Monsters of Television

I know next to nothing about Supernatural. I know it has Dean from Gilmore Girls. I know it involves Dean and his brother (who is also named Dean, making this very confusing) hunting demons. I know at some point a giant teddy bear tries to commit suicide. And I know one episode takes place in a haunted hotel that is hosting a Supernatural fan convention, and people assume the two brothers are actually cosplayers, not the actual brothers. But that’s about it.

So I approach Supernatural with practically no biases or pre-conceived notions of what the show is, except for thinking that Jared Padalecki is dull to watch (he is on Gilmore Girls anyway). Unlike The Wire or Mad Men, both of which I watched this year on DVD, Supernatural wasn’t something people thought I needed to watch to be a knower of all things in contemporary American television.

And that’s exactly why I selected it. So each week (or perhaps more than that), you’ll get treated to my impressions about the series as I go through it. I’m suspecting it’ll be an episode a week, unless I’m just not that busy during a particular week, and the posts will probably go up on Saturday afternoons. So this won’t be like my Mad Men recaps which were often just impressions on a whole season. Also: Karen will be chiming in occasionally as well to give a Supernatural veteran’s take on episodes. This will hinge entirely on her interest in the episode and her schedule, but I look forward to her contributions.

So without further ado… Read more »

“The town gets together every Thursday night to watch reruns of Everwood.

Orgasmic pie and “damn fine” cider.

If you came here looking for more Twin Peaks fan service, detailing all the little references and inside jokes about the iconic series, you’ve sadly come to the wrong place. My experience with the show is severely limited to the kind of education best described as osmosis where I understand the jokes other media properties are making but have no real point of reference myself. So, instead, I’m just going to talk about Psych. Sorry.

But CNN has a good list of the references if you really want one.

It’s interesting, though, that, in its fifth season, Psych has a number of parody/homage episodes under its belt, a trend that is no more identifiable than it has been lately, what with this Twin Peaks version and the upcoming It’s a Wonderful Life take the network has been promoting for months. Careful, Psych: you’re already a show that rough-rides that line between inspired content and series-of-pop-culture-references-that-don’t-fit-together-cohesively-but-people-believe-it-does-because-it-has-a-good-message. That’s right. I’m warning you that you’re a modern pop culture reference and musical episode away from being Glee. And that is dangerous territory, my friend.

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“We’re not done yet.”

Among some of the folks I follow on Twitter, noticeably Daniel Walters and Justin Fowler,  there’s been discussion of how much impact a season finale can have on a particular season and our reception of it. Debate centered around whether or not a bad finale could hamper an otherwise strong season, or if a great finale helps elevate a murky season (see: Lost, season 3 (though it was getting progressively better before the finale, but that finale is amazing)). Likewise, a bad finale can only make a bad season seem all that worse (see: Battlestar Galactica, season 4 (at least in my opinion)).

The other central point that people discussed was the over-emphasis placed on the finale as an end-all be-all determiner of quality of a season. This is a silly mentality to take, of course. A season finale can’t wipe out all the good that has come before it (nor can a series finale for that matter (well, maybe)), and it shouldn’t be thought of as doing so.

Which is exactly the mentality I have about “The Fortress of Deception”: it may’ve been action-packed, but it wasn’t at all what the season had been leading up to recently. Read more »

“Alcohol just makes people sad. It’s like the Lifetime movie of beverages.”

One thing that has been mentioned about this season of Community is that it seems every new episode is “the best episode of Community ever.” I certainly don’t think this is true, and I don’t think “Mixology Certification” enters that discussion, either. I do, however, think that is a very good episode of the show, one whose character and setting beats work better than other episodes, like “Accounting for Lawyers” earlier this season.

Much like “Accounting for Lawyers,” “Mixology” is a remarkably standard sitcom episode, with very little in the way of what we normally think of when we think of Community. And while I do love Community for its joyful embrace of meta humor and homages, there’s something  very refreshing about watching the crackerjack cast and writers pull back from their general approach to tell a very simple, straight story.

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“I can operate a motor vehicle. I am perfectly capable of operating a JJ.”

The team-ups continue.

Jim and Steph spend their anniversary tracking down a super-powered arsonist while JJ and Daphne have to get out of a few sticky situations reminiscent of the shenanigans the Seaver kids used to get into. The important thing to take away from this, once again, is teamwork. Dynamic Duo plus Dynamic Duo equals Fantastic Four. Steph’s involvement in this episode’s crime fighting is a significant move in that direction.

So Jim (and apparently his clothing as well) is flame retardant. Good thing since this week’s villain is a fire starter. The obvious bad guy (whom I shall henceforth refer to as “Pyro” for many obvious reasons) who started the fire looks a little…off when first we meet him. Kind of reminded me of the guy from the Fringe episode “The Plateau”.

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“What do you say we find that bitch and get us a little frontier justice?”

I don’t think I’m the right person to review this episode. I hate Serena. Hate her. And so an episode where ALL OF THE MAIN CHARACTERS are concerned for her well being does not really work for me. I do love the show though, and this was not a bad episode, so I’ll give it a go. Brace for Serena hatred, which you should come to expect by now.

I was giving thanks for everyone hating Serena at the beginning of this episode, but alas, it didn’t last. Leave it to Serena to ruin everyone’s plans and make Thanksgiving all about her. Sure, she was tricked and drugged and kidnapped by Juliet and company, but still.

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“Why isn’t anyone ever just whelmed?“

I haven’t really read comic books in years, and even then I was a Marvel guy (though I’ve been reading bits of DC lately). That said, I’ve always enjoyed DC’s animated work.  Batman The Animated Series was my Batman (and his rogues gallery, of course) more than Michael Keaton’s performance or Frank Miller’s takes. While I’m not a Superman fan, I appreciated the animated series (great voice work), and the Justice League series were very good. In fact, with the exception of The Batman (interesting ideas, but never liked the execution), I’ve enjoyed most of the DC animated series.

Needless to say, I’ve been looking forward to Young Justice for a little while. Part of this stems from the above, but the behind-the-scenes crew (Greg Weisman (Gargoyles, Spectacular Spider-Man (actually pretty good if you haven’t seen it)! Please, and thank you) is very solid as well, creating a one-two punch that really can’t be denied.

The pilot 2-parter is, as expected, well-made and entertaining from an action perspective. And while only the pilot, it hints at the narrative and character richness that marked the Justice League shows. I’m pretty optimistic about the show’s development.

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“We don’t share information any more?”

It’s like the Kings decided to reward me for mainling The Wire this summer with this episode. Between listening to wiretaps, dealing with drug dealers, sifting through corrupt politicians, and a J.D. Williams cameo, “On Tap” is indeed a big splashy acknowledgment of the HBO drama.

I don’t have all that much to say about this particular episode, so this will not only be brief, but more recappy than my normal pieces. But sometimes a recap is simply more fitting of an episode than an in-depth navigation of it. In my opinion. Read more »

“You are not getting bullets for a long, long time.”

Watch out for Sarah-gator.

Chuck is the ever-expanding sinkhole that constantly sucks his friends in, collapsing any sense of self-determined purpose within them.

Morgan is the most obvious example of this, especially in the beginning seasons (before they realized that Grimes could stand on his own). His character was forever the lackey no matter how horrible Chuck was to the little bearded man. No matter what Chuck did, Morgan was always there with an undying (and increasingly unjustified) bro-code. Letting Morgan in on the spy game was almost essential. Otherwise, his character would almost be too unbelievable. Who would stick around for that much punishment?

Casey’s heart has also melted a bit under the direct light of the Chuck Effect. His cold, harsh stance on Chuck’s incessant whining and lovesick decision-making turned a corner after years of the Intersect coming through for him. He’s come to appreciate the Sarah and Chuck relationship even if it does kind of make him gag.

But, by far and away, the one most bedraggled by Chuck throughout the series (understandably) is Sarah Walker. She went from being the exalted super-spy to the pretty accessory to Chuck’s antics. Her personality has been so diluted by her time in Burbank that it’s hard to define Sarah without using Chuck as a touchstone. She’s the spy Chuck fell in love with. Though it’s good for the show that her personality has evolved over the seasons (professional and intrigued to semi-professional but willing to surrender to hurt but healing to the current, more complex, lovefool), it’s unfortunate that her power has certainly switched from being mostly on her tough spy training to being the muse to Chuck’s formerly stagnant self.

Fool, I think, is the proper term since she sounds more and more like Chuck, particularly when he has his Brunette of the Season. A focused, emotional, protocol-breaking, on-the-edge persona emerges in this episode. And I love it.

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“The time is now…Tetris?“

I am of two minds about “Operation P.R.O.M.” and I bet you can guess which ways I’m leaning.

This season has been pretty frustrating due to the long breaks between halves, the low lows, and the high highs. It’s only fitting then that this episode captures all of those joys and annoyances in a single episode. Compounding my anxiety is whether or not this is a season finale, which it is billed as or if it’s a series finale, which it very well cold be (Adult Swim hasn’t ordered a fifth season). Read more »