![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
Entry tags:
End of 2021 TV Shows
Legends of Tomorrow (Netflix, Season 6) – This show knows exactly what it is and starts off with an incompetent-but-well-meaning bang to remind you of that. There’s a ton of logic that totally falls apart if you squint at it (Gary’s been an alien this whole time? How did that work with the demonic nipple if his glasses are just a hologram projector? Or the times we saw him without his glasses?! Then again, him sleeping with Constantine still makes sense, because John’s into all sorts of weird shit and doesn’t kiss and tell.) It turns into the crack-fic show and I love it for that: They play football with the nuclear football! They have a bowling episode and a cowboy episode! John Constantine remains true to himself by making horrible life decisions that get lots of people killed, including himself! Gay marriage inspires the alien mushrooms to save the world! And rather than having a lot of hanging threads (they actually resolve most things nicely, with Mick going off with Kayla and John stalking off by himself), they just blow up the Waverider in the stinger and trap the group with Spooner’s mom in 1925 Texas. This show is fantastic.
Superman & Lois (HBOMax, Season 1) – Entertaining how you can start with the same one-sentence summary as Black Lightning (Experienced superhero raises his two teenage children while an adversary with longtime connections to his family advances plans for conquest) and change literally everything else. I like Tyler Hoechlin’s Clark Kent a lot, and I think he does a pretty good job at being a dad. Something that worked particularly well for Black Lightning—having the teenage characters make all of the stupid bad decisions so the adults can be competent—continues to work well here. It’s still early in the series, of course, but most of the bad decisions characters make seem reasonable and in-character for them to make without them being actively stupid. (I particularly like that Clark and Lois both get to be exasperated and angry and pissy at each other, but acknowledge and apologize and move on.) This season holds together pretty well as a stand-alone. Except for one episode with John Diggle and ARGUS, you couldn’t guess it was part of the Arrowverse—and they had to rewrite the established Clark/Lois history in the Crisis in order to get the sons to the right age for this series anyway. I’m cautiously optimistic for another season, though I’m afraid they’ll get into the annoying tropes if it goes on too long.
The Sex Lives of College Girls (HBOMax, Season 1) – Mindy Kaling was behind this, which I could have guessed both from the overall style of the humor and the fact that the Indian girl is the best character. The first episode is a little rocky and the “embarrassment humor” quotient is a bit high; that evens out as the series goes on. This is very much a dramady/sitcom; it’s funny but also pulls in a lot of “ripped from the headlines” fairly serious stuff. And sex, if you hadn’t guessed from the title. Because this is a new series: They are certain they’re getting a second season, given that they cliffhanger some major plot points: Bela has clearly been foreshadowed dating the taciturn former editor, Leighton did a small coming-out rather than the big one, Whitney/Canaan has complication legs, an entire fraternity might get expelled for cheating, and Kimberly has lost her scholarship. That last bit was particularly standout because it followed multiple episodes of authority figures having refreshingly correct (if unrealistic) reactions to things. “We’re not going to expel you for cheating, just force you to leave because you told us you can’t afford it here.” That’s some damn real-world academic politics bullshit to go for when you just spent multiple episodes believing women and responding well to sexual assault. Recommended if you enjoy Kaling’s other writing credits.
Superman & Lois (HBOMax, Season 1) – Entertaining how you can start with the same one-sentence summary as Black Lightning (Experienced superhero raises his two teenage children while an adversary with longtime connections to his family advances plans for conquest) and change literally everything else. I like Tyler Hoechlin’s Clark Kent a lot, and I think he does a pretty good job at being a dad. Something that worked particularly well for Black Lightning—having the teenage characters make all of the stupid bad decisions so the adults can be competent—continues to work well here. It’s still early in the series, of course, but most of the bad decisions characters make seem reasonable and in-character for them to make without them being actively stupid. (I particularly like that Clark and Lois both get to be exasperated and angry and pissy at each other, but acknowledge and apologize and move on.) This season holds together pretty well as a stand-alone. Except for one episode with John Diggle and ARGUS, you couldn’t guess it was part of the Arrowverse—and they had to rewrite the established Clark/Lois history in the Crisis in order to get the sons to the right age for this series anyway. I’m cautiously optimistic for another season, though I’m afraid they’ll get into the annoying tropes if it goes on too long.
The Sex Lives of College Girls (HBOMax, Season 1) – Mindy Kaling was behind this, which I could have guessed both from the overall style of the humor and the fact that the Indian girl is the best character. The first episode is a little rocky and the “embarrassment humor” quotient is a bit high; that evens out as the series goes on. This is very much a dramady/sitcom; it’s funny but also pulls in a lot of “ripped from the headlines” fairly serious stuff. And sex, if you hadn’t guessed from the title. Because this is a new series: They are certain they’re getting a second season, given that they cliffhanger some major plot points: Bela has clearly been foreshadowed dating the taciturn former editor, Leighton did a small coming-out rather than the big one, Whitney/Canaan has complication legs, an entire fraternity might get expelled for cheating, and Kimberly has lost her scholarship. That last bit was particularly standout because it followed multiple episodes of authority figures having refreshingly correct (if unrealistic) reactions to things. “We’re not going to expel you for cheating, just force you to leave because you told us you can’t afford it here.” That’s some damn real-world academic politics bullshit to go for when you just spent multiple episodes believing women and responding well to sexual assault. Recommended if you enjoy Kaling’s other writing credits.