Roswell, New Mexico: Dear Mama (4x04)

This episode is going to be difficult for me to classify. I feel like I can list a million things I don't like about it, but at the same time I enjoyed it over-all? Like, my list of complaints is going to give a misleading impression as to my real feelings. I don't know. Let's just dive in.

Cons:

Starting in subplot land... Anatsa feels like a waste of time now that we've seen the end of her story. I get it, she was never going to be endgame with Isobel, but why drag out four episodes were Isobel can't get up the nerve to tell her truth, and then have Anatsa end things right before Isobel actually tells her? Anatsa had so much potential to be an interesting character. Imagine the angst potential, if Anatsa knew the truth and couldn't stop herself from doing her job as a reporter anyway. It would be an interesting parallel to Liz's science putting the aliens at risk. Instead, all the hesitation and Isobel getting a pep talk from Cameron... I don't know. I'm left feeling like a lot of the time we spent with Anatsa was completely pointless, and that's not how I want to feel. Also... Cam saying she still wonders about Max makes me irrationally angry, I really didn't need to know that. Sigh.

Westworld: The Auguries (4x01)

Man, I don't remember season three of this show at all. I just remember being kind of confused by it and not caring enough to figure out what was happening. In other words, a great place to be as we're starting off a new season! Ha.

Cons:

I mean, there's just so much dramatic framing, so much artistry put into the construction of the plot, but things are so convoluted that the impact is often lost. So like, for example, the whole opening scene with William. Is William dead? Is this a copy? I think so, but I literally have lost track. Also Christina - is she Dolores, in any way? Or is this an entirely different consciousness? We have so many people walking around with the same faces that I literally get confused about who knows what, who's human, who's a construct, and what the lines between those things actually are. I know this is my own fault, I know I could pay closer attention, but I don't care very much, and therein lies my problem.

We've got Christina who is working as a writer for NPCs in video games, and finds out that the people she's writing for might somehow really exist. Cool premise. I didn't appreciate the super cheesy "gosh, I'm just writing about simple things like love, and girls who want to break free and go on adventures" vibe, though. It was a little too trite for my taste, and the time we spent with this character was a lot of repetition in what I felt could have been addressed more quickly.

Roswell, New Mexico: Subterranean Homesick Alien (4x03)

Not to be predictable, but an episode without Alex Manes is never going to be my fave. Plus I thought a lot of this was just kind of boring and underwhelming? Let's dive in.

Cons:

So, there were a couple of characterization things in this episode that felt like someone was writing these characters without the full context of their growth. Max, for example, being a little keyed up and nervous and overcontrolling about the new aliens, sure. That tracks. That makes sense. But his hostility towards Michael was a little over the top, and it wasn't addressed meaningfully in the episode. Liz had to babysit him through his feelings and get him to admit that Michael had a good idea, which I found sort of annoying. Also, maybe this is just a me thing, but I hate it when Max uses the name "Guerin" for Michael. It doesn't fit for them.

Speaking of Michael, I rather liked him in this episode for the most part, but I find the inconsistencies in his relationship to music to be sort of annoying. The first time we ever see Michael with a guitar, when he's explaining that it quiets all the noises, he's saying that to Alex. It's part of their origin story together. So when he's telling Bonnie he taught himself how to play, when the two of them are bonding over that, it's weird that there was no verbal or even visual callback to Alex whatsoever.

Roswell, New Mexico: Fly (4x02)

Allie Meyers is a lesbian, the gays are WINNING this pride month.

Cons:

So, this isn't something that's going to change ever, and I know complaining about it is fruitless, but the one thing I want this show to deliver on is more group scenes where all of our characters get to hang out, or at least we get to see different group combos, and it almost never happens! Like, sure, it's cool that Alex was briefly in a scene with Max and Dallas, but I want more of that energy. Particularly, Kyle is going on dates with some random new woman he met at the hospital, and I don't want Kyle to be cut off and in his own little bubble like he was for so much of season two. More group scenes, please!

I like Anatsa just fine, but something in her story-line, the amount of antagonism between Max and Anatsa, just didn't quite seem balanced to me. That exchange was painted as if Anatsa was being unreasonable, and maybe she was, but Max jumped to a level of aggression that wasn't really properly explained. This episode also made me realize how badly I miss Max and Isobel's relationship. We haven't seen them spend any time together this season and I hope that changes soon.

Barry: starting now (3x08)

Uhhmmm. Billiam Hader can we talk? Jeezus CHRISt on a cracker.

Cons:

I think the introduction of the Albert character this season was probably the weakest point structurally. When we get to the big climax and Albert is pointing a gun at a sobbing Barry, I just kept thinking that this guy isn't someone I really feel connected to, in terms of his personal investment in Barry's fate. It's a small thing, but that's one element of the season and this episode that just doesn't click with me as strongly as everything else going on.

Pros:

Let's start with Sally. I love that I predicted something of this a couple weeks back, without knowing I was making a prediction. Sally is back, and she wants Barry to torment Natalie, the way he'd offered to do to the streaming site lady earlier. Barry tells her no, that he doesn't want her to go down that path of violence. Then, we get an intruder breaking in after Barry. He tries to choke Sally and kill her, but she manages to stab him with a knife and then beats him to death brutally with a baseball bat. The killing mostly happens in a closed sound booth so we get to see it but not hear it. When Barry wakes up from being knocked out, he grabs Sally and tells her that he did this, that it was him, that she needs to leave and pretend she was never there.

Roswell, New Mexico: Steal My Sunshine (4x01)

Y'all I'm so happy to have new content of this show! Over the past couple of months my brain has been completely overtaken by this crazy world and delightful characters. I hopped on board just in time to experience the final season week to week. Let's jump in!

Cons:

I thought this was a very strong premiere and set up a lot of the various dynamics that I want to see more of moving forward. I will say that the actual alien-related plots on this show are never all that gripping to me when they stray away from direct connections to our leads... so, I'm interested in Nora and Jones because of the pod squad, I'm interested in Project Shepherd because of Alex... but when you have these new characters and the Alighting and all that stuff, my brain does tend to wander a bit. It's not bad, it's just par for the course with a genre show like this. I guess what I'm saying is that none of this stuff is why I tune in, so it'll never be my favorite!

I was really excited about the Hatch Day group scenes, and then it ended up being so brief, our characters splintering off into different directions right away. I liked what we got, but it was too little. And no Alex, no Kyle at the party... one of my big hopes for this season is that we'll get at least a couple times of the gang hanging out and vibing together. We virtually never get to see that. For a lot of the show, and especially last season, Alex was especially banished from group scenes. I suspect actor availability was a factor there, but in any case, I wanted Alex to be at Hatch Day! Jeez.

Barry: candy asses (3x07)

Well then. Just one more episode and the season is over? What is this nonsense, time is fake!

Cons:

This was probably my least favorite episode of the season? The pacing has been so frenetic and then this one really felt like a held breath, like a pause, in the midst of the chaos. While I expected that to be a good thing, it didn't quite come together for me.

Barry's only role this episode is to almost die and to hallucinate the people he's killed. I get that there were other things to focus on, but I'm not sure I learned anything new about Barry from this. He's dying, he feels guilt about the things he's done... this is not new information.

Meanwhile a lot of this episode was taken up with the investigation stuff over who killed Janice. I understand that for the purpose of propelling the plot forward, you need all of this. But Fuches telling Barry's big secret to yet another person, everyone getting rattled and angry at Barry for what he's done... there's really nothing new here, it's just turning the dial ever-so-slightly on stuff we've been watching all season. It's not that any of this is bad, it's just not quite as invigorating as I know this show can be.