TV rundown, Arrow and Orville
Mar. 2nd, 2019 07:47 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
jedi_of_urthYou know, only having about one show each week that I feel like writing reviews for means it takes a while to get to a length where I feel I ought to bother posting said reactions. On the other hand in considerably less than the amount of time I sat on these, I watched both versions of Fullmetal Alchemist and didn’t do reviews of them (I might need to, I have some things I’d kind of like to say), so that’s more where my mind has been.
Arrow 7x11
I don’t know if I liked that one or not. It definitely gave me a few thoughts in the direction of not liking it, but I don’t know that I actually did. I will say the plots are way too unconnected right now and we need to find some way of getting these characters to interact more. And yet they’re trying a little too hard with Siren, so I don’t know how I feel.
I remember thinking as soon as Curtis told the new Squad that he was turning off their implants that that was a dumb thing to do. And as that scene unfolded I felt like there was something off with it; and then as soon as Curtis died it was obviously not going to stick so that just left the reveal. Not that they left it too long after that, so I guess it was an okay paced plot. Then while I’m glad Curtis is getting something to do finally, this also doesn’t feel like Digg; or at least like it needs a lot more exploration of what is driving Digg.
Something about Oliver’s plot bugs me and I’m having a hard time nailing down. I like Oliver in it, and it’s a reasonable thing for the show to address, and it more or less hangs together; I just...I feel like we’ve gone down this road enough times already. It’s funny that I’ve several times this season pointed out that I’m still watching this show over the others in this verse because Oliver is the anti-Barry who has all of his mistakes and flaws called out and made story points; but there comes a point when maybe they could not make the character feels like he sucks for five minutes. Seven layer shit cake he may be, but sometimes they could let him have a break from eating it.
Also, the actress playing Emiko sucks. Plus, does transparency include telling people who the new Green Arrow is? Did he even tell Dinah? This definitely doesn’t all square for me.
Arrow 7x12
I liked more of that than I didn’t; but the gimmick utterly failed to work. I’d have to do the math but I’m guessing this is episode 150 (does math...yeah that checks) thus prompting lots of reflections and cameos from old cast members; and it almost worked at the beginning of the gimmick. If the episode had been that, I still would have had some problems since the footage didn’t seem to be the final product of the documentary but rather scraps of stuff recorded. Also later on they get really lax about dropping secrets in front of the cameras.
But it was good to see the old cast members. I like that they opened with Quentin, that was sweet. It was nice to finally see Thea, I’d like if she would show up for more than 30 seconds at some point. It was amazing to see Sin because I miss her a lot even though she hasn’t been on the show in ages. It didn’t make a ton of sense to have Rory, but it was nice to know he’s alive. Sara’s was hysterical because I can only assume the Waverider was cloaked in the back of the shot. Barry’s was funny but does raise some questions.
I have questions about when Helena apparently got out of jail. I do sort of hope all of this is leading to returns of these missing characters; a lot of these are earlies season characters who would be nice to see for real again.
So the gimmick was sweet but weak. But the rest of it was pretty good. I was happy enough that we finally got some real meat for Oliver and Digg’s relationship; as they note, it has been way too long. And then we got the whole team pulling together and it was really nice. The scenes with Oliver clueing people in on Emiko were fairly effective; calling him on his secret keeping but being fair and understanding. I even think I like William’s story, although I’m reserving judgement until we see it play out.
Now maybe we can start getting some of these plots moving together instead of spinning separately. I have some confidence when it comes to the present stuff; the future stuff is still doubtful. Making sure to call the guy Conner feels deliberate, so is that JJ (that would mean Arrow writers acknowledging JJ though, so...)? If that’s the case then blondie is almost certainly someone’s kid And I still don’t know where that’s leading, because I don’t believe the Arrow writers or the DCCW oversite team would lock themselves in to this future.
...Oh. I think I figured it out, and I hope I’m wrong. Because I think they’re going to keep hinting at this future up until Crisis on Infinite Earths next year and then retcon away from it because of some time-messing shenanigans. Though you know, if they kill Barry in the Crisis I might give Flash another chance...
Arrow 7x13
I’m not quite sure how I feel about this one. I think I liked it, but I can’t decide if the fact that I could call everything a few minutes or scenes in advance was a good thing. Although I did call one thing wrong, because I thought Curtis was going to be the one who got killed; he just had that vibe all episode that he was on the verge of getting everything worked out so he was clearly going to die, but I guess he just gets to go off and actually get away from this (is he still dating the cop guy?).
I figured out that they were dealing with Stanley about a minute before the reveal. It was a plot thread that hadn’t been sealed off and fit everything we were seeing. It also was a setup that would intersect with the Queen family plot going on; that Oliver’s life is just never going to be settled.
I also could call that we were leading to Felicity getting pregnant, I didn’t know that it would be this episode, but the longer they talked about how chaotic their world is and maybe William shouldn’t be in it, I kind of thought this was leading to a situation that didn’t have another choice. Plus the future did seem to be leaning that way as soon as they confirmed Conner was JJ, and the interest in how William fit into this, my suspicion that Blondie was also related kicked up another few notches. How Mia doesn’t know she had a half-brother (and vice versa) doesn’t make a lot of sense, but I suppose they could explain it.
I also had a thought early in the episode, that this season has a much more family focused feel. Zoe is both a more consistent presence and is shown to view the team as family. I definitely get the family vibe between Rene and Dinah, when they remember to it’s there Felicity and Digg and Curtis, same with Oliver and Digg. Obviously we also have a secret sibling plot (now two with the future). I’m not yet sure if it’s a good thing, but it does make finding out that the future is still a family drama tie in well enough.
For the first time I also just found the future stuff kind of funny because everyone looks the same age. There’s a 30+ year age gap between Dinah and Mia, but they sure don’t look it. Plus I still kind of think that we’re getting this grim-dark future arc (also true from what I understand of Flash this year) because they’re committed to writing it out after Crisis.
The Orville 2x07
I think I would give that one a stamp of flawed but good. I’m not sure it’s a problem with the story structure of Talla’s character/acting, but I don’t buy her in this story. I don’t really buy the buildup for the episode relationship at all, and that’s mostly on packing it into one episode which is why I’m not rushing to blame the actress. But this is really our episode to get to know Talla, and I don’t feel like I actually did get to know her.
Between Ed and Kelly’s discussion of the alliance with the Moclans being necessary but hard to endorse at this point, and that I’m not sure how Bortus and Klyden’s relationship can survive too many more hits, I’m sort of sensing an world-shaking split coming. Galactic level diplomatic problems, but how that impacts the couple we know. Obviously this show hasn’t really developed an arc yet, but this had the ring of foreshadowing.
I’m not sure the breakup between Kelly and Cassius was super well handled, even though I think she’s being honest that it was probably coming for a while. Ed is part of that, both in that she does have feelings for him, and that because of her relationship with him she has baggage that makes a new relationship awkward.
The Orville 2x08
I didn’t particularly care for the Claire/Isaac episode a few eps ago, I just didn’t find it that engaging; but I can see the need of it now. I don’t know exactly how they get out of this one, but that (the romantic and the family dynamic) is liable to be the emotional core of however this is resolved.
I don’t even know that I have that much to say about this one, I might after the second part, but right now I just think we’re off to a fine start, if a little slow at times, but came to a big end. Hopefully the next part will make it a great one.
The Orville 2x09
I liked that one, more than part 1 I’d say. Part 1 was a little slow and oddly paced, but I thought the pacing here was fine. I did find the battle scenes a bit hard to follow and a little too chaotic without enough points of contact to feel generally invested. Also I couldn’t decide if I wanted to refer to it as Wolf 359 or the Battle of the Line.
I do feel like this is sort of a show where mostly I just end up saying ‘I generally liked that,’ but don’t feel like getting in to a lot of detail about why I did or many of the particulars. I generally like it, and that’s enough for now.
Arrow 7x11
I don’t know if I liked that one or not. It definitely gave me a few thoughts in the direction of not liking it, but I don’t know that I actually did. I will say the plots are way too unconnected right now and we need to find some way of getting these characters to interact more. And yet they’re trying a little too hard with Siren, so I don’t know how I feel.
I remember thinking as soon as Curtis told the new Squad that he was turning off their implants that that was a dumb thing to do. And as that scene unfolded I felt like there was something off with it; and then as soon as Curtis died it was obviously not going to stick so that just left the reveal. Not that they left it too long after that, so I guess it was an okay paced plot. Then while I’m glad Curtis is getting something to do finally, this also doesn’t feel like Digg; or at least like it needs a lot more exploration of what is driving Digg.
Something about Oliver’s plot bugs me and I’m having a hard time nailing down. I like Oliver in it, and it’s a reasonable thing for the show to address, and it more or less hangs together; I just...I feel like we’ve gone down this road enough times already. It’s funny that I’ve several times this season pointed out that I’m still watching this show over the others in this verse because Oliver is the anti-Barry who has all of his mistakes and flaws called out and made story points; but there comes a point when maybe they could not make the character feels like he sucks for five minutes. Seven layer shit cake he may be, but sometimes they could let him have a break from eating it.
Also, the actress playing Emiko sucks. Plus, does transparency include telling people who the new Green Arrow is? Did he even tell Dinah? This definitely doesn’t all square for me.
Arrow 7x12
I liked more of that than I didn’t; but the gimmick utterly failed to work. I’d have to do the math but I’m guessing this is episode 150 (does math...yeah that checks) thus prompting lots of reflections and cameos from old cast members; and it almost worked at the beginning of the gimmick. If the episode had been that, I still would have had some problems since the footage didn’t seem to be the final product of the documentary but rather scraps of stuff recorded. Also later on they get really lax about dropping secrets in front of the cameras.
But it was good to see the old cast members. I like that they opened with Quentin, that was sweet. It was nice to finally see Thea, I’d like if she would show up for more than 30 seconds at some point. It was amazing to see Sin because I miss her a lot even though she hasn’t been on the show in ages. It didn’t make a ton of sense to have Rory, but it was nice to know he’s alive. Sara’s was hysterical because I can only assume the Waverider was cloaked in the back of the shot. Barry’s was funny but does raise some questions.
I have questions about when Helena apparently got out of jail. I do sort of hope all of this is leading to returns of these missing characters; a lot of these are earlies season characters who would be nice to see for real again.
So the gimmick was sweet but weak. But the rest of it was pretty good. I was happy enough that we finally got some real meat for Oliver and Digg’s relationship; as they note, it has been way too long. And then we got the whole team pulling together and it was really nice. The scenes with Oliver clueing people in on Emiko were fairly effective; calling him on his secret keeping but being fair and understanding. I even think I like William’s story, although I’m reserving judgement until we see it play out.
Now maybe we can start getting some of these plots moving together instead of spinning separately. I have some confidence when it comes to the present stuff; the future stuff is still doubtful. Making sure to call the guy Conner feels deliberate, so is that JJ (that would mean Arrow writers acknowledging JJ though, so...)? If that’s the case then blondie is almost certainly someone’s kid And I still don’t know where that’s leading, because I don’t believe the Arrow writers or the DCCW oversite team would lock themselves in to this future.
...Oh. I think I figured it out, and I hope I’m wrong. Because I think they’re going to keep hinting at this future up until Crisis on Infinite Earths next year and then retcon away from it because of some time-messing shenanigans. Though you know, if they kill Barry in the Crisis I might give Flash another chance...
Arrow 7x13
I’m not quite sure how I feel about this one. I think I liked it, but I can’t decide if the fact that I could call everything a few minutes or scenes in advance was a good thing. Although I did call one thing wrong, because I thought Curtis was going to be the one who got killed; he just had that vibe all episode that he was on the verge of getting everything worked out so he was clearly going to die, but I guess he just gets to go off and actually get away from this (is he still dating the cop guy?).
I figured out that they were dealing with Stanley about a minute before the reveal. It was a plot thread that hadn’t been sealed off and fit everything we were seeing. It also was a setup that would intersect with the Queen family plot going on; that Oliver’s life is just never going to be settled.
I also could call that we were leading to Felicity getting pregnant, I didn’t know that it would be this episode, but the longer they talked about how chaotic their world is and maybe William shouldn’t be in it, I kind of thought this was leading to a situation that didn’t have another choice. Plus the future did seem to be leaning that way as soon as they confirmed Conner was JJ, and the interest in how William fit into this, my suspicion that Blondie was also related kicked up another few notches. How Mia doesn’t know she had a half-brother (and vice versa) doesn’t make a lot of sense, but I suppose they could explain it.
I also had a thought early in the episode, that this season has a much more family focused feel. Zoe is both a more consistent presence and is shown to view the team as family. I definitely get the family vibe between Rene and Dinah, when they remember to it’s there Felicity and Digg and Curtis, same with Oliver and Digg. Obviously we also have a secret sibling plot (now two with the future). I’m not yet sure if it’s a good thing, but it does make finding out that the future is still a family drama tie in well enough.
For the first time I also just found the future stuff kind of funny because everyone looks the same age. There’s a 30+ year age gap between Dinah and Mia, but they sure don’t look it. Plus I still kind of think that we’re getting this grim-dark future arc (also true from what I understand of Flash this year) because they’re committed to writing it out after Crisis.
The Orville 2x07
I think I would give that one a stamp of flawed but good. I’m not sure it’s a problem with the story structure of Talla’s character/acting, but I don’t buy her in this story. I don’t really buy the buildup for the episode relationship at all, and that’s mostly on packing it into one episode which is why I’m not rushing to blame the actress. But this is really our episode to get to know Talla, and I don’t feel like I actually did get to know her.
Between Ed and Kelly’s discussion of the alliance with the Moclans being necessary but hard to endorse at this point, and that I’m not sure how Bortus and Klyden’s relationship can survive too many more hits, I’m sort of sensing an world-shaking split coming. Galactic level diplomatic problems, but how that impacts the couple we know. Obviously this show hasn’t really developed an arc yet, but this had the ring of foreshadowing.
I’m not sure the breakup between Kelly and Cassius was super well handled, even though I think she’s being honest that it was probably coming for a while. Ed is part of that, both in that she does have feelings for him, and that because of her relationship with him she has baggage that makes a new relationship awkward.
The Orville 2x08
I didn’t particularly care for the Claire/Isaac episode a few eps ago, I just didn’t find it that engaging; but I can see the need of it now. I don’t know exactly how they get out of this one, but that (the romantic and the family dynamic) is liable to be the emotional core of however this is resolved.
I don’t even know that I have that much to say about this one, I might after the second part, but right now I just think we’re off to a fine start, if a little slow at times, but came to a big end. Hopefully the next part will make it a great one.
The Orville 2x09
I liked that one, more than part 1 I’d say. Part 1 was a little slow and oddly paced, but I thought the pacing here was fine. I did find the battle scenes a bit hard to follow and a little too chaotic without enough points of contact to feel generally invested. Also I couldn’t decide if I wanted to refer to it as Wolf 359 or the Battle of the Line.
I do feel like this is sort of a show where mostly I just end up saying ‘I generally liked that,’ but don’t feel like getting in to a lot of detail about why I did or many of the particulars. I generally like it, and that’s enough for now.
