I Can See Clearly Now – In anticipation of Blindspot Season 2

I can’t readily admit that much of the first season of NBC’s Blindspot ever really wowed me too often, but what I did discover was a show that happened to align with much of my tastes and formats that I’ve been scouring TV for, especially in the network space. I guess I should also be glad it was doing well in the ratings enough for early episode orders and a renewal last year.

In the same vein, I could never say Blindspot was anywhere close to my favourite shows in all of the 2015-16 TV season, but it has proven to be an interesting case study in the kind of television I enjoy, and hope to one day enjoy creating – a strong action-adventure series anchored by a central underlying mystery that’s driven by interesting characters (or at least dynamics), and has a somewhat interesting set of themes, theses or questions it wants to address; all in the meanwhile it takes advantage of the episodic format to tell its stories that tie back to its central mystery. Blindspot manages to hit most of those notes, as well as being generally entertaining (on the action-thriller level). It also has a few misses – in my opinion – but that gives it some room to improve, hopefully, as it heads into season two.

Killjoys 2x02 – “Wild, Wild Westerley” mostly moves a lot of pieces into place

There is a lot of setup in this episode that has to be walked through, causing this episode to feel a bit overstuffed, but also slightly unfulfilling by the end of it. A lot of material simply flies past during the course of the episode and there isn’t a lot of substance behind whatever movements the show wishes to make by the end of the hour. 

A lot of this season likely hinges on the team chasing around whatever Khylen and Black Root left behind on Arkyn, although we’re told that whatever was there is long gone and destroyed. The fate of Old Town is revealed, but leaves a lot in the air as it pits Pawter and Jelko (Jelqo? I can never understand how names are spelled in Killjoys) at odds which does plays to Killjoys’ strengths but mostly leaves the aftermath of the rebellion in the background, leaving it to probably be explored later, even as the team's mission brings them deeper into it by interacting with certain figures of the uprising.

Old Town, I would argue, is probably one of the series’ stronger places so it’s a bit of a shame to leave it relatively untouched. There’s not much time for exploration in this episode as the trio jump back and forth with leads and chasing a canister of deadly gas. The Company’s stance on the scarbacks sounds interesting when spoken but we only ever really follow Alvis as he helps the trio to their next lead more than anything. The episode seemed to imply a closer relationship between Alvis and Tarren Tighmon than I expected, but ultimately it seemed less that and more a man (Tighmon) who had become disillusioned by meeting his hero (Alvis).

Despite that I did not feel like there was enough to justify Alvis’ lapse in judgment leading to him releasing the gas in a fit of rage. In fact most of the time following the attack, it never really shows the collateral damage the Company was willing to commit to in order to kill Tighmon (besides killing him and no one else really dying on-screen) and Alvis looking distraught that he witnessed it (but it was really Dutch that was really the one who led the Company to Tighmon). It’s a weird step back from the previous week where a character like Clara existed with her history and emotional depth mostly as exposition but intersected well with the show’s strengths and worked for me. But it’s probably because that the politics of the Old Town storyline are a much larger and readily identifiable and visible part of the show that has been explored in season one, I expected more substance to it. Though again, it’s likely there will be more whenever the hunt for Khylen/Black Root/Level Sixes dies down.

But of course that doesn’t seem likely given the stinger at the end of the episode, because the season seems to also imply that many of the upcoming stories will be from Turin’s unsanctioned bag of warrants that will take the trio around the Quad as both parties search for the truth. As long as part of that search takes them back to Westerley once in a while.

 

Miscellaneous observations:

• Pree is still as fun as ever, which is mostly why I’m hoping the show returns to Old Town more often than not.
• “On what planet were you a warlord?”
• Poor Gared, getting the crap kicked out of him and nearly each of his limbs broken and stabbed. Actually nevermind, it’s pretty funny.
• Not much to add about Pawter. Sad to see Hills go though, but I think the introduction of a new company officer made his fate inevitable. Pawter basically acting as a liaison (or courtier in some way) in Spring Hill could be interesting if the power dynamics and politics of the upper class come into play in an interesting way (or intersect with whatever Dutch, John and D’avin are chasing after).

Killjoys 2x01 – “Dutch and the Real Girl” returns in a way that’s loud and clear, for the most part

I’m always particularly wary when a genre show returns for another season, mostly because I always wonder if this will be the last one and the creators don’t see it coming, but my biggest fear – when it comes to genre especially – is how escalation is going to work. Sci-fi and fantasy shows are generally guilty of this trend where each season they have to plant their flag in the ground and declare that they are going to go bigger, expand the world (universe) more, and just make everything more deadly to our heroes, because we can. And in a way, it makes sense, because the creators have grown more confident with their craft, but as a viewer and also a writer, it’s something that makes me wary. Do the stakes truly need to be upped so high every time? Because I feel like I have seen this happen and fail more often than it working out in favour. And that’s a shame if it befalls a show like Killjoys.

Maybe some of those fears are there, for me at least. But the season opens strongly in something of a dream sequence. John, D’avin, and Dutch are all back together, background exploding behind them for no good reason and they’re ready to kick some ass again, ending in a kiss that gives off sparks, which I found oddly amusing. The imagery is great though, but it quickly boots us back to the real present, with D’avin being experimented on to become a level six killjoy (but failing), and Dutch and John trying to find a way onto Arkyn.

The real meat and potatoes of the episode leads to the introduction of Clara (and Alice!), a modded-out woman that carries the one thing on her Dutch and John (and Pree) need to get onto Arkyn. It is Clara though who proves to be the most interesting aspect of the episode, as she embodies much of the series’ strengths and themes of family, trust, and purpose as strongly as the main trio do. It’s likely she’ll reappear again, hopefully more often than not as she embarks on her own journey that hopefully crosses paths with the main characters.

On the other hand, though D’avin’s journey is interesting in of itself, the fact that it’s tied to Khlyen’s and that there is an ever brooding, more insidious, looming threat that makes even the straight-faced Khylen shake feels a bit more cliché. Hopefully there is more to it than that but it’s probably safe to assume it’s just greater unknown organization that hides on the dark side of the moon or outside in dark space whose plans are probably going to be inscrutable to the viewer for a while. The only relief is that Fancy is back, albeit as an antagonist, but at least a familiar one. Hopefully they use him for more than end of episode teasers where he does something vaguely evil to drive the point home that his bosses are evil.

At this point I’m probably leaning more towards how the show wants to continue or resolve the Old Town storyline, as it is a bit more personal to the characters. One of the strengths of the show is that cohesion of character tied to world building. It’s still present when D’avin realizes he’s seen Dutch in his dream-vision/old memory/green goop hallucination, but there’s not much behind it yet as much as the rest of the show’s other storylines. But I’m willing to give the show the benefit of the doubt. It is only the premiere and the show still knows how to have fun, after all. Sometimes that’s all you need to do.

Miscellaneous observations:

• Pree is a fantastic addition to the team who fits in on their first mission, no questions asked. He was a former criminal, after all. He knows his way around.
• Lucy is as sassy as ever, which is also great.
• I have the feeling the show is maybe inching towards putting John and Clara together, and I guess I like this idea a lot. Lucy probably does too.
• I found it odd that amidst the sadness of the Old Town reveal to D’avin, Dutch seemed to really only care about Pawter and Aldis. I’m sure she means well but there are clearly all the other citizens that could use your help!

Person of Interest – “return 0” contemplates life and death, and brings us back to the root of the series one last time.

Much has probably been written about the finale since it aired (and I’ve read some of it too); I’m writing this almost two weeks after it has aired, mostly because real life has gotten in the way though I did find time to watch it the day the finale aired. And I must say, it was an exquisite finale, possibly one of the finest ones I’ve had the pleasure of watching.

Person of Interest ends somewhat expectedly in some fashion and unexpectedly in other aspects. Taken as a whole, “.exe” and “return 0” are very introspective episodes that make up the two-part series finale. There’s not much bombast; you can possibly blame that on what seems to be a fairly reduced budget for a fifth season show that had the rug pulled out from under it, but it does bring the series to a fantastic end. And a possible strength lies in the open-ended ending. The story you’ve watched is over, but as the last line in the show tells us, “... and maybe, this isn’t the end at all.”

Person of Interest – “.exe”. It’s a wonderful life, but Samaritan is inevitable, I’ve found.

The importance of human life has always been a theme that has permeated Person of Interest since its beginnings, and once again the show returns to that. People on an individual level matter and so do the choices they make. As Finch continues his journey to stop Samaritan, he ponders on the choices that have led him to his current circumstances. He has some doubts, if not regrets, about whether or not creating the Machine has actually made the world a better place, and whether the friends that he has met – and lost – along the way, was worth it, even at the cost of saving all those lives.

Person of Interest – “Synecdoche”, rounding off the numbers by threatening the POTUS

I guess “Synecdoche” is it. This episode is the last proper number-of-the-week the show will ever have. So it makes sense to go all out and threaten someone with the stature and gravitas of the President of the United States. Like similar episodes that find their place in the flow of a season of Person of Interest, this does quite a bit of work as the show rounds into the final two episodes that will end the show forever. It is an episode that concentrates equally outward and inward, as it unfolds more about our characters – because in the final two episodes, it is inevitable the show will be as such – and presents to us almost a consolation prize. A could have been – a spinoff show, or a look into the Person of Interest Expanded Universe™.

Person of Interest – “The Day The World Went Away”, but maybe there’s something on the other side too

“The Day The World Went Away” opens with Finch pondering and reflecting on what is the last five seasons of the show, and whether or not he is, or will be the catalyst for the death of his friends. He surmises that his intervention might be the one thing that will directly lead to all of their demises, and by the end of the hour, he is proven right, twice.

It is interesting that this episode revolves around Finch, but also at the same time does an incredible job with sending off what are essentially two vital pillars of the show. These were two characters who were on a bad path until they intersected with Finch, and found themselves entangled in his cause. The past, present, and presumptive future all collide in the 100^th episode of the show, both as a plot device and as ways to stir character and emotional development. The show never fully relies on the parallel narratives employed in shows like Lost and Once Upon a Time fully, choosing to employ it sporadically, but treats it with much care when they do. But they also have five seasons of character development and history to fall back on and loyal viewers know every thread running underneath every interaction.