regarding tv (spoiler-free)

[xparrot]

Heroes. Why are you not awesome? Your premise is so very the kind of cliche that should rock the airwaves. Superpowers are the new black and I'm onboard for that, was thrilled to pieces by the intriguing possibilities of the premiere. But why is the follow-through so poor? Why must you treat your audience like infants? And not just details like the simultaneous solar eclipse (in NYC, Vegas, and Japan at the same time? Say whah now?) or the persistent claptrap about evolution applying to individuals (small wonder the geneticist community booted him). Scientific stupidity I can ignore. But why must every character painstakingly state their transparent motivations every single episode? Show, not tell, people: it's not just a pithy catchphrase. And why must said characters all be annoyingly moronic as well as impressively self-centered? They don't care about anyone or anything but their own problems and/or sex and/or "Destiny," and every one of them becomes less likable with each episode. By now (the fourth ep) those I can stand have been reduced to the cheerleader, the painter, and Hiro. And even Hiro is making me twitch, not only for the uncomfortably inaccurate portrayal of Japan but because of the awkwardness of assigning the sole comic relief role to the foreigner. Though it's the main reason he is likable, because the show is in sore need of comic relief. I'm not saying it ought to be comic-book camp (though I might have preferred it that way) but even the recent cinematic dramatizations of superheroes still give them some killer lines and sparks of humor glittering through the darkness (see Michael Caine's Alfred in Batman Begins).

The show wouldn't annoy me so much if I didn't want to like it so bad. As it is, I'm going to give it a few more eps, but right now it's feeling more and more like someone watched Fantastic Four and thought, Slow-paced, poorly scripted, pointless and remarkably low on action? Now that's the way to do superheroes!

In conclusion: watch Numb3rs.

No, really. More people should be watching this show. Well, obviously some people are, as it's on its third season. But I haven't heard much babble about it, and really it's all kinds of goodness of such a quiet, laid-back variety that you don't notice how good it is until you realize that it's the show you're most eagerly anticipating each week (after Supernatural, naturally. I have nothing to say about Supernatural that everyone hasn't already heard: Eric Kripke is a fangirl, end of story.) The advertised gimmick of Numb3rs is that it's a cop drama with math - LA FBI agent calls in his genius mathematician little brother to help with his cases, in ways which range from realistic to completely contrived to pretty dang cool.

That's a cover, though: the real gimmick is that it's a family drama cunningly disguised as an FBI case show. Or maybe it's a case show cunningly disguised as a family drama. Whichever - it's genre-breaking without even trying, and the relationship dynamics, both within the family and with the FBI team, are cute like a cute thing. And yes, we all know I'm weak to brothers, but Numb3rs tickles a different button than usual, because the family here is stunningly - functional. Not that the characters don't have their issues, but the brothers and their dad are supportive without being codependent, loving without going gooey, and generally persistently, wonderfully warm and fuzzy - but only in small doses, so rather than getting old it always leaves you craving more.

Also, having grown up with a math genius little brother, Charlie cracks me up with how strikingly, terrifically familiar he can be at times.

Also, Megan totally rocks in this understated way, in that she isn't trying to be the coolest femme or anything, she's just doing her duty knowledgeably and competently, without anyone trying to get into anyone else's pants, just being one of the guys, and doing such an awesome job of it that she ends up being one of the best female chars I've seen on TV lately. Also, she and Larry are adorable. (Larry in general is love.)

Also, something bad needs to happen to Charlie. A little abduction or something. Because Don would flip the hell out and the whole team would be crossing lines with him to get their favorite genius geek back and I want to see it.

And lastly, why the hell is no one writing me Sinclair/Granger? Is the whole of fandom blind? Two lovely hot FBI partners, with no girlfriends, who are buddies and hang out and talk about their problems and worry about each other and got drunk together at least once and really, blind? Is it too obvious? Are they too manly men? What? The collective body of Numb3rs slash is nearly entirely incest - which is its own special WTF, because the Eppes about the most non-incesty brothers I can think of. I mean, the Winchesters, I don't get it myself, but I can see the subtext. There is no subtext in Numb3rs. Except that which is stacked three feet high on the David/Colby platter, and why the heck is nobody serving? Come now, people!

Comments

[xparrot.livejournal.com]

Yah, you should be able to watch it straight off the bat - it's got some light character arcing but the main plots are all episodic, classic criminal investigation stuff. The one advantage of mainlining all of it at once is that you'll probably get into it faster. For me, it wasn't one particular ep or scene that sold me, but seeing a lot of it, getting to know the chars. There's at least one adorable family bit per episode, though, as a rule. ^^