Hell on Wheels - Pilot, S01E01

Hell on Wheels is one hell of a title. Makes me think of motorbikes and street gangs. Which is not at all what this show is about. It's a period piece, taking place in the States after the Civil War, and it focuses on the construction of the rail road. It's gritty and dirty, very curious and interesting, but in the long run not something I want to stick with.

I liked the concept. A man lost his wife during the war because some enemy soldiers did not conduct themselves like gentlemen when they took over the farm, and naturally he plans to seek vengeance on all the bastards who hurt her. By the end of the episode, he discovers that there was another man involved, but he doesn't know his name, so that certainly sets up a path for the show to follow.

Meanwhile, you've got a skeevey politician trying to build the railroad, and you really can't like him, which has apparently become popular these days. Come on! I don't want to watch shows about people I don't like. I want to love the heroes, and love to hate the bad guys, or hate to love them. But feeling mostly indifferent with a dash of distaste is not going to make me watch a program.

Also, there was a charming young woman and her loving husband who were attacked by a group of blood-thirsty red Indians. And I use those words knowing full well what they imply because frankly this group was right out of those monstrous stories told about Native Americans. I'm surprised that no one had a fit about it. I'm not saying that the Native Americans never killed any Europeans anymore than no Europeans ever killed Native Americans, but the scene was far to violent for my tastes. It was brutal and seemed absolutely pointless, and the attackers came across as really really awful.

And that's what it came down to, for me. I love a good period piece, and I appreciate when a show does adhere to the mores of the time period. I don't need things sugar-coated. But I also don't need to watch a blood bath.

Grimm - Pilot, S01E01

An interesting concept - the decendants of the Brothers Grimm are able to see things that the rest of us can't. They recognize the...we'll call them demons for lack of a better word. Turns out the Big Bad Wolf is a species of men with animalistic tendencies and an obsession with red hoodies.

I liked the pilot. It was scary at points. Very scary in fact. A good combination of the scary with the campy. Because Grimm fairy tales coming to life is nothing if not a little campy. I really like the idea of our hero, Nick (David Giuntoli) teaming up with a wolf, Eddie (Silas Weir Mitchell). Sure, these are the monsters which haunt our nightmares, but perhaps they are not so given over to the side of them that gives us the willies.

As to where it is going...well, I've only watched the first two episodes at this point, although 4 have aired, and it did get a full seasons pick up, which is always a good thing...so going somewhere it must be.

First episode, Little Red Riding Hood. Second, Goldilocks and the Three Bears. And there are a lot more Grimm fairy tales to go through, though not all are as famous or well known as these. So the question is whether they will continue to follow a theme of one story per episode, or will a larger plot take over. And will that larger plot have anything to do with the fairy tales as we know them?

Once Upon a Time - Pilot, S01E01

I love fairy tales. Always have, probably always will. And so I am on board to watch this show. Yet I wasn't as thrilled with the pilot as I had hoped. Perhaps we need to wait a few more episodes until we really get into things. Really great stories sometimes need a bit of a runway to bring them up to full speed.

Emma Swan (Jennifer Morrison) I loved. Okay, I wasn't wild about the name, since swan is just a little too Twilight for me, but let's not focus on that. She's a bondswoman, not afraid to use her feminin wiles to achieve her goal, and she's got this incredible gift of always knowing when she's being lied to. But she has major abandonment issues from growing up an orphan, and also has no friends. This is not a boring, one-dimensional hero. Yay!

Then we have her son, Henry (Jared Gilmore), who appears on her front door on her 28th birthday, just as she blows out a birthday candle wishing she did not have to spend the evening alone. I suppose every fairy tale needs a child's faith togive it full power, and he's a pretty good reason for Emma to go to Storybrook, Maine, where her future awaits.

So far so good...except as we are learning about the current state of affairs, we are also finding out how our fairy tale heroes got themselves stuck in our modern world. I can't say how I felt about Snow White (Ginnifer Goodwin) and Prince Charming (Josh Dallas). I loved when Charming got their baby into the wardrobe to save her, fighting off enemy soldiers while wielding a sword in one hand and holding his child in the other. Also, having him get stabbed did really give a sense that the Happily Ever Afters were coming to an end. But I couldn't help but think a lot of it was a little cheesy.

Fairy tales can be cheesy. Enchanted certainly does a wonderful job of showing us the pitfalls of love at first sight, as well as the reasons why poofy dresses just aren't practical. The 10th Kingdom never shied away from story references and commentary. But in Once Upon a Time, they lacked a classy modern gloss across the fairy tale world, and yet never acknowledged the silly romanticism of Snow White's rediculous dresses or The Evil Queen (Lana Parrilla)'s Force-like powers.

The fairy tale world looked like something out of a 50s tv show. Too bad it's not the 50s anymore, and without winking at the audience about the choice, it just seemed as though it had not been carefully thought through.

But, we aren't going to hang around in that cheesy world too much. Instead, Emma's got to help people in the here and now.

So the big question that remains is how is the Evil Queen winning? Sure she's mayor of the town, but she doesn't seem that happy. Does she remember where they all came from, or was she just as much a victim as the others? And why on earth did a woman like that decide adoption was a good idea?

I'll continue to tune in to find out.

Boss - Listen, Pilot, S01E01

Considering that Boss was renewed for a second season before it even premiered, expectations for this pilot were pretty high. And certainly the quality was there. I can't complain about the storytelling, the acting, or the cinematography. I can, however, complain about the show itself.

Why should I watch a show were all the characters are manipulative jerks completley out for their own interests?

Kelsey Grammer's Tom Kane is an ass. He may be dying of some bizarre ailment which is certainly going to be problimatic while he remains Mayor, but I'm not going to like him simply because he's sick. It's his actions in life that matter - his intimidation techniques to accomplish his political goals, his violent tendancies, his astrangement from wife and daughter. This guy has no redeeming qualities, except perhaps that he is quite smart and capable, but as he is using those for all the wrong reasons, I really can't care.

And he is the lead character of the show. The rest of the cast is equally corrupt and irreverant. Just what the daughter is doing as a pastor who buys drugs, I cannot say, and nor, frankly do I care. I care no more about the wife who may be trying to help children get better education but is more concerned about appearances than results. And the one character I did like, the doctor who diagnoses Kane, well, what does she get for her trouble of being a good person and an honest doctor? She gets drugged so that she knows that people can get close to her and her son and hurt them if she screws up. I suppose in a world so full of mean spirited people, it's impossible to believe that she would have stuck to her vows without coersion, but if I were her, I'd be so much more tempted to speak out of interests of self-preservation now that I'd been threatened.

So I spent an hour watching this show, during which I really started to question my resolve to stick to watching entire episodes when I really don't care. Next time, I'm not going to waste my time.

The Walking Dead - What Lies Ahead, S02E01 - Premiere

How I missed my zombie action! A mostly great start to the season, although I would have liked to see somebody fall victim to the horde, but I suppose I will accept the shocking ending of the episode as a decent reminder that the stakes are and remain high. No one is safe.

I really liked where this episode took place - travelling along a highway, somewhere in the country but who can really say where, with all these signs of disaster. Why did all these cars get stuck here? Why are there so many dead bodies in the cars who never arose as zombies? What happened here? And yet none of that matters anymore; it's all about what will happen here, what still can happen here.

Our heroes continue to try to find a balance between humanity and survival. The road is a graveyard, a battleground riddled with corpses. It has been so long since it was normal to remove the boots from a dead body simply because they were too good quality to waste. For centuries, need required us to give little respect to the dead we did not know, but in North America, that need is no longer prevalent. Yet, post-zombie apocalypse, that need has returned. To survive, no qualms can be suffered regarding robbing the dead - after all, the dead have no qualms about eating our flesh.

As I said, I was disappointed that no one died when that massive horde of zombies passed through. Lucky, weren't they, that no zombies noticed Sophia (Madison Lintz) until most had gone. Had the horde come after here, they would know where she is at this moment, and feel far worse about it. T-dog (IronE Singleton) got off easy with that extremely ugly cut he gave himself. It was nasty, and bleeding, and SO gross. Good thing there was so much death around that the zombies could not smell the fresh meat through it. Daryl (Norman Reedus) may be my favourite character. Sure, I love Rick (Andrew Lincoln), and I think he is awesome too, but Daryl is so badass. Stabbing a zombie in the back of the head with a crossbow bolt, then throwing corpses on T-Dog and himself...I loved it.

My favourite scene, of course, was when Rick and Daryl dissected that zombie to be certain it had not eaten Sophia. Disgusting. I was practically gagging, but it was so wonderfully done. Exactly the kind of thing that keeps me watching this show.

After that, the episode did get a little monologue-y. There are other ways to do exposition, guys. But I suppose we needed to get some of that info out there.

So now we wait until next week to see what's going to happen next. Are Shane (Jon Bernthal) and Andrea (Laurie Holden) going to leave the group together? Will they find Sophia? Will Karl (Chandler Riggs) survive being shot? And will zombies eat somebody soon, please?

American Horror Story - Pilot, S01E01

I slept with the light on after watching this pilot.

American Horror Story is creepy. You spend half of it in suspense, and the other half covering your eyes. And all you know is that there is something very very wrong with that house, but who can say what it is. Frankly, I want to know, but I'm not sure I really want to find out.

The show certainly does its job of freaking its viewers out, and the only concern I have for it is how it will maintain that. Do I really want to subject myself to terror every week? Can I stand not knowing what is going on, what might happen next from week to week? Can they keep up the fear I feel, and do I really want them to? These are factors we will have to examine over the next few episodes.

What I do like is how original it feels. Sure, the concept is standard - wounded family moves into new house to start over, but the house is evil and haunted. It's been done many times before.
But it's still different. What is with that maid? The women see her as an old hag, but Ben (Dylan McDermott) sees one hot redhead who is bent on seducing him. And the neighbour, Constance (Jessica Lange), threatened to kill her again? What exactly did that mean?

What part in the horror going on in that house does Constance play? Is she a ghost too, or something worse? And Tate (Evan Peters) is equally baffling. How did he end up as Ben's patient if he's not real? Or is the house just messing with some poor unbalanced kid?

And so we wait and watch and discover new things, all the while leaving our nerves in a raw state of anxiety. But I will go back to the well, as long as the storytelling remains as fantastic. I will stick with it, even though it frightens me.

The Season So Far

It's mid October, and while we are still waiting on the premieres and pilots of a few shows - Walking Dead, Chuck, Grimm, Boss, and Once Upon a Time - most of the new series have been on long enough to form an opinion on whether they are worth it.

As previously mentioned, I liked the Playboy Club, although it was the first casualty of the season, but like many other people, I never got past the pilot.

Other shows that I did not bother watching more than one episode of were Unforgettable, Revenge, Charlie's Angels, Person of Interest, Prime Suspect, A Gifted Man, and Hart of Dixie.

I thought Revenge, Charlie's Angels, A Gifted Man, and Hart of Dixie were absolutely atrocious. I'm rather disappointed with the popularity of Revenge, and while I give CW a lot of credit for ordering full seasons to give viewers a better sense of security, Hart of Dixie did not deserve it.

As for the others, I will give Person of Interest special mention. I did not dismiss watching it after the pilot. Indeed, I have the second episode ready to go whenever I want. But with all the other shows on my roster, plus all the old series like the West Wing to catch up on, it just didn't make the cut.

Shows that did make the cut were Ringer, The Secret Circle, Pan Am, Terra Nova, and American Horror Story.

Ringer and The Secret Circle I watch because, well, I like Sarah Michelle Gellar and I like witches. I really need to catch up on Vampire Diaries. I realize I am in my late 20s now, but I still like the same kinds of shows I did when I was 15...and really, I wouldn't mind being 15 again. In some respects.

Pan Am and Terra Nova, while one is a period piece and the other a futuristic-blast-into-the-past dinosaur show, are both just fun. They make me smile and I have a great time while I am watching them. So worth my time.

American Horror Story, the only one of these shows that I watch with my boyfriend, although he did sit through multiple pilots with me, I watch because it is excellent. It is well written, well acted, and well filmed. It's scary as hell (which means that I actually need my man beside me to protect me while watching it), but it is terrific too.

Now, the "old" favourites that I am sticking with are

Castle - which has delivered entertaining mysteries with just a bit of a darker flavour than pervious seasons, as expected;

Big Bang Theory - which is still exactly what a sitcom is supposed to be;

The Mentalist - where I am hoping that Rigsby (Owain Yeoman) and Grace (Amanda Righetti) will get back together this season;

Boardwalk Empire - which is not living up to the standard it set in season 1, but which i am hoping will improve since it has already been renewed for a third season

Dexter - which only disappointed me once, and season 3 is a while ago now

If I could find the time, I would catch up on Vampire Diaries, Supernatural, Fringe, and The Good Wife, as well.

So that is the current overview of what's worth watching out there. Do you share my opinions? Is there a show you can't believe I watch? A show you can't believe I don't watch? Let me know

Pan Am - Pilot, S01E01

It starts with a gimick - who doesn't want to watch a show about 4 gorgeous women in the 60s breaking out from traditional roles to do something wonderful like travel the world. And then we add substance - what does it truly mean to have a life where you are always going to a new place, where the only thing you can count on is change? Add some CIA intregue and a dash of romance and broken hearts, and you have a show that I can't wait to watch every week.

Sure, the characters are pretty stereotypical. Maggie (Christina Ricci) wants to do more than travel the world - she wants to change it. And she's not going to conform to expectations or the rules either. Colette (Karine Vanasse) is the exotic flavour, a french girl who favours surprises as long as they aren't that the man she was sleeping with is married. Then we have sisters, Laura (Margot Robbie) who ran away from home and her wedding to discover herself, and Kate (Kelli Garner) who left home to do what she wanted in the first place and now feels a little cramped by her sister.

But, hey, I'm not looking for uniqueness here. I'm looking for sheer entertainment. I want to be interested, amused, enthralled, and if occassionally it's a little predictable, I can live with that. But, regardless, I don't actually know what the direction and feel of the whole season is going to be like. I can't wait to find out!

Dexter - Those Kinds of Things, S06E01

I did not think that anyone could be so creepy as John Lithgow as the Trinity Killer, but Edward James Olmos and Colin Hanks may give him a run for his money this season. The master-apprentice serial killer bond is one we have not explored fully, despite Dexter (Michael C. Hall)'s dabbling in it in various manners. It also gives us many possibilities for seasonal development since we are dealing with two men, instead of one, but Dexter and Miami PD don't know that yet.

Otherwise, we seem to have returned to the status quo. Dexter is back to killing other murderers and serial killers, and things are going well since his new baby sitter lives next door and really doesn't mind his frequent absences. She chalks his odd behaviour off to still mourning his wife. Angel (David Zayas) and Maria (Lauren Valez) are divorced already, but still have a running tension between them. Maria has been manipulating her way towards promotions, and may help Angel climb the ladder as well.

My favourite development is between Quinn (Desmond Harrington) and Deb (Jennifer Carpenter). As soon as the arguments started, I knew that Quinn was planning on proposing. I think these two are so well suited for each other, and I hope that Quinn's attempts to propose continue to get delayed until he does it right. Was he really going to ask her in that bar?

So the developments this season are likely to be very interesting, with a strong spiritual theme to them. I loved Dexter's conversation about God with Angel. Not everyone is able to be eloquent about their beliefs. And when Dexter went to speak to that nun to get his son in daycare, and she was so impressed that he bothered to come in person, while it never occurred to Dexter that he was doing anything that was unusual. Indeed, if he realized how markedly different his attempts to always do the right thing made him, he probably would not bother.

What are your thoughts on the new season?

Hart of Dixie - Pilot, S01E01

The thing about train wrecks is that while they are horrible, you simply can't look away. Hart of Dixie didn't even have that going for it. Again, like A Gifted Man, I found myself slugging through the episode out of a sense of duty. I WILL watch all drama premieres, regardless of whether or not I think I will like them. Sometimes they surprise you. The surprise I got with Hart of Dixie was how bloody awful it was.

I hated Zoe Hart (Rachel Bilson)! I completely agreed with her chief of staff - the girl had the bedside manner of a newt. Perhaps that is an insult to newts.

She was just a boring, idiotic, stuck-up and self-centred twit. How am I supposed to like a character like that? Granted many of the other people in the town were equally jerks, but when the lead isn't likable, we have a problem.

Plus, as a girl who grew up in a small town, I don't like the backwaters way we're being represented. I mean, sure, Zoe's judgments are presented to make her look like a bigot (again, not a word I should be using for the hero), but Lemon Breeland (Jaime King) is so much the stereotypical former prom queen that still thinks she's awesome cause she never left home cliche I couldn't stand it. And what kind of a stupid name for a girl like that is LEMON.

So all I can say is terrible! Come on, CW, Hellcats was way better than this. And so is Nikita! If you are going to cancel something, at least replace it with a show I would consider an improvement. No wonder One Tree Hill keeps getting renewed. And Hart of Dixie is not the next One Tree Hill.

Boardwalk Empire - 21, S02E01 - Premiere

The return of Boardwalk Empire didn't feel so much like a return as a continuation. It's back on, I'm back to watching it to find out what happens next, and it's continuing the story from about where we left off. As an episode, it was what we expect, but as a premiere it was a bit dry.

The set up for the season happened in the season finale. Nucky (Steve Buscemi) is still running Atlanta, while his brother Eli (Shea Whigham) and the boy he raised, Jimmy (Michael Pitt), may or may not be conspiring to take it all away from him. By the end of the episode, I remained unsure of which course of action they planned to take.

Nucky's relationship with Margaret (Kelly Macdonald) remains strained. Clearly neither of them is actually getting what they want out of it, though I'm not sure of exactly what that is. But they are in a much healthier relationship than what Agent Nelson (Michael Shannon) has going on with his wife, or with the chick he knocked up.

There was a fair amount going on, especially in regards to the racial conflicts of Black and White communities, but it's not until the end that something tangible really happened. And I'm not even sure where they are going to take Nucky's arrest for fixing an election.

I'm happy to keep watching this show, as I do like it very much, but I was a little disappointed that the premiere didn't stand out from an average episode of the series.

The Playboy Club - Cancelled

The Playboy Club was the first series this season to get cut after only 3 episodes, soon followed by Free Agents, a sitcom. Both were produced by NBC, a network with constant complaints from fans who say they don't give shows a chance. But the ratings for The Playboy Club were lower than the decolletage of the bunnies, so you can't really blame them.

I truly enjoyed the pilot of this show, and found it has a lot more going for it than most of the other shows which premiered this season. A lot of people who saw the pilot liked it, in fact. Too bad so few people watched in the first place. If you start low, you aren't getting any higher. It takes a lot of buzz and interest for ratings to grow, and if your pilot gives numbers that are likely to get it cancelled, no one new is going to check you out.

I didn't even get around to seeing the second episode yet, and now I doubt I'll both with it or the third, but that decision probably came before the show was cancelled. I didn't watch it when it was on - it was in competition with Castle - and when it came time to choose what I would watch in my spare time, The Playboy Club simply didn't get priority. Who's going to make the effort for something that's not even going to get it's 13-episode order on the air?

What are your feelings on this shows cancellation?

Prime Suspect - Pilot, S01E01

Although it's quite rough around the edges, I actually found myself enjoying this show by the end of the pilot. Unfortunately, I really don't get the premise. Hardworking female cop utterly surrounded by bully males? Are you kidding me? Affirmative action and sexual discrimination suits would be all over this thing.

Jane Timoney (Maria Bello) is a tough-as-nails cop trying to do her job well and coming up against a lot off resistance from the men she works with. They could have played it that she doesn't have the greatest of people skills, refuses to back down when she believes she's right, and won't ever cater to someone else's ego - those things are actually still true, but the impression given as to why she's having such a hard time at work isn't because she's a bitch but because the guys she works with are all sexist dicks.

And that's also one of the problems with the show. All the characters are jerks. You have a hard time liking most of them, even Jane who's the hero. By the end of the pilot, I liked her, but that was because there was method to her madness. Her ways work, they achieved the goals necessary, and she never compromises who she is or what her values are to get these things. That doesn't mean that I don't understand why other people would have such issues with her. The rest of the characters continued to come off as either dicks or putzes.

So, while the show is decently done and probably has an interesting and possibly even worthwhile route to follow, it's not for me. Was it for you?

Terra Nova - Genesis 1 & 2, Pilot, S01E01-02

Amazing! I absolutely loved this show. Distopian future meets time travel meets fresh start with dinosaurs. Crazy and exactly the kind of premise I can get behind. Plus, with the right amount of emotional family connections and more than a dash of mystery, who wouldn't enjoy this show?

Granted the CGI dinosaurs aren't exactly amazing. It's like they tried a little too hard to make them awesome, but didn't quite have the budget, so they end up being more mediocre than they would have been if less effort had been involved. Also, the Carnisaurus (aka Meat-a-saurus) and the Slashers aren't any kind of dinosaur that I've ever heard of. But let's not interfere with creativity when it is so much fun.

We started with a family, husband and wife and 3 kids, all thrilled to pieces over an orange, once again a rare treat. I couldn't help but wonder whether they would be able to make the peel into candy after they ate the fruit as 19th century settlers to North America used to do. But the thrill of the orange is forgotten when population control shows up, and we discover that a family is four and not five people. The world is a horrid place, the environment destroyed, the sky and air disgusting.

After this quickly introduced desolation, our heroes are offered a chance to go to Terra Nova, a place of hope far away from the world they now live in. Problem is, Dad's in jail and the youngest child who's not supposed to exist anyway isn't welcome. There was quite a lot of tension in the segment leading up to the travel through the time-rift into the past. Part of me hoped for a division between where they were going and where they had been. I would love to know more about this terrible picture of our future. Certainly we will learn more about it as our characters relate their new experiences as shocking and in other such ways, but I've always loved a good story about a distopian future.

Nevertheless, once through to 85 million years ago, the show continued to impress me. First off, they quickly explained some sciency thing about the probe sent through which apparently proved these passengers were in an alternate timeline, and that killing a butterfly would not change the future. I'm not entirely sure if this is to lull us into a false sense of security, or if it was an easy way to stop people from complaining about it.

Next, they also dealt with the crimes of our hero family like civilized people, and not like petit fonctionaires. No one cared anymore if there were 3 children instead of 2, and as long as all the people who showed up were useful, then that was good enough.

Finally, there was quite a bit of mystery. For instance, who are these 6ers? This secondary band which split from the main group could truly want to harm our heroes, or they might have very different motivations. Also, what is the deal with the symbols carved on the rock by the missing scientist. What does that all mean?

I can't wait to see this show again next week and to find out what is going to happen.

Person of Interest - Pilot, S01E01

Finally a pilot worth watching! I was beginning to despair for the new series being launched this Fall that almost none of them would be worth the time it takes to watch them. That said, Person of Interest is more likely to go on my list of Shows I Might Watch At Some Point rather than the Shows I MUST Watch NOW list. Still, I give it praise because I am interested in seeing more.

The premise was a lot more interesting than I originally thought. The cameras watching everyone, evaluating their intentions, and dismissing the potential evil of or danger to anyone if it did not reach 9/11 proportions, made far more sense than I expected. Big Brother is watching, but he only cares if what you are going to do will hurt a lot of people. Small scale doesn't bother him.

And that is where the main characters come in. Mr. Finch (Michael Emerson) designed the Big Brother machine, and told it to dismiss the little things, but through some tragedy we will hopefully discover in the future, he began to care about those so-called "irrelevant" issues. Having more money and time than he needs or cares about, he hired John Reese (James Caviezel) to prevent these bad things from happening. Reese gets a job from the deal, and a purpose of trying to save people. Both of these men are missing parts of their souls after devastating circumstances and it will be interesting to see as the series progresses how much their accomplishments help to fill that hole.

It's clever, it's intriguing, it's interesting, and it is a little different from the other shows out there. Certainly worth checking out.

A Gifted Man - Pilot, S01E01

What a terrible, terrible show. I didn't like the main character at all, the person who somewhat redeems him and is his love interest is dead, and his decision to see a medium to try to rid himself of this haunting made no sense for such a strong believer in science.

This is a rule that shows should not break: Don't try to get me invested in a romantic relationship where one half of the party is dead! Unless of course the dead one is a vampire or something of that sort...But not a ghost! Not simply dead. I have no interest in caring about a character I know isn't going to be around much, or isn't ever going to be able to BE ALIVE.

And if that rule being broken wasn't enough to prevent me from becoming interested, nothing else was going on anyway. The medical stuff that usually can entertain regardless of character plot lines, like murder investigations in cop shows, was so secondary that I couldn't care. He's a doctor, but the pilot didn't focus on that; it's simply the career he chose. So we didn't really get to see any cool medical science.

All we got were grumpy people being nasty to one another and really not helping in situations which were going badly, the impression that people are all pretty stupid and do very little to preserve their own lives, and the reminder that when it comes to love, most people wait until it's too late or leave too soon. Why would any of that interest me?

The Big Bang Theory - The Shank Reflex Analysis, S05E01 and The Infestation Hypothesis, S05E02

Oh The Big Bang Theory, the one and only half-hour sitcom that I watch. I am usually so annoyed by the constant onslaught of jokes, most of which are not particularly funny and only there because the premise necessitates continual attempts at humour rather than simply being amusing when one really can be. Yet, as in all previous season, The Big Bang Theory makes me laugh without seeming to try too hard.

First order of business - addressing the Penny (Kaley Cuoco) and Raj (Kunal Nayyar) cliffhanger. Alright, so they didn't actually have sex, but that wasn't from lack of trying or intention...it just didn't get that far. And I was a little surprised that Penny wasn't a little more upset over Leonard (Johnny Galecki) finding out since I had recalled she was aware she still had feelings for him. I was disappointed that he didn't realize that he still had feelings for her. But perhaps that is just the part of me that continues not to like Priya (Aarti Mann) particularly.

That said, I am happy about the direction of season 5 which reportedly is not going to focus so much on the relationships as on the goofy adventures of our favourite scientists and the women who deign to have them in their lives.

Of course, the tension between Bernadette (Melissa Rauch) and Howard (Simon Helberg) over her being more successful that him seems to have been forgotten, and much as I don't mind less drama, I do hate when plots are dropped.

My favourite moment was the prolonged make out between Raj and Howard. Okay, so they were not actually kissing each other, just using fake mouths connected via the internet...not, other than the lack of germ transmission, they were totally making out and it was hilarious.

Otherwise, I laughed, I loved it, and I can only hope that Sheldon (Jim Parsons)'s neuroses will continue to be a little more logical than they were getting in season 4. What are your hopes and expectations?

Charlie's Angels - Pilot, Angel with a Broken Wing, S01E01

What is with all the premieres this fall? Is it just me, or are a lot of them mediocre and lacking anything that will give them staying power? I suppose many people don't have the same tastes as me, but it's hard to believe that Charlie's Angels is going to get a big and faithful audience.

It was really cheesy, in that 1970s I'm reminiscing about the original Charlie's Angels but trying to make it up to date and somehow accomplishing neither kind of way. It lacked the sweetness of nostalgia while keeping silly storytelling devices that do not work anymore. And amid that campyness, it just got way more serious than I wanted to deal with when we watched one Angel be tortured.

Certainly, I was surprised when within the first 5 minutes, one of the Angels was killed in a giant explosion. A clear reminder that these women are replaceable, and hopefully an indication that the odds are going to be serious. Except that shortly after, when a man with a machine gun riddled a boat the girls were on full of bullets, not one shot so much as grazed an arm. I'm sorry, but if you dive off a boat and someone is shooting up the water, it's quite likely you will get hurt. I was disappointed that they all got away clean from that.

I also simply can't relate to these girls. They have a past that is not perfect, but they are beautiful and highly capable and not able to feel grief for very long so life is really just a big party. That's not my life, and I'm not sure why I would want to watch someone else live it.

It's possible, again, that audiences will like this show more than I did, but it simply did not have what a good show needs in 2011.

The Mentalist - Scarlet Ribbons, S04E01

While I'm certainly not going to stop watching the Mentalist, I was terribly disappointed with its premiere this fall. It just didn't make sense. I'm going to pretend it never happened and move on, but I wish they had delivered something far more believable.

Last season ended with Patrick Jane (Simon Baker) shooting Red John in a mall in front of hundreds of people. By the end of the premiere, Jane is not only found not guilty of a murder he obviously committed, but then it turns out the dead man wasn't even Red John. And Jane feels no compunction over having committed a murder, regardless of how bad the guy was or that he was working with Red John?

Is it really possible for a jury to find a man who admitted to killing a man Not Guilty? Downgrading it to manslaughter, sure, or perhaps saying that he went temporarily insane and needs therapy but not jail-time, that I can believe. But completely innocent of murder when he shot a man who thusly died? I can't believe the judge didn't overturn it. Vigilante justice apparently is allowed and the justice system agrees?

And if that wasn't bad enough, Red John is still alive. Really? At this point, I was ready for that particular plot to be over, to see where Jane would go after he accomplished his long sought goal. As it turns out, the only thing that has changed is that Jane is suddenly a murderer. Apparently he is capable of not only killing Red John - which I could understand - but also any other "bad men" who cross his path and taunt him.

I'll live with it, and I'm sure I'll enjoy the episodes which follow, but I can't help but regret where this episode and this season could have gone had the writers not made such bad choices. What are your thoughts?

Revenge - Pilot, S01E01

While the dark and twisted nature of this show is what one would expect from the title Revenge, it's too tragic. I couldn't help but feel compassion for all of the characters, and yet did not feel enough for the lead who is trying to wreck havoc on the Hamptons.

The first segment of the show takes us to the end of the summer where we witness the murder of a young man, Daniel (Joshua Bowman). By the end of the episode, there are two possible reasons for the murder which I can deduce - Jack, (Nick Wechsler) who appears to have pulled the trigger, either had a personal motive, likely related to money, or he did it for the lead character who is seeking revenge - Emily...or is her name Amanda (Emily VanCamp). Neither of these seems a good enough reason to kill a guy who seems alright. He certainly has done nothing to deserve death, and even if he was simply a casualty of a vendetta against his mother, I certainly cannot feel sympathy for his killer. Plus, he really appeared dead, and not on death's door, so getting to know him over the next several episodes, we won't get attached since we know he won't be sticking around.

Frankly, if I'm going to watch a show about Revenge, I want it to be delicious. Victoria (Madeleine Stowe)'s vengeance against her best friend over the affair with her husband, now that was delicious. It was cruel and very precise, and she was extremely honest about it. Emily's vendetta against Victoria does not have the same feel. She doesn't have the same righteousness about her when destroying other people's lives. It's sad really.

It's possible this show will be a hit, but I really can't see the appeal. It wasn't clever or interesting enough to really be worthwhile, nor was it devilishly evil enough to be a guilty pleasure. I'd put this show on the eventual casualty list for 2011-2012, even venturing to bet it won't get picked up for the back 9. Am I being to harsh, or was that your impression as well?

The Playboy Club - Pilot, S01E01

As a huge fan of period pieces, The Playboy Club appeals to me for many of the same reasons Mad Men does - the costuming, the sets, the reminiscing of a much classier time. And this show is not nearly so depressing as the AMC hit, which is definitely a bonus.

The local is sexy. Our two main locations are the Playboy Club and the Playboy Mansion, where all the bunnies are dressed in sweet little costumes that cover so much that for a 2011 audience, they really aren't revealing. I want some of those outfits. I'm glad, however, that I don't have those names. Why did they pick Maureen for the name of the main character? We still need a few more years to go by before that will get revitalized.

As for the story, while we do have a little bit of house drama between our newest bunny, Maureen (Amber Heard), and the most senior bunny-now-bunny mother, Carol-Lynne (Laura Benanti), it seems that the crux of the plot is going to centre around the mob and the disappearance of the leader of one family after his visit to the Playboy club. Perhaps that is the corporation forcing the tv show to keep itself from getting inappropriate? Hard to say. I'm not displeased at the idea of a 1960s mob show, but find it interesting that its title is Playboy.

I do like it and I want to keep watching. Again, more for the glam than anything else at this moment. The characters are fun and interesting enough, the plot does have places to take us. I do have to ask why exactly Don Draper was cast as the lead. I mean, it's not surprising that Eddie Cibrian's Nick Dalton dresses the same as the ad man, or has the same hair style - these were very popular for your 60s ladykiller, but somehow Cibrian has the exact same voice, the same pitch, same intonations, same everything? Really. I could record them both saying the same line and not be able to differentiate between the two. That might get annoying, though the similarities to Jon Hamm aren't really a bad thing.

So I'm going to keep watching and keep enjoying, but I'm not 100% sold and do worry that this show might not be the success that its bold title deserves.

Unforgettable - Pilot, S01E01

While Unforgettable is certainly a much better title than The Rememberer, that will not stop this show from ending up cancelled by the end of season 1.

I say this not because it is a bad show. Certainly the premise - pairing up a person with a gift with a cop - is one that tends to be popular, and a woman with perfect memory could contribute in very interesting ways. Plus, it was decently acted. I quite enjoyed Poppy Montgomery's portrayal of Carrie Wells.

But solid acting and an interesting premise will not be enough. We've already learnt that Carrie has a complicated past involving her sister's murder - a day which was unlike any other in that the details of it do in fact elude her. It's very dark. And there was little humour lightening that darkness, both in the characters and in the stories.

Which means that audiences like me, fans of shows like The Mentalist and Castle, are not likely to want to add it to our watch list when our other Cop+Special Helper dramas are equally dark and already have us nice and hooked.

So while I might be interested in watching another episode of the show, if only to see how Carrie's superb memory helps when she isn't actually the witness of the murder, I'm not hooked.

Unless something truly unforgettable happens within the next couple episodes, I predict that the show will have a mediocre audience rating which will slowly decline into cancellation. Unfortunate, but that's just the way it goes sometimes.

Castle - Rise, S04E01

It's more than good enough.

Castle's season 4 premiere may have been darker than previous seasons...a lot darker - even Ryan (Seamus Diver) and Esposito (Jon Huertas)'s usual banter was sharp and cut short - but I'm pretty happy about that.

Sure, I'm going to miss watching Castle as a feel-good, will they/won't they drama (if that isn't where it returns within a few episodes, with the serious stuff framing the humour, but remaining separate as it is all supposed to be secret), but how else could the show advance?

That ending was incredible. Kate (Stana Katic)'s reveal that she remembers the entire incident (although we cannot say if she does actually remember what Castle (Nathan Fillion) said to her, or if she simply means being shot and tackled) was not as impressive as her return to therapy. Gotta give the woman props for getting the help she needs. What I really loved, though, was Castle's murder board. The computerization was intense, but his own decent into that dark place Kate used to dwell in, done to spare her, is so twisted and chivalric all at the same time.

Can they and we live with this new darkness? I can't wait to see where it takes us. But if you think that all light is gone, than ye have little faith in the universe that is Castle. We'll get our funny. And, we will continue to be reminded to strive for perfection, even if we have to live for a little while with something that is enough.

What are your thoughts?

The Secret Circle - Pilot, S01E10

Televising another book series by Vampire Diaries writer L.J. Smith, and having executive producer Kevin Williamson on board, is pretty sure to make another huge hit. After all, those who like vampires are probably also into witches, and the quality of thought in terms of plot and detail is likely to be as good. And while The Secret Circle seems far more directed at teenagers than the Vampire Diaries, it still has enough elements that a fantasy-loving adult could well take to it too.

The pilot started well. Excellently in fact. When a mysterious man shows up out of nowhere and uses magic to create an inferno and kill a woman we were clearly supposed to like in the first five minutes of a show, you really get the sense that the punches will not be pulled. People will die, and in rather extreme ways, which is great! I don't always like having characters I like die, but it certainly raises the stakes. I hope that the risk and danger incited by this act continue.

On the other hand, I wasn't quite so into the first meetings of our lead cast. I like Cassie (Britt Robertson), and I think she was wonderfully cast. Robertson has a depth of personality that allows her to be complex enough to be interesting. Adam (Thomas Dekker), on the other hand, leaves me quite cold. I don't know what his feelings about Cassie's arrival are, and I can't tell whether that's because the Director is trying to misdirect us, or because Dekker simply isn't consistent. Plus the whole romantic line between him and Cassie seems really forced, and pisses me off because he has a girlfriend. Granted, there really doesn't seem to be anything going on in that relationship anyway, but inconstant is not a term I want to use to label the lead male.

As for the rest of the teenagers, they are a little cookie-cutter at the moment. I can only hope that will develop as we go.

Naturally, I am more interested in the adults of the series, the parents of our teenage heroes, as well as in the secrets and mysteries that they are keeping. What happened 16 years ago? Clearly a whole lot of people died, but I do want to know how and why. What made these people the way they are? The questions that make me want to keep watching are all about the parents, and about how Cassie is going to manage in this new world she has been introduced to.

The show is likely to be a huge success. Pairing it with Vampire Diaries is going to give both shows terrific advantage in terms of keeping their teenage and young adult audiences. Whether the demographic past 25 remains tuned in will simply depend on how things develop. If the mysteries remain interesting and the younger actors flesh their characters out a bit more, it could be quite the enjoyable guilty pleasure.

Did you enjoy it?

Murdoch Mysteries - Murdoch in Wonderland, S04E13 - Season Finale

If you are a fan of Murdoch Mysteries, than most likely you watched the season finale of season 4 some months back when it actually aired. I, however, just watched it tonight. I am very glad that I have begun blogging again because all I can think is WHAT JUST HAPPENED!!!

The murder mystery of the episode I liked very much. William Murdoch (Yannick Bisson) is accused of a bizarre murder which took place at an Alice-in-Wonderland party, and Inspector Brackenreid (Thomas Craig) and George Crabtree (Jonny Harris) do what they can to help prove him innocent. Of course, William is innocent, but the woman who did commit the murder turns out to be a victim that William had convinced to take the stand several years ago - with very bad results. And that's when things start getting tricky.

William's choice of standing by the law or trying to right the wrong he did this woman all those years ago, a wrong that led her to commit the murder she was now going to hang for, was tough. He elected to release her from prison and give her a chance. I respect him for this choice. Yes, he freed a murderer illegally. But by following the law so many years ago, he allowed a murderer to go free, one who then did unspeakable things to this poor woman. Strangely, had William not let her go, I would have agreed as well, but it is refreshing to see William make a choice of the heart. He does have the capability of doing so.

Except of course that to accomplish that choice of the heart, he had to abandon Julia (Helene Joy) forever.

Option 1. Stick by the law and stop the woman you love from marrying another.

Option 2. Break the law you cherish and stand down in love.

William chose honour. Not legality, but honour. What honour would there have been for him to burst in on Julia in the moments before her wedding and beg her to call it all off. It was too late. It had been too late for some time. Frankly, I am annoyed at Ruby (Sarah Gadon) for pressing the matter. I realize that she cares about her sister's happiness and that she is the type of girl who goes with her whims, but Julia is happy with Darcy (Jonathan Watton). She chose to end her relationship with William and she chose not only find love again, but get engaged. Certainly the feelings she has for William are not the same as those she has for Darcy, but it is possible to find love more than once. William was engaged to a woman he cared about very much before the series began. He cannot have loved her in the same manner as he loves Julia. Regardless, both affections are genuine and whole.

I am glad that Julia married Darcy and I expect that if they had, in fact, lived in 1899, they would have had a happy and fulfilling union. I do not know if that is what we will see in Season 5...indeed, with Murdoch having broken the law in such a way, I really have no idea what we will see in Season 5...but I have every hope that this show will continue being fabulous. I can only hope that we can all move on from William and Julia, as that really is the only thing to do.

What do you think will happen?

Ringer - Pilot, S01E01

First emotional response - frustration that I will have to wait a week to find out what happens next, and indeed that I will continue to only get 45 minute installments of the development every week. Ringer is certainly the kind of show one will devour like candy as soon as it is released on DVD.

The premise is terrific. What would you do if given the opportunity to escape the troubles of your life so perfectly? Starting over in seemingly much improved circumstances appeals to many, and the cautionary message that at least in our own lives we are aware of all the different complications reminds us that things might look greener on the other side of the fence, but perhaps that's because dangerous pesticides give it a certain luster.

I am pleased to see Sarah Michelle Gellar on TV again, having loved her since Buffy the Vampire Slayer. She still portrays both strength and vulnerability with believability, but now gets to throw in cold calculation to the mix. Watching her play two characters, one of which is pretending to be the other, I cannot always be certain of whether we are encountering Bridget or Siobhan, but I would say that this is more of a directorial choice to leave the audience confused than a lack in ability on Gellar's part to make the two subtly but markedly different. Give that time.

As for the mystery and the trouble both women have got into in their lives, we easily side with Bridget. Oh sure, she was a stripper, a prostitute, and a drug addict, but somehow I find that far easier to forgive and ignore than Siobhan's adultery and manipulation. Bridget is trying to find herself, to fix her life, and she may not be going about it the best way, but the path is certainly commendable. Siobhan, on the other hand, clearly just wants things to go her way.

What do you think of the two sisters? And will you be watching again next week? I know I will be.

The Insights are BACK!

So, it has been a while.

I've been busy, and despite the fact that I did start watching TV again, and a fair amount of it at that, I did not resume blogging...until today.

Here's the plan. I cannot blog about every episode of every show in a timely-enough manner. I will not try to do so. Instead, I will blog about pilot episodes, premieres of the shows I am caught up on, season finales, and other exciting television moments which I cannot help but share my enthusiasm about with you.

And what perfect time to start again with Pilot season starting tonight with the launch of Ringer, the new Sarah Michelle Geller series.

Here are many of the new shows I plan to view and offer my opinion of. Please let me know if there is some pilot/premiere not mentioned which you are interested in, as well as any other show that I might not be watching but ought to be.

Pilots: Ringer, The Secret Circle, The Playboy Club, Unforgettable, Revenge, Charlie's Angels, Person of Interest, Prime Suspect, PAN AM, Terra Nova, Grimm, Once Upon a Time.

I am looking forward to the new television season and hope that you will come along with me for the ride!