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Monday Media Musings - 8/19/19
No post last week because I was traveling, but that doesn't mean I was completely away from media! Yay, iPads and hotel room wifi.
Call of Cthulhu: Shadow of the Crystal Palace: A Critical Role one-shot GM'd by Taliesin Jaffe. I was always fascinated by the Crystal Palace -- if I could go back in time and visit only one building I've studied that no longer exists, that would be high on the list. And although I'm not particularly a fan of Lovecraft-style horror, I did play one Call of Cthulhu campaign back in the day (I chose the author archetype, then bemused the Keeper by making my character a writer of books on organic gardening rather than something more typically horrific), and I'll trust Taliesin to tell me pretty much any story. This tale was suitably entertaining, entrancing, and horrifying without being over the top. I also appreciated how Taliesin called out Lovecraft's problematic ("to say the least") history while encouraging people to look for the value in cosmic horror as a genre. Finally, the costumes and props are stunning. The video can be watched here.
Jane the Virgin, Season 5: I've actually been watching this more or less as it airs. It's now finished, and I'm really quite happy with how it ended. One of the things I've always loved about this show is how well it functions as both a telenovela and a commentary on telenovelas, and the finale might be the perfect example of this. I was a little surprised when the show sent Rose to her final fate in the episode before the finale, because it took all the suspense out of whether she would pop up and ruin Jane and Rafael's wedding. But then the finale opened with Alba's explanation of how telenovelas differ from Hollywood soap operas: they tell a story with a beginning, a middle, and an end (rather than taking endless twists and turns and never coming to final resolutions), and they always have a happy ending, usually a wedding. And I really appreciated that setting of expectations, knowing that I could settle down and just enjoy the final few moments unfold. I've been Team Rafael pretty much from the beginning, so of course I was thrilled to see them get their happy ending.
Arrow, Seasons 3 & 4: I liked the resolution to S3, but S4 got a little bit tiring with the overpowered villains. All of the Arrowverse shows suffer a little bit from "the heroes are hopelessly outgunned by the villain until the very last minute" syndrome, but Darke is a distinct step up from most other past antagonists in that regard.
The Flash, Seasons 1 & 2: I've also watched the first few episodes of Season 3, and I have to say, the effects of time travel are so frustratingly inconsistent, the show gets difficult to follow. I think what I get what they're trying to do with the time remnants, but if Eddie killing himself erased Thawne from existence, how did any of the events that led up to the series happen at all? Shouldn't the first Flashpoint universe have been triggered by that? And if it didn't, why did Barry traveling back to save his parents create such a drastic change? And why on earth would Nora and Henry Allen being alive or not alive affect John Diggle's timeline such that he now has a son rather than a daughter? I get the butterfly effects on the people closer to Barry's orbit, but that one seems almost nonsensical.
Anyway. I did enjoy Barry's visit to the Speed Force, and the way he sicced the time wraiths on Zoom (but really, shouldn't the time wraiths be ALL OVER Barry now?). I also have hope that Barry and Iris's relationship will be less of a rollercoaster than some of the other romances we've seen, specifically Oliver and Felicity, because although I like them as a couple, oh boy does that get tiring.
Call of Cthulhu: Shadow of the Crystal Palace: A Critical Role one-shot GM'd by Taliesin Jaffe. I was always fascinated by the Crystal Palace -- if I could go back in time and visit only one building I've studied that no longer exists, that would be high on the list. And although I'm not particularly a fan of Lovecraft-style horror, I did play one Call of Cthulhu campaign back in the day (I chose the author archetype, then bemused the Keeper by making my character a writer of books on organic gardening rather than something more typically horrific), and I'll trust Taliesin to tell me pretty much any story. This tale was suitably entertaining, entrancing, and horrifying without being over the top. I also appreciated how Taliesin called out Lovecraft's problematic ("to say the least") history while encouraging people to look for the value in cosmic horror as a genre. Finally, the costumes and props are stunning. The video can be watched here.
Jane the Virgin, Season 5: I've actually been watching this more or less as it airs. It's now finished, and I'm really quite happy with how it ended. One of the things I've always loved about this show is how well it functions as both a telenovela and a commentary on telenovelas, and the finale might be the perfect example of this. I was a little surprised when the show sent Rose to her final fate in the episode before the finale, because it took all the suspense out of whether she would pop up and ruin Jane and Rafael's wedding. But then the finale opened with Alba's explanation of how telenovelas differ from Hollywood soap operas: they tell a story with a beginning, a middle, and an end (rather than taking endless twists and turns and never coming to final resolutions), and they always have a happy ending, usually a wedding. And I really appreciated that setting of expectations, knowing that I could settle down and just enjoy the final few moments unfold. I've been Team Rafael pretty much from the beginning, so of course I was thrilled to see them get their happy ending.
Arrow, Seasons 3 & 4: I liked the resolution to S3, but S4 got a little bit tiring with the overpowered villains. All of the Arrowverse shows suffer a little bit from "the heroes are hopelessly outgunned by the villain until the very last minute" syndrome, but Darke is a distinct step up from most other past antagonists in that regard.
The Flash, Seasons 1 & 2: I've also watched the first few episodes of Season 3, and I have to say, the effects of time travel are so frustratingly inconsistent, the show gets difficult to follow. I think what I get what they're trying to do with the time remnants, but if Eddie killing himself erased Thawne from existence, how did any of the events that led up to the series happen at all? Shouldn't the first Flashpoint universe have been triggered by that? And if it didn't, why did Barry traveling back to save his parents create such a drastic change? And why on earth would Nora and Henry Allen being alive or not alive affect John Diggle's timeline such that he now has a son rather than a daughter? I get the butterfly effects on the people closer to Barry's orbit, but that one seems almost nonsensical.
Anyway. I did enjoy Barry's visit to the Speed Force, and the way he sicced the time wraiths on Zoom (but really, shouldn't the time wraiths be ALL OVER Barry now?). I also have hope that Barry and Iris's relationship will be less of a rollercoaster than some of the other romances we've seen, specifically Oliver and Felicity, because although I like them as a couple, oh boy does that get tiring.