The Next Round of TV
Dec. 1st, 2024 11:28 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
chuckroMarvel’s Legion (Hulu, Season 1) – I’ve had this on my list for years, but finally watched it because there was a question of whether Aubrey Plaza was going to play the same character in Agatha All Along and whether there would be callbacks. (She very clearly doesn’t and there aren’t.) The first few episodes are really crazy; completely out of order sequences where it’s never clear what’s real, memory, or hallucination. Then things settle down, but they need to keep coming up with reasons for David to not be able to control the full extent of his powers as a telepathic, telekinetic teleporter (almost to a reality-warping extent). They tease connections to the larger mutant-based Marvel universe but this doesn’t actually present a world that can reasonably connect to the movies or other TV series. I’m reminded of Doom Patrol in tone, where despite the existence of outside enemies, at the end of the day the protagonist is going to be the source of all of his own problems.
Agatha All Along (Disney+, Season 1) – Marvel tries desperately to recapture what made people watch WandaVision, and remains firmly aware this is a sequel to that. (I personally think the sitcom style conceit meant it had a gimmick that made each week / episode sufficiently new and interesting played a role. Virtually every other series has been a four-hour Standard Marvel Movie told in six episodes. WandaVision had a "what are they going to do next?" effect to keep pulling people back in, even ones who were starting to get tired of superhero stories.) The opening true crime pastiche was cute, but they also did a decent job with making the side characters entertaining. Honestly, the weakest character for the majority of the series is Agatha herself (though Hahn does a magnificent job with everything they give her), because while you’re entertained by her and occasionally feel sorry for her...you’re never really rooting for her? You want to see Teen succeed and maybe see the other witches resolve their issues, but Agatha is more along for the ride. And in the end, that turns out to have always been the case: Who was grifting everyone? It was Agatha, all along.
What We Do in the Shadows (Hulu, Season 5) – Guillermo’s attempts to get turned into a vampire continue to go poorly, but honestly the long-running drama between the characters is the least compelling part of the show. This show is best when it remembers it’s a sitcom and comes up with wacky situations to put the characters in, like Colin Robinson’s political campaign or accidentally stepping in as hosts for the evening news. (The episode where Colin accidentally becomes too interesting to feed was hilarious.) Plus we get random celebrity cameos as themselves and Doug Jones chewing furniture. I’m glad they’re wrapping this up next season because it’s been long in the tooth for a while, but there’s still entertainment to be had.
We also watched the first episode of Doctor Odyssey, and it was so, so bad. It’s the latest Ryan Murphy show, starring Joshua Jackson (Pacey from Dawson’s Creek) as a hot doctor who joins the staff of the cruise ship, probably because he has so many ethics complaints he can only practice medicine in international waters. It can’t decide if it’s a comedy (it’s not actually witty), an ER-style medical drama (there’s no mystery or real procedure), or a romance (there are four named characters all in a professional hierarchy). Like Glee, it’s batshit and unevenly written; unlike Glee it doesn’t have the musical numbers to save it. And it’s a shame, because man, Jackson has aged well and I’d love to watch him be charming on a better show.
Agatha All Along (Disney+, Season 1) – Marvel tries desperately to recapture what made people watch WandaVision, and remains firmly aware this is a sequel to that. (I personally think the sitcom style conceit meant it had a gimmick that made each week / episode sufficiently new and interesting played a role. Virtually every other series has been a four-hour Standard Marvel Movie told in six episodes. WandaVision had a "what are they going to do next?" effect to keep pulling people back in, even ones who were starting to get tired of superhero stories.) The opening true crime pastiche was cute, but they also did a decent job with making the side characters entertaining. Honestly, the weakest character for the majority of the series is Agatha herself (though Hahn does a magnificent job with everything they give her), because while you’re entertained by her and occasionally feel sorry for her...you’re never really rooting for her? You want to see Teen succeed and maybe see the other witches resolve their issues, but Agatha is more along for the ride. And in the end, that turns out to have always been the case: Who was grifting everyone? It was Agatha, all along.
What We Do in the Shadows (Hulu, Season 5) – Guillermo’s attempts to get turned into a vampire continue to go poorly, but honestly the long-running drama between the characters is the least compelling part of the show. This show is best when it remembers it’s a sitcom and comes up with wacky situations to put the characters in, like Colin Robinson’s political campaign or accidentally stepping in as hosts for the evening news. (The episode where Colin accidentally becomes too interesting to feed was hilarious.) Plus we get random celebrity cameos as themselves and Doug Jones chewing furniture. I’m glad they’re wrapping this up next season because it’s been long in the tooth for a while, but there’s still entertainment to be had.
We also watched the first episode of Doctor Odyssey, and it was so, so bad. It’s the latest Ryan Murphy show, starring Joshua Jackson (Pacey from Dawson’s Creek) as a hot doctor who joins the staff of the cruise ship, probably because he has so many ethics complaints he can only practice medicine in international waters. It can’t decide if it’s a comedy (it’s not actually witty), an ER-style medical drama (there’s no mystery or real procedure), or a romance (there are four named characters all in a professional hierarchy). Like Glee, it’s batshit and unevenly written; unlike Glee it doesn’t have the musical numbers to save it. And it’s a shame, because man, Jackson has aged well and I’d love to watch him be charming on a better show.
