Saturday, April 13, 2013

Misfire


Arrow: Okay, this show has definitely gotten better as it's progressed and the last few episodes have been rather stunning. The development of Roy as a soon to be regular has been nice, even if he did seem to get caught in the crossfire with The Saviour a little too quickly but I think it's been the turn with Tommy and Malcolm's growing influence on him that's been truly gripping and the more Oliver related flashbacks we get are also a welcome for me too.


Game Of Thrones: While Mad Men seems unable to attract viewers for SkyAtlantic, the third season of HBO's ratings juggernaut certainly seems to have no problem with getting them in spades. The first two episodes of Season 3 have been confident and pretty focused with some standout characters in the form of Margaery Tyrell and her grandmother, Olenna, a woman who certainly doesn't mince her words along with fellow seer Jojen Reed and wildling king Mance Rayder, all of whom are injecting some brilliant moments in the storylines concerning King's Landing, Jon Snow and Bran while Daenerys's plotline in Astapor is something of a tiny improvement from her antics in Quarth. An excellent start to what promises to be one hell of a defining season for the show.


Glee: I admire this show's attempts to do a hot button topic episode but I would've admired Shooting Star a lot more if some backstory and solid build up and motivation had been placed within preceding episodes. Becky's sudden antics with a gun, scaring the kids into mad paranoia and ultimately having Sue fired when she covered up for her was some of the worst examples of sloppy writing we've seen from the show. It's no wonder this episode got a bit of pasting from fans and critics alike. The idea itself was a good one to explore but the lack of thought put behind it ultimately became it's undoing and that's in spite of the fact that from an acting perspective, all of the cast truly delivered. Next time it would be nice if the show writers just thought things through before doing an episode like this.


Once Upon A Time: With the final four episodes due to air soon and a spin-off in the works, the last episode that aired was something of a mixed bag. August has been savagely underused this season and I really didn't like that he was given a reset of sorts but at the same time, Tamara will hopefully be a much more looming threat for the Storybrooke residents in a way that both Cora and Hook haven't been. I'm definitely interested in seeing what's going on with her and if the show manages to give her a backstory that has minimal involvement (or none at all) from either Regina or Gold, then I'll be even more pleased. Overall, an uneven episode but hopefully the next four more than make up for it.


The Vampire Diaries: Another show with an imminent spin-off in the works, there's a part of me that is really looking forward to a mostly Klaus free fifth season if The Originals gets picked up. While he's been slightly less annoying than usual (not by a great margin), I still don't really like the idea of Caroline actually helping him out, even though at least we're getting some progress on the Silas front and seeing an emotionless Elena is a lot fun that her usual moping. At the same time, it's often hard to seperate the new guilt free Elena from Katherine. I also enjoyed the New York episode we had with Damon and Elena as well but I'm still kind of annoyed that we lost Jeremy and that yet again, Tyler has been driven out of town by Klaus too.


- In news that won't shock anyone, it seems that the CW have pulled the plug on Cult.
- Alfre Woodard has joined the cast of the second season of BBCAmerica drama, Copper.
- The Vampire Diaries have cast their Silas and he will be played by Scott Parks.
- Patricia Arquette will be playing a tough as nails speakeasy owner in the fourth season of Boardwalk Empire.
- Both Game Of Thrones and Being Human US have been renewed for fourth seasons by HBO and SyFy respectively.
- Ryan Murphy's adult sex drama, Open has been picked up by HBO.
- Mark Hamill will be appearing in the two part season finale of Criminal Minds.
-  The second season of The Newsroom will premiere on July 14th on HBO.
- Richard E. Grant will be appearing in an upcoming episode of Girls.

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