TeeVee
Pan Am through 1.4: Followup episodes have, I think, been stronger than the pilot. It’s still much lighter than I tend to prefer my period dramas, but the serious bits that it has had so far have been handled well. That said, while it’s been pretty good at saying “no, that’s sexist” so far, it’s clearly going to shy away from any other issues (Maybe that’ll change if it gets picked up for a second season? Sadly, I hear the ratings aren’t very good.) and doesn’t really want you to think about things too deeply. Still, I like all the characters (Including Ted, apparently. Don’t ask me how that happened. Though I hope Kate never stops popping up with her “I keel you if you try expression anytime he tries to flirt with Laura.) and am willing to go along with the things it clearly wants me to ship, though I side eye both a bit, and it still has lots of Bechdel passing and women with agency who have positive relationships with each other, and given the promos and the concept, does a surprisingly good job of not fetishizing or objectifying the female leads. Also, I can’t be the only one who laughs at how Kate’s Secret Mission almost goes wrong EVERY TIME while still wanting her and Bridget adventures or something together. Incidentally, I deeply question wardrobe’s choice of hair and makeup for Christina Ricci. The hair isn’t bad in and of itself, but it’s bad for her, and the makeup makes her look so wildeyed.
Ringer 1.4-1.6: I have decided that Bridget's MO is to take two steps forward and the 1 1/2 steps back. But progress is progress?
1. I am sorry, Malcolm, but I'm afraid I'm just going to have to give in to the show's desire that I ship Bridget/Andrew. (Though, not as sorry as I am to see you constantly abused and having drugs forcibly injected into you. OMG SHOW STOP THAT.) Also, I may somewhat ship Bridget/Nestor Carbonell's character, if purely in a masochism tango way. (Though, aside from the sisters, he might be the only smart person around?) I refuse to even consider shipping her with Gemma's husband, who I hatehatehate. Incidentally, that willingness to ship does not include sexytimes while he think she's someone else. (Makeouts are acceptable.)
2. Speaking of which, I think I have more issues with Siobahn sleeping with her best friend's husband than with her trying to kill her sister? I mean, it's no justification, but she clearly went through a lot of crap over Bridget until she reached her breaking point there, and Bridget may or may not have had something to do with her son's death, and while I sympathize with Andrew, he was a major jerk to Bridget/Siobahn in the pilot and while he's nice to her now, I doubt he's blameless in whatever went wrong in their marriage. But while I'm not sure Siobahn ever loved Andrew (in that one flashback, she said Andrew loved her, but not that she loved him) it seems pretty clear that Andrew did something to make her eventually turn on him (though I think that she may currently believe he's guilty of something he isn't actually guilty of? i'm not sure.) but I get the feeling that Henry just hung around lusting after his wife's best friend, and i can't really see Gemma having done anything to either of them.
Also, until there's a body, I'm pretending Gemma's alive. Otherwise, I have to find a new favorite. (Also, I'm very icked by Gemma trying to blackmail Bridget into having to sleep with her husband to help with the divorce, but I suspect she would have hated herself forever if it'd happened, once she calmed down.
3. OMG LOGAN ECHOLLS IS A TEACHER I DIE FOREVER! Though, pretty Little Liars has apparently scarred me, because I see a dark haired girl with family problems bonding with a young, attractive teacher and am all OMG NONONO NO STUDENT/TEACHER ROMANCE I BEG YOU!
4. Bridget, what are you doing? Siobahn, what are you doing? Andrew, will you ever get a clue? Show, why are you adding more men to Bridget's life? This is not something she needs! Siobahn, why didn't you kill your ex instead of apparently having his wife killed? He was more deserving!
Nikita 2.3-2.5: Still not the show I wanted it to be (which would largely be the show it was for the first 3/4 of season 1) but fun, and better than I thought it would be after the season finale. Also, may I just mention how impressed I am with Shane West's balance? I know Maggie Q is small and all, but that lady is strong and launched herself at him in a flying tackle hug with a running head start, and he not only didn't fall on his butt, but caught her with one arm! (I wonder how much they had to practice that...)
1. Nikita and Alex finally talked! Ok, so there were only 2 episodes between their scenes together, but 2.1 was mostly Alex being angryangryangry and there wasn't much actual discussion there.
2. Sean is growing on me a bit with 2.5, but a part of me will always be bitter that when Alex had "I hate you and don't trust you but maybe it'll change" it was with a woman who was "wrong" (even though, from her POV, she was right, and I'd think that POV would be easy to see) and died, but when it's a guy he's her love interest and portrayed much more sympathetically.
3. Anyone else notice that Division now seems to be almost entirely staffed by women, with Sean occassionally running around? amanda must have done some major housecleaning. (Though, they're still the bad guys, so we could be headed towards Unfortunate Implications there too.) Also, Michael has been a bit on the ornamental side this season, hasn't he?
4. Man, I didn't even have to look around to know that the entirety of fandom (well, at large) was hating on Cassandra. Honestly, barring the fact that she is completely justified in hating his guts and not wanting him near her or her child given the way he used her and contributed to her situation, while Michael as a person may be good father material, his lifestyle makes him a terrible option as a father figure, and Cassandra was completely right when she pointed out all the reasons no one could know about his paternity. (I also don't think that, romantically, she's a threat to Nikita/Michael, as seems to be the fear-I picked up on nothing from her except fear and gratitude for helping her, and just extreme guilt on his part-but I'm sure Nikita knowing and not immediately telling him will be used to cause a rift.)
Revenge 1.3-1.5: Does anyone else who watches both shows find it hilarious that both Revenge and Ringer opened with "YOUR SECRETS HAVE BEEN DISCOVERED!" nightmares?
1. Nolan, I am concerned about your matchmaking. Not that I actually disapprove of it, but the next time Emanda slams your face into a wall, she might break your nose. (Also, these are rather extreme matchmaking methods? Then again, you are absurdly rich.) I'm actually a bit curious about his goals? He doesn't seem as bent on the revenge/retribution so much as he seems to want Emanda to have closure and get on with her life with Jack.
2. Emanda/Jack remains contrived, but I think it works. Not so sure about her two boyfriends working together though!
3. I'm curious about why Victoria was so determined to make sure Emanda and her father never saw each other again. It could just be that she didn't want Emanda to learn the truth and want revenge, but so far, nothing we've seen really explains why she would want to do that. And I'm very happy that she remains largely sympathetically portrayed, but still ruthless. And I wonder what the context of her comments about Charlotte were in the tape recording. Right now, I'm going with her having planned to leave Conrad and then learning she was pregnant, or possibly Charlotte actually being Emanda's half-sister and having kept that a secret all this time. (Or it could be both. How old is Charlotte, and how many years has it been since the betrayal, anyway?)
4. I am so curious about and intrigued by Victoria's relationship with Frank. I think I've spun it in my head to be a quasi-courtly thing where he has unrequitted love and she kinda knows but they never mention it or something. (I may have soured on him a bit with his killing Lydia and then lying about it, but it does fit with the dark quasi-courtly theory.)
5. Is it mean of me to be happy that Jack and Declan's dad died? I was so fearful of eternal hospital scenes and agonizing about how to pay for hospital bills.
6. Never give up, Stalker Dog.