Adventures on Hulu
Sep. 18th, 2023 12:21 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
annavereFor the first time in years, I have signed up for a streaming service. I will not be on it any longer than strictly necessary, as "streaming" is interchangeable with "renting" and I like to own hard copies of quality shows - Netflix burned through all my streaming goodwill that way, and Hulu is already doing the same thing because Roswell is expiring in thirteen days. I've only been signed up for a week! This is especially aggravating because Hulu is fairly short on my kind of television and I have a very short watch list, so for them to already be culling it is a bad sign.
I watched a handful of pilot episodes, so I can zero in on the most interesting material to me, and do a love 'em and lose 'em routine. There's still a bunch I haven't tried yet. Arranged in declining order of investment.
Justified - Came highly recommended and even a single episode proved why. Sharp script, excellent acting, and I was quickly invested in several characters. Also overjoyed to see Nick Searcy in a main role, because he was terrific on American Gothic. We've watched four episodes now and it is increasingly entertaining and a lot funnier than I expected. It's on my Christmas list.
Roswell - A teenybopper Twin Peaks (it's even got Michael Horse in the sheriff's station, though sadly in a very minor role). An X-Files canvas thickly sugarcoated with high school themes. Gotta love the earnest heart-on-sleeve 90s-ness of it all, and the excellent choice of lanky, sinister Jason Behr (Ford the treacherous wannabe vampire on Buffy) as teen heartthrob Max. He brings a little needed grit to the role. Honestly, the pilot was silly and sweet and very much a 90s teen drama with supernatural sprinkles and I don't see any reason to consider this genre to be inherently shameful if the writing's there. One episode didn't tell me much, but it being on the chopping block won it the sweepstakes, so... thanks, Hulu? Second episode a huge improvement, emphasizing the secondary characters and cutting back on the googly eyes in favor of actual plot (plus Julie Benz!), and the third continues the upward trajectory. I am thoroughly charmed.
Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles - I've always wanted to see this show, so this was a major factor in signing up. Lena Headey does a fine job, and I love that the scarred parent-child relationship is front and center with any romantic entanglements entirely an afterthought. Summer Glau sounded perfect on paper but I didn't find her quite robotic enough to be convinced. Compelling plot, a little more action-oriented than I require (some bottomless magazines and a lot of stuff getting demolished) but with time travel and plentiful paranoia and a promising group of characters getting involved in the looming apocalypse, so I am on board. Biggest downside was some really on-the-nose dialogue, but it's a pilot and has to tie back to two Hollywood blockbusters, so I'm ready to forgive.
Stargate: Atlantis - Wildly uneven, but I may have to swear allegiance to Canadian television at this rate. About the time I started saying "Is that Paul? Oh my God, it is Paul!" was the moment I realized I could easily binge this show (I finally looked him up - actor Christopher Heyerdahl, who so far has been totally wasted in a generic role, but at least he ain't dead yet). The first ten minutes were fully incomprehensible, possibly one of the worst spinoffs I've ever seen for failing to establish any lore for newcomers, but the characters were colorful archetypes easy to tell apart, so I stuck with it and once they hit Atlantis, the plot went into high gear, plus all that wonderfully unserious "here's an alien galaxy with conveniently located humans speaking English in British Columbian forests because we've got no budget, please go with it" that I find simply adorable. They clearly had budget, though - they just blew it all on some (admittedly damn good-looking) shots of Atlantis rising from the ocean and space dogfighting. The emphasis is definitely on action rather than character-driven ethical dilemmas, which is a pity as the scenario is pitch perfect to deliver both kinds of cake. The villains (chalk skinned Voice of the Legion alien vampires who wandered in from a heavy metal music video) are kind of rubbish. But with a bowl of popcorn...
White Collar - Bubblegum. An advertisement for it was on my Burn Notice discs, and it looked fun, and this is an accurate descriptor, but it also makes Burn Notice look gritty and heavy-hitting. Neal was exceptionally cute, the stolid FBI guy had a promising dynamic with him, and the script was full of zingers, but once Neal won an effortless ticket to a Rat Packer's mansion, my eyes rolled and never really recovered. Also, Neal's girlfriend leaving him a wine bottle just wasn't a strong enough hit to feed my angst addiction. Depending on how long I keep Hulu, I might give it a little more time to make a solid impression, but it's low priority.
I watched a handful of pilot episodes, so I can zero in on the most interesting material to me, and do a love 'em and lose 'em routine. There's still a bunch I haven't tried yet. Arranged in declining order of investment.
Justified - Came highly recommended and even a single episode proved why. Sharp script, excellent acting, and I was quickly invested in several characters. Also overjoyed to see Nick Searcy in a main role, because he was terrific on American Gothic. We've watched four episodes now and it is increasingly entertaining and a lot funnier than I expected. It's on my Christmas list.
Roswell - A teenybopper Twin Peaks (it's even got Michael Horse in the sheriff's station, though sadly in a very minor role). An X-Files canvas thickly sugarcoated with high school themes. Gotta love the earnest heart-on-sleeve 90s-ness of it all, and the excellent choice of lanky, sinister Jason Behr (Ford the treacherous wannabe vampire on Buffy) as teen heartthrob Max. He brings a little needed grit to the role. Honestly, the pilot was silly and sweet and very much a 90s teen drama with supernatural sprinkles and I don't see any reason to consider this genre to be inherently shameful if the writing's there. One episode didn't tell me much, but it being on the chopping block won it the sweepstakes, so... thanks, Hulu? Second episode a huge improvement, emphasizing the secondary characters and cutting back on the googly eyes in favor of actual plot (plus Julie Benz!), and the third continues the upward trajectory. I am thoroughly charmed.
Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles - I've always wanted to see this show, so this was a major factor in signing up. Lena Headey does a fine job, and I love that the scarred parent-child relationship is front and center with any romantic entanglements entirely an afterthought. Summer Glau sounded perfect on paper but I didn't find her quite robotic enough to be convinced. Compelling plot, a little more action-oriented than I require (some bottomless magazines and a lot of stuff getting demolished) but with time travel and plentiful paranoia and a promising group of characters getting involved in the looming apocalypse, so I am on board. Biggest downside was some really on-the-nose dialogue, but it's a pilot and has to tie back to two Hollywood blockbusters, so I'm ready to forgive.
Stargate: Atlantis - Wildly uneven, but I may have to swear allegiance to Canadian television at this rate. About the time I started saying "Is that Paul? Oh my God, it is Paul!" was the moment I realized I could easily binge this show (I finally looked him up - actor Christopher Heyerdahl, who so far has been totally wasted in a generic role, but at least he ain't dead yet). The first ten minutes were fully incomprehensible, possibly one of the worst spinoffs I've ever seen for failing to establish any lore for newcomers, but the characters were colorful archetypes easy to tell apart, so I stuck with it and once they hit Atlantis, the plot went into high gear, plus all that wonderfully unserious "here's an alien galaxy with conveniently located humans speaking English in British Columbian forests because we've got no budget, please go with it" that I find simply adorable. They clearly had budget, though - they just blew it all on some (admittedly damn good-looking) shots of Atlantis rising from the ocean and space dogfighting. The emphasis is definitely on action rather than character-driven ethical dilemmas, which is a pity as the scenario is pitch perfect to deliver both kinds of cake. The villains (chalk skinned Voice of the Legion alien vampires who wandered in from a heavy metal music video) are kind of rubbish. But with a bowl of popcorn...
White Collar - Bubblegum. An advertisement for it was on my Burn Notice discs, and it looked fun, and this is an accurate descriptor, but it also makes Burn Notice look gritty and heavy-hitting. Neal was exceptionally cute, the stolid FBI guy had a promising dynamic with him, and the script was full of zingers, but once Neal won an effortless ticket to a Rat Packer's mansion, my eyes rolled and never really recovered. Also, Neal's girlfriend leaving him a wine bottle just wasn't a strong enough hit to feed my angst addiction. Depending on how long I keep Hulu, I might give it a little more time to make a solid impression, but it's low priority.
no subject
Date: 2023-09-19 06:06 pm (UTC)It's been a very long time since I saw Roswell. I quite liked it but the show kind of unraveled before it got cancelled.
Justified delivers all the way through. Well worth watching.
no subject
Date: 2023-09-19 09:53 pm (UTC)Such goodwill can run out if a show goes on long enough, which is how I bailed on NCIS, but it's generally a good measurement, so I'm likely to stick with Roswell and Stargate Atlantis.
Of course the very best shows combine great characters with polished storytelling, so I'm really delighted to hear such consistently good things about Justified.
no subject
Date: 2023-09-27 02:59 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2023-09-27 04:12 pm (UTC)