![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
grimorieThings have settled down a bit now, its still difficult but manageable. Thanks to all the kind words in my last post. I really needed it.
I guess the only good thing that's happened is the extra time helped me catch up with shows I've missed or forgot to check on.
I've noticed a trend about the shows I ended up liking: All the shows have complex, fascinating women with interesting charcter interactions and dynamics and most of the interactions I like have nothing to do with romantic relationships except on rare occasions that I do.
--
The Good Wife
I watched the first two episodes of The Good Wife and liked it but the show fell off my radar when things got busy. It's not hard to miss how everyone is raving about the awesomeness of Kalinda so as soon as I could manage it I resolved to catch up to the show. It helped I still had a big ol' soft spot for Dan Rydell.
Except Will Gardner is no Dan Rydell and I was surprised to find that while I find Kalinda awesome I found myself more drawn to Diane and Alicia (one because I do have a thing for button down characters). Kalinda is button down but she plays things so close to the vest it was hard getting a read of her except for a few rare instances. She's competent and fantastic but still very much a closed book.
Which is why I love how this season we're slowly learning more about Kalinda. I also love the friendship the writers developed between Kalinda and Alicia. I love that they go out for drinks and talk and that Alicia's developed a taste for tequila so much so she's taken to keeping a bottle in her home. I loved Kalinda and Alicia sitting on Alicia's bed, drinking beers and Kalinda finally sharing a piece of her past to Alicia when a year ago Kalinda only answered Alicia's questions with 'I'm private'.
As for Diane I'm so relieved the show didn't make Diane an antagonist, I liked that she turned into a real, powerful character and more than the Will/Alicia thing I love Will and Diane's interactions more. I love their partnership despite all the arguing they do.
Actually, The Good Wife is filled with a lot of complicated, competent and powerful women. I loved Martha Plimpton's character because of how she shamelessly uses first her pregnancy and then her baby to get her way.
This is a show that's not afraid to say: 'Hey, being a mother? Doesn't make a person less cool or less complicated.' Alicia is a mother, Martha Plimpton's wonderful pragmatic character is a mother and none of their power is diminished by becoming one.
On the other side of the coin, I love that Diane's single and without a child and you never get a sense that she regrets it. I love how she embraced her life, I love that she's a partner running her own firm and that she has an equal voice in it. And I love how she kicks ass and does so elegantly.
Another thing I love about this show is the continuity, I like how a comment or a name is casually tossed out only for that same thing to appear a season later. I also like how the characters navigate in the shark infested, morally questionable waters of Chicago politics, although, I'm sure I'm missing a lot of the context but its still fascinating to watch.
Parks and Recreation
Now this show was one I never thought to watch but![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
chaila43's post convinced me to give the show a chance.
I'm so glad I did. At first I thought this was going to be just like The Office. I really don't enjoy cringe comedy, I have an embarrassment squick liek whoa. I haven't actually seen the first season other than the pilot, I skipped it to watch the second season and I've loved it. Underneath the comedy its such an earnest show about the people in and around the department and Leslie Knope.
I love that the show acknowledges Leslie while being a bit absurd is earnest and even very, very good at her job. I love Ron for standing up for Leslie when budget was trying to cut her down. I love how Leslie brought back the team and found a solution to their problems and most of all, I love the show for giving us a flu ridden Michael Jordan moment and the look on Ben's faaaace when Leslie turned on the switch showing why she is the Deputy Director.
I'm loving Rob Lowe in this too. I couldn't stop laughing at the moment he looked himself in the mirror and instructed himself to stop pooping. I think I love his character here more than I love Sam Seaborn!
Fairly Legal
And, here we are with another law show. This time its set in San Francisco starring Sarah Shahi. I have mad, mad love for Life and Dani Reese. I don't think I could ever love a character the way I loved Reese. There was just something about Reese and the Sarah Shahi played her that immediately drew me to her and yet, I wasn't sure if I could like the new show but I gave it a try and I liked what I've seen of it.
Fairly Legal, formerly Facing Kate is about Kate Reed, a mediator. Or as one character in the pilot explains:
alethialia's reviews on the show's pilot and second episode is written better than I could ever articulate.
Fairly Legal isn't The Good Wife, its lighter and breezier but there's heart to it and I adore the complicated relationship between Kate and her young stepmother, Lauren. And, after watching Lauren she slots in so well in the character type I love so well. She's just so button down and composed but you can see things simmering below the surface and its just fascinating to watch Lauren juggle running a firm and keeping it afloat while trying to wrangle Kate as well.
I love how, after kicking legal ass and being compared to her husband makes her want to scream into an icy water. Lauren is just endlessly fascinating.
Watching Fairly Legal and how Sarah is carrying the show and playing Kate brought home how much Life's season 2 dropped the ball on Dani. Sarah does a great job as a lead on her own show, it was a waste to shelve Dani's storylines for the Tidwell romance. They could have done so much with Jack Reese and Dani.
I'll stop here before I devolve in a longer Life digression.
The Vampire Diaries
I wish Rose didn't die, she's had a pretty crappy existence so far and dying for Damon is the crappiest ways to go. Also, I don't like how they used DLZ by TV on Radio song at the end with Damon since I identify that song with the amazing Sarah Connor fanvid and having that tainted with Damon is not something I like.
Fringe
I'll get the unpopular opinion out of the way first: I really could care less about Peter's 'Special Destiny'. The more the show pushes it the less interested in the show I become. The past two episodes was far too much Peter and too little Olivia. After nine Olivia-centric episodes its very jarring.
I also found that the way the show is pushing for Peter to mirror Olivia's origin story is not something I like very much.
Peter going around and killing Shapeshifters does not make any kind of sense and it seems I continue to resent Peter's snap decision to leave his biological mother behind without a second's thought in a universe that's about to die. Olivia has more concern for the Redverse than Peter does.
Although, I did like that the show didn't forget Peter was a victim himself. I liked the moment when Peter asked Olivia not to read the notes because he didn't want to be seen as weak and humiliated but since he was a conman he used a genuine emotion to mask his other motivation: revenge.
It's this one trait Peter has that he shares not only with Walternate but most of the people from the Redverse, the capacity for coldness.
But I thought that Peter's response to altOlivia's betrayal felt more like a heartbreak. She betrayed him and broke his heart and now he's lashing out. It's like he's Jack Bristow to altOlivia's Irina Derevko.
What I did like was Nina being there and being awesome. I liked Broyles tapping Astrid (actually, anything that involves more Astrid is always 'A' plus for me) to decode altOlivia's notes. Then there was Astrid and Olivia working together, which is always outstanding.
They should work together more, the other side already proved how well Olivia and alt!Astrid worked together.
But as commendable as it was that Broyles tried to spare Olivia's feelings, Olivia was right the first time. Who better to figure out alt!Olivia's notes than Olivia herself? And as soon as Olivia made clear that reading the files will be helpful I liked the reminder that altOlivia and Olivia are basically the same person with a few differences.chichuri posited how altOlivia's memories in Olivia won't be rejected the same way John Scott's memories was flushed out of her mind and the way the chimp brain thing will flush itself out of Walter's mind because of how similar they are with Olivia's own.
(How many people can Olivia take occupying her mind?)
I noticed and was surprised other people noticed how Olivia acted a wee bit like altOlivia. Just a bit, not enough for Olivia not to be ourOlivia but the way she was careful and quiet and watchful but not too much since she's still our Olivia she instantly takes the initiative. This is going to lead into a moment where the Olivias end up working together, right?
But you know what continues to nag at me? The way people continue to call Broyles 'colonel'! We are sure we're in the right, 'verse, right?
ETA: Olivia was wearing a Peacekeeper braid, obviously, a crossover is needed!
I guess the only good thing that's happened is the extra time helped me catch up with shows I've missed or forgot to check on.
I've noticed a trend about the shows I ended up liking: All the shows have complex, fascinating women with interesting charcter interactions and dynamics and most of the interactions I like have nothing to do with romantic relationships except on rare occasions that I do.
--
The Good Wife
I watched the first two episodes of The Good Wife and liked it but the show fell off my radar when things got busy. It's not hard to miss how everyone is raving about the awesomeness of Kalinda so as soon as I could manage it I resolved to catch up to the show. It helped I still had a big ol' soft spot for Dan Rydell.
Except Will Gardner is no Dan Rydell and I was surprised to find that while I find Kalinda awesome I found myself more drawn to Diane and Alicia (one because I do have a thing for button down characters). Kalinda is button down but she plays things so close to the vest it was hard getting a read of her except for a few rare instances. She's competent and fantastic but still very much a closed book.
Which is why I love how this season we're slowly learning more about Kalinda. I also love the friendship the writers developed between Kalinda and Alicia. I love that they go out for drinks and talk and that Alicia's developed a taste for tequila so much so she's taken to keeping a bottle in her home. I loved Kalinda and Alicia sitting on Alicia's bed, drinking beers and Kalinda finally sharing a piece of her past to Alicia when a year ago Kalinda only answered Alicia's questions with 'I'm private'.
As for Diane I'm so relieved the show didn't make Diane an antagonist, I liked that she turned into a real, powerful character and more than the Will/Alicia thing I love Will and Diane's interactions more. I love their partnership despite all the arguing they do.
Actually, The Good Wife is filled with a lot of complicated, competent and powerful women. I loved Martha Plimpton's character because of how she shamelessly uses first her pregnancy and then her baby to get her way.
This is a show that's not afraid to say: 'Hey, being a mother? Doesn't make a person less cool or less complicated.' Alicia is a mother, Martha Plimpton's wonderful pragmatic character is a mother and none of their power is diminished by becoming one.
On the other side of the coin, I love that Diane's single and without a child and you never get a sense that she regrets it. I love how she embraced her life, I love that she's a partner running her own firm and that she has an equal voice in it. And I love how she kicks ass and does so elegantly.
Another thing I love about this show is the continuity, I like how a comment or a name is casually tossed out only for that same thing to appear a season later. I also like how the characters navigate in the shark infested, morally questionable waters of Chicago politics, although, I'm sure I'm missing a lot of the context but its still fascinating to watch.
Parks and Recreation
Now this show was one I never thought to watch but
chaila43's post convinced me to give the show a chance.I'm so glad I did. At first I thought this was going to be just like The Office. I really don't enjoy cringe comedy, I have an embarrassment squick liek whoa. I haven't actually seen the first season other than the pilot, I skipped it to watch the second season and I've loved it. Underneath the comedy its such an earnest show about the people in and around the department and Leslie Knope.
I love that the show acknowledges Leslie while being a bit absurd is earnest and even very, very good at her job. I love Ron for standing up for Leslie when budget was trying to cut her down. I love how Leslie brought back the team and found a solution to their problems and most of all, I love the show for giving us a flu ridden Michael Jordan moment and the look on Ben's faaaace when Leslie turned on the switch showing why she is the Deputy Director.
I'm loving Rob Lowe in this too. I couldn't stop laughing at the moment he looked himself in the mirror and instructed himself to stop pooping. I think I love his character here more than I love Sam Seaborn!
Fairly Legal
And, here we are with another law show. This time its set in San Francisco starring Sarah Shahi. I have mad, mad love for Life and Dani Reese. I don't think I could ever love a character the way I loved Reese. There was just something about Reese and the Sarah Shahi played her that immediately drew me to her and yet, I wasn't sure if I could like the new show but I gave it a try and I liked what I've seen of it.
Fairly Legal, formerly Facing Kate is about Kate Reed, a mediator. Or as one character in the pilot explains:
Kate Reed is not a lawyer. She is a mediator. A mediator is kind of a referee in a game with no rules except those agreed to by the parties involved.
alethialia's reviews on the show's pilot and second episode is written better than I could ever articulate. Fairly Legal isn't The Good Wife, its lighter and breezier but there's heart to it and I adore the complicated relationship between Kate and her young stepmother, Lauren. And, after watching Lauren she slots in so well in the character type I love so well. She's just so button down and composed but you can see things simmering below the surface and its just fascinating to watch Lauren juggle running a firm and keeping it afloat while trying to wrangle Kate as well.
I love how, after kicking legal ass and being compared to her husband makes her want to scream into an icy water. Lauren is just endlessly fascinating.
Watching Fairly Legal and how Sarah is carrying the show and playing Kate brought home how much Life's season 2 dropped the ball on Dani. Sarah does a great job as a lead on her own show, it was a waste to shelve Dani's storylines for the Tidwell romance. They could have done so much with Jack Reese and Dani.
I'll stop here before I devolve in a longer Life digression.
The Vampire Diaries
I wish Rose didn't die, she's had a pretty crappy existence so far and dying for Damon is the crappiest ways to go. Also, I don't like how they used DLZ by TV on Radio song at the end with Damon since I identify that song with the amazing Sarah Connor fanvid and having that tainted with Damon is not something I like.
Fringe
I'll get the unpopular opinion out of the way first: I really could care less about Peter's 'Special Destiny'. The more the show pushes it the less interested in the show I become. The past two episodes was far too much Peter and too little Olivia. After nine Olivia-centric episodes its very jarring.
I also found that the way the show is pushing for Peter to mirror Olivia's origin story is not something I like very much.
Peter going around and killing Shapeshifters does not make any kind of sense and it seems I continue to resent Peter's snap decision to leave his biological mother behind without a second's thought in a universe that's about to die. Olivia has more concern for the Redverse than Peter does.
Although, I did like that the show didn't forget Peter was a victim himself. I liked the moment when Peter asked Olivia not to read the notes because he didn't want to be seen as weak and humiliated but since he was a conman he used a genuine emotion to mask his other motivation: revenge.
It's this one trait Peter has that he shares not only with Walternate but most of the people from the Redverse, the capacity for coldness.
But I thought that Peter's response to altOlivia's betrayal felt more like a heartbreak. She betrayed him and broke his heart and now he's lashing out. It's like he's Jack Bristow to altOlivia's Irina Derevko.
What I did like was Nina being there and being awesome. I liked Broyles tapping Astrid (actually, anything that involves more Astrid is always 'A' plus for me) to decode altOlivia's notes. Then there was Astrid and Olivia working together, which is always outstanding.
They should work together more, the other side already proved how well Olivia and alt!Astrid worked together.
But as commendable as it was that Broyles tried to spare Olivia's feelings, Olivia was right the first time. Who better to figure out alt!Olivia's notes than Olivia herself? And as soon as Olivia made clear that reading the files will be helpful I liked the reminder that altOlivia and Olivia are basically the same person with a few differences.
chichuri posited how altOlivia's memories in Olivia won't be rejected the same way John Scott's memories was flushed out of her mind and the way the chimp brain thing will flush itself out of Walter's mind because of how similar they are with Olivia's own. (How many people can Olivia take occupying her mind?)
I noticed and was surprised other people noticed how Olivia acted a wee bit like altOlivia. Just a bit, not enough for Olivia not to be ourOlivia but the way she was careful and quiet and watchful but not too much since she's still our Olivia she instantly takes the initiative. This is going to lead into a moment where the Olivias end up working together, right?
But you know what continues to nag at me? The way people continue to call Broyles 'colonel'! We are sure we're in the right, 'verse, right?
ETA: Olivia was wearing a Peacekeeper braid, obviously, a crossover is needed!
