By John J. Joex
Caprica – Still a Snooze-Fest?
I ran my review of Caprica a few weeks ago where I indicated that I liked this show, but was not completely hooked yet, and I’d say that’s about where I am with it still. I want to like this show, I really do. But it’s so slow paced that it can just be absolutely sleep-inducing at times. I see where they are going with the development of the Cylons, and I like it. I just wish they would pick up the tempo. And I understand that they want to do this more like a soap opera, but that format suggests some tantalizing elements which this show just lacks. So many of the story threads just seem to fall flat and just fill up space instead of advancing the over-arching narrative. They need to focus more on the core story about the Cylons coming into existence and let some of the other storylines go. And no offense to talented actress Alessandra Torresani, but they have to do something to make Zoe interesting and not just annoying. This series has the talent and the potential and it is flirting with a great story. So now it needs to dive into telling it.
The show will go on hiatus after tomorrow night’s episode, returning with new episodes this summer, and I have to say I am looking forward to taking a break from it. I just hope that when it returns that it will do a better job of engaging my interest (last week’s episode did pick up the pace a bit which was a promising sign). And the show is definitely no lock for a second season as it has pulled disappointing ratings so far. Still, I’m thinking that Syfy will hold onto this one for at least one more year. I just hope that they can also give it the kick in the backside that it needs to more actively engage our interest.
Lost – Just Mind-Blowing So Far
I’ve heard a lot of rumblings across the Internet about Lost’s final season which even prompted one of the show’s creators to respond and tell fans to be patient with the show. I’m not sure what the fuss is, though, because I’m actually loving the current season as I indicated in my review from a few weeks ago. Actually, I am liking the current season more than I have enjoyed the show since the second or maybe even the first season. This series re-invents itself each year and it has done that yet again with the sideways world which I believe has added a whole new element to the overall story (along with the “pop-ins” from characters we’ve seen previously). Each week, we get a look at one of the main characters in this “What If?” world and see another possibility of how their lives could have tracked. It adds yet another dimension to each character and meshes well with what’s going on in the “real” world. How these two worlds come together, if at all, remains to be seen, but I do believe there is some sort of plan behind it all (unlike, say, Battlestar Galactica). In addition to that, we are finally starting to get some answers, which actually came fast and furious in the most recent episode (“Ab Aeterno”). We now know what the smoke monster is, we understand more of the purpose of the island along with the roles of Jacob and his nemesis, we know why Richard Alpert does not age, and we understand a bit more about those mysterious numbers. It has actually been quite a mind-blowing season so far and it’s only at the halfway mark! If you dropped out on Lost over the last few seasons, now’s the time to tune back in because it looks like they are building up to a pretty spectacular ending.
