Hi everybody, sorry to be away for a while. I spent a lot of last week catching up from being sick week before last - and before I knew it, it had been over a week since I blogged. Oops! I certainly didn't mean for that to happen.
Today, I'd like to carry on a tradition that I started with my last blog at Writing.com. In late May of every year, I'd do a "season finale roundup" of the television shows I had watched that season. My purpose was to give my overall impressions of how the season as a whole struck me as a fan. Not that I think the TV executives are ACTUALLY reading my humble blog, but it's a nice way to connect with other fans of the shows. Don't worry - this won't be excessively long. As a general rule, I can only keep up with 2 shows at a time. My 2 shows this season were Supernatural, which I've watched since it started in 2005, and The Secret Circle, which ran it's first and sadly only season on CW.
Supernatural - Another gut punching ending for the Winchester Brothers! I felt that this season was better than last season. It seemed Sam and Dean has more purpose in hunting the levithan, and they were certainly not a cliched foe. It was nice to get a break from angels, demons, monsters, and things that go bump in the night. I felt, at least, that the show returned somewhat to it's original purpose this season. I did, naturally, have a couple of gripes. First and foremost - you killed Bobby! You bastards! Bobby was one of my favorite characters and I hated to see him die, twice actually since they purged his spirit in the finale. Now who's going to call them igits, help them pose as Feds, and drag them out of messes? I don't know because Frank had a very short run (I didn't like him at first, but saw that his character had potential. A shame it wasn't developed). My other gripe was that Castielle was largely absent this season, except for the very beginning, where he was screwed up, and the very end, where he was nuttier than Chinese Chicken Salad. I want out old Cass back and frankly, I think the Winchesters need him back because, as Elrond put it so eleoquently in "The Lord of the Rings - The Fellowship of the Ring," "our list of allies grows thin." They've killed off so many characters that it's going to be necessary for them to completely reconstruct the case to keep going. But then again, alive and dead are relative states on this show. This is, after all, urban fiction.
Personally, I'd like to see a return of angels and demons. They're our old standbys and frankly, they're more interesting. The levithan's, while a nice change, were largely predictable and just out to "help American's live longer and taste better" (I got a kick out of that line in the "There Will Be Blood" episode). Angels and demons are definitely NOT predictable and you never know what they'll pull - Crowly in the finale being an excellent example. They have their own agenda, you're never exactly sure of what it is, and THAT'S what keeps you comign back week after week. I'm hoping Season 8 will bring back some old favorites, with the old Cass being #1 on that list.
The Secret Circle - This show had potential but sadly, isn't being given a chance to work it out. I came into this one about mid season, so I had some catching up to do, and I'm still not sure if I'm 100% "caught up." It seemed to have a solid plot and a good bit of the complexities in relationships that kept you wondering who had what motives and will they stick with the plan - whatever that might be - or blow it to smithereens. It also had an interesting premise and I think, as I said, that this was a show that could have really fleshed out and become solid given one more season. The one major problem I had with this show, though, was flat characterization. I felt like the characters weren't real. They went on and on about their powers and binding the circle, but who were they besides being witches? Did they have an identity outside of that? It was like watching a puppet show, or winding up a music box with moving parts and watching the pieces move around one another without understanding how or why they're moving like that. Perhaps the show writers didn't realize that viewers really need to be able to connect with the characters to become hooked on the show. Take Supernatural, for example. We know that Dean likes pie, that Sam hates clowns, and that Bobby thought everybody was an igit. The little things do matter, and in fact it's those little things that connect viewers to the show. They need to feel like they're part of this world, but The Secret Circle offered no such invitation to it's viewers. Remember that the point of television, books, movies, video games, and other forms of media is to take the person out of their own life and reality and offer them an escape by bringing them into the world you created. The Secret Circle didn't do that. They opened the curtain and let you take a peek, but didn't really invite you in. You dove right into the plot and didn't really learn about the characters - nothing of their history or of where they came from to become who they are. Sure, there was a lot of talk about their parents and how they came to be born, but nothing of who the characters themselves were. And I think that two dimensional approach to characterization is what drove this series to extinction in it's first season.
As we go into the 2012 - 2013 season this fall, I can assure you that I will continue to watch Supernatural. I've been with them since the beginning and will stick through to the end. I just love this show. As for a second show, I saw a preview for a series called Arrow while watching the finale of Supernatural that caught my interest. It's about Oliver Queen, aka The Green Arrow. Not my favorite superhero but a superhero nonetheless, and it did get my attention. I'll definitely give it a try on Wednesdays this fall. Plus, we named our budgie, Ollie, after Oliver Queen on Smallville. So a show about his namesake is interesting. He's expecting great things from it I'm certainly willing to give it a chance. In fact, I was their 28th "like" on Facebook today.
So that's my season finale roundup for the 2011 - 2012 season. Fans of the shows, let me know what you think. I'd be interested to hear your take on Supernatural and The Secret Circle, and to know what you plan to check out this fall.
Take care all, and I hope you have a great week.
Bye!
Today, I'd like to carry on a tradition that I started with my last blog at Writing.com. In late May of every year, I'd do a "season finale roundup" of the television shows I had watched that season. My purpose was to give my overall impressions of how the season as a whole struck me as a fan. Not that I think the TV executives are ACTUALLY reading my humble blog, but it's a nice way to connect with other fans of the shows. Don't worry - this won't be excessively long. As a general rule, I can only keep up with 2 shows at a time. My 2 shows this season were Supernatural, which I've watched since it started in 2005, and The Secret Circle, which ran it's first and sadly only season on CW.
Supernatural - Another gut punching ending for the Winchester Brothers! I felt that this season was better than last season. It seemed Sam and Dean has more purpose in hunting the levithan, and they were certainly not a cliched foe. It was nice to get a break from angels, demons, monsters, and things that go bump in the night. I felt, at least, that the show returned somewhat to it's original purpose this season. I did, naturally, have a couple of gripes. First and foremost - you killed Bobby! You bastards! Bobby was one of my favorite characters and I hated to see him die, twice actually since they purged his spirit in the finale. Now who's going to call them igits, help them pose as Feds, and drag them out of messes? I don't know because Frank had a very short run (I didn't like him at first, but saw that his character had potential. A shame it wasn't developed). My other gripe was that Castielle was largely absent this season, except for the very beginning, where he was screwed up, and the very end, where he was nuttier than Chinese Chicken Salad. I want out old Cass back and frankly, I think the Winchesters need him back because, as Elrond put it so eleoquently in "The Lord of the Rings - The Fellowship of the Ring," "our list of allies grows thin." They've killed off so many characters that it's going to be necessary for them to completely reconstruct the case to keep going. But then again, alive and dead are relative states on this show. This is, after all, urban fiction.
Personally, I'd like to see a return of angels and demons. They're our old standbys and frankly, they're more interesting. The levithan's, while a nice change, were largely predictable and just out to "help American's live longer and taste better" (I got a kick out of that line in the "There Will Be Blood" episode). Angels and demons are definitely NOT predictable and you never know what they'll pull - Crowly in the finale being an excellent example. They have their own agenda, you're never exactly sure of what it is, and THAT'S what keeps you comign back week after week. I'm hoping Season 8 will bring back some old favorites, with the old Cass being #1 on that list.
The Secret Circle - This show had potential but sadly, isn't being given a chance to work it out. I came into this one about mid season, so I had some catching up to do, and I'm still not sure if I'm 100% "caught up." It seemed to have a solid plot and a good bit of the complexities in relationships that kept you wondering who had what motives and will they stick with the plan - whatever that might be - or blow it to smithereens. It also had an interesting premise and I think, as I said, that this was a show that could have really fleshed out and become solid given one more season. The one major problem I had with this show, though, was flat characterization. I felt like the characters weren't real. They went on and on about their powers and binding the circle, but who were they besides being witches? Did they have an identity outside of that? It was like watching a puppet show, or winding up a music box with moving parts and watching the pieces move around one another without understanding how or why they're moving like that. Perhaps the show writers didn't realize that viewers really need to be able to connect with the characters to become hooked on the show. Take Supernatural, for example. We know that Dean likes pie, that Sam hates clowns, and that Bobby thought everybody was an igit. The little things do matter, and in fact it's those little things that connect viewers to the show. They need to feel like they're part of this world, but The Secret Circle offered no such invitation to it's viewers. Remember that the point of television, books, movies, video games, and other forms of media is to take the person out of their own life and reality and offer them an escape by bringing them into the world you created. The Secret Circle didn't do that. They opened the curtain and let you take a peek, but didn't really invite you in. You dove right into the plot and didn't really learn about the characters - nothing of their history or of where they came from to become who they are. Sure, there was a lot of talk about their parents and how they came to be born, but nothing of who the characters themselves were. And I think that two dimensional approach to characterization is what drove this series to extinction in it's first season.
As we go into the 2012 - 2013 season this fall, I can assure you that I will continue to watch Supernatural. I've been with them since the beginning and will stick through to the end. I just love this show. As for a second show, I saw a preview for a series called Arrow while watching the finale of Supernatural that caught my interest. It's about Oliver Queen, aka The Green Arrow. Not my favorite superhero but a superhero nonetheless, and it did get my attention. I'll definitely give it a try on Wednesdays this fall. Plus, we named our budgie, Ollie, after Oliver Queen on Smallville. So a show about his namesake is interesting. He's expecting great things from it I'm certainly willing to give it a chance. In fact, I was their 28th "like" on Facebook today.
So that's my season finale roundup for the 2011 - 2012 season. Fans of the shows, let me know what you think. I'd be interested to hear your take on Supernatural and The Secret Circle, and to know what you plan to check out this fall.
Take care all, and I hope you have a great week.
Bye!
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