sometimes I talk about television (really!)

[pellucid]

The problem, I think, is that most of the television I've been watching lately isn't worth talking about. For a good part of the last year or so, that's exactly what I've needed--the more brainless, the better! I'm starting to miss good, thinky TV, though, and I suspect that soon enough I'll be tapping my fingers impatiently: where is my shiny, new

Comments

[beanpot]

Funny, my personal cannon has Cam Mitchell from Kentucky as well.

So Cam and Elliot....yeah. Brain dead now.

[pellucid]

In my personal canon, Cam is from North Carolina--partly a Browder thing, partly a Synecdochic thing, I think. But Janet is totally from Kentucky! Possibly because I sometimes have a little too much of a tendency toward self-insertion when it comes to Janet

[de23]

I'm just waiting for the episode where he and Hardison talk NCAA basketball!
Oh, I would LOVE that! I do agree with you that the character development has been lacking in S3, compared to 1&2. I desperately want the Nate/Sophie arc to progress more than it has. I do like it that they're taking it slow, and showing that they still have a lot of issues to work out, but it's too slow. I also desperately wish that we would see some growth in the Elliot/Hardison relationship, because the unrelenting arguing banter is starting to wear a bit thin. And get annoying.

One of the more frequent women writers (name escapes me at the moment) left this season, so I wonder if that's the cause. But many of the really good S1&2 eps were written by some combination of Devlin/Rogers/third guy (really bad with names today), so what's up with them, I wonder. I've also read that there were many N/S scenes that were written but never made it to screen.

I still love my show, though! I just hope the last 3 eps in Dec return to awesome!

[pellucid]

I haven't paid enough attention to Leverage that I know the writers and that sort of thing. I'm not sure what seems to have shifted in season 3, but maybe there is a specific cause like that. I'm still enjoying it immensely, but I do wish they were pushing just a little bit harder on the character stuff.

It seems, though, like the final arc, being arc-y (or at least it's supposed to be, right?), is likely to take heed of that sort of thing a little better than some of the stand-alones have done. I hope so, anyway!

[callmeonetrack]

Mmm. I agree with and like all you had to say about R&I. I did think during the finale "Wow, they're really going a bit darker here than usual." And I was intrigued too by the thought of killing Frankie = a heapload of guilt for Maura and a gamechanger for their relationship, Jane's family, etc. I also kept expecting her brother to be involved in the main crime somehow. It definitely seemed like a loose end, that perhaps will be tied up more in the season opener.

As for the "Kissed a Girl" ep, I thought the show was definitely trying to have some cake and eat it too. Flirt with the almost-textual relationship of Maura and Jane, but then still deny it at the same time.

[pellucid]

I thought the show was definitely trying to have some cake and eat it too. Flirt with the almost-textual relationship of Maura and Jane, but then still deny it at the same time.I agree, and I do see how that's perhaps a bit unfair** and certainly frustrating to the shippers. But ALL shows that depend on this kind of UST relationship do exactly this: see every pairing ever. So I've been a little surprised to see, here and there, some outright anger and offense that the show is pulling this move--and I wonder what I'm missing. Maybe this is more of a trope in among slashers in general, and I'm not aware of that because I don't spend much time in those circles? (Though if so, I'd think it would get old, since how often do any slashers get their subtext validated by the text

[callmeonetrack]

I agree that I don't particularly read the relationship as slashy but I certainly understand why others do too. They're very careful with toeing the line for the most part and I almost felt that that particular episode was a way to address it without fully addressing it and then move past it almost? Like, we're going to make it canon that JANE DOES NOT FEEL THAT WAY OFFICIALLY.

But you're absolutely right that that's what all or most pairings on TV explore. I mean Rizzoli and Isles and Peter and Neal (from White Collar) are pretty similar in the amount of almost-slash they engage in. For that matter, I haven't seen anyone get upset about it on White Collar, instead they seem to relish it. So that's a kind of interesting distinction.

[topaz_eyes]

I don't think Lie to Me is going to get a 4th season. I hope not, because 1) yeah, that finale was terrible, and 2) I think it's a sign of things to come. I can see why they introduced the Baltimore PD, Emily's losing virginity, etc., as a way to set up next season. S3 starts what, only 8 weeks away? Except a coherent story works much better, PTB. The finale might have worked better as the season premiere. Maybe.

I'd be willing to bet this is a way to write him out of the show

He's not back in S3. Why couldn't they have promoted Reynolds, or transferred him to another position or city? Of course Reynolds wasn't that interesting, because they never bothered to develop his character. :-\ Or rather, each cast member got One Special Episode to themselves, and that's it. Sigh.

Everyone's underused. Where's Torres? Or Loker? Other fans are bitching about (the lack of) Cal/Gillian, but the problems with the show run deeper than that. :-( It started off well enough. And then...

[pellucid]

He's not back in S3.

Ah, well that answers that, then. In that case, they'll probably kill him; that way Cal can have something else to make All About Him.

I think I'd have let Ben and Gillian both get fed up with Cal and run off together.

Of course Reynolds wasn't that interesting, because they never bothered to develop his character. :-\ Or rather, each cast member got One Special Episode to themselves, and that's it.Indeed. :( And has poor Loker ever had his One Special Episode? I mean, I love pretty much everyone else better than Loker, to be honest, but he's possibly the most underused and underdeveloped character of them all. I admit I watch this show with Gillian-colored glasses, so she's my primary benchmark for whether I, personally, am satisfied with the show. But they're doing such a terrible job with everyone who isn't Cal, and if I were in it primarily for Loker, Torres, or Reynolds, I'd have bailed long ago, I think

[topaz_eyes]

the writers and Tim Roth, and perhaps some other folks--I can't remember all the interviews I've watched and read--keep characterizing season 1 as "boring" and "sciency" and season 2 as "edgy" and "character-focused," so those of us who don't like season 2 are by implication not a fan of edgy, character-focused stuff.Uhm. Fandom is defined by "character-focused stuff." But we also like ideas. Characters can't go anywhere without those. With the science of lie detection, the stories should be endless, and shouldn't have to focus on one character as they have been doing since oh, the end of S1

[asta77]

I thought Lie to Me had some problems in Season 1, but it seems to have gone off the rails this season. It seems to be suffering some of the same problems as House - like members of the supporting cast getting the shaft creatively. And both series feature lead characters that are hard to like. Yet, most of the time, I like House whereas I'm finding Cal insufferable. Maybe it's acting choices or maybe it's that I understand why House is the way he is whereas Cal only seems to be an asshole because he believes he's smarter than everyone else on the planet. I've only been watching the show on Hulu, but I'm pretty certain I'm giving that up.

[pellucid]

I agree that it's never been a perfect show, but the problems it had in season 1 seemed to be more of the usual first season type problems, whereas in season 2 it's clear that the writing staff made a bunch of decisions on purpose that I have found really problematic. It's a shame because there are certain aspects of this show, at least theoretically, that I really love, but those are rapidly disappearing.

[pellucid]

I, too, am having fun with the slashy subtext: I've been reading some of the fic, and if they decided to go there with Jane and Maura, I'd be fine with that. But I'm not going to be unhappy if they don't because I really, really, really love it just the way it is!

where Jane is married and pregnant and Maura has this fun UST-filled relationship with a Catholic priest

Jane married and pregnant makes me want to RUN AWAY SCREAMING, in an I-know-this-is-illogical-but-I'm-personally-offended kind of way. On the other hand, I have a total THING for UST-filled relationships with Catholic priests, so they could definitely incorporate that into the show if they wanted to!