Last week's TV roundup
Feb. 17th, 2016 10:31 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
jedi_of_urthI'm a little behind obviously, but here's my view of what I watched last week.
Castle 8x09
I am shocked that Castle and Beckett’s lying to the team even lasted the episode. I thought in the first team scene that they were laying it on too thick and Ryan and Espo would see through them, then their bad handling of the situation when it came to their supposed new dating partners just was not be believable. It’s at least too abrupt from where they’ve been so far this season. Now if I’m being generous, since they were already separated and given Castle’s behavior in the past when things are going bad between him and Beckett, it’s not unreasonable to think he could have strayed; but to take that track I don’t know that the boys would be so 100% on Beckett’s side when she was the one holding Castle off in the first half of the season and both made it clear through that time that he hadn’t done anything wrong to date. Do I have any problem thinking she ultimately gets them in a hypothetical divorce? Not at all; but being so quick to blame Castle at this point feels wrong. And I worry what this is going to do to the team dynamic by the time the two of them eventually do let the boys in on things, because making it so clear that they would so automatically pick Beckett and think so ill of Castle, well I think that’s going to do some damage to things. I also can’t quite help but feel that given a second to think about it, Ryan’s going to go home and talk it out with Jenny and realize this makes no sense (Espo will just dig his heels in on what he already thinks and Lanie’s probably already guessed). As for the case, formula strikes again as I called that it was one of the couple as soon as they appeared, they were introduced at the right point in the episode even if there was no cause to suspect them. But as I’ve said a few times this season I like how more of the Castle family seems to have stuff to do than they used to, and this was firmly in that line, so it was fine.
Flash 2x13
Kind of bad timing to say this since it’s a two-part story, but this was an episode of two halves, the first half pretty bad but the second half was pretty good. I guess there was a little flux room in the middle too. But I’m the type who gets really annoyed with parallel universe travel episodes where they’re trying to keep a low profile but make all kinds of dumb mistakes while doing it. Also making annoying assumptions, because as soon as they said ‘Detective West’ I suspected it was Iris since we know that even in the main universe Iris seriously considered being a cop so in a parallel universe it’s not unlikely that she became one. But once the episode got down to the more emotional elements of parallel universes, it handled those well; the part with Barry’s mom was well performed and our Barry standing beside his family and then watching Joe die was powerful (although I was bothered by the fact that Earth-2-Barry will have to catch up on all this later). Also kind of kept wondering where E2-Barry was during most of the episode or if they just kept him knocked out and out of shot in what I supposed was Wells’ office. It certainly wasn’t a bad episode, although will reserve most judgement until part 2, but it wasn’t a very consistently good episode either, but the good parts were really good.
Arrow 4x13
I have to say, I wish I liked this episode more than I think I did. Let’s start with the flashbacks, it had somehow escaped my notice until now that what’s-her-face is supposed to be Russian and so may finally explain how Oliver learns to speak Russian, I still think he probably should have ended up in Russia with Anatoli as how he ended up affiliated with Bratva, but it’s a step in the right direction; but most of what I came away thinking was that this is all just leading to some mcguffin for the modern crisis isn’t it? Early in the season exploring Oliver’s early exposure to the mystic arts it was contrived enough, but as is there’s just no point to this era of the flashbacks so I never really like them. I also really feel that the League civil war should have been an ongoing plot (it’s actually quite a bit more interesting than anything Darhk’s doing, and we understand why it happens) instead of cramming it into one episode; I also can’t get a handle on how I should feel about the resolution, as just releasing the League of Assassins into the wild does not seem like a smart move (and that’s ignoring any question of whether Malcolm’s estimation of the League was at all valid, which...I don’t know that I do, but it might be worth considering). Felicity’s plot deserved to be an A-plot rather than a side show with all that was going on this episode, although as Noah (I think that’s his name, I’m still thinking of him as Doc Abbot, because I always will) is still alive here we probably haven’t seen the last of this plot. I have also been willing to take Oliver’s side in the concealment of William until now (not exactly happy, but willing to see the potential for reasons), but a) he owes Felicity the truth before they get married so hurrying things up there is a bad sign and b) if Malcolm knows then there are likely others who could and so it’s quite possible for the truth to get out, so continuing to keep mostly Felicity but also the team in general in the dark even Oliver should see isn’t going to end well. Or course I was expecting it to go badly as soon as Malcolm even brought up William as I thought the lair might be mic-ed and Felicity listening in. There were actually a lot of elements I liked in this episode, but was left feeling kind of unsatisfied (which...I guess the characters kind of were too by and large), I guess we’ll see what’s to come of it (but my assumptions look more and more right all the time, which is no guarantee on them actually happening).
Legends of Tomorrow 1x04
Much like with Flash I’m largely reserving judgement until seeing the rest of the story, but that was so far a pretty well constructed story. While some of the individual scenes weren’t expertly paced the overall flow of the plot was; and the plot elements that didn’t quite pay off are likely to in the next episode. It was also a good time to revisit the Time Master’s hunt for Hunter. I question if this is the same prison Team Arrow broke into/out of a while back and what if anything Sara knows about that mission. I don’t actually have a lot deep thoughts about this one, although I probably should as there was some meaty stuff there, it’s not connecting right now.
Mr. Selfridge 4x06
Well that was unexpected. And by that I mean Victor apparently dying, a lot of the rest was pretty expected. I can’t decide if Meryl is a super awesome friend for Tilly or being kind of an ass and making her life harder, but I still like them together; and having made a good impression on Josie (I guess I can’t call her Miss Mardle anymore) Tilly gets moved into the category of characters I have hope for making it out of this mess better off, as Josie still has her own business doesn’t she, and would be happy to have new talent. The scene where Frank tells Kitty to go to New York was super well written, as you could tell what he was saying vs. what she was hearing and what it’s costing them both to hear/say it even as they see both halves, all at the same time and it was sad; also I adore Connie and George’s reactions now that they know what’s going on. Also well done was Harry’s reaction to Grove’s news, just that bit more weight that brings him closer to the breaking point. The implosion of the Selfridge family continues and is painful to watch, bringing the whole lot of them that much closer to falling off a cliff. I’m super sad that Agnes couldn’t be at Josie’s wedding, the more I thought about it the more she really should have been there, as her season 1 story was often caught up in the Grove/Mardle drama and Josie having been one of the so very few people at Agnes and Henri’s wedding; sure I’d have loved to see Henri too, but in terms of this story it’s lacking Agnes. Also, poor Florian, no one seems to be willing to remember that he was so much better to Josie than Grove has ever been. And then there’s Victor, and all season it’s been a little weird whenever he and Mae interact, but this episode was really awkward on that front, it’s not like they ever had a real relationship and what they had, I remind you, was 20 years ago (now when I rewatch s1 those scenes are going to be even more awkward than they always were), but I wasn’t exactly opposed to them giving things a chance now either. And now Victor is dead, right up there with Doris in terms of sudden character death syndrome, so...dun dun dun I guess.
Castle 8x09
I am shocked that Castle and Beckett’s lying to the team even lasted the episode. I thought in the first team scene that they were laying it on too thick and Ryan and Espo would see through them, then their bad handling of the situation when it came to their supposed new dating partners just was not be believable. It’s at least too abrupt from where they’ve been so far this season. Now if I’m being generous, since they were already separated and given Castle’s behavior in the past when things are going bad between him and Beckett, it’s not unreasonable to think he could have strayed; but to take that track I don’t know that the boys would be so 100% on Beckett’s side when she was the one holding Castle off in the first half of the season and both made it clear through that time that he hadn’t done anything wrong to date. Do I have any problem thinking she ultimately gets them in a hypothetical divorce? Not at all; but being so quick to blame Castle at this point feels wrong. And I worry what this is going to do to the team dynamic by the time the two of them eventually do let the boys in on things, because making it so clear that they would so automatically pick Beckett and think so ill of Castle, well I think that’s going to do some damage to things. I also can’t quite help but feel that given a second to think about it, Ryan’s going to go home and talk it out with Jenny and realize this makes no sense (Espo will just dig his heels in on what he already thinks and Lanie’s probably already guessed). As for the case, formula strikes again as I called that it was one of the couple as soon as they appeared, they were introduced at the right point in the episode even if there was no cause to suspect them. But as I’ve said a few times this season I like how more of the Castle family seems to have stuff to do than they used to, and this was firmly in that line, so it was fine.
Flash 2x13
Kind of bad timing to say this since it’s a two-part story, but this was an episode of two halves, the first half pretty bad but the second half was pretty good. I guess there was a little flux room in the middle too. But I’m the type who gets really annoyed with parallel universe travel episodes where they’re trying to keep a low profile but make all kinds of dumb mistakes while doing it. Also making annoying assumptions, because as soon as they said ‘Detective West’ I suspected it was Iris since we know that even in the main universe Iris seriously considered being a cop so in a parallel universe it’s not unlikely that she became one. But once the episode got down to the more emotional elements of parallel universes, it handled those well; the part with Barry’s mom was well performed and our Barry standing beside his family and then watching Joe die was powerful (although I was bothered by the fact that Earth-2-Barry will have to catch up on all this later). Also kind of kept wondering where E2-Barry was during most of the episode or if they just kept him knocked out and out of shot in what I supposed was Wells’ office. It certainly wasn’t a bad episode, although will reserve most judgement until part 2, but it wasn’t a very consistently good episode either, but the good parts were really good.
Arrow 4x13
I have to say, I wish I liked this episode more than I think I did. Let’s start with the flashbacks, it had somehow escaped my notice until now that what’s-her-face is supposed to be Russian and so may finally explain how Oliver learns to speak Russian, I still think he probably should have ended up in Russia with Anatoli as how he ended up affiliated with Bratva, but it’s a step in the right direction; but most of what I came away thinking was that this is all just leading to some mcguffin for the modern crisis isn’t it? Early in the season exploring Oliver’s early exposure to the mystic arts it was contrived enough, but as is there’s just no point to this era of the flashbacks so I never really like them. I also really feel that the League civil war should have been an ongoing plot (it’s actually quite a bit more interesting than anything Darhk’s doing, and we understand why it happens) instead of cramming it into one episode; I also can’t get a handle on how I should feel about the resolution, as just releasing the League of Assassins into the wild does not seem like a smart move (and that’s ignoring any question of whether Malcolm’s estimation of the League was at all valid, which...I don’t know that I do, but it might be worth considering). Felicity’s plot deserved to be an A-plot rather than a side show with all that was going on this episode, although as Noah (I think that’s his name, I’m still thinking of him as Doc Abbot, because I always will) is still alive here we probably haven’t seen the last of this plot. I have also been willing to take Oliver’s side in the concealment of William until now (not exactly happy, but willing to see the potential for reasons), but a) he owes Felicity the truth before they get married so hurrying things up there is a bad sign and b) if Malcolm knows then there are likely others who could and so it’s quite possible for the truth to get out, so continuing to keep mostly Felicity but also the team in general in the dark even Oliver should see isn’t going to end well. Or course I was expecting it to go badly as soon as Malcolm even brought up William as I thought the lair might be mic-ed and Felicity listening in. There were actually a lot of elements I liked in this episode, but was left feeling kind of unsatisfied (which...I guess the characters kind of were too by and large), I guess we’ll see what’s to come of it (but my assumptions look more and more right all the time, which is no guarantee on them actually happening).
Legends of Tomorrow 1x04
Much like with Flash I’m largely reserving judgement until seeing the rest of the story, but that was so far a pretty well constructed story. While some of the individual scenes weren’t expertly paced the overall flow of the plot was; and the plot elements that didn’t quite pay off are likely to in the next episode. It was also a good time to revisit the Time Master’s hunt for Hunter. I question if this is the same prison Team Arrow broke into/out of a while back and what if anything Sara knows about that mission. I don’t actually have a lot deep thoughts about this one, although I probably should as there was some meaty stuff there, it’s not connecting right now.
Mr. Selfridge 4x06
Well that was unexpected. And by that I mean Victor apparently dying, a lot of the rest was pretty expected. I can’t decide if Meryl is a super awesome friend for Tilly or being kind of an ass and making her life harder, but I still like them together; and having made a good impression on Josie (I guess I can’t call her Miss Mardle anymore) Tilly gets moved into the category of characters I have hope for making it out of this mess better off, as Josie still has her own business doesn’t she, and would be happy to have new talent. The scene where Frank tells Kitty to go to New York was super well written, as you could tell what he was saying vs. what she was hearing and what it’s costing them both to hear/say it even as they see both halves, all at the same time and it was sad; also I adore Connie and George’s reactions now that they know what’s going on. Also well done was Harry’s reaction to Grove’s news, just that bit more weight that brings him closer to the breaking point. The implosion of the Selfridge family continues and is painful to watch, bringing the whole lot of them that much closer to falling off a cliff. I’m super sad that Agnes couldn’t be at Josie’s wedding, the more I thought about it the more she really should have been there, as her season 1 story was often caught up in the Grove/Mardle drama and Josie having been one of the so very few people at Agnes and Henri’s wedding; sure I’d have loved to see Henri too, but in terms of this story it’s lacking Agnes. Also, poor Florian, no one seems to be willing to remember that he was so much better to Josie than Grove has ever been. And then there’s Victor, and all season it’s been a little weird whenever he and Mae interact, but this episode was really awkward on that front, it’s not like they ever had a real relationship and what they had, I remind you, was 20 years ago (now when I rewatch s1 those scenes are going to be even more awkward than they always were), but I wasn’t exactly opposed to them giving things a chance now either. And now Victor is dead, right up there with Doris in terms of sudden character death syndrome, so...dun dun dun I guess.
