So I watched stuff
Sep. 30th, 2007 08:50 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
bop_radarI finally got some downtime this Sunday and caught up on all this new TV floating around...
Oh, Heroes! How I wish I wasn't still sucked in to you! But I am. Let me be quite clear. At this point in time I am watching for one character and one character only: Noah Bennett. Unfortunately for me, he kicked ass in the first episode of season 2 so I'm hooked right back in again...
For me, the problem with Heroes is that it lacks heart. It's all plot twists, scattered ensemble cast and shiny but shallow images. I don't wish to be a spoilsport for those of you still enjoying the show (I know many of you do!) so I will probably scale back my reviews this season. Though I must say after watching the first ep of season 2, I was twitching to get online snark about it. ;)
So, brief thoughts:
- clearly the creative team put their heads together over the hiatus and decided that not only did they need more characters, they needed more INCEST. Yuh. Sure, guys! So we get intensely melodramatic Hispanic brother and sister who are mistaken for a married couple Just what the show needed! *baffled*
- Keeping up the incest watch... is it normal for a father to walk you to school when you're in the eleventh grade or whatever Clare's in? Because I personally wouldn't have been caught dead near my father in public at that age! I love Noah, though, so I'll let that scene off the hook.
- But did anyone else find Claire creeping off to make secret phonecalls to her real biological father just a little creepy? Especially since he was acting like a scorned lover. And they were emo-ing over their shared loss, with papa downing drinks in a seedy bar and Claire sprawled suggestively on her bed. Ahem.
- Also creepy, for me, was Molly and Parkman shacking up together. Molly troubles me. They seem to be playing her as very adult and this gave the scene where Parkman confronted her about her paintings an inappropriately domestic feel to me. Also, they're straining to the limits of that little girl's acting repertoire.
- No clue what's going on with Nathan and his Twoface thing in the mirror. And the beard does nothing for me so unless he loses it soon, he's slipping in my affections. And as for Peter showing up in that container, I was just too tired to care.
- The Hiro plot was kind of adorable. Though I still wish his character had matured into something a little more weighty.
- Highlight of the episode was definitely Noah's throwdown with his boss. :D If he keeps that stuff up, I'll keep watching.
Pilot eppys...
Bionic Woman
Oh, Katee! Why must your show be so crap?! It took me all day to get through the pilot... it was painfully bad to begin with and I had to turn it off. But I tuned back in for the fight in the rain, and I gotta say that that totally hooked me in. The slash is out of control and Katee is mesmerising. I really hope Michelle's acting improves because I fear I'm going to end up watching it regardless. Sigh. It wasn't just Michelle that was bad though. I didn't think much of any of the cast apart from Katee, and the writing clunk clunk clunked. What a pity.
So I think I will watch it, but not as a high priority.
Journeyman
OMG, could it be any more boooooring? I love Kevin McKidd but I really don't think I can go there... during all the mental downtime I had during this show (because there was so little to engage with) I found myself very perplexed as to how a journalist had managed to afford that huge house and score those ridiculously snooty attractive women. Didn't like the wife. Livia seemed ok but no personality to speak of. Blah.
Reaper
I was seriously underwhelmed. I keep forgetting that I'm not actually a big fan of Kevin Smith. I always get caught up in everyone else's squee and then remember that I usually find his humour a bit on the flat side. I didn't mind the lead guy and the general premise, but the Devil was surprisingly dull, and I really really hated the sidekick friend. I know he was meant to be obnoxious but there was just no hook-in there at all for me. And I think his haircut was the straw that broke the camel's back for me... nul points!
Chuck
This is a completely ridiculous show. And for that reason, I kinda liked it. ;) There were aspects I didn't like (the sister), but a lot that I did (the absurdity, the lead chick, the lead guy, some of the humour). I think it had potential and I might watch another ep or two to see how it goes. There were a couple of little things that really made me laugh--like 'Captain Awesome', because I KNOW SOMEONE LIKE THAT! He's Canadian and I am not kidding: everything is 'awesome!' to him, in a booming Canadian voice. So, very silly show but entirely watchable.
Gossip Girl
Now this, I did like! :D SO much fun! Gotta love watching attractive rich brats self-destruct. *beams* I know nothing about the books but this show looks like a lot of fun. It's OTT, sure, but actually quite well acted. It's well paced and edited and it seems to have a good range of characters to hook into. Ok, admittedly I'm a total sucker for this stuff. Perhaps because I spent my adolescence watching real bitchy rich kids get rewarded for their shallowness... I enjoy the TV fiction version where they suffer and struggle to overcome their vapidity a lot better. ;)
Definitely a keeper for me. I like Dan a lot--he's probably my favourite so far. His dad's a close second, and how weird is it for me that I'm feeling caught between generations on this show? The whole 'forgotten band of the nineties' thing made me feel very old. ;) Though I choose to believe that this will just double the fun for me on the show--I can ship the kids and the parents! :D
I thought both Blaire (Blare? Blair?) and Serena were very well cast--Serena actually succeeded in seeming 'nice' and B has got the queen bitch thing down pat. The rest of the boys didn't do much for me character-wise but nice eye candy. So far, I've got very few complaints and am looking forward to the next ep!
Pushing Daisies
This was the other real winner in my eyes. I found it completely disarmingly adorable. I love the surrealism and old-fashioned storytelling style. Though I do wonder how they will manage to sustain it. The central premise is fascinating and I found myself really hooked into the concept. Imagine you couldn't pat your own dog! :( The lead guy seems completely lovely--I think I've fallen for him already, which is probably a big part of why I like the show. I'm sad that the lead chick is such a skinny little thing (could she eat more?) but despite that she totally charmed me. I thought the chemistry between the two of them was great too and found it completely adorable when they smooshed monkeys and held their own hands. /smitten
Loved the pilot, thought it was very well written and put together. But I'm just slightly nervous to see how it will go on an ongoing basis. It felt like a great idea for a film, rather than a TV series. We'll see!
I watched House too and as usual have little to say about it. *g*
Oh, Heroes! How I wish I wasn't still sucked in to you! But I am. Let me be quite clear. At this point in time I am watching for one character and one character only: Noah Bennett. Unfortunately for me, he kicked ass in the first episode of season 2 so I'm hooked right back in again...
For me, the problem with Heroes is that it lacks heart. It's all plot twists, scattered ensemble cast and shiny but shallow images. I don't wish to be a spoilsport for those of you still enjoying the show (I know many of you do!) so I will probably scale back my reviews this season. Though I must say after watching the first ep of season 2, I was twitching to get online snark about it. ;)
So, brief thoughts:
- clearly the creative team put their heads together over the hiatus and decided that not only did they need more characters, they needed more INCEST. Yuh. Sure, guys! So we get intensely melodramatic Hispanic brother and sister who are mistaken for a married couple Just what the show needed! *baffled*
- Keeping up the incest watch... is it normal for a father to walk you to school when you're in the eleventh grade or whatever Clare's in? Because I personally wouldn't have been caught dead near my father in public at that age! I love Noah, though, so I'll let that scene off the hook.
- But did anyone else find Claire creeping off to make secret phonecalls to her real biological father just a little creepy? Especially since he was acting like a scorned lover. And they were emo-ing over their shared loss, with papa downing drinks in a seedy bar and Claire sprawled suggestively on her bed. Ahem.
- Also creepy, for me, was Molly and Parkman shacking up together. Molly troubles me. They seem to be playing her as very adult and this gave the scene where Parkman confronted her about her paintings an inappropriately domestic feel to me. Also, they're straining to the limits of that little girl's acting repertoire.
- No clue what's going on with Nathan and his Twoface thing in the mirror. And the beard does nothing for me so unless he loses it soon, he's slipping in my affections. And as for Peter showing up in that container, I was just too tired to care.
- The Hiro plot was kind of adorable. Though I still wish his character had matured into something a little more weighty.
- Highlight of the episode was definitely Noah's throwdown with his boss. :D If he keeps that stuff up, I'll keep watching.
Pilot eppys...
Bionic Woman
Oh, Katee! Why must your show be so crap?! It took me all day to get through the pilot... it was painfully bad to begin with and I had to turn it off. But I tuned back in for the fight in the rain, and I gotta say that that totally hooked me in. The slash is out of control and Katee is mesmerising. I really hope Michelle's acting improves because I fear I'm going to end up watching it regardless. Sigh. It wasn't just Michelle that was bad though. I didn't think much of any of the cast apart from Katee, and the writing clunk clunk clunked. What a pity.
So I think I will watch it, but not as a high priority.
Journeyman
OMG, could it be any more boooooring? I love Kevin McKidd but I really don't think I can go there... during all the mental downtime I had during this show (because there was so little to engage with) I found myself very perplexed as to how a journalist had managed to afford that huge house and score those ridiculously snooty attractive women. Didn't like the wife. Livia seemed ok but no personality to speak of. Blah.
Reaper
I was seriously underwhelmed. I keep forgetting that I'm not actually a big fan of Kevin Smith. I always get caught up in everyone else's squee and then remember that I usually find his humour a bit on the flat side. I didn't mind the lead guy and the general premise, but the Devil was surprisingly dull, and I really really hated the sidekick friend. I know he was meant to be obnoxious but there was just no hook-in there at all for me. And I think his haircut was the straw that broke the camel's back for me... nul points!
Chuck
This is a completely ridiculous show. And for that reason, I kinda liked it. ;) There were aspects I didn't like (the sister), but a lot that I did (the absurdity, the lead chick, the lead guy, some of the humour). I think it had potential and I might watch another ep or two to see how it goes. There were a couple of little things that really made me laugh--like 'Captain Awesome', because I KNOW SOMEONE LIKE THAT! He's Canadian and I am not kidding: everything is 'awesome!' to him, in a booming Canadian voice. So, very silly show but entirely watchable.
Gossip Girl
Now this, I did like! :D SO much fun! Gotta love watching attractive rich brats self-destruct. *beams* I know nothing about the books but this show looks like a lot of fun. It's OTT, sure, but actually quite well acted. It's well paced and edited and it seems to have a good range of characters to hook into. Ok, admittedly I'm a total sucker for this stuff. Perhaps because I spent my adolescence watching real bitchy rich kids get rewarded for their shallowness... I enjoy the TV fiction version where they suffer and struggle to overcome their vapidity a lot better. ;)
Definitely a keeper for me. I like Dan a lot--he's probably my favourite so far. His dad's a close second, and how weird is it for me that I'm feeling caught between generations on this show? The whole 'forgotten band of the nineties' thing made me feel very old. ;) Though I choose to believe that this will just double the fun for me on the show--I can ship the kids and the parents! :D
I thought both Blaire (Blare? Blair?) and Serena were very well cast--Serena actually succeeded in seeming 'nice' and B has got the queen bitch thing down pat. The rest of the boys didn't do much for me character-wise but nice eye candy. So far, I've got very few complaints and am looking forward to the next ep!
Pushing Daisies
This was the other real winner in my eyes. I found it completely disarmingly adorable. I love the surrealism and old-fashioned storytelling style. Though I do wonder how they will manage to sustain it. The central premise is fascinating and I found myself really hooked into the concept. Imagine you couldn't pat your own dog! :( The lead guy seems completely lovely--I think I've fallen for him already, which is probably a big part of why I like the show. I'm sad that the lead chick is such a skinny little thing (could she eat more?) but despite that she totally charmed me. I thought the chemistry between the two of them was great too and found it completely adorable when they smooshed monkeys and held their own hands. /smitten
Loved the pilot, thought it was very well written and put together. But I'm just slightly nervous to see how it will go on an ongoing basis. It felt like a great idea for a film, rather than a TV series. We'll see!
I watched House too and as usual have little to say about it. *g*
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no subject
Date: 2007-09-30 08:49 pm (UTC)Like Heroes: I really liked the Maya/Alejandro thing because mostly I love sibling relationships and I can't think of many brother-sister pairs on current shows. Usually its all about the Brothers these days...not that I am complaining about that XD
Hmmm I think Claire herself told HRG he should stop being so overprotective and let her come to school alone. From his POV though it seems to me understandable. The whole Bennet family should still be a bit jittery & paranoid after last season. As for HRG kicking ass - that he most certainly DID!
As for Nathan poor guy - I think it is very reprehensible though wholly sweet that he seems to have given up his whole life in a drunken stupor - wife, kids and all just because his brother is dead. He can't even seem to be a father figure to Caire at the moment. Man I don't know why I love him XD
LOL I actually loved Journeyman and am intrigued to see the direction it will take while Gossip Girl I have heard a lot about but think I am going to detest it. I didn't like OC much either - even if it was on occasion addicting.
I saw Chuck. The beginning Bryce sequence was superawesome, the rest was OK.
no subject
Date: 2007-09-30 08:50 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-10-01 01:43 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-10-01 04:24 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-10-01 05:50 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-10-01 12:57 am (UTC)I guess... I just find them bizarrely bonded to one another. It's still retained an aspect of creepy from S1 for me. I'm not really complaining--I love HRG and I get why he's super-protective of Claire and I think he genuinely loves her as a daughter and all that. I just find the show pushes family relationships as extremely intimate.
Man I don't know why I love him XD
It's the hotness. *nods*
I didn't like OC much either - even if it was on occasion addicting.
Never got into OC. Somehow Gossip Girl seems way more fun. Maybe because it's sillier? Can't really say.
Oh, and I forgot Ugly Betty! I have secretly got hooked on that show in the last couple of months. Your icon reminded me.
no subject
Date: 2007-10-01 04:22 am (UTC)It depends on perception I guess? When I see those relationships I think wow they are dysfunctional but in their own uniue way wonderful. I love the fact that Mrs Petrelli is this evil conniving bitch (and I love her for that) and her sons seem to have developed an emotional support system between them despite that. In fact I shouldn't just say despite Ma Petrelli because even Pa Petrelli doesn't sound all that sane either.
And then there's Ando and Hiro and they're not family but I just love their loyalty to one another. And how Ando stayed with hiro's father awaiting hiro's return.
The Bennets are just...hilarious. I wish Lyle would develop more of a personality sometimes.
Hmm what other family is there? I can't recall now...o well I'm probably boring you anyway. I think Heroes is one of those things you'll either like and read all the stuff you can into or you'll just not.
Oh and the whole Matt & Mohinder living together I thought was brilliant and reminded me a bit about the Nine. After you've gone through this life changing experience together and your wife kicks you out of course you'd run to your newfound traumatic partner best mate.
YAY Ugly Betty, that show is so sweet it gives me cavaties. ♥
no subject
Date: 2007-10-01 05:54 am (UTC)Yeah, they're definitely dysfunctional.
Bear in mind with me that I don't really understand close families as I don't have one. No siblings, divorced parents...
And then there's Ando and Hiro and they're not family but I just love their loyalty to one another. And how Ando stayed with hiro's father awaiting hiro's return.
Gah! I have Ando issues. I'll stay out of that one.
I think Heroes is one of those things you'll either like and read all the stuff you can into or you'll just not.
Indeed! It either clicks or it doesn't. I was SO excited about the show when it first started but it just never deepened for me into more long-term affection. I'm happy for those people (like yourself) who are enjoying it though, as there's certainly a lot to 'play' with in that universe.
YAY Ugly Betty, that show is so sweet it gives me cavaties. ♥
Hee! That's a good description.