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.

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.

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.

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.)

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.

The Winchesters: Sam, Dean, Impala

The soon-to-be-Frasers: Jamie (in bonnet) and Claire (in glorious coat)

Two Berkians: Toothless and HIccup

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!”

Good looking guys? Don’t care.

Excellent actors? I’m there!

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.  🙂

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.

Two favorites: Jody Mills and Johnny Walker Blue

Eliot Ness comes to Supernatural!

Best chase scene ever!

Bobby may be dead, but he’s still around.

Big. Damn. Hero.

Supernatural Favorites, Season 6

Death makes a deal with Dean.

“Frontierland” title card: Bonanza lite.

Drink your tea, Sammy.

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.)

What’s for Summer?

Now that my favorite television shows have finished their first-run episodes, what’s a person to do during the summer months (or, in the case of Outlander, more like an entire year)?  How about the SciFi Chicks Summer Series 2015, where I attempt to post weekly discussions favorite episodes (Supernatural and possibly Arrow), highlights and lowlights of the past season (Outlander), and various musings (including, but not limited to The Flash)?

Let’s start with a musing.

Two Sams: two of Cupboard Maker Books’ four author-nominated champions*

In my bi-annual visit to Facebook yesterday, I found an intriguing entry from my friend Natalie.  She told me to visit Cupboard Makers Books’ Facebook page and vote for my favorite “champion.”  Then, if I came to the book-signing event at the brick-and-mortar Cupboard Maker Books on Saturday, I might win a prize!

Supernatural: Brother’s Keeper (1023)

The synopsis of “Brother’s Keeper” starts something like this:

Dean comes to a stunning decision that will alter his life — as well as Sam’s…

Yeah, Sam’s life would have been altered, all right—in that he wouldn’t have had one.  Talk about understatement!

Can Sam be Dean’s “keeper’ if he’s dead?

The other night I was trying to recall the various Supernatural season finale’s over the years, in anticipation of how bad this season’s might be.  We’ve had an epic car crash, a couple deaths, a crossroads deal, the beginning and the end of the apocalypse, demons released from hell, and angels released from heaven.  Given the events of the last few episodes, this season was definitely heading for an Epic Cliffhanger of Winchester Angst (ECWA, for short).

Supernatural: The Prisoner (1022)

Dean and Sam say a final farewell to Charlie.

Season 10’s penultimate outing was an excellent episode.  It was well written; taut, suspenseful, action-packed, and emotional, with great performances all around.

You know what I liked about it?  Nothing.  So much so, I deleted it from my DVR without rewatching  it.

Mood-wise, the show is at an all time low.  I’ve never felt this depressed, even at the height of the apocalypse at the end of season 5.  But then, I didn’t like that storyline very much.

Arrow & Supernatural in 3 Words

Well.  That sucked.

Sad Oliver

Worried Dean and Sam