Things in the world outside of that box in front of my couch have kept me a bit behind on much of the new season and a wee bit too busy to get down most of my thoughts. So, here you go, in a short-ish format.
Heroes is wobbling along, sometimes more steady than others. There are some interesting new characters, but a strong, clear theme that helped make season one a popular and critical success–and was missing from the subsequent seasons–is still nowhere near strong enough to raise the show above the bad taste the last season left in many people’s mouths. I think the writers may be biting off more than they can chew by keeping the number of “main” characters as high as they have. Old habits, I guess. I do like the traveling carnival that’s been introduced, though… lots of potential there, especially after this week’s episode.
Castle is still a lot of fun. As a police procedural, it leaves a lot to be desired (man, the cop work is really not that good at all), but as a bunch of pulpy, camp-leaning characters, it is full of win. NathanFillion and Stana Katic are getting even better bouncing dialog off one another and the supporting cast is getting a little more time to shine. If you’re looking for a serious show, don’t bother. If you’re looking for something that’s got some cheese in it, then Castle is where to find it.
The Forgotten, I watched one episode of it and decided it was better left to live out its title. As much as I want to love Christian Slater in anything he does, this show just didn’t grab me at all. I would have been much happier if his vehicle from last season, My Own Worst Enemy, had survived.
Mercy was another show I only bothered to catch one or two episodes of. While it’s fun to see Michelle Trachtenberg (once again) play a sparkly, naive, newbie, it mostly felt just like every other modern hospital drama that I’ve seen ads for.
Modern Family has been a pleasant surprise from the first episode on. The show has heart and a kind of quirky sense of humor about half the stuff in it. The other half is standard sitcom fodder, but is usually carried out with just enough push from the cast that it works. Everything I’ve seen in it so far has either made me laugh or smile, and I’ve always felt better after watching an episode. That’s more than I can say for most shows I’ve ever watched.
Cougar Town had a first episode that just left me not wanting more at all. The way the main character was written in the first episode, co-star Krista Miller would have been a better fit for the lead than Courtney Cox. They seem to have fixed that problem now. The comedy now fits with Cox’s appearance better, making the whole character more sympathetic and, overall, much more funny. They still try a little too hard at times, though… and it looks like this week’s episode is going to be full of “trying too hard” moments.
Eastwick has been a very pleasant surprise. I had more then a bit of trepidation going in, seeing as how I absolutely love the film, but the cast and writers have done a good job of adding enough depth and breadth to the story to keep it interesting and on-message. The leads are doing fantastic jobs bringing three very different characters to life–different from one another and different from the 1987 film, which is good because they are different characters in a different time. Even Paul Gross is doing a good enough job to make me believe his Darryl Van Horne isn’t Nicholson’s in a good way.
Flashforward has a lot of potential. So far, we’ve seen a few different ways of dealing with characters who know a little bit of the future. They’re pacing the questions and answers (and red herrings that may not be so red or so herring) well early on, so they may actually have a plan for where this all is going. At the absolute least, we’re getting some good haunted looks from members of the core cast. If they ratchet up the strange factor just a little bit, they could be on par with early seasons of Lost for water cooler discussion factor. As it is, while I’m hooked, I question if they’ll be able to keep enough of the general population interested to keep themselves on the air.
Supernatural is in its best season yet… and it looks like its only going to get better as it goes on. Last week had a killer Abe Lincoln and Gandhi–with Paris Hilton as a guest star–and it worked fantastically! Sometime in the future, it looks like we’re up for a 70s sitcom inspired demonic infestation and numerous other things that I’m sure will leave me wanting more–but also hoping that the show goes out on top, before it all goes to hell.
Fringe is really ready to take the X-File mantel as “strange FBI show”… but it’s got more scifi in it than Mulder and Scully ever ran into. Kind of hard to avoid when your key plot involves interdimensional travel. The important part is, their characters have grown a lot since the first episode of the series and are now really coming into their own (both literally and figuratively). This is another I’m going to keep watching until they cancel it.
Smallville… I’ve only been able to make myself watch the series premier so far. And that… well… I’d have to go back and check but I think they have once againretconned their own continuity. I really hate that. The plots are also looking more and more ridiculous–some of them look to be right out of the Silver Age comics,wich were always downright silly. Again I say, this show should have ended a few seasons ago and we should be watching The Justice League instead.
Dollhouse has continued its upswing since episode six of season one. They’ve made some compelling changes to the show and have really piqued my curiosity on some other areas of how things work inside theDollhoue. The inevitable bleed-through of past imprints on some of the dolls has been distinctly creepy and sweet to see happen.
There’ll be more once I have the time to dig into the DVR and hit up Hulu.com for back episodes… and then there’s movies I want to talk about, too. Oh, but for more time in a day!
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