Wednesday, May 30, 2018

Season 5 uneven

I watched 3 episodes before I left for work in the morning, and they were SO bad. The only bright spot I remember was when Steve Holt joined his cousins for a road trip to Mexico, but after a while he left, and then the plot became meandering and baffling. For hours at work I had time to stew on how much I hated those 3 episodes, and to dread how bad the rest would be. However, when I came home and finished the half-season, it was better. Well episode 4 still sucked, but then episode 5 finally clicked somewhere around the underwater scene. They finally started addressing Buster's storyline and Lucille 2's disappearance after postponing it with Michael's shitshow missing person plan, just as bad as his roommate voting plan in season 4. Why would you delay such an important plot?

It also took awhile for Gob's Tony Wonder plot to get going, because they had that Beard woman, in a head brace, with no explanation given whatsoever. And they had Sally Sitwell and Tony Wonder leave town, and I was so afraid they wouldn't come back, but eventually they did. But that just makes me angrier at Mitch that he front-loaded the season with the off-putting crap, and made us wade through it to get to the good parts.

And there's still plenty of baffling choices, unnecessary characters, retcons, and timeline issues. Put fucking dates on your episodes! You didn't used to be too good for dates, Mitch! Don't think that it's disguising your messed up timeline. Lean into the mess and have the Narrator make a joke about how 2012 suddenly turned into 2015 for no earthly reason at all.

SPOILERS

Good Riddance

They cancelled Roseanne. Finally. I was worried that, due to its high ratings, nothing she could do would cause ABC to end her revived show. But I was wrong. I hope the rest of the cast and crew find work elsewhere. Just make a new contemporary show that's working class, so we can tackle social and political issues. And also try to be funny.

Good riddance still to Lucifer. Its last episodes were pointless, but at least they didn't feature Pierce/Cain. What a wasted season. Too little, too late to rectify the mess they made.

Sunday, May 27, 2018

Caution

I'm so glad that the vote in Ireland went overwhelmingly for yes. I had feared that it would be like Brexit where everybody thought they didn't have to take the vote seriously. As I understand it, this victory means that the legislature will have to vote to pass some specific law allowing for abortions. I hope they do that soon, and that abortion rights movements might get going in Northern Ireland too.

I'm not surprised by the whole Korean summit falling apart, and dumb Trump going back and forth about talks. I wish the press would stop reporting on his twitter rants and other distractions.

I hear there's some new article now casting doubts on George Takei's accuser. I want to be cautious about believing it because I don't know if it's really wise for writers to go out trying to exonerate somebody. It reads like Snow was motivated to do this due to a book he was writing at the time. I'm not sure of his objectivity, especially since he says that the internet convicted Takei really quickly. But I remember the opposite. I remember people defending him, and I don't remember Takei having immediate repercussions. I remember that ABC didn't postpone or cancel the Thanksgiving episode of Fresh Off the Boat with him. I do remember some people scolding Takei for suggesting a conspiracy against him, then everything went quiet. The world moved on to other things.

People have cast doubts on other accusers before #MeToo and continue to keep saying that women are doing it for attention or money. Is this attempted debunking a wise thing to do? I don't know, but I thought there had been other proof, like an interview on Howard Stern's show. The allegations about Takei broke my heart. I don't want to go through the roller coaster of emotions again.

Friday, May 25, 2018

Almost Memorial Day

I had a nightmare last night and couldn't get back to sleep. I'm still bracing for a possible Friday news dump about Timeless being canceled. I mean, I do want to see them save Rufus, but I'm not sure if NBC will really pay for another season.

This week's Supergirl finally found a good storyline for James Olson as Guardian, discussing the importance of representation and also racial discrimination by the police. The only thing weird was why Lena kept standing up listening to him, rather than sitting down with him. I don't like her recent friction with Supergirl too, and the hints that she'll hate Kara if she finds out her identity. Just recently she talked about the need for secrets in her own life; why would she resent that about Kara? It's just disappointing to see a female friendship at risk. I do hope the show hurries up with defeating/saving Reign, because it's been dragging forever. But instead, apparently Supergirl is going to discover her mother alive, which I feel is a total copout, especially the part where she hasn't aged at all since Krypton.

I'll be working on Monday but will at least have the rest of the weekend off. I'll probably see Solo to get my mind off everything. At least Harvey Weinstein has finally been arrested, and will go to trial. Some justice at least, and there are probably more harassers to be outed soon, like Morgan Freeman.

Thursday, May 24, 2018

Blowback

So Bateman has apologized, and so has Tony Hale. David Cross did so in private, and says his wife made him get off twitter because she knew what the blowback would be. Good. I can rest a little easier. The world's shitty enough without worrying about this incident too; I mean, it even made the news at Wonkette. Tambor hasn't said anything yet, but maybe he's afraid of putting his foot in his mouth, like his terrible comments about the "politicized atmosphere" at Transparent. Could he be learning, even at his age?

(Lots of people do wish these grown adults knew better, but Sherlock Holmes said once, "Education never ends," so I can tolerate these guys still having to learn the consequences of their behavior. Hopefully they can change for the better.)

I mean, the verbally abusive incident was between Tambor and Walter, so if it's not your business, why would you even want to comment on it? Learn to SHUT UP, Bateman, when it's not about you. Let them answer the reporter, not you. Or if you must speak, talk like Alia did about what's not acceptable anymore.

I just want you to go back to being cute and flirty with Will Arnett, so I can be happy about season 5 again. Just five more days.

Wednesday, May 23, 2018

Uggh, you guys

The Arrested Development turmoil has boiled over with a new article featuring most of the cast. Jessica Walters talks about some terrible incident from months ago where Jeffrey Tambor yelled at her horribly, but he has since apologized, and she says she's "over it". But how over it can she be, when's she's brought to tears talking about it, says it's the worst thing that ever happened to her in 60 years of acting, and she keeps phrasing it as "I have to let it go"? You have to, Jessica? Why? For the good of the cast, for the united front Mitch Hurwitz wants about Tambor's allegations, for fear that if you complain too much you're the one who will be cut from the show instead of Tambor?

The men, and especially Jason Bateman, keep trying to belittle the incident and mansplain to her about how she should feel. "This happens all the time", "this is normal". Well maybe it shouldn't fucking be normal? Fucking Hollywood lets people get away with this too much, with some bullshit about how artistic geniuses have the right to be temperamental nightmares, instead of being disciplined by HR like they would in any other industry. Even when a company does the right thing, like Fox firing that Lethal Weapon star and casting someone else to save the show, we get all sorts of people complaining that "he apologized, give him another chance." There has to be a point where you draw the line and don't accept behavior anymore, EVEN IF it's not sexual harassment or physical assault.

My God, it sounds so bad just reading the transcript of the interview (way down in the bottom of this thread), that I'm too chicken to listen to any audio and hear her crying. Hear Alia try to speak up for her with common sense about what's not acceptable, only for the male cast to be jerks showing off their masculine privilege. Fuck them. I'm done trying to give Bateman the benefit of the doubt about supporting Tambor. Why are you so fucking defensive on his behalf? Did he ask you to? Do you get that he admitted he was wrong and apologized to Jessica? Just because she's decided to let it go and give him another chance does not give you the right to tell her that she's imagining how bad it was in the first place.

Fucking bastards. I guess this is why that douchebag Scott Baio got to guest star repeatedly in the show, because much of the cast are douchebags themselves willing to overlook way too much. Goddammit, the season 5 Gob/Tony Wonder storyline better be worth all this shit, or else maybe I'll just fast forward the parts that remind me what jerks they are in real life. If it's really bad I might just have to quit the season partway through and go back to writing alternate universe fanfic to make it better.

Monday, May 21, 2018

Seeking Change

Well, primary elections are tomorrow (but I already early voted), so we'll see how things turn out, and how it'll affect the November elections. Since the Santa Fe shooting, Dan Patrick has been spewing excuses to deflect away from gun control, and the Governor isn't doing any better. I'm glad that a Houston police chief and Kelly Clarkson both are showing that not all Texans are idiots when it comes to gun control. I didn't watch the Billboard Music Awards, but apparently she was not satisfied doing a moment of silence, instead speaking out about gun control.

This is why cultural moments and artists do matter politically. Janet Jackson also spoke about #MeToo when receiving her Icon award. People who say that celebrities should shut up and not use their platform on issues are misguided. Sure, we get wrong-headed opinions sometimes like Kanye West's ravings, but other celebrities give valuable statements and help keep important issues in the news, like the protests at Cannes film festival. Even the royal wedding this weekend had moments that were much deeper than simple celebrity fluff; I slept through it, but I did read that many people found it moving for its message of inclusiveness and love in a time when we have so much racism and xenophobia. I mean, if it's not your cup of tea, that's fine, but some people needed something joyful to cheer them up, and I won't begrudge them that.

Meanwhile, Brooklyn Nine-Nine had a nice wedding episode, but I was disappointed that Gina Rodriguez's part was so small, and distracted because I didn't remember the character they had show up to play the violin at the wedding. (They made such a big deal about him, I would have expected him to be more important, like the recurring Pontiac Bandit.) There was a small cliffhanger, in that we don't know whether Holt got the commissioner job, but I'm fine with not knowing until next season.

Friday, May 18, 2018

TV Cycles

Well, upfronts week is over, and a bunch of shows got cancelled. Brooklyn Nine-Nine got saved by NBC. I do love the show, but I dread each season finale, because they insist on doing crazy stunts, like the witness protection plot, which messes up the first few episodes of the next season. I think this year they won't do it, and won't pull a twist like how Castle ruined the wedding with a kidnapping plot. But still, I'm sick of Brooklyn Nine-Nine's curve balls. I feel it's almost too greedy to want another season, but then again, it would be nice to explore Rosa's bisexuality a bit more.

As for Lucifer, I say "good riddance." Season 3 was fucking awful and took too long to get to Maze and Linda finally making up. Cain absolutely killed the show, and the writers kept spinning their wheels going every which illogical way, ruining every character in Cain's wake. For nothing. Absolutely nothing.

Still no news about Timeless, but I'm not surprised. At least we got to Harriet Tubman before it was over. I'm sad that some of the TV pilots I was interested in didn't get picked up, like Get Christie Love and Greatest American Hero. Stupid networks.

Netflix is releasing Arrested Development season 5 in two parts, so we'll only get half the episodes on May 29th. Even worse, Portia is only in 5 episodes, which means that Lindsay's political campaign probably won't last long. Sad that the writers never find enough for her or Maeby to do, instead treading the same old ground over and over.

Thursday, May 17, 2018

Crazy Week

This week is early voting in some primary runoff elections, but I won't have time to vote until tomorrow. I heard recently there was something where the TX GOP tried to get a bunch of Democratic candidates thrown off the ballot, but the court ruled against them. Good. This is like the first time in so long that we've had Democrats contesting most races.

This week the US moved the embassy in Israel, and the results were shitty as expected. Acting like it's all the Palestinians' fault, and the Israelis aren't to blame for shooting unarmed protestors. What a great ally to democracy and peace, huh? :eye roll: And of course North Korea isn't going to just roll over and give peace to Trump. He was an idiot to think it would be easy.

At least the Senate voted for Net Neutrality, and there's been rumblings that some Republicans will try to defy Paul Ryan and vote on DACA at long last. Good luck.

Thursday, May 10, 2018

Return of the Star Wars kid

So, Netflix released a new trailer and poster for Season 5 now. Looks okay so far. George Sr. isn't dressed as a woman anymore, like post-Cinco in season 4, so hopefully they have dropped that horrible maca plot and accepted that with a real licensed doctor, he could get proper treatment; the stupid shit about him feeling more comfortable in the wig (when he started out saying "this feels wrong!") was so messed up. I wish we could get glimpses of Tony Wonder too, but they're probably saving it along with details of Lucille Austero's disappearance. Mostly the clips are just the "family of the year" campaign and a peek at a new hideout/cottage. Oh, and George Michael recreating his Star Wars video.

Recently I've seen trailers for Will Arnett's Show Dogs movie, and I thought, "What the hell kind of agent do you have, Will?" I guess he's in a talking dog movie so that his kids can watch him in something. But then I noticed Will's voice in the animated Teen Titans Go! movie, so that's a little better quality. Still, how many comic characters is he gonna do?

In another confluence between AD and Star Wars, the Han Solo movie directed by Ron Howard comes out within days of AD season 5, so Ron did this trailer as a fun promo. Plus, it inspired the maker of the fan-made mashup to continue with another episode. Have to wait until September, though.

Wednesday, May 9, 2018

Unexpected

Huh. Apparently Sherlock Holmes 3 is still moving forward. I'd given up on it after all these years with no news. Robert Downey Jr. also kept looking like he was shopping around for a new franchise like Perry Mason. Well, I hope it's good, though I've no idea if they'll follow the plot of Empty House at all.

Meanwhile, Amenadiel finally got his wings back oh Lucifer. About damn time. I hope Pierce/Cain gets killed off next. His nonsensical storyline ruined this entire season, and did damage to Maze as well. I skipped some episodes because the writers couldn't get enough of dumb love triangles.

The TV upfronts are soon, so there should be more renewals and cancellations on the way. The chances don't look good for either Timeless or Brooklyn Nine-Nine. Deception is iffy too; I sort of like it, but the magic conspiracy and the Mystery Woman plot appear rather convoluted. I'd rather have less scenes in the prison, and more information about the kids' awful father and what happened to their mother.

Monday, May 7, 2018

Inconclusive

I finally finished the remix. With the exception of the Gob/Tony stuff, I actually think the last six episodes are tedious. The "previously" clips get too long and unwieldy, and the narrator talks too damn much over dialogue. They seem to have extended the worst scenes (Michael and GM lying to each other at the Ealing club, the shitty double date at Balboa country club, Michael's horrible haircut meeting with Ron Howard, etc.) while they cut some significant dialogue, like Gob's long "Bad example" speech about his revenge turning into real feelings. What does that mean, combined with cutting the post-Cinco scene where he gets the call from Tony Wonder and stares in the mirror?

They also changed other things, i.e. Steve Holt's pest control van collides into somebody else, not Michael and Gob arriving in Sudden Valley. Of course they still haven't fixed the timeline, constantly talking about "last night" and "1 day ago" about the Opie Awards, yet having Tobias and Debrie talk about how it's been 3-6 weeks for them in their mini-universe. Fucking put dates on your damn scenes!

Friday, May 4, 2018

Cinco de Cuatro

So far I've watched 14 episodes of the season 4 remix. There is some new footage (probably alternate takes and deleted scenes from when they first filmed season 4) and some new narration that tries to patch over confusing points and clarify the complicated wall plot. Some of the narration is too unwieldy though, and they don't actually fix the timeline much, still sloppily combining incidents from 2008 with incidents that have to occur in 2011 or later. I mean, they're still pretending that season 3 was the kids' senior year of high school, when it was only their junior year! Also they tried to fix the story of Barry Zuckerkorn getting arrested for lurking outside the school by making him say "I'm back" at the store when he buys the ladder, even though that scene should have taken place long before he got arrested and put on trial; why else would he be free to go to the store and buy (another) ladder? Very shoddy attempt to repair the issue. Also, I thought I caught a problem where Olive Garden is China Garden's aunt, but later the narrator says the women are sisters.

Still, there are some good points, like what looked like a new joke about Ron Howard and Marion Ross. Another one is that Rebel Alley's PSA's are called "I Mean Come on." Since season 4 took place before #MeToo, it makes all the jokes about Hollywood creeps being predators, Dr Norman drugging patients, and Herbert Love sexually harassing women somewhat eerie and uncomfortable. I still hate the awful maca storyline with George Sr. and really dread what season 5 is going to do with it. Tambor will definitely be in season 5, they announced; I wasn't expecting any different, due to all the filming being done since the same time as the allegations. Given how many damn years it took Mitch to finish the remix, I would think if he even attempted to cut Tambor out of season 5, it would take years to rewrite the plots and restructure the season, so I'd rather just take the season as is, than wait longer.

I mean, Scott Baio has been a douchebag long before Trump, yet AD included him as Bob Loblaw back in season 3, and let him come back for season 4 as well. So I've been tolerating people I don't like on the show for a while. George has always been a villainous character anyway, though at times the show tried to make him sympathetic as a patsy of spies and his wife Lucille. My attitude is that I might as well just pretend Seth Rogen's face is photoshopped onto Tambor's, so I can enjoy the rest of the cast and get resolutions to the cliffhangers. Not everyone will feel the same, but that's just me.

Wednesday, May 2, 2018

Bluths Return

So Mitch announced that the season 4 remix will arrive on Netflix on Cinco de Cuatro (May the 4th). He hints that season 5 is coming soon too. I'm still confused about how the chronological season 4 edit is going to fix the serious holes on the season 4 timeline. I guess I'll find out on Friday. Still don't know how they're gonna handle season 5, but I just hope there's plenty of Tony Wonder and Gob.

Nope I wasn't able to finish Far From Over before season 5. I keep trying to find time for it, but never manage. I guess it doesn't matter since it's already an alternate universe, so it doesn't need to finish by a certain deadline.