Over the last couple of weeks, shows that have summer schedules have slowly been ending to make way for the new Fall premiers such as Psych, White Collar, Royal Pains, Covert Affairs (possibly the summer's best new series), Persons Unknown, etc. Thankfully, with the In-Demand channels, I've been slowly getting caught up on those that I've missed since I'm out of town so much. The ending to White Collar was a definite shocker. It also had an interesting mid scene with the pacing and direction out of an action/swashbuckler flick only to come to a grinding halt with a Mexican stand-off and a commercial break.
The last of the season finales this week seems to be Warehouse 13, the second half of a two parter. It resolves much of the ongoing plot threads for the summer season, choosing to end more on an emotional cliffhanger than a plot-driven one. The story behind H.G. Wells seems contradictory as we are given two different versions of the motivations behind the character and both are presented as truth without really supporting facts. One, she wanted to escape the past to the then-future/now-present only to be disillusioned about what she found here. Two, she's a villain that always was planning on destroying the Earth, hence being set free by McPherson only to betray him. The latter fits the plot but the former fits how the character is portrayed and the storyline is resolved. Conflicting writer ideas? Either way, the lovely Jaime Murray from the excellent series Hustle seems to be gone for now. As is Mark Sheppard's character who died in the previous episode in a most off-handed and unemotional way that it practically screamed that he couldn't really be dead but just a temporary plot device. I thought the season ending with the characters' personal lives pretty much shattered and in flux as Peter's girlfriend dumps him because she doesn't want an exciting danger-filled life and Myka's resigning due to a loss of self confidence a nice change of pace. It works because the characters are ones to care about, not just whether they live or die but whether they can find happiness.
The actors of Castle still have the chemistry together that drives a show that otherwise would only be so much fluff. Back in the early days of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, one of the interesting angles of the show was that the nature of the threat of the week echoed the nature of the personal lives, angst and conflict of high school that was being focused on that week. Castle manages to do a little bit of that as well, leastways in the season opener. His daughter is concerned over why a guy she's interested in hasn't called her since he got back to town. Meanwhile, Castle himself is getting the cold-shoulder by the police because he had not called them since he got back.
I enjoy watching House M.D. It straddles being a very plot driven show with being a very character driven show due to the nature of his character. What it's not though is a soap-opera show, at least not in regards to his character. I think the opening episode focusing largely on he and Cuddy forging a romantic relationship a big step in the wrong direction. As a romantic couple there is no chemistry and there couldn't be. Their relationship is one of opposition, his relationship with almost every character is that way. Even this episode underscores that as he already keeps important information regarding her job away from her in order to keep her in his apartment. Lisa Edelstein's delivery of lines when Cuddy explains why she's pursuing this with House are flat, unemotional and completely unconvincing. Unlike past shows like Cheers and Moonlighting, there has never been any real sign of romance between the two characters or even the slightest hint that deep down they were made and need each other. House may care for her and has always lusted after her, their relationship has never been one of any kind of balance. It's not a see-saw or give and take but one of butting heads or trying to rein in a tornado. If it continues for the whole season though it may be like those other shows where consumating the relationship is a sign of a show that has run out of fresh ideas.
Criminal Minds has been struggling. Often compelling with fascinating bad guys and tense situations, several episodes last season had moments that either did not make storytelling sense or just outright stupid. The season premier is the second part of the last season's cliffhanger finale with Tim Curry as one of the creepier bad guys to appear on television and in his long history of playing creepy bad guys. The show flounders in a small sub-plot of their communications liason having trouble contacting and getting authority to use the Emergency Broadcasting System. You'd think that would be an integral part of her job! Made zero storytelling sense other than to pad the episode out to fill its time slot. As the commercials airing afterwards lets the viewers know that next week she is leaving the show, maybe it's just as well if she is that incompetent at her job.
New Shows: The Event was a huge letdown. Actually, I wasn't really expecting all that much, just didn't have anything to watch for that hour. Next week, I'll just go to the tired Two-and-a-Half Men and Mike & Molly. Even so, The Event never really established any of the characters or who they were and the constant jumping around in time only served to give me a head-ache in trying to keep up with the plot and not get distracted as why the obviously African-American President was apparently Hispanic. While the commercials and ads played up the whole "secret" of what the Event was, the show itself seemed to be about everything else. It never talks about an "event" but about secret prisoners and then adds a whole 'nother mystery or wrinkle to it at the end. On the whole, a whole lot of mysteries, but very little in the way of plotline or story other than to purposely confuse the viewers. No thanks. I'd rather watch the implausible but strangely entertaining Persons Unknown.
Wasn't expecting much from The Defenders either other than two actors I generally enjoy. Like The Event, ended up watching it mainly because not much else on at the time. Unlike The Event, got a show that was extremely entertaining. The ads are misleading, playing up the sleazy sides of the characters but not the fact that they are actually very good lawyers who do seem to try to do the best for their clients. It's as if there are two different shows, one being a bit of a naughty comedy and the other a compelling legal drama. We'll see which one wins out.
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