Most of January TV rundown
So, first TV rundown of the new year; and there’s a little shuffling of what shows I’m watching going on.
The Orville 2x01
That was one of the weirder season premiers I’ve seen. It would have been kind of a low key episode any time, but as a premier I’m not sure quite what to make of it. I liked it, I think, and the plain oddness of it had a humor in its own right. But I’m not sure I have a lot so say about it as is; I think this could prove to be important character foundations for the season but we’ll obviously have to see about that as it develops.
The Orville 2x02
I was going to say that one was odd in a different way than the premier, but it was kind of the same oddness in some ways. It’s again very character focused...until the last act or so when the plot is something very intense that isn’t given enough room to breathe. It’s not that these two elements clash or have no connection by the end, but the balance doesn’t work for me. Since the plot stuff only comes in so late I expected there to be a last minute miracle save, because there just wasn’t time to deal with what was happening in a real way. In some stories the fact that they don’t get the cheap save option at the last minute might be a good thing, but I don’t think it is here since it’s so compacted.
Also, two questions: why is Dr. Finn the marriage counselor? She may have some psychology training, but that’s definitely not her focus, and she has no personal experience that she’s drawing on. Decent scenes, but I was left with questions. Also, Moklans cannot possibly have any phrases involving mother’s teats; as they have neither mothers nor teats; so where did Bortus pull that analogy from? If he’d been talking to anyone but Isaac I might have accepted he was using it for the benefit of who he was talking to, but that doesn’t work here. It’s kind of this same sloppiness in the script that rushed the conclusion of the space plot of the week.
The Orville 2x04
I liked last week’s episode, but ultimately decided against reviewing it as I didn’t have much to say; I don’t have a ton to say about this one either though, so I’m just unpredictable. I wish I hadn’t gone looking for Orville reactions after the premier; I knew Janel was familiar and couldn’t place why; I gave her IMDB a very quick look and couldn’t find anything else I would definitely recognize her from (at least I that’s how I remember it now), but I did have it spoiled that it was the same actress from last season by some reviews. While that doesn’t explain why she look familiar out of the Krill (which I had to edit this reaction not to say Kree) makeup, it did take away the twist of this one. I am glad her disguise was more than the holo-tech the Union used to get on the Krill ship though, so that’s a plus. I do kind of wish we’d gotten one more episode that featured her as Janel between the premier and the reveal, not to drag the plot out longer, but to do a little more to establish her and Ed’s relationship and what he thought he saw in her that we should be seeing to even after the reveal.
Crazy Ex-Girlfriend 4x10
This episode was kind of nothing musically, but I liked the episode. I feel like it’s the most interesting thing they’ve done with Paula in a while and continuing to show how this group of friends has become enmeshed with each other is I assume an important factor in heading towards the end of the story. That said, I’m cooling on new-Greg. I got the feeling several times in this episode that the scenes would be so much more interesting with old-Greg. I suspect the actor is doing exactly what he was meant to do, play it a little blank so we can project old-Greg onto him, but the performance still reads as a little blank. And Greg was always a little subtly performed, especially relative to the very large performances he was often next to, but now it seems blank rather that subtle; and still being next to the large performances it’s not cutting it with me.
I feel like at this point I should be making some predictions about how the show might end, but I don’t really know what to expect, I’m still just here for the ride I guess. Though I would assume we’re in store form some reprises of old songs down the stretch.
Arrow 7x10
That wasn’t a bad episode; I do find it amusing that now that the audience knowns Emiko as the NGA her identity concealment has gone way downhill. I am also glad someone finally mentioned Roy and Thea in the present day.
I have some mixed feelings about Digg and Lyla’s plot, but I’ll mostly wait to see how it shakes out. Rene is now clearly Emiko’s Felicity as she showed up shot to reveal her identity; though I’m not sure how I feel about her mission being based around revenge, again we’ll see how it progresses. The flashforwards were kind of interesting as they showed us more of where characters we know ended up in this timeline (I’m still not sure it’s the timeline we’ll see; but don’t think I didn’t notice how Curtis wasn’t on the list of people in the pact group).
But I feel like there is a point to be made in Oliver’s plot that isn’t being made; and maybe it’s so obvious that the show doesn’t feel like it needs to say it, but they should have brought up William. Because I kept feeling like a lot Oliver’s anger was the anger never got at Moira for making sure he didn’t know about William, and at his younger self for the choices he made when it came the situation; and maybe at the fact that right now he does appear to be keeping distance from William for reasons; and add in Oliver’s consistent fear that he is that much like his dad and will or has made the same kind of mistakes. Not even mentioning William feels like the gaping chasm in the writing; saying Oliver doesn’t have to make Robert’s mistakes regarding Emiko, without mentioning that he is not (theoretically) making those mistakes with his own family just feels lacking.
That said, I’m glad scenes were allowed to play out and done quietly, just talking through the discovery. It may be a little slow for people, but I usually want there to be more scenes like those. I am quite curious what they’re going to tell Dinah they found from the blood analysis. Also, Robert died 11-12 years ago, as often as Emiko is now haunting the gravesite, I’m surprised she never did before (I guess I’ll let it slide and assume that like the rest it started with her mom’s death, but it’s stretching suspension of disbelief).
The Good Place 3x13
I assume that was the season finale, it sure seemed like it, so I felt I ought to have some thoughts. And I do, I’m just pretty sad at the moment. It was a good ending for this season’s story, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t a sad one. There wasn’t a lot of Jason in this episode to lighten the mood, because even what he was in was to be a bit of a kicked puppy. The lightest part is actually Tahani, because I like her getting a chance to show how much she’s grown (and to struggle with maintaining it). I could see Eleanor having to play the Architect coming as soon as Michael started his freakout last week, but it still looks like it will be interesting in the next part of the story. I do wonder who they’ve sent to torment Eleanor and Jason, guess we’ll see.
I have some thoughts on Janet’s line that the more human she becomes the less things make sense; because isn’t that kind of the core of the show? These supposedly higher beings that think they have all the answers, but the more they see of humanity and human life and experience the more they see how the set system doesn’t even conceive the right questions a lot of the time..
One small thing that’s been nagging at me since we started getting in to how the points system is messed up, is how did Mindy manage to sneak into the Medium Place given what we’re seeing? The explanation we were given in s1 worked for what we had seen to that point, but I have a harder time with it now.
I am glad that this episode showed that Eleanor and Chidi falling in love wasn’t a one-time thing, I’m always assumed that, but it was nice to see it. I assume they will have revealed a lot of the truth mid-season next year, but it’s still going to be a lot to deal with in the meantime.
The Orville 2x05
I really liked that episode, this show just keeps getting better all the time (I feel kind of bad that I didn’t review the Alana episode, it was really good I just didn’t have thought to say at the time). My logic brain couldn’t quite let go of the fact that there’s no way birthdates line up that specifically on other planets, since Kelly and Bortus aren’t the same species to start with and here were on yet another planet; also there is some serious bad guy aim in the breakout scene, but I enjoyed the episode anyway.
I also sort of feel like after the planet of Kelly-worshipers, Kelly might be a little wary of her impact here; but the circumstances are different enough that I don’t feel like it would really be an issue. Just that that episode was sort of rough on her so I had to bring it up; especially with them choosing to impact local culture for the resolution.
Okay, maybe I still don’t have that much to say, I just really liked it; so much that I didn’t want to let it slip past without saying so. Although I did find myself wondering if, with Orville sticking with half seasons and Agents of SHIELD only doing a half season for s6 (and so far planned for s7 too), is that enough time for Palicki to do both? Bobbi and Hunter would make the trip to space that much more volatile or they could show up in Tahiti with an unexpected cure and hang out with May and Coulson for a bit (they’re keeping Deke around for some reason so we could have two teams).
(That was written before the AoS s6 trailer dropped; I’ll probably post some thoughts on that in a bit.)
The Orville 2x01
That was one of the weirder season premiers I’ve seen. It would have been kind of a low key episode any time, but as a premier I’m not sure quite what to make of it. I liked it, I think, and the plain oddness of it had a humor in its own right. But I’m not sure I have a lot so say about it as is; I think this could prove to be important character foundations for the season but we’ll obviously have to see about that as it develops.
The Orville 2x02
I was going to say that one was odd in a different way than the premier, but it was kind of the same oddness in some ways. It’s again very character focused...until the last act or so when the plot is something very intense that isn’t given enough room to breathe. It’s not that these two elements clash or have no connection by the end, but the balance doesn’t work for me. Since the plot stuff only comes in so late I expected there to be a last minute miracle save, because there just wasn’t time to deal with what was happening in a real way. In some stories the fact that they don’t get the cheap save option at the last minute might be a good thing, but I don’t think it is here since it’s so compacted.
Also, two questions: why is Dr. Finn the marriage counselor? She may have some psychology training, but that’s definitely not her focus, and she has no personal experience that she’s drawing on. Decent scenes, but I was left with questions. Also, Moklans cannot possibly have any phrases involving mother’s teats; as they have neither mothers nor teats; so where did Bortus pull that analogy from? If he’d been talking to anyone but Isaac I might have accepted he was using it for the benefit of who he was talking to, but that doesn’t work here. It’s kind of this same sloppiness in the script that rushed the conclusion of the space plot of the week.
The Orville 2x04
I liked last week’s episode, but ultimately decided against reviewing it as I didn’t have much to say; I don’t have a ton to say about this one either though, so I’m just unpredictable. I wish I hadn’t gone looking for Orville reactions after the premier; I knew Janel was familiar and couldn’t place why; I gave her IMDB a very quick look and couldn’t find anything else I would definitely recognize her from (at least I that’s how I remember it now), but I did have it spoiled that it was the same actress from last season by some reviews. While that doesn’t explain why she look familiar out of the Krill (which I had to edit this reaction not to say Kree) makeup, it did take away the twist of this one. I am glad her disguise was more than the holo-tech the Union used to get on the Krill ship though, so that’s a plus. I do kind of wish we’d gotten one more episode that featured her as Janel between the premier and the reveal, not to drag the plot out longer, but to do a little more to establish her and Ed’s relationship and what he thought he saw in her that we should be seeing to even after the reveal.
Crazy Ex-Girlfriend 4x10
This episode was kind of nothing musically, but I liked the episode. I feel like it’s the most interesting thing they’ve done with Paula in a while and continuing to show how this group of friends has become enmeshed with each other is I assume an important factor in heading towards the end of the story. That said, I’m cooling on new-Greg. I got the feeling several times in this episode that the scenes would be so much more interesting with old-Greg. I suspect the actor is doing exactly what he was meant to do, play it a little blank so we can project old-Greg onto him, but the performance still reads as a little blank. And Greg was always a little subtly performed, especially relative to the very large performances he was often next to, but now it seems blank rather that subtle; and still being next to the large performances it’s not cutting it with me.
I feel like at this point I should be making some predictions about how the show might end, but I don’t really know what to expect, I’m still just here for the ride I guess. Though I would assume we’re in store form some reprises of old songs down the stretch.
Arrow 7x10
That wasn’t a bad episode; I do find it amusing that now that the audience knowns Emiko as the NGA her identity concealment has gone way downhill. I am also glad someone finally mentioned Roy and Thea in the present day.
I have some mixed feelings about Digg and Lyla’s plot, but I’ll mostly wait to see how it shakes out. Rene is now clearly Emiko’s Felicity as she showed up shot to reveal her identity; though I’m not sure how I feel about her mission being based around revenge, again we’ll see how it progresses. The flashforwards were kind of interesting as they showed us more of where characters we know ended up in this timeline (I’m still not sure it’s the timeline we’ll see; but don’t think I didn’t notice how Curtis wasn’t on the list of people in the pact group).
But I feel like there is a point to be made in Oliver’s plot that isn’t being made; and maybe it’s so obvious that the show doesn’t feel like it needs to say it, but they should have brought up William. Because I kept feeling like a lot Oliver’s anger was the anger never got at Moira for making sure he didn’t know about William, and at his younger self for the choices he made when it came the situation; and maybe at the fact that right now he does appear to be keeping distance from William for reasons; and add in Oliver’s consistent fear that he is that much like his dad and will or has made the same kind of mistakes. Not even mentioning William feels like the gaping chasm in the writing; saying Oliver doesn’t have to make Robert’s mistakes regarding Emiko, without mentioning that he is not (theoretically) making those mistakes with his own family just feels lacking.
That said, I’m glad scenes were allowed to play out and done quietly, just talking through the discovery. It may be a little slow for people, but I usually want there to be more scenes like those. I am quite curious what they’re going to tell Dinah they found from the blood analysis. Also, Robert died 11-12 years ago, as often as Emiko is now haunting the gravesite, I’m surprised she never did before (I guess I’ll let it slide and assume that like the rest it started with her mom’s death, but it’s stretching suspension of disbelief).
The Good Place 3x13
I assume that was the season finale, it sure seemed like it, so I felt I ought to have some thoughts. And I do, I’m just pretty sad at the moment. It was a good ending for this season’s story, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t a sad one. There wasn’t a lot of Jason in this episode to lighten the mood, because even what he was in was to be a bit of a kicked puppy. The lightest part is actually Tahani, because I like her getting a chance to show how much she’s grown (and to struggle with maintaining it). I could see Eleanor having to play the Architect coming as soon as Michael started his freakout last week, but it still looks like it will be interesting in the next part of the story. I do wonder who they’ve sent to torment Eleanor and Jason, guess we’ll see.
I have some thoughts on Janet’s line that the more human she becomes the less things make sense; because isn’t that kind of the core of the show? These supposedly higher beings that think they have all the answers, but the more they see of humanity and human life and experience the more they see how the set system doesn’t even conceive the right questions a lot of the time..
One small thing that’s been nagging at me since we started getting in to how the points system is messed up, is how did Mindy manage to sneak into the Medium Place given what we’re seeing? The explanation we were given in s1 worked for what we had seen to that point, but I have a harder time with it now.
I am glad that this episode showed that Eleanor and Chidi falling in love wasn’t a one-time thing, I’m always assumed that, but it was nice to see it. I assume they will have revealed a lot of the truth mid-season next year, but it’s still going to be a lot to deal with in the meantime.
The Orville 2x05
I really liked that episode, this show just keeps getting better all the time (I feel kind of bad that I didn’t review the Alana episode, it was really good I just didn’t have thought to say at the time). My logic brain couldn’t quite let go of the fact that there’s no way birthdates line up that specifically on other planets, since Kelly and Bortus aren’t the same species to start with and here were on yet another planet; also there is some serious bad guy aim in the breakout scene, but I enjoyed the episode anyway.
I also sort of feel like after the planet of Kelly-worshipers, Kelly might be a little wary of her impact here; but the circumstances are different enough that I don’t feel like it would really be an issue. Just that that episode was sort of rough on her so I had to bring it up; especially with them choosing to impact local culture for the resolution.
Okay, maybe I still don’t have that much to say, I just really liked it; so much that I didn’t want to let it slip past without saying so. Although I did find myself wondering if, with Orville sticking with half seasons and Agents of SHIELD only doing a half season for s6 (and so far planned for s7 too), is that enough time for Palicki to do both? Bobbi and Hunter would make the trip to space that much more volatile or they could show up in Tahiti with an unexpected cure and hang out with May and Coulson for a bit (they’re keeping Deke around for some reason so we could have two teams).
(That was written before the AoS s6 trailer dropped; I’ll probably post some thoughts on that in a bit.)