End of Season Review
Well, we've come to the end of the standard television season. So, my shows are all finishing up for the summer, and I'm having lots of feelings about the finales. Spoilers abound, so you've been warned.
Once Upon A Time
-- I've never been a fan of time travel plots, so I was largely 'meh' on this double episode. Though, at the end, there was some new material.
-- I felt so bad for Regina, when the woman Emma brought back turned out to be Marian. I was really starting to like Regina/Robin, and now that's clearly over. Plus, it's just kind of cruel. Regina lost her first love due to a young Snow's indiscretion. Now, she's losing her new love due to Snow's daughter also doing something without thinking it through. =(
-- I liked the Rumplestiltskin/Belle wedding. Though, I'm still a little unhappy about him lying to her so he could kill Zelina. Not sad she's dead, or even that he was the one who killed her. But up to this point, he'd always seemed to be more truthful toward Belle. I know their relationship isn't exactly normal or healthy, but honestly...he's been getting better, over the seasons. So for him to do that bothered me a bit.
-- And that last minute or so? OMG. They're bringing Frozen into the series next season! I don't know how to feel about that. One the one hand, I love Frozen, and Elsa's my favorite. But I'm just afraid they'll make her into a villain. The characters in OUAT aren't completely true to their original fairy tales, so I don't assume that she'll be just like she is in the movie. And heck, the Snow Queen was the villain of the original tale. Plus, with Zelina out of the way, they'll need a new antagonist. But I don't want Elsa to be a bad guy! So, I don't know. Guess I'll just have to wait and see.
My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic
-- Okay, now that was epic. =D
-- It was nice to see Twilight worrying about her lack of duties as a princess. At the end of last season, people were freaking out about her becoming one, but really, nothing much changed. It came up here and there, but mostly, life went on as usual. So it's nice to see them dealing with that.
-- And the song with all four princesses singing was awesome, seriously. Luna sang~!
-- I'll admit, I really like the more serious two-part season openers and enders. Always have. Sure, the fluffy day-to-day episodes are great. But there's just something awesome about seeing things get serious.
-- The villain was cool. Dark and intimidating enough to be a good bad guy, but not over the top.
-- The bit where the three other princesses all give Twilight their magic...that was wild. They looked so pathetic afterward. =( Though, the scene where Tirek came to take their magic, only to see that it was already gone, was pretty cool.
-- Twilight's magic fritzing as she tried to control all that extra power was a nice little funny moment.
-- And we finally got to find out the significance of the rainbow-glowing items that the Mane 6 had been receiving this season. Makes sense, really, that they'd turn into keys for the box.
-- Twilight's fight with Tirek was seriously epic. I loved it. Twilight's such a badass. <3
-- Then her giving up her magic, to save her friends...I didn't entirely expect that. I kinda thought her hard choice would be to keep her magic to fight Tirek; the needs of the many vs. the needs of the few. Though, in hindsight, this is a children's program. So I really should have known better. XD
-- Discord's betrayal and subsequent repentance was...not really unexpected. But it was nicely done. Poor Fluttershy crying in AJ's arms when he captured them, and then Discord saying that Fluttershy was worth Twilight's sacrifice, because she was that wonderful...really sweet. And Twilight demanding Discord be released, too~
-- I may be in the minority (no idea), but I loved their Rainbow Power look. Yes, it's a bit over the top, but it was fun. Pretty, pretty colors~!
-- And Twilight's castle! =D That was so freaking awesome. I liked the design being similar to her tree, and that it was smallish, at least compared to the other princesses' castles. That suits Twilight. Plus, having her castle in Ponyville is perfect.
-- "Princess of Friendship" is a tad cheesy, though. "Princess of Harmony" or something would have been better. But, I don't mind it that much.
-- And I love, love that Twilight's throne room has a big circle of thrones for her friends, so they can be with her as her council/court/whatever. So, so perfect.
-- I can't wait for season 5! =D
Castle
-- Okay, writers. You guys seriously dropped the ball, here. Really, really lame-ass season finale.
-- The whole bit of Beckett being unknowingly married to some dude she knew in college is kind of a stretch. I'd expect something like that from Castle, but not so much Beckett.
-- But either way, the whole storyline of her chasing him down, and the truly ridiculous things that happen to make it harder, was just really, well...ridiculous. =/
-- Then, at the end? As soon as we see Castle in the car on the phone with her, I had a bad feeling that something was going to happen. And sure enough...
-- Really lame "cliff hanger", guys. We know the show's been renewed. Castle is not only the male lead, but the title character. So we know he's not dead! And honestly...they did the almost-killing-Beckett thing a couple of season ago. Doing it again with Castle is just repetitive.
-- And seriously...they've been building up to this wedding all freaking season. And now they do this, and put it off indefinitely? Not cool, writers. Not cool.
NCIS
-- This episode was okay. Not really anything special, but it was a lot better than I'd expected, based on the previews. So I'm fairly happy with it all the same.
-- The previews made it look like the whole episode would be about Gibbs' dad dying. So I expected it to be really sad and depressing. But there was a case, and that got the biggest part of the airtime. So, yay.
-- And the parts that were about Gibbs' dad were done well, and more bittersweet than depressing.
NCIS: LA
-- Okay, enough. I'm getting tired of the whole Hetty-might-leave-the-agency thing that keeps popping up every so often. Whether because she's in trouble, or because she's upset, or whatever. This is like the third (?) time they've toyed with this idea. I really, really don't want her to leave, but I'm also frustrated that this is coming up again. Bleh.
-- And another damn two-part finale. Ugh. They did this last season, and I was hoping they wouldn't this time. At least this one's cliff hanger wasn't as bad.
Grey's Anatomy
-- I am so sad that Sandra Oh is leaving the show. Cristina's my favorite, so I really hate to see her go. I've had time to get used to the idea, but still. Wah. =(
-- Though, I will say...if she had to leave, they gave her a good exit. I was so scared they'd kill her off. (I swear, they've killed damn near every other character who has left. =P) But they didn't, so yay. And honestly, having her get that awesome job at that incredible hospital in Switzerland is very fitting. She deserves it, and it's believable that she would leave for something like that.
-- They freaking scared me with that explosion at the mall, though! In the beginning of the episode, Cristina's talking about needing a charger for her phone, and saying she's going to the mall, and then boom. Luckily, she was fine, but still. I was worried. (Plus, she mentioned George's freak accident in the narration. So again...worried!)
-- I totally loved her speech to Karev, when they were working on that kid in the hallway. Cristina does not give praise like that lightly, so you know she really meant it. And you could see that Alex knew it, too. <3
-- The scene between Katherine Avery and April in the supply closet really surprised me. She'd been so harsh about the relationship before, and after her blow-up with Richard, I wasn't very fond of her anymore. But she really did good there, comforting April. <3
-- Seeing her hug Derek and Bailey on her way out was surprisingly sweet. She's not a huggy sort, so that made it have a bigger impact, I think. And honestly, her silent goodbye to Owen in the OR was probably for the best, too. Poingant, but not depressing.
-- And Ross coming up as she's saying goodbye and asking her to take him with her~! =D I knew a couple of the newer folks were leaving, so I'm not surprised to see him go. And really, that's a good way to do it. Like he said, she's his teacher, and she's who he wants to keep learning from. It was just a little funny, her bemused face when she's like, 'okay, sure'. XD
-- Then her coming back to 'dance it out' with Mer! Oh, the memories...that's all the way back from season one!
-- And Mer got a 'you're awesome' speech, too, which thrilled me. You know Cristina thinks well of her, but it's good for her to actually say it. Especially the bit about not letting Derek's career eclipse her own. It's the kind of advice a best friend should give, and I think Mer needed the push in that direction. She's been unhappy about it almost all season, and frankly, Derek's been kind of an ass about it as time has gone on. It's time for her to put her foot down.
-- Though the fight between Mer and Derek at the end was a bit worrying. I heard somewhere that Patrick Dempsey wanted his role cut back next season, so I'm wondering if he's actually going to go and leave her in Seattle. I want to say that I can't imagine that Derek would sacrifice his family for his career, but it's kinda looking that way. Like they'll try a long distance thing, or him going back and forth, or who knows what. I guess we'll have to wait and see.
-- And I kinda don't know what to think about the bombshell the new head of Cardio dropped on Richard. On the one hand...we've kinda 'been there, done that' with the newly appearing half sister thing, and Lexie's not even been gone that long. Though, Lexie was Thatcher's daughter, not Ellis's. So that's a different take. Plus, she's almost certainly Richard's daughter, too, given her looks. So there's that element as well. I just wonder how it's going to play out. How will Meredith react? Will Richard tell her that he's probably her father? And also, how exactly did Ellis Grey hide a pregnancy so that neither Richard nor (I'm assuming) Meredith knew about it? Hmm.
-- I'm worried about what's going to happen with the hospital board next season, though. Richard told Bailey that he was recommending they give Cristina's seat to her, and indicated that she'd most likely get it. Then the episode ends with Alex finding that Cristina left him papers giving him her stake in the hospital, her seat on the board, and all. So we'll have to see if she can actually do that. I don't see why she couldn't give him her financial stake in the place, but the seat on the board might be another story. Since it's a governing body of sorts, they may not let her just pass it on to whoever she wants. I figure that the financial bit might seal the deal for Alex coming back to the hospital. Seeing his face when he was working with Cristina earlier, it's obvious he's missing this sort of busy environment. And the main reason he left was money, so if her stake helped him enough, he'd probably come back. Plus I'm worried what Bailey will do if she doesn't get the seat. She's been kinda off-kilter lately, so...it probably won't be pretty. (Which, FYI, writers...stop screwing up Bailey's character. She used to be so much more awesome than this. =/)
Well, that's about all of them, I think. Except for Warehouse 13, which is next week. And that's not just a season finale, but a series finale. Wah. Yes, I'm still mad about them canceling that show. It's freaking awesome, people! What are you thinking? =P So I'll likely be back fussing about that, next week.
Once Upon A Time
-- I've never been a fan of time travel plots, so I was largely 'meh' on this double episode. Though, at the end, there was some new material.
-- I felt so bad for Regina, when the woman Emma brought back turned out to be Marian. I was really starting to like Regina/Robin, and now that's clearly over. Plus, it's just kind of cruel. Regina lost her first love due to a young Snow's indiscretion. Now, she's losing her new love due to Snow's daughter also doing something without thinking it through. =(
-- I liked the Rumplestiltskin/Belle wedding. Though, I'm still a little unhappy about him lying to her so he could kill Zelina. Not sad she's dead, or even that he was the one who killed her. But up to this point, he'd always seemed to be more truthful toward Belle. I know their relationship isn't exactly normal or healthy, but honestly...he's been getting better, over the seasons. So for him to do that bothered me a bit.
-- And that last minute or so? OMG. They're bringing Frozen into the series next season! I don't know how to feel about that. One the one hand, I love Frozen, and Elsa's my favorite. But I'm just afraid they'll make her into a villain. The characters in OUAT aren't completely true to their original fairy tales, so I don't assume that she'll be just like she is in the movie. And heck, the Snow Queen was the villain of the original tale. Plus, with Zelina out of the way, they'll need a new antagonist. But I don't want Elsa to be a bad guy! So, I don't know. Guess I'll just have to wait and see.
My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic
-- Okay, now that was epic. =D
-- It was nice to see Twilight worrying about her lack of duties as a princess. At the end of last season, people were freaking out about her becoming one, but really, nothing much changed. It came up here and there, but mostly, life went on as usual. So it's nice to see them dealing with that.
-- And the song with all four princesses singing was awesome, seriously. Luna sang~!
-- I'll admit, I really like the more serious two-part season openers and enders. Always have. Sure, the fluffy day-to-day episodes are great. But there's just something awesome about seeing things get serious.
-- The villain was cool. Dark and intimidating enough to be a good bad guy, but not over the top.
-- The bit where the three other princesses all give Twilight their magic...that was wild. They looked so pathetic afterward. =( Though, the scene where Tirek came to take their magic, only to see that it was already gone, was pretty cool.
-- Twilight's magic fritzing as she tried to control all that extra power was a nice little funny moment.
-- And we finally got to find out the significance of the rainbow-glowing items that the Mane 6 had been receiving this season. Makes sense, really, that they'd turn into keys for the box.
-- Twilight's fight with Tirek was seriously epic. I loved it. Twilight's such a badass. <3
-- Then her giving up her magic, to save her friends...I didn't entirely expect that. I kinda thought her hard choice would be to keep her magic to fight Tirek; the needs of the many vs. the needs of the few. Though, in hindsight, this is a children's program. So I really should have known better. XD
-- Discord's betrayal and subsequent repentance was...not really unexpected. But it was nicely done. Poor Fluttershy crying in AJ's arms when he captured them, and then Discord saying that Fluttershy was worth Twilight's sacrifice, because she was that wonderful...really sweet. And Twilight demanding Discord be released, too~
-- I may be in the minority (no idea), but I loved their Rainbow Power look. Yes, it's a bit over the top, but it was fun. Pretty, pretty colors~!
-- And Twilight's castle! =D That was so freaking awesome. I liked the design being similar to her tree, and that it was smallish, at least compared to the other princesses' castles. That suits Twilight. Plus, having her castle in Ponyville is perfect.
-- "Princess of Friendship" is a tad cheesy, though. "Princess of Harmony" or something would have been better. But, I don't mind it that much.
-- And I love, love that Twilight's throne room has a big circle of thrones for her friends, so they can be with her as her council/court/whatever. So, so perfect.
-- I can't wait for season 5! =D
Castle
-- Okay, writers. You guys seriously dropped the ball, here. Really, really lame-ass season finale.
-- The whole bit of Beckett being unknowingly married to some dude she knew in college is kind of a stretch. I'd expect something like that from Castle, but not so much Beckett.
-- But either way, the whole storyline of her chasing him down, and the truly ridiculous things that happen to make it harder, was just really, well...ridiculous. =/
-- Then, at the end? As soon as we see Castle in the car on the phone with her, I had a bad feeling that something was going to happen. And sure enough...
-- Really lame "cliff hanger", guys. We know the show's been renewed. Castle is not only the male lead, but the title character. So we know he's not dead! And honestly...they did the almost-killing-Beckett thing a couple of season ago. Doing it again with Castle is just repetitive.
-- And seriously...they've been building up to this wedding all freaking season. And now they do this, and put it off indefinitely? Not cool, writers. Not cool.
NCIS
-- This episode was okay. Not really anything special, but it was a lot better than I'd expected, based on the previews. So I'm fairly happy with it all the same.
-- The previews made it look like the whole episode would be about Gibbs' dad dying. So I expected it to be really sad and depressing. But there was a case, and that got the biggest part of the airtime. So, yay.
-- And the parts that were about Gibbs' dad were done well, and more bittersweet than depressing.
NCIS: LA
-- Okay, enough. I'm getting tired of the whole Hetty-might-leave-the-agency thing that keeps popping up every so often. Whether because she's in trouble, or because she's upset, or whatever. This is like the third (?) time they've toyed with this idea. I really, really don't want her to leave, but I'm also frustrated that this is coming up again. Bleh.
-- And another damn two-part finale. Ugh. They did this last season, and I was hoping they wouldn't this time. At least this one's cliff hanger wasn't as bad.
Grey's Anatomy
-- I am so sad that Sandra Oh is leaving the show. Cristina's my favorite, so I really hate to see her go. I've had time to get used to the idea, but still. Wah. =(
-- Though, I will say...if she had to leave, they gave her a good exit. I was so scared they'd kill her off. (I swear, they've killed damn near every other character who has left. =P) But they didn't, so yay. And honestly, having her get that awesome job at that incredible hospital in Switzerland is very fitting. She deserves it, and it's believable that she would leave for something like that.
-- They freaking scared me with that explosion at the mall, though! In the beginning of the episode, Cristina's talking about needing a charger for her phone, and saying she's going to the mall, and then boom. Luckily, she was fine, but still. I was worried. (Plus, she mentioned George's freak accident in the narration. So again...worried!)
-- I totally loved her speech to Karev, when they were working on that kid in the hallway. Cristina does not give praise like that lightly, so you know she really meant it. And you could see that Alex knew it, too. <3
-- The scene between Katherine Avery and April in the supply closet really surprised me. She'd been so harsh about the relationship before, and after her blow-up with Richard, I wasn't very fond of her anymore. But she really did good there, comforting April. <3
-- Seeing her hug Derek and Bailey on her way out was surprisingly sweet. She's not a huggy sort, so that made it have a bigger impact, I think. And honestly, her silent goodbye to Owen in the OR was probably for the best, too. Poingant, but not depressing.
-- And Ross coming up as she's saying goodbye and asking her to take him with her~! =D I knew a couple of the newer folks were leaving, so I'm not surprised to see him go. And really, that's a good way to do it. Like he said, she's his teacher, and she's who he wants to keep learning from. It was just a little funny, her bemused face when she's like, 'okay, sure'. XD
-- Then her coming back to 'dance it out' with Mer! Oh, the memories...that's all the way back from season one!
-- And Mer got a 'you're awesome' speech, too, which thrilled me. You know Cristina thinks well of her, but it's good for her to actually say it. Especially the bit about not letting Derek's career eclipse her own. It's the kind of advice a best friend should give, and I think Mer needed the push in that direction. She's been unhappy about it almost all season, and frankly, Derek's been kind of an ass about it as time has gone on. It's time for her to put her foot down.
-- Though the fight between Mer and Derek at the end was a bit worrying. I heard somewhere that Patrick Dempsey wanted his role cut back next season, so I'm wondering if he's actually going to go and leave her in Seattle. I want to say that I can't imagine that Derek would sacrifice his family for his career, but it's kinda looking that way. Like they'll try a long distance thing, or him going back and forth, or who knows what. I guess we'll have to wait and see.
-- And I kinda don't know what to think about the bombshell the new head of Cardio dropped on Richard. On the one hand...we've kinda 'been there, done that' with the newly appearing half sister thing, and Lexie's not even been gone that long. Though, Lexie was Thatcher's daughter, not Ellis's. So that's a different take. Plus, she's almost certainly Richard's daughter, too, given her looks. So there's that element as well. I just wonder how it's going to play out. How will Meredith react? Will Richard tell her that he's probably her father? And also, how exactly did Ellis Grey hide a pregnancy so that neither Richard nor (I'm assuming) Meredith knew about it? Hmm.
-- I'm worried about what's going to happen with the hospital board next season, though. Richard told Bailey that he was recommending they give Cristina's seat to her, and indicated that she'd most likely get it. Then the episode ends with Alex finding that Cristina left him papers giving him her stake in the hospital, her seat on the board, and all. So we'll have to see if she can actually do that. I don't see why she couldn't give him her financial stake in the place, but the seat on the board might be another story. Since it's a governing body of sorts, they may not let her just pass it on to whoever she wants. I figure that the financial bit might seal the deal for Alex coming back to the hospital. Seeing his face when he was working with Cristina earlier, it's obvious he's missing this sort of busy environment. And the main reason he left was money, so if her stake helped him enough, he'd probably come back. Plus I'm worried what Bailey will do if she doesn't get the seat. She's been kinda off-kilter lately, so...it probably won't be pretty. (Which, FYI, writers...stop screwing up Bailey's character. She used to be so much more awesome than this. =/)
Well, that's about all of them, I think. Except for Warehouse 13, which is next week. And that's not just a season finale, but a series finale. Wah. Yes, I'm still mad about them canceling that show. It's freaking awesome, people! What are you thinking? =P So I'll likely be back fussing about that, next week.