Various Thoughts

Another group of non-Anime shows recently watched on a whim:

• House M.D.: Yeah, Sherlock Holmes in a hospital is an apt description. So it’s not surprising that, as with Sherlock, the banter ends up the best part of the show. The dramatic aspects (particularly the crime-related ones) don’t work anywhere near as well… which ends up becoming a serious problem when it begins to place a much larger focus on them. The end of the 4th season marks the turning point and I wouldn’t suggest watching beyond the 5th unless you don’t mind skipping through large swathes of melodrama to reach the intermittent good bits.
• The Unusuals: Tries too hard to be quirky and ends up blatantly artificial. Still often amusing in its ludicrousness though, and does manage to strike a more believable balance as it progresses.
• Once Upon a Time: A mix of fantasy and urban fantasy that would’ve been better without the kid. I like the way it interweaves the various story-worlds together, but that’s about it.
• Once Upon a Time in Wonderland: While heavier on the fantasy aspects, it has the exact same feel as the parent series.
• Stalker: Like a stalker Inception or something. Stalkers everywhere. It’s actually pretty interesting, albeit incredibly creepy.
• Designated Survivor: Exciting, but it could do without the family issues angle. The spontaneous roadblocks/escalations early-on also tend to come across as forced.
• The Good Wife: Features a solid mix of drama, thriller-like suspense, and situational comedy (both low-key and exaggerated) with a fantastic cast. The main flaws would be an unfortunate fondness for dramatic zooms and lingering close-ups along with the seemingly neverending game of law firm musical chairs.
• Rosewood: Eh. The smugness is kinda overwhelming and the lab segments come across like performance art.
• Castle: The first episode has a number of serious structural and personality-based issues which are thankfully nowhere near as severe in later ones. Eventually it becomes a highly entertaining mix of drama and comic interludes with a dynamic very similar to Bones‘ (with a less believable romance angle). I strongly suggest skipping the last season however, as similar to House this show suffers when that balance gets upset and later seasons lean more and more toward drama.
• CSI: Cyber: Incredibly staged. This kind of style might work for a campy gameshow; it’s a complete failure in a crime procedural.
• Secrets and Lies: Nice atmosphere, but a couple key characters (including the detective) simply don’t work at all.
• Murder in the First: Gritty. In a good way for the most part. Gets over-zealous with its messaging though.
• Cracked: I don’t like the male protagonist at all. The level of crazy is also, perhaps unsurprisingly, very high.