TV Shows

[Dark Holy Elf]

So that's the payoff for all those interminably boring Bran chapters? I'm not sure whether I should laugh or facepalm.

[Lady Door]

So Game of Thrones had a big episode yesterday. I suspect that the biggest storyline last night will be pretty similar in the book and...

Spoilers
Oh god damn it, Bran's storyline probably uses one of the worst fantasy tropes I can think of: the hero does something completely idiotic despite being advised not to do it by someone with more than 2 working brain cells and almost causes complete catastrophe (Congratulations Eirika and Kvothe. You now look like you are basically geniuses in comparison). The episode on the whole was good, but the mistake Bran makes is so absurdly colossal, completely unforced and absolutely pointless that it's hard to focus on anything else.

Despite being warned to not venture into the "Dream" alone (hmm...that doesn't sound familiar at all), he completely messes up the first time he tries it. He "dreams" himself to the White Walker army...except the army can see him. The head one touches Bran's arm and gains the ability to track his location. The army basically shows up in complete force at Bran's location, leading to the deaths of the world dryad equivalents (perhaps the last of their ancient race), the three eyed raven, Bran's direwolf and Hodor (whose ability to speak only one word is actually a result of a time paradox...). Now Bran and Meera are on the lam from the army, and the writers will likely have to pull something out of their asses since given Bran's current location, his method of travel (a sled...pulled by Meera) and the fact that the army can track him and seems to move very quickly, it seems wildly implausible that he would be able to reach anywhere safe.

Just ugh...please don't use this storyline GRRM. I almost felt like they needed to make Bran act really stupidly just for the sake of moving the story along. The stupid just burned so badly yesterday.

Hodor's apparent backstory is fucking dark even for Game of Thrones. You mean to tell me that man spent 50 years knowing he was going to fucking die like that? I can hope all he had was the echoing voice. Goddamn.

[Grefter]

Hmmmm?  That plot point isn't that arcane as a fantasy trope though?  I am pretty certain that it comes up in The Longest Journey at least (though to be fair that IS about a dystopia as well, but it takes place in the fantasy side of the setting, not the technocorporate futurehellscape).

[Shale]

Guarantee you that one was a GRRM approved bit.

The part about Hodor's backstory definitely was; people have already dredged up online posts where he obliquely hinted at it like two years ago.

[Captain K]

So I've lost count, have any of the dire wolves contributed anything to the story?  Or do they just kill them off to save on the special effect budget?

[Hunter Sopko]

So I've lost count, have any of the dire wolves contributed anything to the story?  Or do they just kill them off to save on the special effect budget?

Or general irony. Shaggydog was a TOTAL shaggy dog story.

[dunie]

OINTB! OINTB!!!!! Yaaaaaaaaaaaaaaas *clap clap clap* I needed my lezzie show, show needs to replenish its smexy dyke characters tho. I mean, it's not that good of a show but it is damned entertaining. also these older women need to be sexual beings too.

[Anthony Edward Stark]

So I've lost count, have any of the dire wolves contributed anything to the story?  Or do they just kill them off to save on the special effect budget?

Not since Robb died. Summer saving Bran is key for the entire story though, and Grey Wind was a large part of Robb's mythic stature.

[dunie]

OINTB: completed in one day. *Warning, vulgar small font.

Solid season, some slow parts, great character studies, less Piper and a better equalization of support characters as central characters. The love story was a breath of fresh air and momentary relief, some of the topics repeated throughout hit home in a convincing way: what the privatization on prisons do to inmate QOL, bureaucracy and its minions, self determination and guidance, mental health issues and criminality, why queer may be a better term for some to identify with rather than lesbian... I am looking forward to seeing season 5, again in one day, but I do hope that is where they stop. They need to pull a K&P and retire the show with a great track record.

1. I like how they resolved Piper's unique issue with asserting herself in prison and trying to make a life, assuming that she can perform illegal activities as expected of a criminal, as a way for criminals to acknowledge her. The Nazi branding was a bit poignant, I thought it related more closely to the growing pro-white presence that's cropping up alongside super-conservative fears of people of color in the world. But also, even though the Nazi sympathizers/pro-white power characters tended to be the butt of many jokes, there was a platform upon which people could hear/see/& imagine rather than assume some faceless white person. That it came in the package of women, pretty butch heterowomen, is also a place for pause that I hope they develop further.

2. Poussey & Soso. I liked their story, I liked it a lot. There's a pressure to out oneself or to determine one's sexuality literally based off of whether they prefer penis over vagina. I like to approach sexuality as a lifestyle choice, and I think that Soso's navigation and fear of accepting lesbianism is a complicated situation that I found myself in. The hardcore queer folk, the ones who argue that you need to live, breath and perform some outcast queer identity, are some of the quickest to check your queerness with a yardstick--- well, rather, that's my experience that I find more in Austin. I've literally heard things like "junior homo," or someone who hasn't nurtured an intimate relationship with a person of the same sex. What happened between Soso and Poussey, especially their time machine scene, really gave space for people who decided to describe themselves as fluid and fearful. EDIT* Or that an interracial relationship is typically assumed to be black male/white female, white man/asian woman; so it was cool seeing what I sometimes see in the queer community in Atl. I hear LA's got it better.

3. I am pretty upset with how they played Bayley's character, especially his backstory as irresponsible, young, set up for failure and the one to commit the most heinous crime by a prison guard in scenes. I think the death of Poussey, hopefully, is going to be the place where they resolve the prisoner protest and mob. That's season 5. But the add up wasn't enough for me to understand him as a particular character, and his backstory was the slowest and longest to go through.

4. Sex scenes: ok. they never brought the butch back but they brought back the gross bro. I'm not sure why people assume that the only way women have sex with each other is oral; there were some fingering scenes, but rarely any tribbing, toy play, pegging, etc. So I hope they take a different route in the next season --- one that shows a range of pleasurable things if sex is still a feature of the show. I mean, it was cool they made a claim to recognize Judy, an old woman, whose sexuality seemed pretty gluttonous but it's also disappointing that the older women who could exercise that freedom with praise was affluent.

5. Not enough backstory about the SHU & nun's plight, more needed, they left some pretty clear threads.

6. I can stomach Doggett, and I like the way they're showing her figuring things out.

[dunie]

I've been keeping up with UnReal; the writing is solid and I've now adopted a new woman crush: Constance Zimmer. It's a metareality "The Bachelor"-styled tv show and presses some good boundaries. Episode 7 upset me in a good way. We're all cultural critics and I've been baffled by how seamlessly current politics are included. Never sided with those subjects being off bounds, but there was one line that showed the producers weren't exactly sidestepping their inclusion of a certain dynamic. Props.

But lord, Constance Zimmer---- clearly goes to pilates classes [my fave], cute raspy voice [my fave, my alternate identity when I'm hoarse is Zoë], deballing assholes [my fave], smexy.... *siiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiigh* congrats to her emmy nomination.

[AndrewRogue]

Steven Universe: It's back and might -actually stay for a little while-. Pretty strong return. Steven Floats is hilarious, Mr. Greg is absolutely phenomenal (more musical episodes pls Rebecca), and Too Short to Ride is just more Peridot fun. Drop Beat Dad was kinda a waste of space, but eh. I'll forgive SU the occasional flop. Animation took another big step up, too.

Star vs the Forces of Evil: Also back. Also... somehow got weirder. Some... really dark humor in an episode or two there.

[Meeplelard]

Been watching Arrow and Flash recently.  Finished up to Arrow Season 3, in the middle of Flash Season 2.


Arrow: The show does start off pretty blech, but I kept through it because a constant thing I heard was "it gets better after about 7 episodes" and well, it does.  That's when Oliver Queen stops being all "JUSTICE!!!!" *kills a bunch of criminals* but actually starts to do things, the cast starts expanding with people who know his secret which is always nice because it adds a dynamic when the character doesn't have to lie to everyone, and the flashbacks start seeming meaningful other than "oh look, he's on the island, it is bad."

Season 2 followed suit and generally improved upon things, for all that an annoyance is that the flashbacks, while more interesting than Season 1, did feel intrusive since you're getting invested in the main plot then BAM, diversion to flashback.  There were definite times where the flashbacks felt like they were there to help make the episode longer so they have can have the full 44 minutes, etc.  Still, probably the best season overall, due to the extended cast, characters actually developing, etc.

Season 3...it started off on the right foot, but then felt like it was running in place...a lot.  After a point, the reverse of Season 2 kicked in; the Flashbacks were the most interesting parts, because it felt like they were always developing forward, even if it's kind of "errr" on the side of suspension of disbelief with "HEY HE DID RETURN BRIEFLY BUT NO ONE FOUND OUT!"  As I said in chat, it felt like they wrote an 11 episode storyline arc but then were forced to stretch it to twice as many.  This meant a lot of the following:

"You can't trust Malcolm Merlyn!"
"I have to give him a chance, he's my only way to beat him!"
"There's gotta be another way!"
"I hate you dad!"
"I know, but I still love you!"
"Ra's al Ghul 3 stronk 5 us, Malcolm is my only chance!"
"HE'S A KILLER YOU CAN'T TRUST HIM!"

Ad nauseum.  Oh yeah, don't forget to toss in Oliver's complicated relationship with women into the mix, because reasons.

This is repeated CONSTANTLY.  What would have really benefited is if they focused more time on Ray Palmer becoming The Atom, because then it would have served the same purpose of padding, but it would have added variety and more character development to someone who felt a tad underused.   The Flash Crossover episode was good just for that reason; it added something different and fun to see the two interacting, and even some meta on how the shows are very different styled with Oliver going on about the difference between Central and Starling City.  I kind of wish it happened later if only because Season 3 hadn't hit that monotony yet and this would have been the exact kind of episode the series needed to break things up.

The Season finale was kind of neat, but the season ended in a way that made me go "Eh...I don't really care what happens next."  Season 2 ended on a "story finished, but open" note too, but it did a better job of "I want to see where they go from here."

I'll probably start Season 4 anyway, even though Season 3 makes me not care, mostly because extended universe = tie-ins with Flash = probably some fun references the two are making.

Speaking of which...

Flash: This series got off running faster than Arrow...pun partially intended.  A major advantage it has of course is the pseudo-pilot that Arrow had for Flash introducing us to Barry and later the quick introduction to Cisco/Caitlin allowed for us to already know the characters better.  Knowing what kind of person Barry was, they didn't have to focus too heavily on the "get to know him", so it was more introducing side characters.  I really appreciate how they made Detective West learn his secret immediately, since it basically avoided the annoying "Cop against the Hero!" thing, instead having someone who knows his secret, is close to him, and thus can speak up for him, and lets them address the required "This is dangerous, you can get hurt!" thing in Episode 2, so it doesn't come up again.  I also appreciate how they are pretty blatant about who the bad guy is from the outset, making actual use of Dramatic Irony from the outset.  It's nice when a series recognizes not EVERYTHING needs to be a mystery to the viewer, sometimes things are more interesting when the viewer knows.

It's also nice to see Flash's Rogue's Gallery get full use and them treating them like they're comic characters, not realistic interpretations ala Nolan-verse.  I keep hearing about how good Flash's Rogue's Galelry is, like "it's on par with Batman and Spider-man" level, and this show does good to demonstrate why, because a variety of villains with unique powers, personalities, etc.  Best handled so far I'd say were Captain Cold because the actor just nails everything, and Gorilla Grodd, where they managed to take the idea of "giant intelligent gorilla", an idea very easy to make too goofy to take seriously, and made him extremely intimidating, and they did a good job building up to him with teasers throughout, such that when he finally does appear, it lives up to "This thing is extremely threatening."

Also appreciated how the series knows how to have fun and is light-hearted, instead of just making it Arrow with Different Powers...something the DCU still doesn't get.  Arrow is fine as a dark show because it's a vigilante beating up criminals in a corrupt town, so the Batman style approach is completely appropriate and works.  Flash, however, recognizes you can't do that, so instead goes for "How does Flash and Co. beat the bad guy this time?" and keeps the characters more light-hearted even in the darkest moments.  The two shows recognize you need a mood and tone that fits the character you're adapting, and that there is no singular "one-size-fits all." 
Speaking of which, that's another thing Flash had going for it that Arrow doesn't: It wasn't restricted to it's singular storyline.  Because of it's "There are Meta Humans" thing, it could just take time to go "ok, you know what? Rather than jog in place, let's just distract the team with another super villain" so there wasn't circular nonsense.   It has the same effect as padding, but keeps you far more entertained, because it's different...or it's just Captain Cold showing up again doing something different but you don't care, because Captain Cold is awesome. 

Wasn't a fan of the cliffhanger style ending, but at least it made me want to see Season 2 more than Arrow Season 4, so mission accomplished?  Feels like the stronger of the two shows, and I feel the "embraces the comic book ludicrousness of itself" is a big part of that.

[Fudozukushi]

I don't even watch Arrow outside the crossover episodes, but Felcity's cry-talking is just the worst.

[Sierra]

It's also nice to see Flash's Rogue's Gallery get full use and them treating them like they're comic characters, not realistic interpretations ala Nolan-verse.  I keep hearing about how good Flash's Rogue's Galelry is, like "it's on par with Batman and Spider-man" level, and this show does good to demonstrate why, because a variety of villains with unique powers, personalities, etc.

The funny thing about the Flash rogue's gallery is just the massive gap in power between them. Silver Age Flash could run at the speed of light. His enemies were almost all normal dudes with funky gadgets*. You kind of had to ignore point A as a writer in order for point B to appear threatening at all. (*Grodd and Reverse Flash were the notable exceptions.)

Anyway, I just watched the first few episodes of this. "It's not like I want people to found a museum in my name" is on par with "Would you prefer yellow spandex?" for blatant fanservice, but I'll take it. It's fun so far.
Oh shit, Clancy Brown, oh shit, he's playing General Dirtbag. Barry does the blurry face thing so friends don't recognize him (this was the excuse for no one ever recognizing Golden Age Flash, who did not wear a mask). It's also nice knowing Iris isn't necessarily doomed. Looking forward to seeing what else they do with this personal nostalgia factory.

[AndrewRogue]

Steven Universe: Well that is all happening now.

[dunie]

late to the game but How to Get Away With Murder 10/10 oh mah gerd

[dunie]

the get down's pilot episode was -so- good that I'm -so sad- to hear it drops in quality the rest of the season. I'm on edge until I can resume watching it with the bae.

and fuck hulu for not getting all the episodes for HTGAWM season 2.

I'm finding a lot of happiness in choosing to read books or watch films comprised mostly of pocs, even if the writers were white. how else am i going to know if those cross suspenders are gunna be lit on me

[dunie]

German TV is so, so, so, so, so, so, awful. It makes sense no one watches it.

[Captain K]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bl6z03A5zRs

[dunie]

Yes, yes... yes...):

[Shale]

The pilot for the new Tick series is up on Amazon. It's....not the tone I was expecting. I'm willing to see where Edlund et al are going with it, but worried it'll turn enough people off that they won't get the chance.

[dunie]

http://www.out.com/television/2016/8/23/must-watch-two-queens-kitchen-not-your-moms-easy-bake-oven-cooking-show
http://www.weareopen.tv/welcome#community
http://www.blackandsexy.tv/

I am just now stepping into the world of streaming beyond Netflix/Hulu. B&S TV is p. amazing, gonna check out Two Queens in the Kitchen

[dunie]

Season 2 od HTGAWM is finally on Netflix! Yes, yes!

And I totally appreciate how they're writing queer characters, de-stigmatizing some important stereotypes and misinformation on the subject of sexuality here.

[superaielman]

Leverage: Watched several episodes of this at my parents place this weekend. Highly entertaining with a strong cast (People con for good ala burn notice or The Pretender). Definitely good times.

[Meeplelard]

Watched Season 4 of Arrow, Season 2 of Flash, and Legends of Tomorrow

I've said it in chat many times, and I'll say it here:

Arrow Season 4 is 70% of a great season held back badly by it's 30% of absolute garbage.  I know it seems skewed but then insufferable stuff stands out way more than the great stuff, despite there being a lot more great stuff, and it drags the season down. 

So because there's less bad, I'll cover that first: OliCity.  Good lord it was awful here.  Ok, the season started off fine since the two had chemistry, felt like they were legitimately together, and hey, maybe the relationship actually CAN go somewhere and not be just another tease, pushing the character forward...but no, just turns into a lot of drama that just makes you hate Felicity since she doesn't really do anything else in the season besides whine.  The one good thing they did with her was having her learn to deal with her handicapped self, showing strength of character!  Oh wait, they removed that, so the interesting she had this season is gone and now she's just insufferable.  It really hurt the season that everytime the two were together alone, it'd be relationship drama, rather than doing something like making Felicity this extra pillar that Oliver can rely on, and that is part of what makes him so much stronger this season.

The other bad part was the flashback stuff.   It lacked Season 2's parallel aspect, and lacked Season 3's backstory meaningfulness, just felt there because "oh, flashbacks are required now!"  The one exception was the Constantine one because hey, cameo!


So the good?
Mostly addressing a lot of the issues Season 3.  The plot feels like it's moving forward, the "WE MUST KILL MALCOLM MERLYN!" "NO WE CAN'T!" thing is condensed to one episode, with a surprising end in the situation, logical progression of multiple characters, etc.  Also Thea looks way better as Speedy than Roy Harper as Arsenal; pretty sure it's the same outfit, but the way Thea wears it, it looks like an actual super hero guise, as opposed to a silly cheap Halloween outfit.

Oliver actually having a sense of being cheerful, and being proactive outside of being the Green Arrow? Good stuff!  The theme about "keeping secrets is bad, we need to stop this" was something you expect the series to tackle earlier.  They also make up for how they messed up Capt. Lance in the previous season by getting him back on Arrow's side (if in a "he's a necessary evil" kind of way first)...there's a lot of good stuff going on here.  It reminds me a lot of Season 2's stuff...it's just the bad stuff keeps getting in the way, and the bad stuff is way worse than the good stuff is good, unfortunately.

Oh, and Damien Dahrk deserves a nod for being a good villain.  You think he's going to be this MYSTERIOUS UNKNOWN FORCE...then he shows up early Episode 1 and is all "ok, look, I'm just going to destroy the city and there's nothing you can do about it" and has a lot of personality.  It really contrasts Ras'alghul of the previous season who was just "Everything I say is mysterious.  I am threatening because my voice says I'm threatening!"  These two emphasize well that your villains need to be characters too, not just Overpowered Threatening Guys.  Ras is nothing but the latter; he has no personality, and is utterly boring.  Dahrk you at least get a sense of the actor having fun with the role, and so the viewers are likely to enjoy him all the more as is, as worst case scenario, you can just enjoy the large amounts of ham he puts into things. 

Meanwhile, in Central City!

Flash Season 2 is...basically more of Season 1, just expanding upon the Multiverse building.  This is not a bad thing by any means, as Flash is structured in a way that this is all you need, so why not follow suit?  If it's not broke, don't fix it.  There's a bit more of the linear storyline going on I suppose, but it was integrated well rather than getting in the way.

I kind of did guess the twist though because I looked up Zoom on Wikipedia, and remembered a certain name drop, and went "ok, that's a thing, how does this all fit though?"  Zoom's plan is a bit complicated granted, but I guess it gets resolved in the same way it started, and I do appreciate the Bond Villain aspect of Zoom revealing "How he did it" is what led to Barry basically doing the same thing and winning.

MEANWHILE, IN TIME!!!

So...Arrow and Flash introduce a bunch of DC characters who don't get enough screen time but deserve it...why not shove them all in one series and go from there, with the excuse of "These are exceptional individuals who accomplish nothing significant in time, there by expendable!"  That's kind of a backhanded compliment if I've seen one!

It's a fun little romp, because there's so many conflicting personalities.  On one hand, we have Palmer, being basically a fanboy turned into a Super Hero and is trying to treat the entire situation like he's in a real life comic book, complete with bad one liners or random referential humor, always taking the IDEALISTIC HEROIC!!! view point.  On the otherhand, we have Mick Rori, whose a complete and total scumbag that doesn't care about anyone other than his partner, Snart, and basically is only on the team because it was a package deal, and he does have talents that can be useful.

I actually do like how they justified bringing two clear villains on their side, namely that they have talents and perspective that can be useful for the operation, and there is incentive for them to actually behave.  Also it's an excuse to allow more Leonard Snart to appear, and he's always a joy because just about everything he says is fantastic.  One thing I did miss was his villain monologues to Barry, because he's on the good guy team so his right to monologues is revoked unfortunately.

I wouldn't say the show as a whole was great, but it was a fun romp, and honestly this is basically the best way you can find a use for all these underused characters anyway.

I hope Season 2 takes more advantage of the time travel aspects and starts setting things in more creative settings.  The wild west episode was fun because it was "Something before the 20th century!" Also had Jonah Hex and basically the best way to get him established into the universe, so the added cameo was nice (also said episode involved Martin Stein and Leonard Snart provoking an old-styled western Saloon Bar fight provoked by a card game...these things are overused cliches for a reason people!)  I mean, make no mistake; the 50s, 70s and 80s are all very different time periods and they did exploit those well enough, but going back even further allows for even more creative aspects.  Maybe season 2 will do that since they're not focused on "KILL SAVAGE!" so they don't need to focus on time periods where record-keeping was a thing.


Watching all 3 of these shows, and going through Supergirl, it occurs to me the Arrowverse is basically DC's real answer to the MCU, not their own Cinematic Universe.

Start off with a B-lister and get the people engaged.  Slowly add to your world with other characters over time, and oh crap, we now have a full universe with multiple outlets (a multiverse once we factor in Flash and Supergirl.)  The big thing Arrowverse has caught onto that it shares with the MCU, contrast to the DCU, is and I probably already said this, recognizing you adapt tone to fit the character, not character to fit the tone.

Arrow is a vigilante show about someone trying to save his corrupt city, so naturally it's going to be Batman-like in tone (well, not THAT forcefully dark and gritty, it's just not going to be super cheerful either.)  Flash is about an awkward nerd who gets super powers and wants to do good with it, this is a set up for "Let's just have fun beating up bad guys!" and that's what Flash does.  Legends of Tomorrow is about 2 aspects: The interaction between a bunch of characters who have no reason to be working together, and ADVENTURES IN SPACE AND TIME!!! 
And while I'm not done with it, Supergirl is basically just a gender-flip of what you expect from a Superman show just with the added twist of "she has a bit of a legacy to live up to!" which would be a problem except that we don't HAVE a Superman series or movie or whatever that actually does this, so it's actually a breath of fresh-air. 


I think the biggest advantage the Arrowverse ultimately had was not using Batman; when DC uses Batman, he tends to be a vacuum of everything in it and such that while the Batman elements are fine, the NON-Batman elements suffer a lot.  Warner Bros. does not know how to restrain themselves when it comes to the character, so all the elements not related to Batman-lore get altered to either fit Batman-lore, or just pushed aside in favor of it.  Similarly, keeping Superman in a different universe (but same Multiverse) as the rest of those series?  Good idea!  Allows you to play around with Superman but not worry about the whole "Why can't Superman just help!?" in the other series.

I actually went "wait, Oliver, you know people in Central City who could be VERY USEFUL at this point" at Season 4's finale.  While yes, the idea is obviously Barry has his own problems he's dealing with, I simply wanted an acknowledgment of this relationship.  Even as much as "I tried to call Star Labs but couldn't reach them" would have been all they needed, since then it shows the characters at least tried that as an option and it just didn't work because narrative (in)convenience; a single acknowledgment is all I ask for!  That's the tricky part of a shared universe of course, you need excuses for "Why not call on this guy for help?" 


From where I'm sitting, Arrow maybe has one more season left because it's getting harder to up the stakes in his case.  Flash seems to have plenty of ideas, and Legends of Tomorrow's structure allows them to basically Doctor Who it up and get away with just about ANYTHING.