• Welcome! The TrekBBS is the number one place to chat about Star Trek with like-minded fans.
    If you are not already a member then please register an account and join in the discussion!

Which shows satisfied you this season? Possible spoilers

Yeah, I don't think Dexter needs its formula at this point. Dexter's internal conflict, amped by the ending of S4, as well as the ever-present prospect of certain important characters learning the truth, is enough to fuel a couple more seasons. And I think that's as long as the story needs. I wanna see two more rocket-powered seasons and then a big finale.


I agree. The creators thoughts seem to be "We can't get anyone better than John Lithgow anyways". So true! Wonderful, WONDERFUL job he did.
 
Satisfying
Lost - I felt that the show ended as well as it could have at this stage. We didn't get all the answers, but each character's story was brought to a close nicely.

Caprica - Pacing was slightly off, but it really got good in the last few episodes. The mid season finale was mindblowing.

How I Met Your Mother - Not as great as previous seasons, but we finally got more hints towards the identity of the mother, and the Barney/Robin stuff was fantastic. Alyson Hannigan is a joy to watch as always, as is Jason Segel.

Doctor Who - It's not over yet, but I feel that this is the most consistent season since the relaunch. Matt Smith has taken to the role with gusto, and Amy Pond is easily the best of the modern companions.

Middling
Stargate Universe - Frustratingly slow for the first half season, but it's picked up a bit since. The mutiny arc seemed like a rehash of the Gaeta episodes from late in BSG's run, but nowhere near as great. I keep watching, but only in the hope it will get better.

The Big Bang Theory - Nowhere near as good as the first two seasons. The Leonard and Penny relationship was started and ended far too quickly, and although the Wil Wheaton stuff was fun, every episode seems to focus on Sheldon too much. He's a great character, but only in an ensemble. They need to shift the focus back.

Fringe - When it was great, it was really great. The episodes that advanced the story arc and mythology were truly excellent. The episodes that were standalone investigations were still a poor man's X-Files. I'm pissed that they killed Charlie, and Anna Torv still needs a charisma injection, stat.

Abject Failures
FlashForward - The premise interested me, but by the end of the third episode none of the individual characters or plotlines held any interest for me, so I stopped watching. The guy playing Mark Benford is probably the most boring lead actor on TV today. John Cho was good casting, but badly utilised.

Heroes - Despite Robert Knepper's best efforts, Samuel never really took off for me and the whole carnival thing seemed lame. The will they/won't they lesbian story was a desperate ratings grab that ultimately went absolutely nowhere. Once again, Sylar's motives were completely unclear, and in finally killing off Nathan, they dropped their best actor. A wasted opportunity to redeem the show. I'm glad it's cancelled.
 
I'm satisfied by all the shows I watch (well, House is on the border). I guess LOST, Breaking Bad and Fringe are the ones that satisfy me the most.
 
Satisfying
Lost - I felt that the show ended as well as it could have at this stage. We didn't get all the answers, but each character's story was brought to a close nicely.

Did we get any answers?

How did the characters stories end? I'll use spoilers to be extra safe....

What happened to everyone on the plane once they made it back the the real world? No one is going to be questions what happened that the people that survived the first plane crash crashed again and brought back dead Claire?
 
The Vampire Diaries, Smallville, Supernatural & LOST. Of course the bar wasn't set very high for me. :lol:
 
I have to admit, I think I've been more displeased with my most recent shows then I've been pleased and delighted. If anything, I'm enjoying watching my DVDs or older shows I haven't seen rather than the continued disappointments of new programs.

I'm not really sure if we're talking seasons proper, but here's a bit of a list with my meanderings.

The Office- We stopped after the wedding and just haven't looked back. The quirky humor and real life subtly that made this one good has fled. Likewise, I was so glad when my husband finally gave up on Heroes. I didn't see what he saw in it after the first two seasons, but that's just me.

I like Merlin, both series 1 and 2. Its not perfect and a little too juvenile when its quality is better served at the darker end of its spectrum. Legend of the Seeker however, I couldn't get into and gave up after the first 3 eps.

Though not genre, I'm not sure what I think of US States of Tara and the final season of The Tudors yet. They aren't over, but Season 4 of TT has been subpar I think, and there's been too many little changes and not enough comedy making Tara look a little unbalanced as if it were on all the wrong tangents. We'll have to see on those.

Like I say, outside of that its been Buffy, The X-Files, Highway to Heaven, some of goofy Dr. Quinn, The Golden Girls, and Dark Shadows. The last network show I was really excited about was Journeyman. I haven't been really in love with an American show since. Is it me or is that just the sad state?
 
Of the family dramas, I was very satisfied with Parenthood and Life Unexpected. Great casts, good writing.

Community was my favorite comedy. It was very funny and the cast was terrific. I also enjoyed How I Met Your Mother and The Big Bang Theory. I tried Modern Family and Cougar Town for several episodes, but they proved to be too obnoxious.

No complaints at all about 24. I'll miss the show.
 
You know, pretty much all of my regular shows this season were highly satisfying. The only one that really wasn't satisfying and that I'm glad is gone is Flash Forward.

The ones that were very satisfying...

Lost - A nice wrap up to a great series. This show is always satisfying, so no surprise here.

Brothers and Sisters - Some stories dragged a little but I found the Ojai stuff interesting for the first time ever and anything crappy was all made up for in the finale, which was epic and emotional.

Fringe - There were huge gains in the story arc and I loved the answers that they gave us. A good season finale as well.

Modern Family - It's hard to believe that this was only the show's first season, as the quality made it seem like an established show that's been around for years and know's what it's doing. Sitcoms lately haven't been all that great, but this one really is.

Big Bang Theory - The other sitcom I am really loving right now. A highly entertaining season, especially the Wil Wheaton episodes.

24 - The middle of the season wasn't awesome, but I thought that the beginning and end were, and I was satisfied at the end of it all. I will miss the show.

Survivor - An AWESOME season, really entertaining and had me on the edge of my seat at every tribal council. Really one of its best seasons ever.


Shows that I watched this season that were just okay or the same as usual were The Office, Amazing Race, The Biggest Loser, America's Next Top Model, and Degrassi: TNG.
 
Shows I've gotten around to watching this season:

Desperate Housewives
The Legend of the Seeker
Caprica
Chuck
Gossip Girl
Life Unexpected
Heroes
Lost
Supernatural
Melrose Place 2.0
The Vampire Diaries
Fringe
Flash Forward
V
Human Target

Shows that I thought were consistently good:

The Vampire Diaries--sleeper hit of the season in my opinion. A-

The Legend of the Seeker--only show I was sad to see get canned. Like VD had a nice mythology, consistently good episodes week in and week out and a likeable cast of actors and characters. A-

Life Unexpected-a sweet little show. It doesn't have mythology, an epic storytelling but it was nice after a season of large ambitious shows with expansive casts and epic stakes to get back to the nice quiet dramas of the past. Chuck was like this too. A fun low-key series that I welcomed only focused on a handful of characters rather than the sprawling rotating casts of hows like LOST. B+

Human Target--a well done action adventure series with a nice trio of characters. I really enjoyed all three and the season finale was one of the best all year. B

Gossip Girl-eternally shallow with unbelievable storylines but nonetheless good mindless entertainment. B

Fringe--it had an uneven season but I decided to put it in the good category given that its highs were higher than the other shows in the Meh category. The characters finally started to gel with me after nearly two years, the mythology was never better. The thing holding it back are the standalones. I have nothing against them but they simply weren't interesting and a lot of times felt like filler to stall. B

Shows that were consistently bad or middling:

Melrose Place 2.0-loved the original 90s series but I should have known that remakes always suck. This was just bad and didn't have any of the deliciously over-the-top characters, scheming or storylines of its predecessor. It deservedly got axed-the only bad part it didn't end before Heather Locklear, Laura Leighton, Thomas Calabro signed on. D-

Heroes--I said after season 3 that it should have been canned I watched a few episodes this season but it only slightly improved and just reaffirmed it needed to go. Slow pacing, boring characters, annoying characters, Cristine Rose criminally underused, the new big bad was lacking. C-

Caprica-I gave it ten episodes and it did nothing for me. It was a pretentious brooding, glacially paced bore. The characters-yawn, the subject matter well-trodden, the plotlines lacking. I'm done with it. C

LOST--I spoke too soon last year when I said LOST was going to go out with a bang and show other series how to wrap up a series. Instead of capitalizing on all the excellent groundwork developed over the last 3 seasons the series simply rebooted in a sense and felt more like the LOST from the early seasons with lots of padding, stalling, boring characters like Dogen/Lennon, aimless wandering on the island and a mixed bag finale. I'm glad it ended when it did because I would hate to think of what it would be like in season 7. This was the next to worst season only season 2 keeps it from being last. C

V-a Lost wannabe. The only bright spots in this series were Elizabeth Mitchell and MOrena Baccarin. The rest of the show needs an overhaul from annoying Tyler, the Vs being the epitome of cookie cutter alien threats and a series lacking any real sense of urgency. I have no interest in watching it next year. C-

Flash Forward-another LOST wannabe--started off well enough but erroneously focused on the characters rather than the much more interesting and intriguing conspiracy mythology. Also too much in the way of standalone padding where the arc would seemingly be tied into the one-off story of the week but turned out to be more of a way to stall than anything else. I stopped watching it months ago. It deserved its cancellation. C-

Supernatural--This season was all over the place. But mostly "meh" than good. Like other series, when it focused on its mythology it was great and not coincidentally those were its best episodes of the season but when it didn't focus on it, the episodes were tired rehashes and very uneven some existing solely to seed future plots but not being a worthy episode in its own right. Also the limited budget really hindered the ability to do the kind of epic storytelling called for with this season's arc. I still believe this should have been the final season and it had a pretty good swansong but I'll be watching next year. C+

Desperate Housewives--Meh. The show is definitely showing its age. It should have ended this year. I mainly watch it since there is not much on Sunday and out of momentum. C
 
Flash Forward-another LOST wannabe--started off well enough but erroneously focused on the characters rather than the much more interesting and intriguing conspiracy mythology.

Hm. I felt just the opposite. The arc was just another warmed-over mega-conspiracy story, the kind that gets ridiculously implausible as everyone and everything turns out to be part of this whole vast overarching cabal. And it wasn't very intriguing to me because of a lack of interesting antagonist characters; the only good one was Dyson Frost, and they killed him off as soon as he emerged as a worthy antagonist. What really had potential in this concept was the character focus, the exploration of how people's lives were affected by their future knowledge. And that was given too little focus because of the conspiracy preoccupying the writers. Although it's true that a lot of the characters we did get were pretty dull.
 
NCIS: My favorite series. Love Mark Harmon only slight less than Connor Trinneer. It was a pretty much typical season for me, tho' the last three episodes were really good, wondering what was going to happen with Gibbs (we know he's not going to prison nor will he be killed off). The finale was a really good cliffhanger...

CASTLE: Second favorite by a nose. I was disappointed by the finale because I really hoped they were going to let Rick grow up and declare his feelings for Kate.

WHITE COLLAR: Love this show. Totally agree on the chemistry between Bomer and DeKay (and DeKay and Tiffany Thiessen). Frankly I'm glad the whole "I have to find Kate and set her free from the evil FBI agent plot" is over.

BURN NOTICE: I still love this show, BUT... I am hoping that we're not going to be subjected to another season where an adversary is the dominant theme -- but frankly, that doesn't appear likely. I really preferred the show when the emphasis was on ingenius ways of helping people in trouble.

THE CLOSER: Still sort of like it but I am getting tired of the distractions with her parents, the pissant teenager, and Whiney Fritz (or maybe it's just me). I liked the show when the emphasis was on Brenda's genius for solving murders. And don't get me started with Mary McDonnell's role here.:rolleyes:

ROYAL PAINS: Like this show, but I'm not absolutely crazy about it.

IN PLAIN SIGHT: I started watching this show regularly this season, and have caught up with earlier shows thanks to USA Network's fondness for running marathons. I like it well enough, but it's mainly been a filler until The Daily Show comes on.

HUMAN TARGET: Burn Notice wannabe. But it does fill an hour on Wednesday nights.
 
WHITE COLLAR: Love this show. Totally agree on the chemistry between Bomer and DeKay (and DeKay and Tiffany Thiessen). Frankly I'm glad the whole "I have to find Kate and set her free from the evil FBI agent plot" is over.

I hope that's true; but on the other hand, we never saw the body, and this is a show about con artists...
 
Satisfying
Lost - I felt that the show ended as well as it could have at this stage. We didn't get all the answers, but each character's story was brought to a close nicely.

Did we get any answers?

How did the characters stories end? I'll use spoilers to be extra safe....

What happened to everyone on the plane once they made it back the the real world? No one is going to be questions what happened that the people that survived the first plane crash crashed again and brought back dead Claire?

A lot was left open mythology-wise but the character arcs were brought to a close in most cases, and even when they were open-ended, they felt right:

All the characters who were in love re-found their love in the afterlife. Jack was finally able to "let go." Ben got Locke's forgiveness, and although his story wasn't closed, because he stayed outside the church, it felt right not to close his story. The moral of the story is that what happens in life is far less important than finding love and, more broadly, the human connections you make. The characters won because they were all together in the end.

All the mythology stuff, the smoke monster, the polar bears, Dharma and the Others and Widmore and vectors to get on and off the island, pushing the button and the white light in the cave - all that was just trivial stuff in comparison with the love and friendship the characters found.

In the end, who cares why Desmond needed to push the button? Desmond and Penny found happiness, which is so infinitely more important that to care about the button is just silly.

It works for me, because it rings true. I think what Lost says life is all about is what life is all about.
 
WHITE COLLAR: Love this show. Totally agree on the chemistry between Bomer and DeKay (and DeKay and Tiffany Thiessen). Frankly I'm glad the whole "I have to find Kate and set her free from the evil FBI agent plot" is over.

I hope that's true; but on the other hand, we never saw the body, and this is a show about con artists...
Oh, God, I hope you're wrong.
 
Fringe. I had abandoned it for a while, but caught the last 3 episodes and they blew me away. I hope the trend continues and OH God please help me with this new twist in Peter and Olivia's relationship.
 
Dexter and Fringe.

The second half of 24 was satisfying, but the first half was bad enough that it cancels out.
 
Dexter, Fringe, Tudors, HIMYM, SG:U.

Disappointments - Lost, Flash Forward.
 
As usual, there were major problems in serialized shows.

FlashForward was messed up by uncritically adapting a science fiction premise that couldn't work in a long form where the viewer had so much time to ask questions.

V was just garbage from beginning to end.

Lost collapsed in a giant bath of mawkish sentimentality and shameless New Agey psychobabble. Watching to find out if your favorites get their True Love, or a Death Scene, or both, isn't a resolution to the Big Story. Which we know for a fact now is dumbass horseshit.

Breaking Bad floundered for half a dozen episodes for getting back on track, more or less. They may chicken out on pulling the trigger yet again.

Dexter season four I haven't seen yet, but Julie Benz jobhunting tells me Rita is dead. Slackening dramatic tension by taking away a choice is a really bad idea.

Fringe is mediocre at best, the mythology is boring and there's only one good character. Which isn't the star they keep centering plot lines on. What has Anna Torv got on Fox, except some relationship to Rupert Murdoch. Fringe: The Argument Against Neoptism.

Brothers & Sisters is coasting on characters we invested in during the first year, when it was actually a drama, not a soap/comedy.

As usual, the most satisfying (as in most often successful, least often bewildering or painful) series are episodic. CSI, The Mentalist, Big Bang Theory. This is not an accident. Serialized stories sacrifice realistic characterization and rational plotting and thematic honesty to the need to create (and recreate, repeatedly for some characters) sensational scenes.
 
Though we have one more episode to see, Breaking Bad has given an overall solid season, with the potential for a very satisfying finale

The 4th season of Dexter was the best season they've had since it's first, with much credit going to Lithgow, who was hands down the best guest performance they have ever had

I'd say that Lost gave a good final season, with a few slumps, & it's finale was enjoyable, even if it did leave the power fans a bit shorted

I don't really watch much else, besides Rescue Me, which I usually wait to come out on DVD, before I watch it all. I just added it to the queue. So at least I'll have some thing to watch for a little while this summer. I'm glad I waited on watching it, as I hear they have a new season coming, at the end of summer

I may need to pick something new to get into, to replace Lost
 
If you are not already a member then please register an account and join in the discussion!

Sign up / Register


Back
Top