Outlander Season 2 Ends

And I’m a mess.

Claire and Jamie watch from the door as Fergus takes off for Lollybroch.

Claire and Jamie watch Fergus leave for Lollybroch, and it’s heart-breaking.

I stayed up late Friday night to watch Outlander‘s season 2 finale, “Dragonfly in Amber,” since Starz made it available OnDemand at that time.  At a special 90 minutes length, there was a lot to take in.  I teared up a little.  I didn’t watch again until the episode had its network airing Saturday evening.  That’s when I joined the live tweeting at The Scot and the Sassenach, something I’ve done for the past few episodes.  (This was quite an achievement as I am an immense Twitter-phobe.)  Towards the end of the episode, I kept putting my tablet down to watch the scenes.  And I cried—enough to bother my sinus and get a headache, thus requiring some pain reliever before bedtime.

Continue reading

I’m Baaack! Unfortunately?

I say “unfortunately” because I much prefer not being obsessed with a television show.  During its hiatus, I’d lost my obsession with Outlander.  That always makes me happy because it makes life much more normal.  But the show returned this past week, and after just one episode, I find I’m immersing myself in the videos, chats, and podcasts I’d come to know last year.

Claire and Jamie arrive in France

The Frasers arrive in France.

You may realize I haven’t been excited enough about this season’s television shows to write about them.  I still watch the same shows,  The Flash, iZombie, Agents of SHIELD, Arrow, and Supernatural , but I’ve taken to deleting episodes immediately after I’ve watched them.  The one exception is Supernatural, of which I still have nine episodes on my DVR to rewatch.  (And yet I haven’t rewatched them.)

I know I’m in trouble with Outlander because yesterday I charged up my wireless headphone and earbuds in order to listen to various podcasts with freedom of movement.  But I knew I was really in trouble when my Outlander thoughts kept me from falling asleep.

I’d just seen an interview with Sam Heughan being asked if he could take away one prop from season 2, which would it be.  He replied, “The bump.”  (If you don’t know what he’s taking about, watch the Starz offical season 2 trailer.) That got me thinking about which props I’d want to have; and I started going through each episodes, one by one, trying to decide which prop I’d take.  I’ve made a list, but you’ll have to wait until next time.

Also next time?  What I liked and didn’t like about Outlander‘s season 2 premiere.  And then, maybe, those Supernatural episodes waiting to be rewatched.

Tuesday Night TV (at least on the CW)

iZombie

Clive talks to the victim's neighbor while LIv and Ravi look on.

Scene of the crime.

I know I said I was going to cover iZombie this season, but this episode “Grumpy Old Liv,” left me uninspired.  So much so, I wasn’t going to write about it.  As it is, it’s taken me almost a week to post.

What did you think?  Did you feel the season premiere was a little dull, too?  Perhaps it’s because a so much time was spent building the over-arching scenarios for season 2; you know, much like series pilots are exposition-heavy by necessity.  We had to learn that Liv’s brother Evan survived, but wants nothing to do with her because she refused to donate her blood (like they’d take it anyway); that Blaine now runs a funeral home-slash-Utopia den; and that cured zombies (all two of them*) have a spidey-sense. for zombies  *Oops, I take that back.  There are three cured zombies—I forgot zombie-rat.

Continue reading

Hello. Remember me?

When last I was online—two months ago!—I was preparing a list of my top Supernatural episodes from season 8 (my favorite), and procrastinating on anything Outlander.  So what got in the way?  My computer.  It didn’t die, but it caused enough problems to be annoying.

Jared Padalecki, Jensen Ackles, Misha Collins, and Mark (A.) Shepard star in the CW's Supernatural

Are you looking forward to Supernatural;s 11th season?

I’m grateful I was able to buy a new computer on a moment’s notice.  But a new computer is not the same as an old, familiar one.  In my case, it involved getting used to a new operating system, as well as the lack of programs I’ve come to rely on.

Wouldn’t you agree that a blog post is needs a nice photo or two?  Perhaps not, but who doesn’t enjoy looking at Jensen Ackles and Jared Padalecki?  Even after updating my photo editing software, I’ve been reluctant to use it.  Perhaps it’s fear that it will require a learning curve.  You know, like the change from Windows 7 to 8.  And then 10.

Now that fall is in the air, perhaps it’s time to get back on the blog wagon.  September is already half over 😮 which means the new fall television season is just around the corner.

This season’s coverage will be new.  Of course, Supernatural will be on the menu, but I’m not sure I’ll continue covering The Flash and Arrow.  I haven’t watched reruns of either show this summer.  I had planned on rewatching The Flash, keeping an eye on  Harrison Wells’s behavior.  But the misuse of Iris for most of the season was too much to endure.  As for Arrow, my interest is waning.  There’s not enough of the good stuff (Oliver, Felicity, and Diggle) to balance the bad (Malcolm Merlin, too many masked heroes running around Starling City).  But I’ll certainly continue to watch.  (Until I don’t.)

The good news is I will be covering iZombie.  I started watching the show around its midseason, then caught up with summer reruns.  The season ending was such game-changer, I’m looking forward to seeing what’s in store this fall.  (And no, the irony that senior-esque I continue to watch the youth-skewing CW does not escape me.)

Rose McIver, David Anders, Malcom Goodwin, Robert Buckley, and Rahul Kohli strike a silly pose to promote iZombie.

The cast of iZombie is THRILLED I’ll be covering season 2.

 

What about you?  Any new (or returning) series you’re looking forward to?  Post in the comments and I’ll check out your recommendations!

Where was I? Oh yeah…

… waaay behind.  And that was even before my computer crapped out.

Let’s see, we still have Supernatural favorites from seasons 8-10 to discuss, the top eight Outlander episodes to rank, and some thoughts on DreamWorks Dragons: Race to the Edge.  I fear the “Outlander highlights and lowlights by episode” miniseries will fall by the wayside. Or perhaps we can hold off until just before season 2 airs—whenever that will be.  Besides, even with all the San Diego Comic Con hype this past week, my Outlander fervor has subsided somewhat.

Two New Supernatural Fans

This week we bring you a Very Special Fourth of July post in our weekly Summer Series 2015 (posted on the 3rd of July, because that’s when the Federal holiday is “observed” [i.e., takes the day off] this year.)

Last weekend I was watching the Home Shopping Network, as is my wont.  One of the items they were selling was the Roku 3.  The host (one of my favorites) talked about how much she loves hers.  In extolling the virtues of being able to stream Netflix, she said she and her daughter had just discovered and were binge-watching a show called Supernatural.  She then gushed “It stars two of the best-looking guys ever!”

And to think, that’s the reason I didn’t watch Supernatural at first.  In case you’ve never heard the story, when I saw the advertisements for Supernatural, I figured it was one of those shows aimed at teens and 20-somethings.  (It is, or was.  But that’s not the point.)  The actors were just too pretty to be any good.  Right?

Yet, for some reason, one Thursday night I had the tv tuned to the WB.  (I think it was because a friend had mentioned she liked Smallville so I decided to check it out.)  Apparently I was too lazy to change the channel and thus watched the ensuing show.  The episode was “Something Wicked,” and you know what?  Turns out those pretty boys can actually act!  

To this day, “Something Wicked” remains one of my favorites.  🙂

Sam and Dean confront Death in "Brother's Keeper."

And here we are, 10 years later.

Supernatural Favorites, Season 7

[Note:  This week’s post was all set and ready to go, so this weekend’s big (and happy) news will have to wait until next week.]

Season 7: a wedding (ugh), Leviathans (blech), Bobby’s death (boo!), and Castiel’s redemption (sort of).  Oh, and Sam got his head fixed.  (More on that in a moment.)  According to IMDB, TV.com, and TV Fanatic, the top 5 episodes for the season are:

  1. Time After Time (712)
  2. Meet the New Boss (701)
  3. (tie) Death’s Door (710) and The Born Again Identity (717)
  4. The Girl with the Dungeons and Dragons Tattoo (720)

How close did these episodes come to my favorites?  Pretty darned close, although it wasn’t an exact match.

Continue reading

Ranking Outlander, Part 1

We have Ronald D. Moore to thank for bringing Outlander to television.

Give credit where it’s due—to Ronald D. Moore

The Outlander part of the SciFi Chicks Summer Series 2015 is to list highlights and lowlights of each episode.  Since I’m behind schedule on that, this week’s outing provides a ranking of the episodes.  We’ll start at the bottom and work our way up.

I’m not your typical Outlander fan.  I’d never heard of the series of books until I watched the television show; nor did I find the television version until four months after the first half of the first season had ended.  You see, obsession knows no time limit.  All that is to say, you may not see a typical episode ranking here.

Continue reading

Supernatural Favorites, Season 6

With the summer hiatus in full swing, it’s time to review my favorite Supernatural episodes from past seasons.  We finished with season 5 in March and it’s time to pick things back up with season 6.  The first season after Eric Kripke’s reign (and his five-season story arc) was inspired by film noir (I read that somewhere), with more emphasis on inner demons than external monsters.  It wasn’t one of my favorite seasons.

Per TV Fanatic, TV.com, and IMDB, the favorite season 6 episodes are:

  1. (3-way tie):  Weekend at Bobby’s (603, and Jensen Ackles’s directorial debut), You Can’t Handle the Truth (606), and Appointment in Samarra (611)
  2. The French Mistake (615)
  3. (tie) Caged Heat (610) and Frontierland (618)

(Incidentally, this list differs from my previous post of the Best of Supernatural Season 6 episodes, probably because I used a different metric back in 2013.)

Continue reading