Tuesday, September 18, 2012

TV: Summer TV Recap


So instead of summer reading, I do summer viewing. I try to find a new series or two and also continue those show that happen to run during the hotter months. Here’s a recap of some of my summer shows.






SERIES:
Breaking Bad (Season 5, Part I)
GENERAL PLOT: A chemistry teacher with cancer decides to go into the drug trade.
CURRENT SEASON: Walt is full-scale evil now. He’s trying to regain all the money he has lost and will stop at nothing to get it.
MY THOUGHTS:  Really felt for Mike this season. Walt’s ideas this year are both twisted and genius. I’m also not liking Skyler again, she’s depressing. Looking forward to last eight episodes next summer. I’m intrigued.






SERIES:
True Blood (Season 5)
GENERAL PLOT: Vampires and werewolves and shape-shifters, oh my.
CURRENT SEASON: Vampire religious zealots control Bill and company.
MY THOUGHTS:  Awful. I don’t know what happened but I was bored this season. They kept killing the new characters I liked and had their older characters make stupid decisions. I don’t care about the werewolves, shape-shifters or fairies. I’m giving up.






SERIES:
Downton Abbey (Seasons 1 & 2)
GENERAL PLOT: The Crawly household and their staff are mixed in drama
CURRENT SEASON: WWI affects all the inhabitants of Downton.
MY THOUGHTS:  Very well written and acted. It reminds me of Remains of the Day, but on a smaller weekly soap opera-ish scale.






SERIES:
The Newsroom (Season 1)
GENERAL PLOT: Will McAvoy and his producer change the way news is done.
CURRENT SEASON: News Night gets some resistance from the higher-ups
MY THOUGHTS:  Great introduction. Aaron Sorkin has such fun scripts. I can easily suspend my disbelief and forgive the holier than thou nature of news reporting. Looking forward to season two!






SERIES:
Episodes (Season 2)
GENERAL PLOT: Matt LeBlanc is cast in a poorly thought out British knock-off
CURRENT SEASON: Sean & Beverly deal with the fallout of her infidelity with Matt
MY THOUGHTS:  This series looks like a movie. The quality of cinematography is outstanding. Matt LeBlanc is really funny as is the rest of the cast. Looking forward to season 3.






SERIES:
Weeds (Season 8)
GENERAL PLOT: It’s like Breaking Bad but a half-hour comedy instead.
CURRENT SEASON: Nancy is trying to get legit but struggles along the way
MY THOUGHTS:  A pretty good job wrapping up the series. It’s amazing how much some characters have changed and how others have not. It was a good show but I’m also glad it’s over.






SERIES:
Damages (Season 5)
GENERAL PLOT: Ruthless lawyer Patty will do anything to win the big cases
CURRENT SEASON: Patty & Ellen go against each other in wiki-leaks scandal
MY THOUGHTS:  I wish they ended the series a bit better. I wasn’t too interested in the actual scandal and just wanted to see these women fight in the courtroom. I felt a little let down. But I guess nothing can compete with their stellar first season.






SERIES:
Louie (Season 3)
WHERE: Thursday, 10:30pm (FX) – need to download
EPISODES:  11 in (2 to go)
GENERAL PLOT: Louie CK is a comedian who goes through his average pathetic life.
CURRENT SEASON: Louie is getting girlfriends and some respect.
MY THOUGHTS:  This season seemed a little uneven. I wished there was more stand-up sprinkled in. The cameos are quite fun at times.






SERIES:
Wilfred (Season 2)
WHERE: Thursday, 10pm (FX) – need to download
EPISODES:  12 in (1 to go)
GENERAL PLOT: Only Ryan can see his neighbour’s dog as a man in a dog suit.
CURRENT SEASON: Ryan tries to be normal in his new job, but Wilfred won’t let that happen.
MY THOUGHTS:  Wilfred is getting meaner and grosser as the series progresses. I don’t know what the endgame is.

UPCOMING REVIEWS: Fall Movie Preview, Emmy Picks

No comments: