What’s up Fizmarble readers? Do you guys have a name yet? Fizzies? You should work on that, as a group.
Anyway, with the start of the new Fall Television Season, I thought I’d start a weekly column with a few of my favorite moments of the week. Or least favorite, as the case may be. Just whatever stood out as especially crazy/funny/heartbreaking/important etc etc. The shows will change week to week.
Now, I have very specific rules about spoilers, which I won’t get into here. But here are the basics – this round up will have spoilers, after the jump. Never in the headline, and never in this section. But once you go inside, there will be some. I will put the title of every show I am discussing in bold, so if you haven’t watched, just avert your eyes and scroll along to the next show and come back later. Sound good? Wonderful. Then let’s get to this.
Okay… here are a few of the things that stood out for me this week. In kind of chronological order.
HELL ON WHEELS & COPPER
These two aren’t the most popular shows, but I bring them up because I love them. I am genuinely excited to watch them every week. Also because they are sometimes eerily similar, which was especially highlighted this week. Brief rundown of the shows, since I assume many of you haven’t seen it. Hell on Wheels (on AMC) follows a scruffy, grumpy former Confederate Soldier just after the Civil War ended as he ends up the sort-of sheriff of a Pacific Line Railroad, heading west. He deals with sketchy church members, a whore house, a really rich older guy who doesn’t always like him, a bromance with his second in command and flirts with the ballsy, very rich blonde lady who recently became a widow. Copper (on BBCAmerica) follows a scruffy, grumpy former Union Soldier just after the Civil War ended as he ends up a detective in the Five Corners section of NYC. He deals with sketchy church members, a whore house, a really rich older guy who doesn’t always like him, a bromance with his second in command and flirts with the ballsy, very rich blonde lady who recently became a widow.
Hmmmm… sounds familiar…. Anyway, I bring it up for this week’s article because while Kevin (my husband) and I always joke about the similarities, it doesn’t always follow the same stories, obviously. Until this week, that is, when both shows finally have the scruffy, grumpy guy hook up with the pretty, rich blonde lady. It was bizarre. Hell On Wheels is about 12 episodes farther along than Copper, but it was just weird that one right after the two flirtations finally came to a head. It was like the showrunners called each other and made sure this was the week to do it. If you don’t watch the show, I highly recommend catching up on both. They both take an episode or two to really bring you in, but once they do – good stuff.
CASTLE
I’m sure most of you are aware of the “Moonlighting Curse” – the idea that a couple on TV that is in ‘will they or won’t they’ status for too long will fizzle out and become unwatchable if they ever, in fact, actually do get together. My issue with this idea – it stems from the show Moonlighting where the two actors hated each other with such a passion that none of their acting abilities were going to be able to overcome moving beyond contentious flirting into actual relationship on the show.
People were worried that this would happen on Castle, and well, they were totally wrong. At least so far. The first episode back, that picks up the morning after Kate & Rick finally do the deed, was delightful. Even at the most intense, I couldn’t stop smiling. Will they be able to keep it up? I don’t know. But I’m biased to think yes as Nathan Fillion is the perfect man and can do absolutely no wrong. Don’t even try to argue with me.
SONS OF ANARCHY
I’m not even sure how to approach this one in a small entry. Partly because the episode was so huge in regards to what Kurt Sutter had the balls to do and the implications it will have creatively on the rest of the story. Also, I’ve talked/wrote about it so freaking much over the past 48 hours between seeing the episode and writing this particular paragraph. Opie’s death was tragic, but it was not, as so many people seem to feel, catastrophic to the show. In my review over at Small Screen Scoop, I called Opie’s death poetic. He gave everything to the club. His wife, his father, years of his life in prison, the ability to love and feel – it all went away thanks to SAMCRO. So to have him die in the ultimate sacrifice to save Jax, to allow him to save the club – it was heartbreakingly poetic.
And it wasn’t done in vain. It was just another piece of the puzzle that will lead to making Jax whatever leader he will be. JT or Clay? I suppose that is still up in the air. I don’t hate Kurt Sutter for doing it, as so many seem to. It was a powerful and gutsy move, one I wish I had even a fraction of the ability to make in my own writing. I’ll still miss Opie/Ryan Hurst’s face every week. I think I’m done talking about it now.
ELEMENTARY
Goodness, I wanted to love this show. I’ve enjoyed Jonny Lee Miller since I was 15, which is an achingly long time. I always love Lucy Liu and if she was going to have to leave Southland, I wanted it to be for a good reason. Also, as much as I love the BBC version of Sherlock, I don’t love the show’s most vocal fans who seem to think Sherlock Holmes didn’t exist before the perfectly named Benedict Cumberbatch embodied the quirky character.
Alas, I was pretty bored during the premiere. Not even the always entertaining Dallas Roberts guest starring seemed to keep me glued to the screen. While I think Cumberbatch is better, Miller is still a solid Holmes, although I do think Martin Freeman has a better hold of the character of Watson than Liu. I don’t feel she has quite found the emotional connection the character needs to the obsessive compulsive genius in order to understand as an audience why she stays. Besides the fact that she is being paid to do so. That said, I’ll give it another try, because if I’ve learned anything over the years, it’s not to judge a show by a bad pilot.
FRINGE
There is nothing I enjoy more than a show with a deep mythology to be given a solid end date. Fox, for all the horrible things they’ve done to Sci Fi shows over the years (*cough*Firefly*cough*Dollhouse*cough*) has shown an uncharacteristic amount of respect towards Fringe. Why? I don’t know. Maybe it’s the fact that JJ Abrams commands respect. Maybe Kevin Reilly (entertainment chairman at Fox) was a huge Dawson’s Creek fan (my personal belief). Whatever the reason, Fringe has remained on the air long past the ratings have given it a right to, and I’m forever thankful.
The season is taking place almost primarily in 2036, and thank goodness most of the leads were frozen in amber for 21 years, so they still look the same aka don’t need to spend 3 hours in the makeup trailer every morning. While this show has always been a twisty world full of bizarre happenings I’ll never fully understand, like most good Sci Fi, it’s actually been about more. In this case, it’s about love and family and hope, and the premiere keeps us on that path. And in true Fringe style it comes in multiple ways. Watching how amazing Peter (Josh Jackson) is as a father is one that made my heart soar. But mostly, it was another perfect moment from the man who should have a house full of awards: John Noble. In a scene with no dialogue, just Noble’s Walter Bishop, Yaz’s “Only You,” and this dandelion, we were sent off on Friday night with one of the more poignant moments on television this week.
I literally teared up posting that picture. *send tissues*
So that’s just some of what happened this week. Didn’t want to do too much because, if you can believe it, so many shows have yet to even premiere!
I’ll be back next week to chat about some of my returning favorites like Supernatural, and maybe some of the new premiering shows, like 666 Park Avenue.
What would you like me to cover in the weekly round-up? Let me know and I’ll try to include it in the future!
Follow me on Twitter: @serrae and you can find my full recaps for some shows over at Small Screen Scoop.