TV is in a very weird spot, right now. While broadcast television still exists, most of the hype on the internet these days revolves around series being exclusively released on streaming platforms. But is it really TV anymore? Maybe just serialized audio-visual storytelling? In any case, I've been picking up a show here and there, so I thought I'd give my thoughts on them, like I have been for the movies. Granted, some of these are definitely on the older side, but being relevant or worrying about FOMO certainly hasn't been important for me lately, anyway.
When I learned that Marvel was going to expand their Phase 4 with Disney+ shows, I wasn't really sure what to make of it. While I've liked some of Agents of SHIELD, to know that they were really expanding their universe more seriously with these TV shows made me a little nervous. Will I have to keep up with these as well, or can I just watch the movies? So far, it hasn't been a big problem, but when it was clear that what happened to Wanda in this series was going to be relevant to the second Dr. Strange movie, I decided to give this a shot, anyway.
The result is a bit of a gimmicky thing, but it works its gimmick well. At first, they simply show Wanda and Vision living in a sitcom life, with each episode representing a given decade of TV sitcoms. However, as the episodes progress, it becomes pretty clear that something is up, and before long, there's a whole SWORD division outside of a strange red dome, analyzing some Wanda-based anomaly surrounding the town of Westview. From there, the series essentially grows into a character examination of Wanda (and to a lesser extent Vision), talking about grief and loss, and trying to find purpose in a TV life that doesn't quite match reality, no matter how hard she tries.
The first episodes are a bit of a slog to get through, but once SWORD shows up, things improve, making for a generally satisfying series. It's even amusing to see some of the MCU cameos, as well as some classic sitcom actors, and the ending is a pretty neat magic showdown between Wanda and the secret villain who has been hiding in plain sight. While I did watch this before I saw Multiverse of Madness, looking back on it, the movie kind of colors my view of WandaVision. While the show clearly leads into the movie, at the same time, I was kind of hoping that they would give Wanda a chance to really overcome her trials. Still, WandaVision was entertaining on its own, and would probably be quite fun for those who are aware of the evolution of the American sitcom over the last several decades.
I admit this was another series I wasn't sure what to make of. After Episode 9 wrapped up the disappointing sequel trilogy, I felt I was pretty done with Star Wars, so I hadn't bothered with The Mandalorian, or any of the other Star Wars shows that have come out since. However, seeing Ewan McGregor coming back to be the titular star of this series, I was convinced to give this a shot. In the end, it serves as a decent, if somewhat insubstantial, bridge between the prequels and the original trilogy
After the events of Episode 3, Obi-Wan has become Ben Kenobi, keeping an eye on Luke Skywalker, but otherwise trying to live an inconspicuous life on Tatooine, hoping no one finds him. Unfortunately, there's a group of Sith Inquisitors eager to do just that, and are willing to resort to some underhanded tactics. When Senator Organa comes to Obi-Wan about trying to find their kidnapped daughter Leia, Obi-Wan must pick up his lightsaber once again, only to face some of his greatest fears and regrets.
I will say that it's a series that starts off a little bumpy, but builds well. However, I did have a number of nitpicks. For starters, when the action kicks in, so does the shaky cam thing, making it a little hard to see what's going on. Many times I wished they just hold the camera still. Also, the plotting has a bad habit of stopping and starting at weird times, the dialogue does feel a little flat, and some of the acting could be better. Finally, I wasn't sure if some of the events here really reflected the attitudes and relationships shown in Episode 4. If anything, despite the rather standard CGI one expects from the property, the show felt kind of cheap and low budget.
Despite all that, it does have its moments. It's nice to Ewan McGregor back as Kenobi, and he does well in portraying the emotional stakes of the character, Vivien Lyra Blair plays a perfectly precocious little Leia, and it was nice to see Kumail Nanjiani again; he was clearly having fun. As for the bad guys, Moses Ingram does solid work as an ambitious Sith with her own agenda, and Hayden Christiansen actually does a decent job reflecting the shift from Anakin to Darth Vader. As for the action, I felt that the quality would go up and down. However, I quite liked the sequence where Obi-wan was wandering around the basement of that Sith fortress.
It's hard to say if the series was really all that vital or necessary, but it certainly did well to fill in a gap, and does feature some fun cameos from the prequels (including a great one at the end), but does little more beyond that. It honestly felt more like a little slice of fan service than anything else, but that's not necessarily a bad thing.
After enjoying the movie last year, I decided to return to the world of British Cold War spies and their low-key efforts to stay in business. When I had heard that there was also a TV series adaptation of the same story, featuring Alec Guinness as George Smiley himself, I knew I had to check it out.
The result is a much more slow-paced, down-to-earth affair than even the movie was, though I wonder if it wasn't more a matter of budget. Many of the sets had a worn-down quality to them, as if they were just trying to find any old room that would work. However, it didn't detract from the storytelling, which largely focused on the characters talking to each other and getting clues here and there. Of course, having seen the movie, I already knew a large part of the story, so this time much of the appeal was getting a more fleshed out version of the mystery at hand, which helped to fill in some of the gaps that got skimmed over in the movie.
Right off, Alec Guinness is a lot of fun. He retains much of his dry, laconic style from his work as Obi-Won Kenobi in the original Star Wars trilogy, but he's given a lot more to do, allowing for extended sequences of his wonderful voice and presence. The rest of the cast is fine, if perhaps a little less interesting to watch, though seeing Patrick Stewart show up and say nothing as the villain Karla was quite a blast! While the series is a pretty drab affair, once you get past it's low production values, the story is well-told and it really captures the dry, deliberately paced tone of le Carré's works quite well.
After the Hobbit films had slumped their way into existence, the idea of more Middle-Earth shows wasn't exactly an exciting idea when Amazon bought TV rights back in 2017. However, as time has softened my views on the Hobbit films and promotional material seemed to look promising, this series definitely became a priority for me. While it may have taken us a long while to get here, it turns out that The Rings of Power show hasn't been a complete waste of time.
Starting in the Second Age of the Legendarium, the story starts with a re-imagined Galadriel, now a driven swordmaiden desperate to rid the world of evil. However, when her own crew mutinies against her, she comes back to her homelands to be given the opportunity to finally go West and rest of her troubles. Unfortunately, at the last moment, she bails, and ends up on a completely new adventure, leading her to Numenor and its complex politics. The series also introduces a number of other characters and their own stories. Elrond shows up, dealing with diplomatic ties between the Elves and the Dwarves. Arondir is an elven ranger who is in love with the human Bronwyn, but they get overwhelmed by a marching army of orcs, lead by an estranged elf who serves Sauron. And of course there are some hobbits, called Harfoots, who are suddenly visited by a man who falls from the sky and has strange powers.
If this all feels like it's a little overwhelming, that's certainly the case. So, in an effort to keep all these stories balanced and understandable, the show moves pretty slowly for the first five episodes of its eight episode season. While the world is well-realized and the acting has generally been pretty good, it's hard to know which parts matter and which parts are just fluff, making the show a little exhausting to watch. Then when you get to the last three episodes, things escalate pretty quickly, not only in the violence (which gets a bit gorier than the movies ever did), but also in the plot developments, leaving the last episode feeling a little rushed. While I am interested in a second season, I hope they iron out their pacing problems and provide a show that has better pacing.
Still, I largely enjoyed what I saw. Sure, I have plenty of quibbles about the details of the timeline and how they're rearranging things and creating new elements, but I kinda knew this would be the case going in, so I wasn't necessarily disappointed by anything either. While it does a decent enough job of capturing that Middle-Earth magic, and the characters aren't too bad (even if there may be a few too many), most of what we get here is essentially setup and origin stories for future seasons, making this a bit like Fellowship of the Ring in a few ways. Still, it's a moderately decent fantasy series that may take itself a little too seriously, but maintains the epic storytelling one would expect from this world.
Well, that was a little different! (Or was it?) To be honest, I might be checking out a few other series that have come out in recent years (and I know there's a follow up to Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy that's very high on my priority list!), so you may see another one of these articles sooner rather than later. There might be another article or two before the end of the year stuff I regularly do (though there really haven't been too many interesting movies lately!). I'm always writing something, even if it takes a while for it to show up anywhere.
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