The Good Wife and other telly stuff
May. 2nd, 2014 01:55 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
shapinglightHaven't mentioned The Good Wife in a while.
Spoilers for The Good Wife and Agents of SHIELD behind cut. I am not kind about Agents of SHIELD, so if you love the show, best not read.
Than which there could not be two more contrasting shows.
One is about lawyers, features a strong cast of very good actors, has (for the most part) great stories. They're still struggling for something for Kalinda to do, in the wake of the Nasty Nick the abusive Brit husband fiasco (I think they brought in that dodgy Irish lawyer specially as an antagonist for her, but if so, it's really not working for me, and besides the guy is even more of a jerk than Nasty Nick, because unlike Nasty Nick, he's an intelligent jerk. I just want Kalinda to kill him), but Kalinda's storyline aside, the show is as clever and well-written as always, even if most of the action takes place in courtrooms with lawyers snarking at each other.
I've just watched the episode with Alicia's keynote speech to the lawyers' conference - a terrific episode that managed to flashback to the early days of the show without using any old footage at all (so not like those cheap, one-a-series, ST:tNG flashback episodes), and which included a sort of reconciliation between her and Will. Having been accidentally (and very annoyingly for me) spoilered about a certain upcoming event, that moment was very bittersweet for me, even though I've never 'shipped them. This episode also contained something that is always a plus - a guest appearance from my favourite lawyer recurring character, Elizabeth Tascioni.
Completely brilliant, and very much a show for adults.
Marvel's Agents of SHIELD, by contrast, appears to be aimed at the fanboy demographic, and is consequently an actionfest. Which, fine, there's room on TV for all kinds of shows. BtVS was a teen show, after all (though the seminal, pop-culture moment-ness of it meant it spilled out of the box it was placed in). Thing is, though action-y comic-book-based fare is perfectly fine, surely that should mean it shouldn't be boring? MAoS is boring as hell. The characters are boring (apart from Coulson and he can't save the show on his own), the action scenes are boring. The plot is boring. I don't care if this Steven Seagal lookalike works for Hydra. I don't even care who Hydra are. Let them and SHIELD wipe each other out. The world would be better off without them all.
I don't care either if Agent Boring As Hell Tall Bloke Whose Name I Can't Even Remember is working for Hydra or not (I suspect he's pretending and actually shot those other SHIELD agents with one of those night-night guns, which the show was careful to reintroduce in the last episode I saw just in case the audience had forgotten about them - but either way I still don't care).
Really can't understand how this show can have failed so badly.
Except that these are the same people who were showrunning Dollhouse season 2, and that was a car crash in slow motion.
It was never this boring, though.
Spoilers for The Good Wife and Agents of SHIELD behind cut. I am not kind about Agents of SHIELD, so if you love the show, best not read.
Than which there could not be two more contrasting shows.
One is about lawyers, features a strong cast of very good actors, has (for the most part) great stories. They're still struggling for something for Kalinda to do, in the wake of the Nasty Nick the abusive Brit husband fiasco (I think they brought in that dodgy Irish lawyer specially as an antagonist for her, but if so, it's really not working for me, and besides the guy is even more of a jerk than Nasty Nick, because unlike Nasty Nick, he's an intelligent jerk. I just want Kalinda to kill him), but Kalinda's storyline aside, the show is as clever and well-written as always, even if most of the action takes place in courtrooms with lawyers snarking at each other.
I've just watched the episode with Alicia's keynote speech to the lawyers' conference - a terrific episode that managed to flashback to the early days of the show without using any old footage at all (so not like those cheap, one-a-series, ST:tNG flashback episodes), and which included a sort of reconciliation between her and Will. Having been accidentally (and very annoyingly for me) spoilered about a certain upcoming event, that moment was very bittersweet for me, even though I've never 'shipped them. This episode also contained something that is always a plus - a guest appearance from my favourite lawyer recurring character, Elizabeth Tascioni.
Completely brilliant, and very much a show for adults.
Marvel's Agents of SHIELD, by contrast, appears to be aimed at the fanboy demographic, and is consequently an actionfest. Which, fine, there's room on TV for all kinds of shows. BtVS was a teen show, after all (though the seminal, pop-culture moment-ness of it meant it spilled out of the box it was placed in). Thing is, though action-y comic-book-based fare is perfectly fine, surely that should mean it shouldn't be boring? MAoS is boring as hell. The characters are boring (apart from Coulson and he can't save the show on his own), the action scenes are boring. The plot is boring. I don't care if this Steven Seagal lookalike works for Hydra. I don't even care who Hydra are. Let them and SHIELD wipe each other out. The world would be better off without them all.
I don't care either if Agent Boring As Hell Tall Bloke Whose Name I Can't Even Remember is working for Hydra or not (I suspect he's pretending and actually shot those other SHIELD agents with one of those night-night guns, which the show was careful to reintroduce in the last episode I saw just in case the audience had forgotten about them - but either way I still don't care).
Really can't understand how this show can have failed so badly.
Except that these are the same people who were showrunning Dollhouse season 2, and that was a car crash in slow motion.
It was never this boring, though.
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no subject
Date: 2014-05-02 02:34 pm (UTC)I love this show! It's one of the best things on TV at the moment. I, too, got slightly spoiled (meaning I knew something major had happened, but not exactly what), so have already seen the episode in question. The 'event' was all over the internet which made it virtually impossible to miss, so I decided to watch it before I got too spoiled! So yes, this week's ep was definitely bittersweet.
Still need to catch up on your GoT review. :)
no subject
Date: 2014-05-04 02:25 pm (UTC)I would have, Cal. Just been too bloomin' tired to make the effort. It's a great show, isn't it?
I am wondering how they'll cope with the Upcoming Event given what a major game changer it will be, but I'm reasonably confident the show can weather it.
Still need to catch up on your GoT review. :)
I'm beginning to wonder if I should carry on with them, to be honest. The backlash seems to be building.
no subject
Date: 2014-05-06 12:25 am (UTC)I noticed that. I try to stay away from the fandom side of GoT as much as I can tbh, as there do seem to be a lot of strong opinions about various characters. I enjoy the show too much to allow myself to get too caught up in it all! I hope you do continue with your reviews, though. :)
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Date: 2014-05-06 06:43 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2014-05-02 02:40 pm (UTC)I feel my eyes getting heavy 10 mins into the damn thing every flaming week.
no subject
Date: 2014-05-04 02:28 pm (UTC)I agree. In fact, I think this is their main problem. I put it down to poor writing. A few bits of dodgy acting shouldn't drag the show down so far it can't get up again (Angel in BtVS season 1, for instance), but in this case some decent(ish) actors, such as Clark Gregg, as being done a big disservice by the writing.
no subject
Date: 2014-05-02 03:26 pm (UTC)I mean Scandal has become a massive, ridiculous trainwreck, but you can at least make good fun of it.
Agents of Shield is just borrrrring.
no subject
Date: 2014-05-04 02:30 pm (UTC)It is. I think I keep watching because I still can't believe a Joss show could almost send me to sleep.
Do you watch The Good Wife at all?
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Date: 2014-05-02 05:56 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2014-05-04 02:31 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2014-05-03 05:32 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2014-05-04 02:33 pm (UTC)Or both. ;)
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Date: 2014-05-03 02:06 pm (UTC)So this episode was bittersweet for me, too, especially as I did ship them. I've been thinking about what you said a while back -- that you didn't think Alicia loved Will -- and I'm not sure she actually loves anyone, aside from her kids and her brother (whom I adore!); I don't think she's built that way. But I liked what the writers said about Will & Alicia: that you could put them on different continents and they'd still be drawn to each other.
As for MAoS, I don't find it as boring as you do, and I like all of the main characters except Mr Barbie Doll -- I think you're right about the shootings, btw, but I wish you weren't! I think they really hamstrung themselves with the series because a) they have to keep it in sync with the films, and b) they can't afford to use any of the actual Avengers... It would take Shakespeare himself to pull that off.
no subject
Date: 2014-05-04 02:42 pm (UTC)Yeah, I'm not sure I would have wanted to be shocked like that.
I think you're right about Alicia, though I think she loves her mum too, and has feelings for both Peter and Will, though I wouldn't categorise them as love.
As for MAoS, I don't find it as boring as you do, and I like all of the main characters except Mr Barbie Doll -- I think you're right about the shootings, btw, but I wish you weren't!
I read what people are saying about the latest US aired episode and now I'm not sure I'm right after all. Mind you, being evil is about the only thing that would make Ward even a teeny bit interesting.
no subject
Date: 2014-05-03 07:52 pm (UTC)Definitely going to watch 'The Good Wife' one day. Just have too much telly to watch at the moment - it all seems to have started at once.
no subject
Date: 2014-05-04 02:43 pm (UTC)