Saturday 30 May 2015

RIP Derek Shepherd

So I was away for 5.5 weeks in April/May....so I missed all the season finales. I have spent this whole week catching up on TV, and am still behind. For the most part I stayed spoiler free, except for the death of Derek Shepherd on Grey's Anatomy.  Although, I did not know any of the specifics, what episode number, or the plot of the episode. But I watched all the episodes, and I am still mad.

I am mad because of all the years we have spent caring about Derek and Meredith. I am mad because in my mind they should have been able to be happy forever. Meredith has lost SO many people over the years. (which they didn't reference at all, which I felt was a mistake. I did not think it had to be all about her Mother). I am mad because Patrick Dempsey decided to leave the show, and killing Derek was really the only way to do that. I'm not mad at him, its been 11 years. If they had ended the show a few years ago I could have had my happy ending for them, which Meredith really deserved after all her dark and twisty years. 

I'm also sad. I'm sad to lose Derek. I'm sad for Meredith. My props to Ellen Pompeo. She was fantastic. I'm sad for Amelia. I'm sad that all the good characters/actors are leaving one by one and I don't like the new ones. (not including Amelia)
I hope they end Grey's Anatomy next season. Just so that we can wrap up and say goodbye to all the characters before it goes too far and we lose more good ones.
From the original cast we have Alex, Meredith, Bailey and Weber left now. I miss George, I miss Lexie and Sloan, I even miss Christina. I miss Addison and the rest of the PPP crew. This is not helped by having Amelia around. I love her (and Caterina Scorsone) so much, but I miss her friends from LA. I still love Arizona. I don't really care about Jackson, April, the new people (although Jo is growing on me), I don't even like Callie that much anymore. I have deal with Meredith's new sister, but please let this be the last one.

The had some great episodes this season. They have done good stories with the characters I still care about. I love the Alex stuff. While I don't like Hunt, I like Amelia having somebody. The plane crash ep was great, with Mere and Arizona trying to deal. The season finale was good. We got through the Derek stuff, I kinda like that Mere has a new baby. I liked the flashbacks, and the music from the early (good) years. I like that things ended in a good place for once. There is promise for next season. But I hope its the last.

I'm done. I've spent 11 years with these characters, and I'm ready to move on. But as long as the show keeps going, I will continue to watch, because I've already invested 11 years and I'm invested in these characters. Please let it go. Its time to move on, while its still decent and there is time to wrap it up properly. It will never be as good as the early years, its become too messy. For me Grey's went downhill after season 3, and only got back up to the good places a few times throughout the seasons since. I never in a million years expected it to go 11 seasons. Shows like Grey's just don't do that. ER had 15, but the cast changed over so much, because it was about the ER. Grey's at the end of the day is about Meredith.

Its time to let go.

-Carlie

Sunday 29 September 2013

ER - 15 Seasons

So I did it. I watched all 15 seasons of ER on dvd. It took 8 months...I started after Christmas. (Take time off for my Hawaii trip)

But I did it! I loved it now just as I did when it started. I pretty much grew up with ER. It started when I was just a kid, before George Clooney got old and only did movies. By the time it finished, I was in Uni.

While the first season had some great moments, its a bit dated now. As it went on the quality got better and they added more and more cast members and recurring characters. I love that some started pretty early on, like Anspaugh and Coburn. Then there were the nurses who hung around almost the entire time and were just as good as the main cast, but never got the credit like Chuni and Haleh!

It was sad when Clooney left and we had to say goodbye to Doug Ross...then Carol a season later. Slowly the original cast left...but they brought in many good characters to fill the void. Abby is still my fave ER character. She went through so much, and I'm still convinced that Abby was meant to be with Carter! By the end there were many awesome and memorable characters.

The quality of the episodes in the later seasons were JUST as intense as the early years. The season 12 finale had me dying for the next episode. Not many shows keep that up after 10 years!

The last season was great. They made many references to the old days. They had many of the oldies come back...including Mark Greene and Romano in a flashback! Course the ep with George Clooney and Julianna Margulies might be my fave!
The series finale was good....but not great. Nothing really happened. It was great that they brought back Lily and started the episode like the pilot. It was going along fine, but then instead of wrapping it all up....the camera just came out the doors and down the street. Essentially our window into that world was closed. It wasn't how I imagined it would end. I liked that Carter's hospital wing finally opened. But I always thought that they would close the ER...like they always threatened to throughout the years.

Anyways. It end ended well. Nothing was overly incomplete. The main characters were wrapped up well. And after 15 years you don't have that 'too soon' feeling. So it was good. The series stays in my heart forever...and is a huge part of TV history!

------------
Carlie

Monday 24 June 2013

Revolution Finale

So I was on a plane heading to Hawaii when the season finale of Revolution aired, so I only just got to watch it Saturday night when I got back.

Firstly...I have to say I am not sure I like the direction this show has taken in the 2nd half of the season. I loved the original concept with flashbacks and stories about how people survived and what happened after the blackout. I liked the old timey feel, with swords and crossbows. Then they got some power and found a whole heap of guns and ammo, and the swords were gone. They used a lot less flashbacks, and jumped a lot of things that could have played out on screen. It was all about turning the power on and less about answering the relationship questions and the whole concept of Monroe got where he is.
Don't get me wrong, I still LOVE the show. Rachel is an awesome character. But sometimes the others can be annoying. Charlie grew on me, but now she doesn't DO anything. I think the writing needs to be better for the second season. They need to flesh out the stories better, and not skip over things or rewrite history so much. Moving the story faster leads to less emotion and suspense...they need to work on this.

Now onto the final episode...

The montage of the 1st seasons moments...was odd, and made me miss Ben and the old stories and unresolved questions.
Monroe and Miles confuse the heck out of me. What is their drama?! Does Monroe just have a big old crush on Miles...or is he crazy?! The working together thing didn't work for me.

Rachel Rachel Rachel...if she's not trying to kill somebody, she's trying to get revenge for Danny and doing anything to get it done. To be fair...its not like Nora had a chance anyways. But I did like Charlie's speech to her mother about how Danny is not coming back and that she's still here.
I felt bad for Nora dying...and all, but once they decided to make a history for Rachel and Miles, she was kinda doomed. Oh and where did Nora get all the tools to build her bomb?! This is the kind of thing I'm talking about, we need to see these things so that the result make sense. Showing this could also build the drama....learn from Alias people.

Again I am bored with Neville. But I wonder if his taking control of the Republic will be a good thing or a bad thing. Especially with this mysterious President getting back into the loop.

Poor Aaron...they steal his code and use it to control the tower. Oh and like Rachel didn't know?! Puhlease.

Oh yeah...and they turned the power on. Yay?! I am not sure how things are going to work out now that its back on...and if it wasn't too early. I guess its not necessarily permanent. Time will only tell.

Not sure where we are headed next season. But I hope they take things slower. I hope they work on the relationships and go back to explaining the history through flashbacks. Especially as I would like to see more with Ben.

Sidenotes -
Can someone explain why Kim Raver's character is always dressed so fancy?! What do these Militia wives do?! Surely
Rachel is the only character that seems consistant....mostly because she can pretty much do anything to get what she wants!
Charlie's naievitay about the virtual back door to Aaron's code was hilarious. The show needs more moments like these from Charlie and Jason...who have grown up in a world without power and pop culture. The best line is still "What's a Boy Band?"
The people on this show need to watch Lost...and learn how people tend to look after living in the wild for years and years...can someone remind Charlie and Rachel that they don't have hairdryers!

Looking forward to season 2. Hope they get things right, because otherwise I doubt the show will make it to season 3.


--------------
Carlie

Wednesday 29 May 2013

Smash's Finale Bow

Well it finally happened, Smash's series finale was Monday (Sunday) and it was great, but I wish it was coming back.
It was a double, which softened the blow a little. We got the Tony Nominations in the first half, and then the awards in the 2nd.

I excited to see Brothers & Sisters' Luke MacFarlane (Scotty) in the ep, I've missed him since B & S ended.  -It was extra fun to have Ron Rifkin in there too, with his Sloane glasses. Also regular B & S director Michael Morris (husband of Mary McCormack) directed the first half. A Family affair.

It was also great to have more Bernadette Peters in the finale. I only wish we had got to play more with Ivy and her mother. Also wish we had been able to have more of her singing! But that's what the soundtrack is for.

I KNEW Ivy would win the Tony. I was wearing my 'Team Ivy' tshirt for good luck. Sorry Karen.
It was too funny when Julia and Tom talked right through being announced the winners. I'm glad Bombshell won for best musical...especially as it is what started the series in the beginning.

I'm glad they tied up a few loose ends. We had Derek's terrible treatment of Ana wrapped up...but unfortunately not until the other girl won a Tony for the role!
Tom and Julia were back together as a team.
Ivy's pregnancy storyline was never a good idea. But at least in a series finale it was usable.
Jimmy's storyline was wrapped up...sorta. The very quick backstory was a bit odd. But at least he showed up for Karen, and to accept Kyle's award. Poor Kyle.

The brought back Eileen's Nick. Which was kinda nice, but not entirely necessary. I was glad that Julia wrapped up things with Frank, and went to Michael Swift's door in the end though. I loved them together.

There was also plenty of good Jessica and Bobby stuff in these eps. I wish they had a spin off...Chorus Kids...or something.

There weren't many music numbers in the finale. But I did love the big group number with the whole cast including Jack Davenport..(which was odd). It was a nice goodbye to our cast. But it made me teary.
I loved the Hit List group number though. That was pretty.
The finale number with Karen and Ivy was good, but very bittersweet with all the references to another season. It just made me sad.

I guess overall Smash was complete. We started out with the idea of show, saw it grow through workshopping, casting issues, and then finally onto Broadway, and ending with Awards season...
It would have been nice to see what else could happen to our characters, but it doesn't feel like we were deprived on any important story-points. Just the promise of tomorrow.

Thanks, Megan, Katharine, Debra, Christian, Jeremy, Jack and Anjelica...and everyone else. Smash was something special and like all good things, will be greatly missed.

Hopefully I'll get a chance to see Megan Hilty on Broadway sometime soon!!!

-----
 Carlie

Thursday 23 May 2013

Revolution...Revolving

I started off really being interested in the whole concept of NBC's Revolution. I loved the idea of a world without power and technology. I liked the idea of bows and arrows, swords and knives. I bought into the Monroe Militia ruling everything. I also liked the journey of our characters venturing out in this world.

Then the 2nd half of season 1 happened...and it was all going great with flashbacks and Rachel on the loose. But the last few episodes have taken away a lot of the things that were great about the show in the first place. They found power way too easy...and then found the Georgia Federation. Which was a crazy cilvilized world with fancy clothes....and now they have all the guns they need. - What happened to the ammo shortage?!
I'm loving the Rachel and her quest to get to the tower with Aaron. Aaron being in this 'journal' is a little weird, but not completely crazy.

Don't get me wrong, I'm loving the show. I love Miles, Rachel, Aaron, Monroe, and even Charlie has grown on me now that she's not pouting so much.
But they seem to have lost the history. They have stopped including flashbacks, of how our characters got to where we found them at the start of the season. One of the biggest questions I have is why Miles left the Militia. Because that seemed to be important once upon a time. But we seem to have skipped over a lot of stuff. I was interested in how people settled and lived after the power outage. The action packed stuff is nice, but I miss the swords and arrows.

This week's episode did not thrill me. We seemed to have moved too fast, and we are skipping over stuff that should be dragged out.
Firstly, Nora was being held hostage for 20 something days...and Miles was sitting on his ass?! We don't know because they never showed it. I was disappointed in him for not rescuing her sooner. I mean...they found Danny!!! I bet if it was Rachel or Charlie he would have fought harder.
Anyways...also that could have filled a whole episode. But nope it was over in 13 minutes!
Then they ventured off to Colorado in a helicopter to save Rachel (and Aaron... : ( but nobody cares about him sadly) from Monroe who flew there with Randall and an army. - Good plan...also pity nobody gave Rachel a helicopter!

Then they are running out of fuel, and have to land...and then one of them is killing them off one by one...again this could have been a whole episode in itself. It turns out to be Miles' old buddy Jim who really isn't that important or interesting...and he's dead.
So then Miles is back on his way to Colorado....where Rachel walks into Monroe's tent in uniform with a grenade with the intent on blowing up Monroe so that Aaron can get into The Tower.

It was a lot for 1 episode. And I know they wanted to move things along...but I worry its going too fast. Bring back the flashbacks and the human interest that it started with.

Anyways..there were some good things in the ep. "MILF-y sister in-law" might be one of the best lines in a while.
I also loved 'The Others' inside the Tower. Who the heck are these people?!
Elizabeth Mitchell steals every scene she's in. Rachel's stuff is the best thing by far in every episode. 

Here's hoping next week's episode is better.

------------
Carlie

Saturday 18 May 2013

TV Returning and Those Bidding Adeiu

So its that time of year again....the tv networks have made their decisions on which shows they are bringing back next year and which are cancelled.

The worst news was that SMASH has not been picked up for a 3rd season. I'm crushed...but not at all surpised, seeing as it didn't rate well this year and was moved to Saturday nights in the US.
I love Megan Hilty, Debra Messing, and the whole cast...but this year was missing something that it had in the first season. I would have loved to have 1 more season for them to find that again.
RIP SMASH. - Looking forward to Megan working more though, will have to make an effort to get to NYC to see her on Broadway sometime if thats where she goes.

Go On was also cancelled, but I never really loved it. It was getting good though by the end of the season. Oh Matthew Perry...so many 1 season series...and I will watch whatever you do next.

I was really surprised that Community got another season, but I'm glad they have!
All my other important shows have been picked up so yay!!! Revolution has a 2nd season, I'm really excited about that. Its been really good lately, but I hope they continue with the flashbacks. I'm intrigued by how Miles became this General, and then how he changed and left Monroe in charge.

Parenthood is coming back for a full 22 episode season, which is fantastic! After all those short seasons it will be great to have a longer one. It might be the last one we get potentially, so at least there will be plenty of time to wrap it up.

Nashville is also coming back. But I don't have a lot of luck with shows going longer than 2 seasons, so I won't get my hopes up. But its been getting really good lately. But I still don't care about the politics part, so less of that would be good.

There are also lots of new shows that have been announced. I've been watching the trailers for them, some look good, but not tons. I'll write about them later.

----------------
Carlie


Thursday 2 May 2013

LOST Finale Relived & Other TV

So Ness and I finished rewatching LOST on Saturday night. The ending was bad...probably worse than I remembered. But for me it was still worth all of it for the scene with Sawyer and Juliet! They got points for bringing back Boon and Shannon and Charlie. But the whole ending was crazy. They should have just left it on the island and let them go home. Oh well...it was still a great show on a whole.

In other more recent tv news...

Revolution has not been as good the last two weeks on a whole. They have split up the group into Aaron and Rachel, and Miles, Charlie and Nora...and occasionally we see the Nevilles and Monroe.
Last week Rachel went to find yet another old friend that is involved in this power outage mess. -Wish they'd stop doing the...oh Rachel happens to know another random person that knows how to turn the lights back on...thing. Its getting old.
I agree with people complaining about these 2 bit characters they keep bringing in...we don't care. If its not about the main group/s, or involving them a lot it doesn't matter to me.
I don't care about Aaron's wife....sorry, but I don't. But maybe now that Aaron has run into her again, he can get over it and stop being such a whinger.
Speaking of Aaron...Elizabeth Mitchell was pretty much a glorified extra this week. Seriously...more flashbacks please...explaining what the heck was going on with Rachel back in the day, and Ben and Miles...Its a mess! Plus I want to know more about why Bass kept her hostage.
Didn't care about the Miles/Bass/Emma storyline much....maybe the fact that Monroe has a son will have some impact on the rest of the season...but the rest was kinda boring. Miles went alone as ordered...the others turned up of course and saved his hide...
Notes for this week - where did Rachel and Charlie find the hairbrushes and shampoo...and hairdryers?! -why the heck do the people in Georgia dress like they are going to the office/church after all this time with no power and how do they keep them clean and pressed?! - Hurry up with the backstories!

The Good Wife wrapped up for the season this week. In a great twist Alicia made out with Will then agreed to team up with Cary to open a new firm. Its gonna be sooooo good next season! I was also cool that they brought back Martha Plimpton. Her character is great fun. It was also great to have Mamie Gummer in the show the other week. The Good Wife has THE BEST and the most guest stars!

Smash has been really good lately too. Which sucks cause it is probably not getting another season...but I would be sooooo happy if it did!
I love Jeremy Jordan, but Jimmy is really annoying. He doesn't really seem to have any good qualities..and I find myself not caring about him at all.

 The Big C is back. Its good that they are doing double length episodes. But there are only going to be 4 eps to wrap it all up. The first one was sad, but great. Can't wait to see how it all fits together in the last 3.

I finished off Parenthood season 3 this week too. I love the show, but on a whole its not the kind that I watch episodes over and over. However it was fun to rewatch it all, and will fill the void till its back later in the year. - thank goodness its been picked up for another season!

I also borrowed Significant Others from Vanessa and watched all 6 episodes this week....just for a little more Elizabeth Mitchell overdose. Jennifer Garner was sooo little...I forgot that it was that old, 1998 is a million years ago! I thought it was around 2000. Anyways...good cast, and had good moments, but overall was slow and the stories didn't connect that well. I had a few notes that I thought of while I was watching: 1) With Jennifer, Elizabeth, Michael Whetherly, and Eion Bailey - I thought give them all guns, it would be interesting - based other shows they have all been in. 2) Between LOST and Revolution I wish Elizabeth's character wasn't married to another BEN! Sorry Tim Guinee...but Michael Whetherly is way prettier than you! lol. 3) Even though I watched it years ago back in the mid 2000's I remembered a fair bit of it.

-------------
Carlie