Tag: Cult Classics

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Science Fiction Television

Defiance season one is on Amazon Prime Instant Video

I had avoided watching Defiance, because I’d seen some photos prior to the airing of the show, and frankly, I wasn’t impressed. I also didn’t know if the show would make it past a first season, and over the last few years, I’ve gotten extremely leery of Syfy and their ability to stand behind a promising series. So, long story short, I chose to wait and see.

Defiance

Then I forgot about the show.

Yeah.

Last weekend, however, I saw it pop up on Amazon Prime Instant Video and was like, wow, totally missed that one. I watched the Pilot and then more than half the season, and although it’s not the best thing ever, there are definitely aspects of the series that I enjoy and certain themes I’d like to see explored in the rest of the first season and in season 2 when it comes (season 2 of Defiance premieres June 19, 2014).

The most underdeveloped part of the series, in my opinion?

Christie and Alak. Their interspecies relationship has a ton of  conflict and while the show touches on that story every so often in the first season, it hasn’t really broken out. (I’m not quite finished with the season, so if there’s something I’m missing here, I’ll update later.)

The most overdeveloped parts of the series, in my opinion?

Kenya. This is really the most glaring, uninteresting part of the show. I can’t even really think of how this could have played out better, although I’m sure someone could have figured it out. I’d accept this a lot better if the prostitute angle had played some kind of integral role so far, but it hasn’t. It’s mostly been set dressing, and bland at that.

Irisa’s badassery. She kind of annoys me. I mean, horrible childhood = bitch with issues. I want to like her and I think I could if she softened up a bit. She could give some of her bitchery to Amanda. That’s one I’d like to see toughen up. I find her mommy vibe as annoying as I find Irisa’s bitchiness.

And that’s the thing. The female characters on the show, with the exception of Stahma, all seem to be a tad too cliche for me. The men? Not bad at all, well rounded and interesting. The women? Not so much.

All that said, though, I’m enjoying the show, and I’m willing to overlook the trite and cliché for the good stuff.

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Books Television

The Grimm Books Are Now a Series

The upcoming Grimm books…

On November 5th, the first of the Grimm books will be available. I have no idea how these stories will fall in with the canon of the series, but it should be a lot of fun to find out.

Grimm: The Icy Touch Grimm: The Chopping Block

So yeah, as I suspected, but not as I’d hoped, the cover image of The Icy Touch hasn’t changed much. They managed to get the title on there now, but I had to post a largish image just so it could be seen.

But, while grabbing  the image, I noticed there’s a second book on the way.

Like the former cover for The Icy Touch, the cover image for The Chopping Block seems to be a place holder. I guess when it’s finally published, they’ll add the title in the spot where “Book 2” now resides.

The Icy Touch (Grimm, Book #1)

Back in the 19th century a Wesen and a Grimm fight to the death. The Grimm wins, but the Wesen’s son escapes and vows revenge. In the present day, Captain Renard sends Nick and Hank to investigate an international crime cartel named Le Touche Givre (The Icy Touch). They discover this deadly gang is run by Wesen, and is involved in various illegal activities, including forced prostitution and drug pushing. As they close in on the gang, Nick begins to realize that their charismatic and dangerous leader is just as intent on tracking him down…

From the publisher: https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/226806/grimm-the-icy-touch-by-john-shirley/

The Chopping Block (Grimm, Book #2)

A cache of bones is found in a shallow grave in local woods… Meanwhile missing persons cases in Portland seem to be on the increase. As more bones are discovered, Portland homicide Detective Nick Burkhardt and his partner Hank Griffin investigate – but there seems to be no connection between the victims… A brand-new original story set in the Grimm universe.

From the publisher: https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/226807/grimm-the-chopping-block-by-john-passarella/

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Science Fiction Television

Dollhouse still getting better, even though it’s too late

Back when it was first announced that Dollhouse had been officially cancelled, I wrote that I didn’t care. I didn’t. But after watching the the latest episodes of Dollhouse (shown as a 2 hour event), I have to say it saddens me to notice how much better the show has gotten lately. If it had been this compelling, this entertaining, from the get go, this series would have stood a much better chance of gaining a wide audience.

In fact, I have 16 minutes left of the 2nd episode and I am pretty sure these two (The Public Eye and The Left Hand) are the best of either season.

Click here to watch these Dollhouse episodes online.

Don’t take it as a bad sign that I’m writing this, since I needed a bathroom break and had my laptop sitting beside me on the couch when I came back. I’m so excited about how interesting I’ve found these episodes that I tried to call a friend who watches but she wasn’t around. There was no one else to share my excitement with, so here you are—a blog post instead. :) Now I really do have to go. I want to see how it ends.

16 minutes later… I’m back.

I love how so many threads have come together and how much of the episode isn’t Echo-centric. Don’t get me wrong, I like Echo, but I think the show is so much better when she’s just a part of a much bigger whole. It’s also nice to see Adele with a backbone but still on the darker side of things…

Ballard isn’t the most interesting of the bunch, but he’s taken a backseat to the more compelling storylines and “Victor” has shown some delightful and seriously talented acting. There’s not much more to say without giving stuff away, but if you’ve been a fan but have been on the fence about whether or not to watch these final episodes, I say give it a shot. You might be as pleasantly surprised as I’ve been.

There’s gold in these episodes and it’s unlikely you’ll be disappointed.

As Todd VanDerWerff said in his recap of “The Public Eye”, “It’s too bad this show has been officially canceled, because "The Public Eye" is the first episode of season two to fully live up to the show’s potential.” Read these engrossing recaps if you have the time. They’re worth it.

Also, don’t miss your chance to watch the episodes. Click here to watch Dollhouse online.

Categories
Science Fiction Television

Dollhouse is done for and I don’t care

Watch Dollhouse episodes

This is probably a surprise, since I run the Dollhouse Fantasies Dollhouse fan site with a friend of mine. But the problem is, we’ve both been feeling the lack of love for this show for a while now.

Although I really enjoyed the new episodes of this season, they’re still not compelling me to feel sad about the demise of Dollhouse. The truth is, I’m sad that the show was never that good, but I’m not sad that the show I’ve been watching is going to be gone.

Although Renee and I won’t be taking that site down (yet), we aren’t actively updating the blog. Unfortunately, I think the show never quite had what it needed to be a really great TV show.

I was interested in how the season was going to unfold, but this is one of those instances where with the cancellation of the show, I won’t be bothering to watch future episodes. Dollhouse is done for. And I don’t care.

Do you?

Watch Dollhouse episodes