What Are You Watching in 2015? (TV Lists, Rankings & More)

I just watched Over The Garden Wall in one sitting, and I might have to do it again, because that was incredible. The animation is fantastic, the music is wonderful, and the story is zigs when you expect it to zag. Loved every second of it.

Goodbye Iowa: B
This Year's Girl: A
Who Are You?: A+
Superstar: A
Where the Wild Things Are: Skipping over or time being
New Moon Rising: A
The Yoko Factor: B- (Gah this one could've been so much better.)
Primeval: A-
Restless: A+

The only redeeming factor of this episode:

The Americans Season 3
"EST Men": A
"Baggage": A-

So glad you gave it a gander! Yeah, I definitely feel like Banana is the far superior of the two. I'd go as far to say it may replace the original version of Queer as Folk for my favorite queer-centric TV show. 

I like Cucumber more than you, simply because I think it's interesting how the pick apart all of Henry's shame a self-loathing, along with its overall look at what it's like to be middle-aged and gay, but most episodes feel a bit like a chocolate box: some great scenes, some off ones, but it does't feel cohesive yet. Maybe it's a show that's meant to be binge-watched? And I certainly feel you on the characters feeling a bit taxing to watch. 

Banana though, it's such a beautiful, sensitive, charming thoughtful portrait of the younger people in the Manchester queer scene. The thing I love the most is its emotional honesty and truthfulness: it sees its characters so clearly and gives the actors great material. 

I can't wait until you watch the third episode; I just finished it and it's my favorite of the three. Ridiculously cute and sweet, but never feels anything less than honest and realistic. I'll be very curious to hear your thoughts. 

Second and Penultimate Update of Buffy Best Of List, ahead of my overall thoughts on season 4 and looking ahead to the final arc and my truncated epilogue version of 6 and 7.
Family, A+ - Between Lover's Walk and Consequences
Fool For Love, A+ - Between Passion and Dopplegangland/Dopple and Earshot
No Place Like Home, A+ - Between Who Are You and Helpless

1. Restless, A+
2/3. Becoming Parts 1 and 2, A+
4. Passion, A+
5. Dopplegangland, A+
6. Earshot, A+
7. Innocence, A+
8. Lover's Walk, A+
9. Consequences, A+
10. Graduation Day Part 2, A+
11. Lie to Me, A+
12. Hush, A+
13. The Zeppo, A+
14. Surprise, A+
15. School Hard, A+
16. Prophecy Girl, A+
17. I Only Have Eyes For You, A+
18. The Wish, A+
19. Who Are You, A+
20. Helpless, A+
21. What's My Line Part 2, A+
22. Fear Itself, A
23. Graduation Day Part 1, A
24. The Prom, A
25. Choices, A
26. Gingerbread, A
27. The Dark Age, A
28. Halloween, A
29. What's My Line Part 1, A
30. This Year's Girl, A

Honorable Mentions:
When She Was Bad, A
Band Candy, A
New Moon Rising, A
Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered, A
Superstar, A
Revelations, A
Homecoming, A-
Primeval, A-

I think my biggest beef with Cucumber is that it feels so much like a cartoon, but still acts like it's planted both its feet in a reality not too dissimilar from our own. I don't find the concept of a 9 year relationship without sex hard to believe, but the entire thing going to shit in one day is tough to swallow. Henry being a right bastard to his employees is an avenue worth exploring, but treating that employee's suicide like a punch line leaves a bad taste in my mouth. It feels like a weird case of tonal ADD - is it supposed to be a farce? A tragedy? Somewhere in between?

But hey, I'm only two episodes in. Maybe everything will come together once the narrative's had more time to stretch its legs.

All very fair points. I just watched the third episode the other day and while it definitely had a lot of stuff I enjoyed (it was the show at its most Queer as Folk), there is a kind flimsiness to the plot, a sense of a bunch of scenes being connected, but only just. I agree about the tonal ADD and how with some shows it can work but with others it can just feel off. RTD clearly wants to do the 'real life, but more exaggerated/flamboyant'; I just with had a bit more at this time to give it additional weight. Maybe the later half of the season will do that? 

If you haven't watched the third episode of Banana yet, you must. It's the best of the three I've seen thus far. Now that's the series that should be getting all of the acclaim and attention! 

The Americans Season 3:
EST Men: A-
Baggage: A

The Musketeers. Brilliant. Amused to read the characteristically awful British media reviews afterward (it's like the whole country's become my town's local "news site"). So much good in this show; a little alarmed at how much I love it. The casting and the set design are probably the two biggest draws. Writing can be a little iffy at times, but I can easily forgive that in lieu of everything else. Peter Capaldi as Cardinal Richelieu is the main draw*, but the four leads have a fantastic chemistry, and there's plenty of eye-candy for all (in my case, Tamla Kari and Alexandra Dowling as, respectively, Constance Bonacieux and the Queen). I'm particularly impressed at how the events and structure of the original novel have been retrofitted into a mystery/case of the week style setup. Took me a while to glom on, but it makes so much sense, even if it seems like Louis XIII's reign has been all jumbled up to fit the show's needs (and nothing wrong with that). It looks terrific, too, with antique Czech locations and Caravaggian lighting giving it a great and proper early modern feel. Looking forward to next series, when it looks like Marc Warren (as Rochefort) will replace Capaldi as enigmatic villain.

The second season of Nashville awaits; I have six days off starting Wednesday.

*If you'd told me a couple of years back that Peter Capaldi would be playing the Doctor, and that I had a choice to see his Who episodes or his turn as L'Eminence Rouge on a new Three Musketeers TV show, I apparently wouldn't have been able to accurately predict my choice in February 2015 (still haven't seen any of the new Who stuff).

I haven't actually watched this, but I've seen random bits of it on BBCA while channel-surfing, and is That Actor Who Played Robb Stark in this?  Or is it a different conventionally attractive twenty-something white guy with black hair and beard in costume-drama garb?  

Better Call Saul

Episode 1, "Uno": A-

Cucumber Series 1:
Episode 3 - C

Banana Series 1:
Episode 3 - A

(spoilers for both shows follow)

Cucumber continues to frustrate me. In an episode that is largely centered around Freddie's reconnection with his former lover Gregory, we have Henry literally pimping his possibly underage nephew out for money and failing to subdue Gregory while he's literally lying on the ground in his underwear. I'm not above shows running full tilt with problematic characters, but Henry is such an incompetent, dithering baby that my credulity is reaching its breaking point. He's already forced an employee into suicide and called the police because his boyfriend Lance was annoying him. Heaping onto that the show never fully acknowledges that Gregory's relationship with Freddie was abuse (Freddie was Gregory's student, and he was 15 when they began their relationship), and it's another messy outing for the show. Can we just switch POVs to Lance already?

While Cucumber flounders, Banana is really soaring. Sian is a master class in how to write a sympathetic but somewhat unlikable character, and in twenty minutes I was more invested in her relationship with Violet than I've ever been with Henry and Lance. Sure, the characters in Banana have to be painted in slightly broader strokes, but there's something to be said for letting the audience fill in the blanks every once in a while. We get snippets here and there of Sian/Violet's romance, disconnected from any timeframe, but we don't need to know the specifics. When Sian's immaturity and self-absorption rear their head, it's never as ugly and uncomfortable as in Cucumber - it's natural, it's human. When Sian and Violet have their argument, it's stunning to see that the episode never takes a side - they're both right, and they're both wrong, and the show is unafraid to make both leads seem a little foolish. The only TV show I've seen that happen on recently is the epic dildo argument in Broad City, and that's a compliment. Banana has cemented itself as a treasure. I wish I knew what the hell was going on with its sister show.