It's been a while since I've even reviewed a TV show, so I'll just do a quick wrap up of the various and sundry shows I have on the radar.
Arrow: I hate this season so much. They're trying to expound and expand the backgrounds of the boring sidekicks as they split off from the main group. Guess what? They're still boring. And while I like the actor playing the villain of the year, Diaz, he is a piss poor replacement for the season's main villain, Cayden James, played by the always entertaining Michael Emerson... who, really, was just playing an evil version of his character from Person of Interest
I'll give the next season three episodes before I stop bothering entirely. But I think the series is finished and played out. Even their fight scenes are being phased out.
Don't even get me started on the Flash, or the Idiots of Tomorrow. On Flash, some episodes are more about soap opera than comic book goodness. On Idiots, it's rewriting history with a political bent while lobotomizing characters who were largely smarter when they first showed up.
Arrow 4 /10, and dropping.
Blue Bloods-- Awesome show. Imagine "ripped from the headlines" only the events are treated far more sane than they were in real life. Granted, they already know the end of the story, since events that took weeks to uncover in real life are quickly revealed over the course of a week in story time. There is, at most, one episode that is "notes from above" per season, where the episode is stupid and political -- every episode like that is ignored the very next week, even when some of the same characters are involved. Also, losing one cast member (and killing the character off on the show) surprisingly added a few layers to an already deep show. 9/10
Bull -- An okay series with a few laughs every so often. 6/10.
Criminal Minds: Still holding up. SO much better than last year. 7/10
Deception-- A surprisingly good new series. Someone wants to take Now You See Me and The Mentalist, then blended it together with Castle for a strangely entertaining show. 9/10
Elementary -- 5/10. It's an average series, but really just filler between seasons of Sherlock ... or between playbacks of the DVDs.
Hawaii 5-0 -- Eh. Take it or leave it. The new kids are entertaining, but they've made Danno and McGarrett irrelevant, even though they're supposed to be the stars of the show. 5/10
Instinct -- It's already better than the James Patterson novel from which it came (Murder Games). Interestingly enough, even though they kept our hero as gay, with a "husband," the TV show is playing down his homosexuality even more than the book. It's barely there, and isn't obnoxious... as opposed to the book, where they built in a subplot that didn't even connect to the rest of the novel. 7/10
iZombie - Usually a show with brains, and generally 8/10. Though this season, the brains are getting dumber, the conflicts are more convoluted, and they may have one more season left in them before the quality really starts to suffer. 7/10.
Lethal Weapon - Brilliant show that sometimes dwells too much on Murtaugh home life. 8/10, mostly
MacGyver -- this show has exactly one reason to watch: Murdock. Otherwise, you can skip it. They had a chance to introduce MacGyver's father, and they DIDN'T GET RICHARD DEAN ANDERSON. Such a waste. They even had the original actor for Murdock show up on the show .... and promptly wasted him after about 5 minutes on screen. Even when they have the right idea, they can't execute it properly. 4/10, with a 6 for when their pet psycho shows up.
The Brave -- military Mission Impossible.... Sigh. And it's cancelled. While their lesser, half-breed cousin on CBS, SEAL Team, is still going. Argh. 8/10, RIP
The Night Shift -- Remember when ER had some fun, awesome, insane moments early on in the series run? So did they. And they made it more batshit. Also cancelled. Sigh. 9/10, RIP
Lucifer -- After an okay but weaker second season, this show has made a major comeback. Probably because they stopped trying funny games with stupid theology tricks. So, of course the show has been cancelled. 8/10, RIP
Midnight, Texas -- A fun little show that's making a comeback this summer. Read the Charlaine Harris novels, then the seasons. Enjoy. 8/10.
NCIS -- Holding steady. They've adapted well to losing cast members. Let's see if they can replace Abby 7/10
NCIS LA -- It's good as long as they don't try to understand things outside of their field. They're better at interpersonal interactions than they are with how things work. 7/10
New Orleans -- They're trying too hard with a conspiracy theory plotline that had better shape up real flipping fast. 6/10
Ransom -- While I have not reviewed this show, it's intelligent, quick, and fast moving without requiring shoot 'em outs. 9/10.
Scorpion -- A light, fun little show. 7/10.
SWAT -- It could be worse. Take it or leave it. 5/10.
The Blacklist -- A fun, evil little show. 8/10
The Orville -- better than Star Trek Discovery. 9/10 when it's on the ball, 5/10 when it's not (an episode or two sucked)
Arrow: I hate this season so much. They're trying to expound and expand the backgrounds of the boring sidekicks as they split off from the main group. Guess what? They're still boring. And while I like the actor playing the villain of the year, Diaz, he is a piss poor replacement for the season's main villain, Cayden James, played by the always entertaining Michael Emerson... who, really, was just playing an evil version of his character from Person of Interest
I'll give the next season three episodes before I stop bothering entirely. But I think the series is finished and played out. Even their fight scenes are being phased out.
Don't even get me started on the Flash, or the Idiots of Tomorrow. On Flash, some episodes are more about soap opera than comic book goodness. On Idiots, it's rewriting history with a political bent while lobotomizing characters who were largely smarter when they first showed up.
Arrow 4 /10, and dropping.
Blue Bloods-- Awesome show. Imagine "ripped from the headlines" only the events are treated far more sane than they were in real life. Granted, they already know the end of the story, since events that took weeks to uncover in real life are quickly revealed over the course of a week in story time. There is, at most, one episode that is "notes from above" per season, where the episode is stupid and political -- every episode like that is ignored the very next week, even when some of the same characters are involved. Also, losing one cast member (and killing the character off on the show) surprisingly added a few layers to an already deep show. 9/10
Bull -- An okay series with a few laughs every so often. 6/10.
Criminal Minds: Still holding up. SO much better than last year. 7/10
Deception-- A surprisingly good new series. Someone wants to take Now You See Me and The Mentalist, then blended it together with Castle for a strangely entertaining show. 9/10
Elementary -- 5/10. It's an average series, but really just filler between seasons of Sherlock ... or between playbacks of the DVDs.
Hawaii 5-0 -- Eh. Take it or leave it. The new kids are entertaining, but they've made Danno and McGarrett irrelevant, even though they're supposed to be the stars of the show. 5/10
Instinct -- It's already better than the James Patterson novel from which it came (Murder Games). Interestingly enough, even though they kept our hero as gay, with a "husband," the TV show is playing down his homosexuality even more than the book. It's barely there, and isn't obnoxious... as opposed to the book, where they built in a subplot that didn't even connect to the rest of the novel. 7/10
iZombie - Usually a show with brains, and generally 8/10. Though this season, the brains are getting dumber, the conflicts are more convoluted, and they may have one more season left in them before the quality really starts to suffer. 7/10.
Lethal Weapon - Brilliant show that sometimes dwells too much on Murtaugh home life. 8/10, mostly
MacGyver -- this show has exactly one reason to watch: Murdock. Otherwise, you can skip it. They had a chance to introduce MacGyver's father, and they DIDN'T GET RICHARD DEAN ANDERSON. Such a waste. They even had the original actor for Murdock show up on the show .... and promptly wasted him after about 5 minutes on screen. Even when they have the right idea, they can't execute it properly. 4/10, with a 6 for when their pet psycho shows up.
The Brave -- military Mission Impossible.... Sigh. And it's cancelled. While their lesser, half-breed cousin on CBS, SEAL Team, is still going. Argh. 8/10, RIP
The Night Shift -- Remember when ER had some fun, awesome, insane moments early on in the series run? So did they. And they made it more batshit. Also cancelled. Sigh. 9/10, RIP
Lucifer -- After an okay but weaker second season, this show has made a major comeback. Probably because they stopped trying funny games with stupid theology tricks. So, of course the show has been cancelled. 8/10, RIP
Midnight, Texas -- A fun little show that's making a comeback this summer. Read the Charlaine Harris novels, then the seasons. Enjoy. 8/10.
NCIS -- Holding steady. They've adapted well to losing cast members. Let's see if they can replace Abby 7/10
NCIS LA -- It's good as long as they don't try to understand things outside of their field. They're better at interpersonal interactions than they are with how things work. 7/10
New Orleans -- They're trying too hard with a conspiracy theory plotline that had better shape up real flipping fast. 6/10
Ransom -- While I have not reviewed this show, it's intelligent, quick, and fast moving without requiring shoot 'em outs. 9/10.
Scorpion -- A light, fun little show. 7/10.
SWAT -- It could be worse. Take it or leave it. 5/10.
The Blacklist -- A fun, evil little show. 8/10
The Orville -- better than Star Trek Discovery. 9/10 when it's on the ball, 5/10 when it's not (an episode or two sucked)
iZombie - Usually a show with brains, and generally 8/10. Though this season, the brains are getting dumber, the conflicts are more convoluted, and they may have one more season left in them before the quality really starts to suffer. 7/10.
ReplyDeleteOh good, I was beginning to think I was the only one watching iZombie.
Part of the issue with the brains is that they're leaving less time in the episode for Liv and doing far more arc stuff. I do find the conflicts much more interesting this season and found last season over contrived. They could do 1 more season with a possible world infection, 2+ if they went the comic route and started introducing more monsters. Though after 4 years of just zombies that will be a hard sell.