My Top 5 Shocking Moments in Television!

Some of the moments mentioned in this list aren’t so much shocking as they are depressing. I’m using the word very loosely as it would be a word used to describe the moment (especially on my first watch), that would later turn into sadness. You’ll see what I mean. Needless to say MASSIVE SPOILERS FOLLOW

5) The Walking Dead – Carl Kills Lori

The death of Lori was an interesting one. She wasn’t a favourite character of mine, so the fact that she dies was very much a ‘meh’ factor. It’s more the manner in which she died that deserves its place on this list. Carl having to shoot his own mother after he helped her survive childbirth is something nobody should have to go though, let alone a child. This moment acted as a reminder that in a world inhabited by the dead, there is no room for childhood anymore. The second Carl pulled that trigger signified the end of his adolescence. The episode concluded on the heart wrenching moment Rick discovered his wife’s fate and that it was Carl who had to kill her.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cmqrherqGos

4) Friends – Monica’s Inhospitable Environment

The first time I watched Friends this moment hit me hard. It was both shocking and heart-breaking watching Chandler tell Monica they might never be able to have children. Children had been Monica’s life calling ever since the early development of her character. We were constantly reminded that she wanted children in episodes such as “The One with the Birth” and “The One with the Jam”. She watched throughout Phoebe’s pregnancy and witnessed her brother and best friend raise children of their own. So the moment Chandler shattered her dream was one of my more shocking moments for me.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-X022EvmmqU

3) Roseanne – Dan Connor’s Heart Attack

One of the most beloved characters in television Dan Connor (Roseanne’s husband) suffered a fatal heart attack during season 8’s ‘The Wedding’ episode. What really made this a shock was we initially believed Dan survived, with the family then going on to win the lottery and live a much happier life, until the series finale that is. We discovered that the show was Roseanne writing about her own life and that she fictionalised some aspects that she didn’t like. She wrote that Dan survived his heart attack where in reality he died and the family never won the lottery. This sad news coming in the dying moments of the show hit like a truck and we were left knowing the family were never happy, and that fairy-tale endings aren’t real.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R6yqd-qN1n8

2)  Game of Thrones – The Red Wedding

This is a predictable one as ‘The Red Wedding’ still managed to come as a surprise to audiences who should surely have become accustomed to the violence of George RR Martin’s world, such was the savage nature of the scene. Two major characters were killed off in less than a minute’s space between each other in one of the most gut wrenching scenes in TV history. However, this doesn’t take my number one spot because I was expecting the deaths having read ‘A Storm of Swords’. Some additional brutality that didn’t feature in the book such as repeatedly stabbing the pregnant Talisa in the stomach still managed to crush my very soul. The show even warned us of such events in the first episode, “a Dothraki wedding without at least three deaths is considered a dull affair”. Take the word ‘Dothraki’ out and we have a pretty good premonition of weddings in the show.  Game of Thrones can have its own list of shocking moments, yet this ‘Rains’ over them all.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZnxvUuSzbMI

1) Breaking Bad – Hank Dies

Hanks death was unique as it happened in the first 15 minutes of an episode. When a main character like Hank dies you’d think it would be saved for the final moments, but not in Breaking Bad. They killed him early and my personal reaction when he died was like “they haven’t just killed him off that easily have they?” They did. They didn’t even let him finish what he was saying before they killed him. So for the simple yet affective timing of the death, this moment takes my number one spot.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zaF8o50i7nI

Back in the 90s I was in a very famous TV show.

Season 2 of BoJack Horseman has just been released on Netflix and I’m still currently going through them all, along with a bunch of other shows I intend to write about soon. The aim of this article is to get those who probably should have, but haven’t got around to watching a BoJack episode to give it a try. Don’t worry, I won’t be mentioning any spoilers, just talking about some of the reasons I find the show interesting.

For those of you that don’t know what BoJack Horseman is about, I’ll give a brief synopsis. BoJack is a washed-up sitcom actor from a 90s TV show called “Horsin’ Around”. His life is surrounded by trinkets of the past and is filled with self-pity. The only people who care for him are; Todd Chavez, a freeloader with no life ambition; Princess Carolyn, his agent and frequent girlfriend; Mr Peanutbutter, another ex-sitcom star of the 90s; Diane Nguyen, the woman hired to record and write his memoirs. (Diane is voiced by Alison Brie, I LOVE ALISON BRIE! This should be known to all).

To be honest I had no idea what BoJack was about before watching it, I didn’t even see a trailer. I thought it was an animated comedy more along the lines of Family Guy. I made a base assumption from the style of animation when in truth the two shows are entirely different, with only the style being a slight similarity. So when I first watched it my initial reaction was “well…this is crap” because it wasn’t making me laugh in the way I expected it too. However, I continued to watch and discovered a much more intelligent and emotional comedy then I ever anticipated. I was expecting a comedy where everything would just revert back to normal at the end of each episode, but instead got a story driven by the train wreck that is BoJack Horseman.

The ‘conventional’ jokes of the show are few and far between, but that’s not what makes BoJack hilarious to watch. The clever use of intelligent anthropomorphic animals that maintain their usual traits help create a world filled with cockerels yelling “Wake up!” early in the morning, penguins running a publishing company and navy seals being, you guessed it, seals.  As you can imagine these peculiar characters form unique comedy scenarios. BoJack mixes comedy and emotional storytelling so well that in some instances a joke can quickly turn from hilarious to pure depressing. They will leave you remembering that BoJack is egotistical, lonesome and just generally a broken horse-being in more than one aspect.

Basically what I am trying to say is BoJack Horseman is a surprise package and If you’ve been on the fence about it, or currently looking for a TV comedy to pass the time, then I encourage you to give BoJack a chance, after all, he’ll be all alone without you.

Game of Thrones

Big Spoilers Follow

Season 5 of Game of Thrones came to a jaw shattering end. We are all still recovering from the news of Jon Snows death, which the book readers have known and kept quiet since way back in 2011 with the release of ‘A Dance with Dragons’. To them I say thank you, if important moments leaked to the viewers, the show wouldn’t be what it is today.  I want to discuss what has been both a staggeringly brilliant and highly controversial series. By now us viewers have surely come to the conclusion that nobody is safe. Yet somehow I still found myself believing the show and books have established characters which are quite simply unkillable. I’m so naive.

The show and book have reached a point where they should be thought of as two stories taking different paths to the same conclusion, similar to ‘The Walking Dead’ franchise. There are still some storylines that have yet to be covered in the show that featured in ‘A Dance with Dragons’, and some impactful characters that have purposefully been left out, such as Lady Stoneheart and Aegon Targaryen. I was relieved to know that House Greyjoy will be making a return for season 6; I was massively disappointed with their lack of involvement this season. Hopefully, we will see their storyline developed slightly better than the poor attempt at portraying the Dornish. I’m excited to find out whose cast as Euron Greyjoy, casting news is always something to get the hype train started.

Ok so this next subject matter I’m a little tentative to start discussing, simply because it upset so many fans, the Sansa and Ramsey rape scene. There wasn’t a need to have this in the show I completely agree. Ramsey’s character was already pretty well established as being completely psychotic, making it unnecessary to include this particular moment for his character, screen time better used on Dorne perhaps? The massive step backwards for Sansa was also quite annoying. She went from being a new powerful figure in the ‘game’, back to the frightened little girl she always was. Now what I found confusing about the matter was readers of the books acting like this scene never took place.  I realise it was with a different character and that Sansa Stark was nowhere near Winterfell or Ramsey at the time, but there was still a rape scene in the book. If my memory serves, the scene in the book was a lot worse and way more graphic than the show. It confused me why there was such uproar about it, I agree there was no need for it and that it didn’t include Sansa in the books, but it still happened. The show came under a lot of anti-feminist fire this season and I’m hoping that the likes of Sansa and Cersei will get some good old fashioned feminist revenge in season 6. However, the shows worst feminist crime happens in Dorne, which I will mention later.

Season 5 possibly had the best three ending episodes to a season since Game of Thrones started, with episode 9 being the most disappointing of the three. This is weird because the show has built a reputation surrounding the 9^th episode. We’ve had Ned Starks beheading, the Battle of the Blackwater, the Red Wedding and the Battle of Castle Black. This season had its episode 9 eclipsed by ‘Hardhome’ and ‘Mother’s Mercy’, which both contained two more memorable moments than ‘The Dance with Dragons’ episode. There is yet to be a film or TV show that has perfected the CGI art that is riding a dragon. The dragon alone on screen looks spectacular, the second Daenerys jumped on for a ride, everything just looked uncomfortable and cheap. Maybe I felt this way because I’m at the stage in Daenerys storyline where she just doesn’t interest me anymore. If the show hadn’t written Tyrion into actually meeting her, anything to do with Meereen would have just bored me. In George R.R. Martin’s original planned trilogy, Daenerys was supposed to reach Westeros so much earlier than she currently has. This lead me to think, now that she’s reunited with Khal Drogo’s old Khalasar, she’s just going to pop over to Meereen, grab what remains of her army and then invade Westeros. Probably just in time to stop the White Walkers invading…

Overall, I was happy with this season. After I got over some annoying comparison issues with the books I found myself enjoying the show like I did in its earlier seasons. The beginning half of this series wasn’t exciting me and I started to wonder if reading the books had ruined the show. After I overcame some major story changes or some that were completely left out (which is still irritating), I came to enjoy exploring whole new story arches with some of my favourite characters in Jamie and Sansa. That’s right, Sansa’s one of my favourites. Sure we aren’t getting the story George R.R. Martin intended to tell us and I can understand why some book fans are deeply disappointed with the changes. However, I think that’s a negative view on the matter, let’s not forget that George R.R. Martin works as an executive producer on the show and writes an episode a season. He still has a huge influence in what stories are represented and what isn’t. Of course it’s frustrating that characters like Aegon, Lady Stoneheart or Arianne might not be influencing the books outcome in a significant way, seeing as they’ve been axed from the show altogether. It does leave me excited to read their fate in the up and coming ‘Winds of Winter’. Instead of being disappointed about something I’m elated to discover the way these stories will develop to potentially surprise the reader. Having said this, if the show has already covered content that hasn’t been in the books yet, then it’s going to annoy a lot of people. There is a double standard involved, let’s not forget George R. R. Martin started readers on this journey back in 1996.

Time to talk about Dorne and how underwhelmed pretty much everyone was in the way the show handled their storyline. While I enjoyed watching a new storyline involving Jamie, I was equally annoyed that the writers felt the need to involve an existing character into a land of completely new and underdeveloped characters. Did they think the viewers weren’t sophisticated enough to enjoy discovering new players in the ‘game’? When reading the books I really felt like Dorne were a dark horse in the power struggle, that prince Doran was a highly intelligent person with ingenious plans. After the death of his sister Elia Martell, we learn that Doran put a very long term plan into motion while dealing with any unexpected bumps along the way. But in the show, all we see is the crippled Doran that would rather sit and wait out a solution than to take action. This is the same character we are introduced to in the book, although by the end we understand his true motives; this end revaluation is non-existent in the show. Now onto the Sand Snakes, this is possibly the worst representation of characters I’ve seen in the show. They are powerful women to be feared in the books and caused Doran plenty of issues to solve and handed him interesting cards to play. In the show they were just another pair of tits to show off, which was completely unnecessary and pointless. They cut out Arianne Martell (Doran’s Eldest daughter and under Dornish law heir to his throne) and instead decided to keep the Sand Snakes that did nothing but get their boobs out, great job there. So they took a strong woman in a position of power and heir to the Dornish throne and thought ‘you know what we don’t need her, she will just bore and confuse audiences, but we need more boobs’.  For those that don’t know, Arianne planned to crown Myrcella Baratheon under Dornish law as the rightful heir to the Iron Throne, adding another interesting sub-plot to the increasing number of claims to the Throne. She also faintly has a small claim of her own. Dorne just wasn’t approached in the right way. Did the writers forget everything revolves around the sun?

If you’re interested in learning more about the Dornish and why readers were so irritated by these changes, then please watch this YouTube video about the Dornish master plan and understand for yourself.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6TBfdd_xNVo

Top shows to binge-watch on Netflix

I recently saw a similar article elsewhere and I wanted to create my own shortlist of the best shows on Netflix to watch and watch until your eyes pop. This list will contain shows that most of you have probably already seen or are currently watching, which is great. There will hopefully be a few shows that you’re not too familiar with or have never got round to watching. I want the outcome of this post to be a reference point for people looking to watch a new show but not knowing what to choose. I intend to be constantly updating and changing this list with new releases being added to Netflix, so this is definitely an ongoing article. It should be noted that this list is based on both US and UK Netflix. This information will be next to the title of the show. Every show mentioned will have at least two seasons to watch.

Breaking Bad – US & UK – 5 Seasons

So if you haven’t seen this show before, what’s wrong with you? Seriously go and watch it. It’s basically impossible to get to this stage in life without somebody recommending Breaking Bad to you. Well, you should have listened to them long ago, because it’s a fantastic show. For those of you that have lived under a tunnel since 2008 I’ll summarise it for you. A chemistry teacher develops lung cancer and starts cooking crystal meth with the aid of an ex-student of his. They get themselves into some sticky situations that make for great television. If you’ve managed to avoid spoilers up to now then this show will throw some great surprises your way. This is an absolute must watch for anyone so go ahead and treat yourself.

Twin Peaks – US – 2 Seasons

This show might not be for everybody. A young woman (Laura Palmer) is found dead and peculiar FBI agent Dale Cooper is on the case. This bizarre town will leave you thinking ‘What the jellyfish is going on?’ on more than one occasion. If you like your TV plots slow and intricate thick with twists and turns that will leave you bewildered then Twin Peaks is perfect for you. If you can make it through its strange happenings you will finally be able to answer the question, ‘Who killed Laura Palmer?’

The Walking Dead – US – 4 Seasons

In this post-apocalyptic world inhabited by walkers (zombies), we follow Rick Grimes as he struggles to keep himself and his group safe, while also battling his own sense of sanity. Like Breaking Bad, it’s pretty hard to have not had The Walking Dead recommended to you at some point. This is a must for any horror/apocalyptic fans out there. The areas of human morality and hopelessness that are touched upon make for enthralling television that will keep you hooked for a long time. This is definitely a show to at least try. It’s one of my personal favourites and hopefully you will become immerged in a world where walkers aren’t the biggest threat. This show is still ongoing so catch up and move on to binge watching something else on this list.

 Orange is the New Black – US & UK – 2 Seasons

I’ve talked about the addicting tendencies this show has in a previous article. The Netflix original series from the creator of Weeds tells the story of Piper Chapman who is sentenced to Litchfield Prison for drug trafficking and money laundering. We explore life in a low security prison through the perspective of several inmates and dive into their emotional stories that leave you wanting to watch more. This is the perfect choice for those wanting to watch an emotional series where they can connect with the characters and really invest themselves in the story. The third season of OITNB is available on June 12^th.

American Horror Story – US & UK – 3 Seasons

American Horror Story is a unique show in that it tells a completely different story each season. Season one explores a haunted house, two a 1960s mental asylum and three a witches coven. There is a fourth season that currently isn’t available on Netflix called Freak Show. Some stories are better than others with my personal favourite being the second season and my least favourite being the third season. The great thing about this show is you don’t have to watch these in order, you can start on season two if you wished and watch season one last, it really doesn’t matter. This is a great show to binge watch if you have a heavy schedule, having the option to watch one season which lasts 12-13 episodes then taking a little break before watching the next. Not having to worry about what you might forget. If this series interests you but you’re not too sure give season 2 a try, you won’t regret it.

Prison Break – US & UK – 4 Seasons

The title of this show basically sums up the plot. Lincoln Borrows is accused of a murder he claims he didn’t commit and is sentenced to death; his brother Michael Scofield purposely gets himself arrested in an attempt to break his brother out of prison. This show does start to decline in the later seasons but don’t let that deter you from giving it a watch. The first two seasons contain 22 + episodes so you’ll have plenty of content to keep you entertained. The obstacles these characters have to overcome to secure their freedom is really entertaining – breaking out is the easy part.

Sons of Anarchy – US & UK – 6 Seasons

Now this is a show I’ve been meaning to get around to myself. The show is about life within a gun-running motorcycle club and mainly focuses on Jax who is their vice president. They run into trouble with both the law and rival clubs and have but one rule; ‘you live and die for the club’. Unfortunately having not seen it myself I can’t talk much about it. All I know is it’s widely loved and had a massive following before it finished in 2014. There is a seventh series of the show currently not available on Netflix with talk of a possible prequel series in the works.

Supernatural – US – 9 Seasons

Demons, Angels, Lucifer, ghosts and prophets are just some of the encounters that Sam and Dean face as they hunt all sorts of paranormal activity. Supernatural has genuine chemistry between its two main cast members, which is noticeable when watching the show, and includes some intuitive storylines. It’s a must watch for those who are horror fans or fans of anything related to the supernatural, because I can pretty much guarantee it will be covered in the show. Supernatural is regrettably a massive investment, with each season (apart from the third) lasting 22 episodes a season. So if you’re looking for something to really take up some time, Supernatural offers you over 127 hours’ worth of footage. If only Aron Ralston had it to keep him occupied.

Bob’s Burgers – US – 4 Seasons

Here is something a little different for you now.  This animated comedy about the Belcher family and their burger store is a great watch for those just looking to put something on in the background while doing whatever else it is you want to do. You should give it a try if you’re a fan of The Simpsons, Futurama or even Family Guy.

Spartacus – US 4 Seasons – UK 2 Seasons

If you like a show filled with sex and violence then look no further, Spartacus has it all in abundance. Like many shows it deteriorated in the later seasons and had to re-cast the leading actor after the tragic death of Andy Whitfield. I recommend watching the first season which is undoubtedly the best. The slow motion, high action show filled with sex and gore will certainly keep you entertained and you don’t need to fully concentrate on the show either. Like Bobs Burger’s it’s a great show to just throw on in the background.  Sadly only two seasons are available in the UK, luckily these are the only two really worth watching.

The Twilight Zone (Original Series) – US – 4 Seasons

Most of you would have heard of The Twilight Zone but perhaps only watched one or two episodes. I really encourage you to watch as many as you can, they’re filled with imaginative stories that are still effective today.  So don’t let the age of this show fool you. Similar to American Horror Story you don’t have to watch them in order, every episode of The Twilight Zone is unique with their own inventive story. You can watch a 25 minute episode at your leisure and skip the ones that don’t sound interesting to you.

The Vampire Diaries – US & UK – 5 Seasons

If you like your good looking vampires, werewolves, doppelgangers, witches and other supernatural creatures than I have the perfect show for you. This show is basically about a love triangle involving two vampires and a human girl with a lot of craziness that goes on around them.  Not interested in that sort of thing? Maybe you’re starting to think is sounds too much like Twilight? Well in many ways you’re absolutely right. The Vampire Diaries is just much better in a way that only people who have watched it can describe. It has a slightly darker take on a world inhabited by vampires with ambiguous morals.

Homeland – UK – 3 Seasons

Is Nicholas Brody the American hero he appears to be? CIA agent Carrie Mathison believes he’s been “turned” by al-Qaeda during his captivity. This show creates edge of your seat moments for different reasons than other, more systematic thrillers. Without giving too much away, moments such as a simple polygraph test can give you a rush of emotions and leave you wanting to see how the story develops. I saw elsewhere that a critic described Homeland as “24 for grown-ups”. I couldn’t agree more with this statement as the show certainly contains a level of maturity and probably isn’t much suited to the teenage audience.

Daredevil

When Netflix first announced they were developing four Marvel based superhero shows in ‘Daredevil’, ‘Luke Cage’, ‘Jessica Jones’ and ‘Iron Fist’, I felt both a wave of excitement and uncertainly come over me. I thought ‘Yes, We’re getting more Marvel content… Shit, what if they fuck Daredevil up again?’. You can’t blame me for thinking this, let’s face it, the last Daredevil related content was the biggest pile of dribble. Regardless of this I still had hope that Netflix could produce a ‘Daredevil’ that existed in a darker realm than had previously been displayed in movies and other television shows. I wanted them to build a show that lived up to the name ‘Hell’s Kitchen’. Now, I can honestly tell you that they exceeded my wish and all expectations I had for this series. I genuinely think this show might surprise comic fans with how they’ve stayed close to the source material, and surprise others with the gritty, tense atmosphere.

The show succeeded in establishing a sense of realism in New York’s crime network. Instead of seeing over exaggerated supervillains with ridiculous motives that we’ve become tired of from Marvel content, we get back to basics and explore real life crime issues such as human trafficking, drug production and mass corruption. Nothing sums up the gritty approach to ‘Daredevil’ better than its face of evil Wilson Fisk, AKA The Kingpin, portrayed brilliantly by Vincent D’Onofrio. When Fisk was first introduced to us the show spent an entire episode humanising him, presenting him as a smooth and calm romantic that seemed as harmless as a bunny rabbit. We were made to think “ah this guy’s not all that bad” before we later see him bludgeoning a Russians head to death with a car door. We all probably knew this guy was dangerous from the beginning but ‘Daredevil’ has definitely created a blurred line where Fisk’s involved. He does genuinely want to help create a better city, his heart is in the right place, he just lacks morals and rationality doing anything necessary to see his city cured. I personally believe the most important aspect of a superhero film or television show isn’t the hero themselves but the villain they’re fighting against. An interesting antihero whose next move is unpredictable is much more engrossing than the man fighting to stop him. Fisk is certainly this type of villain; he’s a cool calculating character whose every word is met with a chill that goes straight to the bone.  This contrast from the typical villainy we’ve become accustomed too from Marvel content was a much needed and refreshing change.

‘Daredevil’ genuinely doesn’t leave me with a negative thing to say, it’s a definite must watch for those who are fans of ‘Arrow’, ‘Flash’ and ‘Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D’ or just those looking for a new show to try. Even if you don’t particularly like the whole superhero thing, you should give ‘Daredevil’ a go, as I said before it may surprise you. It’s not perfect don’t get me wrong, it’s just a nice change of pace from what we’ve been used to and comes as a delight for me who’s been wanting a much darker take on the vigilantly world for a while.

8/10

Top New Shows I’m Excited About

Scream (TV Series) and Scream Queens

These are two TV shows I am super excited for because I’m a big fan of slashers. My dissertation was focused around the sub-genre and I genuinely believe this is a clever move that will hopefully revitalise the dying horror style. Both shows are currently scheduled for release this year with ‘Scream’ (TV series) in June and ‘Scream Queens’ in September. I’m personally looking forward to ‘Scream’ over ‘Scream Queens’ as I loved the self-awareness approach the films brought to classic slasher tropes,  which can already be seen in the trailer.

Scream (TV Series) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2zDydMGoUkY

Scream Queens https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yJb0XQAUFLI

Netflix Marvel Superheroes (Iron Fist, Jessica Jones, Luke Cage)

Netflix’ take on ‘Iron Fist’, ‘Jessica Jones’ and ‘Luke Cage’ originally didn’t interest me. However, since the release of ‘Daredevil’ this month my curiosity has reached a new high. ‘Daredevil’ has really reignited my love of a good superhero show. This adaptation is much darker than the likes of ‘Agents of Shield’ and ‘Agent Carter’, which for me is a welcome change from the usual Marvel content. If Netflix can replicate a similar approach with the next three shows and the upcoming ‘The Defenders’, then we are in for a real treat.

Twin Peaks Return

Ok, so I’m starting off with something that isn’t exactly new, this popular show from the early 90s is set to return next year for 9 episodes. For anyone that was a fan of the show 25 years ago, they will be pleased to know that key characters such as Dale Cooper, Bobby Brigs and The Log Lady all feature in the new limited series. The show has unfortunately lost David Lynch, who was undoubtedly a crucial part of the shows original success. I’m curious to know what new strange happenings will occur in the bizarre town and where they will take the show after its previous finale back in 1991. Maybe they’ve finally changed that sign, or the population at least.

Fear The Walking Dead

Now here’s a show I’m sure every Walking Dead fan is looking forward too.  We finally get to see what the world was like during the initial outbreak. Maybe this show will explore the causes, something that is still a mystery five seasons into ‘The Walking Dead’, who knows? I’m excited to discover new characters, story arcs and villains that haven’t already been explored or touched upon in the original show. Most information about this show has been kept very tight lipped, a small teaser can be watched here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WMhrWPkkpjM

The Astronaut Wives Club

You may have heard of the other shows on this list, but I doubt many would have heard of ‘The Astronaut Wives Club’. The show has actually been in development for a while, originally scheduled for release back in 2013. The series based on Lily Koppel’s book has continually been pushed back for one reason or another. It will tell the true story of the women who stood behind their husbands that later go on to became American heroes during the space race. Emotional storylines and drama has always appealed to me more than impassive spectacle through special effects in space related content. I’m someone that always found the emotional goodbye before the launch more interesting than the launch itself. This is what makes ‘The Astronaut Wives Club’ intriguing to me. I’m hoping it will create a tense, emotional, lonesome atmosphere that can only be created in a helpless positon from a great distance.  This is a show that has a lot of potential and hopefully, because it’s been pushed back so much, it will be the best it can be for release.

Better Call Saul

‘Marco’, the season finale of ‘Better Call Saul’ was released on Netflix last Tuesday and while the show didn’t finish with a bang, it did leave me hungry for more. Vince Gilligan knows how to make good television. He has nailed the art of mixing character development with humour, drama, emotion and engaging plotlines. Now this might not sound so hard to do, but how many television shows can you genuinely say have delivered content this engrossing? The list probably won’t be as big as you’d first imagined. Yet Vince Gilligan has done it again, albeit as a spin-off of his insanely popular show ‘Breaking Bad’, which many people consider the best TV show in history. I personally don’t, I think there are, or have been better shows, but I can see why so many people love it. ‘Breaking Bad’ is one of my favourite television shows to date, just not my number 1. My favourite show will be discussed in a later post.

‘Better Call Saul’ is clearly in it for the long run, with a second season commissioned before the first episode even aired, AMC were pretty confident their show would be a success. This turned out to be true, with the season premiere almost hitting 7 million viewers, before the show sunk to an average 3 million.  To put this into context, ‘Breaking Bad’ started with a viewership almost pushing 2 million before vastly rising in later seasons. ‘The Walking Dead’ (which is a freak of television in terms of its ratings) started off with 5 million before easily breaking the 10 million barrier. So ‘Better Call Saul’ can be pretty happy with itself. The show just needs to establish its own audience instead of relying on ‘Breaking Bad’ fans. In fairness it’s clear after 10 episodes that the show has created a barrier between itself and ‘Breaking Bad’, with the lack of cameo appearances.

There was only one thing that really disappointed and irritated me about ‘Better Call Saul’- waiting for Netflix to release a new episode. I realise that the show was aired on AMC weekly in the US and it’s not a Netflix original series, but it still ticked me off having to wait. ‘The Walking Dead’ and ‘Game of Thrones’ are currently the only other shows I watch on a weekly basis, so maybe Netflix and Sky Box Sets have just got me used to watching two or three shows back to back. After each episode ended I just wanted to watch the next. The show was so binge watchable, mainly because Jimmy McGill was such an engaging and charming character. I wanted to see more, like I’m sure you did, having to wait sucks. This isn’t really area to complain, as it’s how most of television shows work, the rest being formats such as Amazon Prime and Netflix.

Although I just said I’d like the show to detach itself from ‘Breaking Bad’ and establish its own audience, I’d also like to see some interesting cameos or storylines connected with its mother show. This might sound like I’m contradicting myself a little. The show does need to build its own viewership separate to ‘Breaking Bad’, otherwise views will continue to drop (and they were dropping towards the end). We’ve already discovered how Jimmy came to meet Mike and that relationship is still building. It would be exciting to see how they both came to know Gustavo Fring, which would be an awesome moment I’d like to happen in Season 2. Walter and Jessie probably won’t make an appearance until around the end of season 3, which is arguably the biggest moment ‘Breaking Bad’ fans are looking forward to. Smaller moments I’m hoping to see include Jimmy/Saul hiring a rather large body guard called Huell Babineaux and Jimmy/Saul perhaps having a small run in with local DEA agent Hank Schrader, for reasons unknown. These would be interesting moments and a nice little nod to all the ‘Breaking Bad’ fans. I’m also eager for more short scenes of post Walter and Jessie, Saul Goodman. We were given small glimpses early on and I really want to see where they can go with his story after the events of ‘Breaking Bad’.

I’ve decided to give the shows I talk about a rating out of 10. ‘Better Call Saul’ gets a 7. If you think this is low considering I’ve done nothing but praise the show, I can’t see myself ever giving a 10. So this is a pretty good score.

Orange is the New Black – How I Became Addicted

Spoilers follow

Season 3 of the Netflix hit series Orange is the New Black is due to premier June 12^th and I wanted to explore the reasons why this show is so addictive. ‘Orange’ didn’t hook me as quickly as other shows in the past. It took me until the 8^th episode to get to the ‘I have to see the next episode!’ point of watching. I know loads of people that managed to binge watch the show in the first week or so, instantly falling in love with Litchfield Penitentiary and its inmates. It just didn’t happen like that for me. So why do people not find ‘Orange’ easy to binge-watch? At the beginning the characters just weren’t engrossing enough, which is ironic considering they’re now probably the best aspect of the show. We go into the prison through Pipers perspective, because we see all other inmates through her eyes we make the same initial judgements she does. Over time we see the prison more objectively and discover everyone’s personal stories. This really gives strong emotional depth to the show, which is something I personally haven’t experienced with a cast this wide and diverse. However, this stage in character development didn’t really affect me until later in the series.

With the average running length of an episode being roughly 55 minutes, it just seemed to go on for too long and episodes with no real pace began to drag. This was a big issue for me starting out, especially with episodes such as ‘The Chickening’ just not keeping me interested for that amount of time. The plot just wasn’t compelling enough in the early stages and I didn’t feel the immediate urge to watch the next episode.  I’m not entirely sure what the plot even was? Other than Piper coming to terms with the reality of her new surroundings and being caged up with Alex, I honestly can’t think of one other storyline. Whilst the beginning didn’t engage me how I would have liked, I still continued to watch an episode every day or so. I found anything more than this too exhausting and droll to handle. Why did I grudgingly continue? I almost felt obliged to continue, like I’d put too much time into the show already, I owe it to myself to continue. Or the fact I’d heard good things and thought I’d just give it one more episode. It was probably a combination of the two, but boy am I glad I watched on. ‘Orange’ seemed to hook me overnight, almost like someone flipped a switch in my brain and I fell under its spell, after this moment the show became to me, Netflix’ best original series. Some of you ‘House of Cards’ fans might seriously disagree with me and that’s okay. I’m still not entirely sure what it is about ‘Orange’ that makes it so watchable, it just has a lure about it that other dramas don’t. I think the episode that changed my opinion was ‘Bora Bora Bora’. The extent of emotion I felt over Tricia’s death really took me by surprise; all of a sudden I was fascinated by these women and Lichfield Penitentiary’s peculiar guards. I started to see ‘Orange’ in a whole different light and since that episode, I finished both season 1 and 2 within the week. The small storylines that developed each episode all of sudden mattered to me, with the main plot taking a ‘holy shit’ turn. The rising sexual tensions between Piper & Alex and Pennsatucky being confined to the psychiatric ward really captivated me. With season 1’s penultimate episode ending in the line ‘You know what I gotta do…, she disrespected me. Now, I’m gonna have to kill her’, the show established its shock factor. I mean, you knew this prison was a dangerous place, but you didn’t think it was life threatening. The moment was like oxygen to my brain, the scene was so beautifully complemented by the song ‘Imbread Evil’, I had to see where this was going and it didn’t disappoint me. The confrontation in the showers, Piper snapping and Healy abandoning her left me hungry for more. I’m just happy I started late and didn’t have to wait for season 2. I powered through the rest of the show in days and loved every moment.  Issues that annoyed me before, such as lengthy episodes and irritating sub-plots suddenly became one of my favourite things about the show. I actually found myself wishing each episode lasted longer; such was the extent of turnaround in my opinion. Aspects of Litchfield that bored me at the beginning became interesting, such as the mass corruption amongst certain guards (one of which was smuggling drugs into the prison). In a strange way I started to see the prison as a representation of America. Drug smuggling through their borders, segregation, sexism and corruption are all current or past issues still surrounding the states.  

‘Orange’ started to mesh its comedy well with its drama, which had just felt awkward at the start. For me, the show is definitely more of a drama with small amounts of comedy thrown in. If you haven’t seen the show, and I haven’t spoiled too much, expect to find more emotion than laughs. ‘Orange’ is constantly introducing you to a new emotional flashback or storyline. Taystee and Poussey’s relationship, Red’s flashbacks, Piper and Larry’s struggles, and anything to do with Lorna & Crazy Eyes are just some of the emotional plotlines the show takes you through. The comedic qualities come from surreal prison antics, including a cigarette carrying cockroach and a ridiculous lesbian competition. Certain characters are seemingly thrown in just for laughs, Big Boo for example. Though, I’m sure when the show dives into her story (hopefully in season 3); we will start to see her in a different way.

I also think Netflix are missing an interesting side development that could go along with ‘Orange’. Something similar to the current interviews with cast members that are available online, a show that lets fans see the real people and truth behind the story. While I realise I could just read Piper Kerman’s memoirs in ‘Orange is the New Black: My Year in a Woman’s Prison’, I still wouldn’t get all sides of the story. Maybe Netflix could do a small documentary that distinguishes fact from fiction and gives fans a look at the real Piper, Alex and Larry. Perhaps there’s already something in development, I don’t know. This is just a unique piece of content I’d like to see from Netflix.

Now if you’ve managed to read this far and haven’t blown your brains out over my content, I’d love to hear how you became addicted to the show? Did it happen instantly? Gradually? Or like me and just clicked one day? Let me know in the comments section below.

The Walking Dead – Will Season 5’s Finale Disappoint?

Spoilers Follow

The 5^th season finale of The Walking Dead hits our television screens this Sunday/ Monday, but before we see what I think we’re all hoping to be an epic finale, I can’t help but feel they’re building towards something that, again, won’t deliver. Now I haven’t read the comics to this point (I’m currently on the 11^th Volume) so I don’t know what’s going to happen. I realise that the comic and the show have taken different routes and some characters deaths are different or just haven’t happened yet, but the show does follows the basic story arcs. I’ve found that the easiest way to think of the differences is to consider them as alternate realities to each other, where events have just taken a different turn but the overall outcome will remain the same. Back to my point now, some of you might be thinking ‘what? How has the show not delivered?’ Well as far as Season 3’s midseason finale it did. Michonne’s encounter with The Governor and Daryl having to fight for his life was the beginning of the end for meaningful finales. Let’s start from the beginning though with the 1^st season ending in the self-destruction of the CDC and the panic as to whether or not our heroes would make it out alive was great! The secret message that Jenner whispered to Rick, and Jacqui and Andrea choosing suicide over escape made for truly great television. If Dale had just taken one for the team and stayed we would have rid ourselves of her ages ago, making the episode one of the all-time greats in ‘The Walking Dead’s history. The second Season’s huge build-up of Sophia’s whereabouts and the escalating tensions between Rick and Shane, eventually resulting in Shane’s death was brilliant. Finishing with the epic line “This isn’t a democracy anymore”, solidifying Rick as the dictator of the group.  Ah season 3, now this is where I feel the show started to lose its direction; maybe because Darabont was no longer involved, who knows. That’s a discussion for another time. The Governor was a fantastic character there’s no denying that, he undoubtedly made season 3. The whole build-up of Woodbury vs The Prison was awesome, I was enthralled every step of the way; right up until the finale… What even happened there? There was a really lack lustred attack on the prison that resulted in The Governor retreating and gunning down his own troops. Then we had the death of the shows most beloved character, Andrea. Ok, so we all hated her, you would think her death would make the finale a good one right? Wrong. The manner in which she died was so disappointing. I wanted to see her ripped apart by Walkers after claiming she can take them all on by herself, she would forget to take the safety off and we would see her face slowly but brutally eaten. Was that so much to ask for? Instead we had to suffer through a heartfelt goodbye and have her eventually shoot herself, which was all somehow on her terms. But worst of all we didn’t even get to see it happen, not even a little bit. We just heard a gunshot, what the hell! I waited 35 episodes for that? It was almost like the writers gave a big fuck you to the audience. To make this worse, the beginning of season 4 was built around creating another battle between The Governor and The Prison while also involving some stupid illness storyline; which was a bit of a joke. It made me think the writers can’t do a big storyline independently without the guidance of the comic. The final standoff between The Governor and our heroes was crazy good. The moment you see a tank rolling towards the prison you know shits about to go down, and boy did it. The execution of Hershel, the inevitable firefight and the destruction of the prison had me glued to the TV. After I had some time to settle down I thought ‘hang on, why wasn’t this season 3’s finale?’ Honestly, it was the same fight (sort of), just interesting this time. ‘Too Far Gone’ while being a fantastic episode, kind of made everything that happened in the beginning of Season 4 completely irrelevant. Can anyone remember anything significant happening in the first 6 episodes of that season? A memorable death we actually care about perhaps? If you can I will hold my hands up and say I was wrong. It still wouldn’t change the fact that it was a poor start to a season that somehow saw viewership rise by an average 2 million people. I felt like the writers just thought ‘OK guys, we fucked up before. Let’s waste half a season and get the fight right this time.’ Well at least they did.

Now we find ourselves on the road to Terminus, which for the most part was a good journey. With some engaging storylines happening along the way, most notably Carol and Tyreese little issue with Lizzie, Beth’s kidnapping and the relatively small, but interesting, confrontation between Joe’s group and Ricks. Not forgetting about Abraham’s arrival and Eugene’s ‘mission’.  The whole terminus encounter however was less than disappointing. The season ending on the massive cliff-hanger was great, posing questions such as ‘What the hell is Terminus?’ ‘How are they going to get out of this one?’ It even ended on cool line, “They’re gonna feel pretty stupid when they find out…they’re screwing with the wrong people.” This I do know from the comic, they changed the word ‘Fucking’ for ‘Screwing’, why? It’s not like they have to accommodate for a PG audience. Anyway back to Terminus, the entire cannibal’s storyline just seemed like such a missed opportunity. Terminus was destroyed in the first episode of season 5, the first episode! With everyone associated killed off by the 3^rd. What a waste! Gareth was an engaging villain and they brought a whole new feel of human devastation and maliciousness to the show. Then we are taken from one group to fear to another’s conclusion within the space of 8 episodes. We continuingly jump from one fucked up situation to another with the show never taking time to settle and build towards something truly spectacular, until now.

The Alexandrea storyline has lead me to think we could be here for some time, which is a good thing. I want them to build storylines around Alexandrea and not just to kill someone of we never really cared for in the first place. I’m worried the show will follow the same pattern it has for the last two and a half seasons. Build towards something that’s a massive disappointment, or, create a cliff-hanger for it to just jump to another storyline without building upon it some more. Having said all this I do still have high hopes for this finale, because I do still love the show. This may seem surprising having just read me bitching about it for so long. This is only because I’m passionate about television and it frustrates me to see a show that has such amazing potential to create engaging content, just not live up to itself. I would like to see the show create a meaningful cliff-hanger that will still matter going into the next season, not just run out of steam after 3 episodes. I’m actually hoping they will kill off a major character, maybe Glenn, Maggie or Carl. This would send a rift through the group that would last longer than just the next episode. I want the fear factor to be stronger than ever and bring back that feeling that nobody is safe, maybe do the unthinkable and shock everyone by killing of Daryl; causing that riot everyone threatens to do. Perhaps Rick will finally lose the hand The Governor should have chopped off back in season 3. All I’m asking for is to create something that’s memorable and won’t be completely irrelevant come half way through season 6. Something that will be worth the 17 or 18 million views it will inevitably get in the US.