Catching Up

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Even though the weather has been getting better, all blue skies and warm weather, I have been staying in to catch up on some TV I have missed the last little while. No, I am not talking GoT (totally up-to-date on this!) but here is some other stuff.

Girls Season 5

Sometimes characters on shows baffle me. I find it implausible that there can be people out there like this. Sure, like with any fictional tale there is going to be some unreal aspect to a character like their amazing luck, the ability to afford an amazing lifestyle with minimal pay, or they can fly. But when you have a show like Girls, with characters that are supposed to represent a generation that are (hopefully loosely) based on experiences that have happened and the people they involved, it just blows my mind.

Hanna and Marnie are 2 horrible people. They are loud, selfish, insufferable, blowhards that spew a miasma of self-righteous indignation everywhere they go. They mow through people hurting feelings, breaking hearts, and destroying lives. The worst part is they don’t care. They do what they want under the veil of the feminist manifesto; being who the want in this oppressive society. But the worst part is, if you pay attention, they are the worst feminists ever. When things get even just a little hard, they stop trying, play the girl card, and beg to be saved. Sadly, people always flock to them, soothing them with sweet lies until they have built themselves back up and are prepared to go on a rampage again. When the show began their antics were acceptable. Something about them being younger allowed for this to be passable. But as the show has moved forward and their lives “advancing” it is expected that they would learn, improve, evolve. They haven’t. That is what makes them so infuriating, they know better.

Jessa and Adam have progressed a little. She has realized she wants to be a better person and he has realized it is okay to like/enjoy things. They didn’t like each other much when they first met but being forced together they learned to get along. Now it has changed into something more. Their relationship is a little scary. They are passionate people and things can get loud, heated, violent.

Shoshanna, Elijah, and Ray. They are practically tertiary characters but they have evolved the most and have the best story lines. When the show first began I couldn’t stand Shoshanna. She was naive, whiny, and just generally obnoxious. But as the show progressed it was clear that she learned from her experiences. She did stay true to herself but ventured out to become a better overall person. She found where she believed she belonged, apparently that was Japan. She immersed herself in the culture and embarrassed this new world until she lost her job and was forced to return to New York. I have always liked Elijah. He was always fun, light, but spoke his mind without being mean (unless he really wanted to). He has come to the point where the party life isn’t what he wants, he needs something more. He believes he has found that until the cracks start to show and he is back where he was before. He acts/is a grown up during this whole thing. He is upset but makes rational decisions that are devastating but necessary. He moves forward. Then there is Ray. He is a difficult character. He is the gruff guy with the hard exterior but a heart of gold. He wants to be better, he wants the people around him to be good and safe, he will bitch and moan but he will do anything for the people he cares about, but he keeps being used, horribly, by the ones he cares the most about: Hannah and Marnie aka the worst people ever. At the end of the season you see him in tow behind Marnie, you know all that is going to end really badly.

Season 5 of Girls was like watching a shrieking, sparking train, trying to come to a stop but it was just going too fast taking out everything in its path. There is horror and devastation but it is hard to look away.

Last Man on Earth Season 2

When this show first started I could not comprehend how they could have a show about one guy, by himself, on Earth. Of course that changed really quickly and the show was surprisingly good overall. The characters where quirky, whimsical even, without being annoying. And even though there are some deep topics covered it stayed light and funny for the most part.

This season was a bit heavier than the first. They delved into darker territory, focusing on things that are easily accessible now, vital to our survival even, but when things are scarce or you just don’t know a person with the necessary expertise it can, well, kill you. It also finally brought up loss. Not just the fact that people died on the show and how to deal with that current loss but how much these survivors of a horrific overall tragedy had to deal with what came before.

We also got more insight on what actually happened to everyone. In the first season, even though it was very lightly touched on, it was never really explained. This season however it was, everyone just died. A fast acting pandemic took the lives of most people. We even got to see where the bodies were. I must admit it was a question I had but seeing it was not something I expected. It wasn’t graphic like the The Walking Dead, it was all very neat and clinical, but still, it touched the right notes.

It also explored the theme of family. Not just the building of a new one but the ones that have been lost as well and what that means/meant to people trying to keep everything together. The last couple episodes with Phil and Mike were really well done, heartfelt, laugh/cry episodes. One minute something hilarious and the next it just gets ya right in the feels. The two emotions were flawlessly woven together as the story progressed.

Last Man on Earth is a really great show and I am surprised I have not heard people talking about it more. No one I know watches it and I think that is a shame.

Daredevil Season 2

I have never been a huge fan of Daredevil. I mean, I had no problem with the character but it just never grabbed me. It took me a long time to get around to watching Season 1 of the Netflix show. Apparently this was a big problem with the people I know cuz every 5 mins someone would ask me if I did and after saying no there would be gasps and guffaws.

It did take me long time but I got around to watching it. It was good, a really well done, well written, well casted, well choreographed/directed show. It was dark without being bleak with characters that were a pleasure to watch in somewhat plausible situations and believable developments. Then season 2 came out. I didn’t wait as long to watch this season but it did take me longer to get through.

I am not a true binge watcher. I can do 2 or 3 episodes back to back before I lose interest. If I am interested in a show though I will watch those episodes every day getting through it relatively quickly. With season 2, it took me weeks to get through those 13 episodes. The writing was looser, aspects of it seemed unnecessary, and the story over all was just not as good.

Let me start with the good. The whole Punisher storyline was great. The dialogue/banter between Punisher and Daredevil was fantastic.  Jon Bernthal was awesome. He was the perfect combination of moody, psychotic, and pathetic. There is a grittiness to him that makes you believe his distraught nature. The writers did not soften his character so when he was in the midst of his punishing he was brutal and relentless. This led to some very bloody almost hard to watch scenes as people were ripped apart by bullets or pulverized by fists. None of it though, in the context of this story, was excessive.

The bad, Elektra. The casting didn’t seem right. Her look, her accent, her overall portrayal. I could have gotten over the first 2 issues if the overall performance won out, but it didn’t and that made the other problems even more evident. Whenever she showed up I just wanted her to go. Then there was her overall storyline, it was very weak. It was a combination of the writing and the editing, the none linear unveiling of her character.

The unnecessary, ninjas. That is not something I ever thought I would say or wanted to say. These ninjas were intertwined with the Elektra storyline giving her a purpose for showing up and I believe they were supposed to add mystery but it came across hokey/gimmicky. It was so cheesy it was distracting especially since the Punisher storyline was so well done. This just came across as filler until the show got back to the true story.

Daredevil is still a good show, I plan to check out season 3, but the writing cannot falter any further.

Ok, that’s enough. I think I should go outside now.

Tra

 

About the Author

Tra

2 Comments

Nel

Some things :
1. Point of note, Girls is written well when the episodes are not written by Lena Dunham but there were some strong moments on this season for the first time. Also, Marnie is the worst.
2. You hated Elektra too! Thanks so much for confirming that 🙂

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Nel

I do dislike the assistant girl more than Elektra though – if it ever came down to who is disliked more.

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