by Torchwood in general, so watching it was worthwhile all along.
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Survivor: Heroes vs. Villains: ARGHBLARGHARGH. I'm out of our household betting pool already because I picked Cirie and Tyson and we all know how that ended up. Now the focus shifts to cheering against Candice, Sandra, J.T., and Evil Russell so I don't owe anybody beer! Granted, there was some pretty awesome second-guessing that went on in the last episode and it was a pretty great reversal, but I'm really just over Evil Russell even more so than I already was at the end of last season. Good thing he's a marked man now. I don't understand why so many Survivor seasons lately have been just utter blowouts, with one tribe sucking and the other dominating - that was only ever interesting in Palau, and this is no exception. Plus I was cranky already because they didn't cast the two people I most wanted to see play again (Jonathan Penner and Shane), and then I found out that frakking Russell was the one who bumped Shane that jerk. Ah well, it is what it is and I'm enjoying it decently anyway.
Supernatural: I can't believe this got renewed again. Absolutely floored by that. Quite honestly, this season is the lesser for it. I feel as though the writers have been coasting ever since they got the renewal notice, filling time with pointless crap instead of actually resolving metaplot, because they know that once they do, there's nowhere left to go but downhill. The comedic episodes are still pretty funny, but the trouble is that once they saw how successful those episodes were, they started putting comedy into everything even when it's not necessary or appropriate. I have absolutely no idea where they are even trying to go with their story right now, and very little faith that things will come to an interesting or compelling conclusion. Apparently, they do intend to wrap up the metaplot this season and Eric Kripke will leave - not sure if that will make things better or worse. Shark jumpage is probably imminent if it hasn't already happened (which I suspect it may have with "The Monster At The End Of This Book" - as funny as that episode was, the fourth-wall-breaking and pandering to the fanbase that ensued have really made a mess of everything that came afterwards).
Lost: There are only eight episodes of this show left ever and I haven't posted about it yet this season at all! So far I am impressed with how the writers are wrapping everything up. The "sideways" timeline is really interesting if a bit confusing as to how it came about, and I love the fact that we are actually getting believable and sensical answers about some of the show's biggest mysteries. I also thought the most recent episode was very good, even if it probably could have spent about 20 minutes less on semi-relevant aspects of Richard Alpert's backstory and still been just as good.
Caprica: I can't believe it's been almost a year since I watched and greatly disliked this show's pilot - where does the time go? Anyway, I am glad to say that Craprica (I still call it that even though I like it now, kind of like how Supernatural = Stupornatural I guess) has vastly improved since that time. It took me a few episodes to get into it, but as the series picked up steam and branched out beyond the plots from the pilot, it really grew on me. The characters are taking on a lot more depth than they first seemed to have, and gaining power and agency in unexpected ways (though Joseph Adama is still a pretty pathetic dude and I don't like him very much, QQ MOAR N00B L2PLAY). Zoe and Tamara are both fascinating characters; I love the visual trick of switching between Zoe and the Cylon body, and I thought the scenes between her and Daniel in last week's episode were absolutely riveting. You know it's good writing when you realize that no matter how a scene is resolved, the result is going to be awesome! Additionally, Bear McCreary is easily one of the best composers working right now and I love his score for this almost as much as I love his work on BSG. I'm really looking forward to the "season finale" (which is really just the last episode before the midseason break I guess) tonight.
Torchwood: Children of Earth: This owned. It categorically owned in every way and if you think it didn't own, I'm sorry but you are completely wrong. ;p I actually watched this a few months ago but never got around to writing anything about it at the time because it was right around Christmas, but I do have things to say about it. The thing that I loved the most about it was how incredibly alien the aliens actually were - you don't see that a lot on TV, and even less so on Doctor Who. I've never really had an emotional attachment to any Torchwood character, so I wasn't very affected by the event that so many other fans were so upset about (being coy so as not to spoiler). Instead I was much more drawn to the "throw-away" characters who were involved in the aliens' arrival - they seemed a lot more human than the main Torchwood cast did, and I am such a sucker for stories about ordinary people who find and/or lose their moral backbone under extraordinary circumstances. John Frobisher's whole story arc was particularly remarkable - riveting and relatable and ultimately heartbreaking. Anyway, suffice to say I was absolutely floored by this miniseries after two seasons of being alternately bored and embarrassed by Torchwood in general, so watching it was worthwhile all along.
This entry was originally posted at http://gamerchick.dreamwidth.org/545885.html. You can comment on either journal. Number of comments on Dreamwidth: