Last week in TV...
So, let’s start another TV rundown...
Downton Abby 6x04
I liked this episode too, and I feel like I can really start to see the end of the story taking shape. I guess that’s kind of a good and sad thing, but I definitely noticed it happening here. Everything has that air of near finality, and I really appreciate that the show is taking every opportunity to complete the journey. Mary basically forgetting George’s existence though was quite funny to me, and I think we are finally going to get a discussion about how Matthew’s death makes anything with this new guys really awkward, she just isn’t ready to say it yet.
Downton Abbey 6x05
So the bit about Neville Chamberlin not liking a good fight was a bit on the nose, but otherwise another good episode. I still can’t make up my mind if Robert is going to make it through the series or not (aside from the fact I suspect flash forwards are likely in the Christmas special which he definitely won’t make it through). I’m still rooting for Evelyn Napier if the game for Mary’s affections is still going on (personally I’m fine if she ends up single as she hasn’t had a love interest since Matthew that I had much approval for, I just think her and Evelyn make sense). All things seem trucking along well in terms of the story even if not so much for the characters in it.
Agents of SHIELD 3x03
That episode was...okay, not as good as last time, better than the premiere. It had some pretty good moments and the plot was okay, but I have to say I saw it as a Lincoln plot not a Skye plot and I think I was supposed to see it the other way. And I saw more depth in Coulson than in Skye, because I just don’t give a damn about Skye (except that I still care that calling her Daisy validates her even more horrible parents so I refuse to do it). Also Skye and Lincoln continue to have absolutely no chemistry even in scenes where I can see some value in them both as individuals. On another topic, May’s face looked weird in this one, it was probably the makeup; but it was good to see her beat the shit out of some guys again, even if this plot isn’t giving her a ton of depth. I need a May and Coulson reunion ASAP because the two of them without each other makes me sad. Bobbi was pretty cool and FitzSimmons are getting some good development, Mack is great as ever; just fyi.
Castle 8x05
I didn’t really like the tone of this one, it felt a little too wacky, and a little too pat in the resolution. I said at the start of the season that this separation thing wasn’t the worst idea ever exactly, but they were going to have to earn it with a damn good ongoing plot, and this episode didn’t really offer anything on that front. Yes the character dynamics work for where they are, and I’m not opposed to paralleling the Beckett/Castle relationship difficulties with Ryan and Espo having their own conflicts this season (though again too wacky this time around), but I need them to be more than wacky cases of the week if you’re going to put the characters though all this.
Flash 2x03
I think that was better than the last couple episodes, but I’m still not sure I have a lot to say on it. I should point out that while this show has stopped making the same mistakes with Iris’ character that they did with Laurel, as her arc this season is not Laurel’s Arrow s2 arc in much of any way, they have pretty much failed to make her particularly interesting. Actually come to think of it (and I hadn’t thought it so directly until now), this show kind of sucks with its female characters all around, which is especially a surprise since Arrow has proved surprising good at the ladies over the years but the females on this show are pretty flat most of the time. Which isn’t really a comment on this episode, but a passing thought on the show as a whole. One prediction like note, I think Earth 2 Wells will be a good guy, since that would make sense and I think it would have a lot of dramatic potential since the Earth 1 crew are still so hurt by what their Wells did.
Agents of SHIELD 3x04
Still getting better, I may have even liked this episode. I keep having this nagging feeling I’m supposed to side with Skye in her arguments with Coulson when she just comes off as a whiny inexperienced child; Coulson may not be totally doing the right thing here, but I trust his judgement way more than I do hers. Although I also kind of have a hunch Coulson might turn out to be Lash somehow, but that’s basically blind speculation...which doesn’t make sense considering the opening bit, so probably incorrect spec. Mostly though my thoughts on this episode have to do with my May/Coulson OTP; where I did not need Andrew to die for my ship, it seemed perfectly possible for them just to break up and stay broken up, as I just never really bought them as a couple (now certainly, maybe I could have believed them once upon a time). Also, if May/Coulson weren’t my OTP for this show I might be shipping Coulson/Rosalind at least as spy fuck buddies. Coulson and May love each other too much (gods, the hearts in his eyes during their reunion scenes) to just be spy fuck buddies, although for now I’ll settle for them just getting back to being partners. Yeah I know the chances of the show ever going more than that are pretty slim, but at least for right now it’ll feel in character to keep them apart.
Once Upon a Time 5x03
So I’m more than a week behind getting to this, and I’m actually slightly proud of myself for getting some distance from this show. But I have to say I may have kind of liked parts of this episode; yes it was all pretty cheesy and silly, but I don’t mind that so much. I hate to say that the less the show focuses on Emma, maybe the more I like it, because I used to think I liked Emma, but her taking a backseat here kind of helped. Also helpful, the Dwarves getting pissy about how the town is run, Arthur and Charming’s bromance, and it turning being spoiled even though as soon as the toadstool went missing I figured Arthur had taken it. If I trusted these writers I’d say the show was moving into some interesting ideas; trouble is I don’t trust them, so I assume silly-but-entertaining will turn stupid and annoying pretty quickly.
Arrow 4x03
Another good episode and a necessary one getting the OTA (thank you Felicity) back on track. And it was a bit slower paced than the last couple, which was good, except the Nanda Parbat scenes dragged a little, partly since even without knowing from trailers they’d end up bringing Sara back, the fact that the actually showed her and not just the coffin made it pretty clear. I also think they hinted pretty strongly that to heal Thea she’s going to need to kill Malcolm, which makes sense from a magic logic perspective; Ra’s may have been the one that attacked her, but Malcolm’s the one who hurt her and put her in that situation; I just don’t see Malcolm living up to his ‘I’d do anything for my daughter’ statement if it came to that, it not like he actually cares about her that much. Plus I’m on Nyssa’s side in all this, Laurel is being incredibly selfish with this plan; even if I happen to know it’s going to eventually work out. I predict big things happening next week, mainly that it won’t just be Lance family secrets, I think the pun in the promo is likely hinting at something else...
Apparently I run out of TV steam after Arrow each week.
Downton Abby 6x04
I liked this episode too, and I feel like I can really start to see the end of the story taking shape. I guess that’s kind of a good and sad thing, but I definitely noticed it happening here. Everything has that air of near finality, and I really appreciate that the show is taking every opportunity to complete the journey. Mary basically forgetting George’s existence though was quite funny to me, and I think we are finally going to get a discussion about how Matthew’s death makes anything with this new guys really awkward, she just isn’t ready to say it yet.
Downton Abbey 6x05
So the bit about Neville Chamberlin not liking a good fight was a bit on the nose, but otherwise another good episode. I still can’t make up my mind if Robert is going to make it through the series or not (aside from the fact I suspect flash forwards are likely in the Christmas special which he definitely won’t make it through). I’m still rooting for Evelyn Napier if the game for Mary’s affections is still going on (personally I’m fine if she ends up single as she hasn’t had a love interest since Matthew that I had much approval for, I just think her and Evelyn make sense). All things seem trucking along well in terms of the story even if not so much for the characters in it.
Agents of SHIELD 3x03
That episode was...okay, not as good as last time, better than the premiere. It had some pretty good moments and the plot was okay, but I have to say I saw it as a Lincoln plot not a Skye plot and I think I was supposed to see it the other way. And I saw more depth in Coulson than in Skye, because I just don’t give a damn about Skye (except that I still care that calling her Daisy validates her even more horrible parents so I refuse to do it). Also Skye and Lincoln continue to have absolutely no chemistry even in scenes where I can see some value in them both as individuals. On another topic, May’s face looked weird in this one, it was probably the makeup; but it was good to see her beat the shit out of some guys again, even if this plot isn’t giving her a ton of depth. I need a May and Coulson reunion ASAP because the two of them without each other makes me sad. Bobbi was pretty cool and FitzSimmons are getting some good development, Mack is great as ever; just fyi.
Castle 8x05
I didn’t really like the tone of this one, it felt a little too wacky, and a little too pat in the resolution. I said at the start of the season that this separation thing wasn’t the worst idea ever exactly, but they were going to have to earn it with a damn good ongoing plot, and this episode didn’t really offer anything on that front. Yes the character dynamics work for where they are, and I’m not opposed to paralleling the Beckett/Castle relationship difficulties with Ryan and Espo having their own conflicts this season (though again too wacky this time around), but I need them to be more than wacky cases of the week if you’re going to put the characters though all this.
Flash 2x03
I think that was better than the last couple episodes, but I’m still not sure I have a lot to say on it. I should point out that while this show has stopped making the same mistakes with Iris’ character that they did with Laurel, as her arc this season is not Laurel’s Arrow s2 arc in much of any way, they have pretty much failed to make her particularly interesting. Actually come to think of it (and I hadn’t thought it so directly until now), this show kind of sucks with its female characters all around, which is especially a surprise since Arrow has proved surprising good at the ladies over the years but the females on this show are pretty flat most of the time. Which isn’t really a comment on this episode, but a passing thought on the show as a whole. One prediction like note, I think Earth 2 Wells will be a good guy, since that would make sense and I think it would have a lot of dramatic potential since the Earth 1 crew are still so hurt by what their Wells did.
Agents of SHIELD 3x04
Still getting better, I may have even liked this episode. I keep having this nagging feeling I’m supposed to side with Skye in her arguments with Coulson when she just comes off as a whiny inexperienced child; Coulson may not be totally doing the right thing here, but I trust his judgement way more than I do hers. Although I also kind of have a hunch Coulson might turn out to be Lash somehow, but that’s basically blind speculation...which doesn’t make sense considering the opening bit, so probably incorrect spec. Mostly though my thoughts on this episode have to do with my May/Coulson OTP; where I did not need Andrew to die for my ship, it seemed perfectly possible for them just to break up and stay broken up, as I just never really bought them as a couple (now certainly, maybe I could have believed them once upon a time). Also, if May/Coulson weren’t my OTP for this show I might be shipping Coulson/Rosalind at least as spy fuck buddies. Coulson and May love each other too much (gods, the hearts in his eyes during their reunion scenes) to just be spy fuck buddies, although for now I’ll settle for them just getting back to being partners. Yeah I know the chances of the show ever going more than that are pretty slim, but at least for right now it’ll feel in character to keep them apart.
Once Upon a Time 5x03
So I’m more than a week behind getting to this, and I’m actually slightly proud of myself for getting some distance from this show. But I have to say I may have kind of liked parts of this episode; yes it was all pretty cheesy and silly, but I don’t mind that so much. I hate to say that the less the show focuses on Emma, maybe the more I like it, because I used to think I liked Emma, but her taking a backseat here kind of helped. Also helpful, the Dwarves getting pissy about how the town is run, Arthur and Charming’s bromance, and it turning being spoiled even though as soon as the toadstool went missing I figured Arthur had taken it. If I trusted these writers I’d say the show was moving into some interesting ideas; trouble is I don’t trust them, so I assume silly-but-entertaining will turn stupid and annoying pretty quickly.
Arrow 4x03
Another good episode and a necessary one getting the OTA (thank you Felicity) back on track. And it was a bit slower paced than the last couple, which was good, except the Nanda Parbat scenes dragged a little, partly since even without knowing from trailers they’d end up bringing Sara back, the fact that the actually showed her and not just the coffin made it pretty clear. I also think they hinted pretty strongly that to heal Thea she’s going to need to kill Malcolm, which makes sense from a magic logic perspective; Ra’s may have been the one that attacked her, but Malcolm’s the one who hurt her and put her in that situation; I just don’t see Malcolm living up to his ‘I’d do anything for my daughter’ statement if it came to that, it not like he actually cares about her that much. Plus I’m on Nyssa’s side in all this, Laurel is being incredibly selfish with this plan; even if I happen to know it’s going to eventually work out. I predict big things happening next week, mainly that it won’t just be Lance family secrets, I think the pun in the promo is likely hinting at something else...
Apparently I run out of TV steam after Arrow each week.