Line Item Raves and Nods to Not-bad-ishness

As mentioned in the previous post, there's been a lot to be disappointed by lately. I didn't even include my recent weariness with Burn Notice, but it's there. It's still better than many shows out there, so it got a pass, but I have to admit, the formula is really getting to me these days. I used to be able to "just go with it," but lately, I can predict with frightening accuracy at what minute the "twist that makes it look like the plan won't work" is going to happen. Sigh.

Amid the mediocrities and disappointments though, there really are some winners that I should give their due, whether they fall into the stellar category or the "well, that was a lot better than expected" category.

Here are my recent raves:

SUITS

I decided I was in love with this show (as well as with Gabriel Macht, who, after the dramatic improvement in his hair, warrants a poster above my bed) several episodes ago and I've been very pleased to find that it holds up. So often, I'll decide I'm in love just in time for the next episode to suck. Not so with Suits. Each episode is solid on its own, but altogether, they're making for a cohesive, driven, thoroughly entertaining freshman year. Unlike so many USA shows, the writers for Suits have a clear purpose in mind and defined character arcs to explore. This isn't your typical procedural where all but little tidbits of personal life and ongoing "big bad" get reset at the end of the hour. Indeed, after their last stellar outing, which sets up the season finale in fine, nail-biting form, my mom actually said, "So... it just continues next week?" I cheekily gave her a hard time saying, "Yep, television shows tend to air week-to-week," but I knew what she meant. It points to the best part of the show. It's serialized. It's not as serialized as more hard-hitting dramas like Breaking Bad or Justified, but it's far more of a serial than anything else USA has ever attempted. That points USA in the right direction, gives them a broader brand with which to work, and clearly improves the quality of this new series. I hope the unmitigated success of the show tells USA to do more of this in the future, because it's working. Thursday's offering was intense and twisty and layered in a way I just don't expect from this network. By the end of the hour, I was in no way certain that everything would work out just fine next week. I'm wagering it will, but the fact that there's even a chance in my mind that it could possible not resolve itself is a hell of a step in the right direction. Best of all? Mike finally called Rachel on her shit and threw her petty sexual politics in her face. Yeah, that's right, missy, you ignored him for months and blew him off until it was too late. Deal with it. (I'm not much of a Rachel fan, so that confrontation had me twiddling my fingers in Mr. Burns' fashion of diabolical glee.)


ROOKIE BLUE

Yes, that's right. Rookie Blue. I initially wrote this show off as Grey's Anatomy with Cops, and to large extent, it still is, but the more annoying elements of season 1 (the voiceover, Ephram's characterization, the forced will-they-or-won't-they-ishness) have morphed into a thoroughly enjoyable show that ups the ante every chance it gets. It's a light show, very easy to watch, but it's not devoid of substance. A lot of that substance is squishy, squee-worthy relationship stuff, but a lot of it is people getting shot too. They actually maintain a pretty nice balance. The will-they-or-won't-they-ishness is still there, but it's way more fun to watch because I like the characters involved so much more. Ephram has settled into the role and is actually pretty fabulous now, and they dropped the stupid, sanctimonious voiceover entirely. On top of that, the show is a lot more exciting this time around. Geez, who knew Canada was so dangerous? One of the main characters gets shot in the chest in the premiere for hell's sakes. Pretty freaking fantastic. This used to be the kind of show that I didn't tell people I watched it because it was a tad embarrassing, but I've always secretly enjoyed it will enough. This season however, I'm out and proud. It's a hell of a lot of fun and is actually pretty damn funny a lot of the time. In one episode, Andy, the main girl, is undercover as a car saleswoman (salesperson?). When asked about the engine, she peers under the hood, deer in the headlights, but goes for it with, "Dual..." And that's it. Hehe. I busted up. Her line delivery is what really sells it. Anyhow, I have found myself looking forward to it week-to-week and have saved the whole season on my DVR. That's right, I'll admit it.


BREAKING BAD

This show quite simply kicks ass. It's absolutely amazing and is far and away one of the most intelligent, adult, well-written shows on air. It's also one of the darkest. If you're looking to get caught up, be forewarned. It's not the kind of show that you can burn through 5 episodes in a day. It's incredibly dark a lot of the time and very cerebral. It doesn't spoonfeed and it doesn't pull punches. This show is more terrifying and exhilarating in its quiet moments than most shows are when buildings are exploding. This whole season has been about quiet, but earth-shattering shifts in power and I can't wait for more. As Jesse becomes the new Walt and Walt slowly turns into Jesse, all hell is breaking loose around them. It's, quite simply, gripping. If you've seen the show, you know. If you haven't, I couldn't possibly do it justice with a random paragraph on a blogpost. So I'mza gonna stop tryin'.


Those three shows are the real standouts in a summer of burnouts, but there are some honorable mentions as well.

Here are my nods to not-bad-ishness (oh, it's a word):

AGAINST THE WALL

I'm as shocked as you are. I'm still not entirely sure why I gave this one a shot, but I did, and I've been pleasantly surprised. I don't even think that's the impossibly low standards talking either. The fact that it's a largely procedural cop show wasn't doing my initial perceptions any favors, but knowing it was on Lifetime, Television for Women... Who Really Love Stories About Unfaithful Husbands Getting Murdered, was probably the biggest bias-creator. To my surprise, it's actually a very warm, funny little show about a woman who works in Internal Affairs. I'm no fan of cops in general (my admiration for Rookie Blue notwithstanding), so the thought of a show about a cop who nails other cops for being terrible at their jobs or just downright dirty has its appeal. More than anything though, it's about the interpersonal relationships among the main character's family, her friends, and how being the cop of cops affects her life. It's not perfect, and it's hardly top tier, but I'm enjoying it. It's well-made and charming in its own way. It has its issues (chief among them the annoying-as-hell realism in fiction that strong women have to have some sort of ridiculous foible (usually ridiculous levels of clumsiness) so that they can be vulnerable), but it has really grown on me. If the subject matter and overall treatment were more up my alley, I think I'd be quite the fan. As is, why not.


ALPHAS

I gave the pilot a lukewarm, yet mostly hopeful review and I'm pleased to say it has turned into a nice little show. Their most recent episode (the obligatory "everyone has been bewitched by a cult leader" episode) was by no means their best outing, but on the whole, it's a pretty good show. It's entirely too procedural for me to really get sucked in entirely, but that has more to do with me than the show. It taps into Sci Fi tropes without going overboard (usually) and that allows it to stay pretty grounded, while still interesting. I think my main hang-up is that I'm having a hard time really getting attached to the characters, but they're growing on me. It's been slow to find its way into my heart, but I think it'll get there eventually. They teased an overall mythology that they should pay more attention to and if at all possible, phase out the procedural aspect. If they could just do that, I'd be sold. As is, it's good enough to keep me going, and I'm enjoying it far more than I expected I would, but it's not yet living up to its full potential.


AWKWARD.

MTV doesn't exactly have the best track record for original programming, so imagine my surprise when this show caught my attention. I've seen 6 or 7 episodes, and while it has its moments, I can't quite decide if I really like it. That said, I keep watching, so it must have something that keeps me coming back. It's more ribald and raunchy that my usual fare, but the main character is female and that manages to keep it from being cliche most of the time. The lead actress does a really nice job and queen bee bitch is shockingly successful at making me want to punch her in the face, so the show must be doing something right. I can't say I'd recommend this show to everyone, but if you were at all interested but opted out assuming it would suck, it actually doesn't. Who'd have guessed?

Sorta Super

The first thing a friend of mine at work (hi, Brett!) said to me the day after Syfy's new series Alphas premiered was, "Does Tim Kring have anything to do with this?" It's a fair question and speaks to the primary problem with this show: It looks a whole lot like a bunch of other shows, with a fair bit of Tim Kring's Heroes thrown in for bad measure. (For the record, he doesn't actually have anything to do with the show.) It's a shame really, because if this show existed in a vacuum where no other superhero-type shows had ever aired, I think I would have thoroughly enjoyed it.

As is, I liked it well enough, but it just seemed a little too familiar to really grab me and hold on tight. The show centers around of group of superhumans, called Alphas, who come together to solve peculiar, impossible, or near preternatural problems. Again, on paper, in and of itself, I'm very intrigued. In reality, this would-be original concept is extremely common and although Alphas succeeds better than most, it just didn't pack the punch that a truly unique program can have.

The aspect of the show that held the most appeal and which makes it more divergent than similar shows is the nature of the abilities of its main characters. Rather than outlandish, over-the-top, supremely typical superpowers like flying or shooting laser beams out their eyes, the Alphas have powers that aren't so far removed from what may actually be possible. For example, one character has the ability to manipulate people by suggesting things to them, kind of like Professor X. The difference here is that she can only succeed in so much as the mind she's working with has sufficient plasticity. She has to be looking right at them to make the suggestion and it only goes so far. In the real world, some people are incredibly good at manipulating others, she's goes a couple of steps further. Another character has supernatural aim and an amazing sense of space, so much so that he made an impossible shot to kill someone and can throw coins into a vending machine. Again, some people have superior abilities in shooting and throwing, this show takes it a couple of steps further. Just like some people have perfect pitch, others can do complex math in their minds, and some have more muscle mass than nearly anyone else, this show looks at superpowers that could actually exist, if only we take natural abilities a little bit further. I'm not sure it will lead to the most thrilling series in the world, but it does manage to ground the show. The whole "ordinary people with extraordinary abilities" theme is well-worn and I'm not sure dialing it back will necessarily lead to success. That said, going even further over the top certainly hasn't been working well on TV lately, so this has a better chance than most.

The cast is likable and engaging for the most part, but I think the show would have resonated more if they had taken more chances and stepped outside the formula in a bolder, more unexpected way. As is, we have a beautiful, sexy woman with an edge, a mousy woman without any confidence, an arrogant strong-man, a socially inept, near autistic young guy, and the badass, sexy rebel who's new to the team. Sigh. Once again, these are all character designs that I could get behind, but I sure wish I hadn't already gotten behind them 87 times before. When you take this concept out of the superhero genre, the familiarity is even more apparent is certain respects. Half the procedurals out there involve some rag-tag group of different people coming together to solve fantastic crimes. It makes it incredibly difficult to view this show with new eyes, just as it's impossible to see a cop show, legal drama, or medical series and not groan at the conventions. On rare occasion, a show can take a tired genre and reinvent it in unexpected and captivating ways (e.g. The Good Wife, Nurse Jackie, The Wire), but with Alphas, they seem a bit too comfortable holding onto the tropes of their predecessors.

When looking at this show with as unbiased an eye as I can, it's actually quite well done. Many of the plot twists and turns could be seen a mile away even without super-sight, but the pilot was well-composed for the most part and made for a reasonably cohesive and engaging program. The most compelling aspect was the ongoing mythology that they began to establish with the pilot. The fact that the enemy group/organization is called Red Flag didn't exactly help with things, but the concept behind them was intriguing. As with any genre show, the success hinges on bringing something new to the table. Alphas might not have brought something completely new, but they at least rearranged the dinnerware in a way that caught my attention.

The best divergence from the norm was with the visual style and direction. The special effects employed to illustrate the Alphas' powers was extremely effective, particularly when the strong-man turns on his muscle and the mousy girl puts her synesthesia to good use. Above all though, the pilot opens with super-aim guy (I can't remember any of these people's names... I think his last name was Hicks) is triggered to go kill someone, having been made into a sleeper assassin of sorts. The people around him start telling him it's time to kill, but the art direction makes it really hit home. It's hard to know if he's having a psychotic break, is brain-washed, or is dreaming. In a weirdly obvious and yet concurrently subliminal way, the people and things around him say it's time for him to kill and when everything and everything seems to be in agreement, what else is there to do?

As with so many shows for me, deciding whether or not I'm going to love a show largely comes to down to whether or not it's procedural or serial. While in general, the "band of really talented people solving crime" motif falls into procedural territory, I usually wish it wouldn't. With Alphas, it's a tough call regarding the ongoing format of the show. I can see where there will likely be some procedural elements, but the pilot made a point of focusing on the characters themselves as well. By making it clear early on that these are not invincible superheroes and that with each of their gifts comes a downside, it gives the show room to explore the subtler aspects of these characters. It gives the show room to breathe rather than cramming as much plot-exposition-of-the-week down viewers' throats. I'm hopeful they'll stick to that and really make these characters unique and engaging. For me to really care about a show, especially a procedural, I need to truly invest in the people. So far, I'm moderately intrigued...

David Strathairn is always wonderful and turns in a very nice performance as the leader of this band of Alphas, blending an intelligence with an undeniable warmth and caring. His team is a little hit or miss at this point. As mentioned, they fall a little too closely into familiar stock for me to really sit up and take notice, but they all seem to have potential. The only real problem I had was that the vaguely autistic kid is played by Mr. Nigel-Murray from Bones. I adored his sweet, trivia-lovin' Englishman on Bones, so to see him here as a socially inept American was a bit jarring. His accent was spot on, but his speech patterns felt a little forced in a "I'm not quite sure just how autistic I'm supposed to be" kind of way. As with any role, I'm sure he'll settle into it over the next few episodes and craft a character with traits that are more consistent. As of the pilot, he seemed to vacillate between Rain Man and Temperance Brennan.

All in all, if I had never seen a superhero show before or had never experienced the rush of a team of strangers coming together to use their special skills, blah, blah, blah, I think I'd be rather enamored. But, I have experienced both those things, separately and combined. Alphas certainly isn't the freshest idea or residing in the least common genre by any stretch, but they do a respectable job. They have established a foundation that could turn into something amazing, even if not something wholly original. I'll definitely be giving the show a few more weeks to make this concept its own.

Pilot Grade: B-