Monsters of Television

“It’s the big leagues You foul a few off.”

Oh, it is on.

I talked with Cory Barker over at his blog about the season so far a couple of weeks or so ago, and one of the things we discussed was how it seemed like the show didn’t have much to tie up as it moved into its final three hours. Yeah, there’s the Kalinda/FBI/financial thing, but does anyone really really care about it? (No.) There was only the result of the infighting of Lochart /Gardner & Associates hanging over the show, and whether or not Peter would run for governor.

I don’t know about Cory, but I’m feeling really stupid for not seeing this coming a mile away. And, really, I don’t think I’ve been happier to feel this sandbagged by, well, everything. Read more »

“Ah, a lost son has returned to me.”

When I read the episode description, I was a bit worried it was too early for this particular story to play out. No one’s really been recruited (meaning no one’s officially joined the team before our original members), we haven’t checked in with the Guardians at all, and there hasn’t been much in the way of headway in the investigation in locating the Red Lanterns’ base.

That being said, the episode still works really well as a sort of conclusion for this section of the story, particularly for Razer. And it also supplies the next big concern in regards to this massive fleet that Atrocitus has waiting in the wings. A really massive fleet. Read more »

“I am shrubbery, I am not grass. What am I?”
“I am bush.”

Well damn.

Perhaps its the generally low expectations I’ve had of the show, but “Usual Suspects” really snuck up on me and gave me a nice wallop of an episode. It wasn’t only the narrative fake-out they did for the final act (which was really well-executed) or even the mole reveal (which I do have problems with, but at least that plot is over), but just the general brisk confidence of the episode, even as it introduced Rocket to the team (the show often stumbles when introducing a new team member).

For once I’m quite optimistic about the show’s future. Read more »

“This girl is crazy.”

I caught up on Avatar: The Last Airbender in a matter of weeks before the series finale. I had caught Toph’s first episode randomly a year or so before, was interested, but never pursued the show until I heard it was ending. I was working at a Blockbuster at the time and used my free rentals to watch the show in 4 episode chunks.

It was a  great experience, though sadly one I wasn’t able to share with people (no Twitter or TV blog at the time). So when folks I follow on Twitter asked for shows to catch up on, I pointed them to Avatar (depending on if they were willing to watch not only animation, but an animated show that was aimed at children). It’s a rich show with strong characters, gorgeous animation, and excellent writing that balances comedy and pathos in equal measure. It’s a show that anyone can watch and enjoy.

So, needless to say, a follow-up series to that show was pretty much the best news possible for me and a lot of other people. As news about the series started to leak out, particularly the first trailer, questions arose about what the show would be as it introduced things like cars, radios, electricity, and more blimps/airships. What role does this technology play in a world with bending? How does it affect the tone of a series that previously used technology sparingly (or in conjunction with bending)?

And those are just questions of setting. What about the characters? What’s Korra like? Who are the supporting characters? Who’s the villain (though, as we know, that’s can be a complicated question for this series)? Was it worth the wait?

The short answer, so far anyway, is an enthusiastic yes.

Read more »

“The easiest person to hate right now is you.”

"This was my worst idea since those chops in the '70s. Maybe even that mustache in the '20s. I can't be trusted with facial hair."

The best times on this show are the morning roundtables. Aidan sucks down blood from a coffee mug like a cup of joe. Josh rifles through the paper and eats breakfast as the only patron of the house who eats his food with a fork or spoon. Sally kicks up on the counter or in one of the chairs, watching the corporeal exist. They laugh, they chide, they discuss the things in their lives as if those things only ever happened to them.

And this good humor between monsters was the point of Aidan and Josh moving into the house in the first place: to have a corner of the world away from the horror of their other-worldly existences where they can commune with their inner human. While last season included only minor intrusions on that happy home (Rebecca’s occasional appearances, Josh’s maker hanging out), the season one finale obliterated their home’s hide-and-seek base quality.

Bishop’s flaming charge into unwelcome turf shattered a window and shattered their beautiful dream. This season has marked several instances where their domestic pursuit has been tread upon, maimed, bled, and haunted. If the first season was about protecting their home from the truth of their natures, this second season has been about exposing the fantasy as impossible when the house is infested with repressed nightmares.

The house has become more nest than home. But, by the end of this season finale, we see the house as more happy than it has been in some time.

Read more »

“Or are you a human mirror?”

Hello types of Community episodes that just give me warm fuzzy feelings.

And I don’t just mean that it’s a Britta-centric episode. Though that does factor in. Rather, it’s a wonderful episode, as Kelly noted, about broken people that find strength in one another.

“Origins of Vampire Mythology” provides the type of emotional moments that “Pillows & Blankets” should have provided, but failed to do so because it was too wrapped in parodying Ken Burns. Instead the episode provides nice insights into a few of our characters (insights we already knew in some capacity), and it sets up what could be some really beautiful payoffs down the road. Read more »

“I was arm wrestling Kevin Sorbo in a Canadian production of…”

Don’t Trust the B—- in Apt 23 is a painfully misleading title that really only applies to the pilot episode and is pretty much meaningless by the end of the second episode. This isn’t a criticism precisely, as lots of shows grow away from their premise, but the show’s title, like Cougar Town before it, will probably become a barrier in getting an audience to come to it.

And an audience should seek out Apt. 23. It’s not an absurdly funny show, but I find it rather likable, with a strong central performance from Krysten Ritter (who, I admit, I’ve always liked as a performer). It certainly isn’t going to light the sitcom world on fire, and there are little problems with it, but there’s enough in these first two episodes for a show to grow into something very pleasing. Read more »

“He didn’t know it was a state trooper. He just saw a man in a hat pointing a gun at Boyd.”

I fully intended to write about Justified on a week-to-week basis after I mainlined the series just before the season began. For one reason or another, I never got around to writing a post about it (though I think I started one or two). After a few stalled weeks, I simply decided to wait until the season ended and took it as  a whole.

A fair amount of digital ink has already been spilled about this season, and not just in weekly episode reviews. James Poniewozik at TIME, Todd VanDerWerff at the LA Times, and Ryan McGee have all chimed in about the quality of this season, noticeably focusing on the show’s odd qualities and the struggle to reach similar heights in season 2 linked to Margo Martindale’s Mags Bennett.

I think it’s fair to say that this episode allowed the full weight of the season’s thematic heft to land very soundly on us. Not only was the season concerned about filling vacuums and crossing lines, but it  became the paternal side of last season’s maternal emphasis: What does a father mean? Read more »

“I don’t want you to get rickets in that haunted mansion.”

"Do you think I act more like a man when I have a well-placed beer bottle?"

Mad Men will let things play out, no matter what the cost to the character, partially because they can incorporate it into a later storyline but usually because they can smooth it over by the next episode like it never happened. Think Joan’s in-office rape and Don’s entire existence.

With that in mind, we can be conditioned to believe almost anything can occur. Almost anything. They can resolve Don having his personal files reviewed by a security agency without much trouble outside of a couple panic attacks but this isn’t Being Human or Buffy or even House. There’s a limit to what can be done by a single character where the repercussions are scuttle-able.

So when a character does something beyond the realm of fixing, it throws you out of the episode. At least it threw me out so I have to decide whether the show thinks I’m an idiot or if this is supposed to mean something because they assume I’m smart enough to know what’s going on.

With that premise in mind, let’s talk about what Don didn’t do.

Read more »

“Who knew a Martian would be susceptible to a human virus?”
“Um, H.G. Wells?”

Well, we needed a Robin-centric episode before the one-two punch of the season finale kicks off and we learn all about the mole on team (or at least that’s my prediction based on upcoming episode descriptions), and I wish it were a bit stronger, but perhaps this speaks to Robin’s rather immutable nature as an iconic character that the show can’t push him in the more interesting ways it has pushed M’gann, Konner, Artemis, and even Zatanna.

But the episode has little bits of fanservice with the inclusion of Haly’s Circus (the circus Robin belonged to prior to his parents’ death) and the sudden, but always welcomed, appearance of King Faraday (voiced by Clancy Brown!!!). And the central mystery has a rather solid conclusion, even if the overall episode felt a bit scattershot. Read more »