Can we move away from the relationship stuff please?

To be honest, I'm still undecided on what I think about this show.

I've only watched four episodes so far, but that's almost halfway through the 10-episode season. And, the thing that throws me off the most is the "relationship mess" part of the show: the Will/Mac jealous ex with lingering feelings, and the Jim/Maggie she's taken but they're obviously into each other. They seem to be throwing it in our faces and force us to go along with it. These relationships are also cliched and tired, and it feels like the show doesn't even try to do anything new in this aspect. They're getting annoying, instead of charming or appealing that I think they are meant to be. So, can we just drop them please? The show would be much more interesting and stronger without them.

Side note: I think, out of all of Aaron Sorkin's shows, The Newsroom has the least chemistry between the cast and characters, which is why I don't fall in love with it as quickly as I do the other shows.

Trying something new...

Excluding the current TV shows that I follow each week, I always watch older shows one at a time. I watch one episode after another, and I enjoy not having to wait a week (sometimes longer) to see what happens next. However, I do sometimes wonder if rushing through episodes takes away from the overall experience. It might throw off the pacing of the show; the creators might have intended for episodes to be watched weeks apart; different plot lines get jumbled up and missed. So, I've decided to try watching multiple shows at once. Not necessarily one episode of one show followed by one of another show, but maybe a few episodes of one show and then a few days of other shows.

I'm still in the middle of watching Parenthood, I'm at the beginning of season 3 right now and honestly, I'm getting tired of all the drama. I watched the pilot episode of Dirty Sexy Money last night, and it seems pretty interesting; lighter in the drama department than Parenthood so it might be easier to watch. I also have Six Feet Under downloaded and ready to be watched, which I'm going to start...right now. All three shows star Peter Krause so I might need to drop one (or two) of them. As substitutes, I can continue watching The Newsroom, of which I've only watched the first 5 or 6 episodes; and I can also go back to Battlestar Galactica, since I stopped somewhere at the beginning of its second season.

Parenthood

I've always liked Lauren Graham so I was quite excited when I learned that she was going to star in a new show. I remember watching this show when it first aired, in 2010, but I'm not sure how far I got before I stopped watching; it was probably just a few episodes. I don't know why I stopped; I think it's just because I wasn't in the mood for dramas. This time, I watched the first season in 3 days.

Parenthood is a comedy-drama that revolves around the three generations of the Braverman family. The grandparents Zeek and Camille Braverman; their four children, from oldest to youngest (and it took me at least half of season 1 before I figure this out): Adam the go-to guy and problem fixer, Sarah the single mother raising two teenagers, Crosby the erratic, irresponsible, and childish one, and Julia the successful lawyer. The show portrays the daily lives of this family, along with their significant others and children, and the constant struggles of relationships and finances of their lives. Although I can't really relate to their problems (since my life hasn't been nearly as dramatic), the show manages to make everything seems real and believable. I have cried quite a few times during the thirteen episodes I've watched.

And I now really, really miss my family.

After watching Sports Night, followed by this show, and with Six Feet Under just downloaded to my hard drive, I think I'm going to have a crush on Peter Krause (if I haven't already). I do love the tone of his voice.

Sports Night

In my attempt to fend off the temptation of The West Wing, I decided to watch another of Aaron Sorkin's shows: Sports Night. I'm immediately greeted by the Sorkinisms I'm accustomed to: the walk-and-talk, the quick pace and banters, the rhythm of the dialogues. Unlike his other shows of hour-long dramas that I'm familiar with (TWW, Studio 60, The Newsroom), Sports Night is a half-hour comedy. It's not a sitcom; the humor is much drier than the typical sitcom, but it's definitely funny. They used laugh tracks in season one, and it's awkward and distracting; I'm glad they dropped that in season two.

Sports Night shows us the action behind the production of an ESPN-esque show. The show within the show is modeled after ESPN's SportsCenter; and its presenters, Dan (Josh Charles) and Casey (Peter Krause), are modeled after SportsCenter's Keith Olbermann and Dan Patrick. The onscreen banter emulates Olbermann and Patrick's, and the behind-the-scene struggles for ratings and against network execs mimics their real-life counterparts.

I watched the episodes in a marathon. No, in a sprint. It only took me a few days to finish the two seasons. There are a few "themes" that I recognized from Sorkin's other shows, and the setting reminded me a lot of Studio 60. It's a great show, and it's a shame that it was canceled before its time. It's not The West Wing –– I think Sorkin's style of writing works best in TWW –– but it has that sense of humor that I really enjoy. It's funny, it's smart, and unfortunately seems to be one of those great shows that many people missed. I now have to look for another show to watch. I might try to catch up on The Newsroom next so I don't miss the Sorkinisms, or look for great, older shows that I've missed.

I can't help it

A few weeks ago, Netflix made all seasons of The West Wing available for streaming. Not only was it available, it keeps being pushed towards me; both through /r/NetflixBestOf, and Netflix's many lists of recommendations. My lack of self-control means that I caved in and rewatched the show again. Yes, I'm really blaming Netflix this time.

I absolutely loved watching the earlier episodes again; especially seeing CJ being nervous and not nearly as experienced as I remember her to be, when going in to the press briefing room. I've missed the dynamic of the team very much. And I've definitely missed the friendship between Josh and Sam, and CJ and Toby by extension.

The more episodes I watch, the sadder I get because I know Sam Seaborn is leaving. Moreover, not too long after Sam's farewell, Amy Gardner would soon join him in leaving the show. Those two are my favorite characters after Josh Lyman and the show is just not the same without them; yes, even though Amy was never really a regular on the show. I really wanted Josh to end up with Amy; I thought she was more of a match to him than Donna ever was. Sure, Josh and Donna shared some cute banters, but they're far from the scope and level of Josh/Amy banters. This blog post takes the words out of my mouth, and then polished them and expressed my points more clearly. I honestly can't believe that there are so many Amy-haters out there. What's not to love about her? I understand that most people shipped Josh and Donna since the beginning of the show, and to have this very attractive woman come in and steal the man can be aggravating, but how could they not see how perfect Josh and Amy are? Okay... Taking my shipper hat off now...

The Snowmen

Christmas trees, Santa, and now snowmen. Doctor Who really wants us to be scared of Christmas, doesn't it? This year's Christmas special introduces us to quite a few new things: new companion, new title sequence, new TARDIS control room.

Surprise, Motherfucker!

I finally watched Dexter's season finale. I honestly don't know why I delayed watching this for a whole week when I've been following the season weekly. The whole season has been intense; it's the best one of recent years, in my opinion.

The episode contains flashback scenes of when Doakes was still alive; and the one thing I truly miss was the strings of blood spatter that Dexter used, and how he explained in great detail, visually, of how the kill happened. The visible enjoyment of the murders (or his job, as he said), is fascinating.

The main focus of the episode is how LaGuerta is closing in on Dexter's secret. I could not see how he's going to get out of it this time. And he didn't, really. Framing her with the stolen evidence was smart, but you know she's not just going to let it go. That's a smart distraction, but it's not enough. Plus, I thought it was fair since she tried to set him up with the release of Hector Estrada, who killed Dexter's mother. How bad is it that I think LaGuerta is the bad person in this situation? And how ridiculously bad is Miami Metro Homicide that I think it's insane what LaGuerta is doing –– her job. Anyways, I hated her enough as it is, but then she decided to go after Dexter. I thought that would be a good thing, since that would somehow give Dexter a reason to get rid of her (ie. cut her to pieces and dump her in the ocean). But then she had to go and implicate Debra into the mess! I mean, I know that she's technically the good guy here, but come on! I didn't expect Debra to be the one who killed her, though. I did think that Debra would end up killing someone for Dexter, but I thought it would be Hannah. I also believed that the drug in the water bottle was Debra trying to set up Hanna –– I was quite disappointed when she admitted to doing it.

Speaking of Hannah, I am glad that she's still alive, and quite excited that she's out of prison. But it also makes it seem like she's going to be The Big Bad for next season. Why can't they just all get along? I'd love her to stay for a few more seasons, if possible. More importantly, she's obviously being hunted down now; how involved would Debra, the arresting officer, be in this situation now that her life seems to be a big mess?

So what's next? They might try to run away; but that would mean being hunted. LaGuerta missing wouldn't go unnoticed for too long. Plus, Homicide would be on full force because she's one of them. The fact that she was after Dexter, no matter how little others believed her then, would mean that Dexter is a top suspect. If he and Deb ran away, that would mean that they would be chasing them, and that's not gonna end well for anyone. Also, how did they get rid of LaGuerta's body? Deb shot her with her service weapon, which probably means that if the body is found, it wouldn't be too hard to identify Deb as the shooter. So complicated! I can't believe that I have to wait for *months* to see how things play out! Who would Deb be after all this? She's a murderer now, too, even though she's still a good person. Or she tries to be. I CAN'T WAIT THAT LONG!!!