Tv

But, but.... DOCTOR WHO!

(Who, in his twelfth incarnation, premieres in five days....)


I think the time travel conceit in Outlander would work less well if Claire were any less 1940s upper class British than she is. She's out of place in the time she landed in, obviously, but not by so much that she couldn't be a real person there. This is true at least according to my sensibilities, and apparently according to how it's working out on screen. So for now I'm okay with the time travel element. It might get old though. Depends how they render it. Like why it happened and what it is. I don't know how much sci-fi/fantasy they'll end up leaning on though so we'll have to see.

Doctor Who - (new) season 8 - twelfth doctor - episode 1

I AM NOT CONVINCED!

First ep of the eighth season of the Doctor Who reboot was last night. Peter Capaldi is a cool doctor, and in some ways he is a return to the doctors of the original seasons, but the episode last night - Deep Breath - was carried by Clara, and as such had something of a miasma about it. The feeling to me was "this guy is not the last two doctors!"

I don't follow Doctor Who that closely. I only really started watching because Rose Tyler. But I think I recall taking the David Tennant / Matt Smith transition better than this one. I also think it probably doesn't matter. Given a few more episodes and hopefully some new story themes, this new guy will take over nicely.

Clara was pretty cool though. It's a good episode.


Outlander - 3rd episode

Third episode last night. And they started working on their answer to "wtf, time travel?!" The bulk of the episode was still on the actually very interesting modern fish in old water thing. Claire is of a modern mindset with relatively modern tools in the form of specialist knowledge and she has to deal with people who have their own specialities and ways of doing things. It remains interesting to watch how she navigates.

I think as fantasy this show is working out pretty well. The people, the time, the places, the politics, the world are all worked out in delightful and compelling detail, and there is challenge, complexity and danger abroad. It seems like calling the show fantasy might undermine its value a bit, but since the rules of the world are meaningful and substantial, it might be okay. If, for instance, we were seeing just a Scottish highlands story, it'd probably be okay. But we're seeing a 18th century world connected to a 20th century world, and that adds something of a fillip.

Not really sure what I'm saying here. I don't really get fantasy. But Outlander remains entertaining anyway.

Doctor Who - (new) season 8 - twelfth doctor - episode 1

I AM NOT CONVINCED!

Doctor Who - episode 2

I AM NOW CONVINCED! It's like he always was the Doctor.

I liked him. It will take time for him to truly be our Doctor but he will get there.

Doctor Who

I like this Doctor and his sense of what's normal. The stories thus far are a bit so-so. The eventual arc associated with "God" could be interesting.

Outlander

Last week was entirely romance. I nearly can't watch anymore.

Person of Interest

Is back.

Z Nation

I want to like this. The first episode was good, a throwback to the nearly campy zombie movies of, say, Bruce Campbell. But we've just past episode three now and the poor acting is no longer bearable. There's literally one, maybe two, cast members who have any screen presence and an overwhelming number of what feel like uncalibrated amateurs.

</scorpion>

Not holding out high hopes. It looks like The Brady Bunch for "geniuses"

The Blacklist

Is inherently absurd but pretty good drama nonetheless. I hope in season two that stop using "reach out" to describe acts of communication.

Gotham

Now this looks very cool. Last week was episode one and it began with that crucial turning point in Bruce Wayne's childhood. The series proposes to tell the origin stories of everyone in Gotham City by following new departmental recruit, Detective James Gordon, about the place as he comes into his own.

Thought that "The Honourable Woman" was excellent.  What "House of Cards" would be if done seriously and well. Maggie Gyllenhal's character is unique and the plot peals back layer after layer secrets and deceptions without getting ridiculous.

(Still  put "True Detective" on top of the list for this year, though).

I hated David Tennant for replacing Christopher Eccleston.  I hated the bow tie guy for replacing Tennant.  I hate the new guy for replacing the bow tie guy.

Watching The Guardian now.  Very good, in a slow and depressing way.  Farah Fawcett has a guest shot; that chick could act!

Just starting True Detective, and it's good.  Trying to torrent it.

The animated The Tick is all up on youtube!  Well worth it.  I finally watched the live series, 2 episodes- then that was taken down.  I want more.

Any Fringe fans here?  The first season is an entirely plot-driven X-Files clone, with flat characters and wooden acting; but I figure the actors threatened/ blackmailed/ slept with the writers, and from there every season is better than the last.

Netflix recently added Accidentally on Purpose, my vote for the worst TV show in human history.  Yes, worse than the Police Academy TV series.  If you can't resist peeking under a bandaid, take a look and tell me I'm wrong. 

The Walking Dead

Oh man. That was intense.

A whole lotta payoff on the unrelenting grimness of season 4 too. And that was the first episode of season five! Which I suppose is clever. And probably serves as a warning for the rest of season five.

One of the things that was making Z-Nation so dull to watch was in fact the grimness of The Walking Dead. Next to how callous "life" was over on AMC, this other zombie show, Z-Nation, was like cracking jokes at a funeral. They however have turned grimmer recently too. Not nearly as hardcore as The Walking Dead, but who can be, eh?

All my shows have gone away. I've started watching Borgen. It tells the story of charismatic [,moderate] politician Birgitte Nyborg who unexpectedly [in 2010] becomes the first female Prime Minister of Denmark. It has been called a bleaker, Nordic version of The West Wing. I haven't seen the "bleaker" aspects just yet. So far the Danes seem remarkably Danish, and while it seems easy to spot how each episode will turn out, they remain compelling in the telling.


Also been looking at Comedians in Cars getting Coffee. It's a web series with Jerry Seinfeld. He visits other comedians. They get in cars. The get coffee. There's no plot. They just talk about being comedians. Hit and miss, but still basically enjoyable. The Chris Rock episode stands out. Also, the one with Jon Stewart. And a bunch of others.

Amazon made a pilot for a tv adaption of PK Dick's The Man in the High Castle. It's a pilot among several, and may or may not become a series depending on how well it gets liked.

Better Call Saul

The pilot and episode two have aired. I am unsure. Jimmy McGill (aka "Saul Goodman") is an interesting character and his backstory looks like it'll have a lot of stuff going on. I don't know where they're going to go with him though or how it can be more than cursorily engaging because we know where he ends up and he's not that far from it right now. Who knows what'll turn up in the next few episodes, so I don't want just yet to say it's the All-New Breaking Bad Zero, some of the flavour none of the calories, but...

Daredevil

Matt Murdoch, a blind lawyer by day, is also Daredevil, a fist-fighting crime fighter by night. The story is set in Hell's Kitchen, New York, in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and takes place some time after the Battle of New York as depicted in The Avengers (2012). Each episode features at least one epic punch up, the most notable so far being the one-take, two-minute hallway smack down in episode two. (You can almost watch episode one and two together and call it a movie.) I'm about halfway through the first season, and the critics are right - Daredevil takes a little too long to tell its stories, but by episode five, they're swinging hard and hitting all the notes. Apparently the second half of the season gets a bit soggy too, but the finale payoff is going to be good. I'm willing to watch.

Nice to see the hero actually hurting after winning a fight for a change. Daredevil a pretty good show.