Geekly Weekly 18 (Friday, January 4th):

Now playing: Battlefield V

Now Watching: Chilling Adventures of Sabrina
Now Listening: Incomparable podcasts

Now Reading/Writing: Just news n politics n twitter


It's okay! The nice doctors let me go! Turns out Ford and his conservative provincial government cut funding to mental health services, and threw all the crazy people on the street to fend for themselves. So I'm back, to be all crazy and talk about how monstrous conservatives are and how we should all give in to socialism. Or communism, isn't that the same thing to a conservative?

But no, I'm not going to talk about any of  that. I'm just gonna watch my TV shows and keep it short this day. I'm publishing this Geekly Weekly early because there's a new episode of The Orville, and the rankings get weird when I review two of the same show in a week.

Geekly Weekly TV Rankings ( ➤ for new):

1. Les Miserables*****
   I really enjoyed the first episode of this show. I'm a huge fan of the musical, but knew going in that this would be based on the book instead. By the creator of War and Peace, another well done adaptation by the BBC, this series was incredible with great acting, writing, and sets. The battle of Waterloo at the open of the episode was jaw dropping. The number of bodi8es, the scale of the scene. It was enrapturing and horrifying. If there's any complaints, it's that the story is close enough to the musical that I keep singing aloud the songs alongside where they would be. Fontine met those boys I was immediately like "I dreamed a dream of time gone by" remembered what the song was about and started yelling at the TV "DONT DO IT FONTINE! HE'S A PREDATOR!" but she didn't listen to me. (EDIT: This is also why I've been banned from Broadway :p)
2. ➤Gotham ****1/2
   Watching this episode was equal parts rolling my eyes, and tearing up. Particularly the scenes with Selena, and also the scene at the end with the boy. The theme of Hope, and the loss of hope, that runs through this episode, was a strong one and the show actually used it rather deftly. That didn't stop me from shaking my head when the helicopter so so predicatbly shot down yet everyone acted surprised, or when Tabitha is killed and Barbara just happens to be there, coming out of nowhere just in time to get all pissed off at seeing her girlfriend die, but not soon enough to do anything about it. This episode was equal parts all the things that makes Gotham great, and all the things that make Gotham bad. So it's business as usual, but with only 13 episodes left I'm not gonna start complaining now. I'd love to see it continue. I'd watch a season with the kid just as batman. Lets try it out, would it be so bad?
3. Z Nation ****1/2
   It's funny, when the episode started, someone said something about taking Sun Mei's brain to Murphy, and I tweeted "Oh, so this episode is going to end with Murphy eating Sun Mei's brain and learning the cure for zombies?" and apparently I had a really good grasp on the show I was watching, because yeah that is literally the final shot. Considering how much of a surprise it was that Znation got cancelled, I'm actually really impressed at how well this episode works as a finale. Maybe Doc and 10k don't get much of a wrap up, and oh yeah, Warren is dead. I thought that was a kind of dumb reveal. Especially since I'm sure Murphy will just cure her with the zombie cure and everything will be good. And they have a place to live now and they can all live happily ever after. It is a surprisingly good series finale. OH and Pandora's face! I almost dropped the half off the score for the Warren twist, but Pandora's face was so good. That effect was fucking grisly. She was awesome all season. Znation, you were the little engine that could, and you did, and you will be missed.
4. ➤ Star Trek Discovery Short Treks ****
   Another short episode for the month, leading us along the path to Season 2. I can't wait, and this episode was great, particularly the twist at the end. Fun stuff.
   
5. The Orville ****
   Wow. What balls this show has. The season premiere, and there's no action, no big special effects. It's almost completely focused on relationships, and that's kind of great. I almost gave this 5 stars cause I wanted it higher than ZNation, but it wasn't that good. It's probably even more a three star episode, but just the balls they had making this the premiere shows how much the care about taking the characters seriously, no matter how silly the show can get. It's like doubling down on itself, and I applaud that. The captain drama with his first officer got tired last season, but felt somewhat fresh this episode, perhaps because of the time apart. The cute girl's plot was meh, but she got out at just the right time. That text would have been my line. As for Gordon, he should have gone for the new girl, cause now she's talking to the captain, and we all know he isn't right for her. Oh, and the Doctor's storyline with her son I started off kind of hating in a bemused sort of way, but Issac's role in it made it my favourite storyline of the night.
6. ➤The Big Bang Theory ***
   This episode was alright, in fact the center plot is always a recipe for fun. They were all taking part in a paintball fight. I enjoyed it, though Sheldon's fight with Amy was tired. What really dragged down the episode, though, was Raj and his fiancee. I never liked her, and forgot she'd even be involved until she showed up, and then everything she had to do was miserable and not fun to watch, and I just hated every second of it. And I hope it's over now. We have half a season, we don't have time for that kind of crap anymore. But everything with Lenard and Penny, or Stewart and his girlfriend, were a lot of fun. And even Bernadette and Howard were fun for a laugh. It was just Raj and whoever, and to a lesser degree Sheldon and Amy.
7. The Gifted**
   This week's episode was alright, until the battle scene that was very clearly filmed with Lorna and Sunspot in a field making gestures at the camera, then all the bad guys in a different field probably in a whole different city reacting. It wasn't even done at all well. It was crap. But there were some good dramatic scenes between the two characters, this episodes only saving grace. Even Andy's scenes with his family were ridiculous and pendulum swung from one direction to the other with all the subtlety of a bull in a china shop.

Geekly Weekly Talk Show Showdown:

1. Vice News
2. Graham Norton