Between Seasons
Oct. 8th, 2009 12:34 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
emeraldstagI can't believe it's been over two months since I last talked TV (guess that's what happens when you're MIA for a whole month, lol). And I've made a lot of progress (finishing 5 seasons of the 6 shows I was watching) just in time for new seasons to start up this Fall and Winter.
I'll start with the show I doubt we'll be seeing new episodes from any time soon if at all, Spectacular Spider-Man. With season 3 in limbo, it was a bittersweet moment when I finished the entirety of season 2 and knew there was no more to watch for the time being. I was glad that they did not do as I feared and limited Venom's influence to a couple of episodes in the middle of the season. Early in the season I was angry at Peter for how he was acting but as the season went on at least they made him into an equal-opportunity letdown when it came to everyone he knew. I did notice that Aunt May seemed to be barely in some of the episodes, and I'm glad there was a bit more Gwen around than at the end of season 1. I totally wasn't expecting the Liz relationship jump after her being cute with Peter in S1, but it was pretty enjoyable outside of Peter being unavailable as usual.
Gwen's makeover halfway through S2 had her looking more like herself in other mediums but by the end I was missing her glasses and geeky!Gwen. And as much as I'd like to hate Harry for how he manipulated Gwen's emotions to stay with him, he's had a pretty crappy life growing up with Norman Osborn as a dad and he felt like being selfish. Also I'm sure if there is a S3 the producers want to prolong the tease of Peter/Gwen as long as they can because for some reason any relationship in a superhero universe just makes the story and characters stale. *rolls eyes* The Norman switch really caught me off guard, I had no expectation that they'd tie the first season in and I was already guessing that maybe Mrs. Osborn was behind the mask (after the twist they did with Felicia's dad being involved with Ben Parker's death). If anything the show has inspired me to want to continue that Spiderman story I started a few years back and maybe even throw in a few SSMverse fics too - I have an idea or two. :)
Another show waiting for its next season would be Chuck. I'm currently halfway through season two and am loving every episode as I watch them and laugh along. The antics of John Casey, Awesome, with a sprinkling in of Agent Carmichael have kept me giggling and helped me ignore whenever the storyline throws a wrench into Chuck/Sarah. First Bryce shows up and then in one of the last episodes I watched, Chuck witnessed Sarah take out that Fulcrum agent. Jill was a heartbreaking story arc, but I quickly guessed she was CIA too when I thought about how smart she was, that she went to Stanford and was connected to Bryce Larkin. Still when they did that montage at the end of the episode where Casey & Sarah were noting the Fulcrum agents and Jill/Chuck were fooling around. The only thing I also didn't like about the first half of season 2 were the amount of times Chuck was careless about his wellbeing, but he seems to be getting better about that and I hope to finish S2 sometime next month. Also I really noticed that Anna seems to be the one credits character with the fewest amount of appearances so far in S2, and I wonder if they even touch on Morgan/Anna after he saw Lester kiss her at Christmas.
There seems to only be a small fanbase around Iron Man: Armored Adventures but I am certainly one of them. 18 episodes into the first season and it's been action packed and fun for the most part. It doesn't have the humor or coupling like SSM does but it does have a distinct look and when I was at ToysRus a month ago and ran across DVDs of the failed MTV Spider-Man cartoon, I realized that it must've been a starting ground for this type of animation because as that was jerky and rough, this is much smoother and visually appealing. As this is a Marvel property it's been a pain in the ass to find anyway to see it online if you miss the airing, but finally I found this site where I watched the last episode that I hadn't seen. In regards to the story, I think Pepper's energetic youth is adorable, but I don't care one bit about Gene who is in control of the Mandarin armor and rings (after Tony finds them and solves the challenges). If anything the show has kept my Iron Man interest alive for next summer when IM2 comes out.
Perhaps my favorite show of the bunch would have to be Legend of the Seeker. I finished the first season just a few days ago and I am itching to see what the new season brings and I really want to read the book series the show is based on. Some of the episodes suffered from predictable story points that kept the plot of the story going. At times that got frustrating, like the episode with the artist and painting Kahlan or sending the library into the painting army and all inside. Or the one with Richard's sister getting amnesia and Darken Rahl using half-truths from Richard's time with the boxes of Orden to turn her against the Seeker.
There was also something that happened (or technically didn't) in the season finale that had me shaking my head in disbelief. Kahlan becoming Queen and having an heir with Rahl in the hopes of having a confessor around when Richard appears in the future was just another example of a trend lately with stories where the villain ends up with the girl instead/before the hero. I've started to develop an interest in the Mord-Siths and their interaction with the seeker. It started with Denna and then with Cara in the finale, where I'll be looking forward to any episode they or others show up and cross paths with Richard, Kahlan and Zedd. I was surprised to see Rahl's end in the finale but I would not be surprised if there is a ressurection or a clone/twin brother instead of it just being some new villain.
An underrated show in my eyes is Star Wars: Clone Wars. The best thing of the show is that it just doesn't rely on the main characters from the prequel movies but new characters as well as side characters and giving them new dimensions and interesting personalities. I'm looking forward to the second season that started last week! (missed it but going to catch up tomorrow) I've heard they were cutting down on the droid army gags and it was going to be a bit darker but I hope that doesn't mess with the magic of the show. I didn't mind the silliness that they added every now and then to the story. The best original character for the show has to be Ahsoka Tano, the idea of Anakin having a padawan was strange when the show first started but I've grown to love the new character and the situation has ignited my SW writing muse thinking of ways that she could have survived through Order 66. Will i ever have the time to write it, I doubt it, but it's there.
Lastly on my viewing list was Merlin which I watched on NBC during the summer. I was mixed on the show for most of it, but the last few episodes really were fantastic in my eyes: Merlin creating Excalibur, the Unicorn tests that Merlin & Arthur went through, Morgana almost killing Uther, and then all the self-sacrificing going on in the finale. I don't know what I want to see in the second season (I know has started but haven't had a chance to check it out till maybe this weekend) but I'm hoping the intensity and togetherness continues from the latter half of the first season.
I'll be starting on Merlin season 2 this weekend, still on S2 of Chuck, S1 of Iron Man, starting Star Wars Clone Wars S2 tomorrow, waiting for the Seeker S2 premiere (in Nov?) and hoping for a third season to Spider-Man. In prime time I'm really only watching Supernatural & Smallville. I wanted to watch Community but I've missed the first few and need to catch up on it. But I am thinking of starting a few other shows as these slots open up, I'm looking at Mad Men, True Blood, Dollhouse & Friday Night Lights - we'll see if I get a chance to try any of them any time soon.
Before I go I wanted to wish a happy birthday to![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
mia_chan, I hope your day was to your liking and you have a good time celebrating. :)
I'll start with the show I doubt we'll be seeing new episodes from any time soon if at all, Spectacular Spider-Man. With season 3 in limbo, it was a bittersweet moment when I finished the entirety of season 2 and knew there was no more to watch for the time being. I was glad that they did not do as I feared and limited Venom's influence to a couple of episodes in the middle of the season. Early in the season I was angry at Peter for how he was acting but as the season went on at least they made him into an equal-opportunity letdown when it came to everyone he knew. I did notice that Aunt May seemed to be barely in some of the episodes, and I'm glad there was a bit more Gwen around than at the end of season 1. I totally wasn't expecting the Liz relationship jump after her being cute with Peter in S1, but it was pretty enjoyable outside of Peter being unavailable as usual.
Gwen's makeover halfway through S2 had her looking more like herself in other mediums but by the end I was missing her glasses and geeky!Gwen. And as much as I'd like to hate Harry for how he manipulated Gwen's emotions to stay with him, he's had a pretty crappy life growing up with Norman Osborn as a dad and he felt like being selfish. Also I'm sure if there is a S3 the producers want to prolong the tease of Peter/Gwen as long as they can because for some reason any relationship in a superhero universe just makes the story and characters stale. *rolls eyes* The Norman switch really caught me off guard, I had no expectation that they'd tie the first season in and I was already guessing that maybe Mrs. Osborn was behind the mask (after the twist they did with Felicia's dad being involved with Ben Parker's death). If anything the show has inspired me to want to continue that Spiderman story I started a few years back and maybe even throw in a few SSMverse fics too - I have an idea or two. :)
Another show waiting for its next season would be Chuck. I'm currently halfway through season two and am loving every episode as I watch them and laugh along. The antics of John Casey, Awesome, with a sprinkling in of Agent Carmichael have kept me giggling and helped me ignore whenever the storyline throws a wrench into Chuck/Sarah. First Bryce shows up and then in one of the last episodes I watched, Chuck witnessed Sarah take out that Fulcrum agent. Jill was a heartbreaking story arc, but I quickly guessed she was CIA too when I thought about how smart she was, that she went to Stanford and was connected to Bryce Larkin. Still when they did that montage at the end of the episode where Casey & Sarah were noting the Fulcrum agents and Jill/Chuck were fooling around. The only thing I also didn't like about the first half of season 2 were the amount of times Chuck was careless about his wellbeing, but he seems to be getting better about that and I hope to finish S2 sometime next month. Also I really noticed that Anna seems to be the one credits character with the fewest amount of appearances so far in S2, and I wonder if they even touch on Morgan/Anna after he saw Lester kiss her at Christmas.
There seems to only be a small fanbase around Iron Man: Armored Adventures but I am certainly one of them. 18 episodes into the first season and it's been action packed and fun for the most part. It doesn't have the humor or coupling like SSM does but it does have a distinct look and when I was at ToysRus a month ago and ran across DVDs of the failed MTV Spider-Man cartoon, I realized that it must've been a starting ground for this type of animation because as that was jerky and rough, this is much smoother and visually appealing. As this is a Marvel property it's been a pain in the ass to find anyway to see it online if you miss the airing, but finally I found this site where I watched the last episode that I hadn't seen. In regards to the story, I think Pepper's energetic youth is adorable, but I don't care one bit about Gene who is in control of the Mandarin armor and rings (after Tony finds them and solves the challenges). If anything the show has kept my Iron Man interest alive for next summer when IM2 comes out.
Perhaps my favorite show of the bunch would have to be Legend of the Seeker. I finished the first season just a few days ago and I am itching to see what the new season brings and I really want to read the book series the show is based on. Some of the episodes suffered from predictable story points that kept the plot of the story going. At times that got frustrating, like the episode with the artist and painting Kahlan or sending the library into the painting army and all inside. Or the one with Richard's sister getting amnesia and Darken Rahl using half-truths from Richard's time with the boxes of Orden to turn her against the Seeker.
There was also something that happened (or technically didn't) in the season finale that had me shaking my head in disbelief. Kahlan becoming Queen and having an heir with Rahl in the hopes of having a confessor around when Richard appears in the future was just another example of a trend lately with stories where the villain ends up with the girl instead/before the hero. I've started to develop an interest in the Mord-Siths and their interaction with the seeker. It started with Denna and then with Cara in the finale, where I'll be looking forward to any episode they or others show up and cross paths with Richard, Kahlan and Zedd. I was surprised to see Rahl's end in the finale but I would not be surprised if there is a ressurection or a clone/twin brother instead of it just being some new villain.
An underrated show in my eyes is Star Wars: Clone Wars. The best thing of the show is that it just doesn't rely on the main characters from the prequel movies but new characters as well as side characters and giving them new dimensions and interesting personalities. I'm looking forward to the second season that started last week! (missed it but going to catch up tomorrow) I've heard they were cutting down on the droid army gags and it was going to be a bit darker but I hope that doesn't mess with the magic of the show. I didn't mind the silliness that they added every now and then to the story. The best original character for the show has to be Ahsoka Tano, the idea of Anakin having a padawan was strange when the show first started but I've grown to love the new character and the situation has ignited my SW writing muse thinking of ways that she could have survived through Order 66. Will i ever have the time to write it, I doubt it, but it's there.
Lastly on my viewing list was Merlin which I watched on NBC during the summer. I was mixed on the show for most of it, but the last few episodes really were fantastic in my eyes: Merlin creating Excalibur, the Unicorn tests that Merlin & Arthur went through, Morgana almost killing Uther, and then all the self-sacrificing going on in the finale. I don't know what I want to see in the second season (I know has started but haven't had a chance to check it out till maybe this weekend) but I'm hoping the intensity and togetherness continues from the latter half of the first season.
I'll be starting on Merlin season 2 this weekend, still on S2 of Chuck, S1 of Iron Man, starting Star Wars Clone Wars S2 tomorrow, waiting for the Seeker S2 premiere (in Nov?) and hoping for a third season to Spider-Man. In prime time I'm really only watching Supernatural & Smallville. I wanted to watch Community but I've missed the first few and need to catch up on it. But I am thinking of starting a few other shows as these slots open up, I'm looking at Mad Men, True Blood, Dollhouse & Friday Night Lights - we'll see if I get a chance to try any of them any time soon.
Before I go I wanted to wish a happy birthday to
mia_chan, I hope your day was to your liking and you have a good time celebrating. :)