Monthly Archives: February 2017

As Easy As Falling Down a Rabbit Hole

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It happened before I realized what I had done. I had just finished watching season 4 of Switched at Birth and nothing on my Netflix list was really grabbing me. I had been itching to watch some Alias, as you do when you’re a J.J. Abrams fan. So, thinking I would just watch an episode or two while I decided what my next binge watch would be, I pushed play on the pilot episode.

Two and a half season later, I find myself in the middle of an accidental series re-watch. How does that even happen? It’s as easy as falling down a rabbit hole. The premise, the characters, the script and the acting just suck me in every single time. I’m completely defenseless when it comes to this show. I knew I was in trouble when I realized I watched five episodes without leaving the couch.

Sydney Bristow is probably my all-time favorite kick-ass female character on television. She is the one who gets sent in on missions, while the boys play supporting roles and act as her backup. Yes, Dixon and Vaughn take on their share of the bad guys, but Sydney is the one who ends up fighting three or more thugs solo.

The thing is, it’s not just Alias. Sure, it was my introduction to J.J. Abrams. (I never watched Felicity.) But, after Alias, it was LOST and then Fringe and Person of Interest. In between the successful shows, there are the ones that had potential but just didn’t quite catch on, like Alcatraz and Undercovers and more. I haven’t even gotten to the movies. All of these shows, all of the movies point to one thing J.J. Abrams is a genius. I will watch anything he touches. He’s just that good.

J.J. is extremely talented in his own right, but he also surrounds himself with talented people. In my house, we call them the JJ Minions and there are many of them. And many of them have moved on to their own projects. Eddy Kitsis and Adam Horowitz worked on LOST. They are the minds behind Once Upon a Time. Alex Kurtzman and Roberto Orci worked on Alias and Fringe. Since then they have worked on other shows and movies, including the new Star Trek movies. One of my favorites of the JJ Minions is Michael Giacchino. He is a composer who has scored almost, if not everything, that J.J. Abrams has directed and produced. The main theme for the new Star Trek movies is one of favorites. For me it ranks up with the Star Wars and Superman themes by John Williams. When someone as talented as J.J. Abrams works with all of these talented people, magic happens. We, the fans, reap the rewards when we watch the television shows and movies created by all of these talented people.

Next up for me from the mind of J.J. Abrams – the Cloverfield movies. Somehow, I manged to not see them and it’s time for me to rectify that.

 

 

Welcome to Haven

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Haven is a Syfy original series. Haven is also the name of the very troubled town in Maine where the series is set. Actually, that should be Troubled with a capital T, which rhymes with… – you get the idea.

I have had Haven on my to-watch list for several years. I added it when I read that Colin Ferguson from Eureka had been added to the cast in 2013. Eureka is such a fun, quirky show and Ferguson’s Sheriff Jack Carter was a big a big part of that. Which is why I wanted to give Haven a chance. It’s not the first time I’ve followed an actor to a new (to me) show. That’s actually why I watched Buffy and Angel, because I had watched Bones and wanted to see more of David Boreanaz. So, Haven remained in my Netflix queue waiting for the day I decided to take the leap. That was about ten days ago when I saw that new episodes had been added, making the full series available to binge.

That’s exactly what I did – seventy-eight episodes in about eight days. Let’s just call it my Netflix coma. Here’s why it was to addictive – to me and maybe you, too.

After the first few episodes, I was comparing it to Eureka without the silliness. Strange things happen in Haven, with no apparent explanations. Strange events that get chalked up to gas leaks, power outages, strange illnesses or weather phenomena. And weirdly, the people of Haven seem to accept this.

Then there is FBI Agent Audrey Parker and Haven PD Detective Nathan Wuornos. Both characters are interesting and little mysterious. Audrey, newly arrived in Haven, resembles a woman who had been in town twenty-seven years earlier. Nathan has his own Trouble that affects only him, unlike most of the other Troubles in town. It doesn’t hurt that there is an almost instant chemistry between the two of them, either. By episode three I was shipping Audrey and Nathan just as hard as I shipped Damon and Elena or Booth and Brennan. Hard.

As the series progressed, I realized it wasn’t as similar to Eureka as I originally thought. Most of the happenings in Eureka were caused by geniuses who didn’t look at the consequences of their experiments beyond their labs. In Haven, there is a supernatural force behind the strange events that plague the town. (Yes, there were even plagues in Haven.) That force and the mystery behind it combined to lure me in.

The final piece of the puzzle for me was the characters. Audrey and Nathan are surrounded by a town filled with likable and also mysterious characters. Duke Crocker, the self described pirate and Dave and Vince Teagues, owners of the local newspaper, are just a few. Duke is the guy that you are maybe supposed to hate, but just can’t. Dave and Vince know far more about events in Haven than they are willing to reveal.

If you are wondering whether or not I would recommend Haven the answer is ABSOLUTELY. I confess to being just a little obsessed with it right now. In fact, I might be planning on jumping into a re-watch very, very soon. You should give it a try, too. As I said before, the complete series is available on Netflix.

If you are looking for a quirky show to watch, I recommend Eureka and Warehouse 13. Both of the Syfy shows are fun, not taking themselves too seriously. There are even a few cross-over episodes between the two. Unfortunately, only season five of Eureka in on Netflix and Warehouse 13 has been removed completely. They are both available for purchase on Amazon Video, if you want to give them a try.