Friday, April 27, 2012

Four episodes in, is Scandal a win?

Warning: This post contains spoilers about Scandal through episode four.

It seems like many times when I read an article about Grey's Anatomy, there will be a disparaging comment like "People still watch this?" or some other variation. You can feel free to send some judgment my way, but I have to admit that I'm one of those people still watching Grey's, and even more, I enjoy it.

Credit: ABC/DANNY FELD

So when I heard that Shonda Rhimes had a new show coming out, Scandal, and it looked half-way interesting (I never watched Off the Map due to a failure to meet this last criteria), I decided to give it a shot.

One of my biggest problems with Scandal is that is tries extremely hard to be clever and sassy. This causes problems like painfully bad catchphrases ("gladiators in suits" from the pilot being the worst). It's almost as if there's at least one implicit "oh snap" written into every scene. Frankly, this becomes somewhat exhausting to watch. I do have to say, however, that this aspect has toned down a bit from the pilot, and I feel like it will continue to improve with time as the show becomes more comfortable with itself.

Another big problem with Scandal is its characters. Kerry Washington's lead character, Olivia Pope, is the only character with a strong sense of personality. Even so, the writers seem to be so determined to make her strong and unassailable that it's been hard to connect with her character thus far. She has had a few "tender moments" where her walls come down, and Washington is truly a magnetic lead. I just feel like Olivia could use a little bit of work. The other characters, however, could use quite a bit of work. They seem like they're mostly there to serve as sidekicks to Olivia, and they don't have a whole lot of personality. Honestly, out of all of them, the only whose name I even remember is Quinn, the new girl to the group. For the others, I only remember a couple of facts (this one left an abusive husband, that one just proposed to his girlfriend, ect.).

I've been pretty harsh on Scandal so far, but there's also plenty of good aspects to the show. For one, it's a nice twist on the typical procedural. Instead of solving a crime every episode, they work towards fixing a scandal. While this scandal may be a crime, their job may likely be to prove who didn't commit the crime rather than find out who did. This is a fun idea, and so far, there's been a good variety of types of scandals.

Scandal doesn't just focus on a "scandal of the week" format, but also incorporates an overarching scandal concerning the president. I'm a sucker for shows that incorporate weekly plots with overarching ones, and Scandal has found a good balance between the two so far. The presidential scandal is pretty silly and dramatic, but I'm finding it to be pretty interesting. There's been plenty of twists and turns in both the season arc and the weekly stories. Although a few of them have been quite predictable, some have taken me genuinely by surprise.

The characters may not be all that strong, but I've enjoyed all of the familiar faces in the cast. My Lost-loving self was excited to spot both Henry Ian Cusick (Desmond) and Jeff Perry (Frank Duckett who Sawyer shot/Grey's Anatomy's Thatcher Grey). Also starring in Scandal are Darby Stanchfield (creepy Glen's mom on Mad Men) and perhaps most excitingly, Liza Weil (Paris on Gilmore Girls). Honestly, I kind of just like to pretend that Weil is playing a version of Paris who changed her name because her character Amanda Tanner is somewhat Paris-esque.

Scandal is kind of a ridiculous show. You know what, though? That's not necessarily a bad thing. It's the Grey's Anatomy treatment given to the political world. It's melodramatic, but it's entertaining. So far, it hasn't seemed to take itself too seriously, but rather seems to embrace its dramatics. Why just settle for a presidential affair when you can throw kidnapping into the mix? Why not have a dictator back down from taking his children away from his wife after Olivia gives him a little speech? Scandal is not going to appeal to everyone, but if you can accept it for what it is and deal with some silliness, it's worth a try. I may not stick with the show forever, but I plan to at least keep watching throughout the season.

Plus, the fact that I marathoned the first three episodes in one afternoon and added the show to my already full Thursday night DVR line-up has to say something good about it, right?

Tuesday, April 17, 2012

Take my love, Take my Land: Castle 4x21, "Headhunters"

I've never been a super-regular viewer of Castle, but this season I've been particularly negligent at watching it. I stopped watching after the mediocre season opener, but the promos convinced me to tune in for "47 Seconds." "47 Seconds" was disappointing as well, and I figured I was done for the season. When I heard that Firefly's Adam Baldwin was stopping in for a Mal and Jane reunion, however, I was determined to watch, even if it was disappointing. Luckily for me, it was not.

I liked that the episode paired up Nathan Fillion and Adam Baldwin rather than simply having Baldwin play the role of a suspect. They work well together, and it allowed them to share a lot of scenes. At the same time, Castle pairing up with a detective other than Kate flowed well with the story (as far as I could tell with having only seen two other episodes this season) and didn't feel like a contrivance solely for the sake of the guest casting. I was hoping for a few more Firefly references, but I only caught one, the "brown coat" reference (although it's very likely that I could have missed additional references). Honestly, however, it may have even been a wise move not to go overboard on the allusions because there have already been plenty on Castle. Additionally, the episode wasn't created solely to placate Firefly fans craving a revival; there are, gasp, some Castle fans who have never seen Firefly.

I also liked the way that Castle and Beckett's relationship drama was handled. The scene with the therapist particularly impressed me because he laid out the obvious notion that Castle has likely been pushing Beckett away in order to deal with her rejection. A lot a shows would have had her struggling over this concept for the rest of the season before even acknowledging that. I'm sure that there will still plenty of will-they-won't-they tension, but that scene gave me some faith that it will be handled well. I also liked that Ryan and Esposito also were dealing with rejection from Castle. It was sweet to see the whole team missing Castle rather than making it solely a romantic issue.

I've long believed that Castle's success lies largely in characters and actors rather than its non-character-related plots. The cases often fail to really grab my attention, and the case in "Headhunters" was no exception to that. It wasn't terrible, but it was forgettable enough that I'd have a hard time repeating it back to you (although my minimizing the screen during some of the case-heavy scenes may something to do with that). It was fun, however, to see how Baldwin's character Slaughter handled the case in contrast to how the cases are normally handled by the regular team.

Another aspect of "Headhunters" that I wasn't crazy about was the Alexis storyline. Alexis is a teenage character that proves they don't have to be written annoyingly, and her and Castle's relationship is one of my favorite parts of the show. I didn't even mind the idea of having a college acceptance letter storyline for her. What I did mind, however, were the heavy handed parallel between her feeling rejected from Stanford after they denied her early admission and Castle feeling rejection from Beckett after she denied remembering his telling her he loved her. I know that Castle has a tendency to draw these kinds of parallels, but this one felt particularly contrived.

Despite a couple of issue, I really enjoyed "Headhunters." I tuned in with low expectations, but I'm definitely glad I watched it. I don't think it was amazing enough to make me start watching Castle regularly, but it's restored some of my faith in the show. I'm definitely going to be more inclined to watch some future episodes.

Saturday, April 14, 2012

Can you feel the hate tonight?: 5 characters currently on TV that I despise

Like many people, I was sad when Lost aired its final episode. It may not have been a perfect show, but I grew really attached to it and miss it now that it's gone. There's one aspect of Lost, however, that I don't miss at all: Kate Austen. I didn't love every character on Lost, but there was no one I came even close to despising as much as I did her. Now that Lost is over, there are still plenty of characters currently on TV who plague me. These characters bring down their shows, and I'd like to see them gone. My desires to see certain characters disappear almost never seem to be fulfilled (e.g. Kate seeming to have 9 lives), but that won't stop me from hoping.

1. Derek Shepherd (Grey's Anatomy


I'm not a fun person with which to watch Grey's Anatomy. Every time that Derek's on the screen I can't help but feel a strong hatred towards him, and that hatred often represents itself in comment form. I actually liked Derek a lot during the first season. He was cute, charming, and basically, there was good reason to call him McDreamy. Then came the first season finale and the revelation that he was married, and suddenly, his relationship with Meredith lost its luster for me. It's not just the fact that he was married that bothered me, but also the way he treats women in general on the show. He didn't just end things with either Meredith or Addison; he juggled both of them for a long time. Somewhere in there he also dated nurse Rose while he clearly still had feelings for Meredith. Now he patronizes Meredith on a regular basis. Factor in his self-righteousness, and I just can't stand him.

How to Get Rid of Him: Derek gets into a spat with Meredith and goes to cry in his "house of candles." Then it catches on fire while he's in it, and fortunately, the burns are too severe for him to be saved.

2. Declan Porter (Revenge


I'm not sure how much I've talked about it on here, but I absolutely love Revenge. It's my favorite new show this season, and for the most part, I love the cast. Jack's (Kyle Valenti to my fellow Roswell watchers) little brother Declan, however, is horribly out of place. Declan just provides the show with annoying teen drama and distracts from the more interesting storylines. Plus, I've yet to figure out why his accent is different from literally everyone around him, including his brother.

How to Get Rid of Him: Declan does something to land on Emily's hit list, and she does us the favor of removing this blemish on an otherwise great show

3. Alex Dunphy (Modern Family)


I don't have a lot of reasons to include Alex on this list other than she annoys me greatly. There are actually several Modern Family characters that annoy me from time to time, but Alex is by far my least favorite. I don't know what's worse: when she's written as a know-it-all or when she's written as a "regular girl" (e.g. the episode where she crushes on the guy at the dude ranch). It's a close call, but I'll go with the latter. I feel like these moments are only going to increase as the character gets older. It's hard to believe that someone so annoying could be related to Luke, the superior sibling.

How to Get Rid of Her: However annoying Alex may be, she's still pretty young, so I'll go easy on her. Alex goes off to college early, and we never see her again. Or a car that doesn’t stop at the stop sign Claire insisted on hits her. What? I couldn't resist.

4. Leo Houston (Smash


Like Alex, Leo is another annoying teen character, but honestly, he's much worse. First of all, the role of Leo was cast terribly. I haven't seen Emory Cohen in anything else; maybe Smash doesn't showcase his abilities well. Still, he's terrible as Leo, and I cringe every time he's on screen (particularly during a crying scene he was inexplicably given a few weeks ago). Secondly (any maybe this ties into the poor acting), it's as if the person writing for him has never met a real teenager. In the second episode he wines about not getting an adopted sister, and questions "what's going to happen to her?" Viewers have also had to suffer through an atrocious storyline about Leo smoking weed. Now, watching him handle his parents' divorce is almost too painful to bear.

How to Get Rid of Him: In coping with his parents' divorce, Leo turns to harder drugs and quickly ODs. Now that I think about it, that would probably just mean more annoying drama for Julia. I'd gladly just accept Leo moving in with his dad and never being heard from again.

5. Ellis Tancharoen (Smash)


As much as I dislike Leo, there's one character that is much, much worse than him on Smash. Smash has a lot of problems, but Ellis is by far the worst. The hate I feel towards him is definitely an unhealthy amount to feel towards a fictional character. I can feel it seeping through me whenever he's on screen. I have a hard time putting my reasoning for despising Ellis into words because I'm not even sure why my hatred is so strong. Ellis is a villain and isn't necessarily supposed to be loved by the audience. Possibly he's supposed to be a character the audience loves to hate, but I just flat out hate him being on screen. He's annoyingly opportunistic, presumptuous, and somehow believes he deserves credit for the Marilyn musical. I wish I could more eloquently explain my hatred for him, but as he seems to be almost universally hated among Smash viewers, you probably know what I'm talking about if you've seen the show.

How to Get Rid of Him: Do it by any means necessary. I'd prefer a violent, painful death (Smashed by a bus?), but I'm not picky. Seriously, just get Ellis off this show.


As you can see, I have a lot of feelings when it comes to fictional characters. How do you feel about my picks? What current characters bother you? Let me know in the comments.

Wednesday, April 11, 2012

Contagion: A hypochondriac's worst nightmare

©2011 Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc.

If you've ever moved to another seat when the person next to you started coughing or if you constantly carry hand sanitizer with you, I wouldn't recommend watching Contagion. It contains enough coughing, sneezing, and disease spreading to freak out even a non-germaphobe.

With the semi-recent zombie craze (Is that still going on? I feel like it has kind of puttered out.), it's nice to see a movie that approaches the idea of a worldwide pandemic that doesn't turn people into cannibalistic monsters. While this isn't a completely original idea (the TV show Survivors springs to mind), I like the realistic approach that Contagion takes to the issue. It's an interesting idea because it taps into a "this could really happen" type of of fear. I don't know how accurate Contagion is, but I'm sure (well, pretty sure) it's much more realistic than an outbreak of zombies.

While I liked the realistic approach, Contagion is a little too dry at some points. I got out my laptop three or four quick times during the movie's more boring parts. As a whole, it's not a boring movie, and I certainly never wanted to leave at any point; there are just a few moments at which it becomes kind of dull.

Contagion doesn't devote a lot of time to character development. I'm don't want to complain too much about this aspect because the movie chooses to be plot-driven rather than character-driven. However, it would have enhanced the movie if I'd cared a little bit more about the characters. Most of my feelings towards them were simply derived from my feelings towards the actors (which was, I must say, helped by good casting).

In addition to somewhat weak characters, the characters' storylines feel really spread out, and I was hoping that they'd end up connecting better than they actually do. I understand that the movie wants to cover the many different viewpoints of a viral outbreak, but the end result is a disjointed effect. It would have been a poor move to force the characters together in a contrived manner, but I feel that a little more connection between the characters would go a long way in helping to balance the multiple storylines.

While Contagion does a fairly good job at creating a no-nonsense, realistic atmosphere, there are a few lines that stick out as particularly cheesy. The one that springs to my mind is a line about not having to weaponize the bird flu "because the birds are already doing that." The thought behind the line isn't bad, but its phrasing and delivery seemed to scream "this was written to sound cool in the trailer."

My biggest issue with Contagion was its ending. I'm going to try and refrain from spoilers, but the ending was very underwhelming. The movie ends fairly abruptly, and I found myself thinking, "That's it?" Contagion felt somewhat under-baked, and several of the storylines felt lacking in conclusion or depth. I feel like several of the stories could have taken more interesting turns, but instead, they just seemed to putter out without much purpose.

Contagion was okay movie that I mostly enjoyed, but I was expecting a lot more from it. I feel like there was a lot of wasted potential in it, and I have to wonder if it would have helped to drop a storyline or two so more time could have been devoted to the others. Now, excuse me while I go wash my hands, get out the Lysol, and move to Madagascar.

Tuesday, April 10, 2012

Link Roundup: Volume 12

Parks and Recreation comes back in less than two weeks. Until then, you can watch this mesmerizing Ron Swanson loop.

I'm not quite sure why, but I kind of love Chandler Dances On Things.

Fans of Buffy/Firefly/etc., Joss Whedon recently did an AMA on Reddit that's worth checking out.

This week's installment hasn't been posted yet, but the Mad Style series is an excellent commentary on the fashions of Mad Men.

While I'm slightly skeptical of the idea of basing a movie on a meme, the Safety Not Guaranteed trailer looks surprisingly intriguing.

The creators of the trailer for Doug: The Movie have given the trailer treatment to another Nickelodeon classic.

Worried about the fate of your favorite show? Check out TVLine's handy renewal scorecard.

I don't claim to be a huge history buff, but these Twitter reactions to Titanic are pretty hard to believe.

Monday, April 9, 2012

How I Met Your Mother: 7x20, "Trilogy Time"

It feels like it's been a while since we've gotten a new How I Met Your Mother (three weeks according to IMDB). So I was pleasantly surprised to see "Trilogy Time" listed on my DVR's scheduled recordings for tonight.

"Trilogy Time" began with college-aged Ted and Marshall in 2000. As they began a tradition of watching the Star Wars trilogy every three years, they also imagined what their lives were going to be like in three years. Then the episode flashed to actual 2003 and showed the reality of their lives. This alternating pattern of their imagined lives and their real lives (including Barney's once he enters into the time frame) continued until it reaches 2015.
I think this pretty much sums up the episode.
The format of "Trilogy Time" is a fun idea, but in practice, it became a little repetitive. While the Barney ushering out a girl he never plans to see again shtick was intentionally repetitive and used to prove a point about Quinn, it grew kind of tiresome. Similarly, seeing Marshall and Ted fantasize about different versions of Lily and Robin became slightly boring as well. I did enjoy the fantasies to a degree, particularly the touches like Ted's long hair; I just wish they hadn't have been so repetitive.

The episode was also somewhat predictable. From the moment the format of episode was revealed, it was pretty clear that Barney was going to stop imagining the "saying goodbye to a random girl" in his future, and instead plan to still be with Quinn. It was also clear that Ted was going to worry about his future and that we'd be shown some kind of flash forward that would tease his post-meeting-the-mother future. That being said, I enjoyed both of these parts of the episode.

I actually really like Quinn, and I think the storyline between Barney and her was done really well tonight (although I wasn't a huge fan of the fart jokes). I enjoyed the contrast in maturity levels between old Barney and the 2012 version of Barney. I think it's more likely that Robin and Barney will end up together, and I don't necessarily mind that. However, Quinn has been a good fit for Barney, and I like her as well.

I also enjoyed seeing Ted with his daughter. I had thought that 2015 Ted was merely going to be shown talking about his wife; so it was nice and surprisingly touching to see him holding his daughter. As much as I may complain at times about How I Met Your Mother not being as great as its earlier seasons or dragging the mother storyline out, this moment showed me that I do still care about Ted meeting his wife and getting the family he's been wanting. This moment also proved that the mother should enter Ted's life soon if he's (presumably) married with a baby by 2015. Anyone want to bet how they're going to draw it out? Pull a 24 and convert each season into the span of a day? Pull a Dallas and declare this last season a dream? Actually, gasp, show the mother within the next season or two? Only time will tell, I suppose.

Overall, "Trilogy Time" was a slight boring but decent episode with some nice moments.

What did you think of "Trilogy Time?" Are you enjoying the Barney/Quinn relationship, or do you prefer Barney/Robin? How did you feel about Ted's flash forward tonight? Whatever your thoughts may be, feel free to share them below.