Media confessions

[grammarwoman]

My husband has given up being surprised when I know all about a movie or TV show despite having never seen it, because being fandom adjacent is a sort of omniscience.

However, I feel compelled to confess the gaps in my fannish experience, ie the things I haven't finished or never got around to seeing that it seems EVERYONE else has:

Leverage
Due South
Fringe (though this one is less my fault, as I was specifically asked to not watch it so my TV killing curse would spare it, and then never got back to it)
Orphan Black, season 3ish and onward
The Librarians, season 2 and onward
Avatar: TLA, season 1sh and onward
Legend of Korra
The Clone Wars
Star Wars Rebels
Slings and Arrows
Person of Interest
Supernatural
Parks & Rec
Community


At some point, I would love to get around to working my way through this list. It'll probably mean watching less HGTV, for starters.

So which do you think I should start with? And what fannishly popular media have you missed yourselves?

Comments

I have due South feels!

[lizbetann]

Aaaaahhh, I am resisting just saying "Why why why do people recommend skipping season 1 and 2 when THOSE ARE THE ACTUAL GOOD SEASONS" and reminding myself that people swing both Rays.

Actually, it's more of a case of which Paul you swing -- Haggis or Gross? The original creator, Paul Haggis, created a loopy magical realism show -- of which one of the most unrealistic realism bits was that there was this perfect, beautiful, honorable, noble man... who lived in Chicago with a deaf wolf.

75% of the time, that's what due South was -- juuuust this side of self-consciously wacky. A lot of fun, but not a lot of deep.

But. One of my favorite moments in the show comes in first season when the Perfect Canadian (TM) is confronting a childhood enemy of Ray #1 (said enemy grew up to be the local petty mob heavy, said Ray grew up to be a cop).

Said petty mob guy has been trying to buy Frasier's approval in a heavy-handed sort of way. And Frasier cuts him down: "What I want, Mr. Zuko, and what the law allows, are two entirely different things."

And you realize that Frasier (Benton Fraiser, or Benny) is not as aw-shucks ignorant as he comes off. He's not a good, decent, honorable person because it has never occurred to him to be anything else. It's a chilling moment because it is so quiet -- without a lot of drama, we see that this person we respect so much could do horrible (or not-so-horrible but maybe be just as petty) things -- if it wasn't for his sense of honor.

When the show hits those moments, it is stunning.

As for Season 3 (or Seasons 3/4 -- I think the difference is that in the US it aired as one "season" and in Canada it aired split as two short seasons, but I could be wrong) -- in my humble opinion, it upped the wacky without really digging into that core of stillness in the center. I gave up on the show not because it pissed me off, but because it BORED me (mind you, I bailed during a Rashomon ep, which are always tricky). But, among other changes, they took a strong female character who was rather self-consciously prickly and "difficult" but who was attracted to Benny regardless and... massively over-saturated her in Photoshop. She became MORE prickly, MORE attracted (losing-places-in-sentences-attracted, which was in contrast to her hard-assness from before) and it just squicked me.

Now, there is a huge dividing line in the fandom -- whether the first season closer two-parter Victoria's Secret is massively awesome or an abomination unto this earth. I actually was hooked on the show due to that two parter (a woman from Benny's past comes back and basically attempts to trash everything he stands for) so I think it's massively awesome.

Paul Gross is on record as saying he didn't think it worked with the show and didn't really feel it was in keeping with it. And I think the divide between my opinion of Victoria's Secret and Paul Gross's points to why I didn't much like his version of the show.

Um. *blush* Did I mention the due South feels?

Re: I have due South feels!

[grammarwoman]

Awwww! I love to see people so excited about a show, and I definitely appreciate hearing the backstory and your reactions to it.

There's a reason DS is on my potential rewatch list, and that's because so many fans have such strong feelings about it. Well, that and all the fanworks. I will keep your advice in mind - thanks!