Sunday, October 14, 2012
NCIS Season 9
Now in its 10th Season this show has spawned several spin-offs and passed its 200th milstone, rare for most TV series. Those old enough to remember Mark Harmon and David McCallum from their sexy salad days will be bemused by their mature personas. Mark's jarhead haircut is somewhat incongruous but Duckie is a priceless creation. The show is episodic in nature though this season there are a couple two-episode story-lines and the season ending three episode mystery that remains unresolved. The season opener seemed flat but things picked up after that.
[Spoiler alert]
The season ender features a cliff-hanger to end all cliff-hangers in which Duckie is shown having a heart attack on the beach while a massive explosion occurs outside NCIS Headquarters in the Navy Yard.
Where Hollywood is concerned reality goes out the window. It does not seem reasonable that a 4-man team, sorry Ziva, would be assigned a single case at a time nor that they would solve every crime they were presented in the course of a one-hour show. Since Tony is assigned two boxes of cold cases to review the existence of unsolved crimes is acknowledged.
If Ducky is a consummate professional Abby is about as unconventional as it gets. Genius may have its perks but her outlandish costumes and behaviour make one wonder how she gets away with it and how her superiors protect her from Navy Brass. As the Mortuary Gnome, as branded by Tony, Jimmy gets a hunk-shot scene in which he shows off abs to die for. All our principal characters are shown in their humanity warts and all. Heroes are made, not born; and heroic acts are performed by ordinary beings who face extraordinary circumstances.
[Spoiler alert]
The season ender features a cliff-hanger to end all cliff-hangers in which Duckie is shown having a heart attack on the beach while a massive explosion occurs outside NCIS Headquarters in the Navy Yard.
Where Hollywood is concerned reality goes out the window. It does not seem reasonable that a 4-man team, sorry Ziva, would be assigned a single case at a time nor that they would solve every crime they were presented in the course of a one-hour show. Since Tony is assigned two boxes of cold cases to review the existence of unsolved crimes is acknowledged.
If Ducky is a consummate professional Abby is about as unconventional as it gets. Genius may have its perks but her outlandish costumes and behaviour make one wonder how she gets away with it and how her superiors protect her from Navy Brass. As the Mortuary Gnome, as branded by Tony, Jimmy gets a hunk-shot scene in which he shows off abs to die for. All our principal characters are shown in their humanity warts and all. Heroes are made, not born; and heroic acts are performed by ordinary beings who face extraordinary circumstances.
Wednesday, October 10, 2012
Buffy, the Final 3 Seasons
Season 6 drives home the fact that Willow and Co. are a bunch of
self-indulgent amateurs and before he leaves Giles gives it to Willow
with both barrels. Resurrecting someone from the dead is one thing but
leaving them alive six-feet-under in their coffin is beyond nightmare.
I've always liked Xander but he's been played as an awkward less than
bright butt of everyone's jokes. While everyone else goes off to college
he ends up in dead-end menial jobs. As his figure thickens with age he
continues to play the laughable clumsy unemployed lug. It was great in
Season 5 for at least one episode to see Nicholas Brendan the actor
prove he can play graceful, witty, and intelligent.
Season Six sees various riffs on the trauma Buffy sustains in having
been brought back from the dead. Willow is repeatedly raked over the
coals for her use of magic. The point is driven home that actions have
consequences and the fact that one can do a thing does not make it wise
to do so. Long before Season 6 ends the audience begins to feel that the
writers have run out of new ideas. Long before the show ends with Season
7 it feels like we've gone to the Hell Mouth once too often.
Not sure how I'll stay awake for Season 7, barely managing it for Season
6. I've definitely lost interest.
self-indulgent amateurs and before he leaves Giles gives it to Willow
with both barrels. Resurrecting someone from the dead is one thing but
leaving them alive six-feet-under in their coffin is beyond nightmare.
I've always liked Xander but he's been played as an awkward less than
bright butt of everyone's jokes. While everyone else goes off to college
he ends up in dead-end menial jobs. As his figure thickens with age he
continues to play the laughable clumsy unemployed lug. It was great in
Season 5 for at least one episode to see Nicholas Brendan the actor
prove he can play graceful, witty, and intelligent.
Season Six sees various riffs on the trauma Buffy sustains in having
been brought back from the dead. Willow is repeatedly raked over the
coals for her use of magic. The point is driven home that actions have
consequences and the fact that one can do a thing does not make it wise
to do so. Long before Season 6 ends the audience begins to feel that the
writers have run out of new ideas. Long before the show ends with Season
7 it feels like we've gone to the Hell Mouth once too often.
Not sure how I'll stay awake for Season 7, barely managing it for Season
6. I've definitely lost interest.
Saturday, October 06, 2012
Brothers & Sisters 2-4
Like all shows with a large ensemble cast it takes a bit of time to warm
up to this series but once bitten it becomes an addiction. The writers
conclude every episode with a cliff-hanger ending that makes one want to
see the next and owning the series on DVD makes it hard to stop.
The Matriarch of the family, Nora, is everyone's worst nightmare of the
stereotypical Jewish Mother--overbearing, controlling, and manipulative.
In this family secrets are an impossibility, privacy non-existent, and
gossip honed to a fine art. Modern communications make that spread
instantaneous. What is never in doubt no matter how loudly they argue or
what gets thrown is how much they love one another and care for each
other's well-being.
And this show is about family. There are no minor characters or
cardboard figures here, everyone is important. The only character who
left a bad taste in my mouth was the gay drug addict Justin brought home
in episode 8, season 3 to meet his Unce Saul.
The Starter Kit, introducing all the characters makes its appearance
with Season 3, it would have been most helpful had it been part of the
first season set.
The show confronts most hot-button social issues and in typical
soap-opera fashion has several running concurrently. Once more I am left
to wonder how any small group can withstand so much trauma in such a
small space of time. The sins of the Father keep haunting successive
generations to come. The practice of over-protective parenting and
smother-love can come back to bite the objects of that care. Money is
not always the cure for all ills and emphatically being rich is no
guarantee of happiness.
up to this series but once bitten it becomes an addiction. The writers
conclude every episode with a cliff-hanger ending that makes one want to
see the next and owning the series on DVD makes it hard to stop.
The Matriarch of the family, Nora, is everyone's worst nightmare of the
stereotypical Jewish Mother--overbearing, controlling, and manipulative.
In this family secrets are an impossibility, privacy non-existent, and
gossip honed to a fine art. Modern communications make that spread
instantaneous. What is never in doubt no matter how loudly they argue or
what gets thrown is how much they love one another and care for each
other's well-being.
And this show is about family. There are no minor characters or
cardboard figures here, everyone is important. The only character who
left a bad taste in my mouth was the gay drug addict Justin brought home
in episode 8, season 3 to meet his Unce Saul.
The Starter Kit, introducing all the characters makes its appearance
with Season 3, it would have been most helpful had it been part of the
first season set.
The show confronts most hot-button social issues and in typical
soap-opera fashion has several running concurrently. Once more I am left
to wonder how any small group can withstand so much trauma in such a
small space of time. The sins of the Father keep haunting successive
generations to come. The practice of over-protective parenting and
smother-love can come back to bite the objects of that care. Money is
not always the cure for all ills and emphatically being rich is no
guarantee of happiness.
Wednesday, October 03, 2012
Supernatural, Season 7
Originally conceived to have a 5 year arc this series is still around in
its eighth season. Although it began life as a buddy buddy brother
roadtrip kind of show as the years have gone on it has become darker and
more philosophical. Dean and Sam are beer swilling junk food gulping
good old boys. Although they rarely remove their shirts to show off, how
they maintain those trim physiques given their diet and lifestyle is one
of the show's mysteries along with the other imponderables: how they
race around the countryside without getting any speeding tickets, fake
all those FBI Passes and rarely get caught using them, keep hiding that
arsenal of weapons, afford and maintain those immaculately pressed suits
they wear when impersonating the FBI. Most at home in denim and plaid
despite sleeping in those clothes in that speeding car they never seem
to look rumpled or sweaty. At 6' 4' Sam does not buy those jeans off the
rack. In one episode last Season Sam was shown shirtless performing a
workout worthy of any bodybuilder.
Given the sibling rivalry shown on screen one wonders what Jensen Ackles
thinks of Jared Padalecki getting top billing in the show's credits.
Although Dean is the older brother on screen and in real life having him
call Sam who towers over him his little brother is amusing. Both grew up
in Texas a state where guns are a way of life. The violence and gore
factor belie the fact that this show is more popular with women than
men. As the series budget increased with its popularity the creatures
and special effects become more sophisticated.
I thought the season began weakly but it improved as it progressed.
Getting hooked on a series such as this is not about believing the
preposterous storylines because they're so outrageous they defy
suspension of disbelief. This is about becoming attached to Sam and Dean
and wanting to see how they get themselves out of their latest scrape.
In the end their situation is hopeless and its resolution would spell
the end of the series.
its eighth season. Although it began life as a buddy buddy brother
roadtrip kind of show as the years have gone on it has become darker and
more philosophical. Dean and Sam are beer swilling junk food gulping
good old boys. Although they rarely remove their shirts to show off, how
they maintain those trim physiques given their diet and lifestyle is one
of the show's mysteries along with the other imponderables: how they
race around the countryside without getting any speeding tickets, fake
all those FBI Passes and rarely get caught using them, keep hiding that
arsenal of weapons, afford and maintain those immaculately pressed suits
they wear when impersonating the FBI. Most at home in denim and plaid
despite sleeping in those clothes in that speeding car they never seem
to look rumpled or sweaty. At 6' 4' Sam does not buy those jeans off the
rack. In one episode last Season Sam was shown shirtless performing a
workout worthy of any bodybuilder.
Given the sibling rivalry shown on screen one wonders what Jensen Ackles
thinks of Jared Padalecki getting top billing in the show's credits.
Although Dean is the older brother on screen and in real life having him
call Sam who towers over him his little brother is amusing. Both grew up
in Texas a state where guns are a way of life. The violence and gore
factor belie the fact that this show is more popular with women than
men. As the series budget increased with its popularity the creatures
and special effects become more sophisticated.
I thought the season began weakly but it improved as it progressed.
Getting hooked on a series such as this is not about believing the
preposterous storylines because they're so outrageous they defy
suspension of disbelief. This is about becoming attached to Sam and Dean
and wanting to see how they get themselves out of their latest scrape.
In the end their situation is hopeless and its resolution would spell
the end of the series.
Monday, October 01, 2012
Haven
Just finished watching Season 2 and I can't find the review I'd thought
I'd written of Season 1 so here goes. I watched the pilot episode last
winter as part of i-Tunes 12 days of Christmas give-a-way and was
immediately caught by the fact that it's set in Lunenburg, 20 miles from
the home where I grew up and a place we visited to pay our taxes and
visit the relatives in town. Founded by Germans in 1753 the now World
Heritage Site Community has been a sea-faring town from day one. In any
community where the inexplicable happens on a regular basis and men are
lost to the uncontrollable force that is the sea superstitions and
ghostly hauntings are commonplace. The fact that a Canadian fishing port
is standing in for one in Maine not far from Bangor is a minor detail.
The aerial shots of town, the views of the waterfront and the two main
streets including City Hall which acts as the police station gives one
who has lived there an eerie sense of home.
To a large degree the paranormal events that form the show's storylines
simply expand upon existing myths and legends that go back centuries.
Mind you a show that utilizes the Ten Plagues of Egypt in the Biblical
Book of Exodus is a might fanciful. If the filming locations in
Hubbards, Chester, Mahone Bay, and Lunenburg and a sound stage inside
the Chester Arena drew me in it's the quality of the writing and acting
that kept my attention. Utilizing the cream of Canadian acting talent
and 300-odd support crew the show sparkles. The two male leads are
lanky, quirky, and ruggedly handsome playing off one another in
combative fashion. In a supplement to Season 2 we are told to expect
them to find excuses to take off their shirts more often in Season 3.
Who knew a chief of police could be sexy.
The enigmatic female FBI Agent who completes the trio of leads is based
on a book by Steven King. The minor characters are not cardboard
cut-outs, the two brothers who run the town newspaper being
scene-stealers whenever they appear. Season 2 has a thirteenth episode
which acts as a Christmas Special shot in July which must have bemused
the locals. The town of Haven is an ever-present character in every
episode always making its presence felt. Duke's 'boat' lies moored to a
dock along the waterfront should you drop by and a stone's throw distant
the Bluenose II replica was lowered into the water in her dry-dock just
yesterday, September 29th. Plenty of authentic lore present here with or
without any additions.
Shown on the Sci-Fi Channel the characters portrayed here give realism
to the show that belies its venue. It's the kind of show that tends to
draw the viewer in. It surely did me.
I'd written of Season 1 so here goes. I watched the pilot episode last
winter as part of i-Tunes 12 days of Christmas give-a-way and was
immediately caught by the fact that it's set in Lunenburg, 20 miles from
the home where I grew up and a place we visited to pay our taxes and
visit the relatives in town. Founded by Germans in 1753 the now World
Heritage Site Community has been a sea-faring town from day one. In any
community where the inexplicable happens on a regular basis and men are
lost to the uncontrollable force that is the sea superstitions and
ghostly hauntings are commonplace. The fact that a Canadian fishing port
is standing in for one in Maine not far from Bangor is a minor detail.
The aerial shots of town, the views of the waterfront and the two main
streets including City Hall which acts as the police station gives one
who has lived there an eerie sense of home.
To a large degree the paranormal events that form the show's storylines
simply expand upon existing myths and legends that go back centuries.
Mind you a show that utilizes the Ten Plagues of Egypt in the Biblical
Book of Exodus is a might fanciful. If the filming locations in
Hubbards, Chester, Mahone Bay, and Lunenburg and a sound stage inside
the Chester Arena drew me in it's the quality of the writing and acting
that kept my attention. Utilizing the cream of Canadian acting talent
and 300-odd support crew the show sparkles. The two male leads are
lanky, quirky, and ruggedly handsome playing off one another in
combative fashion. In a supplement to Season 2 we are told to expect
them to find excuses to take off their shirts more often in Season 3.
Who knew a chief of police could be sexy.
The enigmatic female FBI Agent who completes the trio of leads is based
on a book by Steven King. The minor characters are not cardboard
cut-outs, the two brothers who run the town newspaper being
scene-stealers whenever they appear. Season 2 has a thirteenth episode
which acts as a Christmas Special shot in July which must have bemused
the locals. The town of Haven is an ever-present character in every
episode always making its presence felt. Duke's 'boat' lies moored to a
dock along the waterfront should you drop by and a stone's throw distant
the Bluenose II replica was lowered into the water in her dry-dock just
yesterday, September 29th. Plenty of authentic lore present here with or
without any additions.
Shown on the Sci-Fi Channel the characters portrayed here give realism
to the show that belies its venue. It's the kind of show that tends to
draw the viewer in. It surely did me.
