metaphasia (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
metaphasia) wrote2013-11-21 10:58 am
metaphasia) wrote2013-11-21 10:58 am
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Mid Season Television Round Up
So, it's far enough into the new television season that I feel capable of making informed judgements on how the new shows are doing, and what I want to keep watching and stop. I've included my thoughts below:
Agents of SHIELD
I am really only watching this show at this point for any possible tie ins to the movies, and that is looking increasingly unlikely, since they didn't do anything with the recent Thor movie. This show is just bad. The characters are all bland, and none of them have any development. I honestly can't tell which one is Fitz and Simmons unless someone has used one of their names in the last five minutes. No one on the show has any backstory (I'm pretty sure this isn't an exaggeration either; I can't think of any personal details off the top of my head, at least), because the show spends all its time on action sequences.
And this bothers me, because there is no way that they are going to convince me that these characters are cooler than the Avengers. They won't convince me that Melinda May kicks more ass than Natasha, they won't convince me that Fitz and Simmons are bigger science bros than Tony and Bruce, and they won't convince me that Ward is more square-jawed than Steve Rogers. And they shouldn't be trying, because they don't have the budget to out action scene the movies. Instead, they should be focusing on the characters, and character development.
If I was in charge, I would have made this show all tropes, all the time, and about how ridiculous life in a secret organization dealing with superheroes is. The first episode would have had a running joke about all the paperwork needed to brink Coulson back to life. The second episode would not have been about a random Mayan Space Laser, the MacGuffin would have been sex pollen. The overarching plot for the season wouldn't be some vagaries about Coulson being sick and Skye being an orphan, it would borrow from the Damage Control comics. I would much prefer if this show had taken its cues from Middleman instead of 24. Instead of trying to compete with the films, fill out the universe with all the crazy things going on in the background.
Edit after this week's episode: Okay, so they included a reference to the new Thor movie, but it was a blink and you'll miss it kind of thing. I stand by everything I said before.
Sleepy Hollow
I'm not the hugest fan of this show, it just doesn't hit all my buttons. The premise is interesting enough, although I would rather they did a bit more with the guy out of time aspect, rather than just a joke about bottled water costs money every other episode, and maybe gave him some new clothes, even if they're not modern in style, at least a new outfit. I mean, he has been wearing the same set of clothes for several weeks or months now. I don't really like the focus on Christian mythology either, especially after Supernatural. I'm hoping for a bit more in the storyline, especially regarding how the magic system works, and less monster of the week going forward though.
Brookyln 9-9
I don't usually like watching Andy Samberg, because he comes across as kind of a giant douchebag. But this show makes it work by making his character a giant douchebag too, so it works out. Most shows take a while to find their groove with comedy, but this show has been hitting funny moments pretty much the whole time. It manages to strike the delicate balance between poking fun at everyone, and not being a humiliation parade for any character. I'm not interested in the will-they-won't-they between Peralta and Santiago (they won't, at least not anytime soon, and when they do during sweeps week, I won't care) though, so I don't mind if the show loses that, but I am shipping Boyle and Diaz; they're actually really funny together.
The Tomorrow People
I never saw either of the previous two versions of this show, so I can't compare this show to the previous incarnations. It seems solid enough, not really exceptional yet. I don't know, it seems like it could get interesting, but it's been pretty slow to build so far.
Almost Human
This was a mid season premiere, so there isn't as much to go on here as with the other shows, but I'm really not excited about it so far. The first episode seemed very over the top in how conservative it was (All the robots are white guys, except for the series that went crazy, which is black. The bad guys are Anonymous. Technology is evil. Medical care involves a black market, which has no relation to the Affordable Care Act. Subasia?), but well, it is a Fox show. Actually, everything about it seemed over the top, including how hard they were trying to sell that it's in the future, and that the robot is better at expressing his emotions than the human. I think my main problem with the show though is that the future doesn't seem very coherent; the city shots and background seem too nice for a future that is completely out of control with crime. I'll reserve my final judgement for a few episodes, but I'm not holding much hope for this one.
Edit: Just watched episode two, and wow. It got worse. Forget reserving judgement, there's no way I'm going to keep watching this.
I'm going to keep watching Brooklyn 9-9 and Sleepy Hollow. I'll probably marathon Tomorrow People at the end of the season, but I'll get bored with it if I just keep watching it as it goes along. Agents of SHIELD is relegated to only if the internet announces something interesting happened, and there's no way I'm gonna keep watching Almost Human.
The shows that aren't new this year that I'm still watching are Arrow, Elementary, and Once Upon a Time. I'm pretty happy with all three of those. Not on that list is Hart of Dixie, which I'm mainlining on Netflix, so might enter at some point soon.
Arrow is mostly for Felicity/Oliver (there's at least three separate fanfics where Felicity goes to a wedding and Oliver invites himself along as her plus one, and I want every other fanfic out there to use it.), they're adorable together. By the way, DC, to keep things even in the advice column between you and Marvel, you need to learn that if a character discovers your superhero's secret identity, the fans will ship the hero with that character, and not with the designated love interest, because those two can actually discuss the whole superhero thing, whereas the designated love interest is kept clueless. Jennifer Crusie calls it the "Felicity Smoak Problem", but this is not the first time this has happened (see also, Max on Batman Beyond and Chloe Sullivan on Smallville).
Once Upon a Time is my guilty pleasure; I've got issues with the way that they use destiny and fate and magic to guilt trip people into doing things, but the twist on the existing mythology is interesting enough to keep me hooked despite the way that everyone on the show is a terrible person.
Elementary on the other hand, is probably my favorite show. Unlike most shows (and since it's on the list, Once Upon a Time in particular), Elementary doesn't hand its characters the idiot ball. Everyone makes rational, logical decisions with information, and while they are certainly emotional characters, they don't let their emotions overwhelm them into choosing poorly. A lot of shows have the characters act selfishly to increase the drama to keep viewers interested, but Elementary has managed to avoid that trap and still maintain drama and interest.
Agents of SHIELD
I am really only watching this show at this point for any possible tie ins to the movies, and that is looking increasingly unlikely, since they didn't do anything with the recent Thor movie. This show is just bad. The characters are all bland, and none of them have any development. I honestly can't tell which one is Fitz and Simmons unless someone has used one of their names in the last five minutes. No one on the show has any backstory (I'm pretty sure this isn't an exaggeration either; I can't think of any personal details off the top of my head, at least), because the show spends all its time on action sequences.
And this bothers me, because there is no way that they are going to convince me that these characters are cooler than the Avengers. They won't convince me that Melinda May kicks more ass than Natasha, they won't convince me that Fitz and Simmons are bigger science bros than Tony and Bruce, and they won't convince me that Ward is more square-jawed than Steve Rogers. And they shouldn't be trying, because they don't have the budget to out action scene the movies. Instead, they should be focusing on the characters, and character development.
If I was in charge, I would have made this show all tropes, all the time, and about how ridiculous life in a secret organization dealing with superheroes is. The first episode would have had a running joke about all the paperwork needed to brink Coulson back to life. The second episode would not have been about a random Mayan Space Laser, the MacGuffin would have been sex pollen. The overarching plot for the season wouldn't be some vagaries about Coulson being sick and Skye being an orphan, it would borrow from the Damage Control comics. I would much prefer if this show had taken its cues from Middleman instead of 24. Instead of trying to compete with the films, fill out the universe with all the crazy things going on in the background.
Edit after this week's episode: Okay, so they included a reference to the new Thor movie, but it was a blink and you'll miss it kind of thing. I stand by everything I said before.
Sleepy Hollow
I'm not the hugest fan of this show, it just doesn't hit all my buttons. The premise is interesting enough, although I would rather they did a bit more with the guy out of time aspect, rather than just a joke about bottled water costs money every other episode, and maybe gave him some new clothes, even if they're not modern in style, at least a new outfit. I mean, he has been wearing the same set of clothes for several weeks or months now. I don't really like the focus on Christian mythology either, especially after Supernatural. I'm hoping for a bit more in the storyline, especially regarding how the magic system works, and less monster of the week going forward though.
Brookyln 9-9
I don't usually like watching Andy Samberg, because he comes across as kind of a giant douchebag. But this show makes it work by making his character a giant douchebag too, so it works out. Most shows take a while to find their groove with comedy, but this show has been hitting funny moments pretty much the whole time. It manages to strike the delicate balance between poking fun at everyone, and not being a humiliation parade for any character. I'm not interested in the will-they-won't-they between Peralta and Santiago (they won't, at least not anytime soon, and when they do during sweeps week, I won't care) though, so I don't mind if the show loses that, but I am shipping Boyle and Diaz; they're actually really funny together.
The Tomorrow People
I never saw either of the previous two versions of this show, so I can't compare this show to the previous incarnations. It seems solid enough, not really exceptional yet. I don't know, it seems like it could get interesting, but it's been pretty slow to build so far.
Almost Human
This was a mid season premiere, so there isn't as much to go on here as with the other shows, but I'm really not excited about it so far. The first episode seemed very over the top in how conservative it was (All the robots are white guys, except for the series that went crazy, which is black. The bad guys are Anonymous. Technology is evil. Medical care involves a black market, which has no relation to the Affordable Care Act. Subasia?), but well, it is a Fox show. Actually, everything about it seemed over the top, including how hard they were trying to sell that it's in the future, and that the robot is better at expressing his emotions than the human. I think my main problem with the show though is that the future doesn't seem very coherent; the city shots and background seem too nice for a future that is completely out of control with crime. I'll reserve my final judgement for a few episodes, but I'm not holding much hope for this one.
Edit: Just watched episode two, and wow. It got worse. Forget reserving judgement, there's no way I'm going to keep watching this.
I'm going to keep watching Brooklyn 9-9 and Sleepy Hollow. I'll probably marathon Tomorrow People at the end of the season, but I'll get bored with it if I just keep watching it as it goes along. Agents of SHIELD is relegated to only if the internet announces something interesting happened, and there's no way I'm gonna keep watching Almost Human.
The shows that aren't new this year that I'm still watching are Arrow, Elementary, and Once Upon a Time. I'm pretty happy with all three of those. Not on that list is Hart of Dixie, which I'm mainlining on Netflix, so might enter at some point soon.
Arrow is mostly for Felicity/Oliver (there's at least three separate fanfics where Felicity goes to a wedding and Oliver invites himself along as her plus one, and I want every other fanfic out there to use it.), they're adorable together. By the way, DC, to keep things even in the advice column between you and Marvel, you need to learn that if a character discovers your superhero's secret identity, the fans will ship the hero with that character, and not with the designated love interest, because those two can actually discuss the whole superhero thing, whereas the designated love interest is kept clueless. Jennifer Crusie calls it the "Felicity Smoak Problem", but this is not the first time this has happened (see also, Max on Batman Beyond and Chloe Sullivan on Smallville).
Once Upon a Time is my guilty pleasure; I've got issues with the way that they use destiny and fate and magic to guilt trip people into doing things, but the twist on the existing mythology is interesting enough to keep me hooked despite the way that everyone on the show is a terrible person.
Elementary on the other hand, is probably my favorite show. Unlike most shows (and since it's on the list, Once Upon a Time in particular), Elementary doesn't hand its characters the idiot ball. Everyone makes rational, logical decisions with information, and while they are certainly emotional characters, they don't let their emotions overwhelm them into choosing poorly. A lot of shows have the characters act selfishly to increase the drama to keep viewers interested, but Elementary has managed to avoid that trap and still maintain drama and interest.