Something like this comment was originally a reply to @Pedro, but I thought I'd put it here.
This show starts a little slow. It does that thing where the first few episodes are your typical boring cop procedural to show the network they know how to paint by numbers. Then it picks up.
It starts actually exploring the morals of mass surveillance, and (minor spoilers) it turns out the Machine is an AI, and they deal with all the interesting ramifications of living in a world secretly run by a benevolent(?) AI. One of the nice aspects of this show is the only fictional element of the Machine is software. Makes for a very grounded science fiction.
The characters start to deal with total corruption of the police system and attempt to take it down, meanwhile learning and redeeming themselves from their dubious past.
They also deal with taking down organised crime, and what to do when someone tries to consolidate power within the families, even though the new boss is less violent.
They get caught up in vast government conspiracies waging massive secret intelligence wars, and must stop innocent people from getting killed while remaining hidden from powerful people.
Heartbreak, romance, homoerotic sexual tension, SciFi, shooting people, explosions!
They stop making another cop show and start making some really compelling television.
I started to watch this a few weeks ago as the "next" big project to watch after finishing X-Files that I never fully watched as I was a bit too young when it originally aired and only seen a few episodes in the later seasons.
I must say this has some resemblance to the X-Files but only in terms of the "monster of the week" episodes. I like that.
But this show lacks the ingenuity that X-Files has with the most of the time incredibly great scripts and the overall fantastic cast.
Nick, the Grimm (David Giuntoli) is a terrible, terrible miscast. I have watched the first two seasons now and I still really dislike that guy and still think another person would have been better for this role. So far, the show is greatly carried by Monroe (Silas Weir Mitchell), Rosalee (Bree Turner) and Captain Renard (Sasha Roiz).
It is said that the Grimm has some "powers" that make him who he is, additionally he is a Detective, making him, generally, somewhat smart figuring stuff out to solve cases. But when it is about Grimm stuff, he is stupid as f*ck for plot reasons only, even if they are obvious.
There's also this gimmick of his phone ringing, interrupting whatever he is just doing. This is probably the most annoying thing in this whole show, starting to seriously piss me off. This show pushes this really, really hard to a point, where you start to anticipate it in any kind of precarious situation that would solve plots right there if it wouldn't ring and in 9 out of 10 cases (felt) it does ring..
Just as unlikable as David is, so is Russell Hornsby (Hank) overstrained as an actor with his role as it seems. He is such a sterile cardboard character that I wouldn't mind if he gets killed off as cannonfodder at some point, there's no (believable) depth to his character at all.
The Juliette arc was awful as well, it held the complete show back in terms of progressing deeper into the Grimm story. The time that is put in here could have been better used when cut in third, the rest of the time put into more monster of the week episodes or to flesh out Hank's backstory.
The Juliette arc and Hank's arc to get to know the Grimm world were both overly dramatic and as I said for Juliette's part too much.
If you'd see someone change his appearance before your eyes after you shot him, you wouldn't go insane, you'd try hard to rationalize what you've seen. You'd think you're overworked, or tired. That the scenery played tricks on your eye or something. You might be shocked, at least for the moment, but you wouldn't start to become whiny as Hank did.
As a German the pronounciation of all the words could be improved immensely. I have to watch some episodes in German to see how they translate it or deal with it in general.
Can't be good, synchronization is terrible most of the time, the German voice of Rajesh ("The Indian Guy") from the Big Bang Theory is (yet?) borderline racist.
Some of the words seem to be very, very literal translations, like Glühenwolk[e]. "Glowing cloud", I assume, Glühen = Glowing, Wolke = Cloud but Glühenwolk[e] makes no sense, that's not proper German, correct would be "glühende Wolke". Glühenwolk[e] is like saying "glow cloud". They did this a couple of times with names.
There also seems to be only a single person on this show who tries to pronounce the German as correctly as possible most of the times: Monroe.
When he says more than a single word, he really tries and it shows - and pays off. He does a good job here.
Really lazy and almost bored seems David by doing so. He lacks passion in his job, he is so not trying because he doesn't care. As I said, miscast person.
There are some pet peeves that I have, aside some forgivable grammatical errors, though:
The pronounciation of Löwe or plural Löwen as it is used here. It is spelled like "lawn" just with an o as in "lown". Couldn't be more wrong. It's better to say "lowe" like "lo" and "we" as in whe[re].
Another word is Wesen, all creatures who are able to "vogue" or "woga", some word I can't identify. Wesen means creature or better: being. They say it like "Vessin".
And of course this woga thing. Still trying to figure out what they say here. There are probably more that annoy me but these three come to mind first.
You would assume they'd hire someone who speaks proper German for a show where German is such a centric part. But they apparently didn't, or took someone who had a German course in college but didn't do anything there.
That is somewhat disappointing.
Overall, this show has mixed qualities. Episodes are a complete up and down from week to week, depending on what the topic is but are usually - when good - only okayish, never really outstanding. There's no brilliance in this but it is able to entertain you, especially when Monroe and Rosalee have a good portion of appearance in the episodes.
I'm just going to start off by listing the 3 shittiest things that He-Who-Shall-Not-Be-Named did in this episode, okay? By the way, please enlighten me, how does a dude who does multiple shitty things per episode even stand a chance with Kara, let alone actually get together with her?
Calling Kara helping people as Supergirl "little superhero-ing".
Immediately disregarding Kara's wishes and telling everyone about their relationship.
Ignoring what Kara said (again) and trying to brush it off (again).
I just don't get it. A part of me thinks, or hopes, that the writers are doing this on purpose to show what a toxic relationship looks like and how not to treat your significant other, but let's be real, that's probably not it. They actually seem to think that this shit is cute and romantic. And it makes me sick.
Sure, Man-Hell was right about Jeremiah. But contrary to popular belief, the end doesn't justify the means. He could have proved his point without being an asshole. But I guess that's just how he rolls, right? And we're supposed to let it slide because... he's conventionally attractive?
Honestly, fuck this guy.
Alex's confrontation with Jeremiah was a powerful moment and Chyler Leigh once again brought her A-game.
How long will I have to scream into the void about Maggie's lack of screentime before someone finally hears me? I can't believe the showrunners think I'm more interested in What's-His-Face than in this amazing woman, who:
is simultaneously an absolute badass and the softest human being I have ever seen (those dimples, man, Jesus Christ, what a bae)
was outed to her parents and kicked out of the house at 14
is such a good detective that she figured out Kara's secret by herself
is a good, pure, unproblematic fave who deserves better.
I have no dignity left anymore, I will literally beg if I have to. I'll sell my soul if that's what it takes to get her a proper storyline. Sure, the family dinner thing was cute, and the way she comforted Alex was wonderful. Maggie Sawyer is a kind, supportive girlfriend who listens to Alex and is always there for her, and the way they keep trying to draw parallels between Sanvers and Karamel lowkey makes me want to die. They're not similar! At all! Not in a million years! One is based on mutual love, respect and support, and the other is an abusive garbage fire. I'm starting a campaign. Let Maggie Sawyer deck Fuckboy in the face 2017.
And another thing: I guess Karamel can be all over each other, make out, wake up in bed naked after obviously having sex, but God forbid Maggie and Alex do anything more than kiss for exactly 1.5 seconds. No, I'm not bitter, why do you ask?
Does Cadmus want to send all aliens back into space? Hey, here's a thought: maybe they can use that big-ass ship to launch Mayo-El into the Phantom Zone? Pretty please?
This is one of Marvel Studios’ riskier projects, the hyperlink structure combined with the villain being the main character immediately makes it stand out in the genre. It’s because of those two aspects that the film works as well as it does. Thanos is a great character with an interesting motivation. The animation is so detailed and lifelike that it never fails to bring out the emotion, in fact I’d argue that the scenes between him and Gamora have the most emotional punch (courtesy of Zoe Saldana and Josh Brolin, who both put in a really solid performance). The balancing of all the different plot lines is also quite well done as there’s a relevancy to each one, nor does the tone feel too disjointed at any point. Some transitions or the sudden pop culture riffing during serious scenes can be awkward, but it’s handled about as well as it could. The exposition is handled tastefully and kept to a minimum, it instead chooses to focus on unexpected interactions between characters from different branches of the Marvel universe, which is the more exciting part. I’m less into the action and filmmaking, however. Not a lot about the camerawork or score jumps out to me, I feel like what little vision the Russos brought to their previous MCU projects is completely lost here. The washed out colour palette (which for some reason is slightly more vibrant during scenes in space) and obvious music embellishments don’t evoke all that much. The staging and editing of the action is a little too quick for my liking, the moments that are meant to be memorable don’t leave much of an impression because the editing doesn’t take its time to punctuate the stunts properly. Some of the CGI also feels a little weightless, for example Stark’s suit looks and feels like its made from paper. The resulting scenes, such as the final battle on Titan, feel more like small scale, digital mush than the big epic scenes they’re aiming for. Once the film decides to slow down for the dramatic conclusion, I find its intent to be manipulative and disingenuous. I felt that way after watching it the first time in the cinema, and after every ‘death’ in this movie having been retconned in one way or another, it turns out I was right. Even in its riskier films, Marvel will find ways to take most of the edges off. Overall, it’s still decent but it’s lost a lot of its flavour for me over the years.
6/10
Series Review
I'm tired.
Maybe I'm too critical, or perhaps I should give up on the MCU? The MCU fatigue is real this time, and it's getting old. No, this series isn't bad, and neither was WandaVision. But with each new MCU release, the more I'm pushed to the brink. I used to love this franchise, can you believe it? I loved all the movies, and I gave my money to the box office as reluctantly as any other MCU stan. Now, I'm tired. I'm tired of the same old stories, with their important messages, but poor storytelling.
Falcon begins by giving up the shield to the Smithsonian (museum), unknowingly handing the Captain America mantle to Walker. After Walker snaps, he reconsiders his decision. So, he talks to Isaiah Bradley (a black Super Soldier who the government rejected as Captain America), who tells him he won't make it, and becomes Captain America soon after. Was there any revelation here? What did Sam learn? He just went through a training montage, and then he was ready. What a relatable challenge that he went through that I can apply to real life! I just gotta ignore the haters, ya'll!
In some of these movies, the "character arcs" go like this: I want to do this, I face opposition, the opposition turns out to be wrong because..., I'm right, and I win. No one learns anything; all it says is that you're always right, and people who tell you otherwise are wrong. That's an empowering message, but has Marvel's writers stopped to consider that their audience might be the villains instead of the heroes; what if they're the opposition, and they're just wrong, instead of the heroes who are always right?
But this show does a lot I admire; a darker, grittier tone, better action (than some recent stuff), important themes and attempts at character arcs/development. Whew, I'm still tired, though.
As Cosmonaut Marcus writes,
"It was whatever." — Cosmonaut Marcus (https://twitter.com/CosmonautMarcus/status/1385534378239987712)
SCORE: 6/10
I like this episode. Awesome planetary system, nice desert planet, the return of the interesting Tron suits, a concise goal for that away mission. First time it makes actually sense that the Captain goes on an away mission and it's one of the few times she's not saving the mission by acting like a super hero but instead works in a team. B-plot: a believable approach to the infiltration. The absence of stupid action scenes makes this show so much better. And not jumping from place to place makes the plot so much more believable. They encounter a mysterious place and an interesting species. An interesting way of conveying feelings and communication in general. This is the first time talking about feelings actually did make sense. Though they could have easily cut the eves dropping part with Adira talking about her insecurity, the training course in employee motivation and the "we're back let's blow some steam off in that cozy piano bar and talk about how we're doing" parts. All of that isn't totally BS but isn't it a bit too late into this season to start such character development? I mean, don't they have a ship to infiltrate, don't they need to act quickly because multiple worlds are on the brink of extinction and do they really need a "thumbs up" from a superior to be motivated in such a situation?
But as I said, I like this episode. Feels like Star Trek.
Ahh, the sound of the nattering naybobs of Trekdom furiously trying to clap with one hand. You see, unless a program meets the narrowly specific parameters of what they will accept as "proper" Star Trek lore. Reminds me of those YouTube videos of entitled 16 year old's getting a new Lamborghini or BMW, and then pitching an absolute fit because it wasn't the color they desired. "This is NOT the Trek I was looking for"...... OK Obi Wan Kensnobby you win, we'll all go sit in the basement and watch reruns of the original series, or better yet, just the SPECIFIC EPISODES in each series that meet with your awesomely discerning taste. They rest you may send to the cornfield!!!!
Personally, I thought the producers and writers did a pretty good job of giving us a brand new crew, a brand new ship, an at least interesting situation as far as the story arc, while maintaining the connection to traditional "Trek" with appropriate amounts of fan service and character call backs. The animation, stylistically, is light years ahead of what is offered on "The Lower Drecks, er...Decks", and, the storytelling is aimed more toward the dramatic rather than the comedic. If that's not your thing, cool, but, neither should it be dismissed out of hand.
Personally, I found the amount of tension, thrills and FUN just about right, and the mix of immediate story and long arc balanced enough to hold my attention and leave me wanting more. Again, for a show aimed at the Nickelodeon demographic, that's no small feat IMO.
So yeah, I plan to continue watching it, and, it will be interesting to see if this version of the "Trekverse", can go where the others haven't gone before, or if the naybob's will be successful in stirring up enough negativity to eject the warp core and leave the crew stranded.
