Yet more telly stuff

[shapinglight]

Okay, I know no one's really interested in what I've been watching on the telly, but I thought I'd just tell you anyway.

Slight spoilers within for The Good Wife season 1 and SPN, up to season 1 ep5 (and please no spoilers for anything later).



Yesterday was the day I officially fell in love with The Good Wife. That this coincided with the first appearance of Alan Cummings in the show isn't a coincidence (can you say that?). His character is utterly horrid and I love him. It also amuses me no end that Zack's nasty girlfriend referred to the Sainted!Alicia in her spiteful tweets as 'Saint Alicia.' I was sure I couldn't be the only one who had noticed. Not that I dislike Alicia. I actually like her quite a lot. She has a similar quality to Dana Scully in a way - a sort of understated courage, which I enjoy. Diane's really grown on me too, and I love her relationship with Will. Very grown up. Also, the to-and-fro with the Sarah Palin-loving ballistics expert was great. In fact, the scripts in general in this show are great, funny and literate. It all feels very contemporary and relevant.

I don't think I'm going to be an Alicia/Will 'shipper, though. Strange to say, I like Peter Florick, even though he's an utter bastard. I want Alicia and him to stay together. For now, anyway.

As for SPN, I've got through two more eps of season 1. dwyld advised me to skip Bloody Mary because of my self-proclaimed squeamishness (and I'm particularly squeamish about eyes). However, unfotunately, I'm not someone who can do that. If I'm going to watch something, I have to watch it all. So I watched the ep but fast-forwarded through the gory bits, though not the bit at the end, because I knew Bloody Mary wasn't going to kill the short one or the one with the weird nose, so it was okay to watch that part. Actually, I found it rather...boring. The only interesting bit was the one with the weird nose's prophetic dreams and his vision of - was it meant to be his girlfriend? -at the end. See, that there is a big problem. The one with the weird nose has this big Thing about the dead girlfriend (or so it looks to me at this early stage),he states her death is his reason for giving up college and going off to try and find his father, yet the woman was nothing but a bland blonde bimbo with zero personality. As such, it's hard to care about her, and hard to believe that the one with the weird nose cares about her either. And yes, I know for those of you who love the show it's probably rather irritating to see me refer to him this way, but to be honest, I find the decision to name the characters Sam and Dean irritating bordering on precious. I daresay I'll get over it.

The ep I watched yesterday was the plane crash one, which wasn't scary at all, even though I hate flying, and which made no sense. I mean, they made it clear the plane crash demon was possessing people who had a weakness - like fear of flying. Why go for the co-pilot and not for the obvious candidate (the short one) at the end there? It felt contrived.

Onwards and (hopefully) upwards.

Comments

[liliaeth]

Just wondering, but what's the problem with Sam and Dean's names? I guess I don't see anything particularly weird about either name.

[shapinglight]

I can't really explain it. I'll have to try and cope with it by reversing the usual order, I think.

[ningloreth.livejournal.com]

Alan Cummings! Yay!

The ballistics expert (Gary Cole)! Yay!

[shapinglight]

That was Gary Cole? Blimey, didn't recognise him with that beard.

[bogwitch.livejournal.com]

The early eps are a bit of a slog, especially the first time round. It does get better.

[shapinglight]

The early eps are a bit of a slog, especially the first time round. It does get better.

I hope so. The one I watched today was dire. I haven't a single good thing to say about it.

[liliaeth]

you didn't like ep six? Not to say it's great, but it's always been a bit of a guilty pleasure for me. ;-)

[shapinglight]

I thought it was by far the worst ep. It made all the ones I've watched so far look like works of genius in comparison.

[liliaeth]

aww, but you get some deeper insight into Dean, you get Dean wanted by the cops, you get Sam instantly realizing he's dealing with the shifter instead of his brother...

Not saying the ep's perfect, far from it, but the character bits of it are pretty decent.

[shapinglight]

Well, if I ever get to like either of the two boys maybe I won't find it quite so excruciating.

[liliaeth]

I guess it helps that for me, I always see Dean as being very similar to Spike, which instantly got me into liking him.

[yourlibrarian]

Why go for the co-pilot and not for the obvious candidate (the short one) at the end there? It felt contrived.

Yes, unfortunately a lot of the writing is pretty contrived. As for Jess, you're also right that the audience has to read a lot into the relationship because the show does a lot of telling rather than showing.

I'm also kind of curious what's striking you odd about Sam and Dean's names though.

[shapinglight]

As for Jess, you're also right that the audience has to read a lot into the relationship because the show does a lot of telling rather than showing.

It would've helped if she'd survived for more than one episode. As it is, I just find myself not believing that Sam can be so cut up about her. I keep thinking that his real motivation for going on the road with Dean has to be something else. The dead girlfriend is just an excuse.

[yourlibrarian]

In a way you're not wrong about that. In the original pilot, Jess lived and continued on through the season in a long distance relationship with Sam. However as the series goes on the reason for Jess' death gets filled out a little more, so ...

[shapinglight]

Ah, so essentially she remains a plot point? I suppose if she ever appears again - as a ghost/in flashbacks/whatever- that might help fill in the emotional blanks.

[ex_peasant441]

I second all the people wondering what on earth you find objectionable in the names.

It's hard to reassure or agree with you on other matters without spoiling you. I can only reiterate you have to plug on before it improves.

Incidentally the short one is 6'1" so don't be too rude about him. He only looks short because JP is ridiculously tall.

[shapinglight]

Incidentally the short one is 6'1" so don't be too rude about him.

It's rude to say someone is short?