We are still watching Fringe but

[lolaraincoat]

So here's how Fishwhistle and I watch TV: on DVDs, one show at a time, and a whole season at a gulp. We are nothing if not committed. We watched all of Dollhouse, even, which I believe makes us the only people in the whole wide world who did, including the show runners. We were complaining all the while, but we watched it. We are picky about what

Comments

[logovo]

For mer it started getting better in the second half of the first season, but for Mr. L I think it was only after the middle of the second season that he got hooked. IDK though, I think if a show doesn't get you on some level somewhere in the first 6-10 episodes, it's not going to work.

[lolaraincoat]

Maybe we will be more like Mr. L, then? That's sort of hopeful.

if a show doesn't get you on some level somewhere in the first 6-10 episodes, it's not going to work.

The thing is, even if it doesn't, we will watch it anyway, all the way to the bitter end. We watch TV all wrong.

[lolaraincoat]

Yeah, the characters are definitely the best part. Some of the actors are wonderful, too. But the writing drives me crazy. You see Lance Reddick delivering these ridiculous lines full of "as you know Bob," and then you think about him delivering the brilliant dialogue of The Wire and you just want to send him a sympathy card. And by "you" I mean "me."

[lapsedmodernist]

I watched all of Dollhouse, and enjoyed it.

I think Season 2 ep. 15 through the end is spectacular

but before ep. 15 I would say, 10, 12, and 13 are really good (the thing is, prior to season 15 most are MOTW in X-Files parlance, and after 15-on it's all the mythology arc). Also episode 11 i an unaired episode from season 1 inexplicably dropped into season 2 which is why there will be all kinds of continuity problems.

[lolaraincoat]

Wait, do you mean that Dollhouse got better at the very end? That is true. And I didn't know that about episode 11 - that explains a lot.

Or if Fringe is going to get better, that would be nice too. I know what you mean about MOTW episodes - they work really badly for the way we watch TV, which is one box set at a time over the course of a week or two. We demand more myth arc! Very few shows have ever done the trick of balancing a long-form narrative with weekly-broadcast-format episodic TV - Buffy did it, but who else?

[lapsedmodernist]

I am confused...everything in my comment except the first sentence is about Fringe (including episode 11). I liked pretty much all of Dollhouse.

I actually think Season 3 of Fringe balances the narrative/mythology arc with the TV format very well, partially because of the very specific structure/plot device that drives the first half of season 3.

[lolaraincoat]

Ah, I see. Sorry about that - I was reading sloppily. We will look forward to Episode 10, then! And maybe even skip Episode 11 ... well, no, we won't. It is just not in us to do that. But we should. But we won't.

[executrix]

Re Dollhouse: wot lapsedmodernist said, except that I didn't know that about Episode 11. I don't think it really works but it was worth trying.

[lolaraincoat]

Yeah, that was news to me too.

I dunno, it's not just Dollhouse. I mean we watched all of Flashforward too. How dumb is that?

[lapsedmodernist]

I watched all of Flashforward, too, although I enjoyed it much less than Dollhouse, which I actually thought was a really smart show. I tried watching The Event but it was so terrible I gave up halfway through.

[lolaraincoat]

I enjoyed it less than Dollhouse, too, but I also found it less infuriating than Dollhouse. We will not be watching The Event, because if we saw one episode, no matter how terrible, we might feel compelled to watch the whole thing.