Watching some TV
Defiance
I liked the pilot overall. I’m not sure about the next two episodes after that. Mainly, I miss sci-fi so I will keep watching this show to see where the series is going as it progresses but none of the lead characters are really getting me hooked emotionally so far. And the creatures who attack in the woods at night are faaaake. :P
Irisa could become an interesting character. What forced me to pay attention was her comment in pilot “Nolan killed my parents - something I couldn’t do myself” and the look in her eyes. It gave me chills for a moment. I want to know more about that. Nolan is too typical macho good guy sort of hero. White aliens - ruthless and cunning (especially Jamie Murray’s character) but do I care? I would care for their kids who they’re trying to screw over in their political plotting (and conviction that they’re doing the best for their son) if the show was focusing on that gap between generations more, difference of world vision and problem solving.
Julie Benz character - no matter how you dress the actress she has a limited range of tackling drama material. I can see why the creators made that casting choice… she attracts men with that smile of hers and her looks but in terms of strong artist for drama - I think it’s not the best choice. Playing Rita Bennett on Dexter was her sort of role. An exact match to her abilities. But then you never know, maybe she’ll surprise me.
The Good Wife
I think it’s about time the writers of the show rename it to The Good Will :D I couldn’t watch a large portion of S4 because watching Kara and Leoben reincarnated into Kalinda and her mad husband Nick (who even looks a bit like Leoben) is not my cup of tea at all. So I then went and watched the latter half of the season without that ridiculous abusive storyline. I’m unimpressed with the way TPTB handled Kalinda’s character this season. Instead of showing her growth in learning to open up more to the people like Alicia and Cary they choose to create Blake 2.0 - and for what? We already know she’s cool. We already know she’s mad at times. We already know she can be very defensive. We know she can be abused and can win. We want her to heal for God’s sake… not collect a couple hundred more scars and get even more adamant in her messed up behavior patterns with people.
A lot of S4 was a waste of time. What I liked were the interactions between Will and Diane, Diane and Kalinda (omg, that Vampire Diaries fanfiction moment was amazing - LOL))) ).
And what I also like is the introduction of Alicia’s mother and all the times when Owen makes an appearance too). It is amazing to see a simple woman who raised these two people (oh so different) and the contrast between her and Alicia is immense… I loved that part when she said something like “I am silly and I may be far from perfection but at least I do what I want in life and I am happy - can you say the same about yourself?” I like Veronica’s straightforwardness. Like the time when she went to Will and just cut to the chase is incredible!
Which then brings me to Alicia… A rebellious teenager when around her mother who does things like fucking Peter without closing a door just to spite them and to show them the incredible power of her mutiny))). A parent who crosses many self-created lines in her parenting (like in the finale episode). A wife who is keeping it safe, robotic and comfortable with her husband in a marriage of convenience. A co-worker who is now after self-advancement and not team work primarily. A firm partner who is also like a teenager when lead partners don’t make a final decision according to what she wants and goes to her hubs and Eli to get a pat on the back there for giving an amazingly truthful interview and talking on how much of a family man Peter is and how he actually cares about women))). And finally, a friend… who doesn’t do squat to repair her friendship with Kalinda but at the same time apparently has forgiven Peter everything he did. And finally a lover… who is frightened to _see and so brushes off her dreams and visions and explains them (along with the writers) as a sick sexual obsession one must cut out and throw away. And finally we have the end of season 4 - where additionally to all of the above she becomes a friend who betrays a friend just to distance herself from the said friend because he also happens to be a lover and a sickness that must be cut out.
My compassion for the character is wearing off at this point as you can imagine))). I have to say I really wanted her to join Cary and leave the firm. But I didn’t expect what they did at the end. They showed me what I wanted *in a way* that I never would want it to happen. And for that I am kind of grateful. The more I think about it after the first waves of irritation the more her move makes sense given how far gone into the mud she is. It is not the right timing for anything else because Alicia is just so entirely out of tune with herself. So bring it on. I am happy to see Season 5 showing us the repercussions of the last moment. She literally created a civil war so to speak… something that will affect everyone she ever cared about. I would never spend so much time in S3-S4 showing Alicia’s sinking into mud… but I do find it believable that she is now there and a betrayer in its full meaning since the writers decided to follow this path pretty much from the beginning of S4 or in the middle of S3 even. She became someone that Alicia of season 1 would want to go away and wash her hands off of I think. And the problem is that what she did by going to Cary and not talking to Will first, brining top clients and a few co-workers with her - is a lot worse than what Kalinda did when she slept with Peter. At least Kalinda wasn’t friends with Alicia back then, so her awareness was not full and she acted based on her own moral ground. Of course she was lying for a long time after but we're all imperfect and sometimes fear rejection. In this case though, Alicia and Will may have never been *just* friends but they were two people who could rely on each other even without talking to each other for ten years, rely on support if needed and on not stabbing each other in the back. Is Will going to see Alicia stealing his clients with Cary as a minor misunderstanding? I doubt that))). I kind of dread to see his face in S5 if they don’t do a time jump. And especially if he hears the news from someone else other than Alicia. I doubt she will tell him though… cuz “Hello Will! Remember we agreed to talk and you decided ‘to hell with the bad timing’ and opened up like you usually do? Well I decided to create a bit of necessary distance between us so I’m taking your 3-4 top clients with us and starting a new firm with Cary. Thanks a lot for all your troubles over the last 4 years. And coaching a few 4 year assiciates for us. I’ll see you in court. Will? Why aren’t you kissing me goodbye?” --- Doesn’t sound right, does it?)
Anyway. It’s gonna be fun. I would say an open war is better than that swamp of S4 and pretending that everything’s ok or that certain issues between certain characters don’t exist. Plus they say they won’t bring as many guest stars next year because the primary focus will be on the main characters and the mess Alicia made. I am all for that. And it goes without saying that I’m rooting for Lockart&Gardner all the way. Seriously, back in S1-2 I thought it would be Alicia who'd show Will the difference between living/acting from dirty waters and clearer ones, bring him back to light by her mere presence. Now the roles are totally reversed.
Is it a trend in tv now to make the lead characters so unsympathetic that I can’t root for them anymore? Take Dexter. I used to give a damn about him… At least on some level. Now it’s almost impossible after what he’s done. Or what he didn’t do. Or kept doing despite the fact that he could see that each new kill destroys a part of his sister and brings her closer to a total destruction as a human being.