I've got a mate who comes around to watch new episodes of Doctor Who as soon as I've got them - this year, with only four Doctor Who specials being produced, we've sought out other TV shows to keep us occupied. Craig has not seen Deadwood or Arrested Development, and so I'm taking great pleasure in watching those shows again with him. We're up to the start of Deadwood series 2, and about halfway through series 1 of Arrested Development. But these shows are not why I've taken to the keyboard to write a post...
Two years ago, several friends started telling me to watch Dexter. "You'll love it," they would assure me. I was unconvinced. A show about a serial killer? Sure, it was fun and naughty when Hannibal Lecter walked off into the sunset to audience applause in The Silence of the Lambs, but isn't it time we moved on from turning serial killers into cult heroes? My housemate watched series 1, which was given to me - almost forced on me in fact - by a mate, and said it was very good. Still I didn't watch it. I bought my housemate series 2 on DVD for his birthday, and I've been watching it with him.
Well, call me a convert. I think I imagined something more "funky" like NCIS, full of flash frames and jump cuts and obsessed with forensic work. Instead, it's a supremely engaging character drama with a terrific cast and compelling writing that never fails to draw me in. Michael C. Hall - so good in Six Feet Under - is equally good here in a completely different role. And pretty easy on the eyes, as well! I'll be checking out series 1 after I've finished the second series for sure.
And I've just seen the first episode of series 5 of Lost, a show which was so promising, so full of potential in the early days, potential that has been squandered and diminished in direct proportion to the amount of ideas the writers have been dragging in. Lost stopped being compelling a couple of years ago, usually due to the writers (I really hate these guys) seeming to believe their silly mysteries are more interesting than their characters. The cast are great, and the production values are top notch, but the contrived manner in which characters in the show don't reveal things to each other in order to keep secrets from the audience has gone beyond wearying. I've kept watching however - there have been individual stand out scenes and even episodes, and Michael Giacchino's music is so wonderful it usually helps carry me through the rest of it. Having just watched series 5, episode 1 however, I wonder if maybe it's not time to give up. The two words that kept coming to mind throughout the episode were "dull" and "senseless". The time travel shenanigans here seem as if the writers (those bastards again!) saw Stephen Moffat's episodes of Doctor Who and tried to appropriate the ideas without an understanding of how to make them work or how to make the audience care. I'll give it another episode or two but I doubt I'll make it through to the end of the series.
1 comment:
The second season of Dexter is legendary. I only wish I didn't have a lapsed friend with a giant head who writes for the show. For awhile there all her status updates had something to do with sticking our nose in her Dexter success. Talk about wearying!
I am also inclined to agree on Lost, though not to the degree you're feeling. I think the rules of time travel should be fragile, sacred things, and the device should be used sparingly. If you use it too much, you end up becoming totally ridiculous (see: Heroes) or start heading down that path (where Lost is now). It'll be easier for me to stick with Lost because it has only one more season, but it no longer gives me the giddiness I got in seasons 1 and 2.
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