TeeVee
Haven 3.1-3.2: So, uhm, Eric Balfour is, naturally, allowed to do whatever he wants to with his hair (Though I'm not sure the long hair actually suits him. It might grow on me, though.), but couldn't they have done something so that Duke didn't suddenly have radically different hair in the same scene that we left off with last season?
I want to be hopeful about the psychologist and the chances of her being friends with Audrey, but I'm not very trusting there, given the show's track record with women-who-aren't-Audrey. (Though I still harbor hopes that "Julia couldn't handle it and went back to Africa" was Duke being...Duke, and that she's been investigating stuff and will show up again to save his butt at some point. Though, really, wasn't she SUPPOSED to go back to Africa anyway, and she just stayed longer than intended to help out until the town was able to officially get a new medical examiner?) But, PSYCHOLOGIST FOR THE TROUBLED. And she basically sees herself and Audrey as a team. Aaw.
Nathan, did you just say that you got the "Duke's killer" tattoo on purpose? Boy, I am very fond of you, but those are some issues that you still have there. (I swear they used to be boyfriends. Eric Balfour apparently agrees with me. But seriously, half the time they act like they're still getting over a very bad breakup.)
Show, please, please do not either do a Nathan/Audrey/Duke triangle or make Duke and Audrey enemies. I was so happy when you ditched the implied triangle after a few episodes and instead made Duke and Audrey BFF drinking buddies.
About time they actually remembered The Colorado Kid. I think we were meant to be shocked by "Audrey only has 49 days left" but, well, we've known she'd disappear eventually ever since we started learning that Lucy was Audrey herself, not Audrey's mother. But really, while the show loves it's angst, I'm still pretty sure that this time they'll break the cycle somehow and Audrey will get to stay and grow old and the troubles will be fixed for good. Though, if they aren't, then I vote it happens NEXT time and this time Duke's daughter somehow returns and now she has the "your Trouble means all the bigots want you to be a serial killer" curse and she and next!Audrey are partners even though they're supposed to be mortal enemies. Never happening. I doubt they even remember Duke has a daughter with the lighthouse lady's succubus-like alter ego.
Person of Interest 2.1: I was very happy thinking the season was kicking off with The Machine trolling Reese.
Reese, have you moved on from stalking Carter to regularly breaking into her home? (Her kid is going to catch you one of these days and think you were staying the night. JUST SAYING.)
Congrats on surviving, Fusco! After you managed to survive the season finale, I figured they'd off you in the premere. Sorry, dude, you just have "tragic death of main character" written all over you. And aww, you're jealous and think Carter gets the better extracurricular assignments. (Maybe it's just that she's a better person and more trustworthy than you...)
I vote we keep the dog.
Amy Acker gets typecast as the "awkward yet lovable child-woman" so much that I forget how good she is when she isn't. I hope Root escapes Reese's vengeance and random shows up to wreak havoc.
Every scene with Finch and The Machine in the past made me think of potty training. In a good way?
A bit disappointed that Carter is being glammed up a bit more this season, based on this episode. Much as I like looking at Taraji Henson, I liked how unrelentingly practical her wardrobe, hair and makeup were last season.
Revolution 1.2: Yes, yes, it's kind of terrible but it has lots of fun stuff at levels where I do not care. (If it took itself a bit less seriously, it'd be a shinier version of a campy 90s TV show.) And as glad as I am that the show realizes its own worldbuilding makes no sense (save that's it's worldbuilding really is "WTF THAT"S NOT PHYSICS!") I hope we don't have Aaron ranting about it every episode. Also, please keep the hot and competent woman of color who likes swords and blowing things up.
Unshocking twists were welcome! (I mean, having Elizabeth Mitchell as the dead mom was like Missing having Sean Bean as the dead dad...no way is that casting just for a few flashbacks. And yes, I will keep comparing the 2 shows because I can't not compare them. I' only surprised they revealed it this early.) But man, I'm expecting a paternity twist with Charlie and I was thinking that it'd be Miles is her father, but that last scene makes me wonder if they're going to make Monroe be her biological father. And I was really hoping Rachel would be behind the resistance, but it looks like that isn't the case. Unless she was and was captured.
(The ZOMG REVEAL about Miles in the preview is equally unshocking, but who cares. Also, frankly, at the time I'm sure the militia really did seem like the best option, so it's probably the standard "I helped create it because we needed some sort of governing control but then it turned bad and I left" thing anyway.)
So, I'm thinking Maggie's family is possibly alive, but she got stuck in the US when the power went out? I was wondering if they'd deal with anything going on in other continents, because we're talking weeks of travel by land and sea travel would take months AFTER building ships from scrap and then dealing with the fact that sailors no longer have that type of skill set. I wish there'd been more Maggie/Charlie interaction this episode (or just more Maggie period) but I really liked what we did get with her, even though I'm a bit disappointed that her disinterest in being a mother figure to Charlie and Danny is because she's already lost kids, instead of caring about them but not wanting to be a mother.
DO NOT KILL NORA. I DON'T TRUST KRIPKE OR ABRAMS AT ALL BUT WILL SAY IT ANYWAY. (Don't kill Grace either. I'm sadly less hopeful there, though.)
And oh, Charlie, you are shaping up to be fabulous but fandom won't care because you didn't start out amazingly badass and you can't be a competent girl who can step up when needed without starting out amazingly badass, because then it's unrealistic. Or whatever. Must start skimming the tumblr tags instead of reading them this much. She's a small game hunter who's never been battle or faced anything more dangerous than a deer before, but in both episodes she's used what skills she has well and pulled herself together and acted in situations where most of us would be either crying or hiding under the table. And I hope she keeps trusting people despite what's going on even as she becomes more worldly. (Also, seriously, look at everyone else. We need someone still on the idealistic side of the fence.)
That said, I think I'm going to end up disliking Ben a lot. As near as I can tell, he deliberately raised his children to have complete ignorance of the realities of the world outside their town. I the pilot, he actively discouraged Charlie's curiosity about the world and told her there was NOTHING OUT THERE FOR HER and appears to have made sure Charlie was never able to grow past her childhood belief that she and she alone is responsible for Danny and should devote her life to taking care of him. (Which, as a result, probably also encouraged Danny to see himself as helpless.) And he did this apparently knowing that eventually someone would come looking for him, either because of Miles or because of what he knows about the blackout. And he doesn't tell or warn them about it, or give them any preparation for what was eventually going to come. He didn't even tell Maggie who, as near as I can tell, was essentially his common law wife (I wonder if they even have legal marriage then?) I mean, I don't doubt that he loved his kids and was trying to protect them, but in a lot of ways, he didn't do them any favors with the way he seems rto have raised them.*
BTW, I think Miles has selective memory? Yes, Charlie objected to his killing someone who was already unconscious (and seemed to realize that her object was responsible for the trouble they had with him later) but she also shot someone in the back to save him in the pilot. There's a completely different psychology involved in killing an unconscious person and killing someone in combat/ambush. (And it's really easy for us to point fingers and say you should be more ruthless, but most of us have never been in anything resembling that situation.) And I would have gone after him too, assuming I'd be brave enough to do any of this anyway. Last time she let him send her away, he tried to commit suicide via militia to give a chance to get away, and has made it clear that he considers going after Danny a lost cause. I don't think he's going to be trying any stunts like that again unless there really is no other option, but still. I also wonder if Charlie is looking at it from the perspective that if she hadn't dragged him out of his figurative hole in the ground, he'd still be there, and so anyone he kills now wouldn't be getting killed by him if she hadn't come along and dragged him out. (Not that I trust the creators at all to handle that well if they do go with that interpretation.
It's looking more and more likely that Nate is a Resistance plant in the militia. Maybe looking for Rachel, and sticking with Charlie hoping she'll lead him to Rachel? But the bit where Charlie faked twisting her ankle so she could handcuff Nate is the first thing to really give me hope that I'll eventually ship them.
Danny continues to be decent but uniteresting. Just stay alive, kid. Also, I'm starting to think Neville's wife died after the blackout and he's spent 15 years in denial. I also am starting to suspect that we're going to end up with Charlie joining the Resistance and Danny possibly joining the militia, if he starts taking the stance that a corrupt government can be redeemed, and anarchy doesn't help anyone. Also, Neville pretty much treats him like everyone else. Despite the situation, he might actually appreciate the lack of coddling.
*Mind you, if Monroe is Charlie's biological father, I might be a bit more lenient as far as not wanting her to venture out into the world. I mean, no one wants people to find out the evil overlord is their kid's biological father. It's like waiving really yummy smelling bait in front of both the evil overlord and the people who would love to have something against him.
Sinbad 1.8-1.12: Err, did we change writers? Because they seemed to forget everything from the first seven episodes except "Jamil died in the pilot, Taryn is evil" and...had a completely different feel, and not for the better. Still, entertaining enough that I'll watch the second series, if there is one.
First of all, WTF "gods can choose what thy look like" and both gods we've seen so far just HAPPENING to choose to look white (one to a nubian tribe who were forced to offer up their virgin daughters as his "brides"). Seriously, I was hoping that Sinbad's father would be a POC god just to help even that out. Sinbad being a zombie? I dunno. (He angsts very prettily about being a zombie, at least?)
But really, Nala didn't get mentioned EVEN ONCE. I mean, I was ok with her leaving the ship because I assumed the Basra part of the series would become her working with the people and maybe creating an alliance against Taryn, while Taryn became even more powerful as she took over the city. But nope, the characters and writers both forgot that Nala existed and an evil sorceress had taken over the city and was resurrecting evil magic. And when Taryn DID come back, she didn't seem nearly as fierce or powerful (and forgot her fashion and eyeliner at home) and...I DO like that she was looking for her daughter? But dislike that that's literally ALL THEY HAD FOR HER. (At least we'll probably have more of her and her daughter with plot in season 2? If only because her daughter's actress was in Harry Potter.)
And, frankly, without the Basra stuff we basically have the crew wandering around the seas near Sumer with no central plot. And why wasn't Sinbad looking for his mother? Or actually trying to learn about his father instead of just stumbling over it by accident? Why didn't he also want to look for his grandmother, who would know where his mother was and probably knows about his father, when he was in the underworld? Gaah. Also Gaah is that, while Anwar's characterization in the "world without Sinbad" vision made sense, Gunnar's didn't (He'd be more likely to be a hobo than a street fighter. Dude was obsessed with not fighting To Pay For His Sins and I don't think he would have emerged from his well of manpain without having friends who needed him. Though I find it unlikely he'd be in Basra anyway.) and heaven forbid we see what Nala, Tiger or Rina would be up to without Sinbad coming along. (Cook, at least, would still be with the ship unless it sunk. I REALLY HOPE WE GET HIS BACKSTORY IN THE SECOND SERIES. Especially since his life appears to be tied to the ship, and he can't leave it.)
I have no idea what to make of Tiger. I mean, I like her, but this is very much one of those cases where they tell us she's so badass and competent and then she never gets to show it (I mean, it's not like Charlie in Revolution where she has a weapon that she knows how to use so all the viewers assume she's supposed to be a badass fighter even though the actual show makes it clear that no one has ever taught her to fight, they go on A LOT about how Tiger is an amazing fighter) and they push the "chemistry" between her and Sinbad by having him trump her at every turn. I mean, they did good with Nala, Taryn, Rina and Sinbad's grandmother in the first seven episodes, but it's like they aren't even trying with Tiger even though they've pretty much made her the female lead. (And why did she look like she wandered off the set of a western in her first two episodes?) I actually wonder if she was supposed to be a one-or-two off character who might show up again later to keep the crew at the same number of characters until Nala came back, and then Nala didn't for whatever reason. (Unless they plan to bring her back in series 2, I REALLY hope that leaving was Estella Daniels's idea, and the creators didn't decide they needed to replace her with a white woman. WHAT'S WRONG WITH HAVING BOTH, I ASK.)
Yet, despite all my complaints I actually do still enjoy the series on an episode-by-episode basis as long as I don't think about these things, and I do like all the characters, even if the only ones I've really developed any investment in are Nala and Taryn, and the relationships are more the kind that I get invested in through exposure rather thanthere being any that really grab me.
World Without End ep 4: Does anyone know how long this is supposed to be? I honestly can't tell from the pacing or progress. It still feels like all the plotlines don't quite go together and there isn't as much of a centralized driving force vas I'd like, but I enjoy it aside from the abuses the women have to suffer through. (Though, using PotE as a model, I'm assuming the majority of the victims will get some degree of justice and happyness and the abusers will have horrible things happen to them. Though I was hopeful and then cruelly deprived with Ralph in that regard this episode.*) There's still a lot more of that than in PotE, and I'm wondering if the popularity of Game of Thrones affected that? I haven't read the book, but comments on it and the series that I've read are either "*bleep* it Follett, can't you go two chapters without raping a woman?" or "There's more rape in one episode than the first half of the book!" Which makes me think it's probably that it was all in the book, but not as clearly spelled out and so a lot of people didn't notice unless women were being accosted in the woods and thrown on the ground screaming.
The main draw, really, is Miranda Richardson as the Mother Superior who is smarter than everyone else but constrained by annoying rules. Though I'm a bit weirded out by her fixation to get Caris to be a nun, even though I get her perspective in that.
*In the first episode, I thought that Ralph was hotheaded and had some anger issues made worse at the time because he had to serve the man who killed his father and took his lands, but thought he was a character I'd end up liking. HOW WRONG I WAS ON ALL COUNTS. It saddens me to think that he probably carries Richard and Aliena's DNA.
The Elementary pilot was slightly different from the leaked version, though mostly just the music. (For the better.) This isn't the first time I've watched the actual airing of a pilot a few weeks after watching a leaked version, but it's the first time it's been a show that has each episode be largely self-contained instead of metaplot driven, and so instead of looking for things I may have missed before I spent a lot of time goin "I wish I was watching the second episode..." I still haven't watched Downton Abbey, and Scandal's return snuck up on me. I haven't decided if I want to watch Last Resort yet. Dichen Lachman is my main interest.