Annual TV Commentary 2013

Every year I put together a brief summation of the television I enjoyed or alternatively didn't during the previous twelve months. My 2013 commentary is a little different, all confined to a single post and occasionally lacking the detail I've given previous round-ups. My television viewing has changed, though, along with my own aspirations as a writer. Anyway, television. No real spoilers this year.

ATVC 2012: Nikita

Spoilers abound, so beware.

Nikita
23 episodes, CW (September 2011 - May 2012)

A risky strategy in Nikita's first season was its tendency to play its cards too quickly, meaning Nikita and Alex's covert partnership was removed mid-season, Nikita and Michael coupled up after only briefly dancing around the subject, and Alex's Division status propelled forward before you could really settle into her character's position of power. Season one was spectacular, but there was always that risk that things were running so fast that stories could quickly dry up. This season, there were definitely annoying side effects to that. But it seems to be the CW's prerogative, as I hear that most of the network's drama series bombard you with plots that get introduced and resolved within two or three episodes. It's obviously a peculiar complaint, since you don't want to slow things down so much that the show becomes turtle porn, but the fast pace sometimes becomes so frenetic that you lose sight of character and narrative.

Annual TV Commentary: 2010-2011 (Part 2)

Here's part two of my annual TV commentary, this time for the 2010-2011 season. Each review is pretty spoiler-ific for each show's respective season. So unless you've seen every episode of, say, Glee's second season, don't read it. Enjoy!

Bonus - Nikita: Pilot (1.1)

I'm essentially a rookie when it comes to Nikita. Haven't seen the original, haven't seen the lousy Bridget Fonda remake, only got through half of the USA spin-off series' first season. What I do know is my Alias, a series which if I'm correct owes a lot of its style and plot twist-upon-plot twist storylines to Luc Besson's original creation and its various updates. Nikita is framed a lot like Alias, with the dead fiancée (named Daniel here too, heh), good guys working to bring down a corporation from the inside out, hot chicks in leather. And while it, of course, isn't as smash-you-in-the-face-with-awesomeness-from-the-very-first-frame as Alias was, it was surprisingly decent. For the CW, at least.