Shortish TV rundown
Feb. 19th, 2017 10:43 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
jedi_of_urthA shorter week this week; partly scheduling, partly before I didn’t write anything on the non-superhero stuff.
Supergirl 2x12
There was actually a lot to like in this one. As with so many versions of Super(man), the Luthor rivalry is one of the best elements (and is this heavily influenced by Smallville or was Lionel Luthor and a Clark-Lex friendship past always a thing? Although in this version Lionel lacks the distinctive hair, and I don’t think Lena existed there). I wish Lillian was a better villain than she is, because she has a lot of qualities that could have made a great one but the show clearly doesn’t want her to be a great villain; for all we’re told she thinks she’s the hero of the story she never actually acts like it or even that she thinks it. I also don’t feel like Kara really learned anything this episode, and I kind of don’t like her in it; not that everyone else was much better on the subject of Lena, everyone else needed to step back and realize that suspect does not mean guilty, while Kara should have had to admit that she was acting on faith and faith is not a fact. She also doesn’t seem to be expected to learn anything from Jimmy, just sweep all the issues back under the rug and not deal with it; and it bugs me that this seems to be treated as a resolution when it’s clearly not.
I’ve concluded that I just nothing Kara/Mon’el, I don’t ship them, I don’t hate them, I just feel bored during their plot. Everything they’ve done (what little it is) with Kara and Jimmy this season would have been 10x more interesting if they had been together during it; and Kara and Lena do have chemistry to burn (I’m sure no one in the office wonders about all those flowers); but Mon’el is such a boring character and their relationship is super dull.
I sound kind of negative on this one, but as an episode I thought it was probably the best in a while, I just find plenty of my big picture issues still in play so they get pointed out.
Agents of SHIELD 4x14
I kind of want to discuss this in two parts, the plot and flashbacks, but they are linked enough that I’m not sure that works. I’m also not sure I liked it enough to have a ton to say on it. Don’t get me wrong, I love how shippy it is (mostly Philinda but FitzSimmons are also quite good here), and I’m definitely interested to see what happens next, but I wasn’t as engaged with it as I wanted to be.
The flashbacks were adorable even if the actors do not look 15+ years younger (at this point Bahrain is pushing ten years ago and this was before May was even in a real relationship with Andrew when I’ve always assumed they were married at least five years before it went south). While it does indicate that contrary to most suspicion May and Coulson were not at the Academy together (unless there’s crossover between Ops and Communications), this does mean that they have in fact been working together her entire career since back in s2 they reminisced about their first op like it was her first field assignment. So...mixed bag on whether I approve of this way of writing it.
It’s also interesting how the flashbacks feed into Coulson’s showdown with the Superior, because the flashbacks don’t tell us anything about what the mission actually was, it’s just there for Coulson and May being cute and adorable; which is what Coulson evidently remembers about that op. He remembers May showing up to save his ass repeatedly, that she wouldn’t make him wait forever, that he was ready to make a move if Andrew hadn’t come along. I saw someone suggest that the last scene actually took place in the Framework and...I can’t decide which is more tragic; that they both knew it was on the table and she ended up with Andrew anyway or that that’s what should happen to keep him placid in the Framework (they let May undo the worst day of her life, Coulson’s big regret is that he didn’t put things on the table with May when he had a chance).
I also have...thoughts on Robo-Coulson waking up Robo-May. Namely that if it were me I’d end up writing May-lon saying something to the effect of, “You’re not Phil...and now I’m on the other side of this revelation.” Maybe I just feel that way because I think FitzSommons are going to need help from a surprise corner but I think it’s more because I’ve kept expecting May-lon to be a stealth (and ultimately tragic) hero in this plot. Also we have some issues that I’m not sure what Radcliff and Aida’s goal is at this point so I have a hard time predicting where the next conflict will happen.
Lastly, I have some issues with Mack being all judgey about the science team, understandable in the present climate but feels very running scared rather than a logical level of problems with their work. It was a fairly large part of their plot back in season 1 that the pure joy of science was not enough reason to do some things, and while Fitz may have gotten a little carried away with Radcliff’s ideas I don’t feel like that’s been forgotten either.
Arrow 5x13
That was not a good episode, it was in fact pretty bad. I know it tries to make me feel bad for disliking it for being political but it just doesn’t work. At first when it was the characters debating issues, I wasn’t enjoying it but it seemed like it was still a story; when it comes to the actual political movement in the show it doesn’t work at all. What exactly did they do in terms of policy? It didn’t sound like they did anything and yet apparently it was a big political move Oliver was making? And by the end it’s just bad and speechy and I was laughing over the closing remarks because it just comes off as dumb, far more than Oliver’s uncertainty early on did (and I appreciate that Oliver wouldn’t have a clear position on these things, let’s remember that Oliver is in fact a serial killer...and a member of the Russian mob...and basically everyone he knows is a vigilante, even the cops... While at the same time Oliver is very aware of how big the threats are and doesn’t oppose people’s right to defend themselves just as he does).
Now, what character stuff there was wasn’t bad. I liked Dinah’s stuff, I even liked Rene’s backstory (although doesn’t seem like the daughter was written to be like maybe 8 rather than the teenager she appeared to be?), and Oliver talking down the gunman was actually a really nice scene that allowed *Oliver* to be the hero rather than the Arrow for once, and to resolve things without violence. I am less fond of the show trying to build up Oliver/Susan, because Oliver is not convincing at all at being invested in that relationship; which is fine for my Olicity loving heart, but makes this plot threat seems really dumb.
I am very disappointed not to have the other Tuesday shows, well more LoT than Flash. Maybe I’ll manage to write fic before it’s entirely jossed...but probably not. So instead, a look into my shippy head.
Not content with a ship I’ve been rooting for for YEARS finally becoming more or less canon, I am now back to hardcore shipping something that will probably never be canon and one half spent the last episode repeatedly attempting to murder the other half.
Philinda-side: We’ve got canon, fic, decades of backstory, present angst, past angst, robots, death and rebirth, utter devotion, and already being practically married. What do you have?
RipSara-side: ...pain.
(Olicity-side: rewatches fake wedding for the 50th time)
Supergirl 2x12
There was actually a lot to like in this one. As with so many versions of Super(man), the Luthor rivalry is one of the best elements (and is this heavily influenced by Smallville or was Lionel Luthor and a Clark-Lex friendship past always a thing? Although in this version Lionel lacks the distinctive hair, and I don’t think Lena existed there). I wish Lillian was a better villain than she is, because she has a lot of qualities that could have made a great one but the show clearly doesn’t want her to be a great villain; for all we’re told she thinks she’s the hero of the story she never actually acts like it or even that she thinks it. I also don’t feel like Kara really learned anything this episode, and I kind of don’t like her in it; not that everyone else was much better on the subject of Lena, everyone else needed to step back and realize that suspect does not mean guilty, while Kara should have had to admit that she was acting on faith and faith is not a fact. She also doesn’t seem to be expected to learn anything from Jimmy, just sweep all the issues back under the rug and not deal with it; and it bugs me that this seems to be treated as a resolution when it’s clearly not.
I’ve concluded that I just nothing Kara/Mon’el, I don’t ship them, I don’t hate them, I just feel bored during their plot. Everything they’ve done (what little it is) with Kara and Jimmy this season would have been 10x more interesting if they had been together during it; and Kara and Lena do have chemistry to burn (I’m sure no one in the office wonders about all those flowers); but Mon’el is such a boring character and their relationship is super dull.
I sound kind of negative on this one, but as an episode I thought it was probably the best in a while, I just find plenty of my big picture issues still in play so they get pointed out.
Agents of SHIELD 4x14
I kind of want to discuss this in two parts, the plot and flashbacks, but they are linked enough that I’m not sure that works. I’m also not sure I liked it enough to have a ton to say on it. Don’t get me wrong, I love how shippy it is (mostly Philinda but FitzSimmons are also quite good here), and I’m definitely interested to see what happens next, but I wasn’t as engaged with it as I wanted to be.
The flashbacks were adorable even if the actors do not look 15+ years younger (at this point Bahrain is pushing ten years ago and this was before May was even in a real relationship with Andrew when I’ve always assumed they were married at least five years before it went south). While it does indicate that contrary to most suspicion May and Coulson were not at the Academy together (unless there’s crossover between Ops and Communications), this does mean that they have in fact been working together her entire career since back in s2 they reminisced about their first op like it was her first field assignment. So...mixed bag on whether I approve of this way of writing it.
It’s also interesting how the flashbacks feed into Coulson’s showdown with the Superior, because the flashbacks don’t tell us anything about what the mission actually was, it’s just there for Coulson and May being cute and adorable; which is what Coulson evidently remembers about that op. He remembers May showing up to save his ass repeatedly, that she wouldn’t make him wait forever, that he was ready to make a move if Andrew hadn’t come along. I saw someone suggest that the last scene actually took place in the Framework and...I can’t decide which is more tragic; that they both knew it was on the table and she ended up with Andrew anyway or that that’s what should happen to keep him placid in the Framework (they let May undo the worst day of her life, Coulson’s big regret is that he didn’t put things on the table with May when he had a chance).
I also have...thoughts on Robo-Coulson waking up Robo-May. Namely that if it were me I’d end up writing May-lon saying something to the effect of, “You’re not Phil...and now I’m on the other side of this revelation.” Maybe I just feel that way because I think FitzSommons are going to need help from a surprise corner but I think it’s more because I’ve kept expecting May-lon to be a stealth (and ultimately tragic) hero in this plot. Also we have some issues that I’m not sure what Radcliff and Aida’s goal is at this point so I have a hard time predicting where the next conflict will happen.
Lastly, I have some issues with Mack being all judgey about the science team, understandable in the present climate but feels very running scared rather than a logical level of problems with their work. It was a fairly large part of their plot back in season 1 that the pure joy of science was not enough reason to do some things, and while Fitz may have gotten a little carried away with Radcliff’s ideas I don’t feel like that’s been forgotten either.
Arrow 5x13
That was not a good episode, it was in fact pretty bad. I know it tries to make me feel bad for disliking it for being political but it just doesn’t work. At first when it was the characters debating issues, I wasn’t enjoying it but it seemed like it was still a story; when it comes to the actual political movement in the show it doesn’t work at all. What exactly did they do in terms of policy? It didn’t sound like they did anything and yet apparently it was a big political move Oliver was making? And by the end it’s just bad and speechy and I was laughing over the closing remarks because it just comes off as dumb, far more than Oliver’s uncertainty early on did (and I appreciate that Oliver wouldn’t have a clear position on these things, let’s remember that Oliver is in fact a serial killer...and a member of the Russian mob...and basically everyone he knows is a vigilante, even the cops... While at the same time Oliver is very aware of how big the threats are and doesn’t oppose people’s right to defend themselves just as he does).
Now, what character stuff there was wasn’t bad. I liked Dinah’s stuff, I even liked Rene’s backstory (although doesn’t seem like the daughter was written to be like maybe 8 rather than the teenager she appeared to be?), and Oliver talking down the gunman was actually a really nice scene that allowed *Oliver* to be the hero rather than the Arrow for once, and to resolve things without violence. I am less fond of the show trying to build up Oliver/Susan, because Oliver is not convincing at all at being invested in that relationship; which is fine for my Olicity loving heart, but makes this plot threat seems really dumb.
I am very disappointed not to have the other Tuesday shows, well more LoT than Flash. Maybe I’ll manage to write fic before it’s entirely jossed...but probably not. So instead, a look into my shippy head.
Not content with a ship I’ve been rooting for for YEARS finally becoming more or less canon, I am now back to hardcore shipping something that will probably never be canon and one half spent the last episode repeatedly attempting to murder the other half.
Philinda-side: We’ve got canon, fic, decades of backstory, present angst, past angst, robots, death and rebirth, utter devotion, and already being practically married. What do you have?
RipSara-side: ...pain.
(Olicity-side: rewatches fake wedding for the 50th time)
