What I’ve been watching lately: Part 1 of 2

Although I’m not getting to the cinema much these days, I’m watching a helluva lot at home, especially now I’m on maternity leave. I thought I’d share my favourite TV shows with you in case there are some you’ve been missing. This week I’m focusing on the ‘nerdier’ shows – spoiler free. Enjoy!

I’ve just seen the season 3 finale and I’m almost as into it as I was in the beginning – the first season was good and the second was better but since The Flash was introduced I feel like that storyline is stronger, although I do love the crossovers. The show is based on the DC Comics The Green Arrow but, as Luke has informed me, there are a lot of differences with the TV show. If you’re an Olicity fan (Oliver and Felicity), like me, you might be surprised to discover that Felicity is an elderly receptionist in the comic and Ray Palmer is her son. Now that would make the TV show’s love triangle a bit dodgy!

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The ensemble cast is great – I love it when a TV show that is named after one of the characters (The Mentalist, Castle, The Good Wife) actually takes the time to make you care about the supporting characters and this is essential with The Flash spinoff and the upcoming Legends of Tomorrow.

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4MubNoWQiSc]

As with Arrow, I didn’t know much about The Flash going into the show. When it comes to superheroes I prefer my guys and gals to be well-resourced ‘normal’ people, like Oliver Queen/Arrow, Bruce Wayne/Batman and Natasha Romanov/The Black Widow, rather than those who have had something happen to them which gave them powers. It’s probably just because I’m not all that great at suspending my disbelief. But with The Flash I totally buy it, apart from the Grodd storyline. A talking gorilla? Hmmm…

As with Arrow, there are some pretty great female characters too. I hate that this is something that I feel the need to keep mentioning but there are so many TV shows and films with poorly written female characters, if they even exist at all, that it’s worth mentioning when it’s done right. In fact, the entire ensemble cast is pretty awesome – I’d happily watch an entire episode just featuring Caitlin and Cisco. I can’t wait for the season finale tonight!

Taking one of the most popular superheroes of all time and creating a TV show about his childhood, which bears barely any resemblance to the source material, is a terrible idea in theory but it totally works. At least for me. In fact, it’s mainly a Jim Gordon origin story with a bit of Bruce Wayne thrown in for good measure. Of course, as with most recent comic adaptations, there are massive variances, most notably in the addition of character Fish Mooney and the change in the Jim/Barbara affair storyline. That being said, it’s an interesting detective TV show and it’s fun to see how the creators choose to introduce villains we’ll come to love to hate, in particular The Penguin and The Riddler. I’ve yet to watch the season finale so don’t go spoiling anything for me!

I’m only two episodes into this Netflix series but I’m really impressed so far. I love that they’ve jumped straight into the action without much of an origin story, although the flashbacks have been breaking my heart a little bit. I’ve also been pleased when I’ve asked Luke about the comics to find that it’s been pretty faithful – it really is that dark! I’m also already emotionally invested in the characters, particularly the supporting characters again. Foggy and Karen were great comic relief in the second episode.

For a girl whose comic reading has consisted primarily of Batman, The Avengers and Runaways, I’m surprised to find myself wanting to read more. A trip to Waterstones reveals more amazing titles each time so my hatred of e-readers is gonna cost me – I’d much rather have a physical book in my hands. Looks like we’re gonna need more bookshelves!

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We saw the first four seasons back to back in a very short space of time so taking each episode one week at a time feels really odd. I hate waiting when the ending of an episode leaves me wanting more. I guess it’s a credit to the incredible writing. I still haven’t cracked open the boxset I got for Christmas so I haven’t got a clue what’s coming up either. I feel like some of my favourite characters haven’t had enough screentime in the fifth season so far but I’m still hooked!

I’m almost done with season 8 and although the show doesn’t seem as funny as it used to be, I can’t stop watching. I find myself sticking with some shows to the bitter end, even as they lose their luster (more on that next week!) because I get emotionally invested in the characters. If they still exist in the TV universe I need to know what’s happening to them. Plus there’s still the appeal of seeing what happens to the gang as they grow up and get married, etc.

Pop back next week for my other current faves, including The Good Wife and the series finale of The Mentalist.