Season Seven!!!

Welcome to season seven of Supernatural!! Our new title card is a bleak black and white that I first thought may be a comment on the blighted condition of our heroes, and then I thought perhaps it was letting us know that good and evil will be pretty cut and dry this season, but after the second episode, it may just be leviathan blood oozing into the world of Supernatural. Maybe it’s all three!!

Anyhoo, these episodes resolved some stuff, and set up what looks like is the Big Bad of the season, the Leviathan(s). They were fast paced and had some fun twists and turns.  I am so excited – and it’s been a while since this show really excited me.

Misha as Leviathan

First off, we resolved the GodCas issue much quicker than I expected. BOOM, and within an episode and an opening scene our sweet little angel did his Godly best to clean up the world, redeem himself in the eyes of Dean, and head off into the drink under the control of the Leviathans just before his vessel disintegrated into a black and red mushy mess. Misha Collins was freakin’ fantastic in this, and it makes me sad that smaller shows like this never get any Emmy love. Dean pulling the ever-present trench outta the reservoir was a sad, sad moment, and Jensen Ackles once again proves that he is the heart of this show. Poor Dean, had to say goodbye to his bestest buddy, and one of my favorite TV pairs bites the dust. Loved the dream of an all powerful god smiting the hypocritical and corrupt of the world, and the running newscasts of who and what were being destroyed was amusing. It was a good and sad end to the Castiel saga, and there is a teeny, tiny part of me that hopes he will turn up again one day… but I kinda hope not, too.

So it turns out, after the leviathans disperse into the water reservoir, and then throw themselves into some innocent bystander types a la the X-Files black oil, we find out that they seem to have a leader, have orders to follow, but certainly have got a bit of a learning curve to get through. After some stumbling about, and getting their bearings, they come up with a plan to open a buffet, of sorts, at Sioux Falls General Hospital, where Sheriff Mills just happens to be recouping from appendectomy surgery. She is recovered just enough to figure out there are shenanigans going on with her ridiculously handsome and charming doctor, and gives Bobby a heads up, alerting the Winchester crew that the leviathans are spreading. One by one, everyone heads out to the hospital… or do they???!!!!!

Lucifer as Dean

Here’s where the fun of Sam’s hallucinations takes hold in the storytelling. A nicely done trick makes us think that Dean needs Sam’s help, and we go on a twisty little trip through Sam’s pain, and being wildly entertained by Mark Pellegrino as Lucifer. I know some people hate the continuing story of poor widdle Sammy, but his journey with Lucifer taunting him wonderfully along the way has opened the brother’s relationship greatly. And we even get Dean talking to Sammy about his time in Hell! No more hiding, no more angsty stupidness. Dean gets to sympathize and console his brother, and after that awesome fight in the junk yard,we actually see concern and brotherly love! It is an aspect of the Winchester story that has been greatly lacking for many seasons, and I was thrilled to see it all through this last episode.

We end this two episode thrill ride with a crushed leviathan that seems to just be waylaid, Dean with a broken leg and Sam seizing as the ambulance careens our pretty heroes back to the Hospital of Doom, and Bobby disturbingly missing.

Oh yeah, and they BURNED DOWN BOBBY’S HOUSE!!!  Yowza, that is some good shit, writers.

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For years, January was the Best.Month.Ever., television wise. After months of being deprived of my favorite shows, the inevitable post-holiday dreariness, and another two months or more of winter to endure, January brought me back to that mysterious island on Lost, and the high-intensity crack of 24. What is a TV obsessed gal to do this year, now that both of those shows have finished their runs? Instead of being sad and grumpy, I have found some joy in the mid-season television schedule.

Parks and Recreation – I am still at a loss as to why NBC put this show on the shelf for the first half of the season and insisted on cramming the unfunny Outsourced down our throats instead (I actually do know why, but it’s still annoying). P&R got all kinds of awesome last year, and the end of the season brought us some great twists with the addition of Rob Lowe and Adam Scott to the ensemble. Amy Poehler is reliably great, and Nick Offerman as Ron Swanson is possibly the best reason to keep tuning in. I hate singling out people on ensemble shows like this, because every one of  them adds another fantastic layer, making it my easy replacement for the now limping The Office.

V – It’s not like I was waiting with bated lizard breath for this show to return. The first effort was a pale shadow of the original V series and mini-series, but I am a sucker for sci-fi, so I went into the first episode of this new season hopeful, but not expecting a thing. They did amp up the reveals (finally, a glimpse at the lizard face!), had some more action and evil-ness from the queen lizard Anna, and put their special effects budget to good use. But, the writing is still terrible (I feel sorry for some of the clunkers the actors have to deliver), and it looks like we will have to endure even more of Erica’s dolt of a son, Tyler. If I had an inkling to bail on this show, it was squashed by the addition of Sam from Reaper (Bret Harrison), who I think is wonderful, and I hope they don’t kill him off too soon.

Southland - I don’t watch this show (so I’m not gonna bother finding a pic), but it is regularly hailed as one of the best cop shows out there, and the people I know who do watch it, love the crap out of it. I only mention it because it was dead as a doornail after it’s first season on NBC, and was resurrected by TNT in what I think is a true TV miracle. This is the beginning of season three, and if you’re a fan, enjoy the sweet taste of victory!

Fringe - I know, I know, not a mid-seasoner, but every second this show is not around, I miss it. Fox had been unusually kind to us with this show, until now. Even with the steady ratings slide, they blessed us with a third season, and then they pulled the rug out from under us and moved it to Friday’s. I fear that this may be the last season, and it’s a shame, as this season has been freakin’ outstanding!!

The Amazing Race & Survivor - I am no longer in the reality show closet. I like what I like, and I am not ashamed. Competitive reality shows are one of my weaknesses (along with sci-fi and post-apocalyptic shows), and these two are tops as far as I’m concerned. They will both be back in February for new seasons, and I couldn’t be more thrilled.

There are a few others that have me vaguely interested like Game of Thrones on HBO, and The Cape on NBC. The return of Big Love should be more exciting, but I’m not interested enough to write about it. You can bet my DVR will be storing these shows up to try out when it’s too snowy and cold to do anything else.

PS! OMG!! Have you seen this?? June is a very, very long time from now.

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I was nervous about the newly run-by-Sera-Gamble Supernatural. Not because I don’t have confidence in her, I surely do, but because after five years of Kripke!, who knew if anyone else could do it? So far, I think she has done a fine job.

Episode one: No one is surprized (except for Dean, I suppose), that Sammy is back and out killing him some monsters. The real surprize is the resurrection of Grandpa Winchester, the lovely and buff Mitch Pileggi. So, we have two reanimated Winchesters, and a slew of cousins off fighting monsters, as a good family should, when the genie from season two(?) offspring decide to come after Dean.

Whatever. The episode is all set-up for the season, so I wasn’t expecting anything too awesome. New season, new show runner, new season arc, blah blah blah. At least we got a glamor shot of Metallicar, the savior of the world!

Episode two: Muuuuch better!! With all the exposition out of the way, I think I see where we are headed this season. Sera Gamble had said that they were gonna go back to hunting, and monsters, and so far we have gotten souped up versions of old monsters we thought we knew. I am hoping this trend continues. The Alpha shape-shifter freaked me right out, and that is how I like my Supernatural. A nice dash of silly Dean/Sammy & baby shape-shifter riding shotgun made me giggle. Plus, as much as I was annoyed that Lisa and kiddo seemed to be kind of shoe-horned into Deans conscience, I have really enjoyed her character these first two episodes. Could a strong, loving and understanding woman for Dean be the influence of our new show runner? Very possible.

And, of course, Grandpa Winchester ain’t necessarily what he seems to be, and I predict we will lose at least one Winchester cousin an episode until we are back down to our lovely duo. Fine with me, because next week? Castiel!!

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Oh, glee, how I love you. Why did you stay away for so long?

I take no shame in my unabashed love for this show. From the very first moment of the pilot, I was enthralled, and my love grew and grew, right up to the big sectionals episode. Then, in their infinite wisdom, Fox took glee away from the adoring throngs, and made us wait. A not uncommon move by a network these days, but annoying nonetheless.

Anyhoo, as much as I love, I was fully prepared to not be thrilled with the returning episode. I knew it would be a huge set-up episode for the rest of the season and the road to regionals, and those kind of episodes have a way of being disappointing somehow.

But no! I was mostly wrong. Jane Lynch’s Sue Sylvester was awesomely horrible, Mr. Shue was adorable and didn’t sing any stupid rap mash-ups (thank god), Rachel was her usual self centered self, Finn was a perfect representation of the clueless teen boy (and still perfectly cute), and we got to see into the shallow and hilariously empty minds of Brit and Santana (“Did you know dolphins are just gay sharks?”). With the exception of having to hear “Hello, Again” at all, I enjoyed all of it.

Also, we got the wonderful addition of Broadway lovlies Idina Menzel and Jonathan Groff as potential villian members of Vocal Adrenaline, the main competition to our New Direction glee-ers. Fun!

If you haven’t seen the glorious Sue Sylvester version of Madonna’s “Vogue”, get on that right now, because next week? Madonna week!!

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As it is with every year, a whole bunch of science fiction-y shows were canceled at the end of the season, but I have to give it to the networks for trying a bunch of new ones next year.

It was so hard to keep track of the comings and goings during the upfronts, but SciFi Wire thankfully charted it all in a very understandable fashion.

The clear winner, IMHO, is Fox.

Sure, Fox canceled Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles, better known as TSCC because it’s a lot freakin’ shorter. But it did keep Dollhouse around for at least another 13 episodes. (Side note: This comic is probably a bit too close to reality for comfort when it comes to how the decision was made.) I’m thinking that Fox didn’t feel like incurring the wrath of the Whedonverse again, whereas TSCC ended at a spot that could full well be the series’ end. (Not that I wouldn’t have loved to see where it would have picked up in the fall.)

Fox also kept Fringe, which is one of my favorite shows. So the net gets brownie points for that. It’s also picked up Human Target and Past Life, each for 13 episodes and for midseason.

Human Target is based on a D.C. comic book and focuses on a guy who goes undercover, basically, as his clients whose lives have been threatened. It was written by Jonathan Steinberg, who was the co-creator of the late Jericho.

I’m not sure I completely understand the premise of Past Life, and the description on Zap2It didn’t help much, but from what I can tell, it’s about a bunch of investigators who solve crimes by dredging up their clients’ long-lost memories. Whether that means memories of dead clients or memories of past lives for solving cold cases or just stuff people have forgotten, I’m not quite clear on. I’m guessing it’s one of the first two, otherwise the whole “science fiction” aspect of it is lost on me.

NBC is second in the science fiction Olympics, though it canceled more sci-fi-ish shows from this season than it has old and new ones put together. Off the schedule: Knight Rider, My Own Worst Enemy, Kings (I still haven’t forgiven them for that decision) and Medium (which CBS decided to pick up).

But it decided to renew Chuck (midseason) and Heroes (really? Talk about a show past its prime, despite it having been around for only 3 seasons) and has three new shows, though two of them are summer series: Day One, The Listener and Merlin.

Day One sounds the most promising to me, what with its post-apocalyptic Melrose Place-ian-ish-ness. Of course, that means it stands an excellent chance of not succeeding.

The Listener is about a paramedic who can read minds, it seems. And Merlin – well, if you can’t guess what it’s about, you need to go back and read King Arthur.

ABC lost more than it’s gained, but it has one of the best sci-fi shows ever: Lost. This is the show’s last season, though, so hopefully one of the new shows will pick up the mantle. Canceled were Cupid, Eli Stone, Pushing Daisies and Life on Mars (which is the only one of the four I cared about; I tried to like Pushing Daisies, but it was just too precious for me).

But it has V, a remake of one of my favorite miniseries ever. I’m sorry the guy originally responsible for it isn’t involved, and I’d sure like to see Michael Ironside in it, but what is he now, 65, 70? I have great hopes for it, especially if they redo the hybrid alien baby and don’t use a really lame puppet.

ABC also is trying out Eastwick and Flash Forward.

Now, Eastwick is based on the John Updike novel The Witches of Eastwick, which was quite memorably adapted into a movie starring Cher, Michelle Pfeiffer, Susan Sarandon and Jack Nicholson. I tried reading the book at one point but it was a bit too dated and I just couldn’t hack my way through it. I’m willing to give the show a shot, though.

Flash Forward has a lot of promise, though, with a premise in which the entire world blacks out and glimpses 2 minutes and 17 seconds of an undetermined time in each person’s own future. It’s based on a book, whose author is even writing one of the episodes. It’s being written as if it will be five seasons of 22 episodes apiece and could become a worthy successor to Lost, if it catches on.

CBS gave up on two shows: Eleventh Hour and The Ex-List, but kept Ghost Whisperer and snagged NBC’s cast-off Medium. That’s all.

The CW kept Smallville and Supernatural. Though this season is likely to be the final season of SPN, that’s great news they decided to keep it on. But it killed Valentine and Reaper, the latter of which I mourn deeply. I still have three or four episodes on my DVR, so I still have more Reaper to see.

It’s airing the new show Vampire Diaries, though, which I’d imagine might be a good pair with SPN. It’s based on a pre-Twilight series of books, The CW would like you to know, thankyouverymuch. It’s about a girl who can’t decide between two vampire brothers – one good, one evil, of course. They’re battling for her and the souls of all the people in her small town.

So that’s it. Of course, there will be some shows on SyFy, USA, FX, AMC and a whole other slew of acronyms, but these are the big five, so to speak.

Which shows are you looking forward to, and which ones will you miss the most?

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