ABC

The Rookie (2018-?)

The Rookie

The Rookie (2018-?)

Network:

ABC

Creator:

Alexi Hawley

Starring:

Nathan Fillion

Titus Makin Jr.

Alyssa Diaz

Melissa O’Neil

Plot:

The series follows John Nolan, a forty-year-old man, who moves from his comfortable, small town life to Los Angeles to pursue his dream of being a police officer for the Los Angeles Police Department. He must navigate the dangerous, humorous and unpredictable world of a “young” cop, determined to make his second shot at life count.

Review:

I liked Nathan Fillion in Firefly and Castle so I figured I’d give this a shot. He plays a forty year old rookie cop that’s recently divorced and looking to find himself. He is of course wonderful at talking to people because apparently working as a construction worker gives you all kinds of people skills and the ability to read people like a shrink. He is also hooking up with the hot rookie, Melissa O’Neil, that trained with him.

The first episode was pretty cliché. It wasn’t as fun as Castle, but it wasn’t as serious as some other cop shows. It wasn’t as over the top as Hawaii Five 0 or closer to real life like a Law and Order show. It was very middle of the road, in all aspects.

Acting was good. People were attractive but not CW level of ridiculous. It was a cop show with Nathan Fillion. Not sure if I need to watch, though. I might give it one more episode, we’ll see.

3/5

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Single Parents (2018-?)

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Single Parents (2018-?)

Network:

ABC

Creator:

Elizabeth Meriwether

J.J. Philbin

Starring:

Taran Killam

Leighton Meester

Kimrie Lewis

Brad Garrett

Jake Choi

Plot:

A group of single parents form their own support system as they raise their kids and struggle to start new relationships.

Review:

I laughed a few times during this pilot. Recently, during a pretty vile case of hand, foot, and mouth, I was basically a single parent for four days and it was horrible. I told my husband that I could not handle it and would leave our kids at a firehouse if I had to do it forever. (kidding clearly…or was I?). Single parents have it rough and seeing a group of them help each other out was smart and often times funny.

The problem I foresee with this show is, much like the movie Bad Moms, the issues they’re going to face are unrealistic and focus only on part of what it’s like to be a single parent. I get that it’s a comedy, but a show called Single Parents should be about the whole thing. There can be comedy in trials, you just have to work harder at the jokes.

The parents we’ve seen so far are all fairly stable financially is the issue I’m talking about. One of the biggest things about being a single parent, in the US, is the lack of another person helping financially. We live in a society that almost requires a dual income to survive, unless you are part of the top 5% earners.

Maybe future episodes will have more of this realism, but we’ll see. For now it was an amusing show to have on in the background and I’ll continue watching until it bugs me too much.

3/5

Manifest (2018-)

Manifest

Manifest (2018-)

Network:

ABC

Creator:

Jeff Rake

Matthew Fernandez

Starring:

Melissa Roxburgh

Josh Dallas

Athena Karkanis

Plot:

After a turbulent, but routine flight, the passengers and crew discover the world has aged five years, yet no time has passed for them, and soon a deeper mystery unfolds.

Review:

The premise for this show is really interesting. I also enjoy Josh Dallas, so I decided to give this a try.

The first episode is basically the plot synopsis. It asked a lot of questions and didn’t answer anything. Everyone who was on that plane has had their lives turned upside down and they don’t know the full extent of it yet. Some of them seem to be hearing voices telling them to do things. Lives have moved on and relationships will never be the same.

It’s all interesting and dramatic, but can they deliver on all these questions? No idea. Right now it’s interesting enough to keep me watching, but I am concerned about the religious allusions. Lots of references to a Bible verse and the fact that they’re hearing voices has some wondering if it’s God. Not something I care to watch so I’m really hoping they don’t go that route. If it looks like they are I will be dropping it.

3/5

Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. Seasons 4 & 5


Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. Seasons 4 & 5

Network:

ABC

Creator:

Maurissa Tancharoen

Jed Whedon

Joss Whedon

Starring:

Clark Gregg

Ming-Na Wen

Chloe Bennett

Ian De Caestecker

Elizabeth Henstridge

Henry Simmons

Natalia Cordova-Buckley

Jeff Ward

Plot:

The missions of the Strategic Homeland Intervention, Enforcement and Logistics Division.

Review:

I dropped Shield three episodes into season 4. Later I heard so many people talking about how amazing it was and how the last two seasons were the best and after watching several other superhero shows I decided to go back and give it another shot.

First off, I have to disagree about Season 4, it was very much more of the same for me. The virtual world they were in was interesting, but went on way too long. I never warmed up to the Ghostrider arc.

Season 4 overall, was alright, but didn’t do much for me. It just kept dragging out the relationship drama more and the big bad never seemed to be beat, but they were fighting it forever. It was draining. Just when you thought there was a resolution, they’d discover some new connection, or their “solution” would have all kinds of bad consequences.

Finally they beat it, take a breath, and then disappear. I was all prepared to drop Shield again, but the Season 4 finale had me deciding to try out at least the first episode of 5, which then had me watching the entire season.

Season 5 was, for me, when things finally got good. I love time travel, I love space, and Fitz, Iain De Caestecker, as a mercenary is something I never knew I needed in my life until now. The first half was fun, though, by the end it had gotten increasingly darker as more revelations about the future were made. They finally get back home and things just get horrible.

It was back to the constantly trying to fight an inevitable conclusion that finally wasn’t resolved until the last episode. It’s one thing to hint at something throughout a season, but having it basically be the focus for entire episodes is just draining. I just wanted it to be over. I wanted Fitz and Simmons, Elizabeth Henstridge, to be together and not fighting to survive the destruction of the world. I wanted Deke, Jeff Ward, to stop being a love sick puppy and go back to being a Dollar Store Starlord. I wanted Daisy, Chloe Bennett, to just be gone. And please, everyone, just get off of Yoyo, Natalia Cordova-Buckley, back. She made a hard decision that needed to be made and most of the team *cough* Daisy *cough* were being absolute hypocritical assholes about it.

The ending had me in tears. Not because Phil, Clark Gregg, was leaving, even though he’s one of the best characters, but because they fucking killed Fitz. But then, they didn’t. There’s a second one floating in space waiting for them to find him, because of course there is, but that’s honestly the only reason I’m going to watch the next season. I’m really hoping for a less world ending season and more of a focus on smaller things. Leave the world to the Avengers, please.

2/5

Marvel’s Inhumans (2017-?)

Marvel’s Inhumans (2017-?)

Network:

ABC

Starring:

Anson Mount

Serinda Swan

Ken Leung

Plot:

An isolated community of superhumans fight to protect themselves.

Review:

If you’ve seen the trailer you already know that this show isn’t going to be any good. I have no idea what ABC and Marvel were thinking, but here it is. If you have to watch superhero stuff, I guess you’ll have to watch this too. First episode was about as good as NBS’s Emerald City, maybe worse. I will probably end up hate watching this because it’s so short, but then again, I might not. Who knows?

2/5