Dear Arrowverse

Dear Arrowverse,

First of all, I just want to say I’m a huge fan. Had you told me three years ago that I’d be this deep in DC TV, I’d have laughed, but here I am. And though you’re not perfect, the worlds you’ve created, characters you’ve developed, and stories you’ve told have been amazing, and I am definitely looking forward to what’s to come.

This past week saw the season finales for Supergirl, The Flash, and Arrow, and I thought I’d take a sec to address these shows, along with Legends Of Tomorrow, because I want to see them succeed even further in their coming seasons, and what better way to do so than in a long (seriously, sorry for the length) and slightly spoilery open letter?

 

Dear Supergirl,

First of all, please bring Cat Grant back. If the last two episodes of this season proved anything it’s that Cat Grant makes everything better. Her confidence, her brilliance, and her speeches are so great, and her belief in Supergirl is inspiring. Bringing Cat back would also mean a refocus on CatCo. It’s not that James did a bad job as CEO, but it just didn’t matter overall. We saw James as Guardian more (and I still think that was very unnecessary) but I want to see Cat take back her throne and work alongside Kara again. That unrelenting girl power was such a great part of season one.

And speaking of James, let’s give him a bigger role too. As I said, I didn’t think his new hero side-job was a good idea, but if that is to continue, have him train more (like we saw Laurel do on Arrow) and have him work with the DEO. His subplots are not the strongest and they take away from the main plot, so it’d be better to work them together. I do like his bromance with Winn, though. Season one was kind of awkward with them, so I’m glad all is good now. As for Winn, please let him have a good relationship with a girl. Lyra was crazy and abusive and I can’t believe her outburst in the bar there was passed off as okay.

And since we’re talking about relationships, I guess I should mention Mon-El. I never liked him. And this is not because I loved Kara and James together (though that relationship’s ending was so poor and I am a little annoyed still), but because from the start, Karamel, as they were called, was a star-crossed cliché that just went from bad to worse. Mon-El was not great. He caused more problems than he solved, and on a show where there are so many strong and healthy relationships (the Danvers sisters, Kara and Lena, Kara and Clark, James and Winn, J’onn and Alex and Kara…) Mon-El and Kara’s just stuck out like a gross sore thumb. With that said, I did not hate Mon-El. He did grow a lot as a character and his departure was pretty sad. If he does come back, I think he could be a good asset to the DEO (provided they remember he has alien powers too) but not as Kara’s boyfriend. In season one, Supergirl was a representation of the feminist agenda, and while season two had some amazing moments, it did stray off the path a little, and I’d love to see the power and heart back.

 

Dear The Flash,

You were the start of DCTV for me. I adore how you manage to keep the show light and funny as well as get dark and sad when needed. But as far as heroes go, Barry Allen is perhaps the stupidest. Season three was completely about dealing with Barry’s selfish mistake. A conscious, deliberate mistake that had irreparable consequences for everyone. He was lucky that he managed to deal with most of the changes to a point where we didn’t care or it didn’t affect the plot (like Dante’s death) but don’t think anyone forgets or doesn’t care about baby Sara. The audience is supposed to root for the hero, and I do, but Barry has almost let his power go to his head and it’s hard to watch. It can be annoying to watch. I’m not happy he had to sacrifice himself in the season finale because it was sad and it’s not fair to everyone else in his life, but he did make this mistake and no one else can deal with that. And on top of that, we had Barry being all angsty. We get enough angst from Oliver Queen. In that one episode where his memory was erased, Iris remarked that it’d been a while since he was so free from burdens, and she was right. It was refreshing. In season four please let Wally take some of that hero burden and please stop having Barry make poor choices.

But enough about Barry. Let’s talk about girls. Iris is a reporter but did she even do any reporting this season? I know she’s more than just the love interest, so let’s see that a bit more often. Have her do communications for the STAR Labs museum or something. Anything. And then there’s Caitlin or Killer Frost…or whoever she is now. It’s not that I loved Caitlin because she never was my favourite, it’s that she was a part of the team and Cisco’s best friend, and I just want her to be happy. Y’all have her constantly falling in love with these fleeting dudes and she always just seems so sad and reserved. She deserves better. At the risk of becoming like Arrow, season four of needs to return to its roots. Barry is a local hero and a scientist, not a God and not a Time Master. Bring back the lightheartedness.

 

Dear Arrow,

I’ve never been a fan of darkness, so you’ve never been my favourite. But I guess the darkness and grit makes the moments of light stand out all the more. Unfortunately, this past season lacked those stand out moments. While Adriane Chase was an amazing villain, Oliver was so angsty, Diggle never stood out, and Billy’s death along with that completely unnecessary and out of character nonsense with Helix made Actual Ray Of Sunshine Felicity a little duller. I know the show will never be as light as The Flash or Supergirl, but at least let these characters have some moments of happiness that last longer than four seconds before going back to immediate crisis.

And while Team Arrow isn’t as smiley as Team Flash, fans still root for them. But this season, half of Team Arrow were new characters. Right away this season we went from just Oliver and Felicity to Oliver and Felicity and Curtis and Renee and Evelyn and Rory, the latter three new and underdeveloped. Bringing in new people isn’t a bad thing. Fan favourites like Roy and Sara and even Laurel and Thea were later additions to the team, but they all came in one at a time, so fans got a chance to see their story/character develop, where as this season, the newbies came in so fast, I couldn’t have cared less if they lived or died. Evelyn betrayed them and Rory left and I didn’t and still do not care. Because Team Arrow is such an underground and dangerous team, having a strong bond between the team is vital, and that just was not felt this season. And then we had Dinah come in as a replacement for Laurel (another quick entrance), and let me say, no one prefers her to Laurel. Having Black Siren as a series regular next season will not and can not make up for killing Laurel. But death is death, and I guess I can accept that. And if you’re looking for someone else to kill, I nominate Curtis because he is getting on my nerves. He never knows when to shut up.

As the flashbacks have come to an end and the season ended with a literal bang, we’ve seen just how crazy the last decade of Oliver’s life has been. He deserves some happiness (with Felicity please) and he deserves not to carry the world on his shoulders. Unlike Barry Allen, he didn’t make any huge mistakes for selfish reasons. Like, sure, he shouldn’t have killed at first, but most of those guys he killed deserved to die, and how was he supposed to know one of them had a psychopath for a son? And it’s not like he’s the only person who’s ever killed. Let’s stop treating him like he is.

 

Dear Legends Of Tomorrow,

Honestly, you’re my favourite right now, which is interesting considering that I almost didn’t watch you from the start and I definitely did not care for any of these characters from the start. Though I wish I understood the many complicated rules of Time Travel better, you manage to deliver action and laughs from a likeable cast of characters in a constantly interesting places. I’m a sucker for teams and the Legends are a legendary team to say the least. Their interactions as a team as well as in pairs or smaller groups are always so fun. Because they’re all so outspoken and underqualified for Time Travel, it makes their hero work that much more relatable and enjoyable. But you’re not free from flaws.

First of all, I need more girls. Sara Lance is everything, but she needs more than just Kendra and then just Amaya. The Arrowverse has so many amazing ladies to throw on the Waverider. If it were up to me, I’d pick up Nyssa or Lisa Snart or go back in time and get Laurel (because no one wants Black Siren and everyone wants the real Laurel). I know all three of them would not only work very well with Sara, but would bring something special to the team too.

Speaking of Snart, I miss him. I mean, I liked seeing him on The Flash again as well as working with the Legion Of Doom this past year, but his role on the team in season one was so great. We watched as he became a hero and that was interesting, because Ray and Jax and all them were heroes from the start. Bring back Snart the hero.

I really only have one more issue with you, and it’s that the team needs to be nicer to Mick Rory. If the team just trusted him and respected him and recognized the fact that for all of season two he was fairly cooperative despite the fact that he was dealing with the loss of his partner, they would have avoided a few mishaps. I know they’re doing their best to save the world and manage time, but the functionality of this rag-tag team is a huge draw for me and many others.

 

I know it seems like I’m too critical and negative. I’m not. I could write so many more letters expressing all the things I love about these shows, because I honestly do love them. I am in awe of how magically you’ve managed to tie together these four shows and like I said, I am very much looking forward to the coming seasons. But this letter is to remind and encourage anyone and everyone behind these shows that they could be better. Listen to fans and think about what these characters deserve. You want to tell stories and we want to watch them.

Congrats on all the success so far and I can’t wait until the fall when you return to my screen.

Sincerely, a fan

 

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So I Have Beef With ‘Joey’

Over the past semester, I rewatched FRIENDS. Four years ago I watched it all for the first time and I thought it was time for another go. It’s such a classic show and it was a perfect destresser. Plus, since I’ve seen it already, I wasn’t sucked into the binge hole.

When I finished my rewatch (and stopped crying, duh), I decided to watch Joey, the spinoff. I didn’t know much about it other than the fact that aired on NBC and it wasn’t the best, but I figured I’d give it a shot. Admittedly, Joey is my least favourite of the FRIENDS group, but I still love him and thought the premise of his show seemed alright. After all the changes that took place at the end of FRIENDS, it makes sense that Joey would move to LA for his acting career.

But Joey disappointed me. From only a few episodes, I knew the show lacked a lot and I was going to stop watching…but I was bored and so I watched it all (that binge hole, y’all). I also wasn’t going to write about it. I mean, the show is over a decade old and I’m sure no one cares anymore, but as I kept watching, my disappointment just turned into anger and I needed to rant. So here we go.

First of all, I know Joey is not FRIENDS. I know they’re separate and should not be compared too much, but when you’ve got a spinoff of such an iconic and heartfelt show, I do have some expectations. With FRIENDS, I genuinely love every character and found them all so dynamic and funny. With Joey, I could not care less for anyone, except maybe Joey himself. It’s not that I hated them, but going from Ross and Chandler to Michael is such a downgrade. Gina and Bobby were annoying and Alex was kind of boring. I didn’t feel the connections between any of them, which was especially really unfortunate when they tried to put Alex and Joey in a relationship. Ross/Rachel and Monica/Chandler were two pure, heartfelt relationships that people rooted for, and I hardly cared for Joey/Alex at all.

My second issue with Joey was that the ties to FRIENDS were awful. And by awful I mean barely there. I wonder if it was a licensing thing? If you didn’t know Joey was from FRIENDS and had ten years of history, you wouldn’t be able to tell. I mean, aside from one mention of Chandler in the pilot and a few mentions of Days Of Our Lives here and there, there was nothing. Even little things, like the fact that Joey and Gina have six other sisters wasn’t really talked about until 1×19 when another sister came to visit, and even then there were plot holes. There was one instance when Joey referred to Rachel and Ross, but not by name and it was blink-and-you-miss-it brief. It really made me sad that Joey went from spending every day with his best friends for over a decade to literally not mentioning them or thinking about them or any part of his old life.

And apparently, FRIENDS must have exhausted literally every actor/actress on the planet because there was not one but two main repeat people on Joey (and, according to Wikipedia, a few other minor repeats), and that bugged me a lot more than it should. I think it’s because it felt like just another way FRIENDS canon was ignored. But seriously, how hard is it to not cast the same people in leading roles? Like, I know there’s been some repeat people in the MCU, but they’re usually not too noticeable.

I think Joey had potential, but it was wasted. They had a chance to take this lovable character and put him in new situations, but it was just the same stuff over and over but worse. Poorer comedy, less likable characters, little plot progression. Like, in the pilot, Michael was desperate to move out from his mother’s place, so I was expecting to see Joey and Michel struggle with adult life without a mom…or a Monica, but Gina was literally at Joey’s house all the time and it just wasn’t enjoyable. Even when the guys went away for a weekend, she was there.

And look, I didn’t hate the show. Joey’s characterization was still great. He still was likable and funny and his dialogue was still spot-on. But he alone couldn’t carry a show, never mind a spinoff of probably one of the best shows ever.

FRIENDS is loved by so many, and to see its legacy tarnished and practically erased really saddened me. I kind of regret watching Joey, which says a lot, because I love TV and FRIENDS. I guess I’ve never really watched a proper spinoff before, and I think this experience will make me think carefully before I ever do again.

Have any of you watched Joey? What are your thoughts on it? Are my complaints with it logical? Has this post just brought back bad memories?

That’s all for now!

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An Archie Fan’s Perspective Of ‘Riverdale’

(This post obviously contains spoilers for the pilot!)

I struggle to put into words just how much I love Archie Comics and just how freaking excited I was for Riverdale‘s premier. I’ve been waiting for some type of Archie media for forever and my hopes got up each time a new rumor of a movie went around. As I mentioned when I posted my dreamcast, I grew up reading Archie and still do because it is timeless and so classic. There must be hundreds of digests jammed into my book shelf at home.

But Riverdale from the start seemed to shake up the foundations and as much as I was excited, I’ll be the first to admit that I was also a little concerned. I mean, Archie is a pretty vanilla story so I was surprised to find that the TV show’s plot was to revolve around the murder of secondary character Jason Blossom. It’s a bit of an extreme. And that’s only one of many changes I was aware of before the show aired. In the back of my mind, I wondered if I was hyping up the show only to have it let me down?

But I have just watched the premier and am dying to share my thoughts (in more depth than my livetweeting). Overall, I really liked it. It was enticing and familiar and fun and it was so amazing to see the characters I’ve loved on screen. I imagine that a lot of viewers have read Archie comics but perhaps not with the fervor I did, and then there are those who’ve never read any but were interested in the show, so I thought it’d be interesting to share my opinion as I’m very familiar and devoted to the source material (related: here’s a quiz I made for Popwrapped [that the Archie Comics Twitter account also shared!!!]) and because I like to talk about TV. Here are some things I did and did not like about Riverdale.

What I liked:

• Cole Sprouse as Jughead. Jughead is my favourite and though I was a little miffed when they first cast Cole, as soon as I saw that his black hair, I was sold. And Cole plays him perfectly. He’s quiet but smart and I can’t wait to see more.

• The easter eggs (eg. A Town With Pep)
• Betty and Veronica’s friendship. As much as they’re always in competition with each other for Archie, they’re best friends first, so it’ll be nice seeing that friendship develop in the show.
• Having the parents all know each other from childhood
• Cheryl being as crazy as ever. She’s annoying but you’re not supposed to like her.
• Betty-Archie-Veronica love triangle. It’s iconic and the only love triangle the world needs.
• Jughead as the narrator. He’s perfect for such a role.
• The murder is compelling. I want to know more.
• Kevin Keller! He wasn’t in the comics much with the gang, so he’s a nice addition. I just hope he develops into more than The Gay Best Friend.
• The show isn’t too dark. I was worried it’d get creepy, but so far so good.
• All the casting is spot on. I am impressed.

What I didn’t like:

• Geraldine Grundy being a hot 20-something that is hooking up with Archie. Not only is that super illegal and gross, but comic Archie would never do that. I knew this would be my least favourite thing of the show. I really dislike it.
• Hiram Lodge is a snake? In the comics he was anything but. But if it means we get a chance for Hermione to shine, I’m okay(-ish) with it.
• Why aren’t Juggie and Archie best friends??? What happened between them???
• Archie’s music/football problem….so Troy Bolton.
• The falling in love with your best friend trope from Betty and Archie. It’s not that I don’t like Betty and Archie, but they amped up the unnecessary drama to have Betty pining over him secretly and Archie not reciprocating feelings so now they have to be all awkward about it….ugh.
• Betty being all anxious and awkward and a push over. I know they have her mom being a weird psychotic control freak, but I’m looking forward to some development and growth in our favourite girl-next-door.
• Moose is a closet gay? I mean….okay?
• Grundy and Archie. Gotta mention it again because I’m really bothered, actually.

Obviously, it’s just the pilot and pilots are never flawless. This show has a lot of room to grow, and I am very excited to see where it takes us. As much as a sitcom happy-go-lucky style show also would have worked with such feel-good source material, The CW is known for their drama and I think it’s working. The small town of Riverdale is being shaken to its core by Jason’s death and I really want to see more. I need answers.

I’m so glad I’m not disappointed by the show. The creative choices and changes made were for the most part, likable and interesting, so I approve. Fans of Archie have waited so long for this show and I am pleased that it’s here and seems like it can last.

Did any of you watch Riverdale? What did you think of it? Will you be tuning in next week? Please discuss with me!

 

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Why Does Daytime TV Suck?

No, seriously, WHY?

Whyyyyyyyyy????

I don’t have an answer, so if you’ve come here to get one then you are out of luck.

But honestly, is anyone else confused and angered and maybe even a little saddened by the sheer suckiness of daytime television? Because I can’t be the only one who’s had to settle for some weird programming.

I know that the majority of the world isn’t just lazing around watching TV all day, and I know most people work, but that doesn’t mean there can’t be some good stuff on. I know it’s a bad time slot, but what’s the harm in playing something decent?

In the summers, after the school semester ends and before I get a job, I watch TV….like, all day. So I get very familiar with what is on and what I want to watch. I end up watching random morning talk shows, random disturbing episodes of Law And Order (I don’t even care for that show!) and praying that I find something more exciting to do in the afternoon (lest I be condemned to watch episodes of Dr. Phil or Bar Rescue!). Sometimes I’d find re-runs of good sitcoms (Modern Family, How I Met Your Mother…), which would be great, but then I’d find that the same episodes were on during prime time as well, so I’d have to avoid them.

Would it be so terrible to show movies? Or multiple episode reruns of a good show? I don’t even care if it’s old. I’d watch Happy Days if it was on. But it’s not. Instead, there are infomercials, and not even the good ones*.

I mean, I guess it probably has to do with licensing and contracts and money. Perhaps the shows aren’t letting the channels play their good stuff during the not-so-good time? In which case, that’s very rude because I don’t see how it’d do any damage to the shows. In fact, I see it as ways to raise more interest in the shows so when new episodes are on during prime time, they may get more viewers.

I guess the good news about sucky daytime TV is that it does motivate its viewers to go be more productive. Go apply for that job, go write that article, go breathe that fresh air…

But let’s not forget that there are some people who have nothing better to do than watch daytime TV. I’ve compiled a list of people who are perfectly allowed to do so and are unfortunately plagued with junk.

• People who work the night shift
• Ladies on mat-leave
• Stay at home moms
• Stay at home dads
• Writers/authors
• People who work from home
• Students with spaced out schedules
• Kids on PA days
• People on house arrest
• Someone getting over an injury/sickness/surgery
• The unemployed
• Rich CEOs who don’t have to go to work if they don’t want to
• People who take the day off/people on vacations
• Retired people

See? Look at all those people who TV companies are choosing not to make happy.

Hopefully, daytime TV will get better. The TV industry is always growing, and hopefully we’ll get more and more high quality shows on at all times.

It’s no wonder that Netflix is so popular. Netflix gives you the good stuff 24/7.

Leave a comment and tell me:

1. How bothered are you by the quality of daytime programming? (if you’re not, that’s okay, tell me that too!)
2. What’s the dumbest thing you’ve watched on daytime TV? (for me, it’d be this weird TLC documentary about this poor kid in India who had extra limbs protruding from his stomach and half the village worshipped him and the other half thought it was satanic).

*  “the good ones” being: The Shamwow, The Shticky, The Slap-chop, The Magic Bullet, The Bullet Express, The Shark Vacuum, and a select few others.

Quality.

 

P.S. If for some reason you’ve read this exact post before on the internet, I actually wrote it for a blogging course I took last year in university, so it’s all my own words, I’m just reposting it on my real blog!

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Why ‘This Is Us’ Works

No spoilers, only praise!

There are really two genres when it comes to TV shows: comedy and drama. Sometimes there are blurs, but for the most part it’s either a light show, or a heavy show. And that’s fine, because people have different interests and there’s surely a show to appeal to you.

But guys. This Is Us is a new genre. It’s not a comedy and it’s not really a drama. It’s something different.

This show was making noise as soon as the trailer dropped back in May. It was the most watched show trailer, which was understandable, because it stood out. Set to Jason Mraz’s ‘I Won’t Give Up’, it showed several people experiencing emotions. Sadness, wonder, happiness… An overweight woman unhappy with her body, a soon-to-be-father worried about his wife and future offspring, a man meeting his birth father. Even if we haven’t experienced these things, we can understand the raw emotion that these characters are feeling. We can see it in their faces. There’s something magical about human life in that sense; we always want to know what other people’s lives are like. We want to connect and feel.

I watched the trailer and knew I had to give this show a shot. There wasn’t much of a plot shown, but further reading on the show revealed that all the characters share a birthday and are loosely connected, kind of like in that movie Valentine’s Day. From this information and the amazing trailer, I knew that not only would this show be something special, but it’d be a show that would really have an impact on me. I don’t cry a lot. Characters I love have to die for me to shed tears, but darn it, if I wasn’t tearing up at that trailer… I knew this would be a show to mess me up.

And mess me up it did. We’re only three episodes in as of last night, but this show is even better than I expected.

First of all, the pilot was fantastic. It could be a stand alone short film, really. I don’t think I’ve never been so excited for a show just based on the first episode. The twist at the end was brilliant and wonderful and I was literally counting down the days until episode two. And then episode two came and it was just as wonderful with just as big a twist at the end. Episode three was without a twist, but had the same about of heart and honesty and love.

The love is why this show works. Viewers fall in love with their love. This show isn’t using comedy and relatable scenarios to get to you, they’re showing you a handful of special yet average people whose lives are about their family and their choices. We see real sides of people that most shows would only reveal later through heavy character development. It is still somewhat relatable, but that’s not the selling point.

Not to mention that this show has a unique ability to present stories due to its timeline. I can’t say too much on that as it is a slight spoiler, but the way it has been set up will allow this show to hopefully survive and prosper for years to come without reverting to cheesy methods.

I am not one to like shows like this. My TV schedule is mostly either comedies or superhero shows, so this is very out of place. It’s not a total feel-good show and it’s not depressing either. That balance and that rawness is special, and it’s what draw people like me in. This show stands out and its ability to not fit into any categories is really amazing.

This Is Us was one of the first shows to be picked up for a full season (yay!) and I’m sure that it’ll get a second one too.

If you haven’t seen this show yet, I highly suggest you give it a watch. If you don’t fall in love after the first episode then you may be a robot. It’s on at 9pm on Tuesdays, right between The Flash and Agents Of SHIELD for me and it stars Mandy Moore, Milo Ventimiglia, Sterling K Brown, Justin Hartley and Chrissy Metz. It is not one to be missed.

Me, thinking about this show.

 

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