Spring Season 2009
Feb. 15th, 2009 02:12 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
gwaevalarinMost shows are back, either from the winter hiatus or with a new season altogether. So I thought I'd write a small review about this year's best (and sometimes not so good) of tv so far.
Might contain spoilers up to recently aired episodes, obviously.
Supernatural
The Winchester boys didn't exactly come back with their strongest. Don't get me wrong, the first two episodes after the hiatus were still two very solid hours of tv and I enjoyed them. But with Supernatural I expect more than "very solid". That's the curse of a show with such high standards. You expect it to be brilliant every single week.
And fortunately Supernatural was back to being exactly that with "After School Special". And once again it wasn't the storyline but the characters that made the difference. We'd had flashbacks before and I loved them. But this time we got almost a whole episode of our boys 12 years ago that gave us an inside into what their life was like with John hunting. And wasn't the casting just incredible? Dean was just an idiot back then which is very believable when you mix his character with adolescence. But he was still so very much Dean. The not giving a crap attitude, never letting anyone get cose to him but always watching out for his little brother. And speaking of Sammy... wasn't he just amazing? &hearts Very strong and self-confident but in such a kind and calm way. And so grown-up for his age it almost breaks your heart.
And the week after we got a new take on a classical monster: Sirens. The story worked really well. It made the boys admit things to each other they'd have kept to themselves without the siren's spell. Which is always good because they keep way too much from each other. The only thing I didn't like about the episode was Bobby rushing in and saving the day, almost like a deus ex machina. That was little anticlimatic. We all know that Bobby rocks, especially with his wall of government agency phones, but I would have prefered for the boys to find a way out themselves.
And now, hiatus again. *pouts*
Heroes
So much potential wasted. That's probably what best sums up volume 3. Now volume 4 has started and again they promised us that things will get better. And so far they did get slightly better. But only if you ignore everything that has happened during the last 2 years or so and everything you know about the characters. Or in other words: The story has improved, which is a first step, but the characters still feel neither consistent nor 3-dimensional. But at least the show is good enough again for me to give it another chance. What bugs me most is that they turned Nathan into the bad guy and so far it just doesn't make sense. They might solve that by giving a good explanation but I doubt they will. Nathan already acted completely out of character last season. What's giving me a little hope is that he still loves his brother. Acting like an idiot towards Peter but then sincerly thanking Noah for sparing him, that sounded more like the Nathan I know.
Some things I do like about the new season: One, Peter's new "Just one at a time"-power combined with the fact that he obviously has to touch people now to get their power. That makes things a lot more interesting and avoids the danger of Peter getting too strong by just collecting all the powers around him. And two, Sylar and his newfound apprentice. That's just so cute in a very disturbing kind of way.
And Taylor Cole got a cameo. Awww! I totally would have missed her if I hadn't spotted her name in the credits.
Lost
The first episode was very confusing but after I got used to the whole jumping around in time I started to really enjoy the season. The show is more about the island and it's mysteries again and less about soap opera-like storylines like the Sawyer/Kate/Jack triangle. Ben's still delivering the best one-liners ever, Sawyer and Juliet make a surprisingly good team, Jack is still annoying but what else is new and Desmond is playing a big part which, honestly, is the most important thing. I'm just afraid that after his reunion with Penny at the end of last season, he'll have to wait for his real happy ending a little longer now. And I very much hope there will be (something like) a happy ending for them and little Charlie, of course.
And while I still have no idea what's going on with that island I have a theory about how the show might end. With the whole time travelling theme I can see it form a circle. Which would mean that it somehow ends with the plane crash that sets the show's events in motion. Again.
24
I haven't watched 24 for years. With Tony and Michelle gone I lost interest. But when I heard that Tony was back, even as the bad guy, of course I had to start watching again. I never quite believed that Tony had changed sides like that. Yes, he has lost everything and we know what losing Michelle did to him the last time. But he's still Tony. He comes crashing down but you know that he will get up again and do what's right. So when Tony whispered that codeword into Jack's ear I wanted to crawl into my screen, hug him tight and welcome him back. It's those moments when you realise how much you've missed a character. I still miss Michelle, though. It's just not the same without her. I think I'll have to watch season 2 to 4 again, as soon as I find the time.
I'm a little worried about Tony now that Emerson is dead - was anyone else thinking "What's Methos doing there? And since he's obviously evil again, where's Cronos?" when he first turned up? - because they were friends and in a way Tony did trust him. I wish Jack wouldn't have left him behind. Because I think, right now, Tony really needs to be reminded that there still is someone who cares and who'll stand by him if he does what's "right" and faces the consequences of what he's done during the last years.
Oh, and Jack? We really need to talk about the meaning of "staying under the radar".
And last but not least:
Dollhouse
What a promising start. But, of course, that was to be expected. After all, it's a Joss Whedon show with Eliza Dushku in the lead. *g*
I think what I love best about the concept is that they can tell a completely different story every week which gives Eliza the possibility to play a completely different character every week. That will be very interesting to see. And still, overall, there's this very tragic story of a girl, or these people actually, who've been ripped of their memories, their whole lifes. And whose memories are wiped over and over again. Who are really just used as shells to bring different personalities to life for a few days and then destroy them again. And the institution that does it to them tries to justify their actions by claiming that they're giving them a carefree life because they can never remember what they went through. I'm really looking forward to seeing where the show is going to go.
That's five US shows I'm watching at the moment (plus two on German tv). How did that happen? I miss my British shows, most of all Doctor Who and Primeval. But they'll both be back in spring even if it's "only" with a special in the Doctor's case.
And Primeval might even air in Germany before it airs in the UK. I'm just not sure I want to see, or rather hear, the dubbed version.
Might contain spoilers up to recently aired episodes, obviously.
Supernatural
The Winchester boys didn't exactly come back with their strongest. Don't get me wrong, the first two episodes after the hiatus were still two very solid hours of tv and I enjoyed them. But with Supernatural I expect more than "very solid". That's the curse of a show with such high standards. You expect it to be brilliant every single week.
And fortunately Supernatural was back to being exactly that with "After School Special". And once again it wasn't the storyline but the characters that made the difference. We'd had flashbacks before and I loved them. But this time we got almost a whole episode of our boys 12 years ago that gave us an inside into what their life was like with John hunting. And wasn't the casting just incredible? Dean was just an idiot back then which is very believable when you mix his character with adolescence. But he was still so very much Dean. The not giving a crap attitude, never letting anyone get cose to him but always watching out for his little brother. And speaking of Sammy... wasn't he just amazing? &hearts Very strong and self-confident but in such a kind and calm way. And so grown-up for his age it almost breaks your heart.
And the week after we got a new take on a classical monster: Sirens. The story worked really well. It made the boys admit things to each other they'd have kept to themselves without the siren's spell. Which is always good because they keep way too much from each other. The only thing I didn't like about the episode was Bobby rushing in and saving the day, almost like a deus ex machina. That was little anticlimatic. We all know that Bobby rocks, especially with his wall of government agency phones, but I would have prefered for the boys to find a way out themselves.
And now, hiatus again. *pouts*
Heroes
So much potential wasted. That's probably what best sums up volume 3. Now volume 4 has started and again they promised us that things will get better. And so far they did get slightly better. But only if you ignore everything that has happened during the last 2 years or so and everything you know about the characters. Or in other words: The story has improved, which is a first step, but the characters still feel neither consistent nor 3-dimensional. But at least the show is good enough again for me to give it another chance. What bugs me most is that they turned Nathan into the bad guy and so far it just doesn't make sense. They might solve that by giving a good explanation but I doubt they will. Nathan already acted completely out of character last season. What's giving me a little hope is that he still loves his brother. Acting like an idiot towards Peter but then sincerly thanking Noah for sparing him, that sounded more like the Nathan I know.
Some things I do like about the new season: One, Peter's new "Just one at a time"-power combined with the fact that he obviously has to touch people now to get their power. That makes things a lot more interesting and avoids the danger of Peter getting too strong by just collecting all the powers around him. And two, Sylar and his newfound apprentice. That's just so cute in a very disturbing kind of way.
And Taylor Cole got a cameo. Awww! I totally would have missed her if I hadn't spotted her name in the credits.
Lost
The first episode was very confusing but after I got used to the whole jumping around in time I started to really enjoy the season. The show is more about the island and it's mysteries again and less about soap opera-like storylines like the Sawyer/Kate/Jack triangle. Ben's still delivering the best one-liners ever, Sawyer and Juliet make a surprisingly good team, Jack is still annoying but what else is new and Desmond is playing a big part which, honestly, is the most important thing. I'm just afraid that after his reunion with Penny at the end of last season, he'll have to wait for his real happy ending a little longer now. And I very much hope there will be (something like) a happy ending for them and little Charlie, of course.
And while I still have no idea what's going on with that island I have a theory about how the show might end. With the whole time travelling theme I can see it form a circle. Which would mean that it somehow ends with the plane crash that sets the show's events in motion. Again.
24
I haven't watched 24 for years. With Tony and Michelle gone I lost interest. But when I heard that Tony was back, even as the bad guy, of course I had to start watching again. I never quite believed that Tony had changed sides like that. Yes, he has lost everything and we know what losing Michelle did to him the last time. But he's still Tony. He comes crashing down but you know that he will get up again and do what's right. So when Tony whispered that codeword into Jack's ear I wanted to crawl into my screen, hug him tight and welcome him back. It's those moments when you realise how much you've missed a character. I still miss Michelle, though. It's just not the same without her. I think I'll have to watch season 2 to 4 again, as soon as I find the time.
I'm a little worried about Tony now that Emerson is dead - was anyone else thinking "What's Methos doing there? And since he's obviously evil again, where's Cronos?" when he first turned up? - because they were friends and in a way Tony did trust him. I wish Jack wouldn't have left him behind. Because I think, right now, Tony really needs to be reminded that there still is someone who cares and who'll stand by him if he does what's "right" and faces the consequences of what he's done during the last years.
Oh, and Jack? We really need to talk about the meaning of "staying under the radar".
And last but not least:
Dollhouse
What a promising start. But, of course, that was to be expected. After all, it's a Joss Whedon show with Eliza Dushku in the lead. *g*
I think what I love best about the concept is that they can tell a completely different story every week which gives Eliza the possibility to play a completely different character every week. That will be very interesting to see. And still, overall, there's this very tragic story of a girl, or these people actually, who've been ripped of their memories, their whole lifes. And whose memories are wiped over and over again. Who are really just used as shells to bring different personalities to life for a few days and then destroy them again. And the institution that does it to them tries to justify their actions by claiming that they're giving them a carefree life because they can never remember what they went through. I'm really looking forward to seeing where the show is going to go.
That's five US shows I'm watching at the moment (plus two on German tv). How did that happen? I miss my British shows, most of all Doctor Who and Primeval. But they'll both be back in spring even if it's "only" with a special in the Doctor's case.
And Primeval might even air in Germany before it airs in the UK. I'm just not sure I want to see, or rather hear, the dubbed version.
