Woo so glad I didn't carry Scream Queens on but the first season did have magic moments.
Vinyl was the biggest disappointment in television for me (I dropped it after a few episodes). They did not have to be dependent on the "conflicted white male antihero" when there was so many great personalities and characters from the time! Ugh
What was once a flawed but admirable and sometimes poignant coming-of-age drama in disguise has, like so many other shows of its type, long turned into one of TV’s most aimless and repetitive series paddling along and repeatedly forcing moments without power or genuine resonance.
‘The Vampire Diaries’ used to be able to create some truly powerful, profound moments speaking on teen-angst, a darker touch of vampirism than its peers and the lasting meaning of growing up which it hid through some overused but still interesting vampire analogy. At times, it even managed to be surprisingly clever and mature whenever it had the same kind of bittersweet realizations as its teenagers stand-ins – that not all friendships last, that friends are bound to grow apart and that the fruitful seeds of teenage love rarely blossom out of high school to name a few.
I don’t have many thoughts about this year for the show that don’t repeat what I’ve been saying about it for the past years already. It’s still aimless without Nina Dobrev in the center, it’s still pushing the same buttons that have lost all of their power long ago, always going the places you expect it to go or in some cases dare not to. There’s virtually no reason to watch it anymore apart from having grown fond of the characters, which, unfortunately or not, I have.
And yet, at least this current final season is trying to unite its episodes through the idea that other people can make life worth living, which, granted, is a basic viewpoint delivered in 'TVD's style but at least introduces a welcome joint thread for the show nonetheless.
‘The Vampire Diaries’ final message of unity and belonging emphasizes that, at least after all this time, its characters will be the answer to redemption for each other and, considering that, it’s hard to imagine anything but a happy ending for its ensemble. And that might not be as complex or as interesting as the show’s multi-layered, metaphorical nature in its early years, or as fun a ride at that, but at least it’s worth something.
‘Daredevil’ is yet another Marvel/Netflix collaboration that fails to live up to the hype surrounding it and never reaches the depths of darkness and realism it pretends to tread in. Instead, the series packs out almost every superhero cliché and trope imaginable and is all the more frustrating to watch because of it. Its premiere season at least had a strong start that was exactly the smart and subversive show it costumed as later on and provided enough hope for the show to maybe return to a point of self-aware curiosity.
It never did and in its second year ‘Daredevil’s writing seemed to even stop trying to be something it isn’t (because its direction continued the ridiculously dark set-ups anyway).
Sometimes, that can make a show more enjoyable and easily watchable because you’re not watching it through the lens of a different and better type of series anymore and can see its flaws in a different light, maybe even forgetting about them by taking them for what they are.
In ‘Daredevil’s case, however, dropping its attempts at being something greater altogether exposed it for the kind of very generic and predictable comic-adaptation it’s turned into very early on. And really no amount of apparently good choreographed – albeit poorly edited and lighted – fight scenes will be able to get me invested into something even more calculated and standard but significantly less entertaining than its movie relatives due to its misleading bleak flair.
Best Episodes: "Penny And Dime"
(here's a clip of s2 rehashing the first season's single-most innovative and best moment bc why not?)
Whether you sought out a pensive and moody crime thriller, a surprisingly gripping family drama and character study or simply something to get lost in that blur the lines between raw authenticity and , raw and ‘Bloodline’ was the right choice for you. Broody, gripping and profound enough, it was a sort of modern Florida-noir always making the best use of its setting to enhance the watch.
Its visual flair is still there but everything else feels numbed and dumbed down just to indulge in a mood of seriousness for the sake of it that is always threatening an impending change but never following through with it. ‘Bloodline’s first season already suffered from similar pacing issues, albeit not nearly as drastically, but could always make up for it with its ability to depict the complex family dynamics about what keeps the show’s central family together but also alienates them from each other at the same time. Whereas the mystery elements culminated in a deeply tragic and inevitable climax, its second season tried to capitalize on it with a twist that, in its nature already, seemed so far-fetched from the start you could never get invested into it even if the show tried its best to sell it.
‘Bloodline’ still writes history as it’s become Netflix’ first season to be cancelled, or ended at least, after another third and final season next year. Maybe the writers will have taken the criticism to heart and plot out a season that isn’t stalling for too long but gets right to the moments it’s always teasing about. When you bring Ben Mendelsohn back to basically play a ghost just to avoid having to move the story or characters forward something is definitely wrong (and I do enjoy me some Ben Mendelsohn).
There is a chance 'Bloodline's third season could be the strongest one yet, however, because even during this bad year all of its goo, exciting components where still there. They were just simply hiding behind its gloomy, rainy curtain of dullness.
As a satirical, soapy take on the behind-the-scenes nature of a reality bachelor show, ‘UnREAL’ was always a series that could have derailed any minute. Yet, I’ve always held onto the hope that its second season could defy those fears and capitalize on the impressive, surprising and thrilling show that ‘Unreal’ was in its first season, especially as its debut seemed to give no implication that showrunner Shapiro – who actually used to work as a producer for The Bachelor herself - didn’t know what she was doing. After all, the sophomore soar is almost as famous as the sophomore slump is infamous.
It used to be a gruesome, dark yet sassy and twisty exploration of the blurring morals on (reality) TV, understanding to root exciting twists in all the fears, desires and mostly dark motivations that drive its characters. It even created two of the greatest anti-heroines who share a powerful self-destructive yet strangely comforting and supporting connection. By that, ‘Unreal’ was able to transcend its premise and add additional layers of gender equity and even a sensitive depiction of mental health issues to its themes.
And while Shiri Appleby and Constance Zimmer continued giving brilliant turns this year, both their characters were written off from three-dimensional female forces into clichés whose deepest natures are reduced to the most predictable and generic female tropes of them all – a problematic childhood rape trauma and the idea that a woman can only be completely fulfilled once she bears a child. And I haven’t even started on an incredibly insensitive and weirdly racist plotline.
Unfortunately, ‘UnREAL’ has malformed from a network-defining hit into another overtly melodramatic Lifetime series that makes the same mistakes as all the rest. There are shows suffering a sophomore slump because they miss a few wrong turns but never make the kind of mistakes that will hurt it in long-run. Then there are shows, like ‘Unreal’, that write themselves into a corner that will be hard to come out of again.
‘UnREAL’, for worse and for better (mostly for worse), has inescapably decided on core characteristics of its protagonists that it will have to try and humanize in respectful and dignifying layers all while trying to juggle the show back into its original, catching premise – an incredibly tough task that I think ‘UnREAL’ sadly isn’t up for.
Unfortunately, ‘UnREAL’ has malformed from a network-defining hit into another overtly melodramatic Lifetime series that makes the same mistakes as all the rest. There are shows suffering a sophomore slump because they miss a few wrong turns but never make the kind of mistakes that will hurt it in long-run. Then there are shows, like ‘Unreal’, that write themselves into a corner that will be hard to come out of again.