While the production itself is still very good the second season just wasn't as exciting as the first one. I feel like I've treaded water the whole time, waiting for a ship to come to pick me up. But it never came.
While the arc for Freydis did somewhat close out within the season, both Harald and Leif fell in the background. They were pretty much traveling on the Love Boat to Konstantinopel for most of the season. It all seems to be kind of a precursor for things to be happen next season. But I wonder if we really needed a whole season to be prepare for that.
Well, time will tell. But while I was very exciting after the first season I'm less so after this one.
That last season wasn't as bad as the previous one but still could not convince me the show deserved more. They had 12 seasons, almost 250 episodes, which is something few shows reach. There is a reason for that even if, from my point of view, the were past due at least 2 years. Even the ones before weren't outstanding. I loved the first 100 eps, the next 100 were OK, and the rest was pretty much a time filler. It really ended with the death of Sweets.
In any case I can now cross off the show from my watchlist. I am sure it won't find its way back on it again.
Voyager became a different show with season 4. It wasn´t a big overhaul but a lot of little things that finally made this show reaching up to it´s potential.
The addition of Jeri Ryan as Seven was a big plus. Althought she was ment to be the babe and bringing some sexy looks she´s done so much more. Seven brought conflict to the show. She was the sandpaper between the rest of the crew, always questioning their methods and motives. She was the strong opposite to Janeway, the both of them clashing horns at every corner, and I think a lot of time Seven was spot on in her assessment of Janeway. They wrote more interesting stuff for Seven in even half of the season than they ever did for Kes. I liked Jennifer Lien but I felt her character never really went anywhere in terms of developement.
I also liked the B´Elanna/Tom relationship. It was bound to happen to couple two characters and those two seemed to be the only ones believable.
Overall scripts became better, the show alltogether had more and better continuity. I still didn´t like any character particulary which over the whole run of the show never really changed. Personally I would have liked to see more of the Hirogen who, from the introduction, were far more interesting and threatening than the Kazon ever became. But I´ll admit that ultimately the Hirogen were maybe a bit to single minded and since Voyager was bound to move on draging the Hirogen along would have ultimately been the same as with the Kazon.
I've been contemplating for a couple days now what to write about S2. Or if I should write anything at all. Because quite frankly I've written enough already over the course of this season.
So let me close by saying this: Ever since Nemesis and the ending of ENT I'm waiting for good Star Trek. And I still do. If the Abramsverse and/or DIS is the Star Trek of now than I am glad I still have the older shows.
As always, this is my personal opinion. If you like that stuff, fine by me.
From time to time I revisit Moonbase Alpha because it is still one of my favorites of all time and I associate a lot of memories with it. It was something we watched as a family and something I played as a kid.
There were some really good scripts in this first season and, yes, some bad ones too. Oftentimes though the good ideas were pulled down by cringe-worthy dialogue. It comes with the time and place this show was produced. It wasn't as sophisticated as Star Trek had been but I loved it nonetheless (I actually watched Trek much, much later). The 70s design fit really well and the modells they built looked great (if you know Anderson TV shows you know what I mean). Most people who are watching it today for the first time will put it among the silly 70s scifi show category. But those of us who knew it from back then will always appreciate it.
I have now watched it on BluRay for the first time and can absolutely recommend them. It's amazing how well they remastered this. The details are amazing and I have discovered things I have never noticed before. If you are a fan and haven't watched it in HD do so. You won't be dissapointed.
This show went from something I wasn't even aware of to one of my favorites fast. And a lot of that is owed to the great cast.
I have to give a lot of credit to Daniel Brühl who, until now, never really convinced me in any of his roles. I don't know the books, therefore I have no idea how Kreizler is described, but he seems to be made for him. Equally convincing Luke Evans, of whom I'd seen a lot before, but I couldn't tell you one movie his was in. And, of course, Dakota Fanning. The trio had chemistry right from the start and they carry it throughout the show.
The story is a well concieved psycho thriller that isn't loud and flashy but tries to get to you with calmness and the right amount of brutality when nessessary. To tell the story and not to attract attention.
The costumes look great, so do the physical sets. Both help sell the era this is based in. Yes, you can identify the CGI but I can easily overlook that in a TV production. On the other hand it doesn't deflect from the plot.
The dialogue ist great, too. It is refreshing to see people in a civilized manner on screen and not yelling and cursing and using foul language like it seems to be chic today.
I have a very short attention span these days and this is one of very few shows I watch without doing something else. That a quality label from my point of view. Since there are more books I hope this will continue.
Maybe it's the rating this show recieves everywhere or the massive amount of awards it's collected throughout it's run that had my expectations very high. But after the second season I stand behind my comment from S1: it's good but I've yet to be impressed by it. This is (so far) not the kind of show where I absolutely want to see the next episode. I am not glued to my chair while watching. There are only two kind of characters: the one's I don't like and the ones I don't care about. There still is none I really like. Some are interesting but that's it.
By no means I am calling this a bad show. Just one that could turn out to be not for me.
I also wanted to watch the second season in HD, but I did not get past Episode 4. There are not many shows whose quality decreases so much from one season to the next.
As soon as the second season starts, you realize that it's a different show. The design has changed, which is not unusual. But here it was a step back. They just put in more stuff that had more flashing lights, but really did nothing but fill up space. And since the sets were getting smaller anyway due to the limited budget, everything seemed crowded. I really liked the simple and clear design of the first season. And the women now wear skirts - extremely modern and future-oriented (joke) .
Several cast decisions were made. Gone are Paul, Victor and David without a single word of explanation. In comes Tony and again no explanation. And they picked up Maya, played by Catherine Shell, because you need a resident alien and a little more sex appeal for the US audience. And of course there is a romance between these two new characters right away.
They also completely changed the soundtrack and the main title. While the first season included orchestral melodies and a strong main title, there are now synths in the main title and much more tempo that promises more action. And the style in the episodes changes from classic to funky and jazzy which does not fit at all to a sci-fi show.
To say that the quality of the stories worsened would be an understatement, it plumeted. Some ideas had substance, but if you think that the first season was missing in the science part or the dialogues were bad you should stay away from the second one.
The new producer Freiberger had a vision of where the show should go. It was the Americanization of a promising show. I do not think those changes where the show was needed. It backfired while the second season was still produced and in the end it killed the show.
I will always hold the first season in high regard and gladly whatch an episode here and there but I don't think I watch the second ever again.
HD Quality is good, though.
After the revelation of the pregnancy I feared S7 would gonna be bad. When I started watching this show B&B seemed like a natural fit. You know, like opposing sides attracting each other. Brennan's awkward, quirky behavior against Booth's straight forwardness and honesty.
Now that they are together it isn't working. They are more like two cogs in a gearbox that are running tooth on tooth. If they don't find the clutch it will never work. And to be honest, althought I really liked the character of Brennan at the beginning and found her to be quite amuzing, now I cannot comprehend how anyone would want to spent time with a person like that. She has become even more bitchy. It is either that or my perception of her.
The whole show in large parts is drifting towards a soap-op. Mamys talking about their babys, releationship troubles and stuff. Althought this was never a hard crime show to begin with I feel the cases are becomming less and less relevant.
I am determined to close this show out but I can understand the comments not liking the show in its later parts.
I can only rate this a 6 because it was the worst of the show so far. There wasn't much I liked and I was actually glad it only had 13 eps.
They should have ended this after S10. This show has basically degraded into a mediocre comedy that tries to do crime drama. The writers are more concerned to create awkward moments between characters, which is then underscored by some funny music, than writing something serious. The best that happened this season was Hodgins being paralyzed because it created tension and conflict. Didn't last long though. Plus, the constant discussions between Booth and Brennan are so nerving. It is incomprehensible how a guy stays with this woman. And of course everyone of the main characters needs to have a relationship. So after a brief stint with the hot photographer Cam is back with Arastoo and Aubrey and Jessica are dancing around each other.
I really don't think there was a memorable episode in this season. Well, only a dozen left.
For me S6 was much, much better than the previous two. Better written stories, some even creating an arch, resulted in better episodes. For me there was one reason - the main focus was not B&B. As I've written before that whole thing was dragged out for too long and the show was much better without that.
Of course it couldn't last. The last two episodes threw everything around, althought my guess is it was more out of necessity because it felt hasty and rushed. Emily Deschanel was pregnant for real so they had to do it now. They slept one time together and hit the jackpot. I was pi**ed that the trigger was the death of Nigel-Murray. Athought that, too, might not have been intented. Speaking of that death - I hated it. First Zach had to leave, now my favorite intern.
What I really like to see more and more is the story of Jack and Ang which feels much more natural and fluid. It is so much more better written than the other one. And, of course, I always love to see Billy Gibbons.
Everything taking into consideration I had much more fun, and emotional moments, this season so it's a step up to a solid 8.
It's entertaining and literally starts with a bang. Interesting idea to make into a TV show. Strong start but becomes a little shallow towards the middle with no clear focus on what this is about - politics or action. While it could be both it is not mixing well. A shorter season would have help the pace and kept a lot of unneeded stuff out. Sutherland plays a good and believable part so does most of the cast. But the whole show is at times over dramatized. The score, the fanfares almost every second scene, it drips patriotism which probably not everyone can relate to. And of course the bad guy gets away in the S1 finale.
So either this show ends with the conspirators caught at the end of the second season, because dragging this on through several more seasons would be boring as hell. It was a good way to get the ball roling but after it was discovered that it was national terrorism and not muslim it basically went nowhere but sideways. Or they turn more towards the politics and show the problems in rebuilding but that too might not be enough for x number of seasons. Either way, right now I don`t see how this show can run for many more seasons.
Just finished season two and I am still not feeling it. And right now I am asking myself why I should continue ? Because of the show itself or the MCU tie-ins. Upon further inspection both arguments don´t seem to be compelling right now.
It is not an awful show but it isn´t exceptional either. I wish they would get rid of Hydra once and for all. Like Rayna said - it is so 1945. And all this back and forth twisting makes me wonder if this will be another show where they are writing themselves into a dead end street and then do a ridiculous twist out of that. Production is good thought.
And as far as the MCU tie ins are concerned, how, if anything, does this fit together? Because it seems the show is doing its thing for 98 % of the time and everytime a new movie is about to premiere they are writing in some lines to remind people that, yes, we are in the same universe. You really don´t lose out if you only watch the movies. And if you´d ask me it would be a better fit within the X-men anyway.
I´ll give this season another six while in reality I think of it more of a higher five.
I just recently finished season one. I´ll have to admit had I watched it at the original airdate I probably wouldn´t have made it past episode five. But since so many people said it would become better I continued.
It looks cool, the action is good but althought beeing part of the MCU it felt more like watching Fringe or X-files most episodes. It is missing the real superheroes. Maybe it was never supposed to have them but after watching the movies it feels like that.
From the main characters only Coulson is really great. His story, the mystery surrounding him, is what drives this show so far. I also liked Mae but the rest are weak. Skye is an arrogant I-know-it-better-typ and that kind of wunderkind has been overdone. Ward is the stereotype muscle. I disliked him even before he turned out to be a traitor. And that romantic arc between Skye and Ward was on the wall from episode one And don´t get me started about Fitz/Simmons because they feel more like something from a Disney kids show.
The scripts became better towards the end, more cohesive, but I also must say the villain(s) left a lot to be desired. It´s always the take-over-the-world type with little depth.
That is my assessment after the first season. I haven´t yet watched the rest so please don´t spoil. Maybe some of the things I mentioned will change later on.
I wonder if it wouldn't have been better to stop after this season. The show is pretty much on rotation, it's a drifter. And so is my attention - drifting in and out. Stories are following a blueprint and oftentimes you can pretty much hear the words before they are spoken.
Then there are they major things - killing Sweets, bringing in Aubrey, another child for B&B. All of this did not made this show better. Yes, there are still some nice moments but they are getting few and far in between.
I don't want to quit at 90 % completion so I carry on but that really is my main motivation. Right now I have no interest in learning anything new about the characters
The third season of Bones was cut short due to the strike and I think it hurt them. More later. Overall it was still a great year but there where things I did not like. The positives first.
They added another character with Dr Lance Sweets, played by John Francis Daley. At first I found him annoying and not really likeable. I would have loved to have Stephen Fry as Dr. Wyatt as a regular but in retrospect I guess that was a pipedream. Anyway, in the long run Dr Sweets complemented the characters of Booth and Bones rather well and he was kind of the missing part to a pair already there. I hope this is comprehensible.
What else ? Of course there was the first kiss between our main protagonists (look for the extended scene of that kiss, it is on the DVD) and seeing Brennan and Baby Andy was another highlight. After those it was hard finding arguments any longer that there is nothing going on.
So what didn't I like? First the way Max Kennan got off scot-free. Just didn't felt right. And now comes the part where I think the strike hurt the show. Maybe I am reaching but it felt pretty rushed towards the end. That psycho-stalker that shot Booth was a good storyline that felt cut short. Could have been an entire episode with maybe Brennan getting kidnapped or something like that. And that whole thing with the funeral - yeah, right. That was a bit lame.
And the elephant in the room - Gormogon. They underlying plot of season 3. That turned out to be a bit dissapointing. Not because they took Zach to be the apprentice. Fun fact: You can clearly identify him when he kills the guy in his closet. Try going frame by frame. Cleary I did not see this when watching it on TV. No, I think they already knew at the start of that story, that one of the main characters was to be the apprentice. But that whole finale of season 3 was anticlimatic. It resolved too fast. Althought at this point I don't know how, or if, there was further developement of that plot - I just can't remember.
All in all I give this season either a really good 8 or a very weak 9. It is somewhere inbewteen. I had my share of laughs and emotinal moments in this season as well.
Second season really builds great upon the first. The character development is really good because this is first and foremost a show about people, the crimes are but the tool to tell their stories.
Their were some changes, some of which I liked and some I don't. Lets start with the character of Dr. Saroyan. I was totally fine with Dr. Goodman. He could have been developed further, plus there wasn't really a need for another female role as we already had Bones and Angela. But one thing Dr Goodman never could have been - an ex-lover to Booth. Interestingly Tamara Taylor was only hired to do six episodes at first and then her character was to die but they decided diffenrently. The producers tried a lot to convince audiences that their is nothing growing between Booth and Bones. Other clues are his short flic with his ex Rebecca and then there is the thing between Bones and Sully, who is really kind of a Booth look alike. Maybe I am reflecting because I already watched most of the show but even when I watched it initially, it never felt convincng.
Some great additions in the secondary with Stephen Fry as Doctor Wyatt, who was absolutely brilliant but unfortunately only did a few episodes, and Paticia Belcher as Caroline Julian.
I was glad they ended Howard Epps because he was to generic, the kind of mad psycho stalker you had in so many movies and shows. The romance between Jack and Angela was something I liked. Yes, it was to be expected that some of the characters would be involved at some point and it seems to be a bit early but I am sure that no one had foreseen a 12 year run of the show.
So, another 9 for season 2, slightly below thefirst, but with lots of laughs and love.
Bones was one of the last shows I really, really loved to watch. Where I would look forward to every new episode. This show was great right out of the gate because it was well crafted and developed. The characters had enough depth from the pilot on, to be interesting, and enough in the background to be developed. It was easy to attach to them and care for them. They were all perfectly cast and everybody gave it their best.
We all know that in the long run their would be the romance on the horizon but personally I think in the early parts of the show it did not stand in the way. It has always been a character driven show so those things are to be expected. But it also felt believable, the affection, the care, the friendships - I totally bought into that.
There are always pros and cons in re-watching a show. You know what will happen so it's fun to look for clues when things started to develope. But because of that, it also takes away a bit, because of what you know.
After now having completed the first season, again, I have to say that I still love this show. Interesting cases, great, snippy humor - there were several attemps to do a character like Bones in similar shows, as is always be the case when something is succesfull. None came close. There is only one Bones.
I give this season a very strong 9, trending towards a 10.
The 11th, and final, season started of with some really stupid episodes like "Twisted" or the two-parter "Requiem for a Chevy-Weight" which probably is the reason I never finished the show during its original run. It wasn't so much the stories but the behavior of the characters that were a bit too much even for this show.
Now, after I finally watched the complete season I think it had some really good episodes after all. But ultimately it was time to close the book. I usually binge watch most of my shows and I did so with MwC at the beginning, too. I love the show, it is one of my all time favs, even now I had tons of great laughs but due to the repetitive nature of the stories I couldn't binge this.
But it is one of the few sitcoms that you can watch whenever you find an episode. And no matter how often you may have seen this particular episode, you still get a laugh.
After the first season I wrote that it has some cool episodes but overall I don't think I need more.
After the second season I would say it has one, maybe two, cool episodes but overall I'm sure I don't need more.
After season two I was wondering how they could top this. Well, they didn't.
And while that in itself didn't surprise me, because bringing back Luke was HUGE, I often felt they didn't even try. This season, while still good overall, felt like an over length movie where they did forget to cut out the unnessessary scenes. My average rating for this season dropped a full two points. And that's a lot. There were few great episodes, some good but also some really weak ones.
Din was a side player a lot of the time (which was later confirmed as being intentional). I expected this season to be about his redemption but that got dealt with very fast. The story centered more around Bo Katan which I'm absolutely fine with. I also like to have more Mandalorians in general. Now, Grogu's arc hit a wall. Aside from the finale he pretty much was there to be cute and eat something. Gideon turned into another Vader wannabe, he was more interesting in season two.
Overall this was an OK season that gets pulled down by a couple of weak episodes and weak moments within episodes. The main question for me, and I'm actually surprised to hear me saying this: do I want another season ?
Well, I still like the characters of Din, Grogu and Bo Katan and would like to see them again. But there has to be a better effort in terms of the overall story because where we stand now it seems there isn't much left to tell.
That's my impression. I have spoken.
I gave the first season a "fair" rating and the question now is: was the second season better ?
Yes and no. Interestingly the show runners had no clue how to continue the cliffhanger. And in a way they didn't. But we learn more about the aliens and that things don't always are what they appear to be. That's hardly original but, OK. We also learn more about the charaters as we travel along. There is character developement and I am beginning to have favorites with Maggie being hands down at the top of the list. But there is also lot's of stuff that is too predictable with the writing.
Two things that almost always apply: if things are to good to be true, they usually aren't. And if two characters get too comfortable with each other the writers throw in a curve ball immediately. In one interview the producer credited the show for it's surprising twists. Honestly, I don't see it.
There were a couple of episodes I really liked but in both cases they were followed by ones I didn't. In any case it's still above a level that would make me throw the towel and much better than a lot of other stuff.
I'm still not at a point where I can give a full "7".
And with what many people here called the "best episode in TV history" they annihilated what little bit of interest I still had with this show.
No characters left I care for - still don't care for the plot in general. Progresses way to slow, more sideways than forward. And hitting reset and start all over again and again. I will take some time to decide wether I continue watching
Season three was very much different but it was so in a good way.
I like the fights in Daredevil but you can only do so much. And just repeating what has worked before can become boring fast. So we get a dark story that puts it's focus clearly more on character than on action. It was the right thing to do at the right time and I loved every minute of it. But when the action comes it always hits like a sledgehammer. Intense fights that are well choreographed.
Acting is, again, top notch. Cox does really well in showing us a struggeling Matt Murdock. D'Onofrio has such a strong presence that pulls you in. As I said before - on both cases they could not have cast a better actor. I don't think Deb Woll deserves the hatred she gets sometimes. I know lot of people don't like Karen but she also has some great scenes this season and Woll shows that she is more than a capable actress herself. And let`s not forget Bethel, another great casting decission. I was a little bit dissapointed by Jay Ali, though, both in terms of the actor and the character.
I am sure next season will have more action as we surely will see more of Bullseye and personally I'd like to see a bit of Fisk, too, if only because of D'Onofrio. After this season this is easily now one of my top 3 shows currently running.
Well, now the elephant has left the room. B & B are finally married. Only it just does not feel that way, everything is as if nothing has changed. But that's my personal opinion and in my view, it's actually a good thing. As long as the constant back and forth stops I'm fine. I just wish Booth would once stand his man and he would tell Bones to shut up. Anyway, the focus is no longer on these two, which creates time and space for the other characters.
In general, the stories are good, the show has long since set and does what it does best. And finally, Pelant is history! Although his mind lingers throughout the season. Which brings me to the Ghost Killer, something I did not like. It leads to an exciting season finale, but the connection to Pelant, who discovered at least the tip of the iceberg, is thin at best. No explanation as to the why. Or did I miss that ?
I feel relieved after this season because I was afraid that I would reach a point where I would stop. If nothing completely stupid happens, I am confident that I will finish this series.
I have no idea why they thought they needed another kid. That Seven was totally annoying and did nothing for the show. Plus that motherly behavior of Peg at the beginning of the season didn't work. I don't remember if they ever explained what happened when Al found the relatives and why he lied that he didn't found them. Luckily the kid was used very sparsely.
I don't remember that arkward theme in this season. Sounds like some kiddy cartoon clown show.
I knew nothing of the character before the Affleck movie. And while that one wasn´t a revelation I really liked the idea behind Daredevil. That´s the kind of superhero I like - in general a human being. Not some alien fallen to earth, a god out of mythology or a guy that turns big and green (to name a few to make my point).
This is one of the best shows first season I´ve ever seen. The dark and gritty atmosphere got me pulled in instantly. I don´t think there was a bad or boring episode. The whole thing builds up to a great finale. Both, the hero and the villain, are well written and superbly brought to live by Cox and D´Onofrio alike. That doesn´t mean the suporting cast is weak. On the contrary - they all have their moments and have a place in the story. Which I hope will go on for a long run.
One of the best seasons of all of Star Trek. There isn´t a bad or weak episode. The continuity and complexity is outstanding and could only be achieved in the setting of a fixed location. Yet the show never became boring. They went to places, even back to earth. The depth of the characters is amazing and the writers added layer after layer. Everyone had an episode where he could shine. There is the right amount of action, fun, drama - it is well balanced. The storys were building on each other with an all encompassing storyline that connects the beginning with the end of the season which was rare at the time and not without risk. But when this season ends you know you haven´t reached the top of the mountain yet.
I am 50 years now, watched SW ANH the first time in the early 1980s.
This show did (so far) what I hoped the sequels would do.
Thank you Jon Favreau
Thank you Dave Filoni
