Two week TV rundown
The X-Files 10x06
I’m going to have to think about that for a bit, because I think I liked it, but I don’t like the structure of the series around it. As a season ending cliffhanger it needed...something. Also I think doing a season ending cliffhanger after six episodes doesn’t work for me. This should have been either treated as a full return for the show with at least 10-12 episodes to have more time to earn a season ending cliff-hanger, or as a self-contained mini series that actually followed through on its build up; for one, after all this, it should have ended with William (or with Mulder grabbing on to Scully, not willing to lose her again, those are about the only themes running though the season). Now if they get another season (mid to full length instead of such a short season) in the fall or something and this season was just supposed to be a bridge to set up for a bigger return, I’ll evaluate it on those terms then. But the problem remains that after this I feel TXF will have to do something it’s been resistant to for 20+ years, let the world change; this is beyond just resolving the cliffhanger and finding William to save Mulder, the world just went through a minor apocalypse, things will have to change; Scully just saved the world, she’s going to be world famous when this is done; going back to case of the week structure will have to have some work done. Plus, bad luck for people not in DC, it’s going to take a while for this cure to spread as far reaching as the virus did. But on the other hand of the cliffhanger issue, if they don’t come back for more after this, that’s super unsatisfying, we may have all had issues with the way the old series ended, but at least it didn’t leave us in the middle of an apocalypse. And as an aside, I kind of would have loved to see the scene where Scully’s like “I’m going to leave the care of this hospital full of patients to a barely recovered doctor who doesn’t quite understand what it going on while I take the first samples of the cure and go save Mulder. And hope I don’t get mugged for the cure during an end of the world situation while I’m making my way there.” I like the promise of this episode, I just wish I had more faith in it being fulfilled, but I’ve watched this show before so my faith is limited. At least they did more with Miller and Einstein instead of it just being a one off joke, that helps; and we did get to see what happened with Reyes, even though it didn’t make a lot of sense, but since when does Cancerman make a lot of sense?
Castle 8x12
I guess the story structure was justified by the in-story reasons for it, but it did seem a bit convoluted while watching it. And while I liked most of the character bits, I’m not sure they fit in with the season arc as there were several things that ought to have tripped the lie up here (Alexis not commenting on the fact that Beckett was in Castle’s call list, no one seeming surprised that the two of them might have disappeared at the same time, the villain supposedly picking people who love each other when publically Castle and Beckett are pretty on the outs - though I guess I am glad he wasn’t villainous enough to pull a pregnant Jenny into this and make it a Ryan story), I suppose the fact that they weren’t jut clinging to each other in the end was the only concession to their official separation. I also felt some things just weren’t that well handled; I feel like we needed more reflection at the end on what they had gone through if so many of the moments passed without comment as they happened, Castle feeling like he might have killed someone because he didn’t read all the trick text before injecting him, people having more reaction to the guy who did die, etc. And some of the get out of cliffhanger pieces were pretty obvious, I knew Beckett was smart enough to pocket the bullets was the big one. Plus, although I’m glad to see Alexis have a friend in Haley and kind of enjoyed the meta commentary on being a main character in a TV show, I wanted some acknowledgement of Alexis’ own time being held captive and how this may have triggered her. In spite of all that, I did enjoy the episode, there was plenty to like in it, and I did by and large, I just...didn’t like it enough to come out thinking about the positives. Although I can definitely see there being some good fic born out of this, I haven’t really read any Castle fic in a while, but I’m confident that if I looked I could find some that would improve on this eps shortcomings.
The Flash 2x15
What do you know, I really liked that episode. It had the emotional consequence for Earth 2 that I had wanted last week, and even justified them not being last week since this picked up right where that left off. It actually made the West-Allen family scenes work and showed a lot of growth on the changing family dynamics. I liked seeing the Wells family unit start to sort itself out. I enjoyed the action/plot story and thought the resolution was interesting. Digg and Lyla were well used without overplaying their appearance. I’m not sure what to make of the stinger, but that’s okay, it was certainly attention grabbing. I only had a couple niggles with the story, like I don’t understand why Well would advise them to keep the Earth 2 story to themselves, that doesn’t seem necessary. And it wasn’t clear how much time passed between the opening scenes and the main plot, though I assume the answer is ‘enough to get the timeline with Arrow back in sync. And maybe a little bit questioning why they wrote the roof getting torn off the West house, I’m not sure if they have a plan for addressing that; but I did like Wally’s reaction to the whole dram, even his lack of understanding towards Barry, and I liked that Barry didn’t rise to it, just got all sad by that estimation of him. So yeah, that was a good one, more like this.
Arrow 4x15
Well, that wasn’t particularly surprising. And I’m really a bit too emotional at the moment to have a ton of thoughts, but it was well done. I sure don’t remember Vixen being around before, and I think I would, so I’m guessing this was a comic adventure or something? On one hand I’m okay with having adventures happen off screen that we don’t see, but I’m not crazy about this one being retconned in. I also think Felicity rediscovered how to walk a bit fast, I think it would have taken a bit more retraining and confidence to walk out without even taking the wheelchair in case her legs gave out, just seconds after getting them back. I was worried the show would completely ignore Laurel’s stake in finding out this truth, and I’m glad they didn’t (although her scene with Samantha was a bit much, I liked her with her dad), though there wasn’t a lot of room to examine that but maybe we can in the next couple episodes. I did really like the Thea and Malcolm stuff, and if this were the worst of his crimes against her and her family, and people in general, I’d say the issue was more mixed; but as this is barely a blip on the Malcom Merlyn Malfeasance Meter, I’m just going to be glad Thea finally kicked him to the curb (also if I believed his love for her was actually unconditional I might have at least felt something for him aside from conviction he’s just going to get worse). I also have a sneaking suspicion a lot of this will somehow echo into the LoT episode (next on the review list) where we’re dealing with the future of this team, but I could be wrong; it would allow Sara to bring back future intel and change what may happen. Also I’m hoping for Lian Harper somehow existing). I find the really questionable thing is this episode not that Oliver doesn’t go to Felicity for input (in the middle of a crisis not feeling there was room for that particular emotionally charged conversation), but that he ended up ignoring Diggle’s advice in favor of Vixen’s. Now, her advice isn’t really bad, as I’ve been nominally agreeing with the idea throughout this arc, but for Oliver to so quickly discard the advice of the people he’s closest to...doesn’t quite ring true. This also doesn’t feel like a real conclusion to this arc, because if it is, the whole arc feels kind of wasted since we hardly saw it play out; but I suppose it may not pick up again until next season or so. Well acted, decently told if a little too quick moving, a tad predictable, and ultimately kind of unsatisfying though still emotionally resonant; so I guess I’m conflicted on this one.
Legends of Tomorrow 1x06
There was definitely a lot going on in that episode, but I can’t say I liked most of it. I continue to pretty much hate Mick and think he was a terrible choice for this mission; Snart’s a thief and can see that saving the world so he has a society to rebel against makes sense, which Mick (I can’t call him Rory, I just can’t) just wants to see the world burn, so what’s he fighting for? I do like what they’re doing with Snart in theory, gradually moving him towards a reluctant hero/anti-hero area that seems to suit him pretty well; I just can’t really get into the character in reality the way I can in theory; although I am now pretty sure he has a thing for Sara, whether he’s admitting it to himself or not. The love triangle stuff just came out of nowhere and was pretty cringe-inducing for all parties (except maybe Kendra); and although she does have decent chemistry with both of them (better than she had with Carter), her personal character development has a long way to go before I’m likely to give a damn. As usual, Rip and Sara are the most interesting characters; although Sara did get a boost because we were dealing with her world so she had to take the lead and so gets a little reflected points from Ollie and...John/Conner (it was too good to pass up I guess). I’m not quite sure where the show is going with Rip, but they’ve set up so many interesting stories they can tell with all that he needs to learn and accept and regain in humanity that I’m so hopeful they can carry it through. He really has gone full Doctor, in his stolen time ship, picking up stray humans who help him (re)learn to connect and be a good person, hopefully it actually knows what it’s doing with that plot arc and doesn’t fumble it as badly as DW did.
Mr. Selfridge 4x08
That was a very well done episode, and it was emotionally affecting, I just wish I was more affected than I was. Have they recast Mrs. Crabb every season? I always enjoy the seeing Mr. and Mrs. Crabb, I just with Mrs. was ever the same; maybe she’s a Time Lord. And because I’m me when George mentioned to Harry having miles of windows I feel like saw Harry going ‘Is he fishing to see if I’d ask Henri and Agnes back? I could totally make that work. I guess now’s not the time.’ But those were a couple small amusements in a very serious episode. It felt very long with so much going on, I’m almost surprised it was a normal length episode. I feel like so much was progressed here, and yet it knew when to take it’s time, so it didn’t feel packed but looking back it does not feel like just one episode. I’m also not sure how everything’s going to get wrapped up in just two episodes, and that’s while barring that I’m no longer 100% convinced Harry’s going to end up quite so ruined as I understand he actually was. I also think at this point I’m not quite sure what to say about the episode, I going to need to see some more things play out and judge the bigger picture. Though I did love the scene between Mae and Tilly, that was a good scene.
Castle 8x13
This goes in the category of episodes that I won’t deny that I enjoyed, but I’m not sure it was actually very good. The message was far too heavy handed, all of the messages and there were several. The connection back to the missing Castle plot was too abrupt and random. The attitudes of others involved in the separation plot seem like they were from several episodes ago, and Castle and Beckett’s own attitudes seem a little too chill with how things stand. I’ll concede the plot took a lot of turns I wasn’t expecting, though I did wonder about the teacher earlier on, he didn’t stand out as a likely suspect to me, just a potential one at times. Also, and this has been on my mind in bits for a while, we never hear about Alexis juggling school and work and family (where does she live these days? I thought she had moved back into the loft, but as she doesn’t know about Castle and Beckett’s situation, that doesn’t work), and now picking up extra work teaching ESL classes; much as I love the increased presence of Alexis this season, it could use some more thought. It wasn’t a bad story, but the writing wasn’t very good and performances were mostly meh, so I came out of it feeling kind of confused by how I felt towards it.
Legends of Tomorrow 1x07
With one exception there was basically nothing I didn’t like about that episode. There’s a couple things I’m iffy on, such as I have my doubts they would actually kill Mick but I’m not sure how they get around that one and while I have no objections to Ray/Kendra I think I need to see what the writers plan to do with it before I decide if it’s a good idea for the story; also since I’m of the opinion that Sara is the second in command of this crew, leaving Ray charge was a ‘huh’ moment for me, but since Gideon was actually in charge and Ray was just playing I’m okay with it. And the one thing I didn’t like was the ‘live damn it live’ scene, because those scenes pretty much never work. It’s a Rip centered episode, which I’d totally good with; so many nerdy references; space/time pirates; some pretty solid character bonding; I just said last week how bad a fit Mick was for the team and Rip said basically all the same things; Stein’s story was adorable. Okay so maybe Rip’s flashbacks weren’t the best of elements, but this is the Arrow-verse, flashbacks are almost never all that great, and these were limited and necessary, just rather predictable.
Mr. Selfridge 4x09
Let’s start by saying I think this was a pretty good episode, but I also think it made something clear to me about the structure of this season that barring a miraculously good finale I’m not sure can be salvaged when taken as a whole. The first half of the season was all the Dolly’s nearly ruining Harry plot, and the second half is all the Jimmy ruins Harry plot; the first half was actually better at that (again, barring seeing how it ends) because while the Dollys were acting as catalysts for Harry’s bad decisions, Jimmy himself seems to be what actually causes Harry’s downfall, and while frustrating it’s more fitting to have Harry’s downfall be Harry’s fault. Now, my knowledge of the history involved here is pretty basic, mostly just that he does end up ruined, but the history also seems to be being played rather loosely. I also do not see how they can end this in just one more episode, work to a season cliffhanger sure, but not a series finale; maybe it’s going to be extra long? I guess we’ll see next week how this ends, but I’m more apprehensive about the show ending well than I am about the characters in the show, and I don’t like being on that side, I prefer to be anxious for the in show stuff. And there’s so much plot involved I end up not even wanting to talk about the character stuff because I don’t find a lot of depth worth talking about until I see how I goes (I suspect I will on rewatch when I can see the full shape, but not from being in the middle of it now). But because I’m me and apparently will not let it go, new baby Towler means Agnes and Henri showing up just in time for the Selfridge’s anniversary right? It would be fitting.
Now the question comes to a head whether I finally get to watching Agent Carter before watching AoS return? Guess we'll see what mood I'm in tonight.
I’m going to have to think about that for a bit, because I think I liked it, but I don’t like the structure of the series around it. As a season ending cliffhanger it needed...something. Also I think doing a season ending cliffhanger after six episodes doesn’t work for me. This should have been either treated as a full return for the show with at least 10-12 episodes to have more time to earn a season ending cliff-hanger, or as a self-contained mini series that actually followed through on its build up; for one, after all this, it should have ended with William (or with Mulder grabbing on to Scully, not willing to lose her again, those are about the only themes running though the season). Now if they get another season (mid to full length instead of such a short season) in the fall or something and this season was just supposed to be a bridge to set up for a bigger return, I’ll evaluate it on those terms then. But the problem remains that after this I feel TXF will have to do something it’s been resistant to for 20+ years, let the world change; this is beyond just resolving the cliffhanger and finding William to save Mulder, the world just went through a minor apocalypse, things will have to change; Scully just saved the world, she’s going to be world famous when this is done; going back to case of the week structure will have to have some work done. Plus, bad luck for people not in DC, it’s going to take a while for this cure to spread as far reaching as the virus did. But on the other hand of the cliffhanger issue, if they don’t come back for more after this, that’s super unsatisfying, we may have all had issues with the way the old series ended, but at least it didn’t leave us in the middle of an apocalypse. And as an aside, I kind of would have loved to see the scene where Scully’s like “I’m going to leave the care of this hospital full of patients to a barely recovered doctor who doesn’t quite understand what it going on while I take the first samples of the cure and go save Mulder. And hope I don’t get mugged for the cure during an end of the world situation while I’m making my way there.” I like the promise of this episode, I just wish I had more faith in it being fulfilled, but I’ve watched this show before so my faith is limited. At least they did more with Miller and Einstein instead of it just being a one off joke, that helps; and we did get to see what happened with Reyes, even though it didn’t make a lot of sense, but since when does Cancerman make a lot of sense?
Castle 8x12
I guess the story structure was justified by the in-story reasons for it, but it did seem a bit convoluted while watching it. And while I liked most of the character bits, I’m not sure they fit in with the season arc as there were several things that ought to have tripped the lie up here (Alexis not commenting on the fact that Beckett was in Castle’s call list, no one seeming surprised that the two of them might have disappeared at the same time, the villain supposedly picking people who love each other when publically Castle and Beckett are pretty on the outs - though I guess I am glad he wasn’t villainous enough to pull a pregnant Jenny into this and make it a Ryan story), I suppose the fact that they weren’t jut clinging to each other in the end was the only concession to their official separation. I also felt some things just weren’t that well handled; I feel like we needed more reflection at the end on what they had gone through if so many of the moments passed without comment as they happened, Castle feeling like he might have killed someone because he didn’t read all the trick text before injecting him, people having more reaction to the guy who did die, etc. And some of the get out of cliffhanger pieces were pretty obvious, I knew Beckett was smart enough to pocket the bullets was the big one. Plus, although I’m glad to see Alexis have a friend in Haley and kind of enjoyed the meta commentary on being a main character in a TV show, I wanted some acknowledgement of Alexis’ own time being held captive and how this may have triggered her. In spite of all that, I did enjoy the episode, there was plenty to like in it, and I did by and large, I just...didn’t like it enough to come out thinking about the positives. Although I can definitely see there being some good fic born out of this, I haven’t really read any Castle fic in a while, but I’m confident that if I looked I could find some that would improve on this eps shortcomings.
The Flash 2x15
What do you know, I really liked that episode. It had the emotional consequence for Earth 2 that I had wanted last week, and even justified them not being last week since this picked up right where that left off. It actually made the West-Allen family scenes work and showed a lot of growth on the changing family dynamics. I liked seeing the Wells family unit start to sort itself out. I enjoyed the action/plot story and thought the resolution was interesting. Digg and Lyla were well used without overplaying their appearance. I’m not sure what to make of the stinger, but that’s okay, it was certainly attention grabbing. I only had a couple niggles with the story, like I don’t understand why Well would advise them to keep the Earth 2 story to themselves, that doesn’t seem necessary. And it wasn’t clear how much time passed between the opening scenes and the main plot, though I assume the answer is ‘enough to get the timeline with Arrow back in sync. And maybe a little bit questioning why they wrote the roof getting torn off the West house, I’m not sure if they have a plan for addressing that; but I did like Wally’s reaction to the whole dram, even his lack of understanding towards Barry, and I liked that Barry didn’t rise to it, just got all sad by that estimation of him. So yeah, that was a good one, more like this.
Arrow 4x15
Well, that wasn’t particularly surprising. And I’m really a bit too emotional at the moment to have a ton of thoughts, but it was well done. I sure don’t remember Vixen being around before, and I think I would, so I’m guessing this was a comic adventure or something? On one hand I’m okay with having adventures happen off screen that we don’t see, but I’m not crazy about this one being retconned in. I also think Felicity rediscovered how to walk a bit fast, I think it would have taken a bit more retraining and confidence to walk out without even taking the wheelchair in case her legs gave out, just seconds after getting them back. I was worried the show would completely ignore Laurel’s stake in finding out this truth, and I’m glad they didn’t (although her scene with Samantha was a bit much, I liked her with her dad), though there wasn’t a lot of room to examine that but maybe we can in the next couple episodes. I did really like the Thea and Malcolm stuff, and if this were the worst of his crimes against her and her family, and people in general, I’d say the issue was more mixed; but as this is barely a blip on the Malcom Merlyn Malfeasance Meter, I’m just going to be glad Thea finally kicked him to the curb (also if I believed his love for her was actually unconditional I might have at least felt something for him aside from conviction he’s just going to get worse). I also have a sneaking suspicion a lot of this will somehow echo into the LoT episode (next on the review list) where we’re dealing with the future of this team, but I could be wrong; it would allow Sara to bring back future intel and change what may happen. Also I’m hoping for Lian Harper somehow existing). I find the really questionable thing is this episode not that Oliver doesn’t go to Felicity for input (in the middle of a crisis not feeling there was room for that particular emotionally charged conversation), but that he ended up ignoring Diggle’s advice in favor of Vixen’s. Now, her advice isn’t really bad, as I’ve been nominally agreeing with the idea throughout this arc, but for Oliver to so quickly discard the advice of the people he’s closest to...doesn’t quite ring true. This also doesn’t feel like a real conclusion to this arc, because if it is, the whole arc feels kind of wasted since we hardly saw it play out; but I suppose it may not pick up again until next season or so. Well acted, decently told if a little too quick moving, a tad predictable, and ultimately kind of unsatisfying though still emotionally resonant; so I guess I’m conflicted on this one.
Legends of Tomorrow 1x06
There was definitely a lot going on in that episode, but I can’t say I liked most of it. I continue to pretty much hate Mick and think he was a terrible choice for this mission; Snart’s a thief and can see that saving the world so he has a society to rebel against makes sense, which Mick (I can’t call him Rory, I just can’t) just wants to see the world burn, so what’s he fighting for? I do like what they’re doing with Snart in theory, gradually moving him towards a reluctant hero/anti-hero area that seems to suit him pretty well; I just can’t really get into the character in reality the way I can in theory; although I am now pretty sure he has a thing for Sara, whether he’s admitting it to himself or not. The love triangle stuff just came out of nowhere and was pretty cringe-inducing for all parties (except maybe Kendra); and although she does have decent chemistry with both of them (better than she had with Carter), her personal character development has a long way to go before I’m likely to give a damn. As usual, Rip and Sara are the most interesting characters; although Sara did get a boost because we were dealing with her world so she had to take the lead and so gets a little reflected points from Ollie and...John/Conner (it was too good to pass up I guess). I’m not quite sure where the show is going with Rip, but they’ve set up so many interesting stories they can tell with all that he needs to learn and accept and regain in humanity that I’m so hopeful they can carry it through. He really has gone full Doctor, in his stolen time ship, picking up stray humans who help him (re)learn to connect and be a good person, hopefully it actually knows what it’s doing with that plot arc and doesn’t fumble it as badly as DW did.
Mr. Selfridge 4x08
That was a very well done episode, and it was emotionally affecting, I just wish I was more affected than I was. Have they recast Mrs. Crabb every season? I always enjoy the seeing Mr. and Mrs. Crabb, I just with Mrs. was ever the same; maybe she’s a Time Lord. And because I’m me when George mentioned to Harry having miles of windows I feel like saw Harry going ‘Is he fishing to see if I’d ask Henri and Agnes back? I could totally make that work. I guess now’s not the time.’ But those were a couple small amusements in a very serious episode. It felt very long with so much going on, I’m almost surprised it was a normal length episode. I feel like so much was progressed here, and yet it knew when to take it’s time, so it didn’t feel packed but looking back it does not feel like just one episode. I’m also not sure how everything’s going to get wrapped up in just two episodes, and that’s while barring that I’m no longer 100% convinced Harry’s going to end up quite so ruined as I understand he actually was. I also think at this point I’m not quite sure what to say about the episode, I going to need to see some more things play out and judge the bigger picture. Though I did love the scene between Mae and Tilly, that was a good scene.
Castle 8x13
This goes in the category of episodes that I won’t deny that I enjoyed, but I’m not sure it was actually very good. The message was far too heavy handed, all of the messages and there were several. The connection back to the missing Castle plot was too abrupt and random. The attitudes of others involved in the separation plot seem like they were from several episodes ago, and Castle and Beckett’s own attitudes seem a little too chill with how things stand. I’ll concede the plot took a lot of turns I wasn’t expecting, though I did wonder about the teacher earlier on, he didn’t stand out as a likely suspect to me, just a potential one at times. Also, and this has been on my mind in bits for a while, we never hear about Alexis juggling school and work and family (where does she live these days? I thought she had moved back into the loft, but as she doesn’t know about Castle and Beckett’s situation, that doesn’t work), and now picking up extra work teaching ESL classes; much as I love the increased presence of Alexis this season, it could use some more thought. It wasn’t a bad story, but the writing wasn’t very good and performances were mostly meh, so I came out of it feeling kind of confused by how I felt towards it.
Legends of Tomorrow 1x07
With one exception there was basically nothing I didn’t like about that episode. There’s a couple things I’m iffy on, such as I have my doubts they would actually kill Mick but I’m not sure how they get around that one and while I have no objections to Ray/Kendra I think I need to see what the writers plan to do with it before I decide if it’s a good idea for the story; also since I’m of the opinion that Sara is the second in command of this crew, leaving Ray charge was a ‘huh’ moment for me, but since Gideon was actually in charge and Ray was just playing I’m okay with it. And the one thing I didn’t like was the ‘live damn it live’ scene, because those scenes pretty much never work. It’s a Rip centered episode, which I’d totally good with; so many nerdy references; space/time pirates; some pretty solid character bonding; I just said last week how bad a fit Mick was for the team and Rip said basically all the same things; Stein’s story was adorable. Okay so maybe Rip’s flashbacks weren’t the best of elements, but this is the Arrow-verse, flashbacks are almost never all that great, and these were limited and necessary, just rather predictable.
Mr. Selfridge 4x09
Let’s start by saying I think this was a pretty good episode, but I also think it made something clear to me about the structure of this season that barring a miraculously good finale I’m not sure can be salvaged when taken as a whole. The first half of the season was all the Dolly’s nearly ruining Harry plot, and the second half is all the Jimmy ruins Harry plot; the first half was actually better at that (again, barring seeing how it ends) because while the Dollys were acting as catalysts for Harry’s bad decisions, Jimmy himself seems to be what actually causes Harry’s downfall, and while frustrating it’s more fitting to have Harry’s downfall be Harry’s fault. Now, my knowledge of the history involved here is pretty basic, mostly just that he does end up ruined, but the history also seems to be being played rather loosely. I also do not see how they can end this in just one more episode, work to a season cliffhanger sure, but not a series finale; maybe it’s going to be extra long? I guess we’ll see next week how this ends, but I’m more apprehensive about the show ending well than I am about the characters in the show, and I don’t like being on that side, I prefer to be anxious for the in show stuff. And there’s so much plot involved I end up not even wanting to talk about the character stuff because I don’t find a lot of depth worth talking about until I see how I goes (I suspect I will on rewatch when I can see the full shape, but not from being in the middle of it now). But because I’m me and apparently will not let it go, new baby Towler means Agnes and Henri showing up just in time for the Selfridge’s anniversary right? It would be fitting.
Now the question comes to a head whether I finally get to watching Agent Carter before watching AoS return? Guess we'll see what mood I'm in tonight.