Post by margarine on Dec 9, 2012 10:22:21 GMT -5
WHY I'M NOT WATCHING HAWAII FIVE-O ANY MORE
I quit. It's time to give up waiting for the show to get back to its original spark, power, and charm. Some of those things still pop up from time to time, but it's too little, too late, for me. I'm posting this not because there's a discussion to be had; nobody needs to agree with me, or spend any time and energy debating what I have to say. In fact, I won't be revisiting this thread again to see if there's any response. Mostly I'm just writing this to explain why you're not seeing anything from me in the episode and spoiler threads, even though there might be a comment worth making elsewhere from time to time.
We've all hashed over practically everything about every episode, and we all know that some of us liked this or that, some didn't, but ultimately from the beginning we were happy. The show was exciting, had some originality, had a damn fine cast, wonderful cinematography, and clever dialog.
Early on, there was a level of euphoria that I for one hadn't encountered for many years. There was always some new interview or clip to find. There was a lot of entertainment to be had just from our own discussions of the episodes – and who's sexier, Steve or Danno. (I do confess I never enjoyed the nastier arguments and the occasional truly nasty poster, but those things do make you consider your own position on things, I guess.)
Season One was truly fun all around. The show was good. I looked forward to it every week, for its own sake. No complaints. Whatever shortcomings it had were no worse, or more remarkable, than any other popular show, and the significance of that is, whatever shortcomings it had didn't stand out. Glaring faults are hard to ignore. Subtle faults, you can ignore, but what happens is you just find yourself tuning out, without finding yourself making a conscious decision that the show has gone wrong. That's the way it was for me, with Glee. I watched it at first. Then I didn't. Don't much care what went wrong with it, there's other stuff to watch.
With H50, though, I cared, a whole lot. It was fun, it was pretty, it was working. And no small thing, it meant that Alex O'Loughlin was finally gonna get to keep his job. I liked Scott. I liked Grace. And DDK, so gratifying to see him back on TV.
We've all also hashed over what went wrong last season. Some of us emphasized one thing, some another, but it was pretty clear that a lot more went wrong than just the addition of one character and/or the actor who played her. After she went away, things improved, but by then a lot had been set in motion that couldn't be stopped easily. I'm talking about the Shelburne storyline here, which grew out of Season One's “Champ Box” mystery. In my opinion it interfered with everything, from weekly storylines to character interaction. When it wasn't being addressed we were left to wonder why, since we'd been given this hint and that clue. When it was being addressed it never cleared anything up and we were left to wonder if it would ever go anywhere. (It didn't.) In the end it was only the infernal will-he-won't-he game between Joe White and Steve that ended with the Big Reveal of Mama McG – and a thud. By that time most of us were heartily sick of it and just waiting for it to be over. It still isn't, of course.
Now, where are we? I think most of us are satisfied that so far this season is a big improvement. It even looks like an attempt to regain the spark of Season One. Most of the episodes have elements of merit. I was briefly excited when Episode 3 (the fishing trip) was coherent and lively, with stuff for everybody to do and a chance for Scott to shine. Not one of my Top 5 episodes, but good enough.
Didn't last. Next trip out, the polo player episode, was a leaky plot and yet another letdown in the Doris department. Since then, with the exception of the Danny flashback episode, my heart sinks every week. This last thing, with the supermodels, was an embarrassment of the first order. Its only redeeming feature was the interaction between the bank teller and Max.
You will ask, what particular things do I think were so wrong that I object to so much? I'm not going into that. As I said, I'm not writing this for the debate. I will tell you, though, that I no longer want to watch Alex, and that is disturbing. Each week I look for the original fiery SuperSeal, but he's not there. We used to marvel at how expressive Alex is as an actor – granted, not all agree about that, but I do – but I look at his eyes for that spark, and there's nobody home. The depth of his vocal expressions, it's gone. There's this exception, though: the Danny flashback episode seemed like the old Steve, and I had hope – until this week. My heart sank when he drove the bad guy out to the – whatever, green stuff – and the emotion and nuance that Alex would bring to the conversation was about 50%. I don't know what wrong, and it wouldn't matter if I did. I'm just the end user.
The other cast, they're doing all right, really. Danny's not being a jerk so far this year, although they haven't dialed him back as far as he needs to go. Kono's been great. Chin, well neither Chin nor DDK has ever had enough to do. Catherine? I I like Catherine. And she's been used well. Max is Max. No problems there.
But overall, this is not fun. I miss the fun. Every week – these days - I catch up with Castle online, and I'm never disappointed. It's a great show. Other shows I watch – Bones, Fringe, Once Upon a Time, The Mentalist, Criminal Minds, among others – aren't always perfect. An element here or there that I don't enjoy as much as others, maybe, but above all, no glaring plot holes. No bizarro characters that aren't meant to be bizarro. Hm, I'll tell you why I stopped watching Grey's Anatomy: It was when Izzie - the doctor - lay on the hospital bed in her pink prom dress, on top of her dead boyfriend, shrieking - for a long time. One scene. One bizarro character. I thought of her when I saw Mama McG hysterically electrocuting a bad guy, looking precisely like someone who would logically be taken away by the men in white coats. I have had quite enough of Mama McG, thanks a lot, Petey.
That's about all I want to say. If you've read this far, hey, thanks for caring. It's been a hoot, most of the time, to be involved with this gang. I'll still check in with the board, especially because there are a few threads that are interesting, like stuff about the actors. But the episode debates? For me, it's beating a dead horse.
Cheers, mates.
I quit. It's time to give up waiting for the show to get back to its original spark, power, and charm. Some of those things still pop up from time to time, but it's too little, too late, for me. I'm posting this not because there's a discussion to be had; nobody needs to agree with me, or spend any time and energy debating what I have to say. In fact, I won't be revisiting this thread again to see if there's any response. Mostly I'm just writing this to explain why you're not seeing anything from me in the episode and spoiler threads, even though there might be a comment worth making elsewhere from time to time.
We've all hashed over practically everything about every episode, and we all know that some of us liked this or that, some didn't, but ultimately from the beginning we were happy. The show was exciting, had some originality, had a damn fine cast, wonderful cinematography, and clever dialog.
Early on, there was a level of euphoria that I for one hadn't encountered for many years. There was always some new interview or clip to find. There was a lot of entertainment to be had just from our own discussions of the episodes – and who's sexier, Steve or Danno. (I do confess I never enjoyed the nastier arguments and the occasional truly nasty poster, but those things do make you consider your own position on things, I guess.)
Season One was truly fun all around. The show was good. I looked forward to it every week, for its own sake. No complaints. Whatever shortcomings it had were no worse, or more remarkable, than any other popular show, and the significance of that is, whatever shortcomings it had didn't stand out. Glaring faults are hard to ignore. Subtle faults, you can ignore, but what happens is you just find yourself tuning out, without finding yourself making a conscious decision that the show has gone wrong. That's the way it was for me, with Glee. I watched it at first. Then I didn't. Don't much care what went wrong with it, there's other stuff to watch.
With H50, though, I cared, a whole lot. It was fun, it was pretty, it was working. And no small thing, it meant that Alex O'Loughlin was finally gonna get to keep his job. I liked Scott. I liked Grace. And DDK, so gratifying to see him back on TV.
We've all also hashed over what went wrong last season. Some of us emphasized one thing, some another, but it was pretty clear that a lot more went wrong than just the addition of one character and/or the actor who played her. After she went away, things improved, but by then a lot had been set in motion that couldn't be stopped easily. I'm talking about the Shelburne storyline here, which grew out of Season One's “Champ Box” mystery. In my opinion it interfered with everything, from weekly storylines to character interaction. When it wasn't being addressed we were left to wonder why, since we'd been given this hint and that clue. When it was being addressed it never cleared anything up and we were left to wonder if it would ever go anywhere. (It didn't.) In the end it was only the infernal will-he-won't-he game between Joe White and Steve that ended with the Big Reveal of Mama McG – and a thud. By that time most of us were heartily sick of it and just waiting for it to be over. It still isn't, of course.
Now, where are we? I think most of us are satisfied that so far this season is a big improvement. It even looks like an attempt to regain the spark of Season One. Most of the episodes have elements of merit. I was briefly excited when Episode 3 (the fishing trip) was coherent and lively, with stuff for everybody to do and a chance for Scott to shine. Not one of my Top 5 episodes, but good enough.
Didn't last. Next trip out, the polo player episode, was a leaky plot and yet another letdown in the Doris department. Since then, with the exception of the Danny flashback episode, my heart sinks every week. This last thing, with the supermodels, was an embarrassment of the first order. Its only redeeming feature was the interaction between the bank teller and Max.
You will ask, what particular things do I think were so wrong that I object to so much? I'm not going into that. As I said, I'm not writing this for the debate. I will tell you, though, that I no longer want to watch Alex, and that is disturbing. Each week I look for the original fiery SuperSeal, but he's not there. We used to marvel at how expressive Alex is as an actor – granted, not all agree about that, but I do – but I look at his eyes for that spark, and there's nobody home. The depth of his vocal expressions, it's gone. There's this exception, though: the Danny flashback episode seemed like the old Steve, and I had hope – until this week. My heart sank when he drove the bad guy out to the – whatever, green stuff – and the emotion and nuance that Alex would bring to the conversation was about 50%. I don't know what wrong, and it wouldn't matter if I did. I'm just the end user.
The other cast, they're doing all right, really. Danny's not being a jerk so far this year, although they haven't dialed him back as far as he needs to go. Kono's been great. Chin, well neither Chin nor DDK has ever had enough to do. Catherine? I I like Catherine. And she's been used well. Max is Max. No problems there.
But overall, this is not fun. I miss the fun. Every week – these days - I catch up with Castle online, and I'm never disappointed. It's a great show. Other shows I watch – Bones, Fringe, Once Upon a Time, The Mentalist, Criminal Minds, among others – aren't always perfect. An element here or there that I don't enjoy as much as others, maybe, but above all, no glaring plot holes. No bizarro characters that aren't meant to be bizarro. Hm, I'll tell you why I stopped watching Grey's Anatomy: It was when Izzie - the doctor - lay on the hospital bed in her pink prom dress, on top of her dead boyfriend, shrieking - for a long time. One scene. One bizarro character. I thought of her when I saw Mama McG hysterically electrocuting a bad guy, looking precisely like someone who would logically be taken away by the men in white coats. I have had quite enough of Mama McG, thanks a lot, Petey.
That's about all I want to say. If you've read this far, hey, thanks for caring. It's been a hoot, most of the time, to be involved with this gang. I'll still check in with the board, especially because there are a few threads that are interesting, like stuff about the actors. But the episode debates? For me, it's beating a dead horse.
Cheers, mates.
