Justified, Season 3 & 4

Justified is the kind of show I like to watch entire seasons in one, rather than follow weekly. I did the same with seasons 1 and 2 back in the day, and somehow I never got around to season 3 before even the fourth season had passed by. It's a strange beast. The simple 19th century lawman procedural in the modern world is a bizarre mash-up that makes me think of The Wire done light in a Winter's Bone world, with characters that rarely make the same kind of impact those important ones did in the before mentioned show and movie. All in all it makes it better than most procedurals, but nowhere near the greatness of The Wire.

Season three spends a lot of time with a mafia local wannabe going at it with the Crowders, and with the Limehouse-crowd at arms length taking up a lot of time as a stripped Bennett-family kind of influence (see season 2). It makes for a less interesting season all together, with lesser obstacles, lesser intriguing characters and less charm than both this show have done before and others have done in the same vein.

Season four takes the old-secret angle, chasing down an old fugitive with unknown new identity as its main gear. Good old Boyd Crowder becomes a poor-man's Spike (Buffy the Vampire Slayer) or a poor-man's 'Stringer' Bell (The Wire). However you choose to see it, it's less appealing than it once used to be. Heck, by the time season four has ended I'm confused whether or not this actually is just another guilty pleasure of mine.

Thankfully there's a few things that works really well as we take our steps around in Raylan's world, and much of it is thanks to a certain kind of humor that works built on the world itself. Not quite enough to make the entertainment value outshine the lesser interest I feel for these seasons compared to earlier ones (or greater show's...), but enough I'll still probably tune in for season five once its done. At least by now I know it's with lesser expectations and a more guilty pleasure mind.

It also makes me ponder whether or not I shouldn't take a look at revisiting The Wire sooner rather than later...

Season 3 ★★★☆☆
Season 4 ★★★☆☆

Falling Skies, Season 1 & 2

I always knew I would tune in for Falling Skies sooner or later, mostly because of Jessy Schram. I've been a fan of the girl ever since her stint at Veronica Mars, but also because of her minor roles elsewhere, and as such always felt like I had to check out series where she got bigger parts.

And I've never made any secret of my lack of love for everything Spielberg, so it's most definitely despite his executive producing the show I finally gave it a go.

There's a distinct difference in the two seasons thus far aired, but I'm not gonna spend time looking into those. As far as the quality goes, they are both pretty much in the same ballpark, even if they did pick up from the opening few episodes.

It's easy to think of The Walking Dead while watching Falling Skies. Zombies are swapped for aliens, but they do in both cases take backseat for the human connections and interactions within their groups. While the potential of both shows are great, Falling Skies falls shorter than TWD--much because of the typical Spielbergian bright side attitude. The potential is equally great--or even better--but the execution is on both FS-seasons just a notch below the disappointing second season of TWD. With only ten episodes a season they have the proper framing to make it tight and quality, but still spend too much time wallowing in scenes and situations that are too light and family-friendly. Pick up the dark side, and there might actually be something there.

As long as Jessy Schram keeps getting credited, I'll still probably tune in for another season.... My expectations aren't very high thou, so more of a guilty pleasure kind of thing. That's also why I rate it according to my Guilty Pleasure's three star system.

Season 1 ★★☆
Season 2 ★★☆

Life Unexpected, season 1

Despite somewhat limited possibilities during her stay at Roswell, Shiri Appleby managed to convince me she had the talent to make shows interesting enough to check out just by her presence. Add Dawson's Creek's own Kerr Smith, and I had to get around to Life Unexpected sooner or later. Also hanging around is the likes of Britt Robertson (that blonde The Secret Circle-lead) and Kristoffer Polaha in leads, supported by Austin Basis (now supporting in Beauty and the Beast), Ksenia Solo (Lost Girl-sidekick) and --when I get around to season 2-- Emma Caulfield (of Buffy the Vampire Slayer fame).

I really enjoyed the opening, and the whole premise and feel of this show. Marketed as Juno meets Gilmore Girls, it had the exact vibe needed to not seem like false marketing. Sadly they needed way too few episodes to make some really annoyingly bad choices, and by mid-season I wished Polaha's leading character died a horrible and explicit death. That sadly didn't happen, not surprisingly, and the more they dug into his character... the weaker it got. Enough so, it completely ruined any hopes the show had of succeeding.

Robertson isn't half bad, but it's no doubt Shiri is the talent. Sadly her character also takes a few dips too many into puke-worthy territory, and whomever the showrunner was should have been sacked early into the season. They are nowhere near the potential it had, racking up sad little repeats of characters becoming less and less interesting.

I'll still check out season 2. hoping they understood how far off they were heading and salvaging it with good off-season choices. Mostly thanks to Shiri I'm not quite ready to give up on it yet, but then there's also Caulfield to look forward to.

The highlights of season 1 is no doubt the interactions between Shiri and Kerr's characters, and Shiri's acting and presence. The lowest points being uninteresting dramatic choices starring Polaha's character, and his acting isn't much better. That's another reason I'm not running towards Ringer despite its star being Buffy-star Sarah Michelle Gellar.

S.1 ★★☆☆☆

On sidenotes I've also checked out Shiri in Dating Rules from my Future Self a couple of months ago. I've only seen s1 of that show as well so far, but it's lighthearted entertainment well worth checking out. The second sidenote is the fact I noticed Shiri just released a press release about her pregnancy, so best wishes and all that. Hopefully she'll still get around to a new starring TV-show role sooner rather than later, for her talent is huge and she'll be missed until she return.

Buffy the Vampire Slayer, season 3

Season 3 might very well be the greatest season of them all if I'd taken the time to look at average episode-scores. Still, there's a few things lacking that other seasons have going for them...

It's the final year of high school, a new player arrives to shake up the line between good and evil, we get introduced to The Mayor, it's the final season before Angel goes off to the spin-off world of L.A., and the Buffyverse get familiar with a whole new set of supernatural as werewolves and witchcraft are just a couple of elements taken further.

Honestly; it's increasingly difficult to say something useful about seasons without spoilers, so I'll just skip to the episode ratings if that's okay with you...

3.01 ★★★★★ Anne
3.02 ★★★☆☆ Dead Man's Party
3.03 ★★☆☆☆ Faith, Hope and Trick
3.04 ★★★★☆ Beauty and the Beasts
3.05 ★★★☆☆ Homecoming
3.06 ★★★☆☆ Band Candy
3.07 ★★★☆☆ Revelations
3.08 ★★★★☆ Lover's Walk
3.09 ★★★★★ The Wish
3.10 ★★★★★ Amends
3.11 ★★☆☆☆ Gingerbread
3.12 ★★★★☆ Helpless
3.13 ★★★☆☆ The Zeppo
3.14 ★★★☆☆ Bad Girls
3.15 ★★★★☆ Consequences
3.16 ★★★☆☆ Doppelgangland
3.17 ★★★★☆ Enemies
3.18 ★★★★☆ Earshot
3.19 ★★★★☆ Choices
3.20 ★★★★☆ The Prom
3.21 ★★★★★ Graduation Day (1)
3.22 ★★★★★ Graduation Day (2)

S.3 ★★★★★

For now I'll drop my photo-montages down memory lane, as they get increasingly spoiler-ish just by showing who's in them by now. At least for those lucky few who's yet to get into the magic of Sunnydale and the Buffyverse. My episode-wabbles might however become slightly more spoiler-ish as a result.

The big news of this season is Faith, called upon as Kendra died last season. She doesn't just shake things up, but give Buffy new challenges on most fronts throughout the season. Compared to Faith, the big bad of the season isn't all that. The other important arch is of course the Angel-kind. I for one wasn't to sad that particular saga came to an end, as his layers was mostly played out. Unlike my man Spike, Angel really couldn't hold my interest too long.

3.01 Anne

I really enjoyed the opener of the season. As Buffy ran away at the end of the last, we catch-up with her alone in the big city. Not only is her lonesome torments interesting, but also the case of the week have stuff going for it. It's only the opening of season six that starts of better.

3.04 Beauty and the Beasts

The case of the week side isn't very interesting, but Buffy's personal life get increasingly interesting with the return of her former lover.

3.09 The Wish

The second 5-rating of the season brings us an alternate reality as Cordelia Chase gets her wish. How would life have been in Sunnydale if Buffy never came there? Somewhat funny, somewhat deep and all the way enjoyable.

3.10 Amends

Some prepare for Christmas, and other struggles with the ghosts of murders past. In hindsight I clearly remember quite a few scenes and moments later on in the show that elevated far past this big one, but it did get emotional there for a while...

3.13 The Zeppo

I always found Xander's storylines mostly boring, and I quite frankly did so here as well, but the interesting part is really the way they turned this episode up-side down by following the B-story rather than the A-story. It makes playful use of cliches, and take more than a few stabs at their own 'verse. Nothing like a little self-awareness to remind us they're not full of them self.

3.21 & 3.22 Graduation Day (1&2)

The last half of the season is really all of very high standard, but it's not until the final two episodes they manage to hit top scores again. The Mayor, Faith, Angel, Ascension and --once again-- choices, are keywords to the end of another season. A season of high quality, but personally I think they managed to hit the really high heights of the show later on....

Buffy the Vampire Slayer, season 2

As I mentioned in my season 1 post, season two is really where it all started to make sense, and elevate from the cheese to something larger. It's also the first season to get five stars-episodes from me, and no less than 4 of them from the second half of the season... making episodes 13-22 of season 2 the first really great stretch of Buffy the Vampire Slayer.

BtVS becomes emotional and personal, and the Hellmouth-ian take of The Master in season 1 becomes a minor problem in hindsight. Back then all solutions seemed to at least be simple...

It's also the season Big Bad enters Buffy's world, and he's an insurance for great entertainment. It's no coincidence that character ranks extremely high in Sci-Fi polls, despite being antagonist rather than protagonist... It speaks greatly to the achievements of actor James Marsters, creator and showrunner Joss Whedon, and the rest of the writing staff in bringing to life --or un-death, as it may be-- a truly fascinating character with wit.

2.01 ★★★☆☆ When She Was Bad
2.02 ★★☆☆☆ Some Assembly Required
2.03 ★★★★☆ School Hard
2.04 ★★☆☆☆ Inca Mummy Girl
2.05 ★★☆☆☆ Reptile Boy
2.06 ★★★★☆ Halloween
2.07 ★★★☆☆ Lie to Me
2.08 ★★☆☆☆ The Dark Age
2.09 ★★★★☆ What's My Line? (1)
2.10 ★★★☆☆ What's My Line? (2)
2.11 ★★☆☆☆ Ted
2.12 ★★☆☆☆ Bad Eggs
2.13 ★★★★★ Surprise (1)
2.14 ★★★★★ Innocence (2)
2.15 ★★★☆☆ Phases
2.16 ★★★☆☆ Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered
2.17 ★★★★★ Passion
2.18 ★★★☆☆ Killed by Death
2.19 ★★★★☆ I Only Have Eyes For You
2.20 ★★☆☆☆ Go Fish
2.21 ★★★★☆ Becoming, Part 1 (1)
2.22 ★★★★★ Becoming, Part 2 (2)

S.2 ★★★★☆

So. While I won't go deep into spoiler-territory this season either, I'll still dip my toe into a couple of the mini-spoiler'ish positives from it. And I'll once again do one of my vintage photo-montages of the season, --again-- with a few spoilers I'm afraid...

The main archs of the season are twofold; Spike and Drusilla arrives as main opponents and old pals of Angel, and then the Buffy and Angel saga continues to unfold with some interesting curveballs thrown into the mix. It's also a season where Whedon starts making small changes to the premises we've taken for granted in the Buffyverse, and in most cases with a lot of luck. More importantly; this was the season the cheese and silliness elevated to inside jokes and excellent wit. On my first visit it won me over a few episodes further out than on this revisit, but then again it speaks to a greater achievement that the full knowledge makes it possible to enjoy some episodes, scenes and jokes even more on the revisit.

2.03 School Hard

The arrival of Spike. I love this character, and he's one of the main reasons this show managed to stay fresh within itself. From the beginning he shows great attitude, and it was just a small taste of things to come....

2.06 Halloween

While the problem-of-the-week might lack a little punch, Sarah Michelle Gellar get to do some fine acting taking on a completely different take to Buffy. In no way a stand-out episode in the grand scheme of things, but still really enjoyable.

2.09 & 2.10 What's My Line?

Dying has consequences, and being The Chosen One makes no exemptions to the rule. A premise-tweak that sets up greater joys later on.

2.13 Surprise (1)

Our 16 year old heroine is turning 17, and while I would never say she's a woman now... some might. My first top-rated episode on the five-star rating scale, but there were greater things to come still... even as early as at the end of the season.

2.14 Innocence (2)

When they first hit the note, they even made it back-to-back top ratings in this double feature. It's not only death that comes with consequences, and Buffy will have to deal with the fallouts of her choices. An episode that again reminds us of the delicate nuances of the character Buffy; typical high school girl/coming of age problems brings back the insecure girl as easily as demons and vampires bring The Slayer.

2.17 Passion

With life, death and souls on the line, Whedon again proofs his ability to let go. The third five-star from me.

2.21 & 2.22 Becoming, Part 1 & 2

Whedon makes his first season-ending with a bang, a trade-mark he should later perfect. Without making silly mistakes, he manages to put it all at stake --no pun intended--, and much like in first season-finale Buffy will have to face extremely difficult choices.

Buffy the Vampire Slayer, season 1

I came late to the party, but in my humble opinion Joss Whedon's Buffy the Vampire Slayer is one of the greatest 'verses ever created. The popular --and fair-- opinion is however that it doesn't really kick into its gear until season 2, making season 1 the obstacle to overcome in order to benefit from the greatness of this show. You can't really skip season 1 either, as it sets the tones, premises and relations up for later gain... so despite the extreme variations of quality and interest, season 1 is much needed to truly profit from the overall story.


Thankfully it's a bit easier to overcome the season 1 obstacle when you revisit. By then you already know how huge the reward is, making 12 small episodes a small price to pay. As I now again embark on the wonderful journey of the Buffy-verse, I can at least watch it with all the knowledge of things to come, mythologies that change, powers that will be unleashed and so on and so forth. It doesn't make up for the overall lower qualities of season 1, but I won't hold it too much against the show. After all; it eventually found its footing and elevated to incredible greatness.

1.01 ★★★☆☆ Welcome to the Hellmouth
1.02 ★★☆☆☆ The Harvest
1.03 ★☆☆☆☆ Witch
1.04 ★★☆☆☆ Teacher's Pet
1.05 ★★☆☆☆ Never Kill a Boy on the First Date
1.06 ★☆☆☆☆ The Pack
1.07 ★★★★☆ Angel
1.08 ★☆☆☆☆ I Robot, You Jane
1.09 ★★☆☆☆ The Puppet Show
1.10 ★★★☆☆ Nightmares
1.11 ★★☆☆☆ Out of Mind, Out of Sight
1.12 ★★★★☆ Prophecy Girl

S.1 ★★☆☆☆

So. While I won't go deep into spoiler-territory, I'll still dip my toe into a couple of the mini-spoiler'ish positives from this first season. And I'll do one of my vintage photo-montages of the season, with a few spoilers I'm afraid...

The main arch of season one is regarding The Master, and is no-where near those coming in later seasons quality-wise. In fact; The Master is more often boring rather than interesting or fierce. The first episode does offer some insight into the mythology and 'verse we embark on, and as such isn't a complete waste. It's still two other episodes that stand head and neck above all others bite-wise.'

1.07 Angel

While Angel have been poppin' in every so often all through the season, this is the episode where we first really touch upon one of the greatest relations of pop culture. The cursed vampire with a soul finally come out of the outskirts, and it certainly makes promises of things to come in the future.

1.12 Prophecy Girl

Where Angel was the opening act of the saga of Angel and Buffy, Prophecy Girl was the first time Buffy showed proof of what an incredible character Whedon had in mind. The 16-year old girl of her was for the first time truly shown (even if there had been glimpses earlier the season), and more importantly that same 16-year old girl took a walk... The first one of several major ones to come in the seasons that followed, and the first glimpse of the heart that shine behind all the cheese and banter. While none of the first season's episodes ever came close to really gain greatness, these two episodes are still influential and important for the Buffy-verse in hindsight. That might not be much, but it's enough....

"Bent" (2012 ->), season 1

Amanda Peet, David Walton and the kitchen up for remodeling

I guess that was the entire season for Bent; three airing days with two episodes each day. To me six episodes hardly is enough to be a season at all. To most shows even 13 seems like short seasons, but here we are. I have no idea how to interpret NBC's workings here, but I guess it would take real impressive ratings to overcome it and get renewed for a second season.

There's no doubt Amanda Peet was the reason I tuned in. I found here both adorable and talented in Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip, and have been awaiting her return to TV. The other lead, David Walton, was a new face to me. Jeffrey Tambor (Arrested Development) holds the third starring role, while support from Jesse Plemons (Friday Night Lights) is the final familiar face to me. Other supports include Margo Harshman, Joey King, Matt Letcher, J.B. Smoove and Pasha Lychnikoff.

A show about a single mother and how her kitchen remodeling contractor influence her life doesn't exactly sound like a long-runner. I know I haven't remodeled my kitchen lately, but it doesn't exactly scream four-five successful seasons. And it isn't really that funny either. Some decent jokes, but rarely without a two minute scene of bonding, decency or helpful suggestions to matters at hand. To me it doesn't really work on any level, neither comedy nor drama. It actually holds to much of the drama feel all together in my book, and I'll not be very upset when the inevitable cancellation is confirmed.

★★☆☆☆ Season 1

"Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog" (2008)

Behind the camera this Web-miniseries collects a lot of familiar Joss Whedon production-names, including the other two Whedon's, Jed and Zack, on the writing along with Joss and Jed's wife Maurissa Tancharoen. Names we easily recognize from everything between Buffy the Vampire Slayer's TV-show to Buffy the Vampire Slayer's and Dollhouse's writers for the comics, and everything in between. Speaking of Buffy. Anyone who's seen the musical episode "Once More with Feeling" knows Joss and his crew can pull off musicals easily, within any 'verse...

Captain Hammer (Nathan Fillion)

Speaking of production names, there's also some very interesting cameo's and smaller support roles in this were you'll see familiar names also on screen. With feature film The Cabin in the Woods soon releasing, there's always worth mentioning co-writer and the director for that movie, Drew Goddard, showing up in this miniseries. Also Doug Petrie's there, and any Buffy fan should recognize his name as well.

Let's finally care about what's happening on screen? Neil Patrick Harris takes the lead as Dr. Horrible / Billy, and he's a perfect cast. He nails the Whedon-humor as if he'd done it all his career. Felicia Day (appeared in other Whedon-franchise's Buffy and Dollhouse) is Penny (the love interest), Nathan Fillion is Captain Hammer (Dr. Horrible's nemesis and a self-obsessed superhero) and Simon Helberg (The Big Bang Theory, Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip) is Moist (another wannabe-criminal). That's nothing short of a miraculous cast to put together for a $200k production (can't remember where I read that was the cost).

Dr. Horrible (Neil Patrick Harris)

Following a super-villain might not be the most original idea these days, but I doubt we'd see both Despicable Me and Megamind come to animated life in 2010 if it wasn't for the huge success this miniseries had. And Whedon knows superheroes and villains very well from his comic book interest, and here he takes the musical success from the before mentioned Buffy episode into the mix along with a lot of other genius touches. Ten years earlier you couldn't have known how blogging opened possibilities, but it's lovely incorporated into this. Dr. Horrible also encounters more usual everyday troubles than facing Captain Hammer, especially his crush on laundromat girl, Penny, whom he find him self unable to speak to. It's funny, cute and compelling, without becoming a cheap gag.

Penny (Felicia Day)

And there's obviously the musical numbers... They're mostly exceptionally well written, mixing wit with the ongoing storyline and the characters different ways, feelings and goals. I have the past few months played the Once More with Feeling-soundtrack a lot, and I think I've found another playlist contender here. My Freeze Ray being an instant favorite from the very first time in the series (and keeps growing on me as I write this, as I now listen to the soundtrack).

The third and final act isn't as great as the first two acts, but overall this is highly entertaining. I was captured already during the first video-blog post, but during the first musical number I was truly hooked. As so often before, these Whedonverse-writers find my funny bone almost every time. It's original, filled with great writing and is a very creative output from this collection of on-screen and writing talents.

During Q&A's for the upcoming Whedon-releases, a sequel has been mentioned. They're supposed to start working on it these days, and I can hardly wait.

BTW: You MUST check out Commentary! - The Musical, the crew's musical commentary track. It's also filled with gold, some of them hilarious enough to justify buying a couple of DVD-releases on its own merit. The other regular commentary track is the usual jibber-jabber, and not much of a sales-pitch.

★★★★★ "Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog"

Guilty Pleasure: "Lost Girl" (2010 - >), season 2

Lost Girl follows Bo (Anna Silk), a fae of the succubus variety. Unlike the rest of faes, she hasn't chosen a side between the dark faes and the light faes. She also has a human for best friend, where other faes look down on our species whilst hiding their world in plain sight amongst us. These two facts helps getting her into trouble all over the fae world.

The first season of 13 episodes didn't suck, but it was early clear this show would never raise above the guilty pleasure-stamp. The second season was a 22 episodes one, and has recently completed its run at Showcase.

Kenzi (Ksenia Solo) - the sidekick

I'm honestly not sure why I've stuck with it so far. I don't really like the leading character of Bo, or for that matter actress Anna Silk, or think she's hot, so that's surely not it. And it's not like the world of faes are that entertaining. It's all a mumble jumble of strange abilities thrown around, a few century old feuds here and there, and so on and so forth. It just lacks substance in its fantasy world.

I guess Kenzi, Bo's human best friend, played by actress Ksenia Solo, is as close to the reason I'm hanging around as anything. She's sadly mostly reduced to a sidekick, but her unique clothing style and sassy humor are amongst the stand-out things about this show. A character from a gypsy-like background with Russian ancestry, and a whole lot of street smartness to go with it.

Overall Lost Girl have been downhill during season 2, and it's not because it's really been that much worse than season 1. Their universe might just have worn out on me, along with very little freshness to kick it up a notch. That makes for a season leaving me hanging in the same old, same old-loop without anything spawning renewed interest.


★★☆ Season 1 (rated now on long-term memory alone)

★☆☆ Season 2

The Guilty Pleasures Three Star-scale explained at the bottom part of the Rated TV-page.

"Alcatraz" (2012 ->)

Once upon a time the name J.J. Abrams gave you anticipation. These days his name is everywhere, and rarely any of the shows are interesting. Thinking back at the first season of Alcatraz, his latest involvement, brings me back to the words of Tim Surette over at tv.com:

"You know what I find interesting? That a serialized drama with a huge story to tell and only a 13-episode first season to tell it in could completely skip an episode and not miss a beat in season-long arcs."

He said so reviewing the double feature of episodes 9 and 10, which Fox jumped ahead to according to their initial schedule after episode 8 got pushed back due to some sports overtime or something like that. Ain't that a kick in the head?

Alcatraz have a lot in common with another project carrying the Abrams name as executive producer and creator, Fringe. They are both exploring events out of the ordinary, with sci-fi elements as well as science, and they are both trying to tell three stories at once. Of course Fringe does so well, and there's the problem. Alcatraz doesn't succeed on any of their three levels. The weekly procedurals are uninteresting, they have failed to keep progress on their arch story according to time spent and their 60's stories are just plain boring.

Of course Fringe's first season wasn't the greatest either, but at least they offered more interesting stuff on at least parts of what they tried to do and they had actors who captured us. Other shows like Dawson's Creek, Buffy the Vampire Slayer and, at least I'm told, Breaking Bad also really get things going in later seasons, which buys Alcatraz some room to grow if allowed by the network. I doubt it will happen, even if I haven't exactly kept an eye on Alcatraz' ratings, and I can't see this show being renewed for another season.

It's not awful. While I notice many viewers elsewhere have more than a few questions about leading lady Sarah Jones' acting, she's kind of grown on me. Not a lot, but I just mostly think they use her wrong... I've got a lot more concern to throw around for the rest of the cast, as there's several problems lurking elsewhere.

Anyway. I've watched the season as its aired along, and learned little new. It's not like I'll look forward to the new season if renewed, but learning from other shows I'll probably give it a couple of episodes to work out its kinks. If they do continue down the same path, they'll for sure lose my interest pretty quickly.

★★☆☆☆ Season 1