Fall TV in Review

My new job has me watching a lot of TV and movie trailers and for the first time in years, I had a long list of new shows to watch this fall (and a few old favorites) and I figured I'd let you know how they fared. Last year, I did something similar for Arrow vs. Beauty and the Beast and ended loving one show and never watching the other again. This season I had more to check out... so what'd I think?

The Blacklist
This was my favorite promo of the whole bunch of new shows and has delivered so fully that it just makes me shiver in excitement when I think about this show. It delivers in every regard. I am biased to strong female lead and James Spader's Red challenges her in every way. The set up is ideal in my opinion - a series of self contained stories that tie overlay a broader story full of potential character development. Anyone can tune in to a new episode, see another person from "the list" and not need a lot of back story but continuous watchers benefit from seeing Elizabeth Keen grow stronger, smarter, and more suspicious. This show continues to get better with each episode and I'm so excited to see where it goes.

Hostages
My thoughts after this preview was that it would make a great movie or mini-series but it's going to be too drawn out as a TV show. The premise of Hostages is that a surgeon's family is held hostage the night before she is to operate on the President and they will be killed if the POTUS survives the operation. It's an interesting concept and a strong cast but three episodes in and I'm definitely still wondering how this will make a full series much less a season. I hope they figure it out soon though because the back story of the kidnapper in particular is really great and the show, in general, is interesting to watch.

The Crazy Ones
I added very few new comedies this Fall. The dramas just seemed so much better but now that I work in advertising research, watching a comedy about an ad agency seemed to be a good pick. The show overall is very funny but is definitely dominated by Robin Williams. It's clear that he improvises a lot of the jokes which makes for an interesting dynamic. I would say that your interest in this show will be completely dictated by how much you like Robin's style of humor.

Once Upon a Time
This one is having a high and low start for me. With most of the extra cast cut out, I would have hoped that they would have allowed the rest to shine in the way we've seen in the past. Specifically, I'm having problem with Regina focusing solely on magic and her villainous side when we've seen some much more out of that character. One of my favorite parts of the show was how the line between good and evil was so blurry with Regina frequently showing that she genuinely has love in her heart. I would have thought that in trying to save Henry, she would have softened a bit, especially after just saving Storybrooke. Charming is also leaning too far too his self-righteous side. On the positive side though, I'm happy that they're finally addressing Emma's history and the trouble with spending 28+ years as an orphan and in what better place than Neverland, home of the lost "boys"? I think Snow's reaction to this is appropriate as well - finding the balance between realizing you weren't there and finding a way to make up for it without being overbearing. This would have a been a good time for Charming to show a better side of his personality as well. I have always loved Hook and his interactions with Emma and I think he continues to be a fascinating character. He made a very unbelievable "bad guy" last season and I like that they've taken that and used it to make Peter Pan a villain. The shows strength has always been the characters' complex and often gray back stories and hopefully this season continues to run with that.

Once Upon a Time in Wonderland
In ever constant belief that I'm an excellent multi-tasker, I'm actually writing this while watching the premiere and folding laundry and it's losing the attention battle (I mean, after laundry of course). I like the glimpse of Storybrooke at the begining and the introduction of new characters, but I think it will need to have a more compelling story if it is going to survive. It's lucky also that the source material has both the Queen of Hearts (the late Cora) and a Red Queen so there is an easy source for a new main antagonist. A refresh of the OUAT tie ins would have also been appreciated as I can't quite remember all of the Knave of Hearts story. OUATIW should also try not to force special effects so much. I know it's Wonderland but many of the effects come off looking shoddy and aren't all necessary. Focus on the ones that are needed (like our CGI White Rabbit played nicely by John Lithgow) and let the story do the rest.

How I Met Your Mother
The first couple of episodes really hit it out of the park for me. I love how (spoiler alert) they came out of the gates with the mother. When she was revealed last season, I was excited to see how they would incorporate her. The idea of going with a little known actress kept me from having any pre-conceived notions of her which I'm sure helped with how much I ended up loving the character. She has Ted's same oddities but the strength of character to put up with Lily (and likely the rest of the group too). You can easily see her fitting in on the front porch and her chemistry with Ted is believable as well. What's bothering me about this season is that we haven't continued to see more of her. While it's nice to see some more of the Lily/Ted dynamic, the season is starting to suffer from the same repetitive antics that the last couple of seasons have suffered from. It would be nice if they stopped treading water and showed us more flash forwards and scenes with the Mother. I'm also starting to miss Marshall. It's amazing how Jason Segal can act through an iPad and still be stronger than two other characters on scene but I hope we don't get too far into this wedding weekend without him.

Parenthood
This show continues to tug on my heartstrings. Christina's cancer battle last season had me spending many nights curled up in a tear filled ball on my couch and it's nice to see that turned on it's head and used as a motivation to have her take risks now that she has "a second chance." I've always loved how this show uses the large extended family of a cast to show a variety of family dynamics in a realistic way and it continues to be solid.

Modern Family
I love this show and it continues to be consistently funny. I really love that the season opener touched on the legalization of gay marraige in California, giving us some tender moments between all of the adult couples. The show often just shoots for laughs so to be reminded of why all of these couples love each other was so sweet. My personal favorite was Phil and Claire since his goofiness often seems like an odd match to her sternness and I like how the show realized that and let you see why they work. I'm not thinking of any other stand out moment but the show is always great for a 30 minute laugh and I'm going to keep watching.

Sleepy Hollow
This show has surprised me. I originally thought the concept was silly, but I was intrigued enough to watch the first episode and it really exceeded expectations. The show is pleasantly humorous and handles the person-from-past-suddenly-in-modern-times very well. It looks as though each episode will handle a unique paranormal occurrence. The highlight for me was definitely when they wrote in that it was prophesized that the team would be working together for 7 years. Nice try, this is Fox... The Blacklist handled this better by saying that the list was long and Red wouldn't disclose exactly how many were on it. All in all, it's a fun watch. I haven't seen the last few episodes and I'm starting to think that my biggest problem with the show is just finding the time to catch up with all of my other series going on.

Arrow
The season premiere of Arrow really blew me away. Aside from the Dark Knight Returns esque two second return trip from the island, the season really addressed all of the repurcussions of the undertaking and the characters have developed accordingly. Ollie's decision to "find another way" in order to honor Tommy is a great next step to take the character in and it will be interesting to see the challenges associated with not just killing his enemies. I also just want to say that I'm all kinds of excited about Summer Glau. I'm really looking forward to this one unfolding.

The Simpsons
I'm not going to get into a discussion about this show treading water and being around too long. It's the Simpsons, it's like a third brother to me and I think I'm going to love it no matter what. Since that's out, I might as well compliment my brother and say that Guillermo del Toro's into to Treehouse of Terror (which I'm happy actually aired, you know, before Halloween) was amazing and it was so fun to look for all of the horror movie references (many of them just being able to use other Treehouse of Terror episodes). I actually watched it twice. I might be watching it a third time right now.

Agents of SHEILD
Last but definitely not least is SHEILD, the Marvel spinoff. I'm loving this show so far. It's always great to get more Agent Coulson and the longer the show is on, you see more of him as an actual person and not the stiff face of SHEILD. The show does a great job of setting itself up as something independent of the movies (because it would tough to get all of those actors popping in) while clearly existing in that universe. It makes an interesting point about the nature of the powers of the Avengers as well. Many of them have their abilities because of technology or scientific developments which, in theory, could be copied, stolen, etc. This has already popped up in past episodes and I think it will be a big theme throughout. SHEILD gets to exist in an interesting universe where it feels realistic but you are constantly reminded that in the Avengers these people saw gods and aliens battling over New York City - basically meaning that anything is possible. It's a really fun show to watch and each episode nicely wraps up their cases while all tying into a bigger themes and character arches.

Having so many new shows, I've seen that this seems to be the most successful set up for a TV show. It doesn't depend so much on you remembering every nuance of the past episodes but you build empathy around your characters and want to see how they progress. SHEILD, Blacklist, and Sleepy Hollow all do this and I think that's why they've been doing so well this far. Other shows like Hostages and the Once Upon a Time shows follow wider stories that build on each episode and demand the viewers remember every little thing that goes on. I still find these shows to be entertaining, but I wonder if these overly complicated story arcs are contributing to the diminishing viewership of the shows.

What I Read Last Month (September 2013)

I love reading. A couple of years ago I bought a Kindle and from there joined Goodreads and the combination has boosted my reading almost to high school levels (I worked in a book store and used to devour a book a week). Each year I set lofty reading goals for myself. This year my aim is to read 36 books and while I'm a little behind my goal, it still has me reading a few different titles each month. So how did September fare?

William-Sonoma: The Wine Guide 

At the beginning of the month, I was studying for a wine exam. After finishing my course books, I thought I'd crack into some other wine books I had gotten as gifts. The William Sonoma Wine Guide gave a good background on wine from the prominent wine regions and varietals to helpful food pairings. In fact, long before I read the book all the way through, I would use it to figure out which wines to have with dinner and it's responsible for much of my pairing knowledge.

I found a little bit of difficulty when I got to the A-Z guide section which reads like a giant glossary. While helpful for someone looking up a specific wine term, it was extremely boring to read through. Imagine reading through the dictionary - this was basically the same thing. Sadly, that made it hard to focus and unfortunately, some of the terms that I'd glossed over ended up being on the test.

The Rook by Daniel O'Malley

I really loved this book. When I read the description, I thought it was going to be a little heavy but the book was actually pretty lighthearted and added some comedy to some serious areas.

I would best describe the book as a mix between X-Men and The Bourne Identity. Despite having a lot of similarities with other fantasy books, there were a lot of really unique powers and abilities, not limited to the antagonists (which we'll leave out for spoiler reasons).

Despite the supernatural elements, the book actually gave a realistic portrayal of bureaucracy and a very realistic female lead. In fact, it was great to see a female lead who was strong, smart, friendly, and not just chasing a man. I couldn't put this one down and I'm really looking forward to the sequels!

What's on Schedule for Next Month?

I'm currently reading The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay which I've only heard fantastic things about and I'm excited to see it unfold. My book club is planning on reading The Casual Vacancy so I will be as well. I'm hoping that's a quick read because I read an excerpt from The Circle by David Eggers and I instantly pre-ordered the promising novel.

To keep up with what I'm reading each month and my 36 book goal, you can follow me on Goodreads.