2.) TV: Haunting on Hill House, The Good Place, and Daredevil
After my favorite television show, The Leftovers, had ended, I didn't think I could find anything to help me cope with the loss of something so meaningful to my life. Thankfully, we live in the golden age of television and, now more than ever it seems, the golden just keeps getting more gold.
A good "bait and switch" show for me was the show Haunting of Hill House. I had heard about the show about a few weeks before it was dropped on Netflix when looking for spooky reading material (I came across the book but saw the show was coming and decided nah, put down the book, pick up the remote (or mouse or whatever)) The show's structure is very similar to the Leftovers in that every episode follows a different character's perspective through the same traumatizing events before pulling the characters together for the climatic moments. This show is so creative, so spooky, scary, and emotionally purging, I ate it up like candy corn. I often say I love sad television the most, and that goes true for this show. It's #SadAF. But in the best ways possible. What it does so well is leave out little story loops in every episode, that seem so insignificant that, by the time they come into play, each one is lifted up at the same time and you're beside yourself with a multitude of conflicting emotions that you didn't even know you necessarily had. I ugly cried the hardest I every ugly cried since The Leftovers season 2 finale. See this show, its legit!
To keep on the themes of the Leftovers (I mean, we're already talking about it!) a show that follows a lot of the same themes is a little NBC show called The Good Place. This show is the definition of disarming, and I think that's its biggest weapon. Every season something big happens to change the genetics of the show in its entirety. For some shows, this trope could turn repetitive and convoluted and yet, every time I think the show is going to go one step too far in one direction it changes to one I didn't even expect it to. All of this while delivering smart and witty comedy and surprisingly serialized story for a show with the perfect grounds for a more case per week approach. I don't want to say anything to spoil the first couple seasons, but what I will say is that the magic of this show is how it slowly introduces the world to both the characters and the audience and then played with it so much that it almost becomes a game of who can outsmart who with what kind of in-world logic that the show so brilliantly creates. When I use the word magic, I don't use it lightly, as a person who watches oodles of television all the time it takes a lot to "trick" someone like me. A show like The Good Place with it's PG-13 humor and clean diverse cast uses all the bells and whistles as almost a distraction, so when moments of true dramatic pause come to play, much like it did in the gut wrenching finale (I ugly cried just once, but forever scared about how hard I ugly cried. This show was supposed to be #FunnyAF but it turned #SadAF), it really knocks you for a loop and proves that the show is perfectly capable to keep you on your toes while delivering interesting concepts to chew on.
I don't like running too long on these things, but I would literally hate myself if I didn't mention the television masterpiece that is Netflix's Daredevil, most specifically Daredevil season 3. I tell most people that (as a straight fella) I've only ever been truly, genuinely attracted to a man only twice in my life. The first was Thor in Infinity War during this. And just about any time Daredevil punches someone in the face. Literally. The fight scenes in Daredevil can get so wtf, you're just like wtf!? You can't believe what you're seeing on screen. Every season, they have a one-shot hallway fight (Season 1, Season 2, Defenders, Season 3) and they tend to top themselves each time. The Season 3 Hallway fight is a whopping 11 minutes long with multiple fight scenes, a dialogue scene, and absolute mayhem from start to finish. Daredevil is just like the fine wine of superhero television. It knows what it's doing, and it flaunts every second it can to prove that it is truly the best. A great example of this is the first fight between Daredevil and Bullseye (who is imitating Daredevil this season)The most #HypeAF I felt for this season was the final fight, in true The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly fashion, between Daredevil, Kingpin, and Bullseye. Early in the season, Kingpin expresses the importance of letting out a primal scream, in this fight there are many primal screams, from both the characters AND the audience. When I get hype for TV, I get HYPE. And by the time Daredevil is beating the mush out of Kingpin and Bullseye, I am excited in a multitude of ways ;) It's a shame Daredevil got cancelled after this last season, but as far as final seasons go, Daredevil went out swinging.
To keep on the themes of the Leftovers (I mean, we're already talking about it!) a show that follows a lot of the same themes is a little NBC show called The Good Place. This show is the definition of disarming, and I think that's its biggest weapon. Every season something big happens to change the genetics of the show in its entirety. For some shows, this trope could turn repetitive and convoluted and yet, every time I think the show is going to go one step too far in one direction it changes to one I didn't even expect it to. All of this while delivering smart and witty comedy and surprisingly serialized story for a show with the perfect grounds for a more case per week approach. I don't want to say anything to spoil the first couple seasons, but what I will say is that the magic of this show is how it slowly introduces the world to both the characters and the audience and then played with it so much that it almost becomes a game of who can outsmart who with what kind of in-world logic that the show so brilliantly creates. When I use the word magic, I don't use it lightly, as a person who watches oodles of television all the time it takes a lot to "trick" someone like me. A show like The Good Place with it's PG-13 humor and clean diverse cast uses all the bells and whistles as almost a distraction, so when moments of true dramatic pause come to play, much like it did in the gut wrenching finale (I ugly cried just once, but forever scared about how hard I ugly cried. This show was supposed to be #FunnyAF but it turned #SadAF), it really knocks you for a loop and proves that the show is perfectly capable to keep you on your toes while delivering interesting concepts to chew on.I don't like running too long on these things, but I would literally hate myself if I didn't mention the television masterpiece that is Netflix's Daredevil, most specifically Daredevil season 3. I tell most people that (as a straight fella) I've only ever been truly, genuinely attracted to a man only twice in my life. The first was Thor in Infinity War during this. And just about any time Daredevil punches someone in the face. Literally. The fight scenes in Daredevil can get so wtf, you're just like wtf!? You can't believe what you're seeing on screen. Every season, they have a one-shot hallway fight (Season 1, Season 2, Defenders, Season 3) and they tend to top themselves each time. The Season 3 Hallway fight is a whopping 11 minutes long with multiple fight scenes, a dialogue scene, and absolute mayhem from start to finish. Daredevil is just like the fine wine of superhero television. It knows what it's doing, and it flaunts every second it can to prove that it is truly the best. A great example of this is the first fight between Daredevil and Bullseye (who is imitating Daredevil this season)The most #HypeAF I felt for this season was the final fight, in true The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly fashion, between Daredevil, Kingpin, and Bullseye. Early in the season, Kingpin expresses the importance of letting out a primal scream, in this fight there are many primal screams, from both the characters AND the audience. When I get hype for TV, I get HYPE. And by the time Daredevil is beating the mush out of Kingpin and Bullseye, I am excited in a multitude of ways ;) It's a shame Daredevil got cancelled after this last season, but as far as final seasons go, Daredevil went out swinging.
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