Opening Week Review: Grimm

This is the twelfth or something in my series of "Opening Week Reviews" in which I review the pilot or season premiere episode of the shows I plan to watch this season. It's also the last; Grimm was the last one I'm waiting on.  Spoilers will sneak up behind you in a dark forest and howl.  You have been warned.

Police detective Nick Burkhardt (David Giuntoli) doesn't know he's special.  Until he starts seeing odd things--weird, gross faces on otherwise normal people, for instance--and his aunt Marie (Kate Burton) arrives in town to tell him that he's a Grimm, which she doesn't entirely explain, but Nick begins to put the pieces together.  When a college girl turns up ripped to shreds and a little girl goes missing, Nick suspects something weird is going on, not least because they were both wearing red hoodies.  With the help of a Big Bad Wolf, Eddie Monroe (Silas Weir Mitchell), Nick hunts down the other Big Bad Wolf (Tim Bagley) who has kidnapped the girl and is fattening her up to eat her.  At the same time, Aunt Marie is in the hospital in a coma, and something with a nasty face is trying to kill her.  That something with a nasty face turns out to work for Nick's captain, Renard (Sasha Roiz), and they seem to have a plan to kill Grimms.

I'm not quite sure how I feel about this series yet.  It was okay, but there was a lot going on in the pilot.  The acting was pretty decent, but Nick seemed to take everything in stride a little quick.  Not that I expected crying in the corner or anything.  Also, I found the whole "you have to break up with your girlfriend because the life you're about to enter is way too dangerous for her" both insulting (why not ask her if she wants to be part of it or not?) and way too fast.

The show is produced by David Greenwalt, though, who's got some serious credits under his belt (Buffy. Angel. Eureka. The X-Files.), so I'm willing to give it some time to find its feet.  Pilots are rarely a good indicator of the rest of the series, anyway.

Prelims = Done

Today I took my second preliminary exam. That means I'm done. Right? Right. Okay. Sorry, brain is dead.

I'm cautiously optimistic about how I did on these.  The Old/Middle English exam was easier than I thought it would be (which leads to second-guessing and panic because what if it was easier because I read it wrong? All twelve times I read the questions?), and the Pop Culture exam was harder (go figure), but it's done. I find out in a couple of weeks how I did, and then I either get to start planning for my dissertation or studying to retake the exams.

Blaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah.

Opening Week Review: Once Upon a Time

This is the eight-bajillionth in my series of "Opening Week Reviews," in which I review the pilot or season premiere episodes of the shows I plan to watch this season. Spoilers will attempt to steal your firstborn in exchange for spinning straw into gold.  You have been warned.

In Storybrooke, Maine (isn't it always Maine?), the town clock never moves past 8:15, the people don't age, and when people try to leave town, bad things happen. This is because everyone in town is really a fairy tale character, trapped in the real world through the Evil Queen's curse to take away all the happy endings.  Into Storybrooke comes Emma Swan (Jennifer Morrison, House), orphan and self-described bail-bondsperson, brought by the son she gave up for adoption ten years ago.  He insists that she is the person to break the spell on the town and bring happily ever after back.  Emma, of course, is dubious.  The audience, of course, knows better, because parallel to the modern-world story is the fairy-tale story, detailing how Snow White and Prince Charming placed their daughter, Emma, into a magic wardrobe (built by Geppetto and Pinocchio) which removed her from the influence of the curse.

While the premise is perhaps a bit on the cheesy side, the show looks like it will be brilliant, anyway.  Intrigue abounds, since the Evil Queen (Lana Parilla) is the mayor of Storybrooke and Rumpelstiltskin (Robert Carlyle, Stargate: SGU, 28 Weeks Later) owns everything. Jennifer Morrison continues to live up to the acting chops she showed in House, and Lana Parilla is deliciously evil.  Every fairy tale character ever lives in Storybrooke, including Red Riding Hood (a gothed-out teenager who wears a red scarf), her grandmother, a wolf, Jimminy Cricket, and of course Snow White and Prince Charming.  None of them remember who they are or notice that the town is stuck in time, which makes the contrast of the fairy-tale world that much more poignant.

A mix of modern political and social intrigue and fairy-tale, Once Upon a Time is a bit kitschy but shows the promise of being absolutely delightful.  And since it's on ABC, it might actually survive for a full season.

Book Review: Changes (Spoilers)

This review contains minor spoilers.

CHANGES is the third book in the Collegium Chronicles, which covers the time between Vanyel/Lavan Firestorm and Alberich. Purportedly, the series is supposed to describe how the Heraldic Collegium was developed out of the mentor-style learning Vanyel had, but only a very small part of the trilogy is given over to that theme.

In CHANGES, Mags works to finally solve the mystery of what the assassins who have been skulking about Haven (and going insane) really want, where they came from, and why. With the help of the King's Own and his friends, Mags goes into training to become the kingdom's newest intelligence agent and save his love interest, Amily, from the newest set of assassins.

This book was more satisfying than the first two in the series. While the weaknesses that plagued the first couple of books in the series--more on those in a moment--were still rampant here, there were at least explanations for them, as well as some kind of closure (though not as complete a closure as I would have liked). Many of the characters finally (FINALLY) deal with their parental issues, though we never do find out who Mags' parents are and why the assassins want him so badly.

Kirball is still an enormous distraction and annoyance, though at least it serves a purpose in this book; Mags' training allows him to survive some pretty tough spots. However, it takes up the first 20+ pages of the book and was just as annoying as it was in the last book, not least because until the last Alberich book, it doesn't show up again. At least in EXILE'S VALOR, Lackey explains why the game disappeared.

Mags' accent also becomes unbearable in this novel. Lackey's insistence on spelling out everything he says practically phonetically--with lots of apostrophes for missing letters--made easy comprehension impossible. Mags demonstrates at one point that he can speak in a perfectly comprehendable manner, but he chooses not to because it adds to his "dumb boy" image that keeps people from thinking he's anything more than a regular Heraldic trainee.

I love Lackey's other work, and I desperately miss the camaraderie, respect, and understanding among the Heralds that we've seen in other works. While the constant strife is explained in this book, I miss having a concrete reason why people aren't getting along.  It's almost as if Orthallen was the best villain Lackey ever wrote, and without him the machinations are petty and two-dimensional.

3.5/5

Yeah, That Just Happened

Watching a show on the Discovery Channel (though "watching" is a strong word for the practically-ignoring that's actually going on) about bugs. They get to something called a Giant Beach Worm or something, at which point the following conversation occurs:

WE: See, I'd be going, "there's the water . . . there's the worm . . . where's the spice? I want spice that gives me psychic powers."
Me: And turns your name into a killing word.
WE: Indeed.

We are nerds. That is all.

This is Why I Read Writing Blogs

I follow easily a dozen author/agent blogs and several more of these lovely people on Twitter.  Even though I'm not actively in the writing or publishing world right now (thanks, PhD), I still like to keep a finger on the pulse of what's going on and file things away for future reference.

Things like this.  Contracts are funny, complicated things, and the least little bit of fuzzy wording can mess with an author's whole livelihood.  Here's a brief excerpt from the post:

The book was published in November 2007, although the U.S. distribution didn’t take place until April 2008. By spring of 2010, it was evident, through royalty reports, that the book wasn’t being placed on the shelves anywhere (that is, “regular trade channels”). For a couple of years now, it’s sold only a handful of copies per year, and has slowly slid off availability via online sources. (see the screenshot at the bottom of the page)
But when we asked for reversion of rights, the response shocked us: if I would buy the considerable copies the publisher has sitting in their warehouse, they would revert the book. I have to tell you…it felt like coercion.

This, my friends, is why we need agents.  Or at least lawyers who understand publishing.  I know there's a big hue and cry in the wake of the recent upswing in e-book self-publishing about how the publishing industry is broken and that agents are nothing more than middle-people who suck money away from authors.  I'm here to call shenanigans on that whole line of logic.  First of all, as Ms. Durgin points out, the reversion clause could have been much worse.  Secondly, if she didn't have an agent, she'd be facing this alone, fighting this battle alone, and probably getting even less response than she's already (not) getting.

This is why, when I finally finish a novel I deep publishing-worthy, I will absolutely try to find an agent.  I'm not doing this alone.  Ever.

On a side note, Dun Lady's Jess sounds like a fascinating book and I'd love to read it--if the publisher reverts the rights so it can come back into print.

Opening Week Review: The Walking Dead

This is the eleventy-billionth in my series of "Opening Week Reviews" in which I review the pilot or season premiere episodes of shows I plan to watch this season. Spoilers will lumber up to you and bite your face off. You have been warned.

After the insane run-up to the finale of last season, the writers had a lot of fallout to deal with in this premiere.  Andrea (Laurie Holden) is angry, on edge, and ready to explode because of Dale's (Jeffrey DeMunn) actions in the CDC.  Shane (Jon Bernthal) is being a jackass (as usual) and planning to leave the group.  And Rick (Andrew Lincoln) is withdrawn and on edge from whatever the CDC guy told him just before they evacuated, besides all the tension between him and Shane due to the immense catastrophe that his decision to go to the CDC turned out to be.

As far as action, this episode was pretty tame.  Most of it revolved around Sophia (Madison Lintz) getting separated from the rest of the group and everyone going to try to find her.  All the character development happened as a result of that, as well as Rick, Shane, and Dale's decision to take guns away from everyone else because nobody's trained with them.  Andrea calls shenanigans on this one, leading to further tension.  While the episode was pretty good, I didn't feel like the main plot--Sophia getting lost--was enough to support a 90-minute episode, even with all the emotional, character-driven stuff happening, especially since they didn't find Sophia at the end of the episode.

However, from the promo for the rest of the season, it looks like they're going to go back to the books for a bit, which should be interesting.  I'm really looking forward to seeing what they do with this season.

Opening Week Review: American Horror Story

This is the somethingth in my series of "Opening Week Reviews" in which I review the pilot or season premiere episodes of shows I plan to watch this season.  Spoilers will sneak up on you in the dark and yell "boo!"  You have been warned.

American Horror Story premiered Wednesday on FX.  I didn't have time to watch it until today, and I watched it pretty much like this: O.O

After a rough year which included a late-term miscarriage, adultery, and a teenager who engages in cutting, the Harmons have moved to LA and into The Creepy House.  The neighborhood is populated with weird people, including the next-door neighbor--a nosy, bigoted Southern gentry woman--and her daughter--a creepy, death-obsessed woman with Down's Syndrome--both of whom have a habit of just walking into the Harmons' house.  Ben (Dylan McDermott) is a psychologist, and the young man he's treating is suffering from what looks like a mix of Antisocial Personality Disorder, Aggressive Personality Disorder, and Schizotypal Disorder, which adds to the weird.  And then there's the gimp suit that gets up and moves around by itself.  And the maid who Ben sees as a young, sexy woman and everybody else sees as an older, half-blind matron.

First, the show's rated TV-MA for violence, gore, language, and nudity, which made me go, WHAT?  This is FX!  They're allowed to do this on a channel that's not HBO, Stars, Cinemax, etc.?  I have no problem with this because in my opinion, if a horror movie is going to be scary, it needs to be rated R for subject matter, at least.  The spat of PG-13 horror films we've had lately just haven't done it for me; granted, I'm pretty inured to horror at this point, but if I want to be scared, it needs to be psychologically freaky enough to garner an R rating.

The show earns its rating, too.  The maid tries to seduce Ben by masturbating in his study, after which he goes and "takes care" of himself to keep from having sex with her.  We regularly see Ben's naked butt.  There's blood and gore all over.  Violet (Taissa Farmiga) says "shit" a lot and cuts herself.  And then there's the creepy.  And is it ever creepy.

Interestingly, the most believable part of the whole pilot for me was the relationship between Ben and his wife Vivien (Connie Britton).  Toward the end of the episode, they have a screaming fight which shows clearly the actors' abilities--I fully believed that they were venting actual frustrations that had built up over a year--and the writers' understanding of married relationships.  Some of the things they yelled at each other I recognized from fights I've had with my husband.  It was additionally creepy.

I do wonder how they plan to keep this going in a series, but I will definitely watch it for as long as the writers can keep it going.  The whole concept is fascinating.  I will warn you, Gentle Readers, that this show is not for the faint of heart or easily offended.  Viewer discretion is definitely advised.

Opening Week Review: House

This is the eleventy-millionth of my "Opening Week Review" series in which I review the pilot or season premiere episodes for the shows I plan to watch this season. The spoilers will be criminal. You have been warned.

Last season, Greg House drove a car through his boss-and-ex-girlfriend Lisa Cuddy's house and then fled the country.  This season, we learn he was gone for three months, went to trial for . . . something (probably destruction of property and reckless endangerment), and has been in jail for three months and is looking at parole. But of course things can't always be easy, and House finds himself with a sick fellow-jailed-person, a psychotic cellmate, and a prison boss who is demanding 20 of House's painkillers before he leaves . . . and he's not supposed to get in any trouble for five days or they'll revoke his parole.

Spoilers! He gets in trouble.

I'm ready for House to be over.  I think the show has run the gamut of what Greg House can do and be shocking and original.  Now it doesn't matter what he does, really; I'm like, yep. Of course he did.  Duh.  Also, judging by the previews for next week, he gets his freaking medical license back.  Technically, that shouldn't be allowed.  The man was in jail.  Of course, he should have lost the damn thing so many times over that it isn't funny.  But anyway.

I'm interested to see how this season goes, with absolutely nobody even speaking to House anymore, not even Wilson.  But overall, I really hope they're going to wind the show down and end it soon, or else we're looking at going out with a whimper rather than a bang.  And I think Hugh Laurie deserves better than that.