alectoperdita | What I watch: Chuck, Castle, The Event

Chuck (NBC)
So the new season begins! The search begins for Chuck's mom and the show resets to status quo. The Buy More is rebuilt and completely staffed as a CIA/NSA operation. I'm glad that Chuck and Sarah have stopped dancing around each other in regards to their relationship, but the part about "sexting" just made me cringe. I really just don't like the word "sexting." I was sad when they killed Scott Bakula's character last season. More Casey is always good. And there's an Old Spice guy guest appearance to look forward to this season. Monocle smile!

More of the same, but at least it's fluffy and entertaining.

Castle (ABC)
I like the set-up for this episode. It grabs your attention from the start and makes you want to find out more. It does become fairly obvious how they're going to resolve the situation once the story catches up to where it left off at the beginning of the episode, but it's got heart. Love crime drama procedurals and will definitely be watching for more Nathan Fillion.

Mike's opinion: "Oh, just kiss already."

The Event (NBC)
After the disappointment with Persons Unknown (great premise that failed to deliver due to poor marketing), I had reservations about The Event. And boy did NBC not fail to disappoint in this pilot. Dear TV writers, stop trying to redo Lost for the third time. Part of the reason why Lost was popular was because viewers bought into the characters and had an investment in them (this is what I gathered from the internet and I never cared for Lost myself). The same cannot be said about Flash Forward (oh, John Cho, you deserved so much better than that show) and now The Event. If you can't make compelling enough characters for me to give two and a half shits about (because they're all headlined by white male characters without an real definable personality other than "I MUST BE HERO"), I am not going to put up with your shaky cam, temporally in-congruent, purposely obtuse storytelling. You tease me with a mystery? But why should I care? Okay, they've disappeared, but why should I care? Did they get sucked into a hell dimension and now have to fight their way out in a gritty survival horror? Probably not...

Flash Forward at least had an interesting premise and the stakes meant something. But this? As they say on the internets, what is this, I don't even.

I gave Flash Forward four episodes before I gave up. Unless this one gets good fast, two episodes max.

Mike's opinion: "I feel like I'm watching the televised version of a word salad..."

I'm going to play Civ V instead.

ETA Just looked up the upcoming fall anime lineup, which seems mostly filled with otaku bait. Uh, thanks Japan, but no thanks. I'll give Iron Man a try though, because (1) it's animated by Madhouse and (2) Warren Ellis worked on it so it's gotta at least be entertaining, right?