New TV Show Fannish Roundup
It's a good time to be in fandom. What follows is my very opinionated, squee-filled roundup of what new things I'm watching (or not) this Fall.
Sleepy Hollow
The Short Version: I think I'm in love with this show and its actors.
I saw the Headless Horsemen walking around Comic Con promoting the show, and I was mildly interested. Then, I heard it was a modern-day retelling with Ichabod as out of place time traveler, and I was less interested. I was all geared up for a completely historical drama, darn it!
But then, the night of the premiere came around, and I think someone on tumblr posted something that reminded me, and I thought, "Oh, I'll give it a shot..." And I'm SO glad I did. The show is a crazy ride, but it knows when to take itself seriously and when not to. The story is engaging enough, but I'm really here for the characters. Ichabod Crane, out-of-time Revolutionary Spy and former history professor, and Abbie Mills, Lieutenant in the Sleepy Hollow Sheriff's Department, are fast becoming one of my favorite fictional friendship. They both seemed to step onto the screen as fully formed people, and so watching Crane negotiate the modern world (computers, smart phones, baseball, bottled water...) is wonderful fun. And last week, Abbie taught him how to fist-bump. But it's not all fish-out-of-water shenanigans. There's a Headless Horseman running about taking people's heads, an undead deputy whose allegiance is up in the air, Abbie's incredibly kickass sister Jenny and newly-believing-in-the Horseman Captain Irving (who is played by Orlando Jones, who is more involved in his own show's fandom than all of us know what to do with). And let's not forget Ichabod's wife Katrina, stuck in some sort of purgatory between life and death that we're just beginning to figure out.
It's not perfect, but the actors obviously LOVE their characters to pieces, the relationships feel very real and complicated and satisfying, and I'm invested enough already that even when I'm disappointed by an episode, I'm still jumping out of my skin waiting for the next episode.
And did I mention that Tom Mison (Ichabod's actor) looks SMASHING in 18th century attire? Because he does. And Abbie hasn't had time to take him shopping yet. Let's hope she doesn't for a while yet.
Agents of SHIELD
The Short Version: I'll catch up on Hulu eventually.
I don't feel like I can say too much about this. The gf and I started watching this on Wednesdays on Hulu, since it airs at the same time as The Originals. But then we missed a week for some reason or another, and I didn't find myself needing to watch it RIGHT NOW to catch up.
And I'm not sure why that is. Maybe it's fictional story investment fatigue... like I only have so much emotional space to care about things, and I'm reaching my limit. Because I love Agent Coulson as much as the next person who watches Marvel Movies, and Fitz and Simmons are adorable, and Ward was growly and attractive, and Skye... was ok, I guess, thought I'm reaching for adjectives and not finding them. And Agent May is kickass, if reluctantly so. But this is definitely a "catch up over winter break" show for me.
Reign
The Short Version: It's pretty. SO PRETTY. But I can't do it.
I saw really pretty previews for this at Comic Con. And I wanted to watch it. And I watched two or three episodes before I gave up. The cast is really cute. Especially the guy who plays the bastard son Sebastian. But... I had to admit that I was not the target audience. Not even a little bit. Because when I got to the end of the third episode and could hardly remember any of the characters' names, it was time to find something else to do after Vampire Diaries. I just didn't feel like I knew anything about any of them except Mary, who wants to make her marriage to Francis for the good of Scotland but also because he is really cute. You can't blame her. He IS cute. Oh, and Sebastian thinks SHE's cute. And King Henry thinks Mary's friend whose name I can't remember is cute (and sexually available), and the Queen, whose name I can't remember but who seemed to be vaguely interesting, doesn't want Mary marrying her son for some reason. And there's a ghost. And maybe magic. But I SO DIDN'T CARE. I think I shorted out my ability to care about TV shows that are complete messes a while ago. I blame Downton Abbey and Robin Hood.
Once Upon a Time in Wonderland
The Short Version: Not as good as Once. Kind of weird. But I think I like it.
I was hoping that this show was going to have more crossover with the main Once story, but I think it has a weird, quirky charm all its own. The actress who plays Alice is freckled and sweetly earnest, Cyrus is the most adorable genie I've ever seen, the Knave of Hearts is Will Scarlett (it's the OUaT universe... just roll with it) and possibly my favorite thing about this show. Jafar and the Red Queen are working together, and Jafar is unreasonably attractive. (What? Me? Attracted to a darkly handsome bad guy in black? Perish the thought!) And there's just a lot of WEIRD. Like a creepy Victorian mental institution, purple drug-flowers that made me think of "The Lotus Eaters," and impromptu executions that suddenly have surprisingly bloodthirsty Wonderlandians coming out of nowhere.
Something about it just... works for me. It's not as good as OUaT by any means, but it's fun enough to keep me watching.
Almost Human
The Short Version: I like Cop Shows. I like Karl Urban. This is a Cop Show with Karl Urban. YOU do the math.
Ok, so I also like near-future sci-fi shows that deal with the whole, "What does it mean to be human"? question. And from what I've seen, this one is going to do some interesting things with it. I like Dorian already, and I can see his partnership with John going all sorts of interesting places. Also, I can see how much money Fox has poured into this show. The pilot had movie-good production quality.
The Originals
The Short Version: My darling Original family has their own show. It's set in New Orleans. There's lots of Elijah. There's lots of Rebekah. The new characters are people I actually care about. It's better than Christmas.
I went into The Originals with low expectations. I'd seen the version of the Pilot embedded in Vampire Diaries last season, and I was less than impressed with the "Klaus's magical baby" storyline. That has grown on me. In fact, everything has grown on me. Haley, the "Marcel has control of the witches" plot, even Cami has gotten LOADS more interesting with the introduction of HER issues. (And her anger at Klaus for taking away her sadness over her brother's death was SO well done...)
Yeah I'm pretty much completely on board with this. I ship Hayley/Elijah like there's no tomorrow. I ship Rebekah/happiness. I ship Marcel/my tv screen. I want Marcel to be good to Rebekah, but I fear he won't be. I think Davina is fascinating. I love Klaus but think he needs a swift kick in the head or a dagger to the heart for a few decades. I want Marcel and Elijah to team up to administer said dagger. I want Tyler Lockwood to stay FAR away from Hayley's baby. In fact, I want pretty much everyone who is not Hayley, Elijah, and Rebekah to stay away from Hayley's baby. I trust Elijah because he's so excited about the kid he's practically knitting booties in his spare time. I trust Rebekah because I think that she values family as much as Elijah does, and she and Hayley had a nice friendship going on while they were living in that big house.
In short, GIVE ME ALL THE ORIGINALS ALL THE TIME. I nearly screamed in frustration when I didn't get Hallucinating, Feverish Elijah this week because the episode was pre-empted by some album release party. HE IS GOING TO KISS HAYLEY, AND I WANT TO SEE THAT, AND ALSO I SAW PREVIEW PICS WITH FLASHBACKS AND COATS WITH TAILS AND DUELING PISTOLS. It cannot be Tuesday soon enough.
Atlantis
Short Version: Wanted to like it. Couldn't get past the lake of caring about any of the characters AND the cliches. There is no long version.
So... what are YOU watching, my dear fandom friends? Is there something I'm missing? Do I need to give one of the shows I dropped another chance? Tell me what you think!
Sleepy Hollow
The Short Version: I think I'm in love with this show and its actors.
I saw the Headless Horsemen walking around Comic Con promoting the show, and I was mildly interested. Then, I heard it was a modern-day retelling with Ichabod as out of place time traveler, and I was less interested. I was all geared up for a completely historical drama, darn it!
But then, the night of the premiere came around, and I think someone on tumblr posted something that reminded me, and I thought, "Oh, I'll give it a shot..." And I'm SO glad I did. The show is a crazy ride, but it knows when to take itself seriously and when not to. The story is engaging enough, but I'm really here for the characters. Ichabod Crane, out-of-time Revolutionary Spy and former history professor, and Abbie Mills, Lieutenant in the Sleepy Hollow Sheriff's Department, are fast becoming one of my favorite fictional friendship. They both seemed to step onto the screen as fully formed people, and so watching Crane negotiate the modern world (computers, smart phones, baseball, bottled water...) is wonderful fun. And last week, Abbie taught him how to fist-bump. But it's not all fish-out-of-water shenanigans. There's a Headless Horseman running about taking people's heads, an undead deputy whose allegiance is up in the air, Abbie's incredibly kickass sister Jenny and newly-believing-in-the Horseman Captain Irving (who is played by Orlando Jones, who is more involved in his own show's fandom than all of us know what to do with). And let's not forget Ichabod's wife Katrina, stuck in some sort of purgatory between life and death that we're just beginning to figure out.
It's not perfect, but the actors obviously LOVE their characters to pieces, the relationships feel very real and complicated and satisfying, and I'm invested enough already that even when I'm disappointed by an episode, I'm still jumping out of my skin waiting for the next episode.
And did I mention that Tom Mison (Ichabod's actor) looks SMASHING in 18th century attire? Because he does. And Abbie hasn't had time to take him shopping yet. Let's hope she doesn't for a while yet.
Agents of SHIELD
The Short Version: I'll catch up on Hulu eventually.
I don't feel like I can say too much about this. The gf and I started watching this on Wednesdays on Hulu, since it airs at the same time as The Originals. But then we missed a week for some reason or another, and I didn't find myself needing to watch it RIGHT NOW to catch up.
And I'm not sure why that is. Maybe it's fictional story investment fatigue... like I only have so much emotional space to care about things, and I'm reaching my limit. Because I love Agent Coulson as much as the next person who watches Marvel Movies, and Fitz and Simmons are adorable, and Ward was growly and attractive, and Skye... was ok, I guess, thought I'm reaching for adjectives and not finding them. And Agent May is kickass, if reluctantly so. But this is definitely a "catch up over winter break" show for me.
Reign
The Short Version: It's pretty. SO PRETTY. But I can't do it.
I saw really pretty previews for this at Comic Con. And I wanted to watch it. And I watched two or three episodes before I gave up. The cast is really cute. Especially the guy who plays the bastard son Sebastian. But... I had to admit that I was not the target audience. Not even a little bit. Because when I got to the end of the third episode and could hardly remember any of the characters' names, it was time to find something else to do after Vampire Diaries. I just didn't feel like I knew anything about any of them except Mary, who wants to make her marriage to Francis for the good of Scotland but also because he is really cute. You can't blame her. He IS cute. Oh, and Sebastian thinks SHE's cute. And King Henry thinks Mary's friend whose name I can't remember is cute (and sexually available), and the Queen, whose name I can't remember but who seemed to be vaguely interesting, doesn't want Mary marrying her son for some reason. And there's a ghost. And maybe magic. But I SO DIDN'T CARE. I think I shorted out my ability to care about TV shows that are complete messes a while ago. I blame Downton Abbey and Robin Hood.
Once Upon a Time in Wonderland
The Short Version: Not as good as Once. Kind of weird. But I think I like it.
I was hoping that this show was going to have more crossover with the main Once story, but I think it has a weird, quirky charm all its own. The actress who plays Alice is freckled and sweetly earnest, Cyrus is the most adorable genie I've ever seen, the Knave of Hearts is Will Scarlett (it's the OUaT universe... just roll with it) and possibly my favorite thing about this show. Jafar and the Red Queen are working together, and Jafar is unreasonably attractive. (What? Me? Attracted to a darkly handsome bad guy in black? Perish the thought!) And there's just a lot of WEIRD. Like a creepy Victorian mental institution, purple drug-flowers that made me think of "The Lotus Eaters," and impromptu executions that suddenly have surprisingly bloodthirsty Wonderlandians coming out of nowhere.
Something about it just... works for me. It's not as good as OUaT by any means, but it's fun enough to keep me watching.
Almost Human
The Short Version: I like Cop Shows. I like Karl Urban. This is a Cop Show with Karl Urban. YOU do the math.
Ok, so I also like near-future sci-fi shows that deal with the whole, "What does it mean to be human"? question. And from what I've seen, this one is going to do some interesting things with it. I like Dorian already, and I can see his partnership with John going all sorts of interesting places. Also, I can see how much money Fox has poured into this show. The pilot had movie-good production quality.
The Originals
The Short Version: My darling Original family has their own show. It's set in New Orleans. There's lots of Elijah. There's lots of Rebekah. The new characters are people I actually care about. It's better than Christmas.
I went into The Originals with low expectations. I'd seen the version of the Pilot embedded in Vampire Diaries last season, and I was less than impressed with the "Klaus's magical baby" storyline. That has grown on me. In fact, everything has grown on me. Haley, the "Marcel has control of the witches" plot, even Cami has gotten LOADS more interesting with the introduction of HER issues. (And her anger at Klaus for taking away her sadness over her brother's death was SO well done...)
Yeah I'm pretty much completely on board with this. I ship Hayley/Elijah like there's no tomorrow. I ship Rebekah/happiness. I ship Marcel/my tv screen. I want Marcel to be good to Rebekah, but I fear he won't be. I think Davina is fascinating. I love Klaus but think he needs a swift kick in the head or a dagger to the heart for a few decades. I want Marcel and Elijah to team up to administer said dagger. I want Tyler Lockwood to stay FAR away from Hayley's baby. In fact, I want pretty much everyone who is not Hayley, Elijah, and Rebekah to stay away from Hayley's baby. I trust Elijah because he's so excited about the kid he's practically knitting booties in his spare time. I trust Rebekah because I think that she values family as much as Elijah does, and she and Hayley had a nice friendship going on while they were living in that big house.
In short, GIVE ME ALL THE ORIGINALS ALL THE TIME. I nearly screamed in frustration when I didn't get Hallucinating, Feverish Elijah this week because the episode was pre-empted by some album release party. HE IS GOING TO KISS HAYLEY, AND I WANT TO SEE THAT, AND ALSO I SAW PREVIEW PICS WITH FLASHBACKS AND COATS WITH TAILS AND DUELING PISTOLS. It cannot be Tuesday soon enough.
Atlantis
Short Version: Wanted to like it. Couldn't get past the lake of caring about any of the characters AND the cliches. There is no long version.
So... what are YOU watching, my dear fandom friends? Is there something I'm missing? Do I need to give one of the shows I dropped another chance? Tell me what you think!