Fox

Gotham (2014-?)

Gotham

Gotham (2014-?)

Network:

Fox

Starring:

Ben McKenzie

Donal Logue

Jada Pinkett Smith

Plot:

The origin story behind Commissioner James Gordon’s rise to prominence in Gotham City in the years before Batman’s arrival.

Review:

I watched this show because I love superhero shows, but I’m not a fan of prequels. I already know that Gordon isn’t going to succeed. He can’t, or Batman will never exist. It’s kind of depressing knowing that going in.

The show was fine, I liked the Gotham vibe it had. I did think they went overboard introducing so many future super villains. Every couple of minutes you were being introduced to someone’s alter ego and sometimes there was a super cheesy pun to go with it. They made sure to say riddle when Enigma was introduced. There were cats for Catwoman and of course Copperpot was called penguin. A bit too much for one episode.

Overall it was an alright pilot and I’ll probably watch a couple more episodes.

3/5

Re-Watch Fringe (2008-2013)

Fringe

Fringe (2008-2013)

Network:

Fox

Starring:

Anna Torv

Joshua Jackson

John Noble

Jasika Nicole

Plot:

A television drama centered around a female FBI agent who is forced to work with an institutionalized scientist in order to rationalize a brewing storm of unexplained phenomena.

Review:

Fringe was one of those shows I came too late, but once I got into it I watched every week. It took a couple of false starts, but by the time I got into the second season I loved it.

It’s been a little while since it was off the air and when I saw that Netflix had the entire series on streaming I decided to go back and experience the episodes back to back.

Binge watching really exposes a shows flaws and how much a story changes. The first few episodes of the show had a real X-Files vibe going on, which turned me off the first time I tried to watch it. If I want X-Files I’ll watch X-Files. Once you get past those episodes, though, it really gets its own feel.

In season four of Fringe there was an episode that came out of the blue. In the previous episode, The Consultant, there were some major plot points with the main bad guy David Robert Jones (basically a terrorist that wants to reboot the world). You’re thinking awesome what’s going to happen next, but the following episode, Letters of Transit, has them in the 2063 and has nothing to do with the story arc. The episode would have worked better as the season finale as a sort of this is what you have to look forward to, but I’m sure there was some sort of network bullshit that caused the episode to be aired at that time. Whatever the reason it’s episodes like that which made the show difficult for viewers to just jump into.

So much happens in the show that things that would cause a continuous ripple effect in any other show are almost forgotten three episodes down the line. Which is fun but like I said, makes it hard for random people to just jump in. Now that it’s on Netflix I hope it gets more attention and people discover the gem that it is.

4.5/5

House M.D. (2004-2012)

House

House M.D. (2004-2012)

Network:

Fox

Starring:

Hugh Laurie

Omar Epps

Robert Sean Leonard

Lisa Edelstein

Plot:

An antisocial maverick doctor who specializes in diagnostic medicine does whatever it takes to solve puzzling cases that come his way using his crack team of doctors and his wits.

Review:

I watched the first four or five seasons of House way back in the day on Hulu. I then tried to watch it live but for whatever reason couldn’t get into it. Now that all the episodes are on Netflix I decided to give it another shot.

I started at the very beginning so I’d get the full experience of binge watching. Plus I didn’t remember all the character intricacies, though I did remember a surprising number of episodes.

Love the relationship between Wilson and House. The fact that Wilson can mess with his mind is pretty awesome.

I preferred the first four seasons, the fifth season focused on relationships too much. I liked the sexual tension between Cuddy and House better than when they actually did stuff. I also preferred when each episode had a patient in the clinic that helped House figure it out.

When they started teasing with the last few episodes that Wilson was going to die I was pissed off. I could handle House dying but Wilson would have made me hate the show. I know the way they left it you could infer that Wilson does die, but I like to think that he comes to his senses and does the chemo and gets all better. Then he and House spend the rest of their days in Mexico or some South American country being doctors.

4/5