Monsters of Television

The way I see, she could be the salvation of #TVD. And that just may save her absolutely devastated, wasted character.

Last year, I used to complain about certain aspects of The Vampire Diaries. I would note that this world made being a vampire seem, well, kind of awesome. Like, so awesome that trying to keep any of these people human made ZERO sense. And the show’s writers seemed, themselves, completely fascinated by the life of vampires, so much so that when they tried to give Damon a more complex backstory by reminding us that he is a reluctant vampire (or was), they couldn’t make the story work. We had one episode where Damon was experiencing angst and killed someone—seeming a sharp rupture from his new life of relative abstinence. And then the show never returned to that topic at all.

I now dream of last year’s problems. The show has become so convoluted as to be worth nothing. Without any constant—without any set  of stable reference points or code—the viewer has nothing to hold onto. This becomes most problematic when all I can think when watching a character “die” or a bad buy seemingly get put out to pasture is–wait, will it stick? Should I go ahead and be impressed that the show did something bold? Nah, I shouldn’t. Cause these writers always find a loophole that undoes their bravery, rendering it less brave and more shallow.

I don’t trust these writers any more. I believe them incapable of recognizing their really interesting characters (Michael, Elijah, Mama vampire) due to their truly bizarre preferences (menace-free Klaus, whiny Rebekah, who the hell is Kol and why is he still alive?). Would I go so far as to say the Original family has ruined #TVD? I might. Because once you create a bad guy that is somewhat invincible, the story loses stakes. When a bad guy is too powerful, your characters become helpless, and weak characters are not interesting characters. Worse, when the too powerful bad guy becomes a showwriter favorite, it seems all other characters are sacrificed on his altar of mediocrity.

So here are a few reasons why Klaus should have stayed dead, and a few other deeply troubling character journeys this season. While not a complete rejection of the show, this exploration documents my growing antipathy, even while it is, in itself, an expression of love for a show that used to delight me.

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I found myself rather charmed by “The Spirit of Competition”, even if I do feel it all ends a little too neatly, romance-wise. The episode isn’t particularly high stakes, with only a passing mention or two of Tarrlok and his task force and Amon’s ambush not even registering as an event (which seems odd, but the episode has other concerns). Instead, we push forward on the romantic and pro-bending front.

This isn’t to suggest that the episode is going to be one of those episodes I’ll re-watch on a rainy (or any) day (Hi, “The Blind Bandit” and “The Drill”!), largely because the romantic entanglements don’t particularly interest me and the pro-bending plot here is pretty by-the-numbers. But, really, the episode is just do so damn funny and elements of the romantic entanglements are refreshing enough that it kind of won me over. Read more »

“This is usually when we start playing charades.”

Are we going to have go through the evolution of Young Justice all over again? I really have no desire to do that, but yet here we are with a rather unbalanced episode that hints are the show’s stronger-ish elements but is mostly the blandly generic stuff I thought the show had moved away from (Sigh. Giant mecha tanks).

As a result, “Earthlings” isn’t a terribly compelling episode. While “Happy New Year” benefited from the craziness of the time skip to distract from any particularly lacking elements, this episode has no where to hide. Read more »

“I disagree strongly with your moral calculus.”

As we move into the finale (only 13 episodes per season here it seems), things seem to be ramping up. I don’t want to suggest that the show has been spinning its wheels, but only that the show’s forward momentum hasn’t been terribly quick. Most of the show’s legitimately strong episodes have been connected the Red Lanterns in some way, showing the series may be more suited to heavier serialization than dabbling in the mix of episodic and serialized storytelling (which, really, is a much harder feat to pull off than doing only one or the other).

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“Greendale has warped me like a Barbie doll in a microwave.”

It’s to Community‘s credit that the death of Starburns wasn’t just a joke to cap off the Law & Order homage but would rather be something that carries over and has an impact on the show’s characters into the next episode. While the theme/concept episodes have largely been free of consequence this season (‘largely’ being the keyword there), I like that the consequences carry over a bit into other episodes.

But “Course Listing Unavailable” fumbles things rather badly in its attempt at, I think, doing some sort of satire about feelings of disenfranchisement and the corruption of power. The episode never arrives at a cohesive whole about those points, both  in terms of commentary or humor, leaving the episode feeling very incomplete. Read more »

“I’d enjoy aligning myself with you, Hal Jordan.”

I was not exactly thrilled when I read the description for “In Love and War,” and the episode lived up to the concerns. Which, I suppose, is better than being worse than I expected. If anything, the fact that I had a pretty good gut feeling about how the episode would play out is perhaps an indication of not only the show’s consistency but also that the show may not have many surprises in it (and say that, and I am still interested to see what happens in the next episode).

The fact is that I didn’t think that “In Love and War” had earned Carol becoming a Star Sapphire before I saw the episode, and I was pretty much correct. They did add insult to injury in how the episode concluded that particular non-story. You could argue that this was a self-fulfilling prophecy, but I like being wrong about shows. I like when they do something bold, even if I do think it’s a horrible idea. Read more »

“Why do you smell like a lady?“

These kinds of episodes irk me just a tad. This isn’t to say the episode is bad, just that it feels very much like a first-parter to me, and first-parters are always kind of lacking in the sense of feeling like both contained episodes and episodes that add to the overall serialized narrative. Yes, it ends on a cliffhanger AND a crazy flashback montage, but it feels incomplete as an episode.

But there is plenty to like in “The Voice in the Night,” including seeing how politics and the press are playing into the life of the Avatar now. We’ve gotten little tastes of this before in A:TLA, but that was mostly through Fire Nation propaganda and Aang’s concern for what is his role was in the world. Now Korra is not only having to deal with figuring out her role but also what role the world (or at least Republic City) expects of her. Read more »

“For all we know, Jesus was trying to get the fishes and loaves account.”

Times are tough.

Not a hook in sight.

There’s so much disappointment in this week’s episode of Mad Men it’s hard to even collect it in one room, even when that room is a ball room. That’s not to say Mad Men doesn’t have its share of shame/disappointment themes throughout the series but this week’s makes you feel particularly sorry for just about everyone, even Don. It was, like, a contagion brought down from Montreal by Megan’s parents.

With how humbling the season has been for so many characters, you get the sense that this year is about one man, the only dude that’s been on the top the whole time. There is no humbling him because he is so humble. There is no backstabbing him because he doesn’t care. Episode after episode, there is one man that always comes out smelling like a rose. This is the year of Ken Cosgrove.

Everyone else: you’re screwed.

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“They tried to flip it, but they didn’t put any work into it.”

Nothing ever dies, nothing ever goes away. Things can be forgiven, but they can never be forgotten. So, yes, you may keep defeating two crafty lawyers time after time, Lockhart-Gardner, but they never forget the defeats. Yes, the grand jury didn’t indict anyone, and the SA didn’t bother to try again, but the stink of judicial bribery will always be there, Will. Yes, you can run from your past, from your husband and live in a spartan, all white apartment, but he will find you, Kalinda. And, yes, Alicia, you can kick out your husband and he will fall on his sword for your professional success, but the marriage will never be fixed because neither of you seemed to really make an effort.

So no matter what you think about new days and starting over, the past is there, always lingering, always waiting for you to stop looking over your shoulder. Read more »

“Soft gig, huh?”

I was out of town this weekend, so I missed all my Saturday morning shows. I was fully content, when I arrived home very tired after 6ish hours in a car to get around to these shows after I watched and wrote about The Good Wife finale (which I missed as well). But I received a Twitter DM from someone else who watches Young Justice with the following: “And with one episode, any excitement and interest I had in Young Justice evaporated completely…” (he followed up with “Furious” today).

I wouldn’t go so far as to say that I am no longer interested (I am less excited) in Young Justice; I am interested in so far as they explain some things, but “Happy New Year” is a decidedly frustrating episode, and I can’t help but feel that it is in part motivated by a desire to sell some new toys. Read more »