The Great Waste (that would be TV)
Yeah, TV can certainly be a great time waster but it also helps to alleviate the mind to drift elsewhere. And yes, that is an excuse for not writing more. The intent is there, some thoughts have passed over and through my muddled mind however, it’s the focus that is eluding me. So in the interim what feats of visual storytelling have garnered my attention….
Westworld – I remember seeing the VHS video cover for the original movie in the video store and thinking, that looks silly. Well, I never saw the movie but after watching the first season of the HBO series there is nothing silly about Westworld. I’m very impressed with this show. Great acting, twists and turns that keep you wondering when everything is happening and just overall engaging story telling. I did find it lagged in parts and wanted it to move forward quicker to the answers and show more of what Westworld truly is but all in all a good series opener.
The Strain – SPOILERS – Season 3 picks up with our heroes scattered, each looking for salvation and a way to kill the Master and take back New York. This season only advanced the story (in my opinion) in a couple of episodes, the final one bringing about a major event and a game changer for the story what with the nuclear explosion just outside of New York. What I didn’t really like was Samatha Mathis’ character yet again in this season and I’m not sorry to see her gone and I can’t stand the kid Zach. I love Quinlan, Setrakian and Fet when he isn’t pouting over Dutch who is another character I don’t really care for, in fact Eph is on that list as well. And what hell was with the lacklustre Gus story this season, lame. Why do I watch this show? Oh, for everyone but Dutch, Eph and Zach. I’ve read the books and I know how it all ends. I hope with the final season they stay true to the books because I liked how it concluded.
The Exorcist – SPOILERS: The TV adaptation of the book by William Peter Blatty or is it more the TV adaptation of the movie…So in this telling of demonic possession and exorcism the Rance family is terrorized by a demon that has taken over the youngest daughter (she is 16 I think) and matriarch Angela seeks help from her local priest Father Tomas. One thing – in the first episode when one of the daughters is acting odd, Angela immediately jumps to possession which seems odd but after about 5 episodes the viewers discover the truth – Angela Rance is actually Regan O’Neill from the original Exorcist which explains the jump to demons. Father Tomas enlists the help of Vatican approved exorcist Father Marcus to try to save the girl. There is another plot at play in at the same time which I found more interesting – a group of powerful people are plotting to….kill, possess…do something to the Pope who is due to visit the city where all this is taking place. That’s a poor description but I found the story with Father Marcus trying to protect the Pope more interesting than what was happening with the Rance family. If there is a second season, I can see Marcus and Tomas being the focus and I think that would be a good way for it to go.
The OA – A Netlfix original which there seems to be a growing number of these days. 7 years after 21-year-old blind Prairie Johnson disappears she returns to her parents no longer blind with strange scars across her back and refuses to speak about where she was or what happened to her. At least she refuses to tell her parents or the FBI. She will however, reveal her story to 5 people from the community around her. The group is a mismatch of personalities and backgrounds but they come together to hear her extraordinary tale. No spoilers on this one. You just have to watch it and go down the path to find out what happened and what OA means….
Crazyhead – Netflix again. Two young women somewhere in England meet up and discover they are both meant to be demon hunters and that one of them is being hunted by a particularly nasty one. I’m not finished this yet one but so far I like it quite a lot. Female demon hunters with a humourous twist – nothing wrong with that.
Channel Zero Candle Cove – I believe this has something to do with Creepypasta. I’m not sure. I just saw the previews on TV and thought, that looks creepy. And it certainly did have those moments. Not great but the story was interesting and the tooth creature thing is just disgusting.
Dirk Gently Holistic Detective Agency – Hey look, Netflix again. What the hell is going on? That’s kind of how this show goes until near the end. There’s murder, a cult, an assassin, a kidnapping. Yeah, this is one that just has to be watched. It grew on me after the first episode.
Travellers – This is an interesting show that has people, Travellers, from a post apocalyptic future going back in time to 2016 to try to avert all kinds of things that we guess will lead to the ruination of the world. The show focuses 5 of these travellers and how they are adjusting to lives they take over when they arrive and how they handle those mundane lives with their bigger mission of saving the modern world. Did I mention that the travellers take over the bodies of people at the moment of death? Yeah, kind of weird and hard to explain but worth watching.
The Killing Season – And now for something completely different. The Killing Season is a documentary series created by the fellow behind the documentaries Cropsey and Killer Legends, Joshua Zeman. The 8 part series follows him and his partner Rachel as they investigate a series of unsolved murders in Long Island perpetrated by the as yet unknown serial killer dubbed LISK (Long Island Serial Killer). As the investigation progresses, the trail of unsolved serials murders spans several states and opens up many, many more deaths of the lesser dead. Prostitutes; women whom disappear and are forgotten by society but not by their devastated families. It’s shocking how many women die in the same way, in the same area and there is no one found responsible. It fascinating and terrifying how people can just disappear, be brutalized and there are no answers as to why or who could do such a thing. The world is a scary place filled human monsters.
And on that note….
Dawning Creates 