Psych: The Musical Review

Last Sunday, Psych: The Musical premiered for the first time on television (it had previously premiered at Comic Con). From many interviews he's done, the creator Steve Franks has said that he'd always had a musical in mind from the beginning and that the cast and creative team had always been on board.  No doubt, this two hour special was a long time in the making.

This was their dream episode, and they pulled it off pretty well.  The story deals with the escape of an institutionalized playwright seeking revenge on the people performing and taking credit for his work. It was a pretty fun case, one that easily would have fit into the usual format but was enhanced with the musical integration. The first song, "Santa Barbara Skies" presented the fake psychic premise recap for new viewers with lyrics like "A man who sees clues, as if they were alighting. Gets accused to confess, because his hair is so exciting." and "A cop I am not, I'm just good at observation.  But with short cuts and cons, and the proper presentation."

With all original music, the songs were tailored to fit the show, tone, the characters, and their relationships. Lassie as the cynic, Jules as the optimist, Shawn and Gus as ridiculous, Yin and Woody as hilariously crazy. My favorite songs were probably "Z's Lament" and "The Breakdown" because they were a bit darker with a Sweeney Todd-esque feel to them. The funniest song was probably Woody's "Often It's the Opposite" and the funniest dance number was Shawn and Lassiter's tango.

This special definitely showed that the Psych team knows musicals and they know television and they know their own show.  They integrated fan service, call backs, and running gags very well.  For instance, Ally Sheedy returned as Yang, an old big bad whose arc ran for three seasons. They also utilized "Suck it," "I've heard it both ways," "Did you hear about Pluto?" "I can't do this with you right now," a plethora of Gus nicknames, the pineapple, and allusions to many musicals such as The Rocky Horror Picture Show and Miss Saigon.

My only real complaint is that it concluded the Yang storyline pretty conclusively, and that might have been a very interesting, emotional moment within a regular episode.  However, this framing did allow for a reappearance of another favorite guest star, Jimmi Simpson, and his scene was odd and perfect just like his character.

Even as someone who is not the biggest fan of musicals, it's hard not to appreciate all the work that was put into this, including the original songs and choreography within a television production schedule.  While I don't think it quite measured up to the epitome of television musicals, Buffy The Vampire Slayer's iconic "Once More, with Feeling," it is also one of the few tv musicals that even deserves the comparison.

Anyway, definitely recommending this for fans of Psych, musicals, and comedy.

Binge-watch: Chuck and Netflix

Not too long ago, the show Chuck became available on Netflix, and I immediately moved it up my to-watch list.  I'd known for awhile that the premise to Chuck sounded like exactly my kind of thing -- awkward nerd turned CIA agent, a funny and all around fun show with action and stakes grounding it in some nice, real emotion. That's the same kind of stuff I find in many of my favorite shows like Psych and White Collar. All I needed was the opportunity to watch, and finally it has come by way of very legal and good quality Netflix streaming.

Like many of my generation, perhaps most of my media-watching experiences now come through online streaming.  I got into most of the shows I have on my TV/Book/Film Recommendations list through Netflix, even if I then turned to appointment television to stay caught up on them.  For instance, Bones, How I Met Your Mother, Fringe, New Girl, White Collar, Warehouse 13, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Angel, Alphas, Pushing Daisies and Arrested Development all made it onto this list for that reason, and as you can see, Netflix allowed me to watch even shows that were cancelled before they caught my interest (like Chuck).  

For this reason, I've decided to create a recurring segment for the blog for every new (or old) show that I catch up on through Netflix binge-watches.  This will be the first of certainly many more posts to come -- all will have titles beginning with "Binge-watch" and will be tagged with the binge-watch label.  I have also retroactively added the binge-watch tag to shows I have discussed in previous posts. In this way, I want to bring to light my own personal watching habits and would love discussing that of others within the comments or in entire blog posts if people are interested.  This is a subject that's personally very engaging for me, and I often wonder what kind of compromises we make or if we get anything different out of a story by binge-watching rather than getting slow-paced, weekly installments.

That's my introduction and the reasoning behind the new segment -- now, let's talk specifically about Chuck (there will be SPOILERS up to season 2, but please don't post anything past that in comments!)  

Chuck is exactly what I wanted and expected from this show -- fun and silly and sweet and interesting.  I really enjoy all the main characters, especially Chuck, Casey, and Sarah.  Sometimes I feel like the Buy More personalities are a little much, but I still find them pretty funny.  I also really like the avoided stereotype of the "Bro" as represented by Ellie's boyfriend, Captain Aweseome, a.k.a. Devin.  Everything from the tone of his voice to his vocabulary screams bro/frat boy but he's been shown to be a lot more than that.  He's smart enough to be a doctor, and a faithful and loving boyfriend to Ellie.  Occasionally the relationship between Chuck and Ellie plays off weirdly close for siblings, but that has been explained in the fact that their parents pretty much left them on their own and they had to take care of each other.  It's nice to see siblings that pretty much never want to kill each other, as is the case on many other television shows.

Chuck can be pretty predictable at times.  I don't know if it's because I'd seen too many references to Bryce Larkin on tumblr or if it was just obvious, but I knew Bryce wasn't dead right from the start.  I hadn't seen it coming, however, that Bryce actually betrayed Chuck to protect him from the CIA life. I was also able to easily guess that Orion would be Chuck's father. Many plot points in many episodes fail to surprise, but that doesn't bother me.  I'm in it for the fun and to see Chuck reacting to these new situations, which always catch him by surprise and at the most inconvenient times.

I really like this show, but I do wonder how long it goes before something really changes it up.  Right now it's mostly been case of the week, Chuck's feelings for Sarah, and his ultimate desire to get the Intersect out of his head. I definitely feel like that might get tiresome down the line, but right now, I really enjoy its familiar consistency.  

I've already added this show to my list of recommendations because I'm only two seasons in, but I'm definitely hooked.

TV Report Card of Fall 2013

Way back before the new tv season premiered, I made a list of some shows I looked forward to and some I was having my doubts about, both for new shows and returning favorites.  Here I wanted to take a look back at how some of these shows have fared this fall, plus add in a few new ones that have been caught on my personal radar or are generally buzzworthy right now.

Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.
C 
C for consistently disappointing.  It has potential, but it frustratingly refuses to give audiences enough backstory or character personality for audiences to care about the stakes.  My standards for anything with the Whedon name on it is high, but even by normal standards it's not measuring up.  Give me characters I root for, give me real stakes, give me emotional depths. It's on the lower end of average as it stands right now.

How I Met Your Mother
B-  
I'm guessing a lot of people would want me to rate this much, much lower.  They have several understandable complaints, like the humor isn't what it used to be, or it feels dragged out and the season long wedding timeline makes it even more so, or similar complaints.  And they're right about humor but I still get a good number of laughs from most episodes, and it doesn't feel dragged out to me. I give it a B- because overall, it still has heart, which is why I fell in love with it in the first place: Barney just hugging Robin when he found out she was infertile, Barney's surprise for Robin, Marshall realizing he's never wanted to use a no questions asked with Lily, and every scene The Mother has been in.  This is why I'm still in, why even after bumpy episodes and even mostly bumpy seasons, this is still a show worth watching for me.

American Horror Story:
Splitscore: A+/C 
For what the show is and what an audience has learned to get out of it, the show is excellent.  Shocking every week with beautiful acting and cinematography and a compelling story that keeps you going WTF the whole hour long. When you accept it in this way, it's wonderful.  But as a general show?  I'm giving this a C because it's nonsense.  Characters do things that make no sense because it's just there for shock value and would look cool or gross or freaky.  One of these days, I will outline the parallels that show how AHS really is the Glee of the tv horror genre with characters being uncompromisingly stupid and storylines that come from nowhere and end in a place that makes even less sense. And let's face it, it's also kind of preachy.

Sleepy Hollow
A+
My favorite new gem, after a slightly shaky start, Sleepy Hollow has found its legs. I care about these characters so much already, because they have heart and backstory and personality and destiny they must face together (take note, S.H.I.E.L.D.) I'm not sure, at this point, that I'd change anything at all.

Back in The Game
B
My dear little show that couldn't.  Cancelled, but man I liked it.  It had heart and was cute and felt real, it was a nice break from all the raunchy, gritty, gutwrenching drama of television these days.  I could have grown old with you and those kids, BiTG. But viewers watched all that other gritty and raunchy stuff, and ABC just didn't give you the chance you needed to gain any ground.  At least they're airing all the episodes.

White Collar
A
Possibly more than any other show, I look forward to this the most each week.  Neal and Peter and their constant struggle to trust each other and solve crimes and grow is still compelling.  One step forward, two steps back for my favorite con. They have so much fun though, I don't even care if they tread over the same territory again and again, and they have just enough stakes to keep me engaged.

Legend of Korra
A-
Had an slow paced first half, but ended with a much appreciated bang, nice emotional moments, and a cameo by Uncle Iroh, who automatically bumps the entire season up a full letter grade.  Just wish I could have the new season now.

Bones
B-
A little stale.  Some nice comedy to get me through.  Pelant's end was anticlimactic, but the Booth and Bones wedding (with a nice callback to that Gravedigger note!) was sweet.  They've still got some juice to get them through the season.  Beyond that, I'm not sure we need another one (please, Bones, go out with pride, unlike CSI).

New Girl
B
Some people say that it's lost it's chemistry since Nick and Jess got together.  I disagree. And I've enjoyed the Coach addition. Schmidt could use some more strong storylines though. Overall, still very funny and sweet.

Brooklyn Nine-Nine
B
It's getting better.  Still finding itself, still needs to work on the main character of Jake and his general arrogance, but it's usually an enjoyable half hour.

Looking at this, it definitely seems like most of the shows I watch aren't doing too badly for the most part, but almost all of them could stand some improvement in various ways.

Monsters University Review

I went to Redbox seeking Wreck-it Ralph, but since it was out of stock, I settled for another family friendly film, Monsters University.  As far as settling goes, it wasn't a bad choice at all. It had all the cuteness of the original, plus the bonus points for getting to see Mike and Sully's origin story and their friendship develop. I really enjoyed the fact that while Monsters Inc. was primarily Sully's story, this prequel was mostly about Mike and his quest to become one of the revered scarers of Monsters Incorporated by getting through the Scarer's program at Monsters University.  

The film shows the two going through their freshman year together -- Sully as a lazy student getting by on his family name, and Mike who has to work three times as hard because of his small stature and generally unscary appearance. The two are enemies until they're thrown together in a scaring competition, which they must win in order to remain not only in the scaring program, but at Monsters University altogether. It's really fun to watch it all play out in a monster school setting, and probably especially so for those that grew up with Monsters Inc. and are therefore college-aged now.  This is in the same way that Toy Story 3 appealed to those that grew up with the franchise by showing Andy heading off to college. It's a really nice touch for recent Pixar films.

Another nice touch was the college website tie-in, which was released even before the movie.  It has the style of a real college website, complete with pages about admission, campus life, and academics. Here's a link to check it out for a little fun: http://monstersuniversity.com/edu/index.html

I really enjoyed this movie, and immediately went back to watch Monsters Inc. to see again what became of Mike and Sully. Overall, a really solid family film.

Brooklyn Nine-Nine

(Mild spoilers for episode 8)

Brooklyn Nine-Nine, starring Andy Samberg,  is considered to be one of the new break-out comedies of the 2013 season and has managed to get a full-season pick up AND the coveted Post-Super Bowl spot (tag teaming with New Girl to form a 1 hour comedy block). For better or worse, the comedy is sticking around through Spring.

Let's talk about "the better" first. The first and most essential good thing about Brooklyn Nine-Nine is that it's actually fairly funny and often enough has some legitimate "laugh out loud" one-liners. If you like a one-camera style similar to the The Office, Parks and Recreation, or Modern Family you might be able to find a place in your heart for this one as well. It's got the same types of quirky characters, family/work place dynamic, and some characters to root for. And like these shows before it, it's taking awhile to figure itself out. That's fine. It's also nice to see something new with the cop/comedy hybrid. It's all very "has potential" and that's good enough for now.

Now onto the things it could improve, the first and most essential (to me) being the main character of Jake Peralta. Jake's a gung-ho cop who seems more interested in the fictional action cop life than the real cop life, which includes paperwork and due process and routines. I'm fine with that -- if Jake played by the rules, it'd be a pretty boring show. What I'm less okay with is his conceited attitude and constant smirk. He's a know-it-all and considers himself the best, puts himself first a lot, and makes quips only he thinks are funny. Overall, he's not very likable. Now, while I do believe to a certain extent that main characters should be likable, I could see many cases in which they aren't and the show still works out just fine. No, the real issue is that Jake needs to be realistically vulnerable to something so audiences can care. Thus far, not much has affected him. He wins a lot of his arguments one way or another, even when he does wrong or causes problems for the precinct. Nothing has affected him, nothing has hurt him, nothing has given him the added layer of being a character who matters.  

However, the most recent episode, "Old School," gave me hope for the future. It was not the best episode by a long shot, as it just wasn't as funny, and the first half was complete characteristic Jake -- neglecting the job to idolize his personal hero, getting drunk, and talking bad about Captain Holt while intoxicated to a writer who was going to quote him. The second half of the episode, however, is where my appreciation comes in -- Jake sought to make it right and make sure those quotes went unpublished even if it meant upsetting his personal hero. It was nice even if it was obligatory, since he was the cause of the trouble in the first place.  But what I really appreciated was the end. At first we're meant to believe that Jake punched the writer because of an unwillingness to get rid of those quotes.  But Santiago later reveals that Jake actually punched him because he called the gay Captain Holt a "homo" in a clearly derogatory fashion.

At this point, I was ready to cheer. Jake cares about something! He's not going to tolerate homophobia or disrespect for his captain, even by someone he once admired!  He did something good even though it cost him (the writer wrote bad things about him instead)! Yay!  This is what I've been asking for since the beginning. Let him be crazy and narcissistic as much as he wants, but make him redeemable. Make me love him in the same way I grew to love Parks' Leslie, Ron, and even Tom for all his faults. That, combined with humor that improves every week, will really be what makes the show worth watching. 

The Legend of Korra, Book 2 and "A New Spiritual Age" Review

The first half of the season of The Legend of Korra was strong overall, but certainly had its problems as well. One of my main issues with it was the decreasing likability of Korra as she whined, acted rashly, and ultimately made impudent decisions without caring about the consequences. For the first few episodes I attributed this to being true to both character and reality. Unlike Aang, Korra's not a child -- she has teenage emotions and hormones and the most important difference between these Avatars is that Korra did not come into power in a time of war. She's had a good life thus far -- family and mentors and the fact is, she's never been tested. Of course she's going to try too hard to prove herself, sometimes falling into the trap of believing she's right, and she's always been headstrong. After a couple episodes though, even my excuses felt thin, and my enjoyment of the show came mostly from other characters, particularly Tenzin and his family.

My other issue with much of Book 2 is that it did feel like a lot of set-up, which played off as boring or heavy-handed exposition. While many of the B-storylines were strong, I found myself waiting until we returned to the main storyline of the imbalanced spirit world and Korra's place within it.

Despite these problems, The Legend of Korra has definitely been on an uptick with amazing episodes, starting with "Beginnings 1 and 2" in which we see the Avatar origin story and meet Wan, the first Avatar.  In many ways, Wan was similar to Korra with his tendency to act rashly, and his memories show us how his mistakes lead to the spiritual rift between light and dark spirits, Raava and Vaatu. Wan then had to work to make things right, and in doing so, he takes in the spirit of Raava and they become one. By letting Korra see this all, she gains a deeper understanding of who she is as the Avatar.

In the newest episode, Korra enters the spirit world with the help of Tenzin's daughter Jinora, and the two take on the quest of closing the spirit portal to prevent Vaatu from escaping his tree prison. But the two are quickly separated, and unabled to bend within the spirit world, Korra's fear takes a hold of her. Though she didn't know it at the time, her fears become her reality within the spirit world, and her helplessness has her reverted to a small child of around 3 or 4 years of age. Surrounded by darkness and all alone, an unexpected source comes to her rescue:

IROH!

As in, our UNCLE IROH! Original Iroh, with his round belly and tea drinking ways and sage advice. I don't think anyone saw that coming, but from what I've seen in the fandom, absolutely everyone was thrilled by this cameo. Iroh spent time with the de-aged Korra explaining how he chose to live in the spirit world after his time in the physical world was spent, and how her fears and turmoil influence the world around them. In this way, it allowed Korra to realize that she has light within her -- not just from Raava's influence, but from her own spiritual strength and inner peace. She can influence both worlds by maintaining this balance within herself. Because of this, I now believe that Korra's previous behavior and attitude were now very, very deliberate choices by the creators to show her learn what she can achieve not necessarily through force, but through enlightenment as well. It seemed extra appropriate for Iroh to be her guide, as he once helped young Zuko through very similar struggles. It was incredibly reaffirming to see all these aspects tie in together, and made me very inclined to rewatch the original series once again.

On the other side of things, Jinora found herself at Wan Shi Tong's Library, another great callback to the original series. She appeals to the scary owl spirit, and he allows her to stay and read about the Harmonic Convergence and the Spirit Portals. She learns that if both portals are open at the time of convergence, Vaatu would be released from his prison and would be able to wreck both worlds. As she leaves to warn Korra, Unalaq appears with Wan Shi Tong and captures her.

In the climactic showdown, Korra returns to her teenage form and finds her way to the 2nd portal to see Jinora in Unalaq's grasp. He threatens to destroy her soul with the same bending moves we've seen him use on other spirits if Korra refuses to open the portal. Completely caught between a rock and a hard place, Korra opens the portal and Unalaq still double crosses her. Jinora gets taken away by a dark spirit, and just as Korra is about to succumb to Unalaq's power, she is rescued by the dragon bird and awakens in the physical world. Tenzin is there, at first questioning on whether Korra has accomplished her goal, only to realize that his daughter is not waking up and that she's been lost in the spirit world.

"Korra, what happened to my little girl?" Tenzin asks desperately, and her tear-filled expressions speaks volumes, and then the episode ENDS on that heartwrenching cliffhanger. It was beautifully painful and real and once again, I have to give this show major recognition; for any flaws it may have, it has never been untrue to emotion or tried to dumb it down for the younger audience. These themes are universal to the young and old alike: a father's love for her daughter, a young girl's guilt at not being able to protect someone, and making a choice when there are no good ones to be had. Not only this, but the momentum the show has now picked up to carry audiences through to the end promises an amazing and well-deserved climax.

It doesn't matter if this is a cartoon or not, this is storytelling at its finest, and I cannot wait for next week.

Safety Not Guaranteed Review

Hey look, another film review from me!  What's that make, like 3 now?  Yup.  Occasionally, I do enjoy taking a break from my long-term relationship with television for a casual one-night stand with a film I never have to worry about again if I don't like it. Luckily, my brief rendezvous with Safety Not Guaranteed was actually quite enjoyable.

I'd seen the film recommended to me by Netflix again and again, but had mostly chosen to ignore it without further consideration. Yes, it had Aubrey Plaza who I love in Parks and Recreation, but it also looked liked standard independent film fare. Many independent films are great, many more are awful, and possibly even more fall into the mediocre range. If this were a mediocre television show, I'd give it a few episodes before deciding one way or another -- mediocre films shouldn't waste my time. Anyway, I took slightly more interest in it after I fell in love with New Girl and Jake Johnson, who co-stars. Even so, it still took high praise from a friend whose recommendations I actually trust for me to finally settle in on my couch, click that Netflix link, and enjoy.

Brief summary taken from IMDB: Three magazine employees head out on an assignment to interview a guy who placed a classified ad seeking a companion for time travel. Not an overwhelming premise by any means, and perhaps more than likely to go wrong in the execution, but don't judge a film by its logline alone.

In the first few minutes of the film, I was a little concerned, as it did seem to be falling into the trap of indie films: the flaunting of their indie ways and their quirk to say, look at me, I'm different! But it also had the humor to back it up. I stuck it out, and it really picked up once the three main characters started out on their adventure together. Here's a breakdown of the characters for you to get a better picture of the dynamics at play.

Darius: Maybe it's the fact that her mother was killed years previous, or that she got saddled with a really weird name, but Darius hasn't been happy for a long time. She works at an internship, she studied in college and never went out, she never socializes or smiles or seems to enjoy things. If ever there was someone just going through the motions of a life, it's her.

Arnau:  Arnau is in a similar place as Darius in that he doesn't go out or socialize. He's a nerd focused on goals that involve being a well rounded candidate for jobs, getting a number of degrees, and just falling in line of what people should do without taking in experiences for himself.

Jeff:  Jeff is easily my favorite character -- the film doesn't work without him or Jake Johnson's performance. At first he seems to play the part of a cynic and womanizer. He takes on the story of a "time-traveler looking for a companion" in order to make fun of the person in an article. One of the first things he tells Darius and Arnau is that he slept with their boss. "Douchebag" occasionally seems an appropriate label.  We later discover he actually took the job to hook up with an old flame of his youth, and in this storyline, we eventually see his true colors.

These three take on the story and Darius manages to find her way in with Kenneth, the supposed time traveler looking for a partner for his next adventure. As the two bond, she begins to smile and seems to be taken in by his beliefs -- he wants to go back in time to save his girlfriend, and she reveals that she would like to save her mother from being gunned down. It's this that wins his trust more than anything. Meanwhile, Jeff reconnects with his old flame, and it's then that we see his true nature: Jeff is a romantic at heart; he doesn't just want a fling, he wants a love story. He wants to sweep Liz off her feet and take her back with him to Seattle. But as we soon realize, the love story of this film isn't for him.

The best thing about this film is the realness of the characters. I feel like at one point we've all been Arnau, who doesn't think he can let go, enjoy crazy adventures of his youth, make real friends and find love. And we've all been Darius, feeling out of place. And we've all been Jeff, wanting to believe that there can be more out there besides empty jobs and empty flings.

I'm still not sure how I feel about the ending -- it's definitely the make or break point for most viewers, but even with my own mixed opinions about it, it doesn't change my feelings on the movie as a whole. I do think that this is the story the filmmakers wanted to tell: that if you believe in the impossible, sometimes you can make it real and can make it worthwhile. That's the real theme of this film: make experiences worthy of an adventure, a fairy tale, make it all matter. Because life is only so long.

My biggest complaint is that I wished for one more solid moment of closure between Jeff, Arnau, and Darius at the end. Looks or acknowledgement that the adventure they started with together may be ending, but new ones are just beginning with real friendship between them all. That's okay, though. Imperfection might actually make it better. Just like life, it's messy and crazy and hard, but it is worth trying for, and the movie is similarly worth watching for that reason.

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.

Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. Review

As I mentioned in this post about new shows, I decided to give S.H.I.E.L.D a chance (there's no way I'm spelling that whole thing out this entire time, and I might even drop the periods soon) solely because of the Whedon attachment.  I'm a Whedonite, through and through.  I have a homemade poster dedicated to fanart of Whedonverse and know all the words to the Buffy musical by heart -- basically, I'm living the whole Whedon fan cliche.  So even though I have very little interest in the superhero genre and remember more about the conversations I had during The Avengers movie (it was a drive-in theater, that's allowed) than about the movie itself, I decided to give it a try.

So after watching the pilot, here's a look at what worked for me and what did not.

What worked for me:  I liked the witty and self-referential dialogue which has always been one of my favorite Whedon trademarks.  Agent Coulson's entrance from darkness was fun and Hill's remark about Thor's arms made me chuckle.  I'll try not to compare too much to previous works, but the zingers did feel a little more out of place coming from the S.H.I.E.L.D. team than say, the Scoobies or Serenity crew, but it's a pilot.  It's allowed to find its way and I'm sure it will feel more natural soon.  I also liked that it was set up enough for me to basically understand what was going on.  The plot had some intriguing mystery to it, and I liked the cool gadgetry.  I liked seeing Whedon alum and hope to see more.  I'm interested in seeing how the characters get fleshed out, how the season arc evolves, and recurring themes of fighting the good fight (Angel ruined me -- I want this to be the theme for every show ever).

What didn't work for me:  My favorite character was that of J. August Richards but I'm not sure if he's supposed to be back as recurring or if he was just part of the case of the week.  If he was just a one time thing, that's a waste.  He got some good backstory and felt very human and real and relatable, aspects I felt were missing in everyone else.  I don't know if I missed deep characterizations in The Avengers, but without that context I didn't learn much about the main characters by the pilot alone.  Their personalities kind of meshed together so that I wasn't always able to tell them apart.  A line from someone could easily have been said by someone else.  But again, it's a pilot and can't do everything right from the start.  I mean, I slogged through season 1 of Buffy to get to the really good stuff, so there's no reason I can't allow some leeway for this show to settle in as well.

Another problem I had was that the show feels very squished, for lack of a better word.  It feels like a movie compressed to fit television, not a movie expanded into television or television with film-like standards like some "quality" shows.  Some of the effects just looked silly on the small screen, like Coulson's hover car. There's a lot of action for the film/franchise fans, but that's never been my cup of tea.  I'd rather there were more background for the characters so I can learn to care about them before they're put into heartwrenching danger.  Once again, I assume this will all come in good time.

As some commenters on the pilot review at tv.com point out, the show feels a bit like Alphas and/or Warehouse 13, and I agree.  Of course, you could argue that any show about the same general subject (superheroes/super abilities) is going to have some commonality and might even feel the same upon first glance while being vastly different shows.  I think the real reason to point this out goes back to S.H.I.E.L.D. feeling squished.  As of right now, Alphas did the super abilities thing better because it was always meant for television and didn't come from a mega-franchise and carry movie/comic baggage.  The characters were fleshed out in the pilot and grew from there; the writers could make the world as they went and didn't have to stick to any laws of the universe previously carved out in bigger projects with bigger budgets.  (Sidebar: can someone please get on making the Alphas conclusion movie?  That cliffhanger was cruel.)

Overall, I'm hoping the future episodes grab me a little bit more than the pilot did, and the way they can do that for me personally is to give me more background on these characters.  As long as they give them something worth fighting for, reasons for me to want them to win with all my heart, they'll be able to keep me as a viewer.  If it spends too much time on the action and effects without character development, I'll give it up within a few episodes.

For now though, my favorite thing was seeing this back on my television screen:

Modern Family: Fan vs Fanatic

As anyone just glancing at this blog should be able to tell(and anyone who knows me couldn't possibly miss), I'm a fiction fanatic, with my primary medium of choice being television.  I don't just watch television -- I talk about it, write about it, quote it, analyze moments, do entire series rewatches and occasionally even dream of my favorite fictional characters.  I'm a part of fandom for all my favorite shows, writing fanfiction and drawing fanart and making my tumblr essentially nothing but reblogged television GIFS.  I usually either love a show and obsess over it, or I don't care for it and will never bother watching.  Very rarely do I greatly enjoy a show and not completely immerse myself in it.

But there's always an exception, and for me, it's Modern Family.

The show's new season premiered last night, and I remembered to DVR it, but just barely.  I think the show is hilarious, and it fits right in with my other favorites like Parks and Rec and The Office.  It has lovable characters and emotional moments.  It's single camera, mockumentary, no laugh track.  I think it's a great show and I'm a fan.  But unlike most of my other shows, I'm not a fanatic for it.  I don't feel the need to make fanart or peruse its fanfiction.  I don't seek out its tags on tumblr and for the past season hiatus, I was two episodes behind, only catching up last night when it finally returned.  When I didn't have a DVR, I'd forget it for weeks at a time.

I watched the premiere today and it was really strong.  All in all, I think I laughed more times while watching it then I did watching the HIMYM premiere, and that might even be the normal comparison between the two shows (except HIMYM probably would have had the advantage in its early, golden years).  And yet, How I Met Your Mother still means more to me.  The characters will stick with me and I wonder about the missing moments the series doesn't show.  I theorize and read fanfiction and draw the characters.  I read interviews and watch blooper reels and can quote the show pretty well.  I never actively search for any of that material for Modern Family, and if something happens to just present itself to me, I will look at it with only casual interest.

After I finished the premiere today, I turned the television off, and that was all it was.  The show was over and I thought of it no more until it struck me how unusual that was for me.  I hadn't formed any real opinions on the episode and just let it end in my mind the same time it ended on screen.

I spent a lot of time thinking why that might be, and though I'm still not positive, two possible reasons do stand out to me: the family sitcom genre and its character development limitations.

My favorite shows tend to center on the "work place family" instead of literal family, and while the show does feature a "modern" and more eccentric version, the family set-up does have more limits to what can be accomplished.  For instance, the character relationships can't really change.  All the marriages will remain stable and reasonably happy, even when characters fight.  The end of each episode will offer this resolution. The kids will also always be loving and antagonistic siblings; they'll always learn their lessons with some setbacks along the way.  With the exceptional possibility of adding new characters, the dynamics are unlikely to change.  Ever.

There used to be a time in television when that's how shows were meant to be:  you come back for the same characters every week to see the same kind of stories.  You didn't want them to change and this was especially true for comedy -- you wanted the same funny people doing the same funny things and getting into the same funny kind of trouble, like in I Love Lucy or Gilligan's Island.  That's not the case anymore.  The trend for more serialized storytelling and changing characters started with drama but has since found its way to primetime comedy as well.

Take How I Met Your Mother for instance.  In many ways, it follows a classic formula -- archetype characters and zany situations.  In other ways, it has become more than that.  For most of its run, the show was a mystery centering on who The Mother would be.  It also has callbacks from seasons previous and plays with structure with flashbacks and flashforwards and unreliable narration.  And most importantly, it's allowed its characters to change.  Barney has changed from a one dimensional horn-dog and funny guy to someone with depth and insecurities.  We've seen him heartbroken and we've seen him patch up most of his daddy issues and we've seen him grow enough to want and actually be able to thrive in a committed relationship.  We've seen Robin do the same, while still striving to reach her career goals.  We've seen Ted accomplish things in his career and fall in love and move on and regress and move out on his own.  Marshall and Lily have gone from a seemingly stable relationship to finally being tested together to getting their own place and becoming parents.

Parks and Rec has had a similar trajectory.  The characters have had a chance to grow and change their relationships.  Andy has gone from a mooch to his girlfriend Ann to having a stable two-sided relationship with April and even some ambition for himself.  Leslie has gone from the Parks department to City Council, from being unlucky in love to finding her soulmate, and Tom's gone from the irresponsibility of bankrupting Entertainment 720 to running his own thriving business with Rent-A-Swag.  Ann's going to have a baby, and Ron's abandoned some of his hard independence for a lasting relationship and family.  They're all still the same funny, flawed people we've known but their storylines have been allowed to progress and as characters, they've been allowed to develop naturally.

All in all, I guess it's the serialization that really captures me with the ability to see characters grow and change and see their dynamics with each other change as well.  Modern Family is great and just as good if not better than some of my other shows, but changing just isn't something most family-centric shows can do.

Sorry for being long-winded, but much of this was me trying to sort it out for myself.  Agree, disagree, think my reasoning works out or is it flawed?  What makes you a fanatic for one show but a casual observer for another?

Breaking Bad and Hype

With the show in its final season and the aforementioned "hype" being greater than ever, I figured I'd address the current "gap" in my television viewing experience that is Breaking Bad (cue gasp and riot, no stones please).  So here it goes.

My resistance to the show started with reasonable intentions and no hard feelings towards it at all.  It began like this: I simply know what types of shows are my favorites, what genres I gravitate to.  I mostly like comedies, or the hour long dramedies filled with quirk and witty banter and ridiculously likable characters. To give some examples, my current favorites are things like Psych, White Collar, Eureka, and Warehouse 13.  These shows have a lot of fun, don't take themselves too seriously, but still give audiences some nice and deep emotional moments usually reserved for finales.  Hard drama has never been my thing, no matter how well done it is.  I knew that out there in the world, Breaking Bad was doing quality work and making a name for itself.  It just wasn't for me, and I thought that was okay.

But then it started: I'd mention my passion for television in conversation with someone, and their eyes would light up and say, "So you've seen Breaking Bad right?"  And I'd shake my head a little, tell them it wasn't quite for me, and try to move on by asking if they'd seen one of my shows.  Oh, the outrage!  How could I call myself a television fan without watching the best thing on television?  Or, what do you mean it's not for you, it's for everyone!  Or, but it is funny, Jesse is hilarious!  Or, sure Walter becomes a murderous soulless monster, but he did it for his family, and who needs likable characters anyway?

And I'd almost be convinced, honestly.  For a show that's got everything going for it, well, rabidly passionate fans are definitely on the top of that list.  And so I told them what I still say to this day:  Maybe I'll try it sometime.

That statement isn't a lie or meant to placate -- I truly believe that maybe I will watch the show eventually.  I love television, and though I do have favorite genres, I'm open-minded.  I've found some interest in drama with stuff like House of Cards, after all, and that certainly doesn't have likable characters.  I also don't avoid things just to break conformity or something, though my resistance has grown because of all the hype.  How could I not be a little jaded when I'm told my favorite, fun but not necessarily "quality" shows aren't worth my time in comparison to the God of all shows? How could I not roll my eyes just a little when my Facebook feed has nothing but reactions and spoilers for the latest episode and OMG, BREAKING BAD, OMG.

Can you blame me, really?  (Most of you will still say yes.)

But still.  Maybe I will.  When I've thought about starting the show in the past, it's always been with a few reservations.  What if it doesn't live up to all the hype people have made of it?  Or worse, what if it does?  What if I become just another rabid fan telling everyone regardless of genre preference that they MUST watch this show or they haven't truly lived?  Some of you might say I'm exaggerating but...it's damn near close to the truth.

The reason I'm bringing this up now is because of a recent conversation I had with one of my friends, Ethan.  Out of the many people that have tried to convince me to watch the show, he was the most effective because he didn't try.  He didn't sell it to me, he just said he really got into it, it's so good, and he found himself laughing so much at the funny parts.  He didn't say it was the greatest; in fact, he mentioned it just briefly, just to recap on the shows he's binged on from Netflix recently.  He talked about Breaking Bad and White Collar in the same five minutes, put them right up together with the same sort of enthusiasm and interest.  It was this conversation that has me thinking about starting the show more seriously than ever before, though by now I'm sure I'll wait until after the finale and the dust settles.

I just figure if Ethan can get past the hype and see it as just another good show in a long list of currently good shows on the air (or Netflix), maybe I can too.

Markus Zusak's Other Book

If you know the name Markus Zusak, it's probably because you've heard of and/or read his YA novel, The Book Thief.  It's popular, been on several "Must Read" lists and has now been made into a feature film coming soon to theaters near you.  I borrowed my roommate's copy and you know what?  It didn't do it for me, though I desperately wanted it to.  It's got an interesting writing style, with the narrator being Death, and I tend to like gimmicks like that, but not this time.  Maybe it was just because it's a period piece and that's not typically a genre I connect well with, or because the main character was also considerably younger than my age range at the time.

Or maybe I just had outrageously high expectations because I read Markus Zusak's "other book" first.  It's called I Am the Messenger here in the states, and just The Messenger elsewhere.  I picked it up at a bookstore knowing nothing about it.  The cover didn't look all that appealing, but I'd read a page or two in the store and liked the writing style and decided to take a chance on it.

I devoured the novel in hours and to this day, though I'm loathe to play favorites between books, it is one of mine.

I Am the Messenger is about an underage cab driver named Ed Kennedy, and here's a few things about him:  he's smart but unambitious, working a dead-end job and living a dead-end life.  He's pathetic in romance, in the eyes of his Ma,and generally going nowhere in a run-down town filled with run-down people.  He's averagely average with no prospects for more.  Until the day he unwittingly stops a bank robbery in progress.  Until the day he gets the first ace in the mail.

From then on, Ed is thrown into a whirlwind beyond what he could have imagined.  The first ace playing card gave him a list of addresses, at each address something he needed to fix.  They range from the unimaginably horrific to the simply sad, and it's up to Ed to change everything: change the world with one good deed at a time, lose himself in the beautiful broken people, and learn to live up to his potential.  It's narrated by Ed himself, and somehow from his simple and average perspective, the flowing metaphors and sensory descriptions are even more poignant.

Not to sound overly sentimental, but it truly is beautiful.

In short, I never did finish The Book Thief.  I tried and wanted to like it because of the author recognition, but it didn't capture me in the same way.  And I'm fairly sure I'll watch the film, but even if it takes me in more than the novel could, my heart will still be with Ed and the Aces.

TV Season 2013 -- Part Three

So here we go: the last installment of my look at TV Season 2013.  As I take in more new and returning shows, there will still be more posts on individual shows and episodes, but this is the last look at the whole. We finish off with the shows that aren't looking so hot to me this television season, and why.

Bones

Where we left off:  Brennan proposed to Booth, Pelant’s still free and telling Booth he better not marry her or he’ll go on a killing spree.  Or something.

Reasons for doubt:  The finale took what was once a fairly intimidating Big Bad who has caused some serious problems (even if they were rather unbelievable) and turned him into nothing more than a petulant child.  In my mind, I see him stamping his foot and saying “Don’t marry her or I’m gonna be bad!”  That’s my main concern, but the crimes are also getting old, the characters flat, and there’s too many squinterns to reasonably care about.  I’ll stick with it until the end (maybe), but it’ll never again be must-see television for me.

Community

Where we left off:  It should tell you something that I actually had to look this up to refresh myself.  I think they did the other timeline thing to death or something, and Pierce graduated, marking Chevy Chase’s exit. And Donald Glover will also be leaving to accommodate for his new FX show.  On the flipside, Dan Harmon’s back in. 

Reasons for doubt:  Honestly, Community is my sitcom darling, even over other favorites like The Office and Parks and Rec.  I’m in the middle of introducing a friend to it, and I can remember the wit and the silliness and will always champion it to others.  But Dan Harmon was axed for season 4 and it showed.  It showed badly.  It had more gags and less clever jokes, half-baked homages, and too much of trying and failing to be the old Community.  It had some gems, maybe, but it is the worst season without contest and against all reason, the show was renewed.  Now Harmon’s back in, but I just don’t know if he can recapture the magic, especially with two cast members gone.  I still manage to hope so.  #sixseasonsandamovie

The Goldbergs:

Premise:  The show is set in the 1980s and follows the Goldberg family. The single-camera series stars Wendy Mclevon-Covey as classic overprotective matriarch mother Beverly, her husband Murray, and three children.  Son Adam documents their lives with his video camera. 

Reasons for doubt:  The preview doesn’t look funny, and wacky families having wacky adventures is hardly innovative.  The series being set in the 1980s has also been done before, back in the late 90s with the now cult classic, Freaks and Geeks.  The main difference being that Freaks and Geeks had charm and depth, whereas the promo for The Goldbergs just looks loud and obnoxious.  I’m fairly confident, however, that it will share the same fate: cancelled in a season or less.

Dads

Premise:  Warner and Eli, two successful video game developers in their mid-thirties, have their lives unexpectedly changed when their fathers move in with them.

Reasons for doubt:  I may have to check this one out for myself, but the Internet reviews seem to have spoken.  It’s not funny and has too many racist jokes and is flat out boring.  I want better for Seth Green, so I’m hoping that if it’s really as bad as they say, it gets nixed right away and Green finds something better to spend his time on. 

As with any television season, many more of these new shows will be cancelled and deserve to be.  And more aging shows will cling desperately to life beyond their time.  These are just some of my preliminary thoughts on a few shows that got my attention; what stood out to you?

TV Season 2013 -- Part Two

As a continuation to my post about new shows, here's a follow up focusing on shows returning this fall.  For the most part, I'm a lot more excited to continue my shows than give a chance to the new ones just because so many of those will get cancelled within a season.  But here's what I'm looking forward to as far as returning shows and explanations as to why.              

How I Met Your Mother

Where we left off:  The Mother has been revealed to the audience, finally, and the long awaited meeting with Ted will occur at or after Barney and Robin's wedding.

Why I’m Excited:  Maybe it’s because I only started watching in season 7, but I am not like many other fans that are screaming “Just let him meet the mother already, it’s dragged on too long.”  If you really get this show, you should know it really is about the journey, not the destination.  This is about how Ted meets the love of his life and his happily ever after will be hard-won.  True, last season was all over the place; the jokes were more gag-y and less clever, and Barney and Robin had the most interesting storyline while that of every other character including Ted suffered greatly.  But you know what?  I’m optimistic.  This has been a good show and this is what everyone, including the writers, have been waiting to see.  We’ve met The Mother but Ted’s still waiting for her.  We’ll get to know her and hopefully love her too.  And my favorite bros are getting married.  I think they can end this show the way it deserves to end.

White Collar

Where we left off: Neal and Peter worked to find evidence that Neal's father is innocent of decades' old crimes, only to prove the opposite.  Now, after another murder, his father has escaped leaving Peter holding the smoking gun and taking the fall.

Why I’m Excited:  You would think White Collar’s extensive use of midseason finale and finale cliffhangers would get old, but it really doesn’t.  Peter’s starting off this season in jail, taking the fall for a murder committed by Neal’s actual dad.  From the preview, it looks like Neal’s going to revert to more of his criminal tendencies for the right reason – clearing Peter’s name.  Bring on the fun, the bromance banter, and bad! Neal.  Also, bring back Sara, please.

American Horror Story: Coven

Where we left off:  It's an anthology series so none of that matters.

Why I’m Excited:  I don’t know.  It’s a guilty pleasure.  I rage-watch as I try to decide if Ryan Murphy is a genius, an idiot, or a closet misogynist.  But October will put me in the mood for this genre and a season about witches will probably look aesthetically amazing.

The Legend of Korra

Where we left off:  Korra defeated Amon and is now in a relationship with Mako.  Tenzin's older brother Bumi returned to hang out with the family.

Why I’m Excited: As a longtime Avatar fan, I had high expectations for The Legend of Korra and Book One didn’t disappoint.  No, it’s not quite Aang and the Gang, but it’s a cool expansion of that world and way better than pretty much anything else in children’s programming right now.  Hell, it’s better than a lot of primetime television.  Book Two premiered this past Friday and is off to a pretty good start as Korra learns the mysteries of the now dangerously unbalanced spirit world, even if Korra herself did annoy me with too much teen wangst.

And that's it for now.  The third and final post in this series will highlight both returning and new shows that I am weary of watching, based on previous seasons or unappealing trailers/previews.