Summer Binge Watch 2015: The Flash

Every summer, my wife and I go to Netflix and select a TV show to binge watch. Between kiddo bedtimes and a 5:00 a.m. alarm, we don't watch all that much (non Disney Channel) TV during the school year. 

The last couple summers have seen us tackle the first season of Once Upon a Time, the first season of Arrow and a couple of seasons of classic Gilmore Girls.

This year, we're going to watch The Flash. No Netflix needed this time... We've actually recorded the entire first season on our DVR because I had intended to watch it this year. Several of my friends really like it. So even though I am much more of a Marvel fan than a DC fan, I'm going to give it a shot. So far, two episodes in and I'm intrigued.

Things I loved about the Agents of SHIELD finale

A couple of very cool things I loved about Tuesday's Agents of SHIELD season finale. 

• Mack's mom watches Fox News.
• The thorn protects the rose... or the daisy.  
• You want to talk about this... now.
• Oh yeah. Skye was a hacker.
• Mack's choice of weapon.
• Science, beeeatch.
• Ward's still a very bad man.
• Melinda May is pretty clever.  
• Another Marvel Star Wars homage.
• Fish oil.
• Stupid alien technology.

Looking forward to Season 3... I just hope Simmons fate at the end of the episode isn't like Fred/Illyria on Angel. I don't know if I can handle that kind of heartbreak. 

Farewell to the Warehouse

So while Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. gets ready for a second season, one of my other favorite shows just aired its season finale. Warehouse 13 wrapped the 5th season and it's been a great ride. (If you've never seen Warehouse 13, check it out on Netflix. The premise is basic... remember the warehouse at the end of Indiana Jones... Pretty much that, but funnier.)

It got me thinking about the changing nature of television. How many times have shows I like been cancelled with no wrap up? Cliffhanger with no resolution? More times than I care to admit.

Syfy green lighted a final season for WH13, but it was only 6 episodes. The whole point was to allow the producers to tie up the loose ends and leave the fans satisfied. They did the same thing with Eureka, giving them a two hour movie to wrap up the plot points. And with Stargate, they made two movies. We should applaud Syfy for getting that right. I wish more networks would grant a long running show an additional wrap up episode or "season."

The other thing that stood out to me was the varying number of episodes per season. The first season had 12 episodes, the second and third had 13 each and the fourth season had 20. And of course the final season had 6. Traditionally, a full season order for a show is 21 shows.

But that is changing, and I kind of like it. Give the writers and producers enough episodes to put together a compelling plot arc. Wrap it up in those episodes. If it finds and audience, renew it for a another season. Maybe it's 21 episodes. Or maybe less. And commit to running that. Give the creators a chance to build something great. After the run is over, make extra money on Netflix and DVD sales.

A lot of shows have started that way. Buffy was a mid-season replacement with a 13 episode first season. The Battlestar Galactica reboot started with a mini series and then had seasons of varying length after that.

With the pressure for shows to perform immediately and networks pulling the plug on shows quickly, maybe having shorter initial seasons will help these programs gain their footing and leave fans satisfied that they've seen an entire story arc.

S.H.I.E.L.D. sets up Season Two

The Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. finale aired last night and I'm glad I stuck with the show after a slow start. TV executives are so quick to pull the plug on shows today. S.H.I.E.L.D. had a better chance than most shows because the ABC/Disney/Marvel conglomerate has a vested interest in its success. The show is well positioned going forward. Hopefully, it can build a solid audience through the next season.

Spoilers ahead. You've been warned.

A couple of thoughts on the show:

Ward. I was worried they would try to redeem Ward. He's done so many evil things, it wouldn't feel right to have him see the error of his ways and die trying to save a member of the team. Nope. Ward is just plain evil. End of story. And he's in prison so we'll see him again, I'm sure.

Fitzsimmons. Heart wrenching. 

The dialogue. Some really great Whedonesque lines. My favorite was Fury's line at the end... Something like: "I count the number of people I trust on one hand, and I'm not afraid to cut off fingers." Also "You were never on top." But too many solid lines to list here.

Gruesome. I actually cringed when Garrett pulled the general's rib out of his body and stabbed him with it. And the nail gun to Ward's foot. Ouch.

Nick Fury. Seemed out of place somehow. Maybe it was the sunglasses. Nick Fury without an eye patch just isn't Nick Fury to me.

The fake out. What was up with that ending? Where Garrett climbs into the chair, gets rebuilt, starts to "monologue," and then gets disintegrated by Coulson. It was funny. And unexpected. But really odd.

Director Coulson. So Coulson is going to rebuild S.H.I.E.L.D.? Should make for a nice second season. Two advantages. Anyone that knows S.H.I.E.L.D. was destroyed in The Winter Soldier will be able to pick up the show without necessarily having to see season 1. And the Agent Carter series that will be launching next season will be about building S.H.I.E.L.D. after World War II. So the shows will have parallel themes. Might make for some interesting connections.

The new ensemble. Looks like the team going into next season will be Coulson, May, Skye, Simmons and Triplett. We'll see what happens with Fitz or if they add any additional team members to the bus. They also have a secret base, a second plane and another Koenig.

Anyway, looking forward to season 2 and seeing how the show evolves.

Becoming a Cubs fan

In the early 1980's, we lived in a slightly mountainous area of North Carolina. And our community had an early version of cable. The cable box on our TV has 13 push buttons, each representing a different channel.

Among those 13 channels were WOR (New York), TBS (Atlanta) and WGN (Chicago). In the early 80's, all three channels had contracts to carry baseball games. WOR had the Mets, TBS showed the Braves and WGN aired the Cubs games. This is pre-ESPN, so your other option was to catch a random Game of the Week broadcast on one of the networks.

I loved baseball. I'd come home from school and turn on the TV and try to find a baseball game. And more often than not, there would be a Cubs game on. Why? Because Wrigley Field didn't get lights until 1988. All home games were day games. The Braves and Mets played a bunch of night games so even though I saw some of their games, I didn't develop the same connection that I did with the Cubs.

(Geographically, it would have made sense for me to be a Braves fan. We weren't too far from Atlanta. But at the time, they were in the NL West division and played a bunch of night games on the West coast. So those games started after my bed time.)

I fell in love with Wrigley Field, Harry Carey, Ryne Sandberg and "Take Me Out to the Ball Game" during the seventh inning stretch. And then we moved to Chicago and my die-hard-Cubs-fan status was cemented. 

Wrigley Field turns 100 this week. And even though Harry Carey is no longer with us, Ryne Sandberg is the manager of the Phillies and Wrigley has lights, I still love my Cubbies.