Avatar: The Last Airbender

Avatar the last Airbender came out on Netflix recently so I watched it all the way through with my husband. This is a family friendly cartoon set in a fiction world with 4 nations representing the elements-Fire, Earth, Water, and Air. There are some people within each nation who are gifted to manipulate the given element and they are referred to as ‘benders’ hence the title. We find this world in a time of peril as the Fire Nation has waged war against everyone because they want to be the supreme rulers instead of having 4 nations living peacefully. Now the first step to war was wiping out the Air Nation where the Avatar would be since the Avatar is the only one who can stop the fire nation from continuing their war to rule the world. As the Air Nation was wiped out, the Avatar went missing for 100 years while the Fire Nation continued to move the war throughout the world. This is where we pick up finding the missing Avatar and the imminent need to end the war before it is too late.

The character development in this show is one of the best depictions, especially in the context of the whole series happening within a year and a half while there are shows spanning a greater time period that don’t progress characters well or at all. You can really pick any character seen regularly and not be disappointed by their process. Having such depth in the characters of a show for children is its own win and this whole show is full of wins.

The premise is very straightforward and easy for anyone to pick up on in a random episode, but I really think the characters make this show successful where other anime shows may have a similar idea, but not be executed so well to be the beloved show we see today. I won’t go into the episodes with spoilers, just that I would definitely recommend this show to families.

Royal Pains

Royal Pains is a fun show that ran from 2009-2016 with an ER doctor who was fired for the death of a wealthy patient who was also a hospital trustee. We meet Hank Lawson as this happens and he is moping around his apartment until his brother Evan takes him to the Hamptons for the weekend. Suddenly Hank becomes the concierge doctor for the rich and famous in the Hamptons which is our new show! We follow doctor Hank around the Hamptons discovering all sorts of unique medical dilemmas in the nick of time.

While the show is entertaining to see a doctor in action in crazy situations you can tell that the creators were looking for more ways to keep the audience connected. There is a riff between Hank and his father he hasn’t spoken to in years which brings in Henry Wrinkler, or as I like to call him-Fonzie, for guest appearances through out the rest of the show as the dad adding different dynamics to the show. Of course you cannot keep a medical show going without the romances which have their own flaws and surprises stringing the audience along with the boys interesting dating lives. As things grow and change on the show it transitions into a soap opera halfway through around season 4. Now I don’t mind soap operas so I kept watching as things got crazy again and again and again with so many twists and turns that would not have happened at the beginning. I was only bothered by this change because I like consistency and I didn’t start this show as a drama and I felt deceived by the snowballing drama driving the story away from what I originally enjoyed.

I do have to stop here because the show was taken off Netflix as I concluded season 5 out of 8 so there is lots that I missed and cannot speak to of the show as a whole. I will say it is enjoyable and a preferred option of a medical show not obsessed with sex as you typically find.

Jane the Virgin

I wasn’t ever interested in this show because of the title. Last year I heard some ladies recommend it and saw the teaser on Netflix which seemed like it could be a fun girly show for me to enjoy. I decided to start it and see if it is too sexual because it does talk about sex often(obviously- it’s called Jane the Virgin), but it turned out to be a sweet story which reminded me of Gilmore Girls throughout the series.

 

 

We see three generations of women living together and what it looks like for each woman in her specific experience. Very fun show bringing the telanovela style to American viewers. Yes the telanovela style is super dramatic with all sorts of crazy twists and turns that almost seem too much, but that is the point. There are definitely times when I wanted a litte less drama, but you have to go with it! Also I see the GG parallels of the dignified, conservative mother with a daughter who gets pregnant at sixteen and is the total opposite of her mother always clashing, and then the precious granddaughter who is the family genius who unites them.

One disappointing thing is that these women are part of the Roman Catholic church as many from South America are so influenced. They are expectedly Catholic in name, but not in nature. We see a disrupted, distorted faith which is completely predictable by any portrayal of religion coming from Hollywood. The most obvious display of distorted Christianity is the handling of sex. The need for viginity is not maintained by an understanding of the role of sex in our lives and our culture and our relationship with God, but rather viciously enforced by an old woman crumpling a white flower in front of the girls and threatening of being ruined forever. That is not the heart of Jesus. That is another blog for another day…   While watching GG you don’t expect the women to be moral because they have no foundation of religion. What we see in JTV is the crux of people Christ doesn’t actually know. Unfortunate.

Overall the show is one that does a great job to build and develop characters drawing you into their lives and empathizing as intended. There are so many mixed emotions as the series builds and we see so many changes happen for these women and those around them. What a story! Also there was not a season that stood out from the others as you sometimes have in a show where everyone says a certain season is crap. I never felt that way watching through JTV and would recommend it for fans of GG who are interested in a telanovela version!

You vs Wild- Bear Grylls does it better.

I really enjoyed watching Man Vs. Wild when I found the show in high school a decade ago. For anyone who is not familiar with the show Bear Grylls is a survival guro who gets dropped off in the middle of no where and then explains as he goes what is the best thing to do in that environment and how to best get back to civilization rapidly. I love the outdoors and was interested in the tips and tricks as we watched Bear go through all kinds of different terrrains and different situations to find his way out. Cool show with a very particular audience to watch more than a few episodes.

Now Bear Grylls has a new show on Netflix called You vs. Wild where it is an interactive episode similar to the original show. Bear has a mission to complete like taking medicines to a remote village in a timely manner and he explains some options of what to do in each scenario, but now he says, “You decide” and two choices pop up on the screen for the viewer to set his course. This didn’t sound like the most exciting thing for me initially, but actually watching and choosing situations has been so much fun!!

For me it has been really fun because Bear gives us some crazy options throughout the episodes. One time he had the option of eating a mushroom that he wasn’t sure if it was poisinous or not. I sat there saying to myself He’s not really going to eat a sketchy mushroom is he? Wait, he’s making that an option of what to eat? No way! Will he really eat it? I’m definitely choosing that just to see if he eats it!  And he did! He ate unknown wild mushrooms in the wilderness!! Everyone knows that is a bad idea! Sometimes I would choose the outrageous option just to see him actually do it. I made Bear Grylls do all sorts of crazy nonsense during this first season and he is not dead yet.

Yes, there is dramatization and acting that Man vs. Wild never had, but I can handle some obviously scripted and silly moments to watch Bear act a fool on Netflix. I would recommend this show hands down. Funny! Also you can watch it seriously and try to quiz yourself on your survival skills too. Way better than I expected. A barrel of laughs if you play it a little risky.

TV-Designated Survivor

Ech. The shows made these days typically seem best described as ‘trash’ for a variety of reasons. Searching through Netflix it seems like the shows which are standard entertainment of a crime show, a family sitcom, a political drama, that you would expect to remain in that category and be suitable to watch without much change start to go too far. I was watching a political drama with J and got into it with the dramatic storyline moving from a fast paced terrorist attack for the country to deal with to the ins and outs of a busy job serving the country. I just watched the episode in the new season last night and I could not make it through the whole episode. In the seasons we have watched so far there is not an outbreak of cussing or sexual nonsense so it is simple to stay connected and enjoy the show. This opening show of the new season sets a precedent for indecency unnecessarily added into the show. Within the 17 minutes I watched of a 50 minute show I saw boobs, they said the Fword twice, and the 10 year old daughter cussed in a conversation with her dad. None of that adds to the show. In the previous seasons I don’t remember hearing the Fword once, there was one scene in a bed where the woman was fully covered the whole time, the children respected their dad, and there might have been one cuss word uttered every few episodes. All of a sudden they are pouring in all of this extra filth that disrupts the narrative and I don’t know if it is to increase ratings, but whatever the reasoning, I’m out. It does make me sad to leave that show because I was enjoying the narrative, but I will not continue on at this cost of inpropriety. I really thought we had found a show that had a level of decency and suddenly they flipped the switch on us! I’m sure plenty of viewers did not notice or care about the changes, but I just had to say something.

Tv Show Reviews: Charmed

*Spoiler alert* I discuss the whole show from all 8 seasons without warnings of revealing key details and plot points throughout the series. *Read at your own risk*

A few months ago a trailor for the new Charmed convinced me to start watching the original as it is available on Netflix and I cannot imagine that the reboot will be as good as the original. Now I’m not here to talk about why the new one will not be as good, we can talk about that later, but it just made me want to watch the original which I did. All 8 seasons. Done.

First of all Charmed is a mature show for adult viewing and I would not suggest it for everyone with the lack of clothing worn by the sisters, violence, dealings with the Occult, sexual content, and ideas of the world contrary to Christianity.

I have always been intrigued by the idea of fantasy magic of fairy tales and mythical kingdoms so I often engage in fantasy entertainment and started watching Charmed in its first run when I found it somewhere in the fourth or fifth season. It is the story of 3 sisters who have inherited magic from all the Halliwell witches before them who have been magical for about 3 centuries. They are the first set of three sister witches who have been foretold to be the most powerful witches of all time and are called the Charmed Ones for that very reason.

They come into their powers as their grandmother, Grams, dies and they begin their destiny as the powerful sisters who can defeat demons together which no one else is powerful enough to handle. I would say the writers do a good job of bringing new demons and different chaos into their lives throughout each season to keep things moving without getting old. Even when they have to fight the same demon more than once it is interesting to see how they work it out.

It is facinating to see how the truth of Christianity and the world God created is the core of humanity and even imagination bringing fantasy into our world is still connected to God whether the creators realized it or not. There are many aspects found throughout the series that are rooted in Christianity, not because the writers or producers are seeking the Lord, but simply because the gospel is written on the heart of every man and woman and we cannot create or be successful without it. Just think of how there is always a fight between good and evil and we know something will be successful if the dominant hero is willing to give his or her life for one or many.

Obviously the charmed ones are three powerful sisters who work together to overcome evil (demons) which sounds just like the trinity now that you mention it… Three individuals that are truly one unit, so much symbolism!- a cord of three strands is not easily broken and these witches are invincible as they fight everyone endlessly and sometimes even die- only to be resurrected, of course- but always hit their mark. Sometimes they even turn into the creatures they need to save, how interesting that they would develop the empathy and understanding of the mythical world around them to help them care more and more for others and continue pushing forward in the good fight no matter how weary they may become. Sometimes they even ask for the task to be taken from them if possible, but they go on for the greater good.

Some moments of disruption and inconsistently throughout the seasons and episodes. There is no set of rules for time travel which occurs willy-nilly throughout the series where the future depends on the past time travel to bring their reality to fruition. The end of every season is very dramatic and basically is set as a possible ending to the series as if no one knew if there would be any additional seasons.

These women die so often (especially Prue) and manage some crazy way to be revived time and time again which is way too often to be watched continually, specifically if you are waiting for Prue to die once and for all knowing that Paige will arrive to continue the destiny.  Which also plays into the ridiculousness of how Prue has died lots and always made it back for the end of the episode, but suddenly this one sticks. Maybe it just seems so melodramatic watching several episodes within the week or day which is not how they were originally viewed. I am beginning to see the disctinctions of shows made for one episode a week and how disruptive it is to view them every day of the week or right after one another because they were intentionally created for weekly viewing and lots of shows end up weird at times being watched on demand instead of their weekly time slot. Charmed is no exception!

Certainly an enjoyable show to watch and one I would recommend if you are not bothered by the details mentioned at the beginning.

TV Reviews: Merlin

Overall this show is fine for people who do not know or care about the glorious legend of King Arthur. There are so many moments which defer from the story many know and love of the King who united a land in upheaval. Now I won’t explain them all to spoil the five seasons of the show, just give a brief description.

It is an interesting premise to have the Prince Arthur growing up under the banishment of magic when we know that Arthur did not grow up in the Palace and that Merlin was known all around as the greatest sorcerer working openly in Arthur’s court. The creators of the show do bring in different aspects of the legend and those characters here and there while mostly making their own separate story which is fine without prior knowledge of King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table.

However there are other problems with Merlin as an adventure series. Basically the same thing happens in every episode. The villain forms a new plan for the destruction of Camelot, it works for a minute, Merlin saves the day. Occasionally the villain actually takes Camelot and rules for about a week or two which is surprising, but a nice change from always failing. Also a fun moment for the role reversal of Arthur and Merlin sneaking into the castle to defeat the ruler of Camelot. However you can see the problem with Merlin as a successful show when magic is outlawed in the kingdom and Merlin is never able to do magic openly as the partnership we know of Merlin and King Arthur never comes to fruition in the show. Disappointing!

I have to say that it might be fine to watch for someone who enjoys fantasy without knowing about King Arthur, but that is an unlikely combination. I enjoy stories of King Arthur and am currently reading a book entitled A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court which is a very fun story intertwining the legend and modernity in a most fascinating way. If you enjoy King Arthur I would suggest skipping this show and proceeding with the stories found in written form. Or enjoy some fantasy shows like Once Upon a Time or Charmed which don’t retell an epic legend in their own way.