TV of 2009, continued...
I am never going to finish this recap, am I? I don't know why I'm so demotivated this time around; in years past, it has always been my favorite bit of my year in review. Possibly I am just getting bogged down... um, yes, you can probably see why I needed to implement that "no new shows" rule. So, anyway, TV I Have Seen! Spoilers for: House, Legend of the Seeker, Leverage, Life on Mars, Lost, Mad Men, Merlin, NCIS, Psych, Pushing Daisies.
TV of 2009
House MD
Episodes watched: 5.12 "Painless" - 6.10 "Wilson"
Favorite episode: I was quite a big fan of "The Social Contract," and then I loved the whole Amber-returns-as-House's-crazed-hallucination arc as well (I will never ever say no to having more Anne Dudek on my television).
General show thoughts: As I said at the start of the season: ehhhhhh. At this point it is basically impossible for me to drop this fandom because, I don't know, that's just how my brain works; and yet a large part of me also feels that the show has run its course, and it is probably time to just wind it down and say good-bye; so, uhh, I'm half hoping that it will be canceled so I can stop watching it without feeling guilty? I don't know, I'm still invested in the characters and stuff, but I think it's doing them more of a disservice to stretch out the show with unnecessary drama. While I have been impressed with quite a few episodes this season, on the other hand we've had -- Chase/Cam divorce? Really, guys? BARF. So, yes, I feel like this is probably a good season to end it on... I mean, there's the tentative hopefulness of House going to therapy and trying to be (his version of) a better persion; there's the eternity of House/Wilson, obvious; there's the adorableness of Cuddy/Rachel/Lucas. For me I think the show peaked with S4, but it's still not bad yet... just, erm, bordering on storyline irrelevance? And I think it needs to start drawing to a natural conclusion. (Also, wow, I am so getting burnt out on this fandom, too. I am reliving my ca.-S4 annoyances with house_wilson. It seems to go in cycles, I guess -- when it's good, it's good; and when it's bad, it's... wow. Like an epic 1,000 comment black hole of suckage in the episode discussion posts, seriously. I still enjoy a lot of the people there, which is why I continue to keep up with posts, but it seems so overwhelmed by people who have to bitch about every. single. thing. and how House/Wilson is ruined for good and blah blah blah OH MY GOD. These are like the same people who complained that S4 was the WORST HOUSE/WILSON SEASON EVER, despite the fact that, right -- it's the season when HOUSE TOLD WILSON I LOVED YOU, when Wilson admitted that House was basically his boyfriend, when House jealously stalked Wilson's love life [oh, wait, that's every season]. SERIOUSLY, PEOPLE, THIS IS WHY WE CAN'T HAVE NICE THINGS.) Oh, and once again, ranrata is awesome.
Legend of the Seeker
Episodes watched: 1.08 "Denna" - 1.13 "Revenant"
General thoughts: Hmm... yeah. It would appear that I really didn't get through all that much this year. I REALLY TRULY DO MEAN TO. I was so committed to catching up when the second season started, and yet somehow... uhh. Whoops. (Although it probably speaks volumes about my motivations for watching that, although I have yet to catch up with the episodes themselves, I am all caught up on the Gay for Kahlan saga.)
Leverage
Episodes watched: 1.01 "The Nigerian Job" - 2.03 "The Order 23 Job", and also 2.06 "The Top Hat Job" (THERE WAS MAGIC INVOLVED. I had to watch!)
General thoughts: Man, I was so super charmed by this show when I started watching! And then I sort of... wasn't, anymore. I don't know. I still think it's a great little character piece, but I just couldn't get enough into the weekly story pacing to keep up with it. (But, I mean, I will still read/watch any Parker/Eliot/Hardison that comes my way, okay?)
Life on Mars
Episodes watched: 1.03 - 2.08
Favorite episode: So many good ones! But. Hm. 1.04, maybe? THIS SCENE IS SO PERFECT:
Gene: First job I ever had in the Force, pounding the streets as a nineteen-year-old flatfoot. I was teamed with this bloke called Harry Althway. Fought on the beaches in Normandy, won a medal. Never talked about it. You know the sort. ... And there was this gangster knocking round town in them days. Made a lot of money during the war. Had a lot of coppers and politicians in his pocket. ... I found out Harry was taking the odd backhander to look the other way.
Sam: What did you do?
Gene: I did what any other shiny new kid on the block would do. Shopped him. Everyone hated me for squealing.
Sam: You did the right thing.
Gene: Harry couldn't handle it. Ended up hanging himself with his own belt. Month later, I took my first backhander.
Sam: How did that make you feel?
Gene: Like shit.
Sam: How does it make you feel now?
Gene: You know, I try not to think about it. Do the best that I can. Try and look after my men and the people in my city.
Sam: But when you do think about it. How does it make you feel?
Gene: Like there's an animal eating away at my insides.
Sam: Fancy doing something about it?
Gene: I thought you'd never ask.
SWIFTLY FOLLOWED BY:
Gene: How did you know Red Rum was going to win the National?
Sam: It was just a hunch.
Gene: You didn't have any inside information? Little bird in the racing fraternity?
Sam: I wouldn't do that, would I?
Gene: Well, I didn't think you'd lock a murder suspect in a giant fridge.
Sam: He wouldn't answer my question.
General show thoughts: This was one of those "always meant to watch/always heard it was good" shows for me, and yet somehow... it still managed to overwhelm me with how good it was? I thought I was prepared (perhaps even overprepared and oversold), but apparently I wasn't! In some ways I'm actually glad it took me so long to get around to it, then, because I think I watched it at an appropriate time for me, mentally/emotionally, to get involved in those fundamental questions: how do we determine what we value in life? What is worth living for? Dying for? How important is what we believe in in determining what constitutes our reality? (Gosh, there's this great line from VALIS -- "Reality is that which, when you stop believing in it, doesn't go away." Oh look at how wonderfully connected all of my fiction was last year!) (ETA: Oh, and also that Baudelaire quote: "But what does it matter what reality is outside of myself, so long as it has helped me to live -- to feel that I am, and what I am?" It's such an extremist/escapist perspective on the nature of fiction, but it seems quite prescient to the show; and, really, so much of LOM is self-commentary on itself as a piece of fiction, Sam as a proxy for the TV viewer as he enters into a fully formed fantasy world... I think it becomes much more pronounced on A2A, too, which to me pretty much reads as an extended piece of LOM fanfiction playing out in Alex's head [in an intentional way, I mean! Not as a criticism.]) I think I should probably be bothered by how much I liked and was satisfied by the finale, which actually offers a completely unhealthy perspective on life... but, really, I wouldn't have wanted it to end any other way, and I think it was a perfect marriage of the fantasy and horror elements of the show. "You know when you're alive, because you can feel -- and you know when you're not, because you don't feel anything." ...Dude. Deep thoughts.
Lost
Episodes watched: 5.01 "Because You Left" - 5.16 "The Incident"
Favorite episode: Ooooh, hmm. You know, I actually have not rewatched any of these yet, so I don't know if I have a clear-cut favorite. There were so so so many awesome payoff moments, at any rate (FROGURT! MONTAND'S ARM!!!!!!). Umm... maybe "LaFleur"? Because of how it was PERFECT AMAZING AWESOME OTP YES YES YES I CALLED IT, OMG OMG VINDICATION before everything goes to hell. "The Life and Death of Jeremy Bentham" was probably the one that had me most gripped to my television but, y'know, it also neatly carved out my still-beating heart soooo yeah.
General thoughts: LOST, SERIOUSLY, WHY DO YOU HATE ME? AUUUUUGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH. Okay, okay, arcadiaego and I made a pact to not stress over upcoming developments until S6 starts up, so I will refrain from excessive wangsting about what "The Incident" means for the fate of our beloved islanders. Or for our beloved island, for that matter. Happy thoughts only! Okay. Seriously... wow. How is Lost still so good? I think this is probably the only experience I've had starting with a show on day one, following it straight through, enjoying every backstory reveal and dramatic cliffhanger and new character introduction and wacky scifi development, and still loving it just as much as I have from the start. I mean, wow. Possibly this makes me a severely lame person for getting so excited about this, but -- guys! I have a show that is consistently good! And the kind of "good" I want to watch, too! It's gorgeous and compelling and heartbreaking and funny and, just, no other word for it -- EPIC. UGH. WHAT COULD POSSIBLY BE MORE EPIC THAN THIS SHOW? I was reading this Dollhouse article in which the author posits a "JJ Abrams line," basically the midpoint between "food of the masses" like AI and CSI and such, versus "intellectually stimulating" shows like everything that's on cable/premium, apparently. Uh? Dude who wrote that article? YOU ARE SO TOTALLY MISSING THE POINT OF LOST (aside from the whole part where JJ hasn't worked on it in years). I think Lost is extra awesome because it managed to do all this as a network show, and managed to stay on the air the whole time, and didn't get too caught up in posturing or self-conscious edginess. It is just damn fine television, pure and simple! And, yes, it is possible to have that on network TV; just because it's not on Showtime doesn't mean it's just a neutered version of a creative vision. Lost just completely redefined the landscape of "mainstream" television, laughed in the face of network/genre limitations, and BASICALLY ROCKED IT, and for that pop culture owes it a great debt. Suck it, HBO! No, Lost would not have been better with nude Kate/Sawyer love scenes (well. Maybe. But that's not the point here).
Thoughts that actually have to do with the season at hand, because whoa buddy I got off track there: SO, RIGHT, S5. MAN I LOVED THIS SEASON. (Except for the parts that emotionally ruined me, but, right. We're not talking about those parts.) I just love love love how Lost continues to completely reinvent itself season to season, and yet in a way that is so fluid and fitting in the landscape of the show (one of those rare instances where the narrative has the ability to make you go "WAIT WHAT HOW NO SERIOUSLY WHAT THE FUCK I CAN'T EVEN--" and yet when you go back it actually makes a disturbing amount of sense, and how did I never see it before...?). You get the surprise and the payoff, all in one neat little bundle! So, yes, the time travel was just Spin the Wheel of Mindfuckery every week, but then we got to meet so many new/old people, and fit together so many otherwise disparate pieces. (Alas, no Richard riding on a dinosaur, though. Ah well. No show can be perfect.) (And now I'm starting to think of all the things I didn't like, like Dan/Charlotte, or how freaking drawn out all of the gathering-of-the-O6 was, or how everybody is dead RIP Redshirts -- but, right, NOT ANGUISHING.)
OKAY, GUYS, I AM JUST REALLY EXCITED ABOUT HOW MUCH I LOVE THIS SHOW. I SHOULD QUIT BEFORE I GIVE MYSELF A FANEURYSM.
OH MY GOD I AM NEVER GOING TO FINISH THIS DAMN POST. OKAY. SPEEDING THROUGH THE REST HERE:
Mad Men
Episodes watched: 3.01 "Out of Town" - 3.13 "Shut the Door, Have a Seat"
Favorite/Least Fave: Same episode, "Souvenir." Goddamn that episode was such a powerhouse but at the same time it made me literally ill for like a week afterward. WHHHHHHHHHHHYYYYYYYYYYYYYY.
General thoughts: DON DRAPER CAN GO FUCK HIMSELF. Henry/Betty had better be a marriage of epically awesome proportions. Haters to the left. The finale actually deeply upset me because I realized that I completely loathe 90% of the characters and did not want them to get their [cheater's] happy ending. Sterling Cooper Draper & Pryce? YOU ARE FUCKING KIDDING ME, I HATE THEM ALL. Sometimes I wonder why I still watch this show, as it causes me such distress -- but, man, I have to admit that it is highly awesome on many many levels, and often while watching I feel like, yes, I am watching the show that I think I'm watching, and it's distressing but in a way that is intended -- and then I go online and want to kill myself because I'm just like NO NO NO NO to the vast majority of critical/fan response. And PETE! OH WHAT AM I TO DO WITH PETE. :( :( :( :( UGH THIS FUCKING SHOW. YES, I AM STILL WATCHING NEXT SEASON. WHY DO I HATE MYSELF.
(I'll go ahead and admit that I did like Don for brief stints during S3, but that actually made things WORSE because it gave a slight tiny glimpse at how he might potentially be a palatable character and then when he started sucking again I was like WHY DID I LET YOU FOOL ME. >:( ARGHHHHHHHHHHHH CHARACTER HAAAAAAAATE.)
Merlin
Episodes watched: 2.01 "The Curse of Cornelius Sigan" - 2.13 "The Last Dragonlord"
Favorite episode: Hmm. I feel like the troll episodes are a perfect summation of the season as a whole -- cracked out, completely pointless, lacking in character repercussions, still far too entertaining to me in a way that made me feel quite guilty after viewing... But, well, I do think there were a few legitimately good episodes. "The Once and Future Queen": LOVE. "Lancelot and Guinevere": LOVE until the last five minutes. "The Sins of the Father": LOVE until the last five minutes. "The Last Dragonlord": PRETTY CRAPPY except it still made me cry a lot and oh oh oh Merrrrrlin, why are you SO FRUSTRATING and yet so adorable and dear to my heart? Anyway.
General thoughts: Yeah, everybody's probably right -- I think series one was better. Or at least, storylines were handled better, in the sense that it had storylines at all. The pacing was pretty dodgy this year, and a lot of things should have been allowed to play out more naturally instead of forced into a holding pattern until the last possible moment. Still, though, this show continues to delight the heck out of me. I mean:
Need I say more?
Also, my computer desktop is still Morgana. I should probably get around to changing it already, but...! So pretty...! Even if I am rather distressed about the state of her character from here on out.
NCIS
Episodes watched: Allll sorts of weirdness, gosh, I don't even know where to start... probably like 50-60% of S1-S4, the vast majority of S5, and then everything from 6.01 "Last Man Standing" through 7.10 "Faith"
General thoughts: This is such a freakin' popcorn show. I have probably watched like 100 episodes of this and yet I could not tell you what 80% of them were about, except for Tony being obnoxious (sometimes charmingly so, but this one fluctuates), Tim being AWESOME TIMMMMMMMMY, Ziva being HOT HOT HOT HOT AND BADASS AND HOT, and Abby being brilliant and adorable; guest appearances by Ducky being random, Palmer being awkward, and Gibbs being an asshole. Yeah. Pretty much I watch for Ziva. I think I missed the last few episodes, though... it's weird, now that I'm all caught up I don't feel that motivated to keep watching? Oh, and what ever happened to Gibbs' snarky FBI boyfriend? Tobias Somethingorother? I feel like it's been a while since he was in an episode...
Psych
Episodes watched: 3.10 "Six Feet Under the Sea" - 4.09 "Shawn Takes a Shot in the Dark"
Favourite episode: I'm so predictable. I bet you can already guess right now, before I've even typed it. What's that, you say? Could it be...? A Lassiter-centric episode? RIIIIGHT. "LASSIE DID A BAD, BAD THING" OMG, STILL NOT OVER HOW MUCH I LOVE THAT EPISODE. (Which, by the way -- totally fantastic Shawn/Lassiter S3 picspam, with links to posts for S1/S2 as well.) I also thought "Tuesday the 17th" was very well done, and then this season... hmm, I've found pretty much all of the eps to be rather pleasantly enjoyable, but I think "Shawn Gets the Yips" has been my favorite of S4 thus far (although "He Dead" remains near to my heart for random, my-family-is-really-weird reasons).
General thoughts: This show continues to be awesome. As if that was ever in doubt. Y'all, really, I... just... love them so, so much.
Pushing Daisies
Episodes watched: 2.11 "Window Dressed to Kill" - 2.13 "Kerplunk"
General thoughts: Thanks for the memories! I'll miss you, Olive Snook! I'll also miss you, Pushing Daisies' Costuming Department!
WELL WOULD YOU LOOK AT THAT, this post is done for now and it's not even 1:30AM yet. I had to cut myself off at Robin Hood or else... yeah. Hmm. Badness would ensue; I'll save that for a later date.
TV of 2009
House MD
Episodes watched: 5.12 "Painless" - 6.10 "Wilson"
Favorite episode: I was quite a big fan of "The Social Contract," and then I loved the whole Amber-returns-as-House's-crazed-hallucination arc as well (I will never ever say no to having more Anne Dudek on my television).
General show thoughts: As I said at the start of the season: ehhhhhh. At this point it is basically impossible for me to drop this fandom because, I don't know, that's just how my brain works; and yet a large part of me also feels that the show has run its course, and it is probably time to just wind it down and say good-bye; so, uhh, I'm half hoping that it will be canceled so I can stop watching it without feeling guilty? I don't know, I'm still invested in the characters and stuff, but I think it's doing them more of a disservice to stretch out the show with unnecessary drama. While I have been impressed with quite a few episodes this season, on the other hand we've had -- Chase/Cam divorce? Really, guys? BARF. So, yes, I feel like this is probably a good season to end it on... I mean, there's the tentative hopefulness of House going to therapy and trying to be (his version of) a better persion; there's the eternity of House/Wilson, obvious; there's the adorableness of Cuddy/Rachel/Lucas. For me I think the show peaked with S4, but it's still not bad yet... just, erm, bordering on storyline irrelevance? And I think it needs to start drawing to a natural conclusion. (Also, wow, I am so getting burnt out on this fandom, too. I am reliving my ca.-S4 annoyances with house_wilson. It seems to go in cycles, I guess -- when it's good, it's good; and when it's bad, it's... wow. Like an epic 1,000 comment black hole of suckage in the episode discussion posts, seriously. I still enjoy a lot of the people there, which is why I continue to keep up with posts, but it seems so overwhelmed by people who have to bitch about every. single. thing. and how House/Wilson is ruined for good and blah blah blah OH MY GOD. These are like the same people who complained that S4 was the WORST HOUSE/WILSON SEASON EVER, despite the fact that, right -- it's the season when HOUSE TOLD WILSON I LOVED YOU, when Wilson admitted that House was basically his boyfriend, when House jealously stalked Wilson's love life [oh, wait, that's every season]. SERIOUSLY, PEOPLE, THIS IS WHY WE CAN'T HAVE NICE THINGS.) Oh, and once again, ranrata is awesome.
Legend of the Seeker
Episodes watched: 1.08 "Denna" - 1.13 "Revenant"
General thoughts: Hmm... yeah. It would appear that I really didn't get through all that much this year. I REALLY TRULY DO MEAN TO. I was so committed to catching up when the second season started, and yet somehow... uhh. Whoops. (Although it probably speaks volumes about my motivations for watching that, although I have yet to catch up with the episodes themselves, I am all caught up on the Gay for Kahlan saga.)
Leverage
Episodes watched: 1.01 "The Nigerian Job" - 2.03 "The Order 23 Job", and also 2.06 "The Top Hat Job" (THERE WAS MAGIC INVOLVED. I had to watch!)
General thoughts: Man, I was so super charmed by this show when I started watching! And then I sort of... wasn't, anymore. I don't know. I still think it's a great little character piece, but I just couldn't get enough into the weekly story pacing to keep up with it. (But, I mean, I will still read/watch any Parker/Eliot/Hardison that comes my way, okay?)
Life on Mars
Episodes watched: 1.03 - 2.08
Favorite episode: So many good ones! But. Hm. 1.04, maybe? THIS SCENE IS SO PERFECT:
Gene: First job I ever had in the Force, pounding the streets as a nineteen-year-old flatfoot. I was teamed with this bloke called Harry Althway. Fought on the beaches in Normandy, won a medal. Never talked about it. You know the sort. ... And there was this gangster knocking round town in them days. Made a lot of money during the war. Had a lot of coppers and politicians in his pocket. ... I found out Harry was taking the odd backhander to look the other way.
Sam: What did you do?
Gene: I did what any other shiny new kid on the block would do. Shopped him. Everyone hated me for squealing.
Sam: You did the right thing.
Gene: Harry couldn't handle it. Ended up hanging himself with his own belt. Month later, I took my first backhander.
Sam: How did that make you feel?
Gene: Like shit.
Sam: How does it make you feel now?
Gene: You know, I try not to think about it. Do the best that I can. Try and look after my men and the people in my city.
Sam: But when you do think about it. How does it make you feel?
Gene: Like there's an animal eating away at my insides.
Sam: Fancy doing something about it?
Gene: I thought you'd never ask.
SWIFTLY FOLLOWED BY:
Gene: How did you know Red Rum was going to win the National?
Sam: It was just a hunch.
Gene: You didn't have any inside information? Little bird in the racing fraternity?
Sam: I wouldn't do that, would I?
Gene: Well, I didn't think you'd lock a murder suspect in a giant fridge.
Sam: He wouldn't answer my question.
General show thoughts: This was one of those "always meant to watch/always heard it was good" shows for me, and yet somehow... it still managed to overwhelm me with how good it was? I thought I was prepared (perhaps even overprepared and oversold), but apparently I wasn't! In some ways I'm actually glad it took me so long to get around to it, then, because I think I watched it at an appropriate time for me, mentally/emotionally, to get involved in those fundamental questions: how do we determine what we value in life? What is worth living for? Dying for? How important is what we believe in in determining what constitutes our reality? (Gosh, there's this great line from VALIS -- "Reality is that which, when you stop believing in it, doesn't go away." Oh look at how wonderfully connected all of my fiction was last year!) (ETA: Oh, and also that Baudelaire quote: "But what does it matter what reality is outside of myself, so long as it has helped me to live -- to feel that I am, and what I am?" It's such an extremist/escapist perspective on the nature of fiction, but it seems quite prescient to the show; and, really, so much of LOM is self-commentary on itself as a piece of fiction, Sam as a proxy for the TV viewer as he enters into a fully formed fantasy world... I think it becomes much more pronounced on A2A, too, which to me pretty much reads as an extended piece of LOM fanfiction playing out in Alex's head [in an intentional way, I mean! Not as a criticism.]) I think I should probably be bothered by how much I liked and was satisfied by the finale, which actually offers a completely unhealthy perspective on life... but, really, I wouldn't have wanted it to end any other way, and I think it was a perfect marriage of the fantasy and horror elements of the show. "You know when you're alive, because you can feel -- and you know when you're not, because you don't feel anything." ...Dude. Deep thoughts.
Lost
Episodes watched: 5.01 "Because You Left" - 5.16 "The Incident"
Favorite episode: Ooooh, hmm. You know, I actually have not rewatched any of these yet, so I don't know if I have a clear-cut favorite. There were so so so many awesome payoff moments, at any rate (FROGURT! MONTAND'S ARM!!!!!!). Umm... maybe "LaFleur"? Because of how it was PERFECT AMAZING AWESOME OTP YES YES YES I CALLED IT, OMG OMG VINDICATION before everything goes to hell. "The Life and Death of Jeremy Bentham" was probably the one that had me most gripped to my television but, y'know, it also neatly carved out my still-beating heart soooo yeah.
General thoughts: LOST, SERIOUSLY, WHY DO YOU HATE ME? AUUUUUGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH. Okay, okay, arcadiaego and I made a pact to not stress over upcoming developments until S6 starts up, so I will refrain from excessive wangsting about what "The Incident" means for the fate of our beloved islanders. Or for our beloved island, for that matter. Happy thoughts only! Okay. Seriously... wow. How is Lost still so good? I think this is probably the only experience I've had starting with a show on day one, following it straight through, enjoying every backstory reveal and dramatic cliffhanger and new character introduction and wacky scifi development, and still loving it just as much as I have from the start. I mean, wow. Possibly this makes me a severely lame person for getting so excited about this, but -- guys! I have a show that is consistently good! And the kind of "good" I want to watch, too! It's gorgeous and compelling and heartbreaking and funny and, just, no other word for it -- EPIC. UGH. WHAT COULD POSSIBLY BE MORE EPIC THAN THIS SHOW? I was reading this Dollhouse article in which the author posits a "JJ Abrams line," basically the midpoint between "food of the masses" like AI and CSI and such, versus "intellectually stimulating" shows like everything that's on cable/premium, apparently. Uh? Dude who wrote that article? YOU ARE SO TOTALLY MISSING THE POINT OF LOST (aside from the whole part where JJ hasn't worked on it in years). I think Lost is extra awesome because it managed to do all this as a network show, and managed to stay on the air the whole time, and didn't get too caught up in posturing or self-conscious edginess. It is just damn fine television, pure and simple! And, yes, it is possible to have that on network TV; just because it's not on Showtime doesn't mean it's just a neutered version of a creative vision. Lost just completely redefined the landscape of "mainstream" television, laughed in the face of network/genre limitations, and BASICALLY ROCKED IT, and for that pop culture owes it a great debt. Suck it, HBO! No, Lost would not have been better with nude Kate/Sawyer love scenes (well. Maybe. But that's not the point here).
Thoughts that actually have to do with the season at hand, because whoa buddy I got off track there: SO, RIGHT, S5. MAN I LOVED THIS SEASON. (Except for the parts that emotionally ruined me, but, right. We're not talking about those parts.) I just love love love how Lost continues to completely reinvent itself season to season, and yet in a way that is so fluid and fitting in the landscape of the show (one of those rare instances where the narrative has the ability to make you go "WAIT WHAT HOW NO SERIOUSLY WHAT THE FUCK I CAN'T EVEN--" and yet when you go back it actually makes a disturbing amount of sense, and how did I never see it before...?). You get the surprise and the payoff, all in one neat little bundle! So, yes, the time travel was just Spin the Wheel of Mindfuckery every week, but then we got to meet so many new/old people, and fit together so many otherwise disparate pieces. (Alas, no Richard riding on a dinosaur, though. Ah well. No show can be perfect.) (And now I'm starting to think of all the things I didn't like, like Dan/Charlotte, or how freaking drawn out all of the gathering-of-the-O6 was, or how everybody is dead RIP Redshirts -- but, right, NOT ANGUISHING.)
OKAY, GUYS, I AM JUST REALLY EXCITED ABOUT HOW MUCH I LOVE THIS SHOW. I SHOULD QUIT BEFORE I GIVE MYSELF A FANEURYSM.
OH MY GOD I AM NEVER GOING TO FINISH THIS DAMN POST. OKAY. SPEEDING THROUGH THE REST HERE:
Mad Men
Episodes watched: 3.01 "Out of Town" - 3.13 "Shut the Door, Have a Seat"
Favorite/Least Fave: Same episode, "Souvenir." Goddamn that episode was such a powerhouse but at the same time it made me literally ill for like a week afterward. WHHHHHHHHHHHYYYYYYYYYYYYYY.
General thoughts: DON DRAPER CAN GO FUCK HIMSELF. Henry/Betty had better be a marriage of epically awesome proportions. Haters to the left. The finale actually deeply upset me because I realized that I completely loathe 90% of the characters and did not want them to get their [cheater's] happy ending. Sterling Cooper Draper & Pryce? YOU ARE FUCKING KIDDING ME, I HATE THEM ALL. Sometimes I wonder why I still watch this show, as it causes me such distress -- but, man, I have to admit that it is highly awesome on many many levels, and often while watching I feel like, yes, I am watching the show that I think I'm watching, and it's distressing but in a way that is intended -- and then I go online and want to kill myself because I'm just like NO NO NO NO to the vast majority of critical/fan response. And PETE! OH WHAT AM I TO DO WITH PETE. :( :( :( :( UGH THIS FUCKING SHOW. YES, I AM STILL WATCHING NEXT SEASON. WHY DO I HATE MYSELF.
(I'll go ahead and admit that I did like Don for brief stints during S3, but that actually made things WORSE because it gave a slight tiny glimpse at how he might potentially be a palatable character and then when he started sucking again I was like WHY DID I LET YOU FOOL ME. >:( ARGHHHHHHHHHHHH CHARACTER HAAAAAAAATE.)
Merlin
Episodes watched: 2.01 "The Curse of Cornelius Sigan" - 2.13 "The Last Dragonlord"
Favorite episode: Hmm. I feel like the troll episodes are a perfect summation of the season as a whole -- cracked out, completely pointless, lacking in character repercussions, still far too entertaining to me in a way that made me feel quite guilty after viewing... But, well, I do think there were a few legitimately good episodes. "The Once and Future Queen": LOVE. "Lancelot and Guinevere": LOVE until the last five minutes. "The Sins of the Father": LOVE until the last five minutes. "The Last Dragonlord": PRETTY CRAPPY except it still made me cry a lot and oh oh oh Merrrrrlin, why are you SO FRUSTRATING and yet so adorable and dear to my heart? Anyway.
General thoughts: Yeah, everybody's probably right -- I think series one was better. Or at least, storylines were handled better, in the sense that it had storylines at all. The pacing was pretty dodgy this year, and a lot of things should have been allowed to play out more naturally instead of forced into a holding pattern until the last possible moment. Still, though, this show continues to delight the heck out of me. I mean:
Need I say more?
Also, my computer desktop is still Morgana. I should probably get around to changing it already, but...! So pretty...! Even if I am rather distressed about the state of her character from here on out.
NCIS
Episodes watched: Allll sorts of weirdness, gosh, I don't even know where to start... probably like 50-60% of S1-S4, the vast majority of S5, and then everything from 6.01 "Last Man Standing" through 7.10 "Faith"
General thoughts: This is such a freakin' popcorn show. I have probably watched like 100 episodes of this and yet I could not tell you what 80% of them were about, except for Tony being obnoxious (sometimes charmingly so, but this one fluctuates), Tim being AWESOME TIMMMMMMMMY, Ziva being HOT HOT HOT HOT AND BADASS AND HOT, and Abby being brilliant and adorable; guest appearances by Ducky being random, Palmer being awkward, and Gibbs being an asshole. Yeah. Pretty much I watch for Ziva. I think I missed the last few episodes, though... it's weird, now that I'm all caught up I don't feel that motivated to keep watching? Oh, and what ever happened to Gibbs' snarky FBI boyfriend? Tobias Somethingorother? I feel like it's been a while since he was in an episode...
Psych
Episodes watched: 3.10 "Six Feet Under the Sea" - 4.09 "Shawn Takes a Shot in the Dark"
Favourite episode: I'm so predictable. I bet you can already guess right now, before I've even typed it. What's that, you say? Could it be...? A Lassiter-centric episode? RIIIIGHT. "LASSIE DID A BAD, BAD THING" OMG, STILL NOT OVER HOW MUCH I LOVE THAT EPISODE. (Which, by the way -- totally fantastic Shawn/Lassiter S3 picspam, with links to posts for S1/S2 as well.) I also thought "Tuesday the 17th" was very well done, and then this season... hmm, I've found pretty much all of the eps to be rather pleasantly enjoyable, but I think "Shawn Gets the Yips" has been my favorite of S4 thus far (although "He Dead" remains near to my heart for random, my-family-is-really-weird reasons).
General thoughts: This show continues to be awesome. As if that was ever in doubt. Y'all, really, I... just... love them so, so much.
Pushing Daisies
Episodes watched: 2.11 "Window Dressed to Kill" - 2.13 "Kerplunk"
General thoughts: Thanks for the memories! I'll miss you, Olive Snook! I'll also miss you, Pushing Daisies' Costuming Department!
WELL WOULD YOU LOOK AT THAT, this post is done for now and it's not even 1:30AM yet. I had to cut myself off at Robin Hood or else... yeah. Hmm. Badness would ensue; I'll save that for a later date.