Mel’s 5 Second First Impression: The Shannara Chronicles

The Shannara Chronicles (2016-present)
(Season 1 cast) Austin Butler, Poppy Drayton, Ivana Baquero, Manu Bennett, John Rhys-Davies, Aaron Jakubenko, Daniel MacPherson, Marcus Vanco, Emilia Burns, Brooke Williams, James Remar, Jed Brophy

I read about half of the first book in the series more than 12 years ago. I don’t remember much about it, nor do I know why I stopped reading it, since I was really enjoying it. I do remember enough, however, to know that this series takes place in the second generation of books. Wil, our hero, is the son of Shea, the youngster in the first books (of which there are 3, I think). I’ve recently re-bought The Sword of Shannara, and plan to read it soon, which has me wondering how much more of this show I want to watch before I do so. But for now, let’s talk about the first episode, the two-hour pilot, called Chosen.

They certainly packed a lot of info into that 2 hours (or hour and a half, once commercials are removed). There are no less than 5 characters that seem like they’re going to be important, although with already one unexpected death under their belts, it may be that this show is going to be more surprising than anticipated. Which is good. The acting is pretty good all round, if a little melodramatic at times. The effects look pretty stellar so far, the makeups on the demons are great. The only thing I’d have to say about it is that it seems to be the same old story again. There wasn’t much that happened in the show that wasn’t in The Lord of the Rings and other such titles. But, this was only the first episode. I’ll definitely continue watching, and hopefully it’ll grow it’s own two legs to stand on.

M.

Mel’s 5 Second First Impressions: Jessica Jones

Jessica Jones (2015 – )
(Season 1 cast) Krysten Ritter, Rachael Taylor, David Tennant, Mike Colter, Carrie-Anne Moss, Erin Moriarty, Eka Darville, Wil Traval, Robin Weigert

So, I didn’t want to watch this. I saw the previews, and meh. I love a lot of stuff to come out of the Marvel Universe, but the tv shows have all left me cold. But then I realized David Tennant is in it. Playing the villain, no less. So after talking to a few friends about it, I decided to finally go ahead and give it a shot. I’m 3 episodes in, and here’s what I think so far:

– My friend was right; David is much too rapey for me to find him yummy in this show.
– Unflinchingly shows what it’s like to have PTSD, hard to watch at times.
– The acting is pretty good all round, which I really wasn’t expecting from anyone save David.
– While Krysten is doing a good job in the role of Jessica, the character is a little abrasive sometimes, and hard to like or care about. I hope she changes a bit as the show goes on.
– I really hope we see cameos of other superheroes. So far we only got a mention of The Avengers (“the green guy and his crew”), I hope we get more.
– Kilgrave’s powers are so awful, especially in the hands of a psychopath. But it did make me daydream for a solid half hour at least about what I could do with power like that…

So, all in all, I did enjoy the episodes, but I’m not 100% sure that I’m going to like the show as a whole. I guess I gotta keep watching to find out!

M.

Mel’s 5 Second First Impressions: Face Off, Season 8

Face Off (2011-present)
(Season 8 cast) McKenzie Westmore, Ve Neill, Glenn Hetrick, Neville Page, Laura Tyler, Rayce Bird, Anthony Kosar, and Michael Westmore

Contestants: Darla Edin, Emily Serpico, Gregory Hewett, Julian Bonfiglio, Stephanie Masco, Adam Milicevic, Anthony Reyes, Logan Long, Regina Jiganti, Rob Miller, Alan Carnes, Ben Peter, Daniel Prado, Jamie Leodones, and Kelly Harris

So, as I’ve mentioned before, I like the idea of a good few of the reality shows out there. There are quite a few of them with themes that I’m interested in; makeup, fashion, tattoos, music, dancing, etc. But so many of them are all drama, no substance. Both Ink Master and America’s Next Top Model only got one season for how awful they were. My favourites, besides this one, are Dancing with the Stars and RuPaul’s Drag Race. Funny how a show about drag queens is one of the least dramatic ones out there… but I digress, as usual.

Face Off is my very favourite reality show. With the exception of the awful season 1 (which I’m glad I didn’t see first, for I wouldn’t have continued), there is no drama, save tiny personal conflicts very, very seldomly. The focus really is on the makeups and costumes, and that’s why I love it. Two episodes into season 8, I find the format much changed, and while there’s still no drama, I’m not entirely sold on the concept of returning champions. This season, three former winners form 3 groups of 5, and compete as teams. It’s not bad, but I figure the show was perfect as is, why fix something if it ain’t broke? But I guess I’ll see how it goes as the show continues, but unless they change it up a little, I certainly hope they’ll go back to their old format for season 9.

This show isn’t on Netflix, but YouTube has a lot of episodes, if you’re interested in checking it out. I definitely reccomend it if you’re interested in special makeup effects.

 

M.

Mel’s 5 Second First Impressions: Bates Motel

Bates Motel (2013-present)
(Season 1 cast) Vera Farmiga, Freddie Highmore, Max Thieriot, Mike Vogel, Olivia Cooke, Nicola Peltz, Nestor Carbonell, Keegan Connor Tracy, Brittney Wilson, Terry Chen, and W Earl Brown

I’ve wanted to watch Bates Motel since it came out, but I just never got around to it. But after finally finishing all 9 seasons of Criminal Minds that are on Netflix (and pissed off about having to wait months till season 10 is available), I searched through my watch list for something else in the genre. And I decided that I should finally start watching this show. And man, what a show! I could say I really should have watched it when it came out, but really, I’m kinda glad I waited. This way I have three whole seasons to watch before I have to wait, hehe. I’m four episodes in, and so much is already happening that it feels like each episode is the end of the season. Brutal at times, and skin crawlingly creepy at others, this show is definitely not for the faint of heart. The first episode alone boasts two murders, a rape, and a captive girl being drugged. Continue the story with a town thriving on corruption, icky incest undertones, and the first mentions of Norman’s “blackouts”, and it’s more than enough to keep me hooked. I’ve got 6 episodes left of season 1, and I absolutely can’t wait to see how it’ll all come together.

M.