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Tuesday, October 31, 2006
TV Ranking: Oct. 26: Supernatural (mod2)
Wednesday. Oct. 26
Supernatural: Simon Says
Module 2 Score: 24
This was the best episode of the season for the Winchester brothers. Dean has picked up his attitude lately - maybe crying and breaking down finally allowed him to move on towards retribution beyond guilt. He's still got a nastier streak post-father-death, but his less contentious moments are filled with quips and the original Dean.
This also had the best set-up for the paranormal with the scene with the doctor's very weird calm before and during the storm. The main guest character, Andy, was also more interesting than the others have been all season. The motive for the deaths of the doctor and the lady is pretty weak in retrospect. Yes, Weber was a nutjob, but it didn't seem like he was that badly turned.
With the way the show ended, it seems like the season's arc is officially directed towards following the trail of psycho psychics and possibly saving Dean from himself.
Where is the love? Good thing they've stayed away for the most part, but the hot girls for Dean to hit on mid-hunt have been missing so far.
TV Ranking: Oct. 25, The Nine (mod2)
Wednesday. Oct. 26
The Nine: Brother's Keeper
Module 2 Score: 22
Another solid episode that wasn't spectacular. I don't remember much anymore, though. I don't get what the big difference between Lucas and Randall are. Both of them robbed the bank together, but I'm sure we'll see in the future the exact reason why Lucas has become the hero of the two. Yes, there were scenes of a fight, and there are obvious assumptions we can make, but nothing solid.
I think the way they unravel Lucas' trial will be interesting - even more so than Randall's. Lucas, obviously, is the one we're supposed to care about so we are supposed to be more attached to his getting a fair trial and fair sentencing. There's no way Lucas gets away free. In fact, Randall might. It'll set up a second season (if they get that far.) If their ratings continue to struggle, I'm sure there will be a happy ending for Lucas - and Lizzie.
Is it me or does Egan have a crush on Frannie?
The connection between Randall and Carlos, Eva's ex boyfriend and baby daddy, will be interesting if it adds more action to the show. There's only so much bleh I can take. I know what they went through is fresh, but c'mon.
Nick had a parallel sidestory about a son who seemed to go crazy and killed his dependant parents. They juxtaposed this with Lucas and his decision on helping Randall. At first I didn't really get it because I don't think I was paying hard enough attention, but the "taking care of family" comparison between a criminal and a random person makes sense. It's a build up for Lucas.
Lucas, as he must've done in the bank, gave up his own best interests (or maybe most immediate interests) for the sake of the "group". No Felicia this week.
Why is Egan the only glimmer of humor in the show? Balance it out!
Friday, October 27, 2006
TV Ranking: Oct. 25, Lost (mod2)
Wednesday. Oct. 26
Lost: Every Man for Himself
Module 2 Score: 25
Now, this is strange.
My initial reaction to the show was the same frustration as it was with episode 1 and 2 of this season, but I already talked about that. It’s strange though, that after I took a step back from the frustration, I really did appreciate MOST of the episode. The alarming part is that the “stink” really stinks BADLY and that is made up of ALL the Others except for Ben and Juliet.
Wait. How long has Danielle been on THE island? How come she’s never known of the “Other” Island.
We saw that the Others were living quite suburban lives when the plane crashed. Why are they all now in the hyper-safari-research garb? Also, did Goodwin and Ethan really have enough time to get from their island to the two crash sites on THE island?
Anyway. Enough questions.
Sawyer, as always, is the BEST character on this show. He and Locke have the best flashbacks and the most complexity to their characters. Sawyer being in prison was good. Sawyer conning his way out of the prison, even better. Sadly, the tide was turned on him by Ben. Ben, is quite a manipulative and vindictive twerp.
What does he HAVE on all these other Others? Really?
I really doubt that Ben has anything that’s worthwhile to him. He is pure evil. Juliet is sub-evil, but evil in the same way. I think the rest of the Others are being manipulated by Ben. With that said, I completely contend that Ben KNEW Colleen had no chance to live and therefore got Juliet to trick Jack into helping, because as we all know, Jack can’t function when he fails at saving. That, again, was another way to bury Jack into a deeper mental ditch.
Kate’s ability to escape and the refusal to escape was pathetic, at least in its infant stage. No, I don’t hate Kate like many other viewers do, but I have to put that Pathetic tag on the writers. If, for all intents and purposes, that was done to show Kate’s real “love” for Sawyer, then that was stupid. I did appreciate her keenness to Sawyer’s strange behavior when he returned, but he sure didn’t hide it well.
The dreariness of these Others-heavy episodes is taxing and that’s why I may really dislike this Others-heavy arc. More questions are asked than answered despite being promised.
Desmond continues to have psychic powers. I guess it was the long hair and scruffy look that got the nod this week. Him and Sawyer, if you didn’t get it.
Wasn’t Costanza the gay coffee shop owner in Felicity? A J.J plant? What about Sloane coming in as Ben’s big boss – just for a flashback at least.
I miss Alias.
TV Ranking: Oct. 26: Smallville (mod2)
Thursday. Oct. 26
Smallville: Reunion
Module 2 Score: 21
This episode speaks to me as would a standalone issue in comic book fare, even though right now, they are working on exposition of Ollie Queen without making it an expense of the other full characters we have on the show. I thought the episode was good and entertaining, but there wasn’t much I was really glowing from like last week’s ep.
Showing Ollie as an asshole kid was interesting, but I really couldn’t feel why he was placing all the blame on Lex. Ollie is a bit of an ass in comics. Yes, he’s a superhero, but he isn’t brooding like Bruce Wayne, uptight like Clark Kent, or jumpy-yet conflicted like Peter Parker. There’s definitely a hint of “punk-ass” to him, at least, it seems that way to me from the reactions that other characters have of him. Anyway, this was a nice episode in showing how Lionel really did Lex dirty throughout his life. The “death” of young Duncan drastically affected both Ollie and Lex, but it seems like we can safely assume that prior to that moment, Ollie was like other rich schoolboys: sheltered, while this is just another ingredient in the recipe of crazy-juice that Lex has continually sipped in his developmental years.
I, then, go back to Ollie’s displacement of guilt. Yes, he showed he was guilty. Yes, we can assume that his turn towards the right side of spandex is a direct response to what happened, but from my opinion, Ollie and his friends had much more to do with Duncan’s death than Lex did. And, I don’t like Lex, not anymore, but I still have to defend him here.
On that note, it was nice to see Ollie whoop on Lex’s ass for a bit before Duncan’s Electro-Brain did both of them in and set up for Clark save.
Nothing much about moving any major plots forward except for
1) Lionel’s continued stealth research on the Kryptonian symbols.
And
2) the confirmation of what we knew already – there’s a whole mess up Phantom “Zoners” that have joined the Earth party and Raya is one of them.
Nothing groundbreaking in either. Lex was totally right, btw, when he shoved Clark’s accusation at him that Lana’s in danger with him. Clark got Lana hurt every week. I wonder why she doesn’t have her own VIP room at Smallville General.
Chloe was heartily missed in this episode. Lois jabs can be amusing at times, but Chloe’s our Midwest version of Veronica Mars Lite.
Here’s to hoping Raya’s interesting!
Tuesday, October 24, 2006
TV Ranking: Oct. 24: Veronica Mars (mod2)
Tuesday. Oct. 24
Veronica Mars: Charlie Don't Surf
Module 2 Score: 22
I'm a bit scared of the future for Veronica Mars. No, not for a potential axing. It's holding steady in ratings. I'm not scared for Veronica's safety within the plot. No, I'm worried about the writing and the direction of the show.
Maybe as an effort to become more palatable, the writing seems to have lost a level of zest. Witty one-liners? Not as many. Pop-cultural allusions? Barely a trace. The mystery? Still there and done well, but it doesn't seem as daring or clever. Aside from that, is there fun in Logan when he's a puppy?
I'm glad he's getting more of an sympathetic hook this year since Logan's gone through a pretty rough 2 years. After all, college is supposed to be a a clean slate. Yet, if Veronica gets to build her enemies at an alarming rate, should Logan's past demons continue to haunt his behavior? Veronica's dope - but is she THAT good that she could reform Logan so quickly?
This episode was definitely an ode to Veronica and Logan even though she did have enough time to clear the names of the bastard Pi Sigs who she'd prefer to "give a good screwing". But as she said, it's truth that she seeks and they didn't do anything - as of yet.
It was nice (and sad) to see Keith get some romance treatment even though, once again, he's blessed with terrible luck and terrible timing. Interesting situation for a P.I. You're romanticly interested in your client who's a snapshot away from greener pastures (and a rebound), but like Veronica, Keith had to find the truth even though it might not have been what he was hoping. But really, Keith's had some really bad luck.
Let's hope that Wallace and Mac are back next week as well as some extrapolation of Piz. Weevil's definitely in as shown in the preview. Let's hope for some extra snarkyness.
Charleston Chew/Chu was pretty funny. I even clapped.
"Your last name's Chu?"
Pause.
"Wait, your first name's Charleston?"
Cheap joke - but clever in it's cheapness.
TV Ranking: Oct. 23: Heroes (mod 2)
Monday. Oct. 23
Heroes: Hiros
Module 2 Score: 21
Am I soft this week? Maybe I'm getting a different experience when I'm not packing all the shows in at the end of the day. Nonetheless...
Heroes was pretty good this week. There are still some major flaws and I think I realized the 3rd MAJOR fault besides the other two I pointed out in last week's response: the actor who's playing Peter SUCKS! But, his character became infinitely more interesting this week because of his possible superpower. Yes, we've been conditioned to believe that he can fly - but something he said last week supported what happened this week with the instantaneous artistic-possession. My theory on Peter is that he is Rogue like - but instead of needing physical touch, he adapts to the power of the "meta" (of DC vocabulary) who is near him.
He still can't act though. Maybe when he's in scenes with Weiss, I mean Matt Parkman - the mind-reading cop, he'll be able to get some acting delivery powers.
Hiro has become the unasuming main character. I thought naming him Hiro was just some campy trick - but instead he's really integral. Instead of "Save the Cheerleader. Save the World." I say, "More Hiro. Save the Show."
Some other comments on the "metas" powers:
Sylar's Minion: I think he's a telepath. Yes, it's almost a "duh" since he blocked Matt's power in the bar, but he mind-wiped Brody. Batman would be running that guy through a bitch of a gauntlet if he found out. (Comic book nerd note: Batman's buddies in the Justice League mindwiped him once and it really screwed their friendship.) He's dangerous: mind and matter.
Niki: Is her character's power a very weekly and not very well done veil at her own personal struggles "of being good. of being a good mother." She's trying not to be the "girl in the mirror". Very Mulan - "Reflection". Her Mirror girl is her alter ego - the extremity of her bad thoughts. Is she the essence of any superhero internal moral dilemna personified? I'm not caring much for her yet, though her husband's straight Kitty Pryding it next week. That's going to be fun.
Confession: I definitely marked out when Nathan flew even though we all knew he would.
How to keep building on the show? Less Peter. Less Simone. Less Mohinder until they decide to give his character some depth. More Hiro. More Matt. More Nathan even though he's a prick. More Claire but less High School drama.
Let's hope it picks up.
But seriously, when your big REVEAL of a mantra is "Save the cheerleader. Save the world", you're digging yourself a pretty eff'd up hole.
The dialogue's lame except for Hiro's fanboy-ing it (Star Trek, Star Wars, Superman, etc.)
But, like I said, let's hope it raises the bar from this point on. At least it did a good job of creating empathy for some of the characters. Hopefully somewhere, they'll find a solid plot for one episode.
TV Ranking: Oct. 23, Studio 60 (mod2)
(btw, don't read this if this week's episode is still on TiVo or DVR and you haven't watched it yet. Spoilers ahead.)
Monday. Oct. 23
Studio 60: The Wrap Party
Module 2 Score: 29
This week's episode of Studio 60 may have been the most complete installment yet in its young existence. It drifted a bit from the actual mechanics of the show as most of the first 4 episodes were much more oriented towards the actual backstage of the show. This episode, maybe, could be called the backstage of the cast - at least some of them. This episode was just oozing heart from all the main players it focused on:
Tom - with his cliched, yet still poignant tense relationship with his father. We found out that his younger brother mark is in the armed forces in Afghanistan. Does Tom's dad mimic the American audience? Why should we care about a comedy show when we have family in warzones? If, in fact, baseball and sports "helped" our country heal, why shouldn't humor?
Simon - may have equally answered why a comedy show is important. Because he is the lone African American representative on the show and in the creative process, he sets out to scout an up-and-coming African American comic who could possibly join the writing team. Instead, he finds stereotypes, cheap comedy, and cheap laughter at the expense of his own motivations as an entertainer. Yes he wants to make people laugh, but he also wants to help raise the folks that were in his shoes with his humor. That is why comedy is important - at least to Simon.
Eli - the old, seemingly spacious, man who ended up being a living and breathing historical archive. While Tom was showing his skeptical parents what the history of Studio 60 was, Eli was living proof of that history and again living proof of why the comedy show matters. Comedy not only brings laughter, but a comedy show asks serious questions about society - serious enough to get blacklisted as communist aka Anti-American. In this respect, Eli's like John Conner in Terminator 2 - the future version of himself trying to guide the younger version. Eli was branded anti-American, like Matt. He also had a female muse in the cast/crew, like Matt. And btw, I'm glad that Matt and Harriet weren't the focal point of the heart portion of the show.
Jordan - as I was telling a friend the other day, I was hesitant to accept her unfaltering confidence early in the show because I felt she was TOO confident. The past two weeks have shown her humanity through vulnerability. The fact that Jordan's running around looking for "friends" in her pet project 1 - her employees in that regard - and her almost nervous rambling in a true social setting was great (and done quite well by Amanda Peet). She was uncomfortable, yet still confident. Very thin line to navigate.
This episode "knocked my socks off". And with that, every other Studio 60 episode will have to abide by a simple bivariate scale: yes it knocked my socks off or no it didn't. Somewhat extreme but the bar's been raised.
Monday, October 23, 2006
TV Responses Week of Oct. 15
Initial Reaction/Enjoyment:
1. Smallville
This episode was pure fun. Yes, it was a bit much and definitely embarking on a new creative platform where the original show never intended to expand. This marked the first real costume ever when prior heroes including Clark were dressed in tongue-and-cheeks like Clark’s red backpack. Lana’s really turned her back and her history on Clark. It’s good for the show because long term fans are being asked to accept Lois. Me, I’m still biased towards Lana because, after all, we’re still in “Smallville”. The Green Arrow stuff was fun and the superhero code and League implications was also cheeky. Smallville’s been my favorite show this season, so far.
2. Lost
Finally, a legitimate Lost-quality episode. The season premiere was interesting, though I felt it wasn’t much of a season premiere. The second episode of the season left me thoroughly frustrated and un-amused. Episode 3 was great. The new chapter of Locke’s history opens up great character complexity. The interaction among the lostaways, that’s been missing in the first two episodes, was flying in full glory. Most enjoyable was the return of island mysticism. The Others were more interesting before their current roles of psychotic – experimento – farmers. Maybe I feel like the advancement of this “Others” arc is going to slow. Nonetheless, last week had me riding a high Lost-wave, again.
3. Studio 60
Studio 60 is my favorite new show of the season. I did get caught up in the hype, but the cast had me intrigued and the concept is very interesting – to me. Four episodes in, my favorite so far was the second. I love reading about the creative process and seeing Matt(hew Perry) stressing out through writer’s block and this insatiable need for funny as a writer and creator got me type-gazing. Overall, this show’s dialogue gets me every time and last week’s episode was no different. Although the crux of the plot so far is hanging on Matt and Harriet’s (non) relationship, the way it’s being done is interesting (again, to me). I love reading Tim Goodman’s Bastard Machine blog on sfgate.com because it talks so in depthly about the business of television. Studio 60 tries to show it and last week was pushed along by Martha’s search for a human story. The last scene of the show killed me, though, and it raised the initial enjoyment level of the whole show (maybe unfairly). The fitting Sting background and the build up of Harry’s vulnerable yet defensive confession to Matt that he “knocks her socks off” knocked my frick’n socks off. Go Aaron Sorkin!
4. Veronica Mars
The confession here is that within the last three days of the week, I watched the last 11 episodes of VMars S2. That also meant that I watched the first three episodes of S3 immediately afterwards. The good thing was that I was able to close out S2 properly with immediately seeing the premiere of S3 without the summer layover. Yet, the season premiere seemed a bit dull to me and, as another big fan reviewer stated, simplified. VMars isn’t fun when it’s simplified. VMars is about three intertangled meandering season(s) long mysteries extrapolated by episodic mysteries all done with wit, intelligence, and wit. Nevertheless, episode 2 picked up and episode 3 was fun. I’m getting used to the new Hearst University settings. There are already two major mysteries: 1) the Hearst rapist that was introduced in S2 and 2) the Fitzpatrick trouble that Keith has gotten himself into. This will be the first season ever, first episode in fact, that I will be watching the season as it goes since I watched S1 and S2 strictly on DVDs. With that said, it seems like the two stories so far are being treated more darkly than the first two seasons even when they were covering the same subject matter. The final scene in the library seemed a bit Dawson Creekish for me. I think Veronica’s much more fun when she’s single.
5. The Nine
I missed the pilot. I set out on the season intent on not getting caught up in this or any of the other Lost/24 inspired serials. Overkill. Seriously. I spent last year wasting time, early in the season, on Surface and slowly growing to enjoy Invasion. Serial based plotting is difficult to do as shown by Surface and Invasion. I watched episode 2 and 3 all in a sitting and a half. Though it took a while for me to sit down and get into it, I was engaged. The show is much more of a drama than Lost or 24 meaning that the action of the show is in its flashbacks of the 52-hour hostage crisis on which the show is based. It really is about the NINE people who survived that ordeal together no matter what side of it they were on. Yet, I’m also concerned about what the show is about. Unfairly, it will be compared to Lost since it’s following it in schedule and method. Hopefully, it will bask in the glory of its characters or else it may ride on a roller coaster of care like Invasion did last year.
6. Supernatural
I’m not sure why this show is so low on my rankings being one of my holdovers from last year. Actually, I do know. It hasn’t been as good as it was last year. This show arrived with high speculation with it being 1) a WB alumni show and 2) a genericly titled show with a loose premise. I watched it at first because of the fear factor. It turned a corner when the relationship between the brothers expanded. Each urban legend seemed to step up also, but so far this year, it’s been a bit bland. I guess it fits since both of them are dealing with their father’s death. Still, it seemed like the best stories last year showed the emotional connection of the affected hauntees more than they’re doing this year. Let’s hope for an upswing in storytelling.
7. Heroes
Bringing up the FAR rear is the show I should love – the show I’ve wanted to love since its inception – the show that should be a whole mess of fun. I still want to love the show, but its really been empty for me, so far. I’m pretty disconnected with every character in the show except for Hiro and Claire. Hiro’s done the most out of any of our brooding heroes other than Claire. Claire’s been through a crazy-ass four weeks so far. It’s fitting that her pops is the supervillain and it’s fitting that she’s officially the focus of the next segment of the plot starting with episode 5. To be fair, Mohinder’s supposedly doing a lot to push along the overall plot, but his character seems bland also. It was more fun when he was running for his life. I think there are two main problems: 1) the cast is HUGE. At least in Lost, each character is given one episode each and they interact with each other. It’s understandable that Heroes characters don’t communicate since they’re all over the place, but they all seem watered down or forced. Yes, we have questions about Niki, but I don’t think they’ve shown anything about her that we should really care for her. Am I wrong? The other problem is that the show takes itself a bit too seriously without much depth. Yes, they have powers and are gradually learning about them. Yes, we’ll have to wait to understand why. Yes, they’ll have to stop the apocalyptic destruction of New York. But, will I stay around to understand why I should care? As I’ve checked the Heroes webpage on NBC, there are 10 main Heroes plus 1 supervillain. 11 characters in 44 minutes equals 4 minutes each in an ideally egalitarian tv world. With 4 episodes so far, we’ve theoretically seen 16 minutes of each character. Not sure if that equation’s working.
Prosemonkey TV Rankings Week of OCT 15
The three pronged attack at an attempt to rate my favorite shows, or to be more accurate, my favorite 1-hour dramas. (Yes, that's a compound fragment).
I’m trying to hammer down a protocol that I can, somewhat, "scientifically" rate MY must-see list every week. Initially, I came up with the idea that I’d rank my own shows on a basis of overall enjoyment. I think this may be akin to the AP poll in NCAA Football – almost completely subjective.
Then, I thought of categorizing the rankings to break it down not only by a very big general gut reaction to a show, but to methodically give merits to some more of the technical aspects of the show like writing, wit, plot advancement, and character development. Note that these categories are themselves quite subjective, but it offers potentially more of creatively critical sense to the rankings. In the analogy, this would be the (oh no!) BCS.
This categorization then went through two different modules of ranking. The first was a 1 to 7 ratings scale forcing myself to rate each show against each other. This meant that two shows that I felt were almost equally witty could rank higher than others, but they could also be ranked drastically apart (like Show A would be ranked #2 while Show B ranked #6) just because the shows in between were slightly better than Show B. I found this problematic since the number difference could drastically affect a ranking of a show that didn’t necessarily reflect its quality level in that category.
The next module was to rank each show through the categories but by its own merits meaning that each rating was based on a 1-5 scale that judged how well the show did based on the category only and not relative to the other shows. In the end, I felt like this module was more accurate and fair to each show.
The categories of rankings are:
- Advancement of Plot
(How well the show pushes forth the ongoing stories whether long term or short term. This doesn’t count for episode-contained plots. See Standalone Strength)
- Character Development
(How well the show adds depth, complexity, and reasoning behind its characters.)
- Empathy Level
(How well the show made me connect to the characters.)
- Intelligence/Wit
(I wasn’t sure how to operationalize humor since it isn’t necessarily a high point of focus for all of the shows. Instead, I felt that all writing has a level of complexity and wit to it without it necessarily being laugh-out-loud funny.)
- Charm/Initial Reaction
(This is the original ranking system of initial enjoyment pre-BCS.)
- Standalone Strength
(This is a tricky category because some shows are obviously built as serials. With that, I still believe each show, as in every chapter in a book, should be written within a compact, digestible arc. I believe that every episode should have all the elements of plot: introduction, rising action, climax, falling action, and conclusion. In the end, this category is asking, “Can I enjoy this episode by itself?”)
- Long Term Bias
(This acknowledges that I’m already bought in to many of my must-see shows. Therefore, I’ve subtracted a point from each of these shows that qualify for long-term bias. Yet, I must contend that long-term bias can also mean that I’m harder on some episodes if I feel it’s under-par of past episodes. Honestly, that’s how I felt with the season premiere of Veronica Mars S3).
And now, the ratings. (* shows with -1 Long Term Bias)
Based on Module 1 (the 1-7 scale, 7 being best, compared against each other):
1. Smallville* (33pts) tie
1. Studio 60 (33 pts) tie
3. Lost* (32)
4. The Nine (24)
5. Veronica Mars* (22)
6. Supernatural* (14)
7. Heroes (6)
Module 2 (1-5 scale, 5 being best, rated on its own):
1. Smallville* (28 pts)
2. Lost* (26)
3. Studio 60 (24)
4. Veronica Mars* (22)
5. The Nine (21)
6. Supernatural* (19)
7. Heroes (11)
Initial Reaction/Enjoyment:
1. Smallville
2. Lost
3. Studio 60
4. Veronica Mars
5. The Nine
6. Supernatural
7. Heroes
With that, it seems like Module 2 fits my initial reaction much more. So, my decision is to do all three, just because none take much time, and for me, it’s fun.
Next post: More explanation on specific reactions to each show.
