TV Shows! There’s Too Many of Them!

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Breaking Bad, Downton Abbey, Golden Age of TV, Master of None, Netflix, Netflix and Chill, Salem TV Series, streaming TV, television, The Man in the High Castle, TV, TV Shows

Hee-hee! I just had to say that!

But really, there are a lot of great TV shows out there and I’ve watched a few programs I hadn’t seen before in recent months. So, with my favorite shows not yet airing their latest seasons (Game of Thrones, House of Cards, The Americans, etc.), I’ve decided to dedicate this post to the other shows I’ve watched:

BREAKING BAD:
I finally jumped on the bandwagon and decided to see what was so awesome about this show. Early on, I could clearly see why. Excellent acting, great storyline, a lot of suspense and tension, plus amazing characters whether they were likable or not. Like many who watched this show before me, I became addicted to this show, though there were times when it got too much and I had to take a break from it. I have to admit Walter White’s arrogance started to get to me around the time he began working for Gus. It made sense why he became a meth cook, but his ruthlessness came to the surface early on, and sometimes I had to wait a few weeks to watch the show again. I knew he died at the end of the series, and I wanted to see how.

But boy, during the last season, I wanted to kill White myself. This guy became pure evil by then, and I found it intolerable. I’m still haunted by those episodes, two months after watching them. I guess a lot of people are, based on what others say when I bring up the show to them.

Overall, though, it was a great show. It really asked the question about what people would do in certain situations, and it captured the human reaction to difficult moments. Sure, there were some truly evil people on this show, but there were also truly human people here. Meaning, there was no right and wrong to what most of the characters did; they were just stuck in difficult situations and trying their best.

SALEM:
I only saw the first season of this (I believe) Canadian show on Netflix, but I am hooked! It’s a fictional take on the Salem witch trials – only this time, witchcraft is real here! And by witchcraft, I mean, satanic worship. This may offend some people who call themselves witches in the neo-pagan sense. I don’t know if the show got the two confused, but all I can say, it is an interesting take on the historical elements on this fascinating moment in American history.

The one thing that I didn’t like was the opening credits. Marilyn Manson sings the show’s theme song, and I feel his heavy rock sound does not mix well with this historical drama. I mean, the show is about the 1600s, and here’s this loud, rock music setting up the show. It just doesn’t fit to me.

But anyway, the show has good acting and a juicy storyline with a lot of twists and turns. The costumes are awesome too. There’s a few scenes that I couldn’t watch because they involved either too much blood or a large tarantula. But I am eager to see more episodes to a show I already consider one of my favorites.

MASTER OF NONE:
Another show I’m glad to say is one I will be looking forward to see in the future, mainly because this is a comedy. After finishing Breaking Bad on Netflix, I needed something lighthearted and funny, so I chose this. Thankfully, I did because I had a good laugh for its whole 10 episodes! I like how Aziz Ansari captures the confusion of trying to be an adult when you’re in your early 30s – living in New York, no less. It was also good to tackle the issue of racism towards Indians in Hollywood and elsewhere in America. This is definitely a show I’ll be looking forward to see more episodes from.

THE MAN IN THE HIGH CASTLE:
I barely watched this show. OK, I saw three or four episodes. But I couldn’t continue. Not that its bad, because it isn’t. It asked its question of what would the world be like if the Nazis and the Japanese won WWII, which I am sure many people wonder. Well, the answer is, a lot of people are being ruthlessly killed. I mean, the Holocaust is still ongoing. It just got too depressing for me to continue watching. It is a good show with good acting and a fascinating plot. But the way life in America under the Nazis and the Japanese was too overwhelmingly sad for me. Maybe another time I’ll watch it, when I am ready to brace the depressing world, but not now.

Right now, I am watching Downton Abbey again. I stopped watching during Season 3 because I didn’t think I could handle all the character deaths. But after all the other shows I’ve been watching, I think I could handle it now 😉

 

Book Review: “Kushiel’s Avatar” by Jacqueline Carey

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book reviews, books, Jacqueline Carey, Kushiel Trilogy, Kushiel's Avatar, novels, reading, reading a book, reviews, trilogies, Trilogy

While I was reading “On Writing” by Stephen King, I was also reading the final book of Jacqueline Carey’s trilogy about Phèdre nó Delaunay, the famed courtesan of Terre d’Ange, an alternative look at the history of France and the rest of the world. You may remember that I didn’t particularly enjoy the second book in this trilogy, but I just had to find out what happened to certain characters in the third book, “Kushiel’s Avatar”.

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Like its predecessors, “Avatar” is long, and slow moving in some parts. There’s a lot going on, a lot of history, and a lot of traveling. There’s a lot of characters, but only some are hard to remember. It’s a wild journey here, that includes some moments that are tender, fascinating or intense. Even more so, there are moments that are difficult to read because of the brutal abuse done to Phèdre and other characters. Remember, Phèdre has been chosen by the angel-diety, Kushiel, to experience pain and pleasure as one. And she has a mission to fulfill as the deities of Terre d’Ange guide her to stop an evil presence, so her tendency to experience pain and pleasure come in handy – for better or for worse. For this reader, it was for worse.

At the same time, Phèdre is on her own quest to free her childhood friend from a curse. This quest leads her to find the true name of God from a forgotten tribe and to risk her own safety by revealing that name at the appropriate time. While we never know what the true name of God is, we are hinted it through translations from various people who overheard.

The book then ends with a festival in Phèdre’s honor, who is at peace after nearly 15 years of defending her country, freeing her friend, seeing the world, and enduring pain that she sadly found pleasurable at times.

I found this book to be more entertaining than “Chosen”, mainly because Phèdre is more tolerable here. She is not the arrogant, foolish character she was in the previous book. Here, she is more humble, though probably because she endures suffering beyond many people’s comprehension. I still found her to be boring, however. I don’t know, Phèdre is just not an interesting character to me. She seems flat at times, with no real personality. I found many of the other characters, particularly Joscelin, Queen Ysandre, Hyacinthe, Kaneka, and the villianness Melisande Shahrizai, to be more fun to read about. I guess it had something to do with the narrative. Maybe Phèdre just isn’t a good narrator for her story, but she is for others.

The philosophy of this trilogy, love as thou wilt, also doesn’t seem to be fully shaped. Maybe I didn’t get it or something, but I also think because Phèdre is not an interesting character, it is hard to see what love as thou wilt means. I do like how the author, Jacqueline Carey, is trying to create a world where love is the law, and love rules. Or at least I think she is. I don’t know, I just felt confused at times.

What I did love about this book was the numerous countries explored here. Places that are obviously Egypt, Iraq, Ethiopia and the Congo, are lavishly described and one can imagine these places as being very beautiful – or in the place we know as Iraq, very ugly and horrifying.  I found it interesting while reading this book that the place we call Iraq, but known as Darsanga here, has a great evil coming from it that could destroy the world, and yet in our world, ISIS is the great evil hurting the world, and its coming from Iraq. Not that I think Jacqueline Carey foresaw the future, but what irony!

Anyway, the book ends happily and peacefully. The best part of this trilogy, for me at least, were the many countries and cultures explored and reimagined. I also liked Phèdre and Joscelin’s enduring love. In the previous book, those two were strained, and Joscelin did a lot of pouting, it seemed. Here, he is more vibrant and stronger, and you could feel the love between those two from the pages. It’s real, with its ups and downs and trials.

There are more books about Terre d’Ange from Jacqueline Carey, but I am not sure if I would read them. I feel as if I’ve explored the world she created enough, and its time for me to read about other worlds. It’s been a great journey, really, even though I wished Phèdre was better guide. I still recommend this series, though I do warn the reader about its shortcomings. What I believe is as soon as a reader finds what they like about the adventures of Phèdre no Delaunay, they’ll be able to read past what they don’t like about her story. One thing for sure, they’ll be in for a wild ride!