TV Update!
I know... I'm sorry...
So, it's (over) time for a round up, I'd wager. Here's what I've been watching recently...
Supernatural
Gosh, Season 13! How is that even possible? So far, the season has been quietly good. Nothing really major has stood out, but the season has been reasonably solid, nonetheless. Kudos for the addition of Adam, they've cast him beautifully. He looks and feels like a young Castiel. I'm praying to Chuck (and Beebo) he isn't bumped off! He's so powerful, I know they can't keep him around, but I'm hoping they'll utilise one of the alternate dimensions and have him settle there voluntarily, probably to fix it. I don't want him to die. So far the season has had some fun moments - like Dean in Tombstone, his love of Westerns always makes me smile! Also, his love of coffee in the morning (Damn fine coffee!). Appreciated the old-school creepiness of Advanced Thanatology, too. But dinosaurs?! Chuck knows where they're going with this...
Agents of Shield
I've really enjoyed our time spent in space (and time traveling!) with our favourite spies, and yet my favourite episode of the season thus far was the one spent on Earth! Loved catching up with Fitz and Hunter. Come back Hunter! And bring Bobbie with you. I can't wait to see where this all goes - AOS has built up some serious brownie points from their brilliant last season, and I'm hoping they'll continue this massive upswing. It's promising to be an adventure, at least!
Arrow/The Flash/ Supergirl/ Legends of Tomorrow
Well, I watched to the end of last season's Flash, skipped the finale of Supergirl, and never even caught up with Arrow. Bored, bored, bored with them all. The only true gem in the DC firmament has been Legends. How do I love thee, Legends, let me count the ways! I decided to catch up on the Crisis on Earth X crossover event, and despite not having watched any of the other shows, I truly enjoyed it! Barry wasn't an annoying idiot. Yaay! Supergirl didn't bore me with her romance fails. Whoop! Arrow didn't send me into a coma. Double whoop! Legends ruled, as always! It was a grand crossover, and they did it well. They treated it like one large storyline, instead of themed around the individual shows, and it was all the better for it. But on to Legends... it's been SO GOOD this season. Funny - gut-bustingly so! Peppered with pop culture references, which everyone knows I love. Captained by a kickass woman (a Bisexual kickass woman, who's surrounded by many other badasses of the feminine variety!). Phone Home was phenomenal - best ET update I've ever seen! I thought Beebo the God of War would be unbearable (with a title like that), but it was hilarious, and fittingly poignant and heartfelt, seeing as it dealt with the aftermath of one character's death and the exit of another. And Captain Cold is back for a little cameo (well, an alternate universe version of him, anyway). Needless to say I am loving this!!!!
Lucifer
I think Lucifer has struggled a smidge this season. Having to fit in episodes left over from last year has derailed the flow here and there - even if some of those episodes were really rather good themselves. And the season 'big bad' has been a bit of a wet squib. Tom Welling? Seriously? Still, it may surprise me in the second half - this show has a history of surprising me. And it's still unashamedly funny and touching for a show starring the devil. I need more of Lucifer playing the piano, though. And definitely more Trixie. And for the love of Lucifer's dad, will they please let Chloe (and Dan, and Ella) in on the big secret? Please? I'm begging! It's really starting to strain credulity, and it's getting on my ever-loving last nerve, too!
The Walking Dead
Good lord, what has happened to this show? How the mighty have fallen. It was once appointment TV, and now I've given up downloading or watching it. No enthusiasm whatsoever, even when I hear major spoilers, I've just got no urge to watch it. It's become a total chore, so it's been relegated to the bench at the moment. Maybe if word of mouth improves I'll pick it up again. Maybe not.
Game of Thrones
On the other hand, this mammoth TV extravaganza is still going strong. What a season! I can't believe how completely satisfying it was to see the reunion of (most) of the Stark siblings! Hallelujah! Or the sound of glee I made out loud when Ser Petyr Baelish got his well-deserved comeuppance! Go Sansa! Go Arya! Sisters doing it for themselves!! And Jon Snow revelations left, right and centre! And ICE DRAGONS! And WALLS FALLING! Ahhh! So, so good! I hereby invoke future protection for Ser Davos Motherfucking Seaworth, the Onion Knight. He must NEVER die. I will not allow it. Oh Gods of Television, hear my prayer. And let's have a moment of silence for the utterly, deliciously sassy, Queen of Thorns. Oh, you clever, clever woman. How we'll miss your snarky asides! Mwah!
Twin Peaks
Gosh, what can I say about this? It's been a real adventure for me. I never really knew much about the show before I sat down to watch it. I vaguely knew something about a murdered girl, learning how to tie a cherry stalk with your tongue, and that Kyle MacLachlan was in it. That was it. But my BF is a huge fan. I gleaned from him that it was bizarre, and a bit scary and dream-like. Surreal was a word I heard a lot. I was apprehensive, but intrigued. Surrealism isn't something I have very much experience with. It's a genre I've never really explored. Readers, I wasn't prepared!
I think I was captivated from the moment the intro started rolling. That slow credit sequence should have had me reaching for the fast-forward button, but instead it had me enthralled. I sat up a little straighter. That music! Guh! I got taken in by the initial murder mystery. Lord knows, I was raised on them. And I adored the quirky characters. Andy and Lucy are cinnamon rolls of quirky goodness.
They truly won me over when Cooper tweaked Harry's nose, though (“Nobody's perfect!”). I outright guffawed at that. Still, I was apprehensive. Poised to be turned off. But then something strange happened. The dreamlike elements started up... and I was actually dead impressed. How does Lynch make this show so atmospheric? It's so ridiculous in parts (say, for example, nose tweaking!!), yet the show feels like it matters. Like it all means something. Something bigger.
The artistry of it is both glorious and unsettling. It's like peeking inside the mind of Dali, or Magritte... or Lynch, I suppose. A very bizarre and intimidating backdrop. Yeah, some characters do test my nerves a tad, like Donna and James, oh JAMES. Just you...Get off my screen, James! And the soapier elements that crept in during the second season, after Lynch's exit, are pretty terrible in places - though it is easier to understand what's going on, heh. I was so certain it was pronounced Windamearl, all one word! Chortle!
Then that ending to season two happened. What must the poor saps of yesteryear have gone through, when that's what they've had to obsess over as a final scene for 25 years?! “Where's Annie?” That insane grin. Dopple-Dale out in the world. Jeez! I almost freaked when I saw it, and I knew I had another season I could start straight away!
What a brilliant thing, to return to a show a full 25 years later, with much of the old cast back and still on the ball. So many sad exits. Dear, sweet, strange Log Lady. Her final moments were heartbreaking. How completely, wonderfully serendipitous, that Laura told Coop (us) she'd see him again in 25 years. Spooky. Kismet.
Season three has been an exercise in prolonged deferred enjoyment. I was gagging for Dougie to remember who he really was, or for someone important to find him, but they waited SO LONG to bring Coop back to us. And we really only got him for such a short time.
And yet, it was all the better for it, wasn't it? It might have been agony as the show was going on, but the payoff was fab-u-lous! “I'm the FBI” indeed! And go Coop for creating a new Dougie to take his place, I was glad we got that little bit of an ending for that storyline. Especially considering the endings to most of the other storylines asked way more questions than they answered! Poor Audrey got shortchanged. I loved her dance in the Roadhouse, but gosh, I wanted to see more of her. I very much doubt I'm alone in that. I loved that the denouement to Bob/Dopple-Dale's story happened at the Sheriff's station, with an 'Iron Fist' punch - and a much more enjoyable Iron Fist than the current Marvel version (Sorry Marvel Gods). How fittingly out of left-field.
I'm not sure if I truly have a definitive answer to what it all means in the end. Did Dale's reach exceed his grasp when he tried to save Laura Palmer's life? Does he, like Harry Potter, have a 'saving people thing', that just destroyed his own actions in the previous episode, because he was so determined to have it all and save the girl, too? Who is the dreamer? I'm not sure I even want to examine it all too much - though I definitely asked a boat-load of questions in the immediate aftermath. Maybe we're never really meant to know. Maybe that's the beauty of it.
Be back soon - promise!