Hello Twitter-and-blog-friends! In case you missed it, here's what I had to say about ALL THE TV this week:
Monday 3-23-15
Gotham: Rerunnnnn
Let's also talk about Sylvester! Sweet, scared Sylvester, who ran away from home young because his dad couldn't understand him, and who stepped up and saved the pilot this episode! He keeps getting the shittiest part of the cases, but he has done so well!
Let's talk about: Ryan! And how it took him so long to get a him-centric episode! Did you know he had a sister? I only barely remember anything about a brother-in-law, Ryan gets so little screentime to himself. And I'm SO GLAD that he got to be serious, and a good cop, and basically take the lead on this case. And I'm glad he's still alive, because the more behind-the-scenes stuff we get on underused characters, the more nervous I get!
*Disclosure: I watched this on Thursday, off the DVR because Monday and Tuesday are too busy.
Tuesday 3-24-15
Let's talk about: How Barry is an idiot. Like, last episode was so great, and then this episode, he basically messes everything up while somehow managing to avoid the worst stuff that happened last time. I'm deliriously glad that Cisco doesn't have his heart out, but instead that reporter guy that I was just starting to like as a mentor for Iris got it. And Cisco got backstory and family-not-understanding and still had to cry and make unfair choices. So now Captain Cold knows who Barry is. I'm sure that's not at all going to cause a million problems.
Other things of note:
- Central City has the worse mobsters ever
- Cold delivers lines like he's in Dick Tracy
- Even knowing the future can't help Barry be less of a twelve year old around girls
- Cold has a sister with a gun that turns things into gold; why does he need to do crimes?
Let's talk about: How much I love this show?? Like, every week, Liv gets to be a slightly different character, with slightly different skills, and they're teaching her how to get her life back. And also, they're hilarious. Liv describing things artistically, and being desperately sensual the whole episode, weirding out Babineax was so great. There was less of Ravi and Babs this ep, a little bit, to make space for Blaine, who is sort of awesome and sort of hateful and I'm not sure which way he's going to go in the long run, but it's sure to be crazy and bad for Liv.
Let's also talk about: How glad I am that her passes that she made on Major were rebuffed. He's been very good about her not telling him what's going on, but she doesn't get to jump him just because she's got a philandering artist in her mind. It's too much, and I'm glad he sent her home. It makes him more of an actual person, and it reminds her of everything that's wrong right now--and maybe helps her figure some stuff out, if we're lucky.
Let's talk about: How vaguely uncomfortable this episode made me? Like, Coulson leaving Skye unattended and alone in isolation seems like overkill and a really bad idea--and I'm glad he said that it feels like that to him, too, because maybe that means that we've got a story-altering-context-shift coming up soon to make sense of some of this. Skye needs to be somewhere where people she trusts are--and more importantly, where no one else can get their hands on her. Also? She quakes stuff, but she hasn't really done more than break some windows and knock some stuff down so far, and everyone's acting like she's leveled a city. That might be a SFX issue; it hasn't looked as bad, to me, as everyone is acting like it is.
And the whole Ward / 33 thing? Creepy. And Other!Shield? So far, it seems like they're a bunch of hypocrites since they're all "we need transparancy" but we had no inkling that they existed until now and they're not answering any more questions than Coulson is. And really, neither is significantly different than OldShield that I've seen. If this drives Coulson into a looser, more active, more super-hero-y sort of Shield, that'd be cool since he has all the cool young agents, but then he's not really in Shield anymore. So I'm assuming the OtherShield will turn out to be, like, 10x worse than OldShield? I don't know. I can't tell where this is going. I thought it'd be one Shield for each side of Civil War, but unless the show is going to be way ahead of the movie timeline, making everything out of synch, I have no idea what this "lets get him now" stuff is about.
Let's talk about: How Henry is both redeemed and effectively uncursed in this episode, and also an embodiment of the White Savior. Though I don't think that second part is what they were going for. And there's that reveal (or, at least, it's framed as a reveal) that only the weapon that killed you the first time can kill you now. Henry's flintlock is probably never going to be functional again--or, at least, reality says it shouldn't be--and he's enjoying his life enough now that I don't see him testing it, but he's been established to have a sort of suicidal tendency. He hasn't died needlessly since they came back from break, but who knows when that'll come back.
Let's also talk about: How Jo is being swept off her feet by a rich guy who is pushy enough to make her all shy and wide-eyed, and how that seems to...wash out some of her character? Like, it's not too bad now, but I wouldn't have forseen her being so easily swayed before I saw this ep, and it's annoying me a little. But look how proud Henry looked when they busted in on her and he found she'd taken her gun with her on this date with this man she hardly knows who was a suspect three minutes ago.
Disclosure: I watched this Thursday bc of overbooking on Tuesday nights.
Let's talk about: Hell if I know. I didn't have a whole lot to say about this ep; I'm not terribly interested in their cases, I'm getting tired of stories about terrorists, and the interpersonal relationships have been mostly outward-focused on people outside the core team that aren't hardly on the show, so meh. I like that McGee and Delilah are reunited, but I don't feel like their problems were really solved--she's home, but she's got "more secrets" because of her higher security clearance now.
Disclosure: I also watched this one on Thursday.
Wednesday 3-25-15
Let's talk about: How I'm so glad that the Ra's storyline was way in the background in this one, because I'm so done with it. It was a plot point this week--something to get Roy to believe that Ollie isn't a mass murderer, and I'm glad, for once, that they didn't drag it out. Because they've been dragging everything out. I don't like how everyone keeps dumping everything on Felicity, or how that whole mission they sent the Suicide Squad on was stupid, but I loved the Squad itself and the wedding and Ray realizing that he's in over his head and has some opinions wrong. They keep reaffirming his connecting to Felicity, though, and we already know that he's spinning off into the teamup show, so...is she going to be IT for every hero on two shows now? Or is it doomed to be breakup city when that show happens? Is he going to leave when she decides that it actually IS Ollie he'd rather be with?
Did you see Ollie just leave Roy unconscious on the ground so that he could walk away from Atom dramatically?
Thursday 3-26-15
Elementary: Reruuuuunnnnnn
Let's talk about: How cute and competent everyone on his team is? I think my favorite scene was when everyone was just arriving at that swanky party and admiring how nice everyone else looks--and sort of flirting and pairing off. With Valentine moving in and shaking things up some. It's just piles of fun.
But the most important part, I think, in the whole episode, is seeing how charming Backstrom can be, which gives a little context to how he was ever married to Amy to begin with. Maybe he's in the depths of despair right now, going all House on the world, but at one point--a point she lets him get back to a little bit--he was nicer and more fun and likable a little. And then he messes it up.
And the second important part was that dream board. It's covered in food and booze, stuff he could get right now if he wanted, so those aren't dreams. What are his actual dreams? What doesn't he want to face and let people see? Does he even allow himself to have dreams?
This show is really growing on me.
Let's talk about: How this show has been off so long I totally forgot about looking up when it came back?? Thank goodness I follow All The TV People on Twitter!
This one came back with a punch in the feels with it being Sweets's birthday--the first since he died. The show has floated a little toward the ineffable, and I like the idea that Christine's imaginary friend is Sweets still looking out for her, because really what I wanted most in the world before his death was for him to just join their family and stay there forever. I am sad that his last act on earth wasn't to talk to Daisy or his own baby, though; maybe that'll come back later, and we just didn't see that part. I'm also a little sad that Sweets sticks around but not Mr Nigel Murray. Maybe Avalon can find him, too.
I wonder when they're going to bring up that Bones is preggers again?
Friday 3-27-15
Tweets about #12monkeys from:pirategirljack include:retweets
Let's talk about: How this show NEEDS an aftershow?? And how it's so close to the finale and I just know I'm going to be reeling for DAYS??
And how EVERYTHING IS DIFFERENT NOW? I'm trying to be cautious as all hell, because I know they're gonna smack this cookie out of my hands and step on it, but the ending of this still feels like a reward for having stuck with them this far. It's like 3D puzzle pieces slotting into place and then all of a sudden you can turn the thing you're building and see this whole other side to it. And because of that new side, you can also see all these opportunities that were invisible before:
- Cole now knows exactly who the Witness is, and therefor exactly what he told him--which means he knows also what he didn't tell him
- And anyway, they're back even--Cole landed home with Cassie after Ramse left, so anything from this part on is New Ground
- And New Ground means they can do things now that can't be preempted--at least as easily
- And that means maybe they can actually have a chance of causing change
- And that means maybe this isn't a closed loop of a show that will beat me up and end the way it started--maybe there is an actual chance, no matter how small, that things could alter and that the Mission wasn't all obsessive BS from the beginning
I'm just ???!!!! Like, I'm almost actually looking at my actual hands. I feel like I've been handed something wonderful, and I've only just grasped some of what that wonderful thing was. I feel like I just wrote this thing myself.
Now, there's still two episodes and any number of things could go wrong--
- Ramse could still cause chaos and just do it, like, randomly now, making him potentially much more dangerous
- Cole could bleed out on Cassie's floor
- The Army could regroup or launch some new offensive
- Aaron could weenie out and call in whatever deals he's made (now that he's where Cassie was two years ago when he thought she was crazy, and he's lost everything, and now Cole is back again)
- Striking Olivia could have some new monstrosity up her sleeve (and almost definitely does)
But now, for the first time since maybe episode 3 or so, it feels like they can actually do something about it. Here's my pet ideas (I won't call them theories because this show is gleefully hard to figure out and always goes unexpected angles even when you do guess the broad strokes, but these are the things I'm hoping for):
- Ramse doesn't know what happens between 2015 and 2017 because OlderCassie didn't tell Cole so he couldn't tell Ramse, so that's two whole years to effect change
- Also, that's two whole years to convince Cassie that maintaining spoiler-safety across timehops is a bad idea that always gets someone killed, so that they can have more warning when they get there naturally, and Keep Her Alive
- Because I'm convinced that the plan that results in them working together and Not Dying is the one that will Fix History--they've failed so far because they've been blocked, but also because they were coming at it in straight lines, one at a time, not together and not from odd angles
You guys, this show. This show is everything.
Saturday 3-28-15
Let's talk about: That Indiana Jones skit! How did they get away with that?? Oh my god, I died! We're still talking about it on Monday, and I can't remember the last time that happened on SNL. The show is still funny, but it's sort of become this collection of weird slice of life things where there's not really a plotline or a punchline, just being being strange. But with The Rock? That worked a lot better than it has with some!
Sunday 3-29-15
Let's talk about: How this is the finale??? (this slot will eventually be filled by Hell on Wheels if they come back on the same days they left on, and maybe by the "companion series" Fear of the Walking Dead (which is a lame name), but STILL) I feel simultaneously like a lot has happened and like not much has happened at all--most of this half of the season has been psychological, which has been a new and more creepy sort of horror--and maybe that's why so many people died this year all in a row; they had to make up for how there weren't any cannibals or conquering Governors by having everyone dead.
I'm still mad about Beth. And Tyreese. And Bob. And Noah. For different reasons, even, which is both impressive and annoying.
- Beth was the gentle heart of the show, so I guess she had to go so they could all be filthy and depressed again, with no hope. But she humanized Daryl and he wanted her back so badly and then she died when he barely got to say hello-I-saved-you, and it wasn't even a noble death.
- Tyreese had a very good death-episode, but he had the same problem--he was swearing off killing, he was gentle and caring, and so he was killed by the world, and it was bad.
- Bob seems to have been man-fridged, and maybe Tyreese, too--they both were all Sasha had in the world, and now she's alone and crazy with her woman-pain making her act the way men do when their women are killed off.
- And Noah! Beth died to save Noah, effectively, she got caught so that he could escape when she was almost free, too, and then he died because that other guy from Alexandria is a COWARD, and Glenn has seniority and people would riot if he died.
That's a lot of non-white dudes, too, which is alarming.
So here at the end of the season, I don't like the Alexandrians anymore, but I do like that they're finally listening to Rick when he says he knows what's what, and I'm looking forward to them building an actual strong community next season--you know, when the next outside threat comes along and ruins it for them.
I'm glad that Glenn is still good enough that he couldn't kill that guy, but he didn't really deserve that niceness.
And the other show: It looks like it's going to be in the city and that should be awesome--think of all the skyscrapers and warehouses and abandoned movie and tv lots and whatever else. There could be malls! Like, classic zombie-movie malls! It'll be a lot different than tromping around woods all the time, and the racial mix could, potentially be more diverse, too, so that should be cool. And the class mix--really awful super-rich dudes and really poor people and lots and lots of people in between. I'm bummed that the city isn't somewhere with a wildly different climate though--zombies drying out in the desert and being brittle and sharp, or freezing in the winter snows and melting out in spring would have been so cool.
Let's talk about: The last after show for ages! I hope they let Chris Hardwick host an after for Fear, or that he gets some other show in the meantime; I love this thing, where this one cute dude can put into words what we're all feeling about complex and sometimes upsetting shows. He's good at it, and he obviously loves it.
Really, I think that all high-budget or high-concept show should have an after-show. Like, even just a panel that literally only talks about what just happened--to weigh the morals, talk about the creative choices, make sense of the confusing parts, help us through the hard parts, celebrate the awesome stuff...how great would that be?
What did you guys think of this week's shows? What shows are you watching? I'm going to have a lot of space opening up in my schedule soon, since some have already ended for the season and a large chunk are ending soon!
Next week, though, I'm adding Outlander! Whoo, returning Scottish wonderfulness!
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