Hey, everyone! Welcome to the 12th Edition of Weekly Round Table brought to you this week by yours truly, Kollin (KL). This week we take a look back at the Summer 2017 Season of TV, as well as talk about Game of Thrones, and discuss a rumour concerning Riverdale and Supergirl. Joining me this edition will be Andy (DU), Samantha (SB), Laura M. (LS), Lisa (LM), Jaime (JC), Marine (MP), Donna Chidley (DC), and Donna Cromeans (DR).
1.)The Summer Season of TV is behind us. From new shows like Blood Drive, The Defenders, Midnight, Texas, and The Sinner to the revival of Twin Peaks and the returning seasons of a plethora of shows, Game of Thrones [ahem], among others. Not to mention headlines like the HBO hacks.
Who or What were some of the biggest losers and biggest winners and/or shows that surprised you? Disappointed you?
DU: Biggest surprise for me was USA's The Sinner. Excellent writing, acting and a great central mystery to hold our attention. Not your typical USA show.
An honorable mention goes so far to Room 104. A fun little show that does not take itself too seriously.
Biggest disappointment for me goes to The Mist. Another King adaptation that misses the mark on so many levels. It's like watching a car crash.
A clear big winner would have to be both Game of Thrones and HBO. The cable channel faced multiple hacks, and the show itself had episodes leaked, yet it still managed to draw in strong, stable ratings while delivering an amazing season 7. All in all, a great summer for HBO amidst the maelstrom of hacks. I also have to mention Ozark as both a surprise and a winner, a throughly entertaining crime drama that deservedly received a Season 2 renewal. In particular, Jason Bateman was a big winner showing a different side in him as an actor and receiving rave reviews for his performance (and to a lesser degree writing).
Disappointment? The Defenders. The team up of Netflix' Marvel superheroes was a deeply flawed show that was just okay and it definitely did not live up to expectations.
Biggest disappointment? This should be no surprise for people who know me but Suits this season has been an utter Mudmare. It’s dragging on this boring serialization and doing no characters any favours in terms of development. I loathed a lot of season 6, but even that one had more excitement going on than this one. I love the addition of Alex and more Oliver is great, but everything else I want nothing to do with. And the HUNDREDTH EPISODE is airing next week and I feel no excitement whatsoever. None. This is not what a TV show should instill in its viewers for a landmark episode. This show shouldn’t have even made it to 100, if you ask me, or at least its journey should’ve been a lot different.
Biggest disappointments were Orphan Black and strangely enough Wynonna Earp. I'm in a minority that didn't like the series finale of Orphan Black, and felt they could've done a heck of a lot more with that final season than they actually did (Delphine's absence towards the latter of the season was nonsensical) and I really didn't agree with Rachel ending the series alive. Wynonna Earp, as much as I absolutely adore the show, just hasn't been that great. I think getting rid of the revs of the week was a bad idea, the widows aren't that scary, and their talk of Nicole getting a back story & being part of the main group has amounted to a 1 episode wife & the occasional scene with characters that aren't Waverly.
DC: [Disappointment] Though we are only half way through I feel Midnight Texas needs to push more . Some very likable characters but season 1 needs s bit more bite.
DR: 1)Hands down the biggest surprise and winner for me this summer has been Salvation on CBS, it's edge of your seat action, good writing and a great cast.
MP: Biggest surprise: The Bold Type, I really didn't expect much from this show and it turned out to be a gem. Biggest disappointment: The Defenders. It's fine, but it's far from being what I thought it could be.
JC: a) I think it's safe to say Game of Thrones is one of the biggest winners this summer. Aside from that, I haven't really paid much attention to which shows are doing well. I assume Wynonna Earp did well, considering the online reactions. I didn't see much buzz about Midnight, Texas so I'm a bit worried about that one. The Bold Type got a lot of positive fan reaction, but I'm not sure it translated to the ratings.
b) I was a bit disappointed with the second half of Shadowhunters. It just didn't quite meet my expectations. My biggest surprise was The Bold Type. I figured it would be a new guilty pleasure for the summer but it turned out to be my new favorite of the year.
LM: Game of Thrones totally delivered in every episode for me. 12 Monkeys was also another super strong show this season. I hated the 3 day roll out of the entire season though. I was disappointed by Twin Peaks. It took way too long to get back to the characters we really cared about and while Lynch's visual style is rich, someone needs to rein him in! I found the long visuals putting me to sleep on more than one occasion. I think the entire series could have benefitted from being 8 episodes. Would that GoT got 18 and TP got 7!
LS:2. Erm. I don’t go here but incest = egregiously bad. End of story.
SB: I've never watched an episode of Game of Thrones and never intend to, but incest is gross. It's one of two things that completely puts me off of shows/movies. I don't care what genre or time you are set in, or what purpose it apparently serves, you don't need it.
KL: I think incest between two antagonists (Jaime and Cersei), especially when the characters are aware, is ok as it makes you hate them even more. But incest between two sympathetic protagonists is debatable, regardless of whether the said characters know they are related or not.
Personally, I think them falling in love serves a purpose in terms of story in that they will probably have a child who will be "the prince that was promised" being born out of fire and ice. If this was just a random, why not have an aunt bang her nephew storyline that didn't lead anywhere then, yeah, it would be a bit more problematic.
MP: I guess I will always be the devil's advocate in this case. Yes, they are related, but the key element here is that they don't know it yet. We are all asking this question too early because we know it's weird, we know it's incest. You have to put yourself in the characters' shoes here: they don't know they are related so the fact that they are attracted to each other isn't wrong. We, the viewers, are the only one it makes cringe. As of now, they are not committing incest per se, not from their point of view.
Sure, if they keep it up once they find out they are related that will be different. BUT, on the other hand, their incest would also be much different than Cersei and Jaime's, for instance, who are not only twins but were brought up together and have always known that what they were doing was wrong. And now they are having another kid, and they still have no issue with that. Jon and Dany would not have kids, if anything they would just be in love. Sure, she is his aunt, but they are only blood-related, they have been brought up in such different contexts that they are hardly family. So my point is, there is an innocence to the attraction between Jon and Dany. It is not as twisted as the one between Cersei and Jaime, who know they are in the wrong from the get go. Jon and Dany just think they are two people of similar age, of similar mindsets, who are attached to each other. Will the news of their family relation affect that? That is the real question.
LM: Well, color me shocked. I really didn't think they'd get there, but they did. I can't say that I was repulsed by the sex scene - certainly not in the same way as with Jaime and Cersei. First of all, they are both stunning to look at - and please note the equality of nudity. I'm going to allow this not to be going too far because they don't know they're related - and that has been done to death on soap operas, so I don't think people can be too self-righteous about it. I do wish a raven had reached them in time, but it didn't. I think we can all be confident in knowing that as soon as they find out, that aspect of their relationship will be over. I think it will cross a line if it doesn't stop. And too bad, because they are a delightful couple.
SB: To be polite, I very much hope Supergirl & Riverdale do not cross over. The superhero crossovers are messy and pointless enough (when you need a portal opener to weave Supergirl into the Arrow-verse it is really time to stop). Supernatural doing a scooby-doo episode works because it isnn't a show that takes itself too seriously (from what I've heard at least). How would they explain Riverdale & Supergirl crossing over? A crazy dream? Someone drinks too many milk shakes and starts hallucinating? I don't wanna get too into the politics of the two shows, but I'm very close to giving up on Supergirl and watch Riverdale with the defense of it filling my 'problematic show' quota. I do not think a crossover would ramp up the viewers for either show though.
DC: I feel the Supergirl pic might be a promo of some sort for CW but you never know!
DR: First of all I think everyone needs to take off their speculation glasses. There is NO Supergirl/ Riverdale crossover! The shows likely film on the same lot and Melissa Benoist visited the Riverdale set, the end, period. I really hate when people read more into a situation than is there. In regards to crossovers in general I don't mind them if they're well done, the CW's last year was a major disappointment to me. I'm going to reserve judgement wholely on the CW until I see this year's event that has promised to be a true crossover involving all 4 superhero shows fully, hoping that means they are going to show Supergirl, the show, the respect I think they were not given last year.
JC: I highly doubt the CW is planning a crossover between Riverdale and Supergirl. I'm sure there's another explanation for Melissa being on set. However, I do think it'll be Riverdale that dabbles in the supernatural. This has been speculated for a while.
LM: Virtually nothing could make me watch Supergirl OR Riverdale. I'm really only watching Supernatural because I have since the beginning. Supernatural has simply utterly lost its way. It's a sad day when I have to say that crossing a show like Riverdale which attempts to be serious and edgy would now be jarring with a series that no longer takes itself serious at all. CW needs to stop with the crossovers.
That concludes this week's edition of SpoilerTV's roundtable! Thank you everyone for joining us. From Game of Thrones to the Summer 2017 of Television to whatever is going on with Riverdale and Supergirl, if anything at all, let us know your thoughts in the comments below!
