Thursday, 28 January 2016
Fandom Fridays: Late TV Series Discoveries
After seeing seasons 1-4 on Netflix, I watched them all, I was addicted to it. I then watched season 5 on and off as it wasn't so easily available and I didn't really enjoy it. Season 4 had a great end. I first watched, I think 2 episodes back in Uni after my friend introduced it to me. I loved it but she only had it on blu-ray and those weren't as popular as they are now, so I couldn't watch the show. But 4 years later I did, better late than never right? I actually recently rewatched the show (not S5, still not great) its just as brilliant as it was when I first watched Olivia, Peter, Walter and Astrid solve their first case.
I've read about the show and it referenced so much, as rule breaking, before its time and of course 'the Moonlighting curse' concerning lead characters. Having done my research before delving deeper into the Blue Moon Detective Agency, I looked into this so-called curse. Turns out, everyone raved about seasons 1-3 but by 4 things had changed due to Cybil Sheperd being pregnant and Bruce Willis becoming a big star and making Die Hard. The whole point of the show was the two leads, David and Maddie, but in season 4, apparently they are barely in the same scenes, plus a few weird story choices that don't make sense. Season 5 is a little better but lost the spark. I actually stopped at season 3 because the show was just beyond amazing and hilarious. I might pick up again but part of me doesn't want to ruin the memories.
Another show that I saw on Netflix and thought, what not. Plus my sister and brother in law were watching it and said it was good. In turn I advised they watch Moonlighting - which was a hit. I'm a sucker for detective stories so this looked appealing. Its dark, gritty and in some cases quite terrifying, especially in one episode when a murder takes place in my home town, its brief but it hit me. Idris Elba is of course absolutely brilliant and I can see why the show has been such a success. The long awaited 4th series turned out to be a two part special, but I'm biding my time with this one.
As someone who likes to think they're into sci-fi, comics, fantasy and all that or at least who like to embrace it all, its pretty bad at how late into the game I was with Joss Weadon's Firefly. I saw Serenity first at Uni when my friend (same Fringe watcher) screened it at the film club. I loved it, but I did feel like I was missing some back story. I bought the series on sale a few years later I think and loved it. I finally understood certain quotes, gifs, references around the internetsphere and why it was so sad that a certain character died in Serenity. It is immensly annoying at how amazing another series could be instead of the one film and some comics. Alas, we really will never know 'what if'.
I was three seasons late into watching the anthology series. I thought it was odd that the creator of Glee also made this. A friend at Uni (not the Fringe watcher) kept going on about the first series, but being someone who isn't into horror I wasn't interested. But, again, Netflix offered the first two series on a plate. I devoured the first season, Murder House, scared, shocked and delighted at the same time. I know that the second season, Asylum is everyone's favourite but the last three episodes are so disappointing it didn't win me over. I loved Coven, mostly because it wasn't a terrifying as the last two. I then had to wait for Freak Show and later Hotel, just like everyone else. I still love the idea and the separate stories that all intertwine and can't wait for next year as well as the cousin American Crime Story.