Monday Media Musings - 11/4/19

[owlmoose]

Arrowverse update: I've only watched the first third or so of this week's Arrow, so no comments on that one yet. I also haven't seen last night's Batwoman or Supergirl yet. I am increasingly unwilling to believe that Barry will actually die, even temporarily, especially if Oliver dies for real. The Flash has already sacrificed its lead character once, when Barry went (what he thought would be) permanently into the Speed Force, and it seems unlikely that they'll go back to that well again. The Arrowverse has its darker turns and moments, and it has permanently killed significant characters from time to time (Quentin Lance comes to mind, as do original!Laurel and Rip Hunter), but two of its leads in the same major event, especially given that one of the series will be continuing? I really don't see it, and it makes it harder to take the threat seriously. And yet, even though I don't believe it, it's clear that they believe it, so this week's scenes with Barry and Cisco, and especially Barry and Joe, hit just as hard as they were supposed to.

Less to immediately say about the other two shows, although I am relieved that Nia and Brainy are working things out, and given the revelations about the new reporter guy, I'm less annoyed that he seems likely to be setting up as Kara's new love interest. I still kind of hope they don't go that way, but I won't be as irritated as I was by the whole Mon-El business. I knew it was too soon for Kate to out herself as Batwoman to the woman she was dating, but it's too bad because I liked her. I did find the not-so-subtle parallels to being closeted interesting. Sort of ironic that Sophie seems to be on the verge of figuring out the truth, giving her own situation.

Fleabag: This is another show I watched with my friend group. We actually watched the first season last summer, before I started the Monday Media series, and I don't think I wrote about it at the time. We watched the first season in three batches -- Episode One by itself, Episodes Two through Four on another night, and then the last two together -- and although I liked it better as it went along, I didn't quite get why the show has been so beloved. Last night, we watched the entire second season pretty much in one sitting, and I wonder if I would have liked the first season better if we'd done the same. It's also possible that the second season is just superior; it is the one that swept the Emmy Awards, after all. My friend E, who is our TV Night host, said that he sees Fleabag as a show about people who make bad decisions, and I agree with that reading. The second season also did better at telling an overarching story, as compared to the first season, which felt more like a series of vignettes (although they might have felt better connected if we hadn't taken multi-week breaks between them). We also laughed a lot more. Favorite moments include the paintings, the reappearance of the stolen art, and the fox, and I won't say more than that. :)