TRUE BLOOD
As mentioned in my recent query to Matt Roush, True Blood has been more entertaining this season than last, but that's not to say it isn't a complete mess at the same time. Don't get me wrong, I'll take just about anything over were-panthers, but the show is so unfocused, so sprawling, so haphazard that even the elements I'm enjoying are kind of driving me nuts lately. The vampires versus witches storyline has been entertaining, but it should be packing far more of a punch than it is. Why is it not hitting as hard as it should, you ask? Well, aside from the writing, which seems hell-bent on only raising the stakes so high as to be easy to manage, but more than anything, there are so many completely unrelated storylines being tossed in that the momentum gets quashed at every turn. We only have a couple of episodes left, so the tension should be blissfully, nail-bitingly unbearable, but at this point? Yep, those witches sure are causing some problems... Sigh. Every time they start to ratchet things up, we cut to some random event in the lives of Sam, Arlene, Tommy, Andy, Jessica, Debbie, and everyone else under the sun (or under the ground while the others are under the sun). I've complained before that the show needed to cut half the characters, but I'm feeling it now more than ever. It seems like every time the writers start to actually focus their attention on the primary story arc, I get hit in the face with 10 minutes of filler storylines that annoy the hell out of me. In and of themselves, I don't hate these characters, but when they're off on random tangents that take me away from the unholy apocalypse that should be drawing everyone's attention, it grates. I still enjoy the show, but it's a total mess. What few storylines it actually keeps an eye on (amid the hundreds) almost always fizzle out in the end or get completely forgotten. For as much as I hated the stupid, disgusting, ridiculous (in a bad way) were-panther crap, I kind of can't believe they just dropped it cold. On a purely selfish level, I'm thrilled that they realized what a colossal failure that was and casually wrote it out of the new season as quickly as possible, from a narrative standpoint, that was the biggest effing waste of time. They spent so much time and energy setting up all these people and their relationship with Jason and now what? Nothing? Hell, that situation only seems to have had the most superficial of effects on Jason, let alone the overall storyline of the show. I would hate for them to pop up in the future, but from a writer's perspective, I can't believe that was a throw-away. That's just one of the many, many storylines that suck, go nowhere, or ultimately mean nothing. From a show that I trusted more, I would know deep down that all the establishing stuff that's going on right now would mean something down the line, but with True Blood? They'll probably forget about all of it as soon as they get bored with it. Arlene's demon baby? Jason's blood-fueled affair with Jessica? Andy's V addiction? Sam in general? Alcide and Debbie's dysfunction? On a more reliable show, I could be assured that these tangential narratives would 
eventually build to something meaningful to the show as a whole, but here? Who the hell knows. They might just be a complete waste of time. Remember Russel Edgington, who, it was teased, would logically come back this season in some capacity? Sigh.
One the plus side, I'm pretty damn glad Eric is finally back. As much as I enjoyed his doe-eyed acting job, the Sookie-Eric relationship felt incredibly forced. That said, they do have some palpable chemistry, always have, and I kinda have to wonder how Stephen Moyer feels about all this... Probably the same way Bill feels, so, you know, he's working real hard this season. I'm intrigued to see how things play out now that Eric is back, but knowing True Blood, they'll probably drop the ball. This show has a whole lot to work with, but just gets distracted too easily. They need to pare down the cast, pick a central storyline to focus on, and build to a climax that is more central. The show isn't completely without merit, but at this point, I'd give it a C+ average. I get frustrated, but then it comes up with lines like, "I don't care what happens as long as I get to kill shit!" and it's hard to hold a grudge.
THE GLADES
This show has gone from third-tier "nothing else is on" filler to completely unwatchable. The cause? Kiele Sanchez, who, as far as I'm concerned, should be buried alive in real life, not just on Lost. God, she's unbearable. In her defense (just a tad), her unrelenting hate-ability has more than a little to do with the writing. On The Glades, she's just horrendous. It's a show that's clearly written by nothing but men who infuse drama into the show by relying on the irritating fallacy that "women are emotional and crazy" and very little else. Callie's every action, every comment, and every reaction is completely irrational and pissy, almost 100% of the time. That's annoying in and of itself, but when she's been posited as the "will they or won't they" love interest of the series, it's unbearable. Dear Show, NO ONE WANTS THEM TOGETHER. Hell, when Jim's ex showed up on the scene to act as an obstacle to the non-epic romance that is Jim and Callie, I speak for everyone I know who watches the show when I say, "Pick the new girl!!!!" She's gone now, much to my chagrin, but when the central romance on your show is the worst part of your show, you're in trouble. Next week Callie gets held at gunpoint by a patient at the hospital. I don't think I'm alone in hoping he suffers from a severe case of Itchy Trigger Finger. I'll be breaking up with this show after next week if she lives. (Oh, and now she's a "forensic nurse"??? WTF? Not only am I pretty sure that's just a ridiculous, made-up profession, the last thing this show needed was more Callie, so what do they do? Make her a pseudo-cop. Smooth. Real smooth.)
LEVERAGE
You know, it's hard to put this show in this category because, in and of itself, it's as good as it ever was. The real problem is that it was never very good. This is mainly because it has little to no over-arching storyline, the head of the team is practically unwatchable (seriously, anyone but Timothy Hutton would be an improvement), and the capers each week are pretty much exactly the same, only with different names. I'm no big fan of procedurals in general, but this one is driving me crazy these days. It's bad enough that it's the same people doing the same things every week with very little personal or emotional development, but it seems to be getting harder and harder for the writers to think up ways for each member of the team to be useful. Beyond that, what they come up with is getting less and less convincing. Sophie is an actractive woman, don't get me wrong, but she's not the head-turning vixen the show seems to think she is. Hate to break it to you, but relying on her wiles and sex appeal at every turn makes no sense whatsoever. The writing is just plain bad. Jesus, that episode where Hardison gets buried alive (because, you know, it's required to have such an episode at this point in a series) should have been a tour de force, and for Aldis Hodge's performance alone, it was one of the better episodes, but everything beyond him was laughable. The dialogue was cringe-worthily bad at every turn. I kept expecting wacky, mad cap music to cue up as people ran in and out of different doors down a long hallway. Awful. I need to break up with it, I really do, but I enjoy Hardison quite a lot and Parker has her charms. Everyone else can jump off a cliff. Man alive, the last time it went to commercial break with its standard, "You're watching Leverage, on TNT," I keep changing it in my head to, "You're watching Leverage, on TNT, and you don't know why." You're damn straight, mental re-write of standard advertising. As with most of the shows on this list, it could be so good, and yet, it just isn't.
IN PLAIN SIGHT
Okay, so In Plain Sight has already concluded its summer run, but it's still a disappointment. I realize that Mary MacCormack got knocked up in real life (which should be a fire-able offense when you're on this kind of show), but that does NOT mean you should write it into the storyline. Ever. I used to really love this show, but pregnant Mary was an epic fail in every possible regard. In my heart of hearts, I've been carrying a torch for Mary and Marshall to hook up, and her random, ridiculous pregnancy completely ruined their vibe this season. What's worse, there wasn't even the slightest suggestion of terminating the pregnancy as an option. It would be absolutely fine for Mary to be against abortion, and frankly, I think that could be consistent with her character's need to protect others, but then they should mention that. To not even put a throw-away line in there is absurd. A woman of her age, with a high risk, unwanted pregnancy would at least consider it as an option, and even if she didn't, everyone else certainly would. I was actually a little relieved when I heard that the show would be back for another season, but that that would be the final season, if for no other reason than the demoralizing prospect that she might actually keep the baby. She might not abort the baby, but she sure as hell wouldn't keep it, no matter how lazy the writers get. As with so many other ridiculous pregnancies on television, this one ruined the show. Even if you like children, you'd be hard-pressed to argue that it didn't ruin this show and Alias before it. It should be part of their contract that they can't get pregnant if they're on this kind of a show. How I Met Your Mother? No big deal. Action shows? Awful. I'm sorry, but when you're 8 months pregnant, you're not going to be chasing down bad guys... Oh wait, that's her job. And the entire foundation of the show. Seriously, people, this is not rocket science. Is it ridiculous to cover her huge pregnant belly with giant handbags and potted plants? Sure. Is it necessary? YES. Wow, she's a beautiful woman, but she's one of those women who seem to get pregnant with every fiber of their being. She looked unbelievably uncomfortable all season.
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