Friday Night Lights: Series Review

Friday Night Lights is a show about football.  Except that it isn't at all.  It's a show about characters, and small-town Texas, and community, and relationships, and life, and it's one helluva good show.  It's a show that makes you love football because you see how much this town and these people love football.  It's a show that makes you feel and smile and cry because of how powerful the emotions are.  It's a show that makes you wish every marriage were like that of Coach Eric Taylor and Tami Taylor.  It's about the power of sports and good mentors to change kids' lives.  It's about MOLDERS OF MEN.

I have only two complaints about the show: (1) that the young student characters in the later East Dillon seasons were, for the most part, not as compelling as those in the earlier seasons; and (2) the show sometimes lost strands of continuity (e.g., what happened to Waverley? Where did Santiago go?  [Santiago may be forgiven because S2 never ended due to the writers' strike, but... there is no excuse for Waverley.]  What ever happened to Tami working on Mayor Rodell's campaign?)

Otherwise, I really loved FNL.  Clear eyes, full hearts, CAN'T LOSE.

Camelot: Season 1 Review

I was so excited when I heard about this series. I love the Arthurian legend, love knights in armor fighting each other, enjoyed Eva Green's turn as a Bond girl, and the previews looked excellent.

The opening sequence of the show drew me in immediately with beautiful music and cinematography.

Unfortunately, it was a steady downhill from there.

Some time after one too many annoying Arthur-Guinevere scene, I lost interest.

The knights of Camelot? A bunch of character-less faces. The only one with any substance was Gawain. And Leontes was just... boring. Merlin? Overacted and with not much to do. Arthur? Dragged down by weak acting and a weaker script. Guinevere? Please die--I felt the same way toward her as I did toward BBC Robin Hood's Maid Marian after a while. Camelot? Lame. Fight scenes? Meh. Storyline? A frequently nonsensical snoozefest. Characterization? What's that?

The only remotely redeeming aspect of the show was Morgan. I found her relationship with Sybil the Nun mildly interesting. Eva Green did well with what she was given, but unfortunately she really wasn't given very much. I made myself finish watching the series, hoping that it would get better, but it became an afterthought--an "oh, I guess I have nothing better to do" rather than a "I can't wait to watch the next episode!"

To illustrate, Camelot killed off 3 main characters in its Season 1 finale. I was bored, nearly fell asleep during the episode, and said "ho hum" when they died. Contrast that with my reaction to Game of Thrones. I didn't care about a single character in Camelot, so killing them produced no dramatic payoff. In fact, doing anything with them provides no dramatic payoff.

I'm going back to BBC's Merlin series, which at least didn't take itself too seriously. And has Anthony Stewart Head, who is awesome as Uther. Goodbye, Camelot! Even if you scrape by a Season 2, I ain't watchin'!

Where was the magic in Camelot? Well, guess I'll have to wait until Harry Potter 7 part 2 comes out for any magic.

Baelor Thoughts

I've watched Baelor, episode 9 of Game of Thrones, twice now, and it has hit me hard both times. And that was despite having read the book. Such a great story, such a great show.

I'm kind of surprised to hear that a lot of fans of the TV show are livid at HBO/George RR Martin/the world about the rapid exit of the character. Many have threatened to never watch the show again, etc. Apparently many readers who came to that part in the book threw the book across the room and screamed at it. Really? Seriously?

I guess I spoiled myself, so the surprise/holy shit element wasn't there for me, but that moment was when I fell in love with the book, when I knew it REALLY wasn't Just Another Fantasy Story. I loved the ballsy, bold move. I loved that the author was using the Hero narrative to pull the rug out from under his readers. That was what was so bloody brilliant about it. Until the last second, we all kept thinking someone would come save the day, because that's how it always plays out.

But of course, in real life, that's not how it always plays out. The good guys don't always win. Also, there aren't really good guys. The winners write the history. Winning is about power. Maybe we turn to books and TV because we need to be lied to, and maybe that's why Baelor has made some fans so pissed off. We want reality suspended.

But Game of Thrones has the balls to bring reality crashing down on us. And so damn effectively. God, that scene is just SO epic. EPIC. Epic. Epic.

Glee: Season 1 Review

This show sounded tremendously stupid when I first heard the concept. But for some reason, it really won me over. I'm a total Gleek!

It's not a good show. The characters and story often don't make sense. But the show is extraordinarily entertaining, what with Sue Sylvester's delicious lines and the fun musical numbers. Well, sometimes the musical numbers are not that good, and I see why people say the Glee soundtrack is overproduced, but the first season of this show has been very fun to watch. Just fun. Maybe a little too fun...

Veronica Mars Season 1: Review

Buffy/Angel creator Joss Whedon is a huge fan of Veronica Mars, and after bulldozing through the first season, I can see why.

Veronica Mars is the daughter of a former police sheriff, now turned private-eye detective. She has picked up her father's sleuthing skills and puts them to work, Nancy Drew style, at her high school. Her best friend was murdered last year, and the fallout has completely upended her life.

The best friend's murder is the season-long mystery arc, but there are also mini-mysteries that Veronica solves each episode. The format works extremely well. The character work is also fantastic--Veronica and her relationship with her father, local biker gang leader Weevil, and high school rich punk Logan in particular. The dialogue is witty and the show is engaging. Smart writing, good show. Count me in for season two.