Television Overview, Part 4: Mysteries

[osprey_archer]

Miss Fisher’s Murder Mysteries, season 2. I watched season one last year (the year before last? sometime in the past…) and adored it, and I did enjoy season two but I didn’t think it was quite up to the mark set by season one. I find this happens with shows a lot: season one is great and then there’s a distinct falling off. It’s gotten to the point where I’m actually kind of glad when a favorite show gets canceled, because at least then I know it will remain undiminished by later, inferior additions…

Having said all that, I definitely plan to watch season three, which Netflix has helpfully put on instant. Thank you, Netflix!

Castle. I got halfway through season seven, to the episode where they resurrected the boring serial killer yet again. I realize that Castle is a show that likes to play with genres and genius serial killers are an integral part of the modern detective genre, but I don’t care for them and I care even less than usual about the particularly ludicrous serial killer concocted by Castle, so I skipped that episode and somehow never came back.

But at last Netflix has the DVDs! So I’ll skip that two-parter, watch the last few episodes of the season (one of them is an astronaut episode!!! The Martian has filled me with enthusiasm for all things astronaut this year), and then probably stop because I’ve heard season 8 has a lot of manufactured relationship drama. Oh, Castle. I guess all good things must come to an end.

Graceland, season 2. NETFLIX WHY DON’T YOU HAVE SEASON THREE YET??? I want to see the final season of this show so much!

I have a lot to say about this show and I’m not sure where to start, so I’m just going to redact it here in the (probably vain) hope that I’ll eventually write it a post of its own, as it deserves.

Although I will say here that I feel a burning desire for some Charlie/Amber. The undercover agent and her new bank robber buddy! The look on Charlie’s face when Amber first sashays into the diner to give the bank robbery deets: bored out of her skull as she waits for this “specialist” to arrive, surprised and interested when the specialist turns out to be a girl, and then - oh no she’s HOT as Amber slings herself into the booth and lists all the ways that their current bank robbery plan is the pits.

Nothing says super mega ultra hot like confidence and know-how! And THEN, Amber tests Charlie’s cool by having her rob a bar (“And get me a cheeseburger while you’re at it!”) and the two of them drive off together on Amber’s motorcycle, top speed.

Come on. Come on. That’s got to be followed by some exhilarated “Oh my God I just broke so many laws and it feels FUCKING GREAT” sex back at Amber’s crash pad, right? I want 500 fics of this on AO3.

...I could write ship manifestos like this for practically every character on the show, so you can see how the squee would take over this entire post.

Poirot. Still a delight. Acharming and always reliable period piece; occasionally the murder plots are a bit outlandish (I still think the ABC murders is silly), but really the murders are an excuse for Poirot to do his Poirot thing, and David Suchet is a marvelous Poirot. He owns that character. And I love the recurring side characters, too: Captain Hastings and Miss Lemon and Inspector Japp. In the later seasons they don’t always appear, but whenever they do I squeal with delight.

The X-Files. I saw the first half of season one, and… it’s just so nineties, you guys. I don’t mean the hair and the clothes - I don’t mind about those - but the mind-numbingly boring will-they-won’t-they sexual tensions (I already know they will, and I already know that I really, really don’t want them to) and the episodic storytelling.

I actually love episodic TV shows (see Poirot, above), but I think The X-Files would be almost immeasurably better if it had been written during the age of plot arcs. The fact that Mulder and Scully have to identify, tangle with, and (fail to) contain a new uncanny threat every single episode means that most of their antagonists feel woefully underexplored, and it also undermines the sense that these things are truly uncanny. After all, our heroes have figured them out in less than forty minutes.

Comments

[littlerhymes]

I dropped out of Graceland halfway through S2 and now you're making me want to catch up. Damn!

Don't feel obliged to keep watching TXF if you're not enjoying it of course but I will say - they don't actually get together at any point during the regular tv show. Like, you never see it. Also, the plot arcs come into play in S2. I actually started watching in S2 and I think that's where the show finds its feet. As I said NO PRESSURE but you can easily start with the S1 finale which has repercussions, then go into S2.

[osprey-archer.livejournal.com]

I don't know how far you got in Graceland, but the second half of the season is totally gold for super questionable ship fodder. Charlie/Amber is my favorite, but there's also Johnny's entanglement with the drug cartel leader's son and daughter, and also Paige/punching Mike in the face.

We'll see about X-Files. For once the people advising me where to start are all in agreement about where I should skip to, which is a point in its favor.

[rachelmanija.livejournal.com]

Pro: The X-Files becomes way less episodic and more myth arc-y later on. If you like the show otherwise, jump to the final episode of season one and see what you think - that's the beginning of the first big myth arc.

You could then easily get someone to construct a myth arc-only watching schedule, skipping the crappy standalone episodes. (You should still not skip ALL the standalones, because some are really good - in fact, even if you decide to quit the show here, you should watch "Clyde Bruckmann's Final Repose" and then quit. It's a standalone episode from season three and is really worth seeing. However, many of the standalones are bad and skippable, period.)

Con: The mytharc is really great TV (well, in general fannish opinion anyway) but only up to a point. Unfortunately, that point occurs well before either the myth arc or the show concludes. Season three is probably the best overall. I do not advise watching past season five or maybe six. Also, the UST in season one continues through the entire show. Yeah, they do but only off-screen and in retrospect. It was not satisfying for either shippers or no-romos.

[asakiyume.livejournal.com]

I was basically going to say something like this, but way less detailed. I only tuned into The X-Files after the myth arc started, and I found it fascinating (until it turned into too many balls in the air) ... though it may be that I found it fascinating because I only saw an episode here or there, as opposed to watching steadily.

[osprey-archer.livejournal.com]

I feel like there are some shows that work best if you just catch random episodes here and there. I watched Gilmore Girls and Scrubs that way and could never get into them when I tried to watch them more sequentially. Possibly the soapiness of some of the plot arcs became more visible that way? Whereas episode by episode, I could just focus on the characters.

[asakiyume.livejournal.com]

Could be--I agree with you about Scrubs.

[osprey-archer.livejournal.com]

Well, we'll see. There are so many shows that I want to watch, and in a lot of them all the episodes are good (or almost all; I suppose every show has a clunker or two), and this sounds like comparatively a lot of work.

On the other hand, X-Files is such a fandom landmark. And I do enjoy Mulder & Scully, if not their UST. So.

[your-insomnia.livejournal.com]

Someone else aside from me knows about Poirot?? And watches it?? Honestly, it's the reason I finally caved in and subscribed to Netflix. I always watch it when I feel down or stressed and it's an amazing pick-me-up which is weird because it's not a comedy?? But it's just so escapist and British and good for the soul, haha.

[osprey-archer.livejournal.com]

I think that there is an underground upswell of people who love this show. Whenever I mention it, there always seems to be someone else who is all SQUEE I LOVE THAT SHOW.

It's just so well-done in every way - perfect casting, perfect costuming, beautiful locations, good pacing, everything. And even though the murders can be grim and betray a dark side of human nature, the little group of friends around Poirot is so cozy and heart-warming.

[tamsin]

I enjoy Poirot too. David Suchet is just so perfect for the role. I think my favorite episode is The Double Clue. Countess Vera Rossakoff is a great character and I love her relationship with Poirot.
Do you like the books too?

[osprey-archer.livejournal.com]

I've only read the first book, and I found Captain Hastings' narration off-putting - he's so much more enjoyable in the show when he's not there all the time narrating - so I never did read any of the others. I haven't read Miss Marple, either, although I've been told that they're wonderful.

[tamsin]

Yeah, I get that. Hasting can be annoying, though I felt that got better in later books. Or maybe I just got used to it.
The Miss Marple ones are my favorites, I have a weakness for cool, smart old women.

[entwashian.livejournal.com]

Sloooowly getting my mom through Miss Fisher. We just (literally -- we finished like half an hour ago) skipped ahead a few episodes to watch the Christmas special!

CHAMBER. I've tagged all my tumblr posts as "logistics amber" because no last name given. :(

[osprey-archer.livejournal.com]

CHAMBER. YES. LOVE THE SHIP NAME.

Admittedly the part where Amber had Charlie tortured in the season 2 finale makes getting them together more difficult, but fandom has overcome greater challenges.