In what way? JW. I didn't notice a drop in quality in S4; in fact, it's one of my favorite seasons.
Strong open and close, but the rise of the quirky!serial killer and some poor character episodes (Instincts/Memoriam (I mean, I see what they were trying to do, but it didn't work for me) and (unpopular fandom opinions!) Zoe's Reprise and Demonology (1)) drag the season down for me. Minimal Loss, Amplification and To Hell and Back are among my favorite episodes ever, and Mayhem has some great moments, but the murderer-of-the-week episodes began to suck. Didn't love The Big Wheel, Paradise, Masterpiece (lol), Bloodline, Conflicted (mostly because of the Reid glurge; it was a pretty Reid-glurgey season). Prentiss spoke Spanish (<3) in Catching Out so it gets a pass (I'm pretty shallow).
(1) I've heard Demonology works better on a second or third viewing, but I haven't gotten back to it yet.
As long as they kept pumping out solid episodes that capitalized on what the show does best, most fans would be satisfied.
I think the writing and direction of the show is showing that they can't do that, though. They're increasing shock value--why? I guess because the same old stuff isn't cutting it any more. Whether this push is from the writers, producers, or in response to fluctuations in ratings, idk.
I think the Buffy comparison is a fair one. Although the shows are stylistically different, in the end they're just television and the mechanics are the same, if not the finer details. You can even compare the rise of showrunners' side projects. (My gateway fandom is The X-Files, which ran for nine seasons, but there was a major cast change in s8. Season 9 actually contained some great, fresh writing, but I think the backlash against the new characters and the fact that many fans lost interest spelled the end.)
I believe the pitch for CM (from a Bernero interview iirc) was something along the lines of a LOL and Order (ha) with more characterization--but not to the extent that you'd have to watch every week to know what was going on with them.
(Instincts/Memoriam (I mean, I see what they were trying to do, but it didn't work for me) and (unpopular fandom opinions!) Zoe's Reprise and Demonology (1)) drag the season down for me
Ahh yeah, this I agree with. There were quite a few forgettable episodes. I don't know why The Big Wheel has such a fandom following--is it b/c of Alex O'Loughlin? Because the episode itself was pretty underwhelming to me. "Conflicted" is only saved b/c it's so lulzy, but I wouldn't call it a good episode by any means. It just makes me laugh at how ridiculous it is. "Demonology" and "Zoe's Reprise" both sucked balls, so agreed there. Hmm, now I wonder why I like S4 so much. Maybe it's b/c the strong episodes managed to overshadow the weak ones?
I guess for me it's a "better than the others" sort of thing rather than S4 in itself being that strong. It's the most Reid and Prentiss-heavy season which is probably why it's so popular in the fandom, but I don't particularly care for either of those characters, so not much in it for me. But it still pulls ahead of S2 b/c I hated Elle's exit arc (and S2 hair) so much, the interim episodes before Prentiss's arrival were pretty shit save for "North Mammon" and I thought Frank was almost as awful of a villain as Foyet. CM really does fail at recurring villains, now that I think about it. I kind of wish that I wouldn't keep analyzing it b/c it seems the more I do that, the more it falls apart. S3 and S1 are the only seasons that actually seem to grow stronger with extended analysis.
I'm trying to think of any really strong shows that lasted more than 6-7 seasons, and it seems that the only ones that do tend to undergo major cast changes (usually around the S6-7 mark) and by the time you hit that point most of the diehards have lost interest anyway. The thing is though, that I was talking about in woodchoc's LJ is that these changes are usually brought about by actors wanting out. The fact that neither AJ nor Paget wanted out (at least at the time) is causing a lot of bitterness and while actors wanting out kind of forces fans to accept cast changes (why I don't feel bitter about Elle leaving, although I still hate how they wrote her out), an unforced change like this is going to meet with resistance. I'm unsure how much fan pandering played into the creators' refusal to replace JJ, but firing her and then not replacing her is, IMO, the biggest fuck-up they would've made. JJ was sadly underused, but her role is necessary, and by getting rid of her and not replacing her (and using her absence as an excuse to feature Garcia more in tasks she is completely unqualified and untrained for) completely negates the existence of the character at all and negates the entire Jordan Todd arc. Had they left things as is, people might have stuck around despite the decline in writing, but CM really shot itself in the foot with this decision. I almost wish I could trade it for Fringe (which is more than likely going to get cancelled), b/c CM's just dying already and Fringe seems to finally be coming into its own. Sigh (yes ik, diff networks and shit but you know what I mean).
I thought Frank was almost as awful of a villain as Foyet.
Pfft, Frank. I do like some of the surrounding story (JJ saves the day! By the power of ~research~!), "this time we DON'T split up", Morgan and the messenger kid, nice shots in the train station.
I don't know why The Big Wheel has such a fandom following--is it b/c of Alex O'Loughlin?
That's been my assumption. I am like whatevs, personally.
I am ensaddened by the network shenanigans with Fringe. It has SO MUCH FURTHER POTENTIAL FOR AWESOME.
Strong open and close, but the rise of the quirky!serial killer and some poor character episodes (Instincts/Memoriam (I mean, I see what they were trying to do, but it didn't work for me) and (unpopular fandom opinions!) Zoe's Reprise and Demonology (1)) drag the season down for me. Minimal Loss, Amplification and To Hell and Back are among my favorite episodes ever, and Mayhem has some great moments, but the murderer-of-the-week episodes began to suck. Didn't love The Big Wheel, Paradise, Masterpiece (lol), Bloodline, Conflicted (mostly because of the Reid glurge; it was a pretty Reid-glurgey season). Prentiss spoke Spanish (<3) in Catching Out so it gets a pass (I'm pretty shallow).
(1) I've heard Demonology works better on a second or third viewing, but I haven't gotten back to it yet.
As long as they kept pumping out solid episodes that capitalized on what the show does best, most fans would be satisfied.
I think the writing and direction of the show is showing that they can't do that, though. They're increasing shock value--why? I guess because the same old stuff isn't cutting it any more. Whether this push is from the writers, producers, or in response to fluctuations in ratings, idk.
I think the Buffy comparison is a fair one. Although the shows are stylistically different, in the end they're just television and the mechanics are the same, if not the finer details. You can even compare the rise of showrunners' side projects. (My gateway fandom is The X-Files, which ran for nine seasons, but there was a major cast change in s8. Season 9 actually contained some great, fresh writing, but I think the backlash against the new characters and the fact that many fans lost interest spelled the end.)
I believe the pitch for CM (from a Bernero interview iirc) was something along the lines of a LOL and Order (ha) with more characterization--but not to the extent that you'd have to watch every week to know what was going on with them.
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Ahh yeah, this I agree with. There were quite a few forgettable episodes. I don't know why The Big Wheel has such a fandom following--is it b/c of Alex O'Loughlin? Because the episode itself was pretty underwhelming to me. "Conflicted" is only saved b/c it's so lulzy, but I wouldn't call it a good episode by any means. It just makes me laugh at how ridiculous it is. "Demonology" and "Zoe's Reprise" both sucked balls, so agreed there. Hmm, now I wonder why I like S4 so much. Maybe it's b/c the strong episodes managed to overshadow the weak ones?
I guess for me it's a "better than the others" sort of thing rather than S4 in itself being that strong. It's the most Reid and Prentiss-heavy season which is probably why it's so popular in the fandom, but I don't particularly care for either of those characters, so not much in it for me. But it still pulls ahead of S2 b/c I hated Elle's exit arc (and S2 hair) so much, the interim episodes before Prentiss's arrival were pretty shit save for "North Mammon" and I thought Frank was almost as awful of a villain as Foyet. CM really does fail at recurring villains, now that I think about it. I kind of wish that I wouldn't keep analyzing it b/c it seems the more I do that, the more it falls apart. S3 and S1 are the only seasons that actually seem to grow stronger with extended analysis.
I'm trying to think of any really strong shows that lasted more than 6-7 seasons, and it seems that the only ones that do tend to undergo major cast changes (usually around the S6-7 mark) and by the time you hit that point most of the diehards have lost interest anyway. The thing is though, that I was talking about in woodchoc's LJ is that these changes are usually brought about by actors wanting out. The fact that neither AJ nor Paget wanted out (at least at the time) is causing a lot of bitterness and while actors wanting out kind of forces fans to accept cast changes (why I don't feel bitter about Elle leaving, although I still hate how they wrote her out), an unforced change like this is going to meet with resistance. I'm unsure how much fan pandering played into the creators' refusal to replace JJ, but firing her and then not replacing her is, IMO, the biggest fuck-up they would've made. JJ was sadly underused, but her role is necessary, and by getting rid of her and not replacing her (and using her absence as an excuse to feature Garcia more in tasks she is completely unqualified and untrained for) completely negates the existence of the character at all and negates the entire Jordan Todd arc. Had they left things as is, people might have stuck around despite the decline in writing, but CM really shot itself in the foot with this decision. I almost wish I could trade it for Fringe (which is more than likely going to get cancelled), b/c CM's just dying already and Fringe seems to finally be coming into its own. Sigh (yes ik, diff networks and shit but you know what I mean).
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Pfft, Frank. I do like some of the surrounding story (JJ saves the day! By the power of ~research~!), "this time we DON'T split up", Morgan and the messenger kid, nice shots in the train station.
I don't know why The Big Wheel has such a fandom following--is it b/c of Alex O'Loughlin?
That's been my assumption. I am like whatevs, personally.
I am ensaddened by the network shenanigans with Fringe. It has SO MUCH FURTHER POTENTIAL FOR AWESOME.
Reply
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