Category Archives: TV

Fandom, TV

Arrow

14,942 Comments

Having never read a single comic book in my life, I wasn’t sure if I would like Arrow when it premiered on the CW this year. All I knew was that it would be airing prior to Supernatural and the previews looked pretty good, with lots of well-choreographed fight scenes.

As it turns out, Arrow quickly became one of my favorite shows. While the show seems to include elements of the comic (as I’ve seen online and heard from Ben), it’s also original enough for the writers to jump in and create even more excitement. Stephen Amell is fantastic in the starring role of Oliver Queen. He’s believable without being overdramatic or campy. He clearly looks the part of superhero and the scenes of his workouts are inspiring to men and women alike. Katie Cassidy, a favorite as the real Ruby on Supernatural and the doomed bride on Harper’s Island, is underused, which may be a clever writing choice. Although there is a love triangle of sorts between her Laurel, Oliver and his best friend Tommy, it’s not addressed in a heavy-handed way and it never distracts us from the storyline.

The guest stars for Arrow are all topnotch. Colin Salmon is perfect as Walter, the man in Oliver’s mother’s life, and successor to Oliver’s tragically lost father. John Barrowman is menacing with very little trace of Captain Jack Harkness in his performance. I know many fans had wondered if he had it in him to not camp it up. Wonder no more, fans. He’s the real deal. Tahmoh Penikett has already guested, and we still have Seth Gable, James Callas, and Ben Browder to look forward to seeing. WOW!

Arrow is earning its geek cred, and I know of two fans who never miss an episode on Wednesday night.

Fandom, TV

Respectfully

2,855 Comments

Supernatural returned for Season 7 with a satisfying episode that made at least one person a new fan. Fan response to the episode has been generally positive, which is something I had worried about. After fans immediately took to Castiel, his role grew to be nearly as important as the Winchesters and the news that he would not be a series regular this year sent many fans to the edge. The plot development of the leviathans is an intriguing way to keep him distant, but prescient. We’ll definitely keep watching to see if we can get our Cas back.

Not only because I’m a Dean Girl, but because it is now universally accepted as awesome, I end with the quote of the night.

Dean, to Death on why he should kill the “enemy”:

Because we said so, and we’re the boss of you…Respectfully.

Fandom, TV

Need More This

1,921 Comments

Television, no, real life needs more of this. Anyone who still hasn’t checked out Timothy Olyphant as Raylan Givens in Justified needs to just stop whatever they are doing and jump on it.

While I rarely have faith in awards shows, and the exclusion of Sean Bean as an Emmy nominee for Best Actor does little to reassure me of their significance, I will say that the nomination of my favorite Marshal makes up for it. My love for this show goes beyond my appreciation of Raylan (though that alone would be enough to carry me) due to performances of the entire cast. It’s refreshing to see people using Southern accents that aren’t so obviously affected that you want ear bleach. Take it from me, people in KY and WV sound EXACTLY like that. The sounds, sights, and stories are things right out of our backyards.

Too bad Raylan’s not.

Fandom, TV

Miraculous

5,311 Comments

I had my doubts. After losing Owen and Ianto (not to mention Tosh), I wondered if Torchwood could come back engaging and strong. Torchwood: Miracle Day alleviates my concerns and has me positively giddy at Captain Jack Harkness and Gwen Cooper’s reunion. Throw in some Mekhi Phifer, and all is good with the world. Well, except for the whole “not able to die” thing.

My first observation from the premiere is that Bill Pullman has become Robert De Niro in Cape Fear. I challenge you to disagree. I had to do a couple of second takes (what’s that make, 4 takes?) to make sure it really was Pullman. Though we didn’t get to see that much of him, his backstory alone makes him a vile, vile creature. It’ll be interesting to see where he goes from here.

You can already see the hard choice that will have to be made at some point, and though I guess we can figure out what it will be, the results will be worth sticking around for.

For new fans of the show, I think the premiere sets up just enough Torchwood lore to educate and entertain. Sure I would have liked more reminiscing, but that would have destroyed the pace of the episode. My only complaint is that all the scenes with pretty blond Esther nearly did that. I’m not invested in her, at all, at this point. Maybe she’ll get in on the action a bit in the next episode. I certainly hope so, because otherwise? Snore.

Overall, I give Torchwood: Miracle Day a strong A. Can’t wait to see the rest of it!