Judgment Day
May. 18th, 2014 10:42 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
penfold_xThe networks have made their final renewal/cancellation decisions. I'm most surprised about the cancellation of Almost Human. While it turned out not to be my favorite of the new shows, it had solid ratings for its network and timeslot. And it wasn't a case of FOX clearing the decks--less well-performing shows, including Glee and The Mindy Project were renewed. Maybe it was the cost of the programs, with its enormous effects budget and set dressing needs? For what it's worth, though it had a rough start, I thought it settled in well to its niche by the end of its half-season run.
I suspect I have the typical fan reaction to Agents of SHIELD: meh. I wasn't expecting a Marvel movie every week, but I thought the characters were not especially well thought out and the show suffered for it: Fitz and Simmons are straight up stereotypes (right down to their fuzzy sweaters), May is the battle scarred vet, Skye is the rebellious outsider (who has the bad luck to be portrayed by an especially irritating actress), and until late in the game, Grant was the square-jawed hero; (as ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif){kind=small}
myfieldnotes posited during our last conversation, they're archetypes without a twist. I was less impressed with the post-Winter Soldier eps than most fans because the episodes play on what is, in my opinion, the weakest part of that film: the suggestion that Hyrda could have been hiding in SHIELD for decades. Yes, in a show with costumed heroes and villains, that's the part where I can't suspend my disbelief. Yet, I find Clark Gregg's performance mesmerizing; he was clearly hired for his every man look, but he manages to inject an amazing degree of humble nobility into his performance. I may be fast-forwarding through parts of the show, but I've always got eyes on Coulson.
The Tomorrow People was similarly disappointing. Like SHIELD the cast seemed to be hired entirely for their looks and the young telepaths treated their inability to commit murder almost as an obstacle to overcome rather than a philosophical principle they valued. I watched the full series because I did want to see where the writers took the plot (and Mark Pellegrino is basically good in everything, no matter how poor the material), but I could scarcely tell one beautiful late twentysomething playing a late teen from another. Also, it seemed like they had about 13 episodes' worth of plot that they spread over a 22-episode run, so there was a lot of filler and unnecessary 'twists'. I'm not crying into my popcorn that there won't be a second season, especially if its cancellation is what made room for CW's mid-season replacement, apocalyptic drama, The Messengers.
At least all of my hopes--and then some--were fulfilled by Sleepy Hollow; it's campy fun and so much more! There's a great friendship at the heart of the show, and as original-asteria notes:
I think my favorite thing about the writing in Sleepy Hollow is that everyone behaves like fucking rational people. If any of the main four (Abbie, Ichabod, Irving, or Jenny) receives important information, they immediately share it with the group. Ichabod told Abbie right away that Moloch was definitely coming for her instead of keeping it to himself to try and “protect her for her own good” or some bullshit like that. Irving asked for Abbie and Ichabod’s help in saving Macy without handing over Washington’s bible instead of just stealing it the first chance he got. They asked Jenny’s permission before watching her exorcism tape. On any other show, they would have just watched it, and Jenny would find out, and betrayed trust, and blah blah blah same old shit we’ve seen a hundred times before. They don’t need to manufacture drama, drama happens and the characters react rationally and drama still happens because they are caught up in huge events, but that’s no reason to act stupidly.
Hostages, on the other hand, holds the dubious honor of being the first series I dumped from my DVR; all of the characters were so shrill and unlikable, I only hung on for four episodes before bailing out (the thirteen episode commitment made it unlikely the producers would kill both the 'heroes' and the 'villains' in a massive explosion during the fifth). Dracula quickly followed; the visual tone of the show was so dark, it was difficult at times to see what was going on (unclear whether this was an intentional attempt to hide how terrible the scripts were).
Of the four mid-season shows I was interested in, three are gone, but fortunately The 100 was the survivor. I never actually gave Intelligence or Believe a chance (too little time), but I watched both The 100 and Star-Crossed. Though both feature a lot of attractive young people in the mandatory love triangles, but The 100 makes much more of its premise. The book the series is based on, published less than a year ago, is clearly intended to be a Hunger Games knock-off, and the promotion for the show has definitely played up those aspects. And the kids on the planet do engage in some Lord of the Flies-style shenanigans, but pleasingly, the program continues to track events on the space station, where the adults (especially members and former members of the government) are engaged in all manner of schemes and there is a significant divide between the government class/security forces and the working class that keep the station together. Although there's a lot of terrible teenage decision making and merely mediocre young acting, I tune in each week anxious to see what happens next.
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Date: 2014-05-19 10:25 am (UTC)I liked the cop pairing in Almost Human, but I disliked several of the more recent plots. I definitely think that show could have gotten better writing and been successful, but Karl Urban has a pretty good movie career going. I would think that may have been a problem too.
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Date: 2014-05-30 01:16 am (UTC)Ah, I hadn't considered that at all.
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Date: 2014-05-20 02:36 am (UTC)(and the only reason i will even THINK of watching it is that Karen Gillan is in it.)
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Date: 2014-05-30 01:17 am (UTC)no subject
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Date: 2014-05-20 03:03 am (UTC)no subject
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Date: 2014-05-21 02:53 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2014-05-30 01:24 am (UTC)I gave up on Tomorrow People after the umpteenth time I noticed I was spending far more time staring at Mr. Amell's facial mole than in what was going on in the show.
LOLOL Oh my goodness! Well, I can confidently assure you you did not miss anything.
Anyone watching Crisis? Much better show with similar premise
No, I forgot to add it to my DVR, and well, once I miss the beginning of a show... Good enough I should catch up?
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