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Thoughts on the fall season shows
Here on my thoughts on the current fall season of tv shows that I'm watching. I'm trying not to give away major spoilers, but there may be a few spoilers and some references to events from the previous season below the cut.
In no particular order:
I was a bit meh on NCIS: New Orleans at first, but it's grown on me and I'm really enjoying it. I like the addition of Percy as a new agent. But I feel like they try a little too hard to make Sebastian the quirky geek guy, and it comes off as forced rather than natural. And I still think Scott Bakula's character should get a pet beagle. ;-) (Just a little inside joke for Star Trek fans.)
NCIS: LA is pretty much the same as always for me, which is to say I mostly enjoy it. I like Deeks and Kenzie as a couple, but I'm not sure I'm liking the "Internal Affairs is investigating Deeks" plot. I guess I'll just have to wait and see how it plays out.
I'm not sure if Callen is still supposed to be dating the teacher from last season? I guess so, since I don't recall hearing about a breakup, although he seemed to be flirting a bit with the DEA agent in the last episode. This is kind of a belated vent, but I never liked that romance, mostly because I don't see how Sam could possibly have thought it would be a good idea for Callen to get into a serious relationship with a woman that he had to lie about his identity to. I just don't see how a relationship based on such a major lie could work, although they managed to get around that by having the girlfriend eventually find out his true identity when she was taken hostage and he had to rescue her. And even for partners, Sam seem way overinvested in meddling with Callen's personal life, which could make for some interesting fanfic, although I'm not active in that fandom.
As for the main NCIS show, I still watch and enjoy it, although I feel that it's grown a bit old. (No pun intended.) Also, I was supremely pissed at them when they killed off my favorite recurring character, Agent Dorneget last season. (Also, way to go in killing off the only canonical gay character in the show, guys.) On the bright side, I'm really loving Jon Cryer as Gibbs's snarky heart surgeon; I hope we continue to see more of him. On the down side, it seems like Bishop and her husband (played by Battlestar Galactica's Jamie Bamber) are having marital troubles, and I hope they aren't going to write Bamber out of the show. I really like him, and on a purely shallow note, somehow I find him way more handsome in glasses than I did sans glasses in BG. I guess I have a bit of a glasses fetish? It seems to me that almost anyone looks a little hotter in glasses than they do without them!
Blindspot: It wasn't quite as awesome as I was anticipating, but it's still enjoyable, and I think it's growing on me. I loved Jamie Alexander as badass Asgard warrior Lady Sif in the Thor movies and Agents of SHIELD; she plays a different sort of character here, also badass and yet vulnerable at the same time, since she's completely lost her memory. It's taken me longer to warm up toSam Worthington Sullivan Stapleton, who plays the male lead, but the story has gotten more interesting as the past connection to his character and Alexander's was revealed and is affecting their current relationship. I'm still a few episodes behind, and I'm looking forward to catching up with the one in which Lou Diamond Phillips guest stars. ETA 12/2/15: I think I read a review describing the lead actor as a Sam Worthington type, and somehow that translated in my brain as "he is Sam Worthington". I'll blame it on my head being a bit muddled with a cold at the time, combined with not having seen any of the movies that the real Sam Worthington starred in.
And speaking of Agents of SHIELD, I've really grown uncomfortable with SHIELD's "the ends justify the means" morality. It's been a problem from the beginning, but has grown harder and harder to ignore, especially in light of the post-Winter Soldier "SHIELD was infiltrated by Hydra" plot, which should have been a lesson/warning to them. But SHIELD continues to do as they please, breaking rules and laws as they see fit, while criticizing other organizations that do the same. It would be one thing if the show acknowledged the hypocrity/moral ambiguity, but it feels like the show expects us to root wholeheartedly for Coulson and his team. On the bright side, evil!Ward continues to be much more interesting than bland good-guy Ward, and I'm loving the current FitzSimmons storyline, and how Fitz is trying so hard to set aside his feelings and do the right thing. (The show seems to be leaning towards bringing them together as a couple, but I kind of hope that they just stay friends, personally.) I was also thrilled to see Peter MacNicol's Asgardian character return for another episode this season.
Blacklist: I loved this show when it first came out, but I don't like the current plot of having Liz be a fugitive on the run with Reddington. I think the show worked better when it dealt with the contrasting conflict/connection between her as an FBI agent and Red as the master criminal who works with her for reasons of his own. While I'm several episodes behind, I'm having trouble seeing how she can possibly clear her name and go back to being an agent, considering that she actually did murder someone.
Scorpion: Last season's finale ended with Paige admitting her feelings for Walter, so I was annoyed when the show immediately backtracked and went back to dancing around the "will they or won't they get together" question. But to be fair, the socially awkward Walter clearly isn't quite ready for a relationship yet, and he at least seems to be making baby steps in that direction, so I'll try to be patient for now. In the meantime, I'm still enjoying the friendship/camaraderie between the Scorpion team.
Criminal Minds: It's okay, but I miss Jennifer Love Hewitt's character, whom I really liked. I don't dislike Aisha Tyler's character, precisely, but I haven't warmed to her yet, either. Maybe it's partly because I'm so used to thinking of her as a talk show host that I find it hard to suspend belief and think of her as her character and not "Aisha Tyler".
Sleepy Hollow: Honestly, the story has been going downhill since last season, and it's not really getting better with the new season. I have no idea where they're going with the Betsy Ross subplot or why they felt they needed to introduce a love interest for Ichabod that takes place in the past, unless they're somehow going to bring Betsy into the present time. (As far as I know, anyway; I'm about five episodes behind at the moment.) Even so, I love the interactions between Ichabod and Abbie, and Abbie and Jenny, so much that I can't quite bring myself to give up on it yet. The show is an unfortunate combination of great characters and actors, but bad writing and plotting.
Elementary: Coincidentally, John Noble (who played Ichabod and Katrina's son on Sleepy Hollow) has joined the cast of Elementary as Sherlock's father. His character isn't a pleasant person, but makes an intriguing addition to the show--I'm really interested in finding out more about his character. Sherlock hates him, and not without good reason, seeing the contempt with which his father treats him, but I'm guessing that things are more much complicated than they seem on the surface.
Grimm: Another series where I love the characters but the story is a mess. And I'm really uncomfortable with the "Adalind is having Nick's baby" plotline, because Adalind essentially date-raped Nick (had sex with him while disguised as Juliet). Right now, they have an uneasy alliance for the sake of the unborn child, but the story seems to be heading towards bringing Nick and Adalind together as a couple, and I'll be really unhappy if it does go that route.
Brookyln 99 and Fresh Off the Boat both continue to be hilarious with character that you love in spite of (or because of) their petty human flaws--no complaints here. Unfortunately, I'm woefully behind on FoB because it airs at the same time as NCIS, and I haven't been able to keep up with the streamed episodes. I'll probably have to catch up fully when it comes out on dvd.
In no particular order:
I was a bit meh on NCIS: New Orleans at first, but it's grown on me and I'm really enjoying it. I like the addition of Percy as a new agent. But I feel like they try a little too hard to make Sebastian the quirky geek guy, and it comes off as forced rather than natural. And I still think Scott Bakula's character should get a pet beagle. ;-) (Just a little inside joke for Star Trek fans.)
NCIS: LA is pretty much the same as always for me, which is to say I mostly enjoy it. I like Deeks and Kenzie as a couple, but I'm not sure I'm liking the "Internal Affairs is investigating Deeks" plot. I guess I'll just have to wait and see how it plays out.
I'm not sure if Callen is still supposed to be dating the teacher from last season? I guess so, since I don't recall hearing about a breakup, although he seemed to be flirting a bit with the DEA agent in the last episode. This is kind of a belated vent, but I never liked that romance, mostly because I don't see how Sam could possibly have thought it would be a good idea for Callen to get into a serious relationship with a woman that he had to lie about his identity to. I just don't see how a relationship based on such a major lie could work, although they managed to get around that by having the girlfriend eventually find out his true identity when she was taken hostage and he had to rescue her. And even for partners, Sam seem way overinvested in meddling with Callen's personal life, which could make for some interesting fanfic, although I'm not active in that fandom.
As for the main NCIS show, I still watch and enjoy it, although I feel that it's grown a bit old. (No pun intended.) Also, I was supremely pissed at them when they killed off my favorite recurring character, Agent Dorneget last season. (Also, way to go in killing off the only canonical gay character in the show, guys.) On the bright side, I'm really loving Jon Cryer as Gibbs's snarky heart surgeon; I hope we continue to see more of him. On the down side, it seems like Bishop and her husband (played by Battlestar Galactica's Jamie Bamber) are having marital troubles, and I hope they aren't going to write Bamber out of the show. I really like him, and on a purely shallow note, somehow I find him way more handsome in glasses than I did sans glasses in BG. I guess I have a bit of a glasses fetish? It seems to me that almost anyone looks a little hotter in glasses than they do without them!
Blindspot: It wasn't quite as awesome as I was anticipating, but it's still enjoyable, and I think it's growing on me. I loved Jamie Alexander as badass Asgard warrior Lady Sif in the Thor movies and Agents of SHIELD; she plays a different sort of character here, also badass and yet vulnerable at the same time, since she's completely lost her memory. It's taken me longer to warm up to
And speaking of Agents of SHIELD, I've really grown uncomfortable with SHIELD's "the ends justify the means" morality. It's been a problem from the beginning, but has grown harder and harder to ignore, especially in light of the post-Winter Soldier "SHIELD was infiltrated by Hydra" plot, which should have been a lesson/warning to them. But SHIELD continues to do as they please, breaking rules and laws as they see fit, while criticizing other organizations that do the same. It would be one thing if the show acknowledged the hypocrity/moral ambiguity, but it feels like the show expects us to root wholeheartedly for Coulson and his team. On the bright side, evil!Ward continues to be much more interesting than bland good-guy Ward, and I'm loving the current FitzSimmons storyline, and how Fitz is trying so hard to set aside his feelings and do the right thing. (The show seems to be leaning towards bringing them together as a couple, but I kind of hope that they just stay friends, personally.) I was also thrilled to see Peter MacNicol's Asgardian character return for another episode this season.
Blacklist: I loved this show when it first came out, but I don't like the current plot of having Liz be a fugitive on the run with Reddington. I think the show worked better when it dealt with the contrasting conflict/connection between her as an FBI agent and Red as the master criminal who works with her for reasons of his own. While I'm several episodes behind, I'm having trouble seeing how she can possibly clear her name and go back to being an agent, considering that she actually did murder someone.
Scorpion: Last season's finale ended with Paige admitting her feelings for Walter, so I was annoyed when the show immediately backtracked and went back to dancing around the "will they or won't they get together" question. But to be fair, the socially awkward Walter clearly isn't quite ready for a relationship yet, and he at least seems to be making baby steps in that direction, so I'll try to be patient for now. In the meantime, I'm still enjoying the friendship/camaraderie between the Scorpion team.
Criminal Minds: It's okay, but I miss Jennifer Love Hewitt's character, whom I really liked. I don't dislike Aisha Tyler's character, precisely, but I haven't warmed to her yet, either. Maybe it's partly because I'm so used to thinking of her as a talk show host that I find it hard to suspend belief and think of her as her character and not "Aisha Tyler".
Sleepy Hollow: Honestly, the story has been going downhill since last season, and it's not really getting better with the new season. I have no idea where they're going with the Betsy Ross subplot or why they felt they needed to introduce a love interest for Ichabod that takes place in the past, unless they're somehow going to bring Betsy into the present time. (As far as I know, anyway; I'm about five episodes behind at the moment.) Even so, I love the interactions between Ichabod and Abbie, and Abbie and Jenny, so much that I can't quite bring myself to give up on it yet. The show is an unfortunate combination of great characters and actors, but bad writing and plotting.
Elementary: Coincidentally, John Noble (who played Ichabod and Katrina's son on Sleepy Hollow) has joined the cast of Elementary as Sherlock's father. His character isn't a pleasant person, but makes an intriguing addition to the show--I'm really interested in finding out more about his character. Sherlock hates him, and not without good reason, seeing the contempt with which his father treats him, but I'm guessing that things are more much complicated than they seem on the surface.
Grimm: Another series where I love the characters but the story is a mess. And I'm really uncomfortable with the "Adalind is having Nick's baby" plotline, because Adalind essentially date-raped Nick (had sex with him while disguised as Juliet). Right now, they have an uneasy alliance for the sake of the unborn child, but the story seems to be heading towards bringing Nick and Adalind together as a couple, and I'll be really unhappy if it does go that route.
Brookyln 99 and Fresh Off the Boat both continue to be hilarious with character that you love in spite of (or because of) their petty human flaws--no complaints here. Unfortunately, I'm woefully behind on FoB because it airs at the same time as NCIS, and I haven't been able to keep up with the streamed episodes. I'll probably have to catch up fully when it comes out on dvd.