As much as I’ve had difficulty keeping up with strict blogging deadlines, I also want to comment on the shows and movies I’ve been watching and books I’ve been reading. I also never intended for this blog to die, though most of the times I get started on a long article it’s out of date and pointless by the time I finish it.
So this is me, once again, trying to de-formalize the process. I will put some energy into long, proper blog posts, but I will also do short updates on conversations I’m interested in having right now.
Currently Watching
Iron Fist – at the time of writing this, I am finishing episode 9. As a writer, this show is very frustrating. In many ways, it feels like a first draft. Unfortunately, if it isn’t a first draft, it’s wish fulfillment. What am I talking about? Danny talks about his training, about meditation. He doesn’t actually show the signs of having experienced these things, nor do we get Arrow-style flashbacks to help it along. If it was written into his personality, a lot of things would have changed. For instance, at one point he hooks up with Colleen Wing. This could have been great. Two warriors, trained in different circumstances, each with great burdens and unable to confide in anybody else. This could have been a powerful source of connection. Instead, we just get…them hooking up. Maybe out of desperation, frustration, but still with no real connection. This is what Iron Fist feels like all the time. At some point I will write a more detailed article about this.
Doctor Who – I talk about this every week in An Unearthly Podcast. There’s very little to say that I’m not already saying, so I suggest you check it out. One thing we didn’t mention this week, though, is that it’s almost definitely Missy (with or without John Simm’s Master) in that vault.
Dragon Ball Super – I’m really liking what they’re doing with the Universe Survival arc. On one hand, they’re stretching out a few days into multiple weeks yet again. However on the positive side, every member of the team is built up. This isn’t like the Cell Saga, where characters who haven’t truly mattered since Dragon Ball were brought in to be beat down. 18 and Piccolo received the least build-up, but that’s because they were training other members (and each one’s power level featured heavily in the Android Saga). Krillin, often the butt of many jokes, got more build-up than ever before, without being given unrealistic power levels. Gohan got an episode to build him back up to his pre-marriage levels (though I hope they do more with him). Master Roshi and Tien got an episode reminding everybody of their transformations and showing how powerful they were compared to other fighters.
My Little Pony Friendship is Magic – Not much to really say at this point. The main cast are moving to the point where the lessons they learn apply more to the adults and parents watching and less to the primary audience, as compared to being equal for both. There are still some great moments when Twilight interacts with Celestia, but lately this show is just a “feel good” and not really carrying any weight.
CW Arrowverse – Legends of Tomorrow is on break, leaving the show that I’ve been looking forward to the most to be Supergirl lately. I don’t have anything deep to say on this show at the moment, though some steps have occasionally bewildered me. I believe there’s an invasion coming up though, so that will be interesting, and I wonder if that will have to do with the fact that Mon-El played a much smaller role in the “Invasion” cross-over than the original comic. Arrow is in the “calm before the storm” stage, and I’ve been having trouble predicting its twists and turns as well. I’m withholding an opinion until I see where this truly leads. The Flash, on the other hand, has been full of frustrations lately. People are barely accepting the “time remnant” story for a number of reasons – why would a remnant of Barry have scars? Why didn’t he start to act like Barry when he forgot who he was? There are more questions than answers, about Savitar, about Killer Frost, and more.
Now that the semester is over, I should be able to catch up on some of what I’ve been watching and start with some of what I’ve been meaning to watch.
Watching Soon
Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. – I started watching this season but I haven’t always kept up. Like some others on this list, it’s a little harder to watch episodes of this than CW or Netflix shows. Not entirely difficult, but when I’m throwing something on in the background or maneuvering around piles of laundry waiting to be sorted, I’m more likely to throw on Youtube than to click my way through Xfinity online. It’s a form of laziness that I wouldn’t accept if I were reviewing full-time, and I’ll be making more of an effort to catch up now that there won’t be a stack of papers, journals, and textbooks on my chair full-time.
Gotham – Same as AoS
Sense8 – Season 2 came out recently and I definitely want to start that as soon as I can.
Uuchu Sentai Kyuranger, Kamen Rider Ghost, and Kamen Rider Ex-Aid – The same situation as AoS and Gotham, except that I also can’t watch these while I’m multitasking. I’ll be catching up on at least one of these very soon; after that, it depends on how my summer goes.
American Gods – I plan to start watching this after I read the book.
Hopefully I’ll fall into a rhythm where I can continue blogging regularly. It’s difficult to maintain patterns once the semester starts and I’m facing multiple deadlines a day, but I’m going to do my level best.
Insomniatic 