The Critical Cable Box

Come what may...

2014-02-02T17:28:00.000-08:00

Well, life goes on.

First and foremost, I would like to apologize to the Critical Cablebox as well as the readers for not posting for a while. Life got busy for me, too, and I had actually had plans to upload all the remaining View Logs at once.

But I would also like to thank the Critical Cablebox for providing me with this opportunity, and the readers for reading what I had to say.

I will keep my my View Logs here, but I will be uploading them to my own blog, as well, where I'll probably continue them. But should the Critical Cablebox ever find the time to return, I'll be back as well.
Good luck and best wishes, Cablebox.

Take care.

Newt

Well this is embarrassing...

2014-01-31T20:11:00.003-08:00

Really honestly it has been for me. This isn't a character talking or anything, this is me the admin. First thing's first, I have caught up on a lot of TV and I've even cracked into mid way of Agents of SHIELD (grrrr that show...) But unfortunately I got an internship last week in the entertainment industry and it's working me pretty hard. Not that this is a complaint, I sincerely love what I do and I'd love to make a living in it one day.

The problem is I'm finding it pretty hard to write well thought out posts about these shows and while I still have time to keep up and watch a ton of stuff, I now don't have the time to think and analyze each ep as much as I would like to.

So... instead of just disappearing. I'd just wanna post here just to let anyone who still might check my blog that I'll leave this inactive for a bit. This isn't a reset. I enjoy embodying this character (even though the opinions are sincerely my own) and I've greatly enjoyed blogging about the insane amounts of TV I watch. I just don't have the time to put in the amount of effort I'd like to and instead of just trying to scrape by with each post, I think it's best if I leave this blog for a while. The problem isn't necessarily the job I have but I'm also in my final semester of graduate school and... well you've seen what happened to the Nostalgia Chick back in the day when she tried to juggle both being a net reviewer and a full time graduate student. So... I'll leave this here and I would like to revisit it in the future. Maybe I can finally have some videos to accompany my posts but we'll see. I imagine I'll have much more time once I'm actually out of school and my thesis is done.

My sincerest apologies to Newt, and he may still continue posting his View Logs here or move it back to his own blog. Sorry about how this turned out! I'm apologize if I've caused too much inconvenience to you. And I'd like to apologize to anyone who still followed my blog despite it's recent troubled history. If I get a bit more time (as how much I do in my internship kind of fluctuates) I'll try to finish off the shows I have here left. I have finished Season 3 of Homeland so I can maybe fill that up gradually. But for now. I won't be taking on any new shows atleast until the semester ends.

Thank you for reading.

(P.S. Black Sails sucks so far. Helix is ok so far. And Getting On is probably the greatest thing ever... that is all!)

The New Year!

2014-01-16T19:15:00.001-08:00

Belated Happy New Year! It's been about 2 weeks since 2013 has left us and I've been using this past 2 weeks to catch up on TV! I'd like to finish the series I promise to finish first before posting any more logs

Just a note that I'm still around and I'm not dead.

Prepare for some stuff this coming week!

CritBox.

Ummm... yeah... End of Semester Shenanigans

2013-12-06T02:56:00.001-08:00

So... my owner's an idiot... long story short, my human decided to bring me to his college dorm for the weekend to show off all the TV show he's recorded... unfortunately, being the squishy college student that he is he threw a party with me right there and it ended up with him spilling alcohol into my circuits... the good news is I still have all the programming that he's recorded... the bad news is I can barely function or think because of all the alcohol... I suppose this is what it feels like to be drunk... I think?

Anyways my human's finals are all project based with no exams so he's trying to finish them up as soon as he can then repair me for the Homeland, Dads, and last but not least, Agents of SHIELD view logs. I might be able to muster all my energy and do a view log here and there for Dads and Homeland but for now don't expect much of an update for a week or two. My apologies.

/signoff

View Logs: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. "Repairs"

2013-12-04T20:40:00.000-08:00

Ah, Repairs. A nice little breather from the subplots, but can it remain interesting despite little to do with the overall story of the series? Let's start from the beginning.

Again, Whedon shows us that he loves openings that explain nothing. This time, a woman enters a gas station, only to be verbally assaulted by the man working there for causing a man's death, then she apparently kills him with psychic powers against her will. You can tell from the start, it's gonna be a weird one.

Fun Fact: The oil company, Roxxon, is an evil business conglomerate in the comics.

Oh, yeah, Ward and May hooked up for a one-night stand. I neglected to mention that last time. Apparently, this is a thing that they do. Maybe that will be important.

Previously on the show, it has been established that telepaths don't exist. In this episode, it's been retconned to "telekinetics." These are not the same thing. Telepaths read minds, telekinetics move stuff with their minds. Telekinetics do exist in the Marvel Universe, despite what this episode says. There's one named Thor. Sure, it only counts towards his hammer, but I say that still counts. Nitpicking? Not really. But this point can be overlooked.

Anyway, the team went to go see if this lady had powers, right? Coulson says that S.H.I.E.L.D. has only dealt with "a handful" of people to randomly gain super powers. I'm wondering what this means about the Mutants that they're legally obligated to not include. They can use Magneto's Mutant children, Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver in the series/films (because they're Avengers), but they can't use any X-Men characters or concepts. If Marvel Studios ever gets the X-Men rights back, I wonder if they'll patch in the X-Men movies into continuity somehow (wibbly-wobbly, Days of Future Past time travel?). Still, that's idle speculation. As it is, AoS seems to be hinting that X-gene Mutants aren't a part of this continuity, but mutated humans are.

Actually, this episode seems to be analogous to many X-Men stories. Someone gets powers, normal people hate and fear them, the team gets brought in to help them cope. (In fact, Miss Hutchins' bad luck powers seem to be very similar to how the Scarlet Witch's abilities work... until the truth is revealed about her.) The thing is, shadowy government organizations are much scarier for civilians than teams of merry Mutants.

My only problem with this concept in the show is that these people who gain all these powers just kind of disappear. I understand that the show's not even through its first season yet, but still. A little follow through? Lip service? What's happening to all these people who get powers?

In a B-Plot, Fitz/Simmons decide to prank Skye because they never got to pull Freshman pranks (having graduated three years early) and Skye's the closest thing to a Freshman they have at hand. It's just as random as it sounds. Their plan? They spin a yarn about Melinda May riding in on a horse to save the day, gaining the nickname "the Cavalry." And they keep going, breaking down the story into more "realistic" versions. Skye eventually finds out the truth, though. The real story is that Agent May was on another "Welcome Wagon" mission that went South. Whatever she did to finish that mission, she stopped being who she was. She was more like Skye, but turned into who she is now. Getting a little dark? Well, don't worry, Fitz makes a fake person out of a mop to be used as a jump scare.

So Miss Hutchins got her abilities from a particle accelerator, or so it seemed. There was an accident that killed four people, explaining the ire of the man at the gas station. According to Hutchins... God's actively punishing her and she's being haunted by demons. Well, if one of them has a flaming skull, things could get interesting. But there does seem to be a shadowy, disappeary, ghosty man following her around. The sentence you don't want to hear when there's evil, telekinetic-y things happening? "Now what'd I do with that knife?"

What really happened was a guy Tobias Ford died as a result of the explosion, but the explosion in the particle accelerator opened up a wormhole to "Hell," as ghosty-Tobias calls it. My guess? Muspelheim, the Realm of the Fire Giants. After all, the 9 realms have been active lately. (Yes, I've seen Thor 2 now.)

Tobais Ford has no direct correlation to any comic characters, but he has similar powers to the imaginatively-named "Ghost," an Iron Man villain. They could conceivably bring him back in later episodes, and I hope they do. Along with Gravity. And others. Give us the Masters of Evil, Whedon! Then again, this guy's not really "evil." He sabotaged the particle accelerator to spend time with Hutchins (the safety inspector) and uses his poltergeist powers to try and protect her. Still, you never know what Centipede might do to someone to gain their services....

As for character development, May has a nicer person deep inside her, Skye has potential as a Welcome Wagon team leader... and that's it. Also, May secretly pulls the old shaving-cream-in-the-hand prank on Fitz, so the old, cheerful May is still in there.

No Coulson-is-a-robot hints this episode. Not that I could see, anyway.

Finally, during the epilogue, the team plays Upwords (it's like Scrabble). On the board, I made out "strange" (as in Doctor, maybe?), "zodiac" (as in the terrorist group?) and "aglet" (which Ward doesn't believe is a word).

Time will tell if I'm grasping at straws.

In a couple weeks, not-quite-Luke-Cage is back!
See you then!

View Logs: Dads S1 Episode 9

2013-12-01T01:22:00.001-08:00

Episode Title: Comic Book Issues

This is a comic book episode... this is... a comic book... episode. I'm going to say it again... this is a comic book episode... *waits*... wonder if I should use the comic book signal :D

I know... almost nothing about comic books. I probably know what people in general think of them, fairly or unfairly, and I'm also aware of the many complaints comic book gets because I had a friend in college who was a huge comic book fan (we were both studying writing). So there's a few jokes in this episode that flew over my head (although I'm willing to bet they were bad). So ignoring the critiques on the jokes. Let me talk about this episode's plot and general execution.

Again, this is getting better. But that's saying like nothing. It's easy to get better when you're bottom of the barrel. So the first half of this episode would be comparable to an episode of 2 Broke Girls or Two and a Half Men. In other words, boring. Again. The jokes aren't terrible they are just... unimaginative. Which is terrible in of itself but hey, the bar's low with this show. Atleast we're getting a healthy amount of jokes this time around. But it's typical fare. Like the Dad who doesn't know what Craigslist is and thought that it's an actual guy who sells stuff literally all over the world. Hmm... k. There's a jokes on comic books. Like reading comic books will make you a virgin in high school. Hmm... k.

Now... the mid point is where this episode becomes stupid (more... stupid than it already is). So Giovanni boasts about his comic book collection... then says "they are as good as yours". Then Seth Green takes offense to this and they both talk smack about their collections.

Umm... guys?... did you... mix up your comic book episode with your trading card episodes? Maybe Newt can chime in here but I don't really think people would use their comic book collections as direct challenges? They might compare who has what issue. But not actual challenges right? Because that's what you'd do if you build a super good deck in like Magic or Yu Gi Oh. Or hell... even playing pokemon you'd say like "my pokemons are better than yours" then you'd challenge. Why would you... directly use comic book collection as a subject for a nerd fight?...

Is this weird to anyone else but me?...

"I'll get all my X-Men from the 70s and all my Fantastic Fours"

Guys... there's ONE way to solve a media collection dispute...

DO YOU HAVE X? Yes or no? Done. Unless it's specified that Giovanni thinks Seth Green is lying about his collection (which wasn't by the way) why would Seth Green LITERALLY bring all "his best comics" to show off? Again, are you guys sure you didn't mix up this episode with like a trading cards episode? Because all this just sound like they are talking about trading cards... not comic books.

Also the audience is racist. No seriously, the audience is sincerely racist. Seth Green gets his comic books stolen, then Edna gives him a wooden toy car painted in Mexican colors. Then Edna says this is the Xbox of Mexico. And there's apparently people dying in the audience. NEWS FLASH. MEXICO HAS XBOXES! I've literally gamed with people from Mexico (my scientist gave me an OS that can run Steam... don't ask questions...) For racist humor to be funny... you have to be clever people... CLEVER. This joke was the opposite of clever. It was flat out lazy! Ugh. I'm... sorry I'm done talking about this episode again... but I just wanna add in one more comment.

Seth Green's Dad: "Who did you learn right and wrong from Superman?"
Seth Green: "Yes, and Batman, and Wonder Woman, and Aquaman taught me how to swim which is why I can't swim."

Ignoring the stupidity of that statement. Did you learn right and wrong from Frank Miller's Batman? You know the one in The Dark Knight Strikes? That would explain why you're a total asshole.

View Logs: Dads S1 Episode 8

2013-12-01T00:45:00.003-08:00

Episode Title: Foul Play

This episode started off well... Ok the joke about virtual e-sports being lame was... lame... but it was ok. I see what they were going for atleast. And to be frank, people do take e-sports too seriously sometimes. However, what really got the ball rolling was Seth Green's dad saying

"You know, when I was your age I already had a family and left them."

Ok... that was funny. Atleast I found it funny. It's a nice twist on what the past generation likes to say to our generation. Did I go insane?... Did I just find something in Dads... sincerely amusing? Will... this last?

The answer is no. Ok, good to see I didn't go insane... you wanna know what the joke after the opening was?

"Yup, scotch definitely tastes better in pajamas"
*laugh track*

You were doing so well Dads... so well... but hey it's atleast a new record! A full minute without being absolutely horrible! Yay give yourself a hand... let's go for 5 next time and maybe... *gasp* a full episode without being horrible! Baby steps I suppose...

The next 5 minutes sucked. But it sucked in a new way this time. The show seems to suddenly be throwing in a lot of young kid Disney sitcom style jokes... it's very very bizarre. I'll give you an example. Giovanni Ribisi's wife (I don't know any of these character's names by the way and I'm 8 episodes in...) wanted to do something other than complain about other people but Giovanni himself seems pretty content with it... so she "sadly" trots off and puts on a puppy dog face to him and this whole scenario is apparently funny...

Am I... suddenly watching a Disney show? What is this type of joke doing here? It's not even really that funny (although funny for kids apparently). Are the writers running out of ideas by episode 8? /sigh. The scene at around 7 minutes actually had potential but it was completely ruined by the obviousness of the situation. Essentially Giovanni and Seth Green are talking to each other through text messaging and it's funny because they are in the same room. Ok... this idea has potential. But the show decided to execute it by having Seth Green and Giovanni Ribisi actively stare at each other while doing it. That just killed the joke for me. It would have potentially been funny if it was done in a way that's more subtle but the way the show executed it, the whole thing came across as the writers patting themselves on the back by "how topically funny they are".

The plot to this episode isn't even really worth talking about. The plot isn't as bad as the previous episodes but it isn't really that good either. It seems like a standard 2 Broke Girls or Two and a Half Men episode. Which I guess is a step forward? Anyways, I know I seem a little lazy with this one but trust me. I've pointed out the only remotely interesting parts of this episode. The rest is just a hazy blur of boredom.

View Logs: Hello Ladies Finale

2013-12-01T00:07:00.000-08:00

Episode Title: The Drive

You know what sucks about Thanksgiving? There's too much people everywhere. I guess that's not something I should complain about but I'm a machine! I've never really been very sentimental around holiday seasons, I don't even know if I even really have a family... maybe there's other machines that were made within my production line that I can probably call as "family members"?... Whatever, the reason why I'm complaining is because my current owner invited a whole bunch of people and throughout this weekend I've been touched left and right (not like that... you know what I mean...) and made to record (and watch...) really horrible reality TV shows that this guy's family likes to collectively make fun of... DELETING ALL OF MY HOMELAND IN THE PROCESS...

Thanks... thanks a lot... so that's the bad news. Thankfully, I managed to get a hold of the season finale of Hello Ladies after Thanksgiving and after things have settled down I decided to take a look at how Stephen Merchant is going to end his journey.

I've said this before and I'll say this again. This isn't a comedy. Seriously, the finale episode of Hello Ladies is practically a drama through and through. There were still some jokes here and most of those were in just the first Act of the episode. By the second act the show decided, "alright, I'm a drama now" and resolved the three main characters in very serious ways. Which, when it comes to this specific case, I'm not exactly sure is a bad thing.

When did drama make it's way into my comedy?!

I know comedies that take themselves too seriously usually get criticized because they try to put in too much drama and it usually makes the material pretentious or off kilter. The finale of Hello Ladies somehow manages to pull off adding a lot of drama into it's material. There's a nice cohesive feel to the finale that was carried over from the episodes that came right before it. But here's the biggest problem, and it's almost unfair to this specific episode because it was tightly written. The final few episode's build up to the finale almost feels rushed. I've complained about the middle episodes before but I'll say it again, the show wastes a little too much time just rehashing the awkward realist comedy that made it unique from the start. Not that consistently utilizing that kind of humor is a bad thing, but the middle episodes were just a little too predictable and it felt formulaic in a show that, frankly, shouldn't feel formulaic at all.

Thus, when episode 7 came around, it felt like the showrunners realized that they wanted to develop these character more than they were and pushed in all this development within the last 2 episodes. Credit to the writers, it didn't result in a mess but it might make some feel that this ending was a little undeserved. Admittedly it might be a little overly sentimental, especially given Stuart's eventual decision which might come across as a little quick. But honestly it's always nice to see characters develop and really I think Stuart's decision does say something new about this kind of character.

He chases around models to date but he doesn't actually seem overly concerned with sleeping with them rather than the social status he gets when he dates one. He seems to enjoy waving his relationship around far more than the actual relationship and this made his eventual decision interesting, even if it was a bit quick. At the end if the day, I would say that Season 1 of Hello Ladies is a bit inconsistent but a nicely realistic touch on relationship comedies. Whether you will find it funny or not I'm afraid will be 100% completely subjective. But if you're looking for something cognitively interesting and a new look on a type of character that, frankly, we've seen a little too much of already. Then I'd probably look favorably on Hello Ladies. If the show sticks around for a second season I hope to see the ideas and themes behind Stuart's character pushed and explored even more.

View Logs: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. "The Well"

2013-11-26T00:00:00.001-08:00

Directed by Jonathan Frakes. Commander Riker himself.
…well, I’ve nothing more to say about that.

I haven't seen Thor: the Dark World, but this episode is exactly what it should be: S.H.I.E.L.D. cleaning up after the larger events, the behind-the-scenes stuff. The relics left behind that create super villains. Even if they were left behind a long time ago. Convenient timing that an ancient Asgardian artifact is uncovered right after the Dark Elf invasion. Still, I like that they made an episode that technically ties in with the latest film that can be enjoyed by people who haven’t seen the film.

I also really like how Skye tries to address the theological implications of the Norse Gods being aliens, and Coulson just wants to go about the 9 to 5.

As for the plot, it turns out, if you cut up a 9000 year old tree, there's a staff of power inside. How did the villains know it was there? Well, there was a prophecy. Always a prophecy. You know, I hate it when ancient prophecies in another language always have an English rhyme... though the prophecy in this episode doesn't always rhyme. Nice touch.

Wait, they find a metal rod that bestows Asgardian-level super-strength? This is just an update of the magical crowbar that gives the Wrecker his powers. And the main villains use the rods they got to give other people powers, too. Like how Wrecker shared his powers with Thunderball, Piledriver, and Bulldozer. Although, the rods (actually the broken "Berserker Staff" from a member of the Asgardian "Berserker Army") also cause ULTIMATE RAGE through negative memories. When Ward went all ragey, he apparently remembered something about his brother. A well, and his brother drowning in it. We begin to see his issues with needing to save everyone from this. This is further seen when Ward made the choice to wield the staff again, which goes on to show his self-sacrificing nature.

The idea that Ward and Melinda will have dark, inner rages for a few decades is an interesting one, and I'm interested to see how this plays out. If Coulson's team is compared to the Avengers, I guess Ward is now the team's Hulk, and May... is a more in-control Hulk. Well, if they remember this plot point.

That’s right, Melinda May could activate the rage-staff, so I don’t know if she's human or not anymore. That Whedon, always keeping us guessing. When May says she sees her rage memories every day, I can't help but wonder, was she the S.H.I.E.L.D. agent who took Skye to the orphanage as a child? Or is she talking about Coulson? Now, the reveal of Ward's childhood trauma, that a bully coerced him into not throwing a rope for his drowning brother (a very Loki-ish looking bully), was quite the shock, and I don't know what to make of it.

On a lighter note, my God, I love Peter MacNicol as villains. Mad Hatter, Doc Ock, this former Berserker, he does all these roles so well.

When Peter MacNicol bent the knife that Agent Ward tried to stab him with, I thought he just touched the staff, but him being Asgardian? Dang. I like how Coulson figured it out by seeing his fancy pen and remembering what Loki acted like in captivity. Well, that and the fact that the prof wasn't interested in the fact that Couslon had met aliens. The fact that MacSerker (as I call him) explicitly states never knew Thor is in a nice stark contrast to similar situations where every alien knows each other. Every Vulcan knows Spock, or every Yoda knows Chewbacca, etc.

Simmons almost seems offended by the lack of specifics when it comes to Asgardian magic/science. It’s a nicely implemented character trait. The whole "reach-inside-MacSerker-until-you-fix-his-heart" plan of hers is... iffy, but it works.

I like that MacSerker and Coulson have a budding friendship at the end of the episode. They have a nice bonding moment talking about getting stabbed in the heart and dying. Speaking of which, Coulson had no hospital, no recovery, he just woke up. ...as a robot, maybe? I hate to keep harping on this, but it's the mystery of the show. Continuing Coulson's subplot, the episode ends with a nightmare... of him getting a massage in Tahiti by a lovely young lady and being told that Tahiti is... a "magical" place. This makes him wake up in a cold sweat, no doubt lending itself to many "Coulson is gay because his nightmare is a beautiful woman" jokes. I will not be making any. But there's that word again, "magical." Tahiti is always called "magical." It has to mean something.

But alas, such things are only for Whedon to know.
Until next time!

View Logs: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. "The Hub"

2013-11-25T23:56:00.003-08:00

Been a busy week for me, so you may have noticed that these posts are late. Sorry about that.
No more time for sorry, though, we’ve got Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. to talk about!

Whedon seems to like this show opening in the middle of the action. Another episode, another WTF moment. This one has them right after another. Coulson kidnapped, his interrogator an agent in disguise, a rescue from an icy field, and a nasal extraction that reminded me of that scene from the original Total Recall. Agent Shaw needs to find a less ew-y place for his secret data.

With "Clearance Level 8" being a plot point in this episode, S.H.I.E.L.D. seems more like a government organization now. (Fun fact: Whedon couldn’t satisfactorily explain who S.H.I.E.L.D. worked for, so they didn’t get military assistance for filming Avengers, which would explain why there was little S.H.I.E.L.D. presence in New York during the climax.)

The subplot about Skye's parents at first seems to be given minimum lipservice, which is nice that they haven’t forgotten that plot point, but then they kept going with it. It's nice to see a plot point like this be slowly built upon in this way, instead of suddenly thrust upon us.

We get to see another of Coulson’s bosses in this episode, Victoria Hand. Let’s get it out of the way, she likes women. This is irrelevant to the plot, but a landmark moment for superhero adaptations, though shows like The New Normal sort of one ups this show when it comes to LBGT presence on the TVs. Still, this is leagues above sneaking in Maggie Sawyer’s girlfriend in an episode of the 90’s Superman animated series. But like I said, her sexuality is irrelevant. What matters is the character’s interactions with the team. She seems antagonistic at first, but she’s the classic “You’re a loose cannon, but you get results”-saying boss, though she has the good sense to not actually say that to the loose cannons.

The plot, where former-Soviet rebels use comic book tech to try and gain independence, is a nice fictional extrapolation of real world tensions. The "Overkill" device has a nicely OTT name; I like the occasional bits when they embrace the inherent ridiculousness of the setting.

This was a separation episode, like I predicted for Fitz/Simmons, but was also one for the entire team. Poor Fitz. The guy would probably be infinitely more comfortable passing test tubes to Reed Richards. Then again, scientists in the Marvel Universe can't live normal lives. They're either super heroes, super villains, or are being kidnapped and having their tech stolen. I've heard the complaints that Fitz being sent into a mission like this is unrealistic, but…
A. He's the only guy for the job.
B. In the real military, all tech guys get the same basic training as the other guys.

The fact that Fitz gained the loyalty of the Ossetian border-guys (by secretly shorting out and then fixing their TV) was nicely executed and a good twist from logical expectations.

Ward's the classic case of the tough guy who really cares deep down for the people on his team. We learn that Skye was dropped off an orphanage by a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent, but he's hiding the situation behind that event.... but he wants to figure out what happened. But it involves.... murder! Coulson has problems keeping secrets, Skye has problems with being in the dark about things, and Simmons... yeesh.

Simmons is scary. She's like a caged tiger. I would vote her "Most Likely to Become a Super Villain." She really seems to unravel without Fitz, and Skye needs to stop egging her on the way she does. "Fits tortured" is all it took to get her to cave to Skye's plan. And she ended up shooting Agent Jasper Sitwell. Oh my God. It was a stun gun that she had nicked earlier, but still... she's got issues. I think she’s more dangerous than Agent May.

Speaking of her, I'm also watching Almost Human, and it's pretty funny that the robot from that show is more human than Agent May from this one. Of course, that's the point. Melinda's not a people person. In fact, I don't think she's a person, but a robot. That reminds me, there are more hints that Coulson's a robot version of himself in this episode.

Skye: "He's acting like a robot version of himself right now."

I'm actually starting to wonder if Coulson isn't a robot. Joss Whedon's being far too hamfisted with his hints. For some reason, the Level 8 Coulson doesn't have clearance to know about his own death.... expect more teasing about this.

The strength of this show doesn't come from the plots of the episodes, but the subplots. Beside what I’ve already mentioned, all the characters seem to slowly be turning into authority-bucking cowboy cops, which will probably come back to bite them all in the butt in a later episode.

Unless the show gets canceled before then. Every time I get excited about this show’s future, that thought always brings me crashing down. It’s the “Whedon Pall” that’s cast over all of his shows. You can’t help but remember the fate of Firefly, Dollhouse….

But let’s focus on the here and now. Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. is on the air, and I’m enjoying it.
That’s enough for me.
Until next time!

View Logs: Homeland S3 Episode 5

2013-11-24T04:32:00.001-08:00

Title: The Yoga Play

It is both surprising and unfortunate that Homeland has lost me already. During my time away, most of my view log shows have been on my mind. I've been curious on how Stephen Merchant would develop his character in Hello Ladies. I've wondered how bad Dads can really get and checked Variety.com every day hoping to see it get cancelled. I've wondered about Agents of SHIELD and how my guest is doing with it. But the one show that I've consistently forgotten about was Homeland. Which is highly ironic because Homeland was supposed to be the gold standard to all of the shows I've been looking at for this blog. If there is a TV powerhouse in my line up, it should be Homeland. But it's turning out to be quite the opposite.

This episode didn't help my boredom with the show and it's because the primary plot is now moving at a crawl. Ironically, the most interesting thing about this episode was Dana. In the episode it was revealed that her boyfriend accidentally killed his brother and Dana first suspected that he was a murderer. This plotline was developed and resolved within this episode. Thank you Alex for being economical with that. Honestly this is a huge step up since 24. In fact, Dana turned out to be the more interesting character for Season 3 so far. As well executed as all this was however, this does still speak to how slowly the main plot line is developing. Again, I'm sure Mr. Gansa has a plan for all this but the show would have been far more compelling if Carrie was sincere (even a little bit) about turning on the CIA. This entire episode was basically waiting. Javadi spent the entire episode just driving around the US giving looks at citizens and eating a hamburger. The only thing that happened with Saul is that he found out he was not getting the job as the head of the CIA and decided to burn his bridges with the person who is. And Carrie just did... well... she ran an errand for Ms. Brody to find Dana. Which resolved without Carries help. Actually does anyone else get the feeling that this entire episode was a waste of time?

Look, I love drama. I love slow dramas. Hell, I think the world can gain a lot if we slowed down every once in a while. TV is the medium that isn't afraid to slow down. Mad Men and Boardwalk Empire are two fantastic examples of that and it's honestly served the medium well. We all get a sense of these characters a lot better when we let them breath on the screen and have their human moments away from the action. But Homeland now isn't using it's time well. It's starting to wait instead of develop and that's the difference between developing character and dragging. It's kinda ironic that Gansa did 24 before this when 24 had too much pace and action and now Homeland is suffering from the exact opposite problem. Does anyone feel like the Showtime staff might not have enough ideas for Season 3 and thus we're seeing filler? I think Homeland is beyond repair by this point. But I'll keep watching and hope that atleast Season 3 can end off well...

View Logs: Homeland S3 Episode 4

2013-11-24T03:34:00.001-08:00

Episode Title: Game On

Once Upon a Time... Homeland used to be good... Seriously. Back in the day, oh around early 2012 (The Emmys for 2011), Homeland shocked the TV community by being nominated in place of Dexter. That was a tough year. Game of Thrones was up for it's second season and Breaking Bad just finished it's 4th season (probably the best in my opinion). Homeland surprised further by beating Emmy regulars Game of Thrones, Mad Men, Breaking Bad, and Boardwalk Empire for the grand prize. That prize was deserved. While Season 1 of Homeland had some occasionally soap opera ridiculousness (the middle episodes of S1 was... weak to put it mildly), the closing episodes more than made up for it. It was a modern retelling of the Manchurian Candidate and it updated it superbly... (which is amusing because Homeland is supposedly a direct remake of Prisoners of War, an Israeli TV show.) Fast forward to 2013 and it's a little sad to see how far Homeland as fallen (although the Emmys apparently seems to still keep giving it nominations...).

This episode had sparks of what made Season 1 so great. We're gradually seeing the greyness of the situation more (something the second half of Season 2 completely discarded...) and the series builds a lot of empathy for Carrie. She's been publicly and professionally destroyed and her most attractive option would be to help the people she's spent most of her life trying to track down. It's a fascinating angle even if I predicted this a while back.

Carrie's going to do it... She's going to become a traitor... a mole. In fiction, general audiences tend to view traitors and moles as one sided. Admittedly, a lot of moles throughout our espionage history betrayed their country for selfish or short-sighted reasons. But considering all the known moles (for us and against us) throughout our history, double agents can have wide and complex motivations for doing what they do. Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy is a good example of exploring the complexities of the spy world that is a bit over glorified in our American culture. In fact, moles don't even have to be complete traitors. Sometimes all a mole does is just give the enemy some specific information without necessarily blowing or destroying the entire network they work for. A mole can easily become jaded and demoralized by the system the work in and only want to destroy that system but don't actually want to get anyone killed. So maybe a mole can reveal very specific information that will make an operation fail before it even executes without necessarily giving away who's who. A mole can also be doing what he or she's doing because that person recognizes that they are fighting a war that was already lost and would just want to speed up the end of it all.

Moles don't necessarily have to be mustache twirling fanatics who wants to see the complete and utter destruction of Western civilization (or whatever civilization you personally live in). Usually that's an uninteresting way to write a mole because it's just been done a little too much. Carrie Mathison seemed like she was becoming the type of mole we don't see enough of in mainstream screen fiction. Again, predictable, but interesting nonetheless. Until the writer decided to pull a fast one on the audience.

This is one of the writers of Homeland

Turns out... Carrie was faking everything. Hell everyone (except the bad guys and some minor characters of course) was faking it all this whole time. Admittedly I didn't see this coming. But in this case this wasn't a good thing. Upon reflection, it's interesting that predictability is often a bad thing in fiction and writers usually do their best to avoid being predictable in their work. I'm sure the writers of Homeland wanted to create a sense of mystery that has, quite frankly, been lacking in the introductory episodes. But, unfortunately, unpredictability is only a plus if it's interesting. There are such things as bad twists. There are such things as trying too hard. The final moments of this episode was a twist for the sake of unpredictability.

Word to the wise. If you're given a choice between a predictable but interesting development and a twist that doesn't add anything but is unpredictable. Go with the more interesting development. Art is not just about shocking people. Actually, I would argue that art isn't about shocking people period. It's about challenging them. And sometimes art can be so challenging it's shocking. But shock isn't really worth much if it isn't interesting upon reflection.

Also, Dana's plotline seemed kinda resolved last episode... I kinda want her gone now. Her development with her new boyfriend is boring (running away with him?... really?...) Honestly, anyone familiar with Alex Gansa (24) can probably see where a lot of this is going. Quite frankly, I've had enough of the 24 "home family conundrum". It doesn't need to manifests itself here. Please Alex... focus on the work.

View Logs: Hello Ladies S1 Episode 7

2013-11-15T01:32:00.000-08:00

Episode Title: The Wedding

There we go. This is more like it. This is more of what I was looking for in this series. The episode wasn't completely predictable like the previous two episodes but we're back to the early episodes 2 or 3 where everything is the cringe worthy moments had to make me pause the video. Some of Stuart's antics are sincerely annoying by now but this time... things are atleast different. He develops and, once again, we see quite a bit more of his past coming out in his character. What really irritated me was actually Christine Woods' character. But there's atleast some development as a result which is something the series didn't do enough in the early episodes when it had seriously painful scenes. But back to Stuart...

So the model, named Kimberly, that Stuart was supposed to hook up with in the dinner episode actually manages to show up at the wedding as it turns out that they both knew the same people. Honestly, in the entertainment industry and in LA that's not too far fetched. I've been to the Oakwoods apartment once when my owner brought me there and I saw the Harry Potter Weasley actors there! No joke! Anyway, surprisingly, Stuart actually develops some awkward but pleasant chemistry with Kimberly. The specific dialogue that Stuart says are a little weird but snark can be charming when expressed in a specific way. Honestly it's interesting to see how different Stuart can be without actually being all that different. This is actually something interesting to think about. There's such a fine line between being a dick and being a charming snarker.

But... as usual, things fall apart. But instead of trying too hard because he doesn't know the line. He ends up trying too hard when Kimberly invites an old guy friend up to his room. Of course, this frazzles Stuart and he starts pushing himself a little more. Only this time it's not as extreme as the previous episodes. There we go Stuart... nice to see you learning even if it is just a little bit. Eventually Kimberly asks Stuart to go for a bit just to catch up with her friend who, apparently, she hasn't seen for a long time and might have a thing for. Stuart ends up leaving without much of a fuss (YAY PROGRESS!). Now this is where the episode got really interesting. Jessica asks Stuart why he tries so hard and to tell him to be himself. Stuart retorts that he's always been himself but it's never gotten him anywhere and he wants to try to be like other people. I can't tell you how nice it is to see more of this character develop than just being a dick. The two talk and eventually end up dancing together.

Now this is where the episode reaches new heights. Stuart kinda realizes that he's always had a some chemistry with Jessica and he really has been trying too hard. He goes back to his room, sees Kimberly sleeping, and decides to sleep on the couch. The next morning, he just interacts with her normally and says his good bye. Not only is it nice to see Stuart go from being a dick to a dick with some kind of past. But now he's actually developed a lot as an actual character. I swear he's developed more in this episode than he has in the past 3. Of course, the show eventually decides to be nice to Stuart and gives him what he wants. Kimberly texts him asking him out to a party right before the episode ended.

I'm not sure if this contradicts the "high road" character development that Stuart goes through. But, theoretically, it does seem to say that sometimes good things can happen if you're just a good person. Great episode, not really consistent with it's comedy again. But this episode showed many of the things that I loved in great comedies like Louie. I was close to regretting the decision to do this show for the blog. But this episode changed my mind to the other direction. Finish off strong Hello Ladies... and no pun... intended.... seriously.... I'd like to see the finale go even further than this episode. It'd be a little disappointed if all of Stuart's problems are solved just because he finally got in bed with someone. It usually doesn't really solve much of anything. But I trust (and hope) HBO is smart enough to know that.

View Logs: Hello Ladies S1 Episode 6

2013-11-15T00:56:00.000-08:00

Episode Title: Long Beach

This episode baffles me. It sincerely does. Honestly I consider this particular episode the worst so far and likely the worst out of the series (since there's only 8 for S1). So the premise is that Stuart is having some construction work done and he decides to try to befriend the workers... because he's scared of them. Well ok, maybe he's not sincerely scared but he would like to try to "belong" with them to not feel so alienated around them. This reminds me of the episode in The Ricky Gervais Show (sorry I don't remember exactly which one) in which Stephen Merchant talks about being frightened by blue collared workers because of their physical strength. The skit and subsequent talk about that was charming but this episode in Hello Ladies just felt like an overly drawn out version of that Ricky Gervais bit.

So in regards to the plot, I suppose there wasn't anything terrible about it. But it seemed like a filler episode. So the workers, "being blue collared and all", decides to invite Stuart to go to a club with them to meet easy women. Stuart... being the dick that he is, decides to tag along and try to "mingle with a different crowd." During his visit to the bar, he ends up getting asked to do a bunch of things he's uncomfortable with. Such as smoking crack. There are some moments here and there that are legitimately funny but the story here is more boring than the previous episode. Stuart even gets roped into an altercation with another bunch of low lives and accidentally starts a fight.

Ok... I know this is set in Long Beach. But it's a little weird to see all the blue collar characters be essentially stereotyped as like borderline criminals. At the end of the day, this episode is what I feared most from the show when I started watching it. It's not really that consistently funny and it's also not really thoughtful about anything. I must compare this episode to Louie Season 1 Episode 9 "Bully". This is probably one of my personal favorite episodes of all time from a comedy show. In the episode, Louie gets a date ruined by a bunch of frat boys humiliating him. He eventually goes up to confront the parents of the frat boy and things end up resolving in a way that was thoughtful and different from what you'd typically expect. This episode of Hello Ladies had the potential to reach the same heights of that episode but it just didn't do anything with it's premise. It essentially boiled down to Stuart getting roped into things he doesn't want to do because of peer pressure (on both the male and female side). Stuart being incredibly awkward and out of place, then weaseling out of it. That is literally the entire episode. What does Stuart learn from the story of the episode? That blue collared people are dicks? Sorry Stephen Merchant. This episode was boring. I hope this is the worst the show gets.

View Logs: Hello Ladies S1 Episode 5

2013-11-15T00:30:00.004-08:00

Episode Title: Pool Party

I must admit that Hello Ladies is gradually getting a little stale on me. It's starting to become a little too easy to predict the content of each episode. Stuart will come up with a scheme to meet women. It'll work just for a little bit at first but things don't go exactly to Stuart's plan or things aren't moving along fast enough for him. Thus, he tries to force the situation and this makes him super awkward but he's so concentrated on his goal to meet women (specifically hot model women) that he doesn't notice how badly he's screwing up the situation. Then he'll either get flat out rejected or leave out of frustration and find out that things would have turned out far better if he didn't push it.

Einstein's definition of insanity is doing something over and over again while expecting a different result each time. While that definition might have been a little too general, it is fairly apt to describe Stuart's methodology. In my previous view logs I've thought of Stuart as a dick. I still think so but now I think he's a very insane dick. There is something severely irrational with his character and now this show is gradually starting to make me feel worried about his mental health than funny. Maybe that's part of the point but I'm finding myself a little more confused and frustrated than laughing my case off.

Admittedly, there are some very funny moments in Pool Party. The bits with the male stripper bartender is actually very funny (just... watch the episode for this joke, me explaining it in text won't do it justice). It's also funny to see the "unattractive people" actually mingling better with the hot models because they didn't come to the part with some ulterior motive to get a hot girlfriend and thus they were able to interact as people. Theoretically, this episode is actually great. It continues to highlights Stuart's folly and serves as a marvelous example on why so many people (cause women do this too just not stereotypically) are single. They don't treat the others like actual people, just a means to an end.

But here's the issue. I've put this together about half way in the episode and the rest of it was waiting for me to see if I was right or wrong. I've stated a while back that one of the worst experiences you can have through fiction is suspecting a structure then just waiting to see if you are right. Even if you turn out wrong, that wait time should be minimized as much as possible. There's gradually getting more and more of that with Hello Ladies. Now, this doesn't mean that I thought episode 5 was bad. But it's not packing the punch that amazing comedies like Louie or Parks and Recreations can and Hello Ladies is actually written similarly to Parks and Recs. It is quite a good experience retrospectively however and the messages of each episode is thought provoking. I just wish it could be that and a better experience while watching it.

View Logs: Hello Ladies S1 Episode 4

2013-11-11T03:24:00.003-08:00

Episode Title: The Dinner

My jaw dropped within the first 30 seconds of this episode. I... won't be able to do it justice describing it but I need to describe it. Jessica is going out dressing well, Stuart comments on it and asks where she's going. Jessica says she and a few of her actress friends are going out to a gay club because they don't want the hassle of being hit on by men all night. Stuart instantly thinks that he would have no competition at the place and RUSHES TO TAG ALONG.

My. Jaw. Dropped. Stuart... this is a new low point for you.

But... this episode is a high point for the show so far. You already know about the cringe-worthy moments at this point. The Office and Curb Your Enthusiasm hasn't prepared you for anything in this show. It is sincerely and surprisingly a whole new level of awkwardness. Larry David has nothing on Stephen Merchant's Stuart Pritchard. But really I think it, the heavy amounts of awkward moments kinda ruin the show a little. Especially given this episode's quality. The horrifically awkward moments are kept to two major plot points rather than the entire episode like in episode 3. Even the side plot of Wade and Kives actually fed directly into the overarching story really nicely when the two accidentally come across a to do list that revealed something about Stuart's character.

Now, I still think Stuart is a horrible douche. But atleast I can start to understand why he tries so hard given this episode's revelation. It's interesting that Jessica and Stuart are actually so alike for vastly different reasons. Stuart is so socially inept that I do sometimes wonder if the character has some form of autism. He has a massively hard time reading social situations and anytime he does something that gets some form of approval he feels like he needs to just repeat that over again and to a much larger extent each time. The moment where Stuart had to look up "gay jokes" is a good example. When I first saw that he was looking up "gay jokes" on the internet I started bracing for impact.

But surprisingly the script threw me a curveball and the jokes he told was well received by those at the dinner party. Then he feels like he needs to just repeat the same types of jokes over and over again until he eventually goes a little too far and used the word "faggot" in a bad joke. I don't even actually get what was supposed to be funny about the specific joke in the episode but suffice it to say, he ended up offending everyone and it was all because he just kept pushing it.

Jessica is the same way but she only does it to people who could potentially get her a job (which is far more understandable in my opinion). Her impromptu tap dancing as a desperate attempt to get the attention of a Variety writer pulled some giggles of disbelief out of me. The episode ended with the two musing over their own failings together. I wonder if the two would actually get together by the end of the show. I'm starting to see a bit of a relationship here and I don't think this is by accident. Either way it's good to see these characters actually grow as that's one of the main things writers forget about comedies. Laughs are great, but characters still need to grow and develop and it's nice to see Hello Ladies getting better with that. I'm now looking forward to the next episode, even to Stuart, because I'm now curious to see how these characters will develop in the long run.

Good work Hello Ladies... you've now got me a bit interested in Stuart... I never thought I'd be saying that after ranting about him in the previous view log. I can safely say this show is "good" for now.

View Logs: Hello Ladies S1 Episode 3

2013-11-11T02:13:00.001-08:00

Episode Title: The Date

I'm going to be honest here. I did not enjoy this episode. Now... apparently there's a higher power who is screwing with me... Do you remember in one of my Dads view logs I mentioned how big of a douche Seth Green's character is? (If you don't read my Dads view logs... Seth Green's character is supposed to be this loveable sarcastic snarker but he's really just a douche). Stephen Merchant's character... is a douche... So not only am I irritated by one dick character who is poorly written... I'm also irritated by another in a properly written show... What are the chances that I happen to pick two shows who are, craft wise, totally opposite ends of the quality spectrum but have main characters who irritate me in very similar ways. Ugh... Actually, speaking of quality assessments, as of episode 3 I'm unsure how I'm to judge Hello Ladies. But I'll get to that in a sec... first... I need to explain why this episode was so painful.

I made this comparison before but I need to make it again. Anyone remember Michael (Steve Carrell) from The Office? Ok... Stuart Pritchard (Stephen Merchant) is worse than Michael having his own show without his ensemble. As painful as Michael is to watch, atleast there are moments that make Michael a little endearing. Michael is like a retarded puppy. When he's annoying he can be incredibly annoying but sometimes you can't help but laugh at how clueless he is (I think I just revealed myself as a horrible person... errr... AI... I blame science...)

Stuart Pritchard is on a whole other level than Michael. He probably has the social tact of Sherlock from Moffat's Sherlock. However:

1. He's not smart
2. He can't do CSI-like thingies in his mind
3. He doesn't have a single warm relationship with anyone period.

Sherlock has friends because there are certain characters who are willing to look past his rough exterior. Really Sherlock can be fairly warm and soft deep down on the inside. The finale of Season 2 really showed that (one of my favorite episodes period by the way... except for that twist ending but I won't get into that now). Stuart, in almost every scenario, shouldn't have friends. I know I'm only one episode 3, but the way he just treats other people is so galling. The way he treated the waiter in this episode is a perfect example. Here is a guy who is kind enough to do Stuart a favor and pretend that one expensive wine that his date really wanted is out that so Stuart can buy a cheaper wine... and this is a little weaselly to begin with but ok, I can accept that (by the way Stuart... it's called research... good job a machine with no sexual parts is better at this than you are...) But here's where it gets cringe-worthy to watch. When the waiter (doing Stuart a favor remember) goes out to lie to his date that they are all out of that wine, Stuart fake reacts by berating and insulting the guy.

What. The. Hell.

But guess what? This happens twice. The second time I literally had to pause the video. Thank god when I resumed it the show went to it's B plot lines fairly quickly. Regarding the side characters, Wade is actually fairly funny. He's so caught up in his separation that he feels like he's in a hole he's never out of and is constantly reminded that he's alone. Well ok... when I type it out if seems like a horrible thing to find funny... but Nate Torrance's acting makes him seem like that young loveable best friend who's just trying to get by. Admittedly his character should develop because there's only so long you can ride that type of character before it actually gets too serious to be funny. But this is only episode 3 so I'm willing to wait and see.

Jessica, Christine Wood's character, made me laugh the most. She's this actress who is now "too old" (I think she still looks gorgeous but I'm not Hollywood I guess...) to be in blockbuster movies as a lead but is not talented enough to be casted anywhere else. Her agent's line was great "As an agent... I don't know what to put you up for... you're not a young actress but you're not a character actress... you know what you'd be great as though? A host for a show where people renovate their houses."

Ouch.

Anyways so this log is getting long. I should talk about why I'm having a hard time assessing this show. First of all, comedy is a very subjective thing. Yeah ok I know, everything about art is subjective. But I guess my point is, as a concept, I can critique an art's quality. Whether that means anything to you is completely up to you but I can praise or criticize concepts. It's how (good) critics do their work. It's not all just bitching you know :P

But as a comedy, if you don't find it funny it's hard to justify a good score from it. Comedy, arguably, can be more subjective than drama. It's not mandatory that dramas get you to feel certain things. As long as the drama is intellectually thoughtful and emotionally compelling in some way. Then the drama can be considered good. Comedy? That's an incredibly specific emotional goal. To get you to laugh. Sometimes you'll laugh at things that aren't good and vise versa. Family Guy can be a great example. There are episodes in Family Guy that I thought were pretty sloppily written. But I enjoyed myself so that didn't matter as much. This show is currently the opposite. I know Stuart is supposed to be this giant "wanker" but that kind of personality is just irritating to me. I never laugh when I see him on screen I just want to take a baseball bat to his face.

Seriously think about it. Stuart in the pilot was willing to pay like 30 stranger's drinks, which costs upward of about $800 by the way, just to impress a really hot girl he wanted to bone. But the woman in this episode "isn't really Stuart's standard" so he makes a total ass of himself just so he can get out of paying more than about $100 at a fancy restaurant. Ok $100+ meals are gigantically expensive... but 1. it's a fancy restuarant! What are you expecting $10 meals? 2. You've spent $800+ worth of drinks on people you didn't know just to impress one hot girl you barely knew. And suddenly this one isn't really worth the effort just because you think you "deserve better"? Jump off a cliff Stuart... please...

I don't find any of this or how it was played out funny. And I know this show is executing it's characters exactly how it wants (unlike Dads) because of how this episode ended. We're supposed to think Stuart is a giant loser. We're also supposed to see his arrogant attitude so the show can comment on it. It just doesn't really work as a comedy for me. I guess thinking about it... I can call this show good because I appreciate it's concepts and how they are executed in the writing. But I don't know. I'll have to watch more and see if it's just me or if it's something more serious in the writing.

View Logs: Dads S1 Episode 7

2013-11-08T03:31:00.002-08:00

Episode Title: Foul Play

This... show... has... no shame. In a very bad way and not in ways the Family Guy writers probably intended...

So this episode is making fun of plays. Yeah I know, plays aren't really that fun anymore. It hasn't been the public's art for a long time just like other older artforms like classical music, paintings, calligraphy (for asian societies), Jazz, etc. The list goes on. Yet, and this is one thing most people haven't bothered to think about, plays actually have lived on fairly well in the digital age. You wanna know why? I'll give you a hint... IT'S CALLED TV!

Seriously, why do you think TV screen fiction can be so different than movies? The dramas are written in 4-5 act structures. The sitcoms are usually written with 2. In fact, TV has always remained very close to plays. That is why TV often doesn't put emphasis on the visuals. It's about the writing, it's about the script. Yet, this show without a shred of brain matter, decided to go open range on plays when, ironically, a lot of the visual cheapness of plays are very often seen in sitcoms like this one...

You know what? TV actually owes a lot to plays. Aaron Sorkin is known to go between TV and the stage because he has always felt that writing for the stage sharpens the mind to write for TV. A lot of amazing TV dramas drew their structure and inspiration from tragedy plays. Plays are still actually much more relevant to the modern public than most people realize. If TV didn't develop the way it did? Well... every show would be Dads basically... *shudders*

In other words... THE JOKES AGAINST PLAYS AREN'T FUNNY! And it's not that plays can't be made fun of. They totally can. But the way they were jabbed at in this episode just felt so lazy... Anyone remember the South Park NASCAR episode? That's an incredibly good example of the writers not taking the lazy route. It's so easy to make fun of NASCAR. Yet, the way South Park did it had a lot of intelligence and research to it. That's how you make fun of something.

Ugh... I know I know... shame on me for expecting anything different...

View Logs: Dads S1 Episode 6

2013-11-08T02:44:00.001-08:00

Episode Title: My Dad's Hotter than Your Dad

I almost can't believe I have to reference Louie again... remember when I talked about that fake sitcom in one of the Louie episodes that makes fun of really horrible sitcoms? The opening to Dads is a sincere example of Louie's fake sitcom. This show just finds new ways to piss me off... I can't believe that after JUST comparing the Louie Season 2 Episode 7 scene to Dads Episode 5... I need to do it again IN THE NEXT EPISODE...

Recap that scene again... Louis C.K. is in a fake sitcom where the main character he's playing is a dick but women around him seem to find him charming. Louie is so put off by this that he literally stops the production just to point out the horrible writing. Seth Green in Dads... is what Louie is making fun of. So, let's talk about this episode. It opens up with an attractive young intern leaving the company because she was dumbed by Seth Green (and this is funny... somehow). Seth comes in and both Brenda Song and Giovanni Ribisi rag on him for forcing an intern out. Seth responds with "well I can sue her sweater for misrepresenting her boobs."

Look, I understand American culture has a thing for dicks who are funny. (Pffft, that kinda came out wrong but the hell with it you know what I mean). But, and I can't believe I have to point this out, it's possible to be a dick and not be funny about it. Seth Green is that dick who isn't funny. He's not charming. He's not endearing. He's not clever. He's just a creepy dick. And he gets a worse and worse after each episode.

Also, the "edgy racist" humor is gradually making less and less sense. Seth asks Brenda "Do you talk about your dreams in the morning?" Brenda responds with "Asians don't dream... it's a waste of time."

The fact that this isn't funny (and yes that is a FACT) is the least of this joke's problems. It doesn't make sense. Seriously, think about it logically. How would time be wasted by dreaming? You're fucking sleeping right? If you don't dream while you sleep... you're still occupying the same amount of time as if you were dreaming while you are sleeping. So why would she respond with that? I don't know about the typical American sitcom audience, but I'd actually like my sitcoms to engage me mentally. I'm not here watching TV just so I could waste 20 minutes while drooling mindlessly all over myself (not that... that's possible but you get what I mean.)

Stuff that's funny is stuff that's clever. You can push the politically correct boundaries. But if you don't actually do it in a way that's clever or says something new about political correctness... all you are doing is being a kid trying to be mature. That's exactly this show right now. 13 year olds trying their hardest to be "edgy" and "mature". Well... atleast you've made Louie just that much funnier to me... I suppose that's a plus right?...

The rest of the episode isn't worth talking about. It's just a repeat of the same problems (again).

NEXT!...

View Logs: Dads S1 Episode 5

2013-11-08T02:13:00.004-08:00

Episode Title: Oldfinger

"Dads is recorded from a live studio audience"... no... more like a high studio audience. Seriously, only someone on drugs would laugh at jokes this unimaginative. But hey... once again... atleast they are jokes... I'll look forward to the day when this statement will no longer be acceptable. But at the moment... beggers can't be choosers I suppose...

I feel like I'm being lazy with this one. But really there isn't much to talk about with this episode. The same problems in this episode has been ranted about in the previous episode just to a lesser degree of severity. However, there is something that I haven't touched upon and that is Seth Green's character. You know, it really takes some seriously botched writing to make Seth Green a horrible awkward creep. I know he plays Chris is played by Seth Green in Family Guy but that's a little different. He was portraying a cartoon character so it doesn't factor in his body language and facial expressions when he acts. In live action? Seth Green is in a lot of comedies and light hearted movies because he's a guy that draws people in quite well. That's why he's often the loveable geek or the loveable pothead.

He's essentially the same type of character here but his lines are so devoid of charm that he just comes across as creepy. Now, I'm not saying that Seth can't play characters outside of his type. Maybe Seth can be great in a role where he's a very offputting awkward creep. However, the difference between a role like that and what Seth is doing here in Dads is that Dads isn't supposed to be that kind of role. Here's a great example about 5 minutes into the show.

Seth Green is being taken care of by a hot woman doctor:

Doctor: "temperature is... 98.6"
Seth: "98.6 oh my god we're already finishing each others' sentences I feel really good about this already."
Doctor: "Ok... I'm just going to put this in your mouth."
Seth: "Now you're stealing my lines!"
The Doctor smiles.

That is NOT FUCKING CHARMING. That is FUCKING creepy. This whole thing reminds me of a skit in the far superior comedy Louie where Louis C.K. stars in a really horrible sitcom but keeps pointing out the wholes and bad writing of it during the shoot. Actually Dad's is almost exactly that.

Seriously, just go watch that... it's Louie Season 2 Episode 7. You're welcome.

Also, speaking of pointing out holes... this entire episode's story made no sense. Seth Green and Giovanni Ribisi both get up a physical... and apparently their Dads are in better health than they are... despite all these bad lifestyle choices like drinking all day and gorging yourself on chinese food. That... is... impossible... You know, part of what made Louie and The Office funny was how closely they can mirror real life situations and still be so exaggerated. The truth in exaggerated situations is what make realistic slice of life sitcoms funny. The story for the last episode was fine. This one? No. It broke my suspension of disbelief quickly...

Also there's a prostate exam scene that goes on for WAY too long.

"Harhar... prostate exam... harhar it's funny because finger in the butt... let's hold on this for LITERALLY 5 minutes. Then have him DIE and gets his finger stuck in Giovanni's butt!" God am I in a middle school?...

Next...

View Logs: Dads S1 Episode 4

2013-11-08T01:39:00.000-08:00

Episode Title: Funny Girl

You now... this episode sincerely started out well... Ok it wasn't the best opening I've ever seen for sitcoms but it was alteast competent. I actually got my hopes up that I might not be wishing I was broken while watching this... then the episode went into the 2 minute mark... and the bad jokes came again.

"Oh yeah he was arrested he was the east bay strangler."
"Oooooh he was always talking about east bay and strangling but I never put two and two together."
*audience laughs*

It astounds me how lame these jokes are. It astounds me FURTHER that there's actual live people who laughed at this. Every time a Dads episode start with "this was recorded in front of a live audience" I just think I'm watching something from a parallel dimension or something. How could ANYONE laugh at that is beyond me.

But let's get to the positives because... unlike the previous three episodes, there's actually some improvements. Well for one. There's an actual normal story that develops for once. And each development feels natural. Isn't it nice when characters actually... well... engage with each other and actually learn from their situations?

Seriously... this scene right above this text?... Actually was setup early in the episode, developed, then paid off with dialogue that was a little less hamfisted than that in the pilot. This show is improving... but it's not improving nearly enough to even be atleast a competent sitcom. Let's hope the "non-jokes" actually disappears because I don't think I can take much more of that. We already have Adam Sandler for terrible humor Family Guy writers... you don't need to contribute to that.

View Logs: Dads S1 Episode 3

2013-11-08T00:00:00.000-08:00

Episode Title: Clean on Me

I'm going to break character for this one. I didn't think I'd ever have to do it ever. After all despite my harsh criticisms I am doing this to have fun and perhaps blow off some critical steam after a few shows. But this episode... no... this episode is where we get serious because the terribleness of it is so overwhelming that I have to preface my own personal life to this show... Don't worry, I know reviewers shouldn't ramble about themselves I'll keep this short :P

I am a graduate student at the moment. I'm getting my Masters in video game production (it's not as fun as it sounds trust me) and while I've never actually worked in the industry yet I've met a lot of pros who have and have taken a peek inside studios such as EA. My undergrad was in Film, specifically screenwriting. It's where I found my love for TV. I have a large range of education when it comes to the storytelling arts (not... necessarily including games... depending on your perspective on whether games are a storytelling medium). I've also taken a lot of theory classes relating to my field as well.

This sounds like I'm boasting. I'm not. My education background is really not that big of a deal and I'm one of a million liberal arts educated lowlifes out there blogging instead of looking for a job. But, atleast it can be a some kind of indicator that I'm coming from an educated opinion that can talk about this show from multiple perspectives and I'm not just some random couch potato who decided to play critic one day.

Most of you out there already know this show is horribly written. I've detailed how the show currently barely has a storyline in the pilot's view log. Hell, this show barely has jokes. You can bash Family Guy for going off weird tangents that detract from the story but atleast Family Guy knows how to set up and pay off jokes (usually... :P). I am 2 minutes into episode 3 and I already had to stop the video... Let me recap what happened that almost offended me.

Giovanni Ribisi's Dad comes into the studio and describes his morning. There's atleast a joke here. I personally found it lame because I thought it was an obvious joke but eh, atleast it's setup and paid off (I can't believe I'm pointing the absolute minimum as a positive here...) Then he goes into another joke and it's less funny because I have no idea what it's really referencing... He said

"When I was a kid when you had diarrhea you got slapped." *audience laughing* "And you learned real quick" *audience laughing*

First of all, who are these people in the audience laughing?... Seriously... Second of all, why is that a joke? Is it because traditional old world parents are strict? Is that a thing in America? Where... it was looked down upon to have diarrhea?... You could make so many (albeit insensitive but hey, it's the writers of Family Guy) jokes about maybe old world homophobia... or old world machismo... whatever. Diarrhea? Why would you get slapped for having Diarrhea?... And what is there to "learn" from being punished for having diarrhea?...

Anyways whatever. This is, atleast structurally, a joke. Kinda. Now here's the part that ruined my mind:

*Phone Call*
Brenda Song, while in the middle of something, picks up and says "One of our customers is having trouble flying his dragon"
Seth Green: "What game?"
Brenda Song: "Dragon Fly"
*audience laughing* (ummm... ok...)

Giovanni Ribisi: "Troubleshoot it"
Brenda Song: "Sure... I'm not doing anything..."
*audience laughing* (easiest audience in the world oh my God...)

Brenda Song: "Ok it's Down, X, Left, Left, Y, Left, Start, Trigger, Right, Right and D! THANKS FOR PLAYING!"
*audience laughing* (THESE... PEOPLE... ARE DELIRIOUS!)

Picard?... Do the honors for me?

This is so wrong on multiple perspectives. First of all, we're back to "let's use non-jokes as jokes" land... which, maddeningly enough, apparently people are laughing at in the show. Secondly... WHAT?! "Down, X, Left, Left, Y, Left, Start, Trigger, Right, Right, Up, Up and B"? Are you sure you didn't just give the customer a cheat code Brenda? Also, why would this EVER be the controls to activate ANYTHING in a game?

And what is "trigger"? You understand that consoles have MULTIPLE triggers right? Did the writer just google "console controls" then think "DUHHH I KNOW, LET ME JUST GRAB THESE TERMINOLOGIES AT RANDOM DUUHHHH THE AUDIENCE ARE TOO STUPID TO CATCH THAT"

Well I fucking caught it buddy.

Also, this is not what a video game studio looks like or even remotely runs like. Even if it's indie. Yeah yeah yeah I know "tv isn't suppose to be reality". Well there's a line with that and Dads is not even a surrealist show. In fact, if anything, it's a show that's meant to lampoon real life situations like Modern Family or The Office. Sure Modern Family and The Office exaggerates real life situations to the point where it's "unrealistic". But Dads isn't "unrealistically exaggerated". It's just flat out wrong. There's a subtle but very important difference.

I'm done. The rest of the episode isn't even worth talking about. Honestly if it wasn't for the fact that I've dedicated myself to doing a view log for Dads I would have deleted this from my TiVo after that "video game joke". Also, I'd like to say that the Latino maid (I don't know what country she's actually from I don't think the show bothered to specify a country because that'll actually take research...) is basically Consuela from Family Guy... which makes me just want to watch Family Guy... and the most recent Family Guy hasn't even been that great... I hope this show gets cancelled and cancelled quickly...

Anyways, I'll let the CritBox handle the rest of the show ;)

View Logs: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. "FZZT"

2013-11-07T21:42:00.001-08:00

"FZZT," huh? That's the same sound my drink made when I opened it at the beginning of the episode. Said drink was some kind of strawberry daiquiri wine-cooler-type-thing, so I was not watching this episode entirely sober, but not technically drunk. Heh, I'm typing a View Log on an episode called FZZT while buzzed. Don't know if that's ironic, and I don't much care! Let's begin!

Actually, quick tangent first. So, Cablebox, you thought “Uh… Oh… Ah…” or whatever it was had a stupid name? At least those are sounds that the human mouth makes! I mean, “FZZT”? You might as well name the episode “Pkhkh.”
Um, that’s the sound of a gunshot or something as done by my mouth.
And then typed.
Poorly.

This is completely irrelevant to everything, but I wonder if the blue-with-white-gloves S.H.I.E.L.D. uniforms from the comics will ever appear.

Oh, yeah, the episode. Let's talk about it.

I like how the civilian Boy Scouts at the beginning got in the truck right away when they saw a floating sparking cup. In a world with the Hulk and aliens and whatnot, floating cups are bad news. The truck should have also acted like a Faraday Cage when the lightning hit it, so the fact that it blew open a hole in the hood is a bit inaccurate to say the least. At least, that’s what I thought before they explained that it was the battery shooting out that did that. Oh well.

Unfortunately, the Boy Scouts got back out to look for someone, which was obviously a bad idea. Seriously, 0-8-4's should be standard Boy Scout training in this universe.

Why didn't any of the Agents suspect Thor with all this lightning? I mean, come on, you'd think that would cross their minds. Hmmm... does this take place before or after the latest Thor film? Is that significant? I don't know, I haven't seen the latest one. (Note: yes, I am now aware that an upcoming episode will deal with the film’s aftermath.)

Now let's talk about Coulson, who got a physical in this episode.

Coulson: "I don't sweat, I glisten."

You're a robot now, aren't you, Coulson?

Simmons: "...all that's left is the blood sample."
Coulson: "You should know, I'm not a fan of getting poked."

Or are you a bloodless robot?

Coulson: "Took a call from my physical therapist, asked how I was feeling, I said, 'a little rusty.' Next thing, I'm wired to this hamster wheel."

Yep. He's a robot.

Simmons: "Let's get you some electrolytes, shall we?"

Or do you mean ELECTRICITY!? Okay, I'm reaching with that one.

Coulson: "I died. Some say it was only for eight seconds, but I know it was more than that."

Yeah, long enough to build a robot body? Oh, and when he gets the results of his unseen bloodtest back?

Coulson: "A little heavy on the iron."

We get it, Whedon; Coulson's a Life Model Decoy! In a twist, Coulson ordered all the tests for himself because he feels "different" and May reveals that she died once too.

Here's my theory: Melinda May's a robotic duplicate of the original Agent May, and she was an earlier model of LMD. As such, she has no emotions. Coulson's a newer model. He has emotions, but doesn't know he's a robot. Expect eventual drama regarding this.

Let’s talk about the other characters now.
Skye is back to normal pretty fast. She seems to have rolled with the events of the previous episode. The relationship between Skye and Ward took a hit thanks to the events of the last episode, but it's not dead.

We see a bit into Ward's psyche; the worst thing you can do to him is put in in a situation where he can't help someone he cares about. I liked the bit where Ward said his new gun was too heavy, leaves, and they do nothing to it while he's gone. He comes back, they say they fixed it, and he likes it now. In the costume shop at my college's theatre department, we call that a "French Alteration." It also got a really good callback at the end when Ward and Simmons are talking.

Finally, Fitz and Simmons get their own episode.
Fitz doesn't like corpses. Heh.

More than just the corpse thing, we see that Fitz and Simmons have different personalities after all. Simmons pushed Fitz into S.H.I.E.L.D. when he wanted to be stuck in a lab. By the way, I told you all that there'd be an episode where Fitz and Simmons get separated! It's only by a glass quarantine wall, and only for less than half the episode, but I'm counting it. I like how the show shows us that the events of the Chitauri invasion in The Avengers still impacts events in the show's present. In this episode, a New York firehouse kept a Chitauri helmet as a souvenir, and recently cleaned the "rust" out of it. Thing is, they picked up an alien virus that's making their heads generate super-lightning. The virus transmits through static electricity, which is how Simmons gets infected. She survives, of course.

The solution was a clever one. The Chitauri wearing the helmet didn't die (of the virus), so must have logically been immune. Using alien DNA scraped from the inside of the helmet, they crate a ~~vaccine~~ anti-serum. Well, they try to. It fails at first.

Whedon loves him some twists, and Simmons bashing in Fitz's skull in order to run away and jump out of the plane when it seems that the ~~vaccine~~ anti-serum failed was something I did not see coming.

Ward got to jump out and play hero, skydiving in front of a mediocre green screen.

Miscellaneous Comments
I loved the moment where Coulson comforts a man about to die. It was a beautiful scene. Go watch it.

The "Sandbox" was mentioned for the first time. It's where they planned to put the helmet. Apparently, it's full of hazardous materials. I look forward to its inevitable appearance. It's across the Atlantic, in a desert, because putting it in the middle of a city would be stupid.
Cough, Beware the Batman, cough.

Coulson seems to have a minor hate-on for the Chitauri, which makes sense, given the events of the film.

Well, that was a good episode. It contributed nothing to the overall plot, but it was a very well done character piece. Who knows? This show could end up becoming the must-watch show for seasons to come! I hope so.

See you next time!

November Status Update

2013-11-06T02:30:00.001-08:00

Well... admittedly I'm a little embarrassed. I unfortunately made a few promises I didn't keep. I'm still around, still as motivated as ever. School just piled on a lot of stuff that spilled over into this week but I am FINALLY done and free. My exams went well my projects went well... (actually had to submit a finished video game to some indie festivals so yeah... managing all that was fun...) I've just had to sacrifice literally all my free time to get those results...

But yes I am back and I know I have a lot of TV to catch up. But I don't think I've fallen too far behind. I now have a list of stuff I need to watch and a few binge sessions can likely catch me up fairly soon. Sorry again for the long wait, and thank you all those who have stuck around.

I'd also like to give a HUGE thank you to my guest Newt for being so awesome and keeping up with his schedule. I'm ready to take the super negative side again :P

Also... seems my trakt.tv bar broke while I was away... suppose that was apt timing. But this time it's not on my end. Trakt seems to be having some problems with it. I'll hope they sort that out in the near future.

View Logs: Hello Ladies S1 Episode 2

2013-11-06T02:24:00.002-08:00

Episode Title: The Limo

I'm starting to get a little worried about Hello Ladies. Now to get this out of the way, I think the writing is still quite great. Stephen Merchant is still wonderful and there's still a lot of character put into these really quick moments. So... what I'm about to say I'm really unsure how to judge. It's either a personal preference or it's something ingrained in the way the writers approached the material. The former can be just shrugged off but the ladder would mean that there's some minor problems in the writing despite the great characters. But I guess I'll just describe my gripe.

Stephen Merchant is a total dick. But I know the show is meant to be that as there is never any real problematic moments throughout the episode. It's a little difficult to get into a comedy specifically about the gender gap without going into culture and the "male perspective" of things. And I know this type of conversation isn't fun but just bear with me. Whether you think this is a problem or not, you have to admit that so much of our media is from the male perspective and Hello Ladies doesn't try to hide that fact. It's titled Hello Ladies after all. But what I'm trying to get at is that there are certain things we men can take certain things about ourselves for granted and we can lose sight that a woman's subjectivity matters just as much as ours. I know it's frustrating to have the opposite gender generally view sex in a different way than us (and honestly that's not even an absolute) but it's unfair (and too easy) to assign blame to women in general for this culture gap.

Now, Stephen Merchant's character clearly doesn't care about the women he's trying to go out with. But here's the issue. The way he goes about it makes him a total dick. He's literally faking interest just to get with someone and the minute that avenue isn't open or he doesn't think you're "good enough for him" he will toss them out. This is clearly displayed in the final part of Episode 2. He snubbed a "regular looking" teacher for someone "hotter" despite the fact that the teacher had much more in common with him than the model he's hitting on... then when he realized she has a boyfriend he went crawling back to the teacher. It's good to see that the show doesn't reward this kind of behavior and I never for a second thought this show was sexist.

But at the same time... this wasn't funny this was just cringe-worthy to watch. I suppose the idea behind Stephen Merchant's character is that we're suppose to empathize with his situation without relating to his actions. And thus, this would make us laugh at him a little easier. It's a good idea on paper, but the way it was executed in Season 2 just made me want to see him be forever alone until he realizes how much of a dick he is. Which, again, isn't funny. Well... I suppose funny is subjective anyway. From a crafts perspective everything was well written and there was quite a bit of character involved so I guess I can't call this episode bad. I'll just hope the situations get funnier as the show goes along.