jedi_of_urth (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
jedi_of_urth) wrote2016-02-08 11:21 pm
jedi_of_urth) wrote2016-02-08 11:21 pm
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Another TV rundown
Galavant 2x09-10
Those were some pretty good episodes, the songs were solid, there were a lot of good jokes, and I think it struck a good balance between being an ending and leaving room for another season if they manage to get one. Although I would say that Galavant and Isabella’s ending got rather rushed and could certainly have filled out another season if they’d been confident of having one; as is, if there is a season 3 something’s probably going to go badly on that front to propel the story. It was really good to have the Galavant theme back in play for the finale again, though there were some other pretty good songs too, and for once there were enough songs that I felt satisfied.
The season as a whole...was a bit of a mixed bag but it definitely ended strongly. It was pretty much all enjoyable enough, but the good stuff it quite a bit better than the okay stuff, but it was good to see things get really strong by the end which is somewhat encouraging if we do get more as they hopefully worked through the sophomore slump (that wasn’t a terrible slump, but it was there) that made them stumble here. I’d like to see more, but if all we have is these two seasons I guess I’ll be okay.
Flash 2x12
So having a couple of very prominent references to Arrow (seriously, what does Central City really care about Oliver’s mayoral campaign? Aside from perhaps the terrorism that’s been drawn to it) makes me think we’re heading for a crossover, maybe they’re going to team up to go take on Earth 2 or something. I guess it is sweeps month, so a crossover really wouldn’t surprise me. The Felicity reference feels marginally les like a setup, because it’s sure what I was thinking to Cisco’s question, but him providing the setup for that joke reeks of setup on a bigger stage. That taken care of this episode was...pretty good, a lot of Harry focus is good by me. The emotional manipulation (unintentional though it was by the characters) going on was a little on the nose, but I guess it needed to be, I definitely felt for it, but like I’ve said several times this season, Harry’s story is probably the most interesting to me. The B-plot though, ugh I’m already sick of Wally and his need for speed, that’s way too on the nose and I really don’t like it; the more emotional moments were alright I guess, but I’m really not enjoying this plot line. I’m also really mad at the opening scene that Barry apparently wasn’t welcome at family dinner night when as far as I remember he still lives there, a conversation between Joe and Barry about maybe Barry makes it hard for Joe and Wally to try and father-son bond might actually have been interesting. For a show that’s so much about Barry’s relationship with his father figures, they’re all kind of crappy relationships but I can’t tell if the show realizes that even though it’s clearly set up that those relationships aren’t working (where the hell is Henry, it still bugs me?). Hmm, for an episode I actually largely enjoyed watching it (had issues but enjoyed), I’m kind of pissed off now that I’ve gotten my teeth into one small thing that bugged me.
Arrow 4x12
So having gradually accepted over the season that Damien Darhk is not Felicity’s father, it turns out he’s another evil mastermind and now her new arch nemesis, that’s my main take away from the episode. Overall I liked it; it’s kind of a weird like though, in that there’s a lot I really really liked, and not much I actively didn’t like, but the end result was just kind of okay like. It was great to have Nyssa back in play and have Roy back at least for a little while, and Felicity’s arc continues to be pretty darn good, and hey finally Felicity’s dad, and other good stuff. But the flashbacks and some serious problems with them, plus a few biggish issues with the present (mainly with what Tatsu’s up to and when and how she ended up there) kind of dragged my overall opinion down. My big issue with the “lesson” in the flashback is, if anything, I’ve been thinking for a while that Oliver isn’t dark enough by this point given where he’ll be in s1...or at least he hasn’t decided to just be okay with darkness enough given where he started the series; and while it was awesome to see Shado again in some capacity and I can see how they could do some good things with it if they put some thought into it, I do have a lot of issues with what we got here. I think this episode also removes me from thinking Thea’s the one in the grave, much as even before the second flash forward Felicity being shot took her off the table for me (although I’d always sort of thought that wasn’t likely); so we’re still on target for a William and/or Samantha death. (My going notation; the truth comes out, Felicity and Oliver are on the rocks but Samantha does allow William to come visit Oliver in Star City, where William promptly dies, and so grave scene; Barry shows up because he was in the know about William all along and the funeral is probably in Central City, the rest of Team Arrow stays back in Star City but regardless of the mixed terms Oliver and Felicity are on she still goes with him. Main reason to doubt this notion is the show would end up killing a kid and I’m not sure this is that dark.) I did really like the scenes between Thea and Roy, it turns out I’ve really missed those two; although it was weirdly confusing for a moment when Thea’s all laid out on the couch and then she moved her legs around to accommodate him and I took a second to remember that she’s not the one that’s paralyzed, too many people laid up with grievous injuries right now. This one also gave me a clear thought that Oliver is going to end the series by retiring from field duty and basically mentor the nascent Justice League so that he can actually put everything else in his life (Thea, Felicity, kids he may or may not have by that point) first the way he clearly wants to already. Anyway, nest week is called ‘Sins of the Father’ and while the promo focus is on Malcolm (fitting as he’s the reason Thea’s in his situation), it’s also likely to deal a decent amount with Felicity’s dad (probably not a conclusion yet, but the pace this show goes at you never know), and under that umbrella I will not be surprised if there’s a reference to Oliver’s side plot; but we’ll see.
Legends of Tomorrow 1x03
Another episode I liked, but I’m not sure I’m 100% happy with the disconnectedness of the different plotlines. I really liked the Rip and Sara show, both plot-wise and on an emotional level. My main draw to the Ray and Stein (and kind of Kendra) plot was for Ray’s angst, I’m not quite sure how this problem kicked up his Anna angst but right now I’m hoping messing around in time will manage to save her. As for the Rogues’ plot...they ended up doing something fairly interesting with it, I just don’t care enough about the characters to be all that invested in Cold’s angst. Weird observation that kept coming into focus all episode, that while quite a few of the cast has chemistry, given the way I ship I don’t know how shippy I’m going to find this one. Rip and Kendra aren’t emotionally available for shipping (no matter how much I kept trying to ship Rip and Sara this ep and how much I didn’t like Kendra and Conner), Stein currently has a wife back in the ‘present’, I don’t think Mick is capable of emotional investment, Snart might be but I’m not overly interested (though back in the pilot he did have awesome chemistry with Sara, but that’s just thinking maybe they should hook up sometimes , not enticing me to ship), Jackson’s a baby next to the rest of them, I think Sara’s not exactly interested in pursuing romance right now (she’s got a lot of other shit going on), and Ray...I suppose I would find Ray available for shipping if there was the other half to ship him with, just right now I’ve got a Ray/Anna expectation somehow (they mentioned she was Anna Loring, which is bringing it closer in line with his comic book love interest, also perhaps the daughter of Moira’s defense lawyer in Arrow s2?). But I’ll be glad to see something besides the 70s, not that there was much about this episode dependent on the 70s, but it’s a show with time travel so I want to see more time travel.
Mr. Selfridge 4x05
As usual I liked the episode, but it had some weird moments to it. I can’t say I’m on board with Mardle and Grove here, I need him to acknowledge all the times he’s been a dick to her over the years before I can be okay with it, and I don’t think he’s going to last long enough to do enough groveling to satisfy me; at least I can say I have a pretty good idea that this year when the customary late season Grove and Mardle horrible relationship hour comes around it will maybe not be so much about him being a dick as dying which will at least be different. Also, there was something weird between Mae and Victor here, as far as we know they haven’t been boning in 20 years, but there seemed a decided sexualized undertone to their brief interactions (which was extra awkward because for a moment I thought Violette was there, but I figured out it was just Rosalie; why did they flip hair colors between seasons?). I keep kind of expecting Connie’s pregnancy plot to turn into something about the idea of working mothers, but it doesn’t seem like it will and is mainly there for Kitty’s story, and Kitty’s story is a good one (as soon a Frank even started flirting with reporter lady I knew this plot would almost certainly end with Kitty in New York, either having left Frank or him going with her to put her first; plus I see elements in it of Frank not being entirely happy with his job and would be okay with writing full time if he’d give it serious thought, plus the coming downfall of Harry). Yet again all of Harry’s best scenes are with Mae in a borderline shippy sense that I’ll still be okay whichever way it ends up. As for the plot, it was mainly another link in the chain of Harry’s downfall, so no more surprising there but nothing I feel like really commenting on either, aside from that yes Rose’s awful portrait is still in Harry’s office whenever he was getting it on in there.
Those were some pretty good episodes, the songs were solid, there were a lot of good jokes, and I think it struck a good balance between being an ending and leaving room for another season if they manage to get one. Although I would say that Galavant and Isabella’s ending got rather rushed and could certainly have filled out another season if they’d been confident of having one; as is, if there is a season 3 something’s probably going to go badly on that front to propel the story. It was really good to have the Galavant theme back in play for the finale again, though there were some other pretty good songs too, and for once there were enough songs that I felt satisfied.
The season as a whole...was a bit of a mixed bag but it definitely ended strongly. It was pretty much all enjoyable enough, but the good stuff it quite a bit better than the okay stuff, but it was good to see things get really strong by the end which is somewhat encouraging if we do get more as they hopefully worked through the sophomore slump (that wasn’t a terrible slump, but it was there) that made them stumble here. I’d like to see more, but if all we have is these two seasons I guess I’ll be okay.
Flash 2x12
So having a couple of very prominent references to Arrow (seriously, what does Central City really care about Oliver’s mayoral campaign? Aside from perhaps the terrorism that’s been drawn to it) makes me think we’re heading for a crossover, maybe they’re going to team up to go take on Earth 2 or something. I guess it is sweeps month, so a crossover really wouldn’t surprise me. The Felicity reference feels marginally les like a setup, because it’s sure what I was thinking to Cisco’s question, but him providing the setup for that joke reeks of setup on a bigger stage. That taken care of this episode was...pretty good, a lot of Harry focus is good by me. The emotional manipulation (unintentional though it was by the characters) going on was a little on the nose, but I guess it needed to be, I definitely felt for it, but like I’ve said several times this season, Harry’s story is probably the most interesting to me. The B-plot though, ugh I’m already sick of Wally and his need for speed, that’s way too on the nose and I really don’t like it; the more emotional moments were alright I guess, but I’m really not enjoying this plot line. I’m also really mad at the opening scene that Barry apparently wasn’t welcome at family dinner night when as far as I remember he still lives there, a conversation between Joe and Barry about maybe Barry makes it hard for Joe and Wally to try and father-son bond might actually have been interesting. For a show that’s so much about Barry’s relationship with his father figures, they’re all kind of crappy relationships but I can’t tell if the show realizes that even though it’s clearly set up that those relationships aren’t working (where the hell is Henry, it still bugs me?). Hmm, for an episode I actually largely enjoyed watching it (had issues but enjoyed), I’m kind of pissed off now that I’ve gotten my teeth into one small thing that bugged me.
Arrow 4x12
So having gradually accepted over the season that Damien Darhk is not Felicity’s father, it turns out he’s another evil mastermind and now her new arch nemesis, that’s my main take away from the episode. Overall I liked it; it’s kind of a weird like though, in that there’s a lot I really really liked, and not much I actively didn’t like, but the end result was just kind of okay like. It was great to have Nyssa back in play and have Roy back at least for a little while, and Felicity’s arc continues to be pretty darn good, and hey finally Felicity’s dad, and other good stuff. But the flashbacks and some serious problems with them, plus a few biggish issues with the present (mainly with what Tatsu’s up to and when and how she ended up there) kind of dragged my overall opinion down. My big issue with the “lesson” in the flashback is, if anything, I’ve been thinking for a while that Oliver isn’t dark enough by this point given where he’ll be in s1...or at least he hasn’t decided to just be okay with darkness enough given where he started the series; and while it was awesome to see Shado again in some capacity and I can see how they could do some good things with it if they put some thought into it, I do have a lot of issues with what we got here. I think this episode also removes me from thinking Thea’s the one in the grave, much as even before the second flash forward Felicity being shot took her off the table for me (although I’d always sort of thought that wasn’t likely); so we’re still on target for a William and/or Samantha death. (My going notation; the truth comes out, Felicity and Oliver are on the rocks but Samantha does allow William to come visit Oliver in Star City, where William promptly dies, and so grave scene; Barry shows up because he was in the know about William all along and the funeral is probably in Central City, the rest of Team Arrow stays back in Star City but regardless of the mixed terms Oliver and Felicity are on she still goes with him. Main reason to doubt this notion is the show would end up killing a kid and I’m not sure this is that dark.) I did really like the scenes between Thea and Roy, it turns out I’ve really missed those two; although it was weirdly confusing for a moment when Thea’s all laid out on the couch and then she moved her legs around to accommodate him and I took a second to remember that she’s not the one that’s paralyzed, too many people laid up with grievous injuries right now. This one also gave me a clear thought that Oliver is going to end the series by retiring from field duty and basically mentor the nascent Justice League so that he can actually put everything else in his life (Thea, Felicity, kids he may or may not have by that point) first the way he clearly wants to already. Anyway, nest week is called ‘Sins of the Father’ and while the promo focus is on Malcolm (fitting as he’s the reason Thea’s in his situation), it’s also likely to deal a decent amount with Felicity’s dad (probably not a conclusion yet, but the pace this show goes at you never know), and under that umbrella I will not be surprised if there’s a reference to Oliver’s side plot; but we’ll see.
Legends of Tomorrow 1x03
Another episode I liked, but I’m not sure I’m 100% happy with the disconnectedness of the different plotlines. I really liked the Rip and Sara show, both plot-wise and on an emotional level. My main draw to the Ray and Stein (and kind of Kendra) plot was for Ray’s angst, I’m not quite sure how this problem kicked up his Anna angst but right now I’m hoping messing around in time will manage to save her. As for the Rogues’ plot...they ended up doing something fairly interesting with it, I just don’t care enough about the characters to be all that invested in Cold’s angst. Weird observation that kept coming into focus all episode, that while quite a few of the cast has chemistry, given the way I ship I don’t know how shippy I’m going to find this one. Rip and Kendra aren’t emotionally available for shipping (no matter how much I kept trying to ship Rip and Sara this ep and how much I didn’t like Kendra and Conner), Stein currently has a wife back in the ‘present’, I don’t think Mick is capable of emotional investment, Snart might be but I’m not overly interested (though back in the pilot he did have awesome chemistry with Sara, but that’s just thinking maybe they should hook up sometimes , not enticing me to ship), Jackson’s a baby next to the rest of them, I think Sara’s not exactly interested in pursuing romance right now (she’s got a lot of other shit going on), and Ray...I suppose I would find Ray available for shipping if there was the other half to ship him with, just right now I’ve got a Ray/Anna expectation somehow (they mentioned she was Anna Loring, which is bringing it closer in line with his comic book love interest, also perhaps the daughter of Moira’s defense lawyer in Arrow s2?). But I’ll be glad to see something besides the 70s, not that there was much about this episode dependent on the 70s, but it’s a show with time travel so I want to see more time travel.
Mr. Selfridge 4x05
As usual I liked the episode, but it had some weird moments to it. I can’t say I’m on board with Mardle and Grove here, I need him to acknowledge all the times he’s been a dick to her over the years before I can be okay with it, and I don’t think he’s going to last long enough to do enough groveling to satisfy me; at least I can say I have a pretty good idea that this year when the customary late season Grove and Mardle horrible relationship hour comes around it will maybe not be so much about him being a dick as dying which will at least be different. Also, there was something weird between Mae and Victor here, as far as we know they haven’t been boning in 20 years, but there seemed a decided sexualized undertone to their brief interactions (which was extra awkward because for a moment I thought Violette was there, but I figured out it was just Rosalie; why did they flip hair colors between seasons?). I keep kind of expecting Connie’s pregnancy plot to turn into something about the idea of working mothers, but it doesn’t seem like it will and is mainly there for Kitty’s story, and Kitty’s story is a good one (as soon a Frank even started flirting with reporter lady I knew this plot would almost certainly end with Kitty in New York, either having left Frank or him going with her to put her first; plus I see elements in it of Frank not being entirely happy with his job and would be okay with writing full time if he’d give it serious thought, plus the coming downfall of Harry). Yet again all of Harry’s best scenes are with Mae in a borderline shippy sense that I’ll still be okay whichever way it ends up. As for the plot, it was mainly another link in the chain of Harry’s downfall, so no more surprising there but nothing I feel like really commenting on either, aside from that yes Rose’s awful portrait is still in Harry’s office whenever he was getting it on in there.