TeeVee
Continuum 1.5-1.7: This show is really kind of not good at all, but whatever, I love it despite it's tendenc to be kinda of faily at anything but women with agency shooting things.
I am so disappointed Kellog's granny died. SO DISAPPOINTED! Though, at least it doesn't really read as a fridging so far, which I was afraid it would at first? And at least it served an interesting narrative purpose. I'm enjoying his frenemy dynamic with Keira, even though I still wish Lexa Doig was her obligatory terrorist frenemy.
Speaking of the dead granny, I do appreciate that it was the mothers and grandmothers that were considered releveant, and the fathers and grandfather's were basically incidental. It can easily be read as "well, women are more vulnerable and emotionally wrenching and the men would take care of themselves better" but I thinkthat's subverted both by Kellog seeking a relationship with his grandmother and by Keira having built up her grandmother as a hero and googlestalking her (even if she was googlestalking the wrong one). Also, until this I was half expecting Kagami to eventually be revealed to be related to Keira or her husband, but I think we can rule that out now unless it's a connection neither is aware of.
The show seems to be headed more and more towards everyone Keira knows in the present/past (depending on how you look at it) somehow being tied to Liber8 and the company Alec runs. (I actually half think that someone we've seen in the future is Carlos and Betty's grandkid.) I suspect that may be leading to Keira or Alec founding Liber8, but I hope not. Keira seems to largely agree with their ideals even though she may not realize it, but I don't see either of them doing something they might be able to see growing into a terrorist organization, though Alec has a few decades to become a completely different person. OTOH, I can completely see his stepbrother doing it, and see the two being on opposite sides for decades and that leading to...uhm...everything. (I am glad the stepdad seems to be a bit more of a positive character than he came across as before, though I wish his mom would get some more development.
Covert Affairs 3.1-3.2:
Body burned beyond recognition means fake death, right? RIGHT? RIGHT? And then they took my unscrupulous eyecandy out of the opening credits, which made me even sadder.
Also, uhm, since they killed their only POC, I'm glad they at least replaced him with what appears to be Joan's ex-girlfriend (seriously, guys, ANNIE'S TWO MOMS who have A History) instead of another white dude.
And hey, Annie finally had sex with someone besides Ben! (I mean, I like to pretend she had sex with Eyal either before tying him to the bed or while she was tying him to the bed, but I don't think the writers want me to think it got that far. Eyal is sad about that too.) I was deeply concerned that Ben had ruined her for romance forever or something.
I admit that "Annie and Auggie have to pretend to be married for the mission" made me wish I shipped them a bit. I don't anti-ship them so much as I don't mind that it's obviously what the show wants me to ship, but I don't have muich interest in it. I prefer Annie/spyjinks or Annie/Jai (in the first season, at least) or Annie/Eyal as far as that goes. Though Annie/dude-she's-having-steamy-showers-with-For-The-Greater-Good has potential too, especially as I'm sure he isn't what he seems.
This season looks to be more metaplot-centric than previous seasons were, and that's shaping up interestingly so far, even though USA isn't exactly the best when it comes to metaplots *cough*White Collar please stop trying*cough*.
I will now go hold a private memorial service for Jai and his eyeliner.
The Hollow Crown: BBC miniseries (clocking in at around hours total) adapting Shakespeare's Richard II, Henry IV and Henry V. I've read plays but recall little about them, so I can't really comment on how faithful they are or aren't. It took me about 40 minutes in part 1 to stop just going "oooooooooooooo" over the costumes and settings, and I think I mostly enjoyed it (well, the first 3 parts, I haven't watched Henry V yet as it just aired in the UK todays) for the performances and visuals. I'd be interested in seeing what others those more familiar with the plays think. I think there will be more adaptations of Shakespeare plays airing on BBC 2 over the next couple months, but am not certain which.
Also, I first saw Michelle Dockery and Tom Hiddleston in Return to Cranford (and mostly associate him with that, despite being prone to refer to him as "Loki," though I associate Dockery more with Downton Abbey) where they were basically BFF who grew up like siblings and she got her jollies through trolling him and was trying to marry him off to Jodie Whittaker, so their being enemies here was just odd.
Political Animals 1.1: (I think this is actually a miniseries, but we can hold out hope for it being popular enough to get a sequel.) PA is basically an AU version of Hilary Clinton that may have actually started life as a Hillary Clinton/Murphy Brown fanfic. Sigourney Weaver stars as Elaine Barrish, the secretary of state (working for the president she lsot to in the primaries)and ex-wife of a former philandering president, and Carla Gugino stars as Susan Berg, a journalist who has been critical of Elaine in the past (to the point where she got banned from the White House for several years) but who has developed a certain appreciation for Elaine and is suppressing a scandal of the parrish family's in exchange for an exclusive week with Elaine. There are a bunch of other charcters floating around (Perhaps most notably Ciaran Hinds as Elaine's ex-husband and Ellen Burstyn as her mother, who appears to have a very adventurous sexual past. Sebastian Stan is also hanging around as one of Elaine's sons. I know he's popular in these parts.) but the main focus in the pilot was on Elaine and Susan's professional lives and balancing them with personal drama. It's a bit soapy but not detrimentally so, and it's amusingly devoted to making sure we realize that it intends to be a feminist show. Not that it isn't, but I kind of wanted to pat the writers on the head every time Elaine or Susan had a "we will now call society on it's sexism and/or double standards now" oneliner. (I mean, it actually does this well, but fairly obviously.) I have a few issues with the portrayal of homosexuality (or rather, with the plotline they seem to be going with with the one canon gay character, realistic as it may be) and how the POC characters seem to be heading (and I wonder if Adrian Pasdar being of Iranian descent had any affect on one plotline), but both of those could end up being done well by the end of the season.
Sinbad 1.1-1.2: A very fun show in which a Sinbad adaptation actually has a cast with more POC than not. (Kind of sad that the latter part is surprising.) In this version, 20-ish Sinbad messes up on an amazing enough level that not only is the Emir's brother (Sayid from Lost) sending every soldier in the country looking for him, but his own grandmother curses him so that a golden collar will strangle him if he spends more than a day and night on land (though, it seems you could get around some of that if you could manage to keep a small boat anchored just off shore...). But basically, you know you messed up if your granny who clearly loves you very much puts a deadly curse on you. (His granny is kinda really badass.) There are a lot mor female characters than I was expecting. Granny, of course, but also a fabulous evil sorceress, a thief, an African lady with A Mysterious Secret, possibly Sinbad's mother, a pirate cannibal queen with the potential to be a recurring character, and i think I've spotted what looks to be a female hunter in a promotional image or two. Sinbad's crew also includes an amusingly (for now, I can see it getting old) naive doctor, a drill sergeant for a cook, andthe show's token white dude, who has the potential to be fairly interesting. It's hard not to compare it to the 90s show (Which it clearly does better than in some areas, but also lacks the giddy cheese and crack of the 90s show. And, well, this Sinbad just isn't as blithely coky. Though he is a very pretty boy, and well cast.) but it's exceptionally fun and I hope it remains so.
White Collar 4.1-4.2: Oh look, after being in every episode for 3 seasons, Jones finally got moved from the guest stars list to the regulars list.
Neal continues to have good taste in women? I have no deep thoughts, really. i'm not sure what they're doing anymore (or if they know what they're doing) but it's still entertaining. Though Neal's conversation with Ellen at the end was a huge "OMG NO DON'T TRY METAPLOT AGAIN YOU'RE TERRIBLE AT IT!!"
Also, I find Matt Bomer more attractive when his face is covered in half-grey scruff.
I am so disappointed Kellog's granny died. SO DISAPPOINTED! Though, at least it doesn't really read as a fridging so far, which I was afraid it would at first? And at least it served an interesting narrative purpose. I'm enjoying his frenemy dynamic with Keira, even though I still wish Lexa Doig was her obligatory terrorist frenemy.
Speaking of the dead granny, I do appreciate that it was the mothers and grandmothers that were considered releveant, and the fathers and grandfather's were basically incidental. It can easily be read as "well, women are more vulnerable and emotionally wrenching and the men would take care of themselves better" but I thinkthat's subverted both by Kellog seeking a relationship with his grandmother and by Keira having built up her grandmother as a hero and googlestalking her (even if she was googlestalking the wrong one). Also, until this I was half expecting Kagami to eventually be revealed to be related to Keira or her husband, but I think we can rule that out now unless it's a connection neither is aware of.
The show seems to be headed more and more towards everyone Keira knows in the present/past (depending on how you look at it) somehow being tied to Liber8 and the company Alec runs. (I actually half think that someone we've seen in the future is Carlos and Betty's grandkid.) I suspect that may be leading to Keira or Alec founding Liber8, but I hope not. Keira seems to largely agree with their ideals even though she may not realize it, but I don't see either of them doing something they might be able to see growing into a terrorist organization, though Alec has a few decades to become a completely different person. OTOH, I can completely see his stepbrother doing it, and see the two being on opposite sides for decades and that leading to...uhm...everything. (I am glad the stepdad seems to be a bit more of a positive character than he came across as before, though I wish his mom would get some more development.
Covert Affairs 3.1-3.2:
Body burned beyond recognition means fake death, right? RIGHT? RIGHT? And then they took my unscrupulous eyecandy out of the opening credits, which made me even sadder.
Also, uhm, since they killed their only POC, I'm glad they at least replaced him with what appears to be Joan's ex-girlfriend (seriously, guys, ANNIE'S TWO MOMS who have A History) instead of another white dude.
And hey, Annie finally had sex with someone besides Ben! (I mean, I like to pretend she had sex with Eyal either before tying him to the bed or while she was tying him to the bed, but I don't think the writers want me to think it got that far. Eyal is sad about that too.) I was deeply concerned that Ben had ruined her for romance forever or something.
I admit that "Annie and Auggie have to pretend to be married for the mission" made me wish I shipped them a bit. I don't anti-ship them so much as I don't mind that it's obviously what the show wants me to ship, but I don't have muich interest in it. I prefer Annie/spyjinks or Annie/Jai (in the first season, at least) or Annie/Eyal as far as that goes. Though Annie/dude-she's-having-steamy-showers-with-For-The-Greater-Good has potential too, especially as I'm sure he isn't what he seems.
This season looks to be more metaplot-centric than previous seasons were, and that's shaping up interestingly so far, even though USA isn't exactly the best when it comes to metaplots *cough*White Collar please stop trying*cough*.
I will now go hold a private memorial service for Jai and his eyeliner.
The Hollow Crown: BBC miniseries (clocking in at around hours total) adapting Shakespeare's Richard II, Henry IV and Henry V. I've read plays but recall little about them, so I can't really comment on how faithful they are or aren't. It took me about 40 minutes in part 1 to stop just going "oooooooooooooo" over the costumes and settings, and I think I mostly enjoyed it (well, the first 3 parts, I haven't watched Henry V yet as it just aired in the UK todays) for the performances and visuals. I'd be interested in seeing what others those more familiar with the plays think. I think there will be more adaptations of Shakespeare plays airing on BBC 2 over the next couple months, but am not certain which.
Also, I first saw Michelle Dockery and Tom Hiddleston in Return to Cranford (and mostly associate him with that, despite being prone to refer to him as "Loki," though I associate Dockery more with Downton Abbey) where they were basically BFF who grew up like siblings and she got her jollies through trolling him and was trying to marry him off to Jodie Whittaker, so their being enemies here was just odd.
Political Animals 1.1: (I think this is actually a miniseries, but we can hold out hope for it being popular enough to get a sequel.) PA is basically an AU version of Hilary Clinton that may have actually started life as a Hillary Clinton/Murphy Brown fanfic. Sigourney Weaver stars as Elaine Barrish, the secretary of state (working for the president she lsot to in the primaries)and ex-wife of a former philandering president, and Carla Gugino stars as Susan Berg, a journalist who has been critical of Elaine in the past (to the point where she got banned from the White House for several years) but who has developed a certain appreciation for Elaine and is suppressing a scandal of the parrish family's in exchange for an exclusive week with Elaine. There are a bunch of other charcters floating around (Perhaps most notably Ciaran Hinds as Elaine's ex-husband and Ellen Burstyn as her mother, who appears to have a very adventurous sexual past. Sebastian Stan is also hanging around as one of Elaine's sons. I know he's popular in these parts.) but the main focus in the pilot was on Elaine and Susan's professional lives and balancing them with personal drama. It's a bit soapy but not detrimentally so, and it's amusingly devoted to making sure we realize that it intends to be a feminist show. Not that it isn't, but I kind of wanted to pat the writers on the head every time Elaine or Susan had a "we will now call society on it's sexism and/or double standards now" oneliner. (I mean, it actually does this well, but fairly obviously.) I have a few issues with the portrayal of homosexuality (or rather, with the plotline they seem to be going with with the one canon gay character, realistic as it may be) and how the POC characters seem to be heading (and I wonder if Adrian Pasdar being of Iranian descent had any affect on one plotline), but both of those could end up being done well by the end of the season.
Sinbad 1.1-1.2: A very fun show in which a Sinbad adaptation actually has a cast with more POC than not. (Kind of sad that the latter part is surprising.) In this version, 20-ish Sinbad messes up on an amazing enough level that not only is the Emir's brother (Sayid from Lost) sending every soldier in the country looking for him, but his own grandmother curses him so that a golden collar will strangle him if he spends more than a day and night on land (though, it seems you could get around some of that if you could manage to keep a small boat anchored just off shore...). But basically, you know you messed up if your granny who clearly loves you very much puts a deadly curse on you. (His granny is kinda really badass.) There are a lot mor female characters than I was expecting. Granny, of course, but also a fabulous evil sorceress, a thief, an African lady with A Mysterious Secret, possibly Sinbad's mother, a pirate cannibal queen with the potential to be a recurring character, and i think I've spotted what looks to be a female hunter in a promotional image or two. Sinbad's crew also includes an amusingly (for now, I can see it getting old) naive doctor, a drill sergeant for a cook, andthe show's token white dude, who has the potential to be fairly interesting. It's hard not to compare it to the 90s show (Which it clearly does better than in some areas, but also lacks the giddy cheese and crack of the 90s show. And, well, this Sinbad just isn't as blithely coky. Though he is a very pretty boy, and well cast.) but it's exceptionally fun and I hope it remains so.
White Collar 4.1-4.2: Oh look, after being in every episode for 3 seasons, Jones finally got moved from the guest stars list to the regulars list.
Neal continues to have good taste in women? I have no deep thoughts, really. i'm not sure what they're doing anymore (or if they know what they're doing) but it's still entertaining. Though Neal's conversation with Ellen at the end was a huge "OMG NO DON'T TRY METAPLOT AGAIN YOU'RE TERRIBLE AT IT!!"
Also, I find Matt Bomer more attractive when his face is covered in half-grey scruff.