Well, the first 3 parts of the 5 part crossover event "Crisis on Infinite Earths" have been seen and we are waiting for the final 2 hours on January 14th. I just wanted to get some of my thoughts written down now, and I will probably do another one come January 14th.
As I believe I have mentioned before, I do not read comic books. That is a little weird given how many tv shows and movies based on comics that I have watched, but I have never gotten into comics. That being said, as soon as I saw that headline about the Flash disappearing during a crisis on the pilot episode of The Flash, I started reading about "Crisis on Infinite Earths" in anticipation of the story being made for tv. Last year, when they announced that this year's crossover would be "Crisis", I was super excited, mainly because "Crisis" is one of the biggest comic book stories of all times. Even I had heard about it, even if I didn't know any details.
Reading all the spoilers coming out about who would be making cameos got me even more excited. They had previously made the 1990 version of The Flash a part of the Arrowverse, but now they have expanded that to include the Batman movies from the 1990s (Alexander Knox appeared in the first episode), the 1966 Batman tv show (Burt Ward [aka Robin] appeared in the first episode), Smallville (Tom Welling and Erica Durance appeared in the second episode), Birds of Prey from the early 2000s (the Huntress [Ashley Scott] appeared in the third episode), Lucifer (from Fox and Netflix), and Titans (from DC's streaming service). They also had Brandon Routh play Superman (albeit not the same one from Superman Returns) and they finally brought Black Lightning into a crossover. So hearing about all of these cameos (the Titans and Alexander Knox were the only ones I did not know about ahead of time) made me all the more eager to see the crossover.
I'm not going to say that the crossover has been without its flaws, but for the most part, it has been really good. I was a little disappointed in the pacing of the second (Batwoman) hour because the first hour had so much going on that when they slowed down for the second hour, it felt like everything was much less urgent. I will also say that killing Oliver Queen in the first hour was a massive surprise. I so did not expect that to happen, but it appears that his death will be a catalyst for the rest of the heroes to face the Anti-Monitor now.
I do also have to register immense annoyance and disappointment with Supergirl and how they have handled Lena Luthor. While I do get her being hurt at not being told that Kara is Supergirl, her reaction has been so out of proportion to the "offense". It feels like they wanted an excuse to turn Lena evil and seized on Kara's (totally understandable) keeping her identity a secret as a justification to have Lena turn. Let's be honest, Kara doesn't owe Lena jackshit when it comes to her identity. *NO ONE* owes complete honesty like that to anyone who is not their spouse/life partner. I just wish they could have found a better reason to cause Lena to turn if they were so determined to have her turn this way. Dunno, maybe that is just me.
Anyway, back to "Crisis". Aside from the pacing of the second hour and Lena Luthor, I have really been enjoying the crossover. From what I have read about the comics, they have hit a lot of the major plot points from the comics while still remaining true to the world that the series have created. Having the newest version of Wells be Pariah and having Lyla's call name of "Harbinger" mean what it meant in the comics has been pretty cool to watch.
I will say that there haven't been any totally standout moments from this year like there were last year. I'm not sure if that's because everything has been good or not, but there it is.
I know this hasn't been the most linear or coherent of reactions , but given the fact that we are just over halfway through the crossover and we are a month away from its end, I don't know how to react yet. Hopefully, I can get a better reaction after the crossover is completed.
On January 14th, the last two hours will play. See y'all then!
Tuesday, December 10, 2019
Wednesday, October 9, 2019
Some Thoughts About the New Shows of the Season
I have added a few new shows this season and discarded one of them within 20 minutes of the show starting. Here are some thoughts:
Stumptown: Overall it is enjoyable, but not awesome. I appreciate the sarcasm and snarkiness, but it is not what I would call "must watch" TV.
UPDATE 11/5/19: Still watching and enjoying, but it is becoming more and more of a marginal watch. It may be dumped if I can't get into it more.
UPDATE 12/12/19: Officially dumped as of 12/5/19.
Prodigal Son: My favorite new show. I enjoy procedurals and the cast here is just incredible. I am really glad that I added this one just a week or two before it premiered.
UPDATE 11/5/19: Nothing has changed. Still awesome and still watching. Definitely glad I decided to see this.
Evil: I stopped watching within 20 minutes. It was supposed to be scary and freaky, but just bored me out of my skull. Nothing about this was interesting at all.
Batwoman: I definitely enjoyed this show. After "Prodigal Son", this is my favorite new show. I am a little confused as to where this sits timeline wise (since it seems to be before the Elseworlds crossover chronologically), but I loved the pilot.
UPDATE 11/5/19: Still loving this show. It just keeps getting better and better. Well worth the watch.
Nancy Drew: The pilot was pretty boring. I wanted to like it, but had trouble staying awake through it. I will give it one more week to really get my attention, which is more than I give most shows that bore me.
UPDATE 11/5/19: Dropped this 15 minutes into the second episode. It got even worse in the second ep. I was very disappointed because this is one of the shows I was really looking forward to when it was announced earlier this year.
Stumptown: Overall it is enjoyable, but not awesome. I appreciate the sarcasm and snarkiness, but it is not what I would call "must watch" TV.
UPDATE 11/5/19: Still watching and enjoying, but it is becoming more and more of a marginal watch. It may be dumped if I can't get into it more.
UPDATE 12/12/19: Officially dumped as of 12/5/19.
Prodigal Son: My favorite new show. I enjoy procedurals and the cast here is just incredible. I am really glad that I added this one just a week or two before it premiered.
UPDATE 11/5/19: Nothing has changed. Still awesome and still watching. Definitely glad I decided to see this.
Evil: I stopped watching within 20 minutes. It was supposed to be scary and freaky, but just bored me out of my skull. Nothing about this was interesting at all.
Batwoman: I definitely enjoyed this show. After "Prodigal Son", this is my favorite new show. I am a little confused as to where this sits timeline wise (since it seems to be before the Elseworlds crossover chronologically), but I loved the pilot.
UPDATE 11/5/19: Still loving this show. It just keeps getting better and better. Well worth the watch.
Nancy Drew: The pilot was pretty boring. I wanted to like it, but had trouble staying awake through it. I will give it one more week to really get my attention, which is more than I give most shows that bore me.
UPDATE 11/5/19: Dropped this 15 minutes into the second episode. It got even worse in the second ep. I was very disappointed because this is one of the shows I was really looking forward to when it was announced earlier this year.
Monday, May 20, 2019
My thoughts about Game of Thrones
Having watched this show from the beginning, I know I had a lot of expectations for the final season. I knew there would be a big battle in the North against the White Walkers. I knew we would have a battle for King's Landing and the Iron Throne. All of that happened.
Up until the second to last episode, I was totally with the show. I may not have liked everything that happened, but it followed an internal logic that I could go with. As I believe I have said before, I am a big proponent of watching a show on the writer's terms. After all, it is their sandbox and they are allowing us in to play, so the fans shouldn't dictate how a show unfolds.
My issue with the second to last episode stemmed from the fact that Daenerys' torching of Kings Landing and killing thousands of innocents civilians was not in character for her. In the past she has been ruthless, granted. But there is a difference between being ruthless and being a sociopath and murderer. While I may not have liked that she burned the Tarly's alive after they surrendered, it made sense in terms of how she developed. If you were her enemy, she destroyed you. But how were the innocents of Kings Landing her enemies? Also, she had taken great pains in the past to help those who were on the lower end of the socioeconomic rung, so killing them all made no sense. And her explanation that she killed them because of Cersei's actions? Freaking ridiculous. I could see that excuse if she had only launched an assault on the Red Keep and some civilians died, but the deliberate targeting of them made no sense based on what we had seen of her.
Honestly, once we reached the point where she died, I really didn't care anymore. And I hate that because she has always been on of my favorite characters. She and Arya have always been awesome and I also loved Sansa once she outgrew her annoying "I must defend my beloved Joffrey!" phase (pretty much the end of the first season).
As for the ending, I liked it for the most part, but there were several "WTF!" moments (and not in a good way).
[1] Arya leaving her family and going west made no sense.
[2] Is Jon the new King Beyond the Wall?
[3] Why did everyone just acquiesce to Sansa splitting the North off from the rest of the 6 Kingdoms?
[4] Bran as king? Really? Ok......
[5] Bronn as Master of Coin? Why? What possible qualifications could he have?
I think my major problem with the last season is that the disposed of the battle with the dead in one episode and then had one episode followed by the Battle for King's Landing complete with character assassination. I know they had limited time, but they really should have used it better somehow.
Overall, I thought the series was a good one, but the last two episodes are really making me question if I can (or even want to!) rewatch the show ever again. Knowing how badly the end will be, do I really want to ruin the rest of a show that started so marvelously? And then there is the question of any prequel shows. If they are from completely different creators, I will possibly consider watching them, but I do not think I can watch anything from Benioff and Weiss ever again. Maybe my views will change with time, but I honestly don't know. There has been so much stuff written about the last season, and I suggest you read it because it is a lot more eloquent than I am. I know that I feel like I devoted a very long period of time to the show only to have it pull shock for the sake of shock (in other words for no plot reason) in the last stretch. And that feels incredibly disrespectful to the fans.
Up until the second to last episode, I was totally with the show. I may not have liked everything that happened, but it followed an internal logic that I could go with. As I believe I have said before, I am a big proponent of watching a show on the writer's terms. After all, it is their sandbox and they are allowing us in to play, so the fans shouldn't dictate how a show unfolds.
My issue with the second to last episode stemmed from the fact that Daenerys' torching of Kings Landing and killing thousands of innocents civilians was not in character for her. In the past she has been ruthless, granted. But there is a difference between being ruthless and being a sociopath and murderer. While I may not have liked that she burned the Tarly's alive after they surrendered, it made sense in terms of how she developed. If you were her enemy, she destroyed you. But how were the innocents of Kings Landing her enemies? Also, she had taken great pains in the past to help those who were on the lower end of the socioeconomic rung, so killing them all made no sense. And her explanation that she killed them because of Cersei's actions? Freaking ridiculous. I could see that excuse if she had only launched an assault on the Red Keep and some civilians died, but the deliberate targeting of them made no sense based on what we had seen of her.
Honestly, once we reached the point where she died, I really didn't care anymore. And I hate that because she has always been on of my favorite characters. She and Arya have always been awesome and I also loved Sansa once she outgrew her annoying "I must defend my beloved Joffrey!" phase (pretty much the end of the first season).
As for the ending, I liked it for the most part, but there were several "WTF!" moments (and not in a good way).
[1] Arya leaving her family and going west made no sense.
[2] Is Jon the new King Beyond the Wall?
[3] Why did everyone just acquiesce to Sansa splitting the North off from the rest of the 6 Kingdoms?
[4] Bran as king? Really? Ok......
[5] Bronn as Master of Coin? Why? What possible qualifications could he have?
I think my major problem with the last season is that the disposed of the battle with the dead in one episode and then had one episode followed by the Battle for King's Landing complete with character assassination. I know they had limited time, but they really should have used it better somehow.
Overall, I thought the series was a good one, but the last two episodes are really making me question if I can (or even want to!) rewatch the show ever again. Knowing how badly the end will be, do I really want to ruin the rest of a show that started so marvelously? And then there is the question of any prequel shows. If they are from completely different creators, I will possibly consider watching them, but I do not think I can watch anything from Benioff and Weiss ever again. Maybe my views will change with time, but I honestly don't know. There has been so much stuff written about the last season, and I suggest you read it because it is a lot more eloquent than I am. I know that I feel like I devoted a very long period of time to the show only to have it pull shock for the sake of shock (in other words for no plot reason) in the last stretch. And that feels incredibly disrespectful to the fans.
Thursday, May 16, 2019
2019-2020 TV Schedule
It's that time of year again. All of the TV networks have released their schedule, so here is my TV schedule for the fall. It is a lot lighter than in the past, mainly because most new shows are not looking interesting to me. I also have 4 shows ending this year: Arrow, Supernatural, Blindspot, and Madam Secretary.
Sunday
8 pm - Batwoman (CW, premieres 10/6) [New Show]
9 pm - Supergirl (CW, premieres 10/6)
10 pm - Madam Secretary (CBS, Final season, premieres 10/6)
Monday
9 pm - Black Lightning (CW, premieres 10/21)
10 pm - The Good Doctor (ABC, premieres 9/23)
Tuesday
8 pm - The Flash (CW, premieres 10/8) and The Conners (ABC, premieres 10/24)
9 pm - Arrow (CW, Final Season, premieres 10/15) and This Is Us (NBC, premieres 9/24)
Wednesday
9 pm - Nancy Drew (CW, premieres 10/9) [New Show]
9:30 pm - Single Parents (ABC, premieres 9/25)
10 pm - Stumptown (ABC, premieres 9/25) [New Show]
Thursday
8 pm - Supernatural (CW, Final Season, premieres 10/10)
9 pm - Legacies (CW, premieres 10/10) and The Good Place (NBC, Final season, premieres 9/26)
Friday
8 pm - Charmed (CW, premieres 10/11) and The Blacklist (NBC, premieres 10/4)
Midseason
Blindspot (NBC, Final Season), MacGyver (CBS), The 100 (CW), DC's Legends of Tomorrow (CW), Roswell, New Mexico (CW)
Sunday
8 pm - Batwoman (CW, premieres 10/6) [New Show]
9 pm - Supergirl (CW, premieres 10/6)
10 pm - Madam Secretary (CBS, Final season, premieres 10/6)
Monday
9 pm - Black Lightning (CW, premieres 10/21)
10 pm - The Good Doctor (ABC, premieres 9/23)
Tuesday
8 pm - The Flash (CW, premieres 10/8) and The Conners (ABC, premieres 10/24)
9 pm - Arrow (CW, Final Season, premieres 10/15) and This Is Us (NBC, premieres 9/24)
Wednesday
9 pm - Nancy Drew (CW, premieres 10/9) [New Show]
9:30 pm - Single Parents (ABC, premieres 9/25)
10 pm - Stumptown (ABC, premieres 9/25) [New Show]
Thursday
8 pm - Supernatural (CW, Final Season, premieres 10/10)
9 pm - Legacies (CW, premieres 10/10) and The Good Place (NBC, Final season, premieres 9/26)
Friday
8 pm - Charmed (CW, premieres 10/11) and The Blacklist (NBC, premieres 10/4)
Midseason
Blindspot (NBC, Final Season), MacGyver (CBS), The 100 (CW), DC's Legends of Tomorrow (CW), Roswell, New Mexico (CW)
Monday, March 18, 2019
Some Thoughts on Buffy the Vampire Slayer- Season 3
I am currently rewatching the show Buffy the Vampire Slayer on Hulu and just finished Season 3 last night. While I was watching Season 3, it occurred to me that there were no episodes that I dislike or dread reseeing in that season. In fact, I think it is the only season with that particular distinction.
Season 1, as a whole, was a mess. I get that the show was in its first season and just getting its feet underneath it, but it was still a mess. It had "Teacher's Pet" and "I Robot...You Jane", both of which were majorly cringeworthy in my opinion.
Season 2 had "Bad Eggs" and "Ted" which are at the absolute bottom of my list of BtVS episodes. I only watch them because I am rewatching the whole series, otherwise I would just as happily pretend that neither of them exists. Other parts of Season 2 were awesome: the introductions of Spike, Dursilla, Angelus, and Kendra; "What's My Line" Parts 1 and 2; and the start of Xander/Cordelia among them. But the season as a whole was tremendously uneven.
Season 4 was just pretty bad overall. Adam was not the best villain, although the final fight between the ComboBuffy and Adam was absolutely awesome as was the episode "Restless". It also introduced Tara, who was absolutely awesome. There were other high points scattered throughout, but (as a whole) the season was just not that good.
Season 5 was mostly good, but it had some not so great episodes, mainly "Into the Woods" and "Buffy vs. Dracula". I know a lot of people like the latter, but I never really have. Season 5 has a large number of excellent episodes and Glory, one of the best villains the show produced. It also had "The Body", which was one of the best episodes of the show. It was a heartbreaking episode, but it handled the topic really well and had some awesome technical aspects.
Season 6, like 2 and 4, was wildly uneven. It had "Doublemeat Palace", which rivals "Ted" and "Bad Eggs" for the worst episode of BtVS ever. I was also not terribly fond of the whole magic addiction storyline, even if it did lead to DarkWillow and Xander managing to save the world. It also brought us "Once More With Feeling" which is the best episode of the show, bar none.
Season 7 was the closest to Season 3 in terms of its evenness. It was very slow to get started, and I hated the way everyone kicked Buffy out of her own house, but the First was a nifty villain and Caleb was a marvelous invention. And then there was the fight in the series finale. It rivaled "Graduation Day: Part 2" and "The Gift" in terms of how massive and sweeping the fight was.
But when you look at Season 3, it introduced us to Faith, Wesley, the Watcher's Council, and Anya; all of whom would be very important to BtVS or Angel (or both!) as time moved on. It also gave us the Mayor, who was easily one of the best villains, and Mr. Trick who was totally cool. It also setup Angel, brought Joyce fully into the Slaying world, and gave us "Band Camp" which gave Giles/Joyce shippers something to cheer for. I could keep naming awesome episodes from the season, but I would then name most of them. The only episodes I am not super fond of were still pretty good: "Anne" and "Dead Man's Party". The rest of the episodes, particularly: "The Wish", "Dopplegangland", "Band Candy", and the entire last half of the season were very, very, very well done.
I know not everyone is going to agree with me, and I am cool with that. This is my take and what I think of the seasons....
Season 1, as a whole, was a mess. I get that the show was in its first season and just getting its feet underneath it, but it was still a mess. It had "Teacher's Pet" and "I Robot...You Jane", both of which were majorly cringeworthy in my opinion.
Season 2 had "Bad Eggs" and "Ted" which are at the absolute bottom of my list of BtVS episodes. I only watch them because I am rewatching the whole series, otherwise I would just as happily pretend that neither of them exists. Other parts of Season 2 were awesome: the introductions of Spike, Dursilla, Angelus, and Kendra; "What's My Line" Parts 1 and 2; and the start of Xander/Cordelia among them. But the season as a whole was tremendously uneven.
Season 4 was just pretty bad overall. Adam was not the best villain, although the final fight between the ComboBuffy and Adam was absolutely awesome as was the episode "Restless". It also introduced Tara, who was absolutely awesome. There were other high points scattered throughout, but (as a whole) the season was just not that good.
Season 5 was mostly good, but it had some not so great episodes, mainly "Into the Woods" and "Buffy vs. Dracula". I know a lot of people like the latter, but I never really have. Season 5 has a large number of excellent episodes and Glory, one of the best villains the show produced. It also had "The Body", which was one of the best episodes of the show. It was a heartbreaking episode, but it handled the topic really well and had some awesome technical aspects.
Season 6, like 2 and 4, was wildly uneven. It had "Doublemeat Palace", which rivals "Ted" and "Bad Eggs" for the worst episode of BtVS ever. I was also not terribly fond of the whole magic addiction storyline, even if it did lead to DarkWillow and Xander managing to save the world. It also brought us "Once More With Feeling" which is the best episode of the show, bar none.
Season 7 was the closest to Season 3 in terms of its evenness. It was very slow to get started, and I hated the way everyone kicked Buffy out of her own house, but the First was a nifty villain and Caleb was a marvelous invention. And then there was the fight in the series finale. It rivaled "Graduation Day: Part 2" and "The Gift" in terms of how massive and sweeping the fight was.
But when you look at Season 3, it introduced us to Faith, Wesley, the Watcher's Council, and Anya; all of whom would be very important to BtVS or Angel (or both!) as time moved on. It also gave us the Mayor, who was easily one of the best villains, and Mr. Trick who was totally cool. It also setup Angel, brought Joyce fully into the Slaying world, and gave us "Band Camp" which gave Giles/Joyce shippers something to cheer for. I could keep naming awesome episodes from the season, but I would then name most of them. The only episodes I am not super fond of were still pretty good: "Anne" and "Dead Man's Party". The rest of the episodes, particularly: "The Wish", "Dopplegangland", "Band Candy", and the entire last half of the season were very, very, very well done.
I know not everyone is going to agree with me, and I am cool with that. This is my take and what I think of the seasons....
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