A round-up of thoughts and feels
Greetings all. It's been quiet around here for the past couple of months because I was away and then I was trying to catch up on all the school work I didn't do while I was away. I've been sneaking onto LJ when I could give myself the chance.
I am mostly caught up on TV and film so lets talk about that.
Bunheads
I just watched the pilot for this and I really liked it. The pilot is kind of set in Contrivanceville so I'm not sure what the series is going to be like but give me Amy Sherman-Palladino's dialogue, a few good dance scenes, and Kelly Bishop and Sutton Foster excelling at both and I will happily watch this show until ABC Family cancels it.
Community
I've had problems with Community for a long time but I was still really sad to hear that Dan Harmon has been ousted. The show has been wonderfully ambitious thanks to Harmon and I've admired that while I've been disappointed with the characterisation. Season three had some great moments ("Remedial Chaos Theory" will always be a highlight) and episodes generally always made me laugh even if I didn't like some of the jokes they were telling (oh Britta). As I'm not a Harmon devotee I'll certainly give the next season a chance rather than participate in the boycott that I'm sure some of Community's too few fans are organising, but it'll be more out of curiosity to see how the show handles the transition. Historically, a show losing a creator/show runner with an idiosyncratic voice generally doesn't maintain what made it special - see Gilmore Girls - but that doesn't mean the show is a total write-off - see the Sorkin-less seasons six and seven of The West Wing.
Cougar Town
This season just felt too damn short. I'm really glad that the Crew gets to drink another day on TBS. It seemed all of the characters grew in an organic and funny way although I'm kind of worried about Ellie and Andy's marriage. I don't ship Travis and Laurie but I understand why they want to explore that and I think they have handled that relationship well.
The Dan and Blair Show
...is a show I have stopped watching and exists mostly in my head and on Tumblr. I can't even bear to watch the last couple of episodes cut down on YouTube. But I tell ya, if I ever have to give birth I want whatever drugs the GG writers take to render them so disconnected from reality.
Game of Thrones
I think I've only seen up to 2x05 and I'm honestly not sure whether I'm going to catch up. The representation of sex and violence towards women just makes me so uncomfortable. Some of it is in the books but a lot of it isn't and it just feels like titillation and exploitation.
Plus, with such a large cast of characters and so many on-going plot lines individual episodes rarely satisfy me on a narrative level and I don't have strong feelings towards any of the characters.
Yep, I'm whelmed.
The Good Wife
Excellent as always. I'm looking forward to rewatching this season in the lead-up to season four because a lot of what was going on felt like the first act for what's to come. I think it was a great season with great arcs for practically everyone in the cast (they might have an Eli problem though), but it definitely felt like they were laying the foundations for more.
One thing I do expect to come out next year is Alicia and Will's affair. That's a gun that has threatened to go off a couple of times already. However I hope that it doesn't force a divorce between Alicia and Peter - I'd like for her to end the marriage on her own terms.
Happy Endings
This show is just plain fun. It's not genius and I don't care strongly for the characters (except for Jane and Brad's marriage. Best marriage on TV right now) but it does delight thanks to the sheer volume of jokes.
Hart of Dixie
This show is so stupid and it could be great if it just changed about 80% of what it is doing with its characters. It's like if you threw Northern Exposure and Gilmore Girls in a blender and then diluted it with another show that wasn't as good as either of those two. It writes the relationships and the characters in the most boring and trite manner possible.
Honestly, I think the appeal mostly comes from Wade's abs and Lavon's wardrobe of pastel menswear.
How I Met Your Mother
Oh, HIMYM. Why is it so hard to quit you? You disappoint and frustrate on a regular basis. I will keep watching because I have just enough affection for the characters and also curiosity to see whether Marshall and Lily bring the new baby to the bar.
Legend of Korra
I am slightly underwhelmed by Korra? And I think most people are as well? I guess I just had really high expectations and now that the show isn't melting my face off with its awesomeness I'm just a bit disappointed.
It's a lot to ask a kid's show for detailed world building and to examine privilege, but I thought Bryke could handle it. I know they talked about the short episode order as a positive because it allowed for more focused story telling but this means we miss out on the kinda-sorta filler episodes which used to accomplish those things in Avatar. It feels like the characters haven't really had the chance to grow and figure out their relationships as the Gaang did. And while the world of Republic City looks cool I don't feel like I have a very good understanding of how it works.
New Girl
I just watched this entire series in like three days because I wanted something going on in the background while I was doing other stuff and it's good! Not quite as funny as Happy Endings and certainly not in Parks and Recreation's league, it certainly improved as it went on. I'll certainly stream and maybe even DL next season.
Also: terrible theme song that is totally stuck in my head.
Parks and Recreation
Oh, this is the best. This is always the best. Maybe not as good as last season which was practically perfect but I loved it nonetheless. When Leslie won the election by being smart, compassionate, and committed and with the help of her friends I must admit I got a little verklempt.
Revenge
For me Revenge lost a little steam towards the end as events started leading towards a larger conspiracy for Batmanda to take down and frankly that's just not as interesting as the personal vendetta she has towards the Graysons. I have been burned by too many fictional large evil crime syndicates before (see Alias and Chuck) to have faith in Revenge pulling it off. Plus I thought the show was working up to a huge confrontation with Victoria - that her's would be the final face crossed off in the photo in the revenge box. I had always assumed that Batmanda viewed Victoria's betrayal of her father as the worse than what Grayson Global did to him. Now, obviously, losing Victoria permanently would probably cripple the show but it still seems like there was a sudden change of tracks somewhere along the way.
I'm glad that Daniel and Batmanda are done and that Fauxmanda has thrown a spanner in the works of Batmanda and Jack hooking up because, honestly, those two guys bore me more than any other characters on TV in recent memory. I do not buy that Batmanda and Jack are epic and that they could function as a couple now. I really hope that the writers get over that idea before we next summer in the Hamptons.
Also: they had better hire someone of Lena Olin's calibre to play Batmanda's Spy Mommy because otherwise I will spend next season making snide unfavourable comparisons to the glorious Irina Derevko.
Veep
The current show of my heart. I'm a huge fan of Armando Iannucci's The Thick of It so I've been looking forward to his take on American politics since it was announced. And while it's not quite as good, it's still wonderful. Snarky, cynical, and profane - just what I need right now.
Plus, what Veep lacks in a Malcolm Tucker equivalent it almost makes up for in Amy/Dan, the hate-fucking ship of my dreams. So much anger! So much scheming! Occasional displays of affection! A canonical history of dating! Woo! They've actually gotten me writing fic again and I have a fanmix for them. Yep, shipping this in all its antagonistic glory.
I saw The Avengers the day it came out here but damn that was while ago now. I really liked it then but I'm not hugely into the fandom (my studies and fandom's reaction of "SHIP ALL THE WHITE GUYS" are largely the reasons why). Moonrise Kingdom is wonderful and I heartily recommend it.
I am mostly caught up on TV and film so lets talk about that.
Bunheads
I just watched the pilot for this and I really liked it. The pilot is kind of set in Contrivanceville so I'm not sure what the series is going to be like but give me Amy Sherman-Palladino's dialogue, a few good dance scenes, and Kelly Bishop and Sutton Foster excelling at both and I will happily watch this show until ABC Family cancels it.
Community
I've had problems with Community for a long time but I was still really sad to hear that Dan Harmon has been ousted. The show has been wonderfully ambitious thanks to Harmon and I've admired that while I've been disappointed with the characterisation. Season three had some great moments ("Remedial Chaos Theory" will always be a highlight) and episodes generally always made me laugh even if I didn't like some of the jokes they were telling (oh Britta). As I'm not a Harmon devotee I'll certainly give the next season a chance rather than participate in the boycott that I'm sure some of Community's too few fans are organising, but it'll be more out of curiosity to see how the show handles the transition. Historically, a show losing a creator/show runner with an idiosyncratic voice generally doesn't maintain what made it special - see Gilmore Girls - but that doesn't mean the show is a total write-off - see the Sorkin-less seasons six and seven of The West Wing.
Cougar Town
This season just felt too damn short. I'm really glad that the Crew gets to drink another day on TBS. It seemed all of the characters grew in an organic and funny way although I'm kind of worried about Ellie and Andy's marriage. I don't ship Travis and Laurie but I understand why they want to explore that and I think they have handled that relationship well.
The Dan and Blair Show
...is a show I have stopped watching and exists mostly in my head and on Tumblr. I can't even bear to watch the last couple of episodes cut down on YouTube. But I tell ya, if I ever have to give birth I want whatever drugs the GG writers take to render them so disconnected from reality.
Game of Thrones
I think I've only seen up to 2x05 and I'm honestly not sure whether I'm going to catch up. The representation of sex and violence towards women just makes me so uncomfortable. Some of it is in the books but a lot of it isn't and it just feels like titillation and exploitation.
Plus, with such a large cast of characters and so many on-going plot lines individual episodes rarely satisfy me on a narrative level and I don't have strong feelings towards any of the characters.
Yep, I'm whelmed.
The Good Wife
Excellent as always. I'm looking forward to rewatching this season in the lead-up to season four because a lot of what was going on felt like the first act for what's to come. I think it was a great season with great arcs for practically everyone in the cast (they might have an Eli problem though), but it definitely felt like they were laying the foundations for more.
One thing I do expect to come out next year is Alicia and Will's affair. That's a gun that has threatened to go off a couple of times already. However I hope that it doesn't force a divorce between Alicia and Peter - I'd like for her to end the marriage on her own terms.
Happy Endings
This show is just plain fun. It's not genius and I don't care strongly for the characters (except for Jane and Brad's marriage. Best marriage on TV right now) but it does delight thanks to the sheer volume of jokes.
Hart of Dixie
This show is so stupid and it could be great if it just changed about 80% of what it is doing with its characters. It's like if you threw Northern Exposure and Gilmore Girls in a blender and then diluted it with another show that wasn't as good as either of those two. It writes the relationships and the characters in the most boring and trite manner possible.
Honestly, I think the appeal mostly comes from Wade's abs and Lavon's wardrobe of pastel menswear.
How I Met Your Mother
Oh, HIMYM. Why is it so hard to quit you? You disappoint and frustrate on a regular basis. I will keep watching because I have just enough affection for the characters and also curiosity to see whether Marshall and Lily bring the new baby to the bar.
Legend of Korra
I am slightly underwhelmed by Korra? And I think most people are as well? I guess I just had really high expectations and now that the show isn't melting my face off with its awesomeness I'm just a bit disappointed.
It's a lot to ask a kid's show for detailed world building and to examine privilege, but I thought Bryke could handle it. I know they talked about the short episode order as a positive because it allowed for more focused story telling but this means we miss out on the kinda-sorta filler episodes which used to accomplish those things in Avatar. It feels like the characters haven't really had the chance to grow and figure out their relationships as the Gaang did. And while the world of Republic City looks cool I don't feel like I have a very good understanding of how it works.
New Girl
I just watched this entire series in like three days because I wanted something going on in the background while I was doing other stuff and it's good! Not quite as funny as Happy Endings and certainly not in Parks and Recreation's league, it certainly improved as it went on. I'll certainly stream and maybe even DL next season.
Also: terrible theme song that is totally stuck in my head.
Parks and Recreation
Oh, this is the best. This is always the best. Maybe not as good as last season which was practically perfect but I loved it nonetheless. When Leslie won the election by being smart, compassionate, and committed and with the help of her friends I must admit I got a little verklempt.
Revenge
For me Revenge lost a little steam towards the end as events started leading towards a larger conspiracy for Batmanda to take down and frankly that's just not as interesting as the personal vendetta she has towards the Graysons. I have been burned by too many fictional large evil crime syndicates before (see Alias and Chuck) to have faith in Revenge pulling it off. Plus I thought the show was working up to a huge confrontation with Victoria - that her's would be the final face crossed off in the photo in the revenge box. I had always assumed that Batmanda viewed Victoria's betrayal of her father as the worse than what Grayson Global did to him. Now, obviously, losing Victoria permanently would probably cripple the show but it still seems like there was a sudden change of tracks somewhere along the way.
I'm glad that Daniel and Batmanda are done and that Fauxmanda has thrown a spanner in the works of Batmanda and Jack hooking up because, honestly, those two guys bore me more than any other characters on TV in recent memory. I do not buy that Batmanda and Jack are epic and that they could function as a couple now. I really hope that the writers get over that idea before we next summer in the Hamptons.
Also: they had better hire someone of Lena Olin's calibre to play Batmanda's Spy Mommy because otherwise I will spend next season making snide unfavourable comparisons to the glorious Irina Derevko.
Veep
The current show of my heart. I'm a huge fan of Armando Iannucci's The Thick of It so I've been looking forward to his take on American politics since it was announced. And while it's not quite as good, it's still wonderful. Snarky, cynical, and profane - just what I need right now.
Plus, what Veep lacks in a Malcolm Tucker equivalent it almost makes up for in Amy/Dan, the hate-fucking ship of my dreams. So much anger! So much scheming! Occasional displays of affection! A canonical history of dating! Woo! They've actually gotten me writing fic again and I have a fanmix for them. Yep, shipping this in all its antagonistic glory.
I saw The Avengers the day it came out here but damn that was while ago now. I really liked it then but I'm not hugely into the fandom (my studies and fandom's reaction of "SHIP ALL THE WHITE GUYS" are largely the reasons why). Moonrise Kingdom is wonderful and I heartily recommend it.