White Collar, One Last Stakeout Review

(New Episode Spoilers)

White Collar's 5th season premiered a few weeks ago and now it's three episodes in. I had hoped to see the "six weeks" Peter spent in jail and a little more angst from Neal (since it was mostly his fault) before that got resolved because that would have been a really fresh turn for the show to take. It would also be easy to say that White Collar may be unwilling to move on from the initial dynamic they created with these characters -- the lawman and the con, who can be friends but can never truly trust each other because they're from different worlds. They've played this routine again and again with Neal needing to keep secrets from Peter, from finding Kate, getting revenge for her death, a secret treasure, and uncovering the truth about Neal's father and now with Neal under Hagen's thumb for doing what he had to do to get Peter free.  So I understand where someone could come from in saying that it's the same old thing and perhaps tiring of it.

That being said, for me, this show is still

SO MUCH FUN.

Just because it's following a  pattern and sort of resets the dynamic a lot, it doesn't hinder my enjoyment of the show at all. This season, Peter's been promoted and a new handler has been brought in. Peter and Neal are drifting apart as the new guy, Siegel, inserts himself into his role. Neal gets to play a con again, even if it isn't of his own free will and the stakes are getting higher now that he may not have leeway Peter used to be able to give him as his handler.

In the third episode, One Last Stakeout, Neal's been coerced into stealing a chapter from an old book in a museum (don't get on me about specifics, that's not why I watch this show) and had to orchestrate another robbery by someone else to get his opportunity in. This takes place during a stakeout with Siegel, but Neal manages to give him the slip. And is thwarted unknowingly by Peter.  Was this a bit predictable? Yes. Did it stop me from getting excited about that turn of events and eager to see how Neal would get his way out of it? Not at all.

The next big moment came right after that -- Neal harshly tells Peter that this isn't his life anymore, that they are no longer partners and Peter should not be honing in on their stakeouts so that Peter would leave before Neal ran out of time to make his move. I don't think we've ever seen this amount of harshness between these two, save for the time Elizabeth was kidnapped as a consequence of some of Neal's actions. We have certainly never seen this coldness from Neal to Peter (even if he didn't mean it) and it was a pretty painful thing to behold. It might as well have been Old Yeller getting shot down. But still, it was powerful, a new addition to their history and proof that they can't always be best friends.  Sometimes they have to play different sides, even if it's to ultimately help each other. I loved it.

The next exciting moment was when the FBI realizes the missing thief may have had an accomplice -- the woman Neal scammed and flirted with in order to steal her museum security card.  Having her brought in for questioning once again upped the stakes, putting Neal a hair's breadth away from getting uncovered.  Well, he gets out of that one just fine too, only for Peter to feel responsible for distracting Neal while on the stakeout and thus inserting himself even more into the case just to fix it. I loved all these twists and turns and especially the added one that Siegel sees Neal make the drop to Hagen. I thought for sure he'd take on Peter's role for the next episodes and try to prove Neal's guilt but be unable to.

Ultimately, Neal gets the job done with no real consequences. Or so we think, until we get some very interesting shots of Neal walking into the FBI. Everyone looks at him and it's all in slow motion. Something is very, very wrong and the entire office is silent. Peter sees him, doesn't say a word, and Neal follows him out. We head outside to stormy New York; rain splatters on the camera, making a very cool effect. And the reveal.

Here's the biggest spoiler of them all: Siegel's dead body found in the location where Neal made the exchange with Hagen.

Poor Siegel. We hardly knew you and I liked you, but getting between Peter and Neal was never going to turn out well for you.

I don't say this lightly at all considering how much television I watch, but White Collar is one of the best things on television right now. Even when it takes turns that should be predictable or has what appears to be easy resolutions, it always turns out more complicated than that. The dynamic between Peter and Neal is the heart of the show and it's constantly being tested and that makes it compelling. You really want these characters to win, even if you don't always know what that means for them.

Bring on next week's episode, please.

S.H.I.E.L.D. Update

This is less of a real post and more of a recommendation of an article from TV Guide that focuses on what Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D is doing wrong right now. As I've mentioned previously, I've been watching from the beginning and reviewed the premiere here. Since then, the show has had a few nice highs but also a disappointing number of lows and questionable development choices. Though the series has managed a full season pick-up, this article from Sadie Gennis pretty much covers the major problems with the series as it stands right now, and I find I have nothing more to add. I too find the series may still be fixable and grow into something that can stand alongside other Whedon work in terms of quality, quirk, depth, and emotional resonance. For now, I've decided to commit myself for the season and hope for a killer second half of the season and a finale that will leave me not just wanting, but demanding a season 2.

Review of CNN Films' Blackfish

Usually this blog is reserved for straight fiction but for this particular post, I'm straying into the world of documentaries, with the recent premiere of CNN Films' Blackfish. Though non-fiction by definition, all documentaries are still prime examples of storytelling controlled by the filmmakers. The story of any documentary is shaped by the perspective of the filmmaker, the film's focus, the footage chosen to be included or omitted, the interviewees included or omitted, the amount of time given to any particular attitude about the subject, and many other factors. As I learned in school, while watching and analyzing any documentary (really media in general, but to a lesser extent), it is important to keep all these things in mind. The same can be applied to my review of Blackfish --  I can certainly comment on all the facts as they were presented, but cannot tell you what content might have been left out and what could have potentially changed the light in which Sea World is shown.

I had no idea about this documentary until my friend Katie told me about the trailer, which I immediately checked out and have included below.



This trailer really captured my interest, as it was compelling and hinted towards the major deceptions provided by Sea World in order to maintain good publicity. I therefore recorded the television premiere this past week and finished watching it just this morning.

The first half of the film focused on the background of the specific killer whale, Tilikum, and the capturing techniques practiced by sea parks to get the animals from the wild and into their new habitats. Testimony from those that participated in the capture of baby whales were filled with remorse and regret. They explained the way family groups of whales were enclosed in nets, which allowed the small ones to be picked out. This footage was particularly distressing, especially when combined with the interviews in which experts explain that killer whales in the wild live their entire lives within their families. It also shows the adult whales attempting to stay with their offspring instead of taking the freedom offered to them.

One part that really distressed me to the point of tearing up came a little later in the film, though still within the first hour. The interviewees -- mostly former Sea World trainers, discussed  an instance in which a young baby Orca was transferred to a different sea park, away from its mother. The mother, according to reports, then became far more docile, floating almost lifelessly in one place in the pool for long periods of time and emitting a keening wail. It was a very powerful emotional representation utilizing audience sympathies for a mother separated from her child.

The first part of the film also mentioned previous instances of violence and aggression shown by Tilikum at previous sea parks, including an incident that lead to the fatality of trainer Keltie Byrne. This, among other occurrences, did not receive much attention and were mainly publicized as accidents/trainer errors rather than attacks.

While much of the first half of the film showed the plight of the killer whales and allowed viewers to sympathize with Sea World's treatment of them, the second half takes a fairly dramatic turn. It highlights the attacks with actual footage of different incidents, and I personally found it terrifying. The raw power the animals have, and the way it can be used against trainers, sort of makes a person's stomach drop. One incident involved an Orca grabbing a trainer by the foot and pulling him under water and holding him there for a minute or so. After he recovers, the trainer manages to stay calm and attempts to pacify the whale with patting, only to be pulled under for a second time. Once again, he is eventually released and is able to surface. He then begins swimming quickly towards the platform area, followed by the whale and just barely getting out of the animal's reach to safety. Watching this footage, it seems clear that this incident very easily could have turned into another fatality added to the list. More footage also showed a killer whale charging and battering a trainer around and preventing them from reaching the platform. Yet another reel of footage shows an Orca falling from a leap and crushing a trainer beneath it -- though this one did appear to be more of an accident than an act of aggression, it was still very hard to watch. All of this footage is used to highlight the fact that most trainers not involved were not told or made aware of these incidents or, if they had, had been told it was trainer error.

The film greatly implies that the fatal attack of Dawn Brancheau committed by Tilikum in 2010 could have been prevented if Sea World had kept the killer whale from performing with people on the basis that he had been involved in two previous fatal attacks and shown generally aggressive behavior.

As a whole, Blackfish was a very compelling and convincing documentary. It could very easily change one's opinion about Sea World, similar water parks, and animal captivity as a whole. Even for the most skeptical, it is at least likely to give some reservations about these subjects. While I had never been particularly interested in Sea World in the first place, I now have a fairly anti-Sea World opinion and am substantially less likely to ever willingly visit. I highly recommend this film. While the perspective and subsequent conclusion is debatable, the quality of this film is not -- it is compelling, thrilling, and emotionally captivating.

Review of Unsouled by Neal Shusterman

Unsouled is the third book in the Unwind series by Neal Shusterman, and was released this month. I finished about a week ago and have taken this time to process it all and get my thoughts together. Even so, it's going to be hard to do this book and series justice all in one go. I therefore recommend you read my previous post here so that I don't have to recap the general series premise. (Actually just read the books. Most of this terminology is going to make no sense otherwise and reading is good for you anyway.)

In this installment of the series, Connor and Lev have escaped from their ruined former safe haven (The Graveyard) and must avoid juvie cops and parts pirates as they look for answers about the mysterious Jansen Rheinschild, the scientist and creator of the process that allowed unwinding to become a reality. They've uncovered that he has been wiped from the history books, the Internet, everything. It becomes increasingly clear that finding the truth about him may be the answer to ending unwinding once and for all. In order to do so, however, they must return to their home of Ohio, where it all began and where Rheinschild's wife Sonia (from the first book) still lives.

On the other side of things, Risa has renounced the media statements she was forced to make by Proactive Citizenry. In Unwholly, they had blackmailed her with the security of her friends at The Graveyard but lost their leverage when the kids were attacked, killed and/or rounded up for unwinding anyway. Risa also cut ties with Cam (a little background: Cam's a modern day, handsome Frankenstein made entirely of Unwind parts), who doesn't take it well. He's obsessed with winning her heart even if it means cutting his own ties with Proactive Citizenry (which made him) and crushing anyone in his way, especially Connor.

As you can tell, there is A LOT going on in this book, but I've broken it down into some highlights and lowlights for a quicker and more accessible review (spoilers ahead):

Highlights:

Flow: The story is still smooth, transitions mostly seamless. It still reads with the urgency of a film script and yet allows for deep introspection and characterizations more predominantly found in books.

Villains:  The new greaseball Argent Skinner is pretty hopeless as a villain, but his strange manipulative/idolizing relationship with almost equally hopeless parts pirate Nelson is amusing and will probably do some damage to our favorite characters later on. Most importantly, Starkey's villainy has really taken form. The most traumatic moments in the book are his displays of violence against all who stand in his way and represent unwinding (specifically of storks, which are children abandoned on doorsteps and who become legally a member of that family, whether they're wanted or not). 

World Building: We've learned even more about this world now. People smoke tranquilizers recreationally. A push towards allowing criminals to be unwound is on the voting ballot. Most Native Americans (now known as People of Chance or ChanceFolk) generally abstain from unwinding practices. 

Recurring characters: CyFi! Hayden! Baby Didi, renamed Dierdre! Sonia!

Biggest Bad: I love the idea that the real string pullers behind unwind are corporations profiting from it instead of the government. We've seen this before in real life -- big business winning out at the expense of the people. Society will literally rip itself apart as it's manipulated by greed.

Biggest Bad Kryptonite: Obsolescence. Also taking a page from reality. What happens when people can get organs and other parts cheaper, faster, and without having anyone be unwound?  Unwinding goes the way of the VHS player. 

Lowlights:

Uneven character usage: Right now, it's hard to remember what Risa really got to do in this book, besides be an obsession for Cam. Well, she did stuff, just nothing particularly important. Got herself caught by a parts pirate then killed him, nearly got eaten by coyotes, hung out with CyFi at his weird commune, worked/hid at a salon, hung out with Sonia. At least she got to kiss Connor instead of Cam but that's probably going to come back to haunt her (that guy just isn't right).

Resolution: The answer to ending unwinding has apparently been right under their noses with Sonia and that feels pretty convenient. I miss the open ending of Unwind, but I know that the resolution offered will be hard-won in the fourth book so maybe that's okay.

No Trio Reunion: I want the original three back together all at once. I want Risa, Connor, and Lev, that weird little dysfunctional family. Glad Connor and Lev spent some time together, but it's just not the same dynamic.

Connor/Conner: The story occasionally slips between two spellings of Connor, though Connor is the predominant version. It's a small detail, but it irritates me. Isn't an editor or someone supposed to catch that? What about Find and Replace?

General weirdness: Connor talks to Roland's hand. And the shark tattoo talks back. Cam got pieces of Samson Ward and Wil? Who else does he have in there? Roland? Also Starkey's villainy also includes the need to impregnate girls under his authority...I DON'T UNDERSTAND.

Summation: Overall, this book was pretty awesome but it does show that the longer a series goes on, the more likely it will have a few missteps and a little more beating around the bush to get to the big picture. I'm ready for the next book, the title of which has been announced as Undivided.

Much Ado About Nothing

I know at least a couple of you are looking forward to my Unsouled post, as the book was released this week and I completed it yesterday. However, I'm still trying to formulate something coherent and process everything I can about the story. When I do manage to string enough words together to describe it, the post will definitely be a long one. For now, I want to talk about the latest film I watched -- Joss Whedon's Much Ado About Nothing, based on the well known play by William Shakespeare.

The main reason I wanted to watch this film was for Whedon and his merry band of Whedon alum. The cast included at least one actor from every single one of his original series, such as Nathan Fillion and Sean Maher from Firefly, Tom Lenk from Buffy, Fran Kranz from Dollhouse, and most importantly, the adorable Amy Acker and Alexis Denisof from Angel.  I would have watched the movie for the Amy and Alexis reunion alone; their chemistry from Angel as Wes and Fred has left me yearning for more ever since I completed that series. I did have one major reservation about this film and it was the genre. I'm not much for Shakespeare on his own, if only because of my impatience for the confusing language and a plot that beats around the bush. Still, I took a leap of faith that there's a reason people praise Shakespeare in the way that I praise Whedon. A combo like that had to have potential.

The first thirty or so minutes of the film seemed to be confirming my reservation rather than my faith. The mix of the old and the modern and the use of direct dialogue from Shakespeare was rather overwhelming at first. Though I could get the general tone of the situations, I could only understand every other line and didn't feel like I was getting much out of it besides the fangirling opportunities (which can sometimes be enough to sustain a short project). By the time I hit forty minutes in, however, I was hooked. At this point in the film, Claudio and the others have endeavored to play matchmaker to the unwilling and cynical Benedick and Beatrice, and it's hilarious. Also at this point, I'd gotten more of a grasp of the language and also didn't seem to need as much of it to appreciate the humor.

Then we hit the drama and the climax involving Hero being falsely accused of infidelity and I was absolutely sucked in. It was traumatic and stressful like all the best emotional moments in film are. The language they used no longer mattered, nor did the less than contemporary subject material. The emotions were universally heart-wrenching.

Which made the ending absolutely satisfying and commendable. I loved this film and was right to give it a chance and stick with it through the first half hour.

That being said, I know that Much Ado About Nothing will not be for everyone. I'm thinking of the people who can't get through that first half hour of set up, or many of my action-oriented friends. The stakes are going to seem low. It's not really life or death, it's reputation and honor. It's love and yeah, it's a little bit girly. It's the same kind of subtle brilliance that makes me appreciate works like Pride and Prejudice and Jane Eyre. If you can't see the wit, humor, and strong storytelling in works like these and think them more boring than anything, then Much Ado probably isn't your cup of tea. 

But it's definitely mine. 

Toy Story of Terror

A week ago, when I heard about the Toy Story Halloween special that was set to premiere on ABC, I became unexpectedly excited for it. I've said again and again since the last movie came out that I would not want anything more with the franchise, especially not another film. The third installment wrapped it up so well and left audiences emotionally satisfied. Things that are completed so perfectly deserve to stay completed without having sequel after sequel of diminishing quality until it becomes nothing but a direct-to-DVD joke (Air Buddies, anyone?). But still, when the news of Toy Story of Terror reached me, I couldn't help but be excited. I love those characters and having it center on a Halloween theme felt fun. Besides that, the previews looked so good, like a Pixar quality film, just shorter.

That's exactly what we got. Following the status quo set up in Toy Story 3, Andy's old toys and some of their new pals are under little Bonnie's ownership now, and traveling with her and her mother out of town. After the family car breaks down on a scary, rainy night, Bonnie, Mom and toys must spend the night in a sketchy-seeming motel. While exploring the motel, Mr. Potato Head mysteriously disappears.  The rest of the toys take up the search, disappearing one by one and getting separated from each other. It was adorably little-kid "scary," funny, and had the heart to make it undeniably good Pixar.

The short is primarily Jessie's story. Early on, we're reminded that Jessie has spent years in storage and has been traumatized by the experience. She's terrified of dark enclosed spaces and abandonment. In the end, it's Jessie who has to face these fears to save the day. I really enjoyed this aspect of the short.

I also really enjoyed the way Toy Story of Terror utilized a multitude of horror tropes, starting with a the mysterious spooky haunted hotel and transforming to something resembling a slasher film (that hotel manager was totally playing the part of some kind of serial killer). Plus having Mr. Pricklepants be the dramatic, trope-savvy character a la Scream was kind of hilarious. 

Overall, I found myself wishing it was longer, but think perhaps it's good it wasn't. This way, I don't have to give the same amount of weight to it. I can view it as really awesome bonus material. And though I hope I don't regret saying this for fear of the Air Buddies curse, I would love to see more of these specials provided they keep up the quality. It's fun and sweet and adds to the holiday spirit in a way I've been missing these past few years.

Glee, Corey Monteith Remembrance Episode

Today, I watched the Glee tribute episode to recently deceased cast member, Corey Monteith. Today, I struggled not to cry.

I haven't been a fan of Glee for a couple seasons now, ever since it became the kind of thing it used to satirize, ever since it became too ridiculous, less cohesive, and more concerned with selling music than telling a good story that made sense. I had to see this episode though. Knowing that they were going to kill off Finn too, I had to see if they could handle the situations and emotions and not make the usual Glee mess of serious topics.

They managed. It's really sad to say I think Glee can now only hit emotional moments due to real life tragedy, but this episode was so above its usual standards, it's hard not to believe it a little. The episode still wasn't perfect, but the focus on individual character grief was definitely one of its strengths. Everyone reacted differently -- Puck with anger, Mr. Schue with repression that allowed him to be a rock for everyone else, and even Sue with vague regrets of Finn not knowing she didn't hate him. The show easily could have made a lesson out of this -- about cherishing people while you can, or by having the drug problem of Corey Monteith transferred to his character. Instead, they left it as just something that happened and that they now had to deal with. They never gave Finn a cause of death, and while some people believe they should have, I am glad they did not for a couple reasons. Firstly because Glee doesn't know how to give a message without beating you over the head with it.  And secondly, Finn never had a drug problem, and adding that in now would have been both out of character and taken focus away from the core of the episode -- grief and memories of someone they lost too soon.

In a way, I feel like this episode wasn't meant for the audience at all. It was meant for the cast and crew and the friends and family of Corey Monteith. It felt uncomfortable to look in on their real grief. Some harsh commenters have said that he shouldn't be mourned or given time of day because of the way he died.  They say he wasted his potential with drugs, that he threw away his fame and fortune and did this too himself, and "who cares about some junkie." These people obviously have no idea that it doesn't matter for his family and friends. They're going to miss who he was in life, his kindness, his talents, his friendship and feel sorrow about the path that lead him astray. Yes, it's important for it to be an example for others to not choose drugs, but for those close to him, all it's ever going to be is sadness and missing a friend or family member.

"What can you say about a 19 year old who died?"

This is what Kurt says in his inner monologue at the very beginning of the episode. This struck me particularly hard because it allowed viewers to substitute in their own experience with death of people and especially that of those so young death seems nonsensical. As I watched the episode, I could only think about my old friend, Joseluis Alvarez. He passed away a couple weeks before his 20th birthday over two years ago. He never got famous and he'll never have a tribute episode of anything, but as Kurt says, his family and friends will spend their whole life missing him. Glee, in all its wacky awkwardness, isn't always the easiest thing to relate to. But this episode was very relatable.

The episode wasn't perfect, but it was a private and personal and honest way to say goodbye.

American Horror Story: Coven -- Post-Premiere

Not sure if it needs to be announced on a blog dedicated to fiction, but as with pretty much all posts here, SPOILER ALERT. Now to begin.

AHS: Coven premiered last night on FX and it was exactly what I predicted in my previous post.The premiere starts off with some torture, mutilated animal heads used for torture, witches set on fire, and some people bleeding from orifices that should never bleed unless you've got like, the plague or something. And the crux of American Horror Story -- rape!  Gang rape of an intoxicated/drugged female, and something I guess I'll call "revenge rape"  to death of one of the earlier rapists. Rape all around. Good ole American Horror Story, doing what it does best.

At least those witches got their revenge, only killing one innocent guy in the process! Oh right, I guess we should talk about the witch aspect. It's going to look cool and to some extent already has, there's no doubt about that. There's some nice character diversity going on. For right now, though, there's no real villain yet so everyone seems kind of directionless. Who should we be looking out for? The Supreme? The outside world that'll burn them at the stake? Or will the student witches just have magical catfights leading to graphic death?

Even with all this going on, the episode ran a little slow for me, but I believe that's just in comparison to the climactic craziness of season 2. I mean, that had aliens, demons, rape, and a nazi. That's a lot to live up to. Guess I'll check in again next week to see what kind of horrifying nonsense will be stirred for those poor, poor souls.

American Horror Story: Coven -- Pre-Premiere

Tonight, American Horror Story: Coven, the next installment of the AHS series premieres on FX. My thoughts on the show as a whole fluctuate often, but I think it boils down to this: I know this show is just bad for me in some ways, but I keep watching like an addict.

I say it's bad for me as someone who can generally handle graphic violence, but sometimes the depths AHS goes to just feels like too much. For anyone who hasn't seen the show, let's just say I could make a legitimate tv drinking game for it by using actions such as rape/sexual violence, torture, nudity, and particularly gruesome deaths. And it's not just that it's graphic -- I feel it may also be bad for me in the sense that I'm not entirely convinced that it's good storytelling. At times it seems that the story just throws everything horrific at its characters and us for shock value and because it'll be aesthetically cool. That's the true core of the show -- aesthetics, style, and gore. Just because the show may be awesome in those aspects, it doesn't mean it can't excel in story. Take NBC's Hannibal for instance. It's heavily stylized, mixes dreams and hallucinations and reenactments. It has outstanding make up and visuals, but it is still very focused on story. It's psychologically thrilling, and audiences are made to care for Will Graham and either love or hate Hannibal as the villain. It gets to be visually astounding and tell an excellent story at the same time.  Perhaps it has to do with the anthology format of AHS and the fact that it's intended to be a one season spectacle, but it just seems like there should be more going on with the lives of the characters besides their trauma.

I also don't know how to feel about Ryan Murphy in general. It's hard to forgive him for the entire mess that is currently Glee, and certain aspects of both shows do make me wonder if he kind of hates women. Not that I'm saying shows stand in for opinions, but his female characters usually end up ruined by circumstances or are just generally cruel, crazy, unintelligent, or unlikeable.  Ryan Murphy, I just don't know about you.

In short, I can't find much fondness for the show. It's a guilty pleasure if anything. Maybe that's the point. It keeps me watching (for now) and that's what a show is meant to do, after all. I plan on doing a follow up post to give my take on this season's premiere. Come back tomorrow to check it out! Here's the trailer for American Horror Story: Coven so you can also get a look for yourself.

New Show, New Girl

Due to the recommendations of multiple friends (thanks Lena and Jaz), I binge-watched all episodes of New Girl this weekend. I'm not sure why it took me so long to get into this show. I know I had doubts made on vague assumptions, one of them possibly being that it was a "girly" show -- the television equivalent of a chick flick. Well, though I can still see it holding special appeal for women, New Girl pretty much took all my preconceived ideas about it and threw them out the window. It's got boy humor and nonsense and what I would have thought was an unreasonable amount of yelling, but it works. The early first season definitely tried too hard and at first I wasn't sure what to do with it (I was laughing but also cringing and genuinely unable to tell if it was actually good or if I was just sleep-deprived) but it really figured itself out by mid-season one. I can already tell it's going to nicely fill in the sitcom gap in my tv schedule and heart left by The Office.

The best thing about the show is definitely the chemistry between all of the characters. The crazy personalities and situations are generally unbelievable, but the constant back and forth between Jess, Nick, Schmidt, Winston and even Cece totally sells the ridiculousness as reality. In short, I've never wanted to have three crazy male roommates as much as I do now, but I'm settling for scheduling New Girl onto my DVR and joining the loft gang for a half hour every week.

And The Winner Is...Sleepy Hollow!

In the hyper-competitive world of network television in which new shows can be cancelled in the blink of an eye, the first "hit" has claimed victory in the form of the first early full-season pickup of Fall 2013.  Fox's Sleepy Hollow has managed to gain impressive enough ratings in its first three episodes to get the network's vote of confidence and a sense of security that'll be denied to most other shows.

So does it deserve it?

Before the premiere, I blogged here on how I was excited for the show mostly because of the fact that it's from the Fringe creators.  Now after watching the first three episodes, I still believe it has solid potential and I expect it to become better over time.  I am surprised it managed a full season pick up and not just the usual extended first season, but I see it as a progressive move by Fox.  They're rewarding the good ratings produced by audiences by saying, "Hey, thanks for watching.  You're allowed to get attached to this show now. Stick around, it's going places."

Ah, if only we had this in the days of Firefly.  Or, if only Firefly had those kind of ratings.  But I digress.

Sleepy Hollow, while quite entertaining, has had the usual first season ups-and-downs.  Some of the special effects seemed a little cheesy, some of the acting a little forced.  But the storyline has potential, and the characters seem strong and ripe for engaging development.  They're also pretty funny.  And while I wish we lived in a world where it didn't have to be applauded for being different from the status quo, kudos to the show for having a black female lead.

I think the series thus far can be pretty well summed up by the highlights and lowlights of the third episode.  While I enjoyed it for having good effects, a legitimately scary demon, and a focus on character backstory, it also had problems.  Abbie's revelation that she lied about not seeing a demon when she was young (which contributed to the incarceration of her sister for telling the truth) was meant to pack a punch, but missed the mark because that was already easily inferred in previous episodes.  I expect better storytelling from the creators of the well-thought out saga that was Fringe, but again, first season leeway has to apply here.

Anyone else check out Sleepy Hollow?  Did it warrant an early pick-up, and are there other shows that do instead/as well?

Unwind "Dystology": Standalone Novels vs Series

Quite a few years ago, I picked up a YA novel called Unwind, written by Neal Shusterman.  It's one of the most compelling YA novels I have ever read.  In many ways, it reads like scenes of a movie -- present tense, action-packed, and showing different points of view even from minor characters.  This all culminates into effective world-building and one thrilling story that kept me engaged the whole way through. 

The story takes place in a futuristic (but still very recognizable as our own) society in which medicine and science have progressed to the point of making all body parts viable for human transplant.  Arms, legs, eyes, brain and other internal organs -- all of it can now be removed from donors, stored, and surgically grafted onto needy recipients.  This medical advancement and the Second Civil War (a war between Pro-Life and Pro-Choice citizens) have resulted in a compromise of sorts in society.  Abortion is now illegal, but parents or guardians may now legally elect to have their 13-18 year olds "unwound" -- a process in which they are surgically dismembered but in which all their body parts will "live on" in transplant recipients.  The story centers on Connor, Risa, and Lev -- Unwind teens trying to escape that fate and survive until 18.  

The novel touches on many social issues, like how social conflicts of the present can affect future generations, ethics of law, right to life, abortion, and even theology such as the concept of the soul.  Even though it discusses these heavy issues, it never attempts to sway.  This is the story of the characters, dealing with the world and the law as they affect their own lives and destiny.  Every chapter moves the story forward, giving no time to linger and very little breathing room.

By the end of the novel, I was satisfied.  It was compelling and refreshing to see a standalone novel fulfill me so much.  These days, it seems like true standalone YA novels don't actually exist.  Nearly everything, and certainly everything popular, is part of a series.  I championed the book not only for its amazing storytelling but for that reason as well. 

And then, years later, it was announced that it would be a trilogy, which later turned into a series of four (not including a short novella e-book) when the third book ran over 600 pages long.  The mixed feelings I had about this were understandably intense.  I wanted more of that world, more of those characters, just more in general.  But Unwind had felt so complete and I just wanted to believe that amazing standalones could exist in the world.  And then Unwholly was released and I fell right back into it; the same quality of writing, but with old and new characters, and old triumphs heralding new problems and -- it was amazing, once again. Even if some elements of the world-building did feel a tiny bit tacked on.

Overall, it was great storytelling and I cannot wait for the next book to come out in just a couple short weeks.

But I do still wonder if standalones can ever hold the same kind of appeal and popularity of a series, and whether this is good, bad, or just the way it is.  Are there any series you believe could and should have been standalones, or visa versa?  Do series become more loved simply because readers get to spend more time with the characters?  If you find out a book is part of a series, does that make you more or less likely to check it out?

Feel free to sound off with a comment and check out the Unwind series while you're at it.