the luminous outset became the interminable middle

Is anyone watching Narcos, the new netflix show about Pablo Escobar and the era of cocaine Miami and the DEA? I've only seen episode one and liked it well enough. No spoilers (though how much can you spoil a historic event?)

*From season 1 it seems to be mirroring Escobar and a DEA agent; at least the DEA agent is narrating events. At times the voiceover was too much but I don't know how else they could have done it without either expanding the pov to hit on details the narration provides.

* The actor playing Escobar really looks related to Matthew Rhys from The Americans.

* The music, acting, design is all really good. It's definitely a high quality show.

* The guy from GOT, the Dornish prince in the fight, is in this sporting a mustache.

* This isn't my first time seeing a film about this era; I've watched the Cocaine Cowboys series and the one about the female Colombian druglord. So it seems that thirty years is the time in which events can get mainstream dramatization? There's enough distance where it isn't taken to be crass and a certain gloss can be provided.

I do plan to continue on with the series: not at the pace I consumed OITNB (in a day and half) but faster than I watched Daredevil (still not done!).

BoJack Horseman is back on Netflix for a second season. This one carried on the tone the first developed and I really liked it. Some of the Todd stuff felt like it was a retread but it still worked, just not as well as the other plot lines for the other characters. Here is a post describing its blend of ludicrousness and sadness to great effect.

Linda Holmes on the latest FX show Sex, Drugs & Rock n Roll and some of the dominant tropes of this 'Golden Age of Television' and the exhaustion she at with them. Most of this I agree with; it's not so much that the tropes shouldn't exist, but why is it such a battle to see other tropes with a shot or applied beyond the standard character type that they have been?

Why I'm Done Defending Women's Sports works to move beyond the notion of having to defend the existence of women's sports whenever moments like the World Cup happen.

This writer also equated Serena Williams to Muhammad Ali and makes a decent case for it.

This new beta create entries page is huge. I do like the replying on Reading page function. I haven't encountered any new code stuff yet.

A few days ago the Fox executives went to the TCA and discussed their shows; and their main comment on Sleepy Hollow was that they were seeking to correct the creative mistakes and make it less serial. For me, the main issue was the shift of focus from Ichabod and Abbie and their chemistry (platonic or not), ill formed villain (I don't know why these shows don't realize having a defined villain is crucial), Henry and Katrina (and the sloppy writing around them). I don't understand what it is about a show that makes a team change what was already working. With the latest show and its shuffling of Abbie to the side has just made me realize I am done with Sleepy Hollow. I may check in on the third season, but there is so much pulling my attention that I don't stick around for shows I don't actually like anymore.

Speaking of tons of tv: 1715 shows on U.S. primetime hours (8-11pm)! That is so much. Naturally, I thought on fandom and niche seems to be the standard. Megafandoms are not the most common, and I see them becoming more rare. With the glut of new shows, availability of older shows via internet through various means, other media like books, video games, movies. Fandom is a many splintered thing. An interesting note was the suggestion that shows do some fandom engagement year round like Orphan Black and other genre shows to keep fan interest high to ensure their return during hiatus.

Post on the devaluing of stories that don't feature men in the film industry. It isn't anything new but with the recent Oscar noms, a flurry of pieces have come out about Selma and Wild's lack of major accolades.

The trailer for Pitch Perfect 2 dropped and it looks fine. I know I'll watch it because I did enjoy the first; but it seems like it just expanded the scope on the most shallow level and is redoing jokes from the first. I would like to be surprised, but I feel like I've caught the sum of it. Catching the surprise of the first is impossible--the past is a land one can't return to blah blah blah--but I do wish the trailer conveyed the same scale of the first. Crossing fingers that they expand some of the supporting characters and focus on the terror of moving on into the unknown.

Steve McQueen has been one of my favorites director since Hunger so I very much excited for his upcoming projects; but I think out of all of them the Widows movie sounds most interesting.

TV Stuff

Sleepy Hollow: I like none of what they have done with Katrina. I just want to stop the magical forced pregnancy trope being dropped on female characters who are already trapped in passive purgatory thanks to writers' choices. Then they add the ~power of maternal love that makes Katrina not want to stop the demon baby forced into her body by her evil son. Enough. The Mills sisters were great: I love how they responded so differently to the same trauma and are still reaching across to strengthen each other. I would prefer if instead of the mother being dead that she was in prison for a false crime. I am watching the midseason finale but I am hoping the show gets better in its second half.

The Flash: I have not seen last week's so I don't know the reason for the Iris and Barry split, but I do love how it affected both of them. I do not agree with the notion of Iris being worthless in the narrative; there is value in seeing the shaping of the perception of a superhero. The show has gotten better with the character. I'm still unsure about Eddie; if I didn't know about canon events I could like him completely, but if certain things are true. I am still so suspicious of Wells.

Perhaps I should just type up posts that start as if I've been already writing them and just go with it from there. It's not that I haven't consumed anything worth posting about (Captain America:TWS, YA series by Rae Jordan(?) that was excellent for some surprising reason, Saga) but I just haven't gotten to the place to make something coherent. A run through and some links--

Mad Men is back and I'm liking it. There is a lot I want to say about the past two episodes but for now, I'd like to link to a post on NPR about the latest episode that deals with new interoffice conflicts and how things are dealt with as the 60s are here and Civil Rights are becoming more of an issue.

Game of Thrones has been back for three weeks now and I am behind because I am usually doing work until ten; and also because my preferred method of watching the show is in three hour chunks; plus, having read the books, my excitement is more in seeing the changes and decisions and less about the wonder about what will happen next. I do read some reviews and right now I feel like Andy Greenwald's are one of the best even if you are familiar with the happenings in the books; Greenwald really likes the show and has en eye for some of the nuance going on with the characters and picks up on the themes the show is doing. His latest one is rather good.

Still behind on Vikings, Veep, Community, a whole season behind on Elementary and Justified. Will watch latest Orphan Black today/tomorrow.

Picked up Silicon Valley and like it after one episode.

Have you guys locked in your nominations yet? Perhaps like my general ways, I am making this harder than it needs to be but the plan is to go ahead and lock it in today just in case AO3 gets weird on the last day (23rd). Right now I have two definite spots filled with Tenderness and Jennifer's Body but I'm still dawdling on the last two, probably TASM and maybe either The Bridge or perhaps The Boondocks but I am so hesitant to foist that canon on someone because the tone would most likely be the hardest thing to get right.

I saw Sleepy Hollow and liked it; the show is bizarre but it's not overly serious and they are not dragging out getting people to believe the insanity; I loved it when the other cops saw the headless horseman.

And that place would not have had me so stressed to be saddled with a shoddy internet connection. It's weird how I type so much faster and open up tabs in prep just in case the connection disappears, it takes me back to the days of the phone modem and the fanfiction on *txt files.

Media Update:

The Bridge has me full on this season and I'm liking it though I do not necessarily want much fic for it; the only story I kind of want is the back story of Ruiz and the Gang Leader or maybe their fathers. IDK. I really want that backstory actually. I'm really enjoying the culture clash and the multiple points of view presented throughout. Going to kind of need there to be more than one killer because he just seems so together and good to be one man.

Orphan Black is good. I'm halfway done and could easily marathon the rest.

Teen Wolf finale this week!

Anyone else watching The Carrie Diaries? I was ready to mostly ignore it because I am mostly ambivalent towards Sex and the City, but this prequel show is quite cute: the girls feel real, their friendships are tangible things, teens are having sex without devastating consequences (yet), and Freema (from Doctor Who) is quite nice as Larissa (though her stealing concerns me). There is a canon queer character (Walt, who hasn't even come out to himself yet but it's coming this season probably) and there was on screen same sex kissing between a mixed couple of guys in the background. I'll make a proper post at some point, but if you like teen dramas that aren't too heavy (kind of like ABC Family but a shade different), focus on a girl coming of age, (so far) positive about sex and the different ways others react to it, familes dealing with grief (the mom is dead), then give the show a go.


2 Broke Girls was the best it can possibly be tonight. I don't believe in constantly mentioning a canon's faults if I enjoy it, but this show is so up and down and even when it hits its stride, it'll rear back and lob a joke that falls flat and makes me cringe. I am still very much in the Max/Caroline corner but if some OT3 with Andy was written I would not be opposed to it.

There was something special about the emotional whiplash I went through from hearing Community would have one more season (yay!), but only 13 episodes (okay...), to now Harmon being fired (NOOO!!!). I understand that decisions have to be made that take more into account than the artistic side, but I would rather the show be canceled than go on with a show that will be different in tone from Community. Faults and all, Community S1-3 had something I enjoyed. Yes, there were times it frustrated but it was a special show, and stood out, and was unlike any other. I'm going to miss that.

Am I going to continue on? For thirteen more episodes, yes. I enjoy Happy Endings and I am interested to see how the show develops. I enjoy the cast and unless things get horrible, I can go through thirteen episodes.

This post is pretty much my feelings more laid out.

Anything major is going beneath the cut but some generalities before I go into details:

If you are unfamiliar with Avatar: the last airbender, I believe you can still enjoy this show without being knowledgeable about its full origins. The opening episode does a good enough job of introducing the basics and you may miss some of the nods to the previous season but it shouldn't hamper your enjoyment. If you're into female protagonists getting up to adventures, going through coming of age stories, assuming leadership, enjoying being physical, being good at fighting, a diverse cast when it comes to gender, comedy, and fantasies based on different cultures instead of the dominant one employed in most, if not all, popular fantasy works in Western media culture, then give this show a chance. Based on the previous show's track record this show will consider the weight of violence and present multiple view points and doesn't actually deal in complete black and white morality.

Did I mention the show is fun?

( detailed thoughts on the first two episodes )

Icons for the show

Streaming now (maybe only to US residents and I do not have a link to a dl but I know one exists)