Greetings! And welcome back to my 30 day TV challenge where this week’s answers are all about some of the greatest episodes and series I’ve seen over the years and some of the greatest moments and series that have let me down.
Just a few quick reminders before we begin…
If you missed last week’s post on “my television favorites,” you can check that out here.
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Lastly, half of these answers will contain mild spoilers. The other half (days 10, 11, and 14), contain major spoilers for Supergirl and Arrow. If you’re not all the way caught up on Supergirl or not through season four of Arrow, please proceed with caution. Otherwise, enjoy!
Day 8: Best pilot episode
Winner: Castle
Runners up: Blindspot, Sleepy Hollow
In general, I’m not a huge fan of pilots because they’re the most daunting and difficult part of watching a new series. Bridging that gap between starting a show and feeling invested in the show is one of my least favorite spans of time. But these three pilots managed to quickly hook me and excite me for the future of the series and are pretty much the only pilots that I’m not indifferent to. I have already written reviews of the Blindspot and Sleepy Hollow pilots, so here are a few words about Castle.
There are not many episodes of television that I distinctly remember watching, i.e. that I remember where I was and how I felt when those end credits started rolling. Despite it being nine years ago, I remember so clearly watching the Castle pilot in our upstairs media room and NEEDING to see the next episode NOW. From the very beginning, Castle had such a distinct, fun attitude. The pilot had a blend of intelligence, creativity, and chemistry that I was drawn to. By focusing on the story of the crime and the motivations of the perp (a very writerly way to approach it), the show distinguished itself amongst a vast sea of police procedurals. Every single series regular is an interesting character who I enjoyed watching (except Castle in the later seasons), but I am most thankful that it gave us the character arc of Kate Beckett. The first four seasons are amazing. The rest… are… okay.
Day 9: Worst pilot episode
Winner: Lucifer
Runner up: Mindhunter
Unlike One Million Moms, I was looking forward to seeing how Lucifer would turn a character who is almost exclusively an antagonist in media into the protagonist of the story and make the devil an enjoyable enough character to watch on a weekly basis. And then I watched the pilot and was significantly less excited about continuing to follow the show. It was not a poorly executed concept or a lackluster case of the week, but rather Lucifer’s portrayal that rubbed me the wrong way. Pilots should make you want to keep watching the show, but after watching this pilot, I did not tune in the next week. (Full disclosure, I’m giving this series another shot. I just started watching it beyond the pilot within the past week, so maybe my concerns have been addressed and amended. Or not. We’ll see.)
I understand that Lucifer is not necessarily expected to be a “good guy,” but his supernatural power of control over men and women alike and ability to reduce or remove inhibitions leads to concerning issues of consent that are excused because of who he is. If the point of the series were to show Lucifer as the ultimate evil, as someone we were not supposed to like or sympathize with, then it would be less problematic. But the show works to portray him as misunderstood, as someone seeking justice for wrongdoings, and as someone who’s not all that bad, and that reduces the commentary on these questionable encounters. Basically, the character made me uncomfortable to watch as a woman, so I’m interested to see how my journey into the rest of the show turns out.
Day 10: A show that pleasantly surprised you
Winner: Supergirl seasons 1 & 2
Runner up: Chasing Life
I’ve watched Supergirl every Monday night since the beginning. It’s one of the few shows I make it a point to watch on a weekly basis rather than saving a cluster of episodes and marathoning them. As much as I enjoyed the first season, the second season is when I found a deeper investment and turned Monday night viewings into my own little event, which usually involved any combination of kombucha, pot stickers and/or popcorn. While I don’t support everything about the second season, it had a pleasantly surprising run of episodes there at the beginning.
Starting with “Welcome to Earth,” Supergirl tackled prejudice, immigration, xenophobia, exploitation for entertainment, gun control, global warming, genocide, and slave trade, all of which naturally worked their way into the case of the week and gave a commentary without being overly obvious about it.
But what impressed me the most was how gracefully (albeit also hastily) Alex’s coming out arc was portrayed. It wasn’t about other people accepting her, it was about her realization and her self-acceptance, and that wasn’t something I had seen before. I can count on one finger the number of times I’ve actually cried while watching any form of media. So, thanks, “Way Down We Go.” (Side note: “The Ride or the Die: Krypton Drift” is my favorite playlist on my iPod, just to illustrate how much I love(d) this show.)
Also, season two introduced Lena Luthor, who I find to be one of the most fascinating characters on television, even when the show doesn’t always utilize her well. She’s an admirable woman with so much depth left to explore.
Last season gave me something to look forward to and be excited about every week, and that’s the mark of a job well done.
Day 11: A show that disappointed you
Winner: Supergirl season 3
Runner up: Scandal
So much of what I loved about the first two seasons felt like it was missing this season, and that’s what disappointed me.
I’m going to pull a Lena Luthor and assume that Kara is a totally different person from Supergirl. Kara Danvers has almost vanished from the series, and she has certainly vanished from CatCo. By removing her from her job as a reporter, the series reduced its ability to prove how you can be a hero, how you can help people without needing superpowers, which made the series relatable when its main character is an alien who can fly. I would have like to have seen more of Kara maintaining the dual identity that is so integral to her character. Last season, Supergirl proved herself as the champion of Earth, as the strongest being on the planet, but this season she has rarely been the one to save the day.
Alex, my favorite character, has had her intelligence and badassery put aside to make her a babysitter obsessed with having a child of her own. Like Kara/Supergirl, she was a beautiful example that women can be more than one thing, have more than one strength, but we didn’t see much of that in season three.
Lastly, there’s Lena, who consistently tries to do good and is consistently assumed to be bad solely because of her family’s history, not her own. Just like Supergirl was trying to do during season one, Lena is a woman trying to make a name for herself outside her family, but even Supergirl has lessened her to being a “Luthor.” I adored the strong, supportive friendship she built with Kara last season, but it has barely been shown this year and her relationship with Supergirl has been fractured.
Day 12: A show you wish was better
Winner: Dracula
Runner up: Jessica Jones season 2
Don’t get me wrong, I like Dracula, and the more I watch it, the more I like it. The series has three wonderful female regulars, all powerful and modern women in their own unique ways. It has a dashing blend of love, blood, and revenge. The settings and wardrobe are absolutely beautiful, and they’re worth a watch alone. However, I still wish it were better, because if it were, then we would have a second season for answers… and boy oh boy do I have questions… also, I need more Lucy Westenra in my life. That poor, pure soul.
Similar to Dracula himself, the series does not fully embrace the vampire aspect of his character, which comes with its pros and cons. While it might’ve prevented people opposed to the “vampire craze” from completely writing this series off, it also left the mythology underdeveloped. In addition, the series aimed to craft a new, smart, sophisticated take on a classic character, but it turned out to be an unnecessarily complicated game of six degrees of separation. I have a feeling that the convoluted nature of the plot and the slow-burn politics turned off a notable faction of network viewers looking for something simpler and contained each week.
Alexander Grayson, aka Dracula, is Romanian, but he’s pretending to be an American businessman while living in Britain. For his season long plan, he works to take down a vampire-hunting organization funded by oil investors, but instead of going after them directly, he attempts to render their investments worthless by creating conflicting technology. His whole charade relies on one too many pieces of the puzzle working out perfectly in his favor, and even if he takes down the Order of the Dragon, there’s no guarantee that the members wouldn’t find a way to continue their work through a different means. Maybe that’s what the series would have explored in the subsequent seasons, but now we’ll never know.
Day 13: A show you no longer watch
Winner: The Big Bang Theory
Runner up: Once Upon A Time
The Big Bang Theory started out as a show about nerdy guys doing nerdy thing or doing normal things in a nerdy way. Several season later, it became a show about guys and their relationship problems, just an average romcom. It’s common for series to change directions and adapt over the course of their run, and that’s perfectly acceptable, beneficial even, but this shift in focus took away so much of the humor I enjoyed… and I don’t find a lot of comedies funny.
Day 14: A character who deserved better
Winner: Laurel Lance (Arrow)
Runners up: Lexie Grey (Grey’s Anatomy), Ronnie Raymond (the Flash), and every single character played by Katie McGrath (if you hadn’t picked up on that already)
Arrow never really knew what to do with Laurel and struggled to utilize her as the first female in the opening credits. They tried to make her a lawyer, a love interest, a PSA, but none quite landed with enough of an impact to make the character and the actress shine in this story. Turning her into Black Canary folded her into the team and gave her more opportunities to weave through all of the storylines, but it was short-lived. She fell victim to one of the most senseless tropes in storytelling – killing off a woman to cause a man (or men in this case) pain and suffering. Laurel Lance was always trying to save the world but not allowed to succeed.
Thank you lovely humans for reading! And check back next Friday for seven blurbs about “the fandom life.”
The Fempire Strikes Back 