No Ordinary Family is just that

With the avalanche of new shows this season, a few of them already cancelled and many others likely to be cancelled sometime soon, there has been a lot of fuss about some of them. And one of the shows that took some hits was ABC's No Ordinary Family.

I've been reading different opinions and reviews about this show; many of them just said it looked too rushed out the door, and some others said it lacks something, and even more.

Last week (more precisely on Tuesday, October 12, 2010) the show got a little more than 7.7 million viewers for its 3rd episode (damn, I just realised it's being broadcasted in my region just one week after its original air date in the U.S.) and for ABC, that's good. At least for a show like this one with no big expectations.
Octobre 26 update: No Ordinary Family just got a full season order, according to an official ABC press release.


Well...
No Ordinary Family is just that. A No Ordinary Family.

This show is nothing more than a light comedy/drama for families, it's just that, no more, and no less than that. Critics seem to be missing the whole point of it; and by "critics" I mean not only the guys who usually write about this stuff for a living, but also anyone else.

And "the whole point" is: as I said, it's just a light comedy/drama for families. Of course, best part of the show are the main stars, Michael Chiklis and Julie Benz; but the writers and showrunners are clearly targeting at younger viewers with the couple's son and daughter (Kay Panabaker and Jimmy Bennett).

Chiklis and Benz are doing a great job as Jim and Stephanie Powell, and they're the main interest of the show. They are, not their powers. But we cannot leave their kids aside. Panabaker (Daphne) and Bennett (JJ) do their stuff just right for what they're supposed to be doing there: to make up the "family" part of the show's name, and as I said, to grab the attention of younger viewers. Older viewers and reviewers seem to be missing this point.

So, what's all the fuss about this show? Why is everyone expecting that every new show has to be the new big thing?

Yeah, No Ordinary Family is no big deal, but it's an hour of clean entertainment. Most other new shows failed miserably at it.

Justified - 1x01, "Fire in the hole"

From the FX network comes Justified, starring Timothy Olyphant after his works on Deadwood and Damages, along with Walton Goggins' return to the screen on a starring role after playing Shane Vendrell on The Shield.

At first glance, the idea behind Justified gives you that "Oh, no, another show about a small town and a modern-day cowboy" feeling, but it vanishes as soon as you start watching this episode.

Raylan Givens (Olyphant) plays an U.S. Marshal in Miami with a little bit unorthodox methods to get his job done. Because of these methods, his bosses decide they've had enough of him and reassign him to a small town which turns up to be the place where he grew up. There, he meets again with his ex-girlfriend Ava (Joelle Carter) who's still in love with him, his former wife (Natalie Zea) and his old buddy Boyd Crowder (Walton Goggins), now the bad guy in town.

Throughout the whole episode, Olyphant plays an unique character as Givens, in the line of a cowboy, protective of his own people, who does not hesitate to pull out his gun and shoot but only if needed and as a last resort. His performance is only outshined by Goggins, who seems to have found the perfect character as Crowder.

The final scenes of this episode lay down the ground for the rest of the season.


Starring: Timothy Olyphant, Walton Goggins, Joelle Carter, Natalie Zea, Nick Searcy, Damon Herriman, Jacob Pitts, William Ragsdale, Kevin Rankin, Erica Tazel.

Written by: Graham Yost.

Directed by: Michael Dinner

Score: 9/10

Quality doesn't mean more quality

Some north-american network under the name AMC has been getting a lot of praise lately. Not a suprise, as they gave birth to Breaking Bad and Mad Men, two of the most acclaimed shows these days.

But a few weeks ago, I found myself reading this article at tv.com and noticed that people seem to think that everything that comes from AMC has to be quality television, just because they're the guys behind those two quality shows.

Well, no.

Besides the fact that any show could be the new big thing or the biggest crap ever despite who's behind it, one quality show (or two, or three) doesn't mean more quality shows. One quality network doesn't mean quality shows. And that article shows how wrong it is to go after a name; right when the author says, "Would I bother if it were on a network other than AMC?".

Well, you should bother (big time) if you watched a show just because it came from a certain network.
The networks are entities that bring us, the viewers, their content. And the shows are their content. And shows can be great, good, average, or just plain crap whether they're on CBS or they're on Starz, so to speak.

Never follow the herd.

LOST explained?

Found this on Dan's Media Digest, who found it on Digg: a supposed Lost writer explains the final episode and the meaning of the whole story.

Apparently and according to some people, this is fake; but fake or not, it's a perfectly logical explanation of the whole thing. It makes a lot more sense than those crazy fan theories, and it also makes an interesting reading. So if you're interested, this is it:

Good stuff on here! I can finally throw in my two cents! I've had to bite my tongue for far too long. Also, hopefully I can answer some questions about Dharma and the "pointless breadcrumbs" that really, weren't so pointless... First...

The Island: It was real. Everything that happened on the island that we saw throughout the 6 seasons was real. Forget the final image of the plane crash, it was put in purposely to f*&k with people's heads and show how far the show had come. They really crashed. They really survived. They really discovered Dharma and the Others. The Island keeps the balance of good and evil in the world. It always has and always will perform that role. And the Island will always need a "Protector". Jacob wasn't the first, Hurley won't be the last.

However, Jacob had to deal with a malevolent force (MIB) that his mother, nor Hurley had to deal with. He created the devil and had to find a way to kill him -- even though the rules prevented him from actually doing so. Thus began Jacob's plan to bring candidates to the Island to do the one thing he couldn't do. Kill the MIB. He had a huge list of candidates that spanned generations. Yet every time he brought people there, the MIB corrupted them and caused them to kill one another. That was until Richard came along and helped Jacob understand that if he didn't take a more active role, then his plan would never work.

Enter Dharma. Dharma, like the countless scores of people that were brought to the island before, were brought there by Jacob as part of his plan to kill the MIB. However, the MIB was aware of this plan and interfered by "corrupting" Ben. Making Ben believe he was doing the work of Jacob when in reality he was doing the work of the MIB. This carried over into all of Ben's "off-island" activities. He was the leader. He spoke for Jacob as far as they were concerned. So the "Others" killed Dharma and later were actively trying to kill Jack, Kate, Sawyer, Hurley and all the candidates because that's what the MIB wanted. And what he couldn't do for himself. Dharma was originally brought in to be good. But was turned bad by MIB's corruption and eventually destroyed by his pawn Ben. Now, was Dharma only brought there to help Jack and the other Candidates on their overall quest to kill Smokey? Or did Jacob have another list of Canidates from the Dharma group that we were never aware of? That's a question that is purposely not answered because whatever answer the writers came up with would be worse than the one you come up with for yourself.

Still... Dharma's purpose is not "pointless" or even vague. Hell, it's pretty blatant. Still, despite his grand plan, Jacob wanted to give his "candidates" (our Lostaways) the one thing he, nor his brother, were ever afforded: free will. Hence him bringing a host of "candidates" through the decades and letting them "choose" which one would actually do the job in the end. Maybe he knew Jack would be the one to kill Flocke and that Hurley would be the protector in the end. Maybe he didn't. But that was always the key question of the show: Fate vs Free-will. Science vs Faith. Personally I think Jacob knew from the beginning what was going to happen and that everyone played a part over 6 seasons in helping Jack get to the point where he needed to be to kill Smokey and make Hurley the protector -- I know that's how a lot of the writers viewed it. But again, they won't answer that (nor should they) because that ruins the fun.

In the end, Jack got to do what he always wanted to do from the very first episode of the show: Save his fellow Lostaways. He got Kate and Sawyer off the island and he gave Hurley the purpose in life he'd always been missing. And, in Sideways world (which we'll get to next) he in fact saved everyone by helping them all move on... Now...

Sideways World: Sideways world is where it gets really cool in terms of theology and metaphysical discussion (for me at least -- because I love history/religion theories and loved all the talks in the writer's room about it). Basically what the show is proposing is that we're all linked to certain people during our lives. Call them soulmates (though it's not exactly the best word). But these people we're linked to are with us during "the most important moments of our lives" as Christian said. These are the people we move through the universe with from lifetime to lifetime.

It's loosely based in Hinduisim with large doses of western religion thrown into the mix. The conceit that the writers created, basing it off these religious philosophies, was that as a group, the Lostaways subconsciously created this "sideways" world where they exist in purgatory until they are "awakened" and find one another. Once they all find one another, they can then move on and move forward. In essence, this is the show's concept of the afterlife. According to the show, everyone creates their own "Sideways" purgatory with their "soulmates" throughout their lives and exist there until they all move on together. That's a beautiful notion. Even if you aren't religious or even spiritual, the idea that we live AND die together is deeply profound and moving. It's a really cool and spiritual concept that fits the whole tone and subtext the show has had from the beginning. These people were SUPPOSED to be together on that plane. They were supposed to live through these events -- not JUST because of Jacob. But because that's what the universe or God (depending on how religious you wish to get) wanted to happen. The show was always about science vs faith -- and it ultimately came down on the side of faith. It answered THE core question of the series. The one question that has been at the root of every island mystery, every character back-story, every plot twist. That, by itself, is quite an accomplishment. How much you want to extrapolate from that is up to you as the viewer.

Think about season 1 when we first found the Hatch. Everyone thought that's THE answer! Whatever is down there is the answer! Then, as we discovered it was just one station of many. One link in a very long chain that kept revealing more, and more of a larger mosaic. But the writer's took it even further this season by contrasting this Sideways "purgatory" with the Island itself. Remember when Michael appeared to Hurley, he said he was not allowed to leave the Island. Just like the MIB. He wasn't allowed into this sideways world and thus, was not afforded the opportunity to move on. Why? Because he had proven himself to be unworthy with his actions on the Island. He failed the test. The others, passed. They made it into Sideways world when they died -- some before Jack, some years later. In Hurley's case, maybe centuries later. They exist in this sideways world until they are "awakened" and they can only move on TOGETHER because they are linked. They are destined to be together for eternity. That was their destiny. They were NOT linked to Ana Lucia, Daniel, Rousseau, Alex, Miles, Lapidus, (and all the rest who weren't in the chuch -- basically everyone who wasn't in season 1). Yet those people exist in Sideways world. Why? Well again, here's where they leave it up to you to decide. The way I like to think about it, is that those people who were left behind in Sideways world have to find their own soulmates before they can wake up. It's possible that those links aren't people from the island but from their other life (Anna's partner, the guy she shot --- Roussou's husband, etc etc).

A lot of people have been talking about Ben and why he didn't go into the Church. And if you think of Sideways world in this way, then it gives you the answer to that very question. Ben can't move on yet because he hasn't connected with the people he needs to. It's going to be his job to awaken Roussou, Alex, Anna Lucia (maybe), Ethan, Goodspeed, his father and the rest. He has to atone for his sins more than he did by being Hurley's number two. He has to do what Hurley and Desmond did for our Lostaways with his own people. He has to help them connect. And he can only move on when all the links in his chain are ready to. Same can be said for Faraday, Charlotte, Whidmore, Hawkins etc. It's really a neat, and cool concept. At least to me.

But, from a more "behind the scenes" note: the reason Ben's not in the church, and the reason no one is in the church but for Season 1 people is because they wrote the ending to the show after writing the pilot. And never changed it. The writers always said (and many didn't believe them) that they knew their ending from the very first episode. I applaud them for that. It's pretty fantastic. Originally Ben was supposed to have a 3 episode arc and be done. But he became a big part of the show. They could have easily changed their ending and put him in the church -- but instead they problem solved it. Gave him a BRILLIANT moment with Locke outside the church ... and then that was it. I loved that. For those that wonder -- the original ending started the moment Jack walked into the church and touches the casket to Jack closing his eyes as the other plane flies away. That was always JJ's ending. And they kept it. For me the ending of this show means a lot. Not only because I worked on it, but because as a writer it inspired me in a way the medium had never done before.

I've been inspired to write by great films. Maybe too many to count. And there have been amazing TV shows that I've loved (X-Files, 24, Sopranos, countless 1/2 hour shows). But none did what LOST did for me. None showed me that you could take huge risks (writing a show about faith for network TV) and stick to your creative guns and STILL please the audience. I learned a lot from the show as a writer. I learned even more from being around the incredible writers, producers, PAs, interns and everyone else who slaved on the show for 6 years. In the end, for me, LOST was a touchstone show that dealt with faith, the afterlife, and all these big, spiritual questions that most shows don't touch. And to me, they never once waivered from their core story -- even with all the sci-fi elements they mixed in. To walk that long and daunting of a creative tightrope and survive is simply astounding.

What do you think?

Feel like saving FlashForward?

If you would like to save FlashForward or at least give it a try, head over to Save FlashForward Center, where you'll find everything you can do, if not to save the show, at least to make some noise so ABC gets to know that people did watch the show and did care about it.

Save FlashForward Center is not just about a petition online or a web campaign that doesn't do any effect on the real world; on the contrary, it's got everything pretty well laid out and constantly updated to let you know what to do starting by phone calls and letters and from there to well organized campaigns on Facebook and Twitter.

If you liked the show, you should check out that site. As I said above, even if the show doesn't come back, fans shouldn't let it go without making their voices heard.


Disclaimer: I am not affiliated in any way with Save FlashForward Center, but I support their cause. Why? Read here my previous post on the subject.

Was Flash Forward one year too early for television?

Now that it's a fact that FlashForward has been cancelled, a question arises: was this show one year too early for television? What would have been its fate if it had started after Lost's end?

FlashForward was supposed to fill Lost's void after its departure. Even the network "sold" their production as "the new Lost". I guess ABC thought that starting one show during the other show's final season would make the transition easier, but it turned out completely wrong, killing the new one, which could have made it for at least a second season.

FlashForward wasn't bad at all. Yeah, it had ups and downs, took some time to finally get on its feet, but most shows go through that; even today's successful shows were pretty weak on their early days. But unfortunately, FlashForward didn't make it. A second season could have attracted a good portion of Lost's viewers, but ratings were so low that the show seemed a lost cause (no pun intended).

Definitely, FlashForward should have started one year later. Anyways, at least ABC supported the show until the end, while other networks would have cancelled the whole thing in the middle of the road throwing the remains to the dumpster.

Goodbye 24, welcome CTU?

As we all know, 24 is coming to an end; I still don't know why and my guess is that both parts didn't agree on the contract renewal conditions, otherwise it doesn't make sense to let the show go, as ratings weren't bad and another season could have worked fine on that front.

So now that 24 will be put to rest, why not starting a spin-off called "CTU"? The new show would revolve around the new NY based CTU (well, duh) and would tell stories of terrorist threats without the limitations of 24's "real-time" format.

Not so long ago, Kiefer Sutherland threw the idea over the table on an interview by saying something along the lines that 24 could continue without him. Why not? There's plenty of stuff to be done, as I said, without the limitations of the 24 hours format.

What do you think?

Now that we know...

So this is the reason why Firefly got cancelled :P

Just kidding, ladies. ;)

Source: tv.com

372SDQ7GJ3AH (verification code for Technorati, everyone else just ignore it. Thanks).

The Fringe altverse: Walter, Peter, and... Walter

I recently watched episode 2x16, "Peter", which sheds some light into the dark Fringe past. We get to see how Peter died, and how Walter managed to open a gate between both universes.

One thing I've been thinking about since we get to see Peter's tomb in episode 1x20 is, what happened in the alternate universe after Peter was kidnapped? You know, Walter from this side walks into Walternate's house, and the wife thinks he's her Walter, but... what happened later, when the actual Walternate returns home and his wife thinks he took Peter to the lab, but he didn't? And what happened, or better yet, didn't happen during all those years since Peter disappeared from the other side?

We see that Walter, his wife and their son Peter, all of them exist on both sides; they live in the same house; Walter works in the same lab; both Peters have got the same deadly medical condition; both Walters are trying to find a cure. But... looks like only the Walter Bishop from this side has been involved in the discovery of an alternate universe. If everything else seems to be the same way except for little details, why isn't the "Walternate" also on the same track, being this not a "little detail" but a big one?

Well, we don't see what was he doing beyond trying to find a cure for his son; but as Peter is now an adult and looks like the alternate Walter didn't make any attempts to get his son back, it is safe to assume he has nothing to do with alternate universes. Or it isn't?

Or maybe I am going too fast, and Walternate is the bad guy who's trying to get into this side to make justice on his own hands because our Walter took his son away?

NCIS Los Angeles: what's wrong with viewers?

Months ago, while I was watching NCIS' episode "Legend" (parts 1 and 2), which was supposed to be the introduction to NCIS Los Angeles, I said to myself, "man, I'm gonna love this show".

Later, when it finally arrived to this side of the world, to my surprise, Louise Lombard was not there anymore. And there was this new character played by Linda Hunt.

What the hell...?
I mean, what happened between Legend and the actual NCIS:LA first episode? Why Macy wasn't there?

From what I read, Macy "didn't test well with the viewers". Sorry, but again, what the hell...?
With what viewers? When? How? WTF?

Don't get me wrong, I like NCIS Los Angeles very much; but the producers got rid of a much needed character, and instead they leave that spot empty so the team has no leader, and they add a female version of Ducky to the show? Again, what the hell...?

I'm not complaining about Linda Hunt... her career is impressive, I know that, but her role on NCIS: LA is... undefined. As I just said, she's the female version of Ducky from the original NCIS, and I like it because she adds value to the show, but... why is she there? What's her role on the team? And speaking about the team, what's the reason why there's no leader?

I'm not trashing the show, I love it and I watch it every week. I'm just... wondering and complaining.

Which leads me to another issue: some people keep punishing Sam Hanna because it's played by LL Cool J.

I understand that some people can't stand LL Cool J's public character, his pose as the "hey, look how cool I am" guy; but that has nothing to do with his character on the show. He plays an agent, a former Navy SEAL, and he plays it pretty well. Period.


Once again, what's wrong with viewers?

Supernatural - Sympathy for the Devil

And finally Supernatural has made it to its 5th season... and with no less than Lucifer himself rising from Hell and walking on Earth.

The addendum of the catholic mythology to the show made it a lot deeper and broader than ever before, mainly because of the way both sides, good and evil, are pictured. Good is not so good or even not good at all, with angels and archangels torturing people, killing each other, and willing to wipe a whole town to avoid the breaking of a seal. And evil is not so evil after all, if the Dark Lord asks for permission to inhabit a human being...

"Sympathy for the Devil" begins exactly where season 4 ended, and after a couple mysterious jumps from one place to another, the brothers are back on the road, alive, but not all is as good as it seems: they're listening to the radio and they hear about disasters and plagues; then they find out that Castiel, who could be their only hope, has been killed, and now Zacharias is back on their asses (well, most precisely on Dean's ass, but we'll get back to that later).

And then there's Bobby... his angry rebuke to Sam was serious. Like, Sammy goes and sets Lucifer free starting the damn Apocalypse, and the typical "it's OK, kid, we'll deal with it as usual" is not what you want to see and hear; so I really enjoyed the this cannot be forgiven and I don't want to see you again thing. Too bad it wasn't Bobby, but a demon inside him. Curse you, Eric Kripke.

Now we're back on Dean's ass... er, sorry, we're back on Zachariah. According to the mythology, Archangel Michael defeats the Antichrist. Turns out that Dean Winchester is that sword. Holy swords, Dean!

While Zachariah is having a great time torturing the Winchesters and everything seems to be lost, the saviour arrives. No, not The Saviour; it's just Castiel who's back and takes care of the situation. Zachariah leaves and Cass places a protection (an Enochian Sigil) on both Sam and Dean to guard them against heavenly creatures.

Near the end of the episode, Lucifer finally approaches this guy Nick and asks him to be his vessel. Nick is played by Mark Pellegrino, who already plays another almighty being on Lost's season 5 final episode; although his brief role here on Supernatural as Nick didn't do him any justice as an actor, he seems to be made to play another kind of characters. I think some of us will love his Lucifer.

And in the end scene, Dean finally spits it out on Sam: everything is not allright, and it will never be, from the moment Sam decided to chose a demon over his own brother. I'm hoping to see this situation well developed by Supernatural's writers, I don't want to see that kind of dramatic element go to waste.

On a side note, starting on this episode, Misha Collins is listed in the credits as on of the show's stars; a well deserved award for his work on season 4 (or, most precisely, for Castiel's work on the past season's story) and a promise of more to come from him.

Image courtesy of The CW Television Network

Fringe - A New Day in the Old Town

On this episode, Fringe is back, and it's back with a bang. Events from last season finale, the Fringe Division being shut down... and Olivia almost dead?

OK, let's start again, but this time let's make it slowly.

Last time we saw Olivia Dunham before this episode, she was on an alternate reality face to face with William Bell. Next scene, now, her SUV is involved in a car crash, but she isn't driving; she isn't there at all. Until the guys show up and Dr. Bishop does who-knows-what, and suddenly Olivia is thrown through the windshield out of nowhere.

(Looks like Walter does have magic fingers - because later in the episode, with gloves and through clothes, he can feel with his left hand how a dead body's anus is soaking wet. Ugh.)

At the hospital, doctors say Olivia's brain damage is irreversible, but looks like she won't take that, as later she wakes up speaking in Greek.

A new enemy is introduced on this episode: a shapeshifter. He is sent there to kill Olivia to prevent a meeting, but whith whom? As he doesn't succeed on the first try, he is sent again to get some information. He fails again, but manages to escape and take a new shape: agent Charlie Francis.
Meanwhile, Broyles is in Washington trying to prevent the Fringe Division of being shut down by a Senate committee.

A New Day in the Old Town seems to settle down what the next several episodes will be all about. A spy, a meeting and a hidden thing Olvivia seems to know about but doesn't remember, a one man fight to keep the Fringe Division alive, and as usal, a lot more questions but not a single answer.

There are a couple nice details on this episode.
One of them is the way the shapeshifter communicates with his people: through a typewriter and a mirror. The authors could have chosen an uber-technified device from another universe, or even a regular cellphone, but they didn't. Instead, they went the old fashioned way.
The other is the double reference to The X-files. Sweet.

Oh, by the way, The Observer was there. :)



(Observer image credit: http://eastereggs.fringetelevision.com/2009/09/fringe-easter-eggs-observer-in-new-day.html)