Television
30 entries. 25,656 words.
2012-09
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Dr. Who Season 7, Episode 2.
2012-09-08.
Liveblogging Dr. Who stream on BBC thanks to a proxy …
00:35 - Sometimes it’s impossible to figure out what’s going on without rewinding a bit.
01:40 - Oh, the dog barking outside was actually on the stream …
02:30 - Wow, he doesn’t even ask anymore.
02:50 - That was a super-fast setup.
06:00 - Wait, is that a two-headed dinosaur? Oh, it’s just a pair of them hanging out together.
- Writing
- Television
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Dr. Who Season 7, Episode 1.
2012-09-09.
I really don’t remember how the last season ended, and I haven’t yet seen the Christmas episode. (Thank’s for nothing, Netflix.)
00:00 - Who’s Hannah? Oh.
02:30 - WTF! They’re all grown up! And broken!
04:15 - Why doesn’t Matt Smith look human? His face is all … weird …
05:20 - And why is he slurring his words? I mean, more than usual for British television.
06:00 - The intro looks different somehow.
- Writing
- Television
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Dr. Who Season 7, Episode 3.
2012-09-15.
00:00 - Took forever to get the stream running tonight.
01:48 - Dr. Who in the Old West is just weird.
04:45 - His face still looks weird.
08:13 - I guess this is a nod to steampunk. Well, more like a jumping up and down pointing frantically to steampunk.
09:38 - I wonder if this actor is American or if he’s a British dude with a great accent.
10:33 - So far Rory and Amy are props in this episode.
- Writing
- Television
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Dr. Who Season 7, Episode 4.
2012-09-23.
Starting Episode 4 stream as soon as I find a working proxy…
Ah, it’s working now. Starting the stream in a second… wait, maybe it’s not working after all…
Ah, I see. Had to add bbci.co.uk to the auto-proxy-switch list.
And here we go.
For the record, I am eating heated up leftover vegetables from a can while I watch.
1:09 - “The year of the slow invasion.” Woo, cool concept.
- Writing
- Television
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Dr. Who Season 7, Episode 5.
2012-09-30.
Getting spaghetti made and getting setup to watch Episode 5, “The Angels Take Manhattan.” I’m not sure I really want to watch this one. It’s the “half-season finale” (whoever came up with such a ridiculous concept?) and … it’s the last episode with Amy and Rory. It says, “The Doctor’s heart-breaking farewell to Amy and Rory” on the site. This does not bode well.
Okay, food ready, now playing!
2:25 - Neat imagery…
- Writing
- Television
2012-10
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Doctor Who Redux.
2012-10-01.
Back on the subject of Doctor Who for a moment. Tor.com posts “reviews” of each episode, which I find interesting to compare to my own reactions. In their review of The Angels Take Manhattan, the author had a lot to say about the “inaccuracies” in the episode regarding the Angels and how they affected their immersion.
Sure, it makes no sense if you think about it. But I didn’t really notice.
- Writing
- Television
2012-11
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Walking Dead, Season 2, Episode 1.
2012-11-04.
Okay so I’m a little bit ahead in writing today, so I thought I would finally sit down and watch the first episode of Walking Dead Season 2 on Netflix. I thought the first season was “okay” but I didn’t see where it deserved all the nerd praise it got. I guess it’s a generational thing. Zombies are “cool” with the kids and whatnot. But since Walking Dead is now in it’s third season and everyone is still raving about it, I thought I should give it another chance.
- Writing
- Television
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The Walking Dead, Season 3, Episode 4.
2012-11-23.
A while back I was making fun of the first episode of Walking Dead, Season 2. I still think that episode kind of sucked. But I diligently carried on and the show got much better. I thought the pacing was really slow, though, and then everything happened all at once in the season finale.
So of course I had to watch Season 3. But that’s the current season, so it isn’t on Netflix.
- Television
2013-05
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Game of Thrones Season 3.
2013-05-23.
Okay I’m going to say it. Or write it. Whatever. Game of Thrones is getting a bit dull. In the books, it’s fine to have twenty different storylines, because it’s an epic fantasy after all and you get to stay with the characters for at least a chapter before moving on, and they are usually long chapters.
In the television series, you get to spend roughly thirty seconds on each story in each episode, so it’s nearly impossible to form any kind of attachment with what’s going on.
- Television
2013-09
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Revolution.
2013-09-01.
Being super drained after moving, I wanted something that I could sit and stare at for hours on end without thinking, so I started binge-watching this TV show that Netflix put into their Top 10 Shows We Know You Will Like. It’s called Revolution. After five minutes, I thought, “Oh God, seriously? Another post-apocalyptic, civilization-has-collapsed show? Like Jericho? Falling Skies? Under the Dome (kind of)? Um… all those other shows I can’t think of at this moment?
- Television
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Science Problems with Revolution.
2013-09-02.
Don’t get me wrong, I like the show. I’m a sucker for post-apocalyptic fiction I guess. And it has a lot of “heart.” But sometimes television writers are just really lazy about basic science. It’s why this country is like last place in math and science, I guess.
1. Pilot When electricity goes off, screens don’t blink and distort. They instantly go black. I’ve been through power outages. I know these things.
- Television
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Breaking Bad Is Over.
2013-09-30.
Breaking Bad is over now. One of the best shows of all time ended after five years. And I think it was time. It’s extremely rare to see a really good show stay good after five seasons. After that, you just play along because you have fond memories of the first few years, on the off chance that a good episode comes along and brings back the magic. Honestly, most shows peak in two or three years.
- Television
2013-10
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The Walking Dead Season 4 Has Begun.
2013-10-17.
Since Breaking Bad is gone, I guess The Walking Dead moves up to become the best drama on television, now starting its fourth season. This is traditionally the point in a show’s lifecycle when it starts to die out. Maybe not in TWD’s case, though, because the show didn’t really get going (imo) until its third season.
The first episode of Season 4 didn’t do much but set the stage for what’s to come in the rest of the season.
- Television
2013-12
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The Time of the Doctor.
2013-12-27.
I didn’t understand much of anything that happened in the Christmas Special The Time of the Doctor, Matt Smith’s final episode as Dr. Who. I didn’t understand the story, I didn’t understand why he was carrying around a Cyberman head, I didn’t understand why the crack was back, I didn’t understand why there was a town called Christmas or why The Doctor was stuck there, I didn’t understand where the Church of the Holy Whatever with the soldiers came from, nothing, zip, zilch.
- Television
2014-07
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RE: The Leftovers.
2014-07-23.
I feel like there should be some sort of law against television shows (or the books they are based on, I guess) that only raise questions without giving any answers in the first four episodes of the series. I can handle two episodes of story without context. I could even go to three episodes without any context. But four? Nope. That’s too much. I should have a basic understanding of where The Leftovers is going by now.
- Writing
- Television
2014-08
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RE: The Leftovers, Episodes 8 and 9.
2014-08-28.
I just finished watching episodes 8 and 9 of HBO’s The Leftovers, and something finally clicked. Yes, I know, I said I wasn’t going to watch more than 4 episodes, but I was intrigued by a television show (and a story) that does nothing but raise questions without ever answering them.
Oh, that crack I made about Lost? Turns out, Leftovers producer Damon Lindelof did write for Lost. No wonder!
Spoilers below if you haven’t seen the show yet. (I don’t recommend it, by the way. Unless the 10th and final episode of the season blows my mind, I just don’t get the point of this show.)
- Television
2014-09
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The Killing, Season One.
2014-09-01.
Why didn’t anyone warn me about this show?
Don’t start watching The Killing unless you’re willing to put in the time to finish the entire thing in one sitting. Because it’s really addicting.
And in case you’re thinking you can get away with just watching one season at a time: The murder is not resolved at the end of the first season. The story just keeps right on going into the second season.
I’m writing this paragraph to avoid spoilers, but my full thoughts are way down below: I had an idea of who the murderer might be after four or five episodes, based on my award-winning strategy of “picking the least plausible person it could possibly be.” Through the whole first season I was more and more convinced I was going to be right, because they never showed anything that directly refuted my theory. Once, it was close, but I can think of a way to explain it. At least until they arrested that dude in the last episode of season one. But then some evidence surfaced that made me think my theory could still be plausible, so I’m sticking with it as I start watching season two.
In many ways, The Killing is a stereotypical cop show. It’s got the cop obsessed with finding the murderer at the expense of her family. It’s got the victim’s family coping with the loss of their daughter and the morbid depictions of how a victim’s body gets back to the family after the crime. It’s got the cop who went too far undercover and got hooked on drugs. It’s got the crusty police lieutenants. It’s got the city hall with their political agendas that are more important than the truth.
But somehow it’s still a compelling show.
- Writing
- Television
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The Killing, Season Two.
2014-09-02.
The Killing really should be regulated as a controlled substance. It’s impossible to stop watching it.
I finished the second season, and you may or may not be happy to know that they do finally reveal the murderer, and it looks like you can walk away from the show after two seasons. Spoilers way down at the end of the post. (Not really, though. I don’t tell you whodunnit, but I do sort of rule out one person.)
They really punch you in the face with feels in the second season finale. Get your hankies ready.
- Television
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RE: The Leftovers, Season Finale.
2014-09-09.
I should have known.
There were no explanations. No resolutions. No whys or wherefores. No way to tell if my theory was correct or not. The story just reached a convenient stopping place (sort of) and the season ended, all questions left up in the air. The only thing that we found out was what the Guilty Remnant had been up to.
It occurred to me that by leaving out an explanation for why the people disappeared, we the audience are left in the same position as the characters in the show.
- Television
2014-10
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The 100 First Impression.
2014-10-29.
I’ve just watched the first episode of The 100 on Netflix. Well, actually, I started writing this at about the 35:00 mark.
Is it wrong for me to want every single one of these whiny teenagers to die horribly? I mean, it’s not just that I don’t like any of them. It’s more of a deep-seeded loathing, a visceral hatred of everything about them and everything they stand for. I don’t just want them to die.
- Television
2014-12
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Holiday Binge-Watching.
2014-12-29.
The holidays means sitting blankly in front of a television screen. My recent Netflix binge-watches include:
Broadchurch. BBC murder-mystery series starring David Tennant (of Dr. Who fame) and also the guy who played Rory in Dr. Who. This is a gripping series of 8 episodes. Great, great acting.
Gracepoint. Of course, I then had to get a week-long trial of Hulu Plus* to watch the American version of the Broadchurch murder-mystery, which also stars David Tennant, using a different accent.
- Television
2015-06
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Hardhome.
2015-06-07.
“Hardhome” (Game of Thrones, season 5, episode 8) did a fantastic job of reminding us why we (and The Seven Kingdoms) should care that “Winter is Coming.”
- Television
2018-06
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The Expanse Re-Watch – S1E01, Dulcinea.
2018-06-05.
I started to write a blog post about The Expanse Season 3, Episode 7 (Delta-V). That episode seemed to be the beginning of a brand new story arc, perhaps the start of a new book in the source material. I didn’t particularly care for the episode, and I ended up ranting about all the things I didn’t like about The Expanse, especially in Season 3. I’m fully aware that others love this show and praise it endlessly, and most consider Season 3 to be the best one yet, while I’m over here struggling to find a single thing to hold onto and enjoy.
- Television
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The Expanse Re-Watch – S1E02, The Big Empty.
2018-06-07.
Join me as I re-watch The Expanse, Season 1, to try to find out where the show went wrong for me.
Summary I’ve decided that I’m just going to quote Wikipedia’s brief episode summaries here, instead of spending all of my time writing my own summaries. The point of these posts is to explore what I think of the episodes, not retell the episodes.
The Big Empty was written by Mark Fergus and Hawk Ostby, and directed by Terry McDonough.
- Television
2021-11
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Wheel of Time - Season 1, Episodes 1 to 3.
2021-11-22.
A Wheel of Time-length blog post to start a new series dissecting each episode of Wheel of Time. Until I lose interest, of course. It’s a lot of work to write these and it hurts my back.
- Television
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Wheel of Time - S1E4: The Dragon Reborn.
2021-11-28.
Episode 4, The Dragon Reborn is the first great episode of the series.
- Television
2021-12
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Wheel of Time - S1E5: Blood Calls Blood.
2021-12-08.
This week’s episode was less of a spectacle.
- Television
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Wheel of Time - S1E6: The Flame of Tar Valon.
2021-12-16.
An episode full of Aes Sedai politics.
- Television
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Wheel of Time - S1E7: The Dark Within The Ways.
2021-12-24.
The Ways and Fal Dara and The Warder and The Wisdom.
- Television
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Wheel of Time - S1E8: The Eye of the World.
2021-12-29.
The final episode of the first season ends with a bang.
- Television