Television Slut Report...well sort of..

I tend to watch most of the television shows on the weekends, because no real time during the week. Get home from work, exercise (or try to), call mother, make lunch for next day, dinner, scan email and dw, try to write, watch one television show during dinner, get things together to the next day, read, go to bed.

Sometimes laundry is in there, sometimes groceries, among other things. ( I keep wanting to write amongst, but this is apparently not a word except in my head. It should be a word -- it sounds better than among. I'm sorry, it does.)

1. Ten Days in the Valley - airs on Sunday nights, on ABC, and stars Kyra Sedwick. It's surprisingly good, albeit convoluted. Did not recommend to the parents, because I found it hard to follow in places and there's a lot going on. That said, also compelling.

( spoilers )

Overall? On the fence, B+/A-

2. The Gifted

I wonder if it helps if you are an X-Men fan? Hard to say. I'm an X-men fan. They are my favorite superhero team. And really the only ones I followed across mediums for any extended period of time. I'm not really a fan of the Avengers or their off-shoots. Didn't follow them much at all in the comics except to the extent that they crossed over with the X-men and I had no choice. I followed them more in the movies...mainly because I like Robert Downy Jr and will watch that man read the phone book. But the X-men? Love. YMMV. Some folks prefer DC and superheroes, and there's those few, beleaguered few, that prefer the mutant freaks who are heroes in spite of themselves, treated horribly, outsiders, but manage to rise above it. The X-men are basically the mascots for anyone who was bullied in school and not popular.

All of this preamble for The Gifted, which is about people who are bullied, attacked, and disenfranchised for being different. Granted their differences tend to be rather dangerous and deadly.

The X-men and it's offshoots always delved into the uncomfortable quagmire of what it meant to have powers and the responsibility behind them -- particularly if you had nothing to do with it, and it was a mere accident of genetics or birth. What do you do if you are being bullied and can't contain the ability to crush those bullying you? And how do we react to something that appears to be a massive threat -- with fear, loathing, and cruelty, or compassion? And what if it isn't? What if what we are so scared of is in truth a frightened boy...being bullied?
( mild spoilers )

It's set up as a serialized thriller - not an episodic oh lets kill the monster of the week, with a relationship back story aka Flash, Supergirl, Arrow, et al. This is more similar to Legion and Daredevil in tone and format...also production value and acting ability. In Meyer and Acker, we have some talent on board. Also there's a diversified casting...outside of the Strucker family.

The writing? Too soon to tell. It held my interest. But, I also felt frustrated and angry during it, which may turn me off eventually. The bad guys are annoying, if understandable. And the subject matter hits a bit close to home -- ie, the Immigration Ban and ICE, also the Patriot Act. I'm not entirely sure I like mutants with super-powers being equated with immigrants or racism. It's always been a stickler with the X-men verse. That said, I like what is saying about the topic and how it points out the Strucker's hypocrisy...both parents have no problem putting people away for being different and potentially dangerous, until it's their kid. And their kid is really dangerous.

I find this an interesting issue to explore and one that isn't explored enough in these series.How hypocritical people are and how self-interested. And how they justify it. This series really seems to want to examine that...but in a fun way and within the trappings of sci-fi fantasy, which takes off the sanctimonious edge that is all too obvious in series such as the Good Doctor.

Acting? One of the better ensembles. The mutants are a mixed bag. But overall better than most of the casts of these series. There's less camp. It's not campy at all. And the special effects are rather stellar. Well-produced and well-acted.


So, I give it a B+.


3. Grey's Anatomy S14. Episode 2
And yes, we are on Season 14. I think it beat ER.I'd have to check. I admittedly jumped in and out of ER.

( spoilers )

Still 20 more hours of television to watch, assuming I do. I keep getting distracted. Today, I got distracted by the pretty day. I took the day off. Have Columbus Day off as well. I decided to take a long walk around Prospect Park Lake. Lovely walk. But a lot of litter, and it's caused a massive algae problem in the Lake. The culprit? The park has a smorgasbord or massive food court on the weekends nearby and not enough trash repositories for all the garbage that generates, along with its other functions. And people are slobs. People do not carry their waste with them home and deposit it there. Instead they deposit wherever it is convenient. I wish there was a way of figuring out who left the litter -- then waving it magically into the domain of its owner -- say their bed, living room, car or front yard. Karma...I wish for litter Karma.

But other than that? Lovely walk. Saw swans, turtles, geese, squirrels (well always see them), ducks, and dogs, who kept coming up to me to greet me. No, doggie, I can't take you home with me. I work for a living and you would get lonely.