Okay, so I just finished watching the season premiere of NCIS. One word: disappointing.
Honestly, as much as I have adored this show, it started to drag a bit in the final episodes of last season as it became more and more bogged down in this "over-arching" plot; a plot which was given probably one of the worst, let-down endings that I've seen on television in a long time. The medium of television allows you to carry on these story arcs, but the idea is to use PACE to your advantage: a slow build up, maybe some hints in the beginning, a quick rush for the middle and then (usually, on NCIS) an explosive ending with a bit of an impact on the team. This story arc, really, didn't have any of the above, particularly the last. Unless I'm mistaken and there is still more of this story to come (in which case, awful way to end an episode, even as a "cliffhanger"), the lack of resolution is just plain irritating, rather than intriguing, and the writers still seemed to just brush aside a whole heap of plot points: Who planted the bomb? What was with all the fingerprints from Jenny's father? The man seeing Jenny's father in hospital? Why were those few episodes last season (showing Jenny traveling, getting shot at etc.) actually needed?
The thing that really attracted me to this show in the first place was the dynamic that the team had and the chemistry they all had together on screen. Unfortunately, this seems to have been brazenly absent in the last few hours of airtime and I think has been sorely missed by its solid base of fans. I really am just hoping that now this "arc" is over, the show returns to its humourous, buddy-buddy-buddy-buddy crime-solving roots, rather than sticking with its recent slew of higher-than-NCIS cases (which, ultimately and ironically, does rule NCIS itself out of most of it).
Honestly, I do care about those stories, the ones where Americans get to profess their undying patriotism and maybe even slip a bit of heroics in there too; I loved the Ari story and even the Gibbs-amnesia plot was pretty well-executed last season. This, I just couldn't like. I don't know if it was direction (which isn't feature film quality, so don't try and make it look like it, guys), script, or acting. I'm punching at the script and its lack of the above "NCIS-defining qualities", although I wouldn't rule out some of the acting. Lauren Holly, unfortunately, sticks out like a sore thumb in this department to me. Jenny is a lovely character and I'm not going to berate her like so many of the show's fans, however, she DOESN'T have the same level of chemistry with the team that the rest do and I think her character fitted in well as one for Gibbs to play off in the background, but that's all. I certainly haven't enjoyed these last few episodes which have obviously been building up to an uneventful focus on her.
I also hope Jeanne DOESN'T come back. I loved seeing Tony in love, and hated that sink-down from the couch, but there was just something about that woman/character (not sure which) that I couldn't quite get my usually very accepting mind around.
And my final, one last rant about the show as of late, is that Lauren Holly's name is now a permanent credit sequence fixture and NOT BRIAN DIETZEN! Honestly, the guy is pretty brilliant in this show, kind of an elder Michael Cera-esque character, and now honestly deserves a spot.
In other, happier news, I have discovered this little-known show called Heroes. That, and Californication. Both have been due to my recent desire for something to download and get me through 'till Doctor Who at Christmas (I'm ignoring the fact I'll then have another four or five months 'till Season Four). Unfortunately, living on this side of the Atlantic does have it's downsides, and a lack of new US drama and reliable and plannable television scheduling is nearing number one on that list. At least back home we got fairly consistent airings (depending on the channel) of US shows a week or so after they'd aired across the globe.
I also downloaded 30 Rock, and although admittedly I've only seen the pilot, it hasn't leapt out at me. Stupidly enough, the worst thing for me is its production. The sound and sound editing was just awful, and I mean awful. I'm only a recent graduate and it sounded awful to me. So much so that it actually detracts from what is going on on-screen: big no-no. I was waiting for fuzz and buzz to appear and disappear between shots which you just shouldn't be getting on good-budget television. Still, mainly because of its Emmy, I'm going to hold on for a few episodes. Baldwin might cut through the crappy boom operators.
It's actually only through LJ that I've discovered these shows in the last few months. It was really starting to bug me what all these weird new icons were from, featuring cheerleaders, flying politicians and a funny-looking Asian man who always seemed to be laughing. That, and who the hell had finally taken that brilliant Chili Pepper's title and turned it into something cooler. Oh, and then I found out the latter starred David Duchovny. That was a nice surprise. And that it wasn't an OC spin-off. Also good news.