Thank God I'm Not Related #TheFamily #ABC #3WeekRoundUp

Thank God I'm Not Related #TheFamily #ABC #3WeekRoundUp

Picture courtesy of ABC

Uggghhhh! Ohhh myyy gahhhh! This show is so tedious. So, I know that I've been back for a few weeks now, but even in that time I haven't gotten back to the regular entertainment stuff, talking about TV, movies and books (#ANewLow coming soon; season 2 of #TheWriter coming this summer), but that's because I've been focused on the gardening stuff because food is really important. Also, the entertainment I've been seeing is just so... (sigh!) I don't know what to say. Frankly, a lot of the shows have really ticked me off as of late. 

To start:

The X-Files reboot/continuation(?) was so disappointing and bad that it felt like Marlon Wayans or the Farrelly Brothers wrote it as a parody series. The comedy: far over-the-top from the original; the acting: (I'm looking at you David Duchovny) completely phoned--no, texted in; and I am flabbergasted at how a six-episode season could still manage to have at least one filler episode. That were-lizard thing? What da hell was dat was? Admittedly, I feel ashamed that I actually liked that episode. To top it all off, the ending was a big middle finger to the fans. Nay, it was a multi-million dollar Rick-rolling perpetrated by FOX.

I'm Hiding My Disdain For Being Here Behind These Sunglasses

I thoroughly enjoyed Galavant, but it has such little hope of coming back for another season or ever being anything other than a cutesy little show in January that it's hard to support.

American Idol has very decent, eclectic talent this year but the producers and network have decided to rush it so much that it's hard to immerse myself in the excitement it once used to bring in its hay day. With the exception of Clarkson's emotional Piece by Piece, I haven't found a memorable season-making moment, hence why this is its last season (I hadn't seen it in at least three seasons). Sad. I thought it would be bigger.

Limitless has become heavily so-so from episode to episode. Same goes for Grey's Anatomy (#GreysAnatomy). And speaking of Shondaland, I am a big fan of her but lately I've been getting really irked by her shows and her comments on her shows. As I said way back at the beginning of the season, Grey's Anatomy was never fully about Meredith. It was a love story about finding one's tribe, rather than finding one's self. The whole ultra-feminist tone it has taken where every week it is about the feminist cause does not fit what the show used to be. I am still DVRing the show, but I haven't watched in weeks.

How to get away with murder (#HTGAWM) has still been quite good. But if any show of Shonda's was built for femininity and woman power, it was Scandal. I knew that from the first season pre-premiere advertisements, then realized it would have a love story. But even knowing that, I feel... It's hard to describe. I feel like this show has lost its way so much, that I can't see it getting back to greatness, doomed instead to limp to its ultimate series finale where a woman is made president (Shonda said she already had an ending in mind when she started the show; I guessed that this would be it, and it would probably be Mellie, especially after that ill-advised #ImWithHer Hillary Clinton commercial. Again, I am not going to say I support any candidate, but I will say that having the spokesperson/main character/actor of a show make a campaign commercial like that can alienate a fanbase that disagrees). 

The epitome of this loss in direction came from the comments from Shonda herself when asked about Olivia's shocking and rather off-putting winter finale abortion. When asked when Fitz would find out and how it would effect their relationship, she responded, and I'm paraphrasing, "Does he have to?" What? Putting aside the fact that Shonda has literally used abortion as part of the "strong/independent/feminist" trope in every one of her shows (Yang got rid of her baby with Owen, Private Practice talked about it ad nauseam), it's just lazy writing to suggest that this issue will never come back up. If it's a non-starter, then why show it to us? Writing 101 teaches us to only put in what is needed unless in the case of satire, irony or sarcasm. It really does nothing more than allow us to hate or at least strongly dislike this powerful, independent black woman, especially if it was meant as a character-building/defining moment. What's she done? Broken up a marriage because she thought she was in love, helped rig a presidency, helped to get countless friends murdered, helped to cover up murders, allowed herself to be pawned in death games she has always come out unscratched in, dumped the guy she thought she was in love with because it inconvenienced her to have the responsibilities of real love and aborted his baby. She started as a white hat. She's now nothing more than the epitome of a (here comes the hate and backlash) black bitch--yeah, I went there. And I don't even like the term and know how offensive it is, but am shocked to see how well it fits. At least when other shows do it, we know we're supposed to loathe a certain character, but are we still supposed to like her and root for her, because that's how it was posed to us at the beginning of the show. As an aside, in a review of the first season of The Writer (#TheWriter) the reviewer said that he didn't feel sorry for the titular character, however, I never made it a point to try to force the reader to feel a certain emotion about the character. That's where this differs. She was billed almost as an angel, a savior of complicated people who would still be suspected terrorists, disgraced lawyers, battered wives or stuck in a hole without her. And now, well, she's "on her own journey," ~Shonda's words.

There's also the NBC shows, mainly You, Me and the Apocalypse which... (sigh). Man, I've sighed way too much writing this. I might have to write another post for that show even though it's far past the #3WeekRoundUp phase.

Fox threw Lucifer at us. I knew the Devil was a lie but I didn't know he was more boring than Grandma Beatrice who does nothing all day but take eucalyptus baths, talk about her stories, smoke menthols and refuses to take off her raggedy gray wig she bought in '92 because she swear up and down it make her look like Aretha Franklin. That raggedy dead cat on yo' head don't make you look like no Aretha Franklin! I digress. The only two really good shows oddly enough both have the words American and Crime in them. American Crime Story: The People Vs. OJ Simpson and American Crime, with the exception of the latter's finale, have been exceptional. I don't know what the heck that American Crime finale was. Hectic, directionless and nearly subverting the entire season. Still, I expect both of them to be competing in the best dramas Emmy/Golden Globes categories next season, because anything else would be a crime in itself. Yes, that was easy wordplay. What, was I not supposed to take that chance? You should know me by now.

And then there's this show. Wait, did I seriously spend that much time talking about all the other shows before even getting to this one? And I wasted a second sentence pointing that out? Wow! I must really not like this. Yes. That is correct. To start, multiple people on multiple sites have commented that this show is based on or similar to the real-life story of some French man named Adam who pretended to be a lost/kidnapped boy who had been missing for over a decade. Not only was he not the kid, he was considerably older than the kid as he was a young-looking fully grown man. Admittedly, I wrote a book a little similar to this premise which I haven't yet released, but trust me it is not this and that is not clouding my judgment.

The premise: a boy goes missing and, after ten years of being gone, presumed kidnapped and dead, he returns alive. While the family is glad he's back, not everything is sweet roses. Not only has a lot of drama happened concerning his case--his previously jailed kidnapper is released a few days after he arrives back home--he has come back different, and not just the expected different. Through the first three episodes, it is shown that many of the things he supposedly remembers as a child have been studied, learned either from repetitious rote-memory, practicing of past mannerisms and speech cadence (he studies a video of how he used to talk at one of his birthdays), or through keen observation of photos. He really knows nothing about who he used to be or what his family was truly like outside of reports. Sounds good and involved, right? Spuuuth (that's me blowing wind and spittle through my lips like a spoiled child)!

OK, I must first get the elephant out of the way (by the way, did anybody see that adorable clip of that pink albino baby elephant? I'll see if I can find the vid for you) and say that while I want to support black actors and actresses as much as possible, the woman they got to play the role of the lead detective is just not very good. Frankly, I want to see everyone in the entertainment industry do as well as they possibly can because I want good entertainment and I don't like putting people down when it's not that good. But nothing about her character rings true. For one, she's too young. Yes, Adam's case propelled her to the detective position, however, that was ten years ago when she was still in her mid-to-late 20s. She should at least look in her mid-30s. She looks 20 and not an older-looking 20 but a Hollywood 20. You know, the kind that studios cast as teenagers or college-age kids. If you slapped one of those cheap blue policewoman's sexy Halloween costumes on her, you would think she just came from a Frat party. And if that isn't bad enough, there's little authenticity in the way she acts. Every line came off as a line: forced and sometimes cringe-worthy.

Quick! Which One Of Us Was A Teenager 10 Years Ago?

The partial failure of her character lies within the hands of the writers. On the first episode she sits to have a meeting/interview with him and the family as the case has now been reopened and they need to catch this kidnapper. Well, as she asks "Adam" about what he remembers surrounding his captivity, he tells the story of a tiny room that the man used to molest him in--a detail his mother definitely didn't want or need to know in great gratuity. During that, he mentioned that he saw a dragon that would breathe fire at him.

At this point you're probably nodding or waffling your head side to side, saying, "So? Sounds reasonable." It does, doesn't it? An eight or nine-year-old boy seeing a dragon. They'd know what a dragon looked like, some by that time can even draw a pretty decent dragon. Naturally my first thought, as I'm assuming (I know, really bad to do but I have to do it here) would be most people's first thought is that the boy was talking about a ceiling painting, poster or even a tattoo on the man's back. But noooo! Somehow this eight or nine-year-old knows deeply about symbolism and metaphors and, as far as the detective knows, has constructed this dragon metaphor in place of what he really meant to say. He really meant some smoke stacks that came from a refinery or mine or something deep in the forest that glows red in the evening. Whaaaat? Yeah, that was my reaction. I still don't know what offended me more: the fact that she never bothered to look for a place that had a real dragon painted or posted in a room or the fact that the writers totally went with this and allowed her to find the supposed kidnappers hovel in the woods precisely where the metaphor led her. In either case, this has now set up the notion that anything said or done by either the boy or anyone else not only can but should be viewed as a metaphor. If the boy tells them that the guy smelled like manure, instead of it cluing them into him working on a farm is it going to mean that he is actually a bomb maker that uses the nitrogen in fertilizers to work for a local terror organization? You see the leap in logic? Ridiculous.

The Accused Kidnapper, Not The Real One

Then we have the stuff about the rest of the family. The mom is running for governor, the dad is a best-selling author who wrote a book about dealing with the grief of losing his son. He's also a philandering depressive lay-about that was sleeping with the cop. Listen, I knew that the father and the young cop had an affair but the scene in which they have sex in the interrogation room when anybody could walk in or peep through the blinds or maybe even look at the video that so many IR's have these days was too much. Not only that, but there was so little passion in it and they have zero chemistry that it felt forced to the nth degree. The druggie/drunkard brother is the only one suspicious of this boy, and the sister manages her mother's campaign. She also blames herself and her bigger brother for losing Adam as she was supposed to be watching him when he disappeared. She was an irresponsible teen, yadda yadda yadda, now she's a conniving adult. Though, through the structure of the story--a borrowed and oft-used trope from Lost, the show is told in both current and flashback segments (I know, Lost didn't invent it but still)--she is shown to have plotted with her father to frame the creepy neighbor who went down for the boy's kidnapping/murder. Why she's that demented has yet to be revealed but suffice it to say that she's the most interesting character on the show, even though you would expect it to be our big star. 

Red Rover, Red Rover...Wait, Nevermind

That's right the mother, played by Joan Allen of... well, Joan Allen fame (I ain't got time. Check her stats!), up until three episodes in has been mostly useless character-wise. There was some vim and raucousness from her in the third episode where she went off-script during an interview about getting back to the campaign trail after Adam's return, but much of that has sizzled. The show seems to have billed her as the one we are to root for, but even as the doe in the headlights, she fails to garner real sympathy in both the present and the flashbacks. Even as her emotional matrix widens, she feels more political and cold in her home with her family than she does out in the public. Isn't she grieving? Or is she even happy her son has returned? In seeing tons of local (remember, Ohioan here) and national coverage of the Amanda Berry, the other two and Ariel Castro's story, the parents were always near deafening tears to learn that they're daughter was home. I know, the case of Berry is different, but still I can't help to think that the parents' reaction would be much closer to a roller coaster heart drop than the sorta Annie Hall "La-Di-Da" that we've been getting.

After all of that, this is so incredibly hard for me but I'm going to have to give it a D. Yikes!! Like I said, I hate being critical of anyone else's work because I know first hand just how hard the creative process is, but this isn't good... so far. Maybe it'll get better as the show builds and the mysteries deepen, however, I'm not sure that the strangeness of the creeper and suspected kidnapper lurking through the scenes of the show will keep you wanting more each week. Yes, it does bring up the question of who the boy really is and if he's telling the truth, but the presence of the potential kidnapper coupled with the boy's sudden appearance actually makes you wonder more, "Wait, if the boy isn't Adam, but he was kidnapped and molested by this man, then why would he lie about who he was? Isn't that a good enough story on its own? What would he get from lying about who he is, if he truly is a victim?" The only possible answer that makes sense is that he was a child no one ever reported missing, thus was free to endure such torture and only lied because he thought no one would care otherwise. Or he was completely unrelated just like in the real-life case of the French guy, but then how would he know of the metaphorical dragon and the sex cave, unless the two are strangely unrelated.

I shouldn't have to say at this point if you should be watching or not. I think you already know my opinion on that. While ambitious, this show raises more eye-rolling production questions than gives answers to actual mysteries. It feels like a half-hearted effort from some of the industry vets and a futile attempt at brilliance from some of the younger actors trying to hone their craft. For the love of goodness, where is Secrets and Lies? At least that had Ryan Phillippe and Juliette Lewis.

What do you think? Am I being too harsh on this show? Have you even seen it? If so, do you like it or no? Will you keep watching? What's been your favorite part of the show so far? And who do you think the boy is? To me, he actually looks similar to the supposed kidnapper. Let me know in the comments below (hint: click the no comments button if you see no comments).

Check out my new 5-star comedy novel, Yep, I'm Totally Stalking My Ex-Boyfriend. #AhStalking

If you’re looking for a scare, check #AFuriousWind, #DARKER, #BrandNewHome or  #ThePowerOfTen. For those interested in something a little more dramatic, check out #TheWriter. The full first season is out NOW exclusively on Amazon. If you like fast action/crime check out #ADangerousLow. The sequel A New Low will be out in a few months. Join us on Goodreads to talk about books and TV, and subscribe to and follow my blog with that Google+ button to the right.

Until next time, "What do you mean Mark Watney's missing? It's seriously gonna take four years to get him back? Oh! Well... has anyone called dibs on his Bose system? I just wanna borrow it for four years. I'll give it back when he returns. So long as he doesn't come back all weird and... Johnny Depp-like. "

P.S. Did I make two space references to end this post that had nothing to do with space? Yeah, I did. I was looking for something that would pair well with the premise of the show: person being lost, person suspected dead actually being not dead, person coming back and being completely different. Frankly, I'm proud of myself, and you should be proud of me. I remembered that horrible Astronaut's Wife Depp movie that no one does. I'm givin' you people a gift.

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My Bonnie Lies... and Kills and sleeps with younger man, while Annalise Likes the Older Ladies. The Insanity is Real. How To Get Away With Murder is Back #HTGAWM #PremiereWeek

My Bonnie Lies... and Kills and sleeps with younger man, while Annalise Likes the Older Ladies. The Insanity is Real. How To Get Away With Murder is Back #HTGAWM #PremiereWeek

All Pictures Courtesy of ABC 

Wow! Along with Empire, How To Get Away With Murder's (#HTGAWM) premiere was probably the best. There was a whole lot of drama, sneaky, twisty, turn-y goodness that I’m sure a lot of us fans didn’t see coming, and some stuff that is sure to send a few long-time viewers into a tizzy and earn Viola Davis at least another Emmy nomination. We’ll see if the writers can scrounge up some love come this time next year.

To start, everyone wanted to know who killed Rebecca. Cute little grunge rocker Rebecca caused so much trouble last year for Annalise, her team and her students that anyone within the group could have killed the girl just out of spite. And that was exactly what happened. After Annalise and Frank spent half the episode trying to figure out if Wes or one of the other kids did it, Frank finally made his decision that it was his past girlfriend/bunk buddy Laurel who killed her. But by that time, Annalise had already figured out the real killer was Bonnie. We all should have known that this quiet little white woman always giving everybody the side-eye and looking like a defective model of the Stepford Wives was doing dirt just from the fact that she slept with Asher. I mean Asher... really? And she had kissed on Sam once before. And I thought that swerve Asher gave her was a thing of wonder and beauty. Whatever they did that night must not have been too impressive to him or he knew she was screwed up because he did not want to go to her house for more.

Why did Bonnie kill the girl? Because she was an inconvenience. She knew too much, they couldn’t keep her on a leash and Wes would end up doing her bidding like the little errand boy he is. Speaking of Wes, he got all bold and hostile with Anna last night when he showed up late to her class, then told her he wanted her to pass him over on a question. He searched for old dead girl but still couldn’t find her, giving that up after he and Annalise talked.

Apparently, all that teenage angst he showed served no other purpose but to get Annalise even more hot and bothered for him than she hinted at being last season. It culminated in her rubbing down his body in a club. Listen black kid from Harry Potter, she’s too old for you, you don’t know what you’re doing, you’re going to get hurt. And I’m not just talking emotional scars, either. Mrs. Keating looks like the kind of woman that will have you bring a pack of red bulls and make you do your stretches before you come to her bedroom. Enter at your own peril.

As if Annalise had just one place to turn for satisfaction, the producers threw a wrench at us all when they had Famke Janssen arrive as an old law school friend. She was called to defend Annalise’s ex-cop boyfriend from having to go away for Sam’s murder—secret lover vs. jealous husband always plays—but refused to take the case when she learned of Lise’s set-up of the man. But everything was made alright when Anna went to visit her and they explored some wounds left behind. Apparently, they were more than just friends and put each other to bed circa J. Holiday 2007. Now, I’m well and fine with LGBT characters as I have some in my own books, but just so we’re clear, can we get a solid history sheet of each character on the show? I mean, is everybody gay or bisexual? Or is it just the minority characters? Also as a side note can you believe Famke is going to be 51 and Viola is 50. Yet Hollywood has a problem. Check my article later about what Anne Hathaway said a few weeks ago.

Finally, there was the case of the week which will turn into the case of the season as two adopted children are charged with killing their billionaire parents a la the Menendez brothers. First, the gang had to get their current lawyer thrown off the case by leaking him footage so clearly doctored they shouldn’t have even bothered. Then Annalise took over. And finally, we saw a shot of the real big mystery of the season as Annalise lay dying in the very house of those children a few months down the road and Wes running away like always.

Who stabbed Annalise? What craziness will this season bring? Who is going to wear the other out in the bedroom first, Annalise or Wes? And were you shocked by the whole Annalise is bisexual twist they threw at us last night? Do you love it, do you hate it? Let me know what you think in the comments below.

As always, check out my books on Amazon (if you’re looking for Halloween scares check  #AFuriousWind,  #DARKER, #BrandNewHome or #ThePowerOfTen). For those interested in something a little more dramatic, check out #TheWriter. The final episode of season one of The Writer is OUT NOW. Ahh! That’s right, all 15 episodes are out now available exclusively on Amazon. Join us on Goodreads to talk about books and TV, and subscribe to my blog.

Until next time, “you is kind and you is important.”

P.S. Words from the movie The Help? Yes. Remember, without it we probably don’t have this show. We can all use a little help sometimes. I think it fits. Oh, so you don’t like that one either? But... but... fine. I’ll think of something else.

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Why I am offended by Ellen Pompeo’s response to why Grey’s can’t go on without Derek. #GreysAnatomy

Why I am offended by Ellen Pompeo’s response to why Grey’s can’t go on without Derek. #GreysAnatomy

Pictures Courtesy of ABC

A few weeks ago, in late August sometime, I read an article on The Wrap (thewrap.com) entitled "Ellen Pompeo Is Offended Fans Think 'Grey’s Anatomy' Can’t Continue Without Patrick Dempsey’s McDreamy." In summation, the actress defends the long-running show’s (of which I have been a fan since day one) decision to kill off Dr. Derek Shepherd. For those not in the know, in the most controversial part of last season, Shonda Rhimes decided to murder one of the lead and favorite characters of the show when contract disputes and other behind-the-scenes foolishness went on with Mr. Dempsey. Naturally, fans were upset as this was not the way we wanted to see this heart-wrenching TV love end, especially after investing 11 years in their courtship, marriage and the trials and tribulations of raising a young family. Even worse was the way the show decided to get rid of him—by having him narrate his own death and dying alone, devoid of any other characters interacting with him on his deathbed or any long goodbyes. They didn’t even have a scene of ghost Derek having hot sex with Mere. Then, they skipped ahead a year so they could sprint through the grieving process and, apparently, take on a lighter tone as has been hinted at by the actors this season. Mind-boggling!

These changes left many viewers (including yours truly) sick to their stomach. Don’t get me wrong, Grey’s has a history of killing you off the show if you want to leave. However, the way in which they treated McDreamy felt dirty, callous and just plain wrong. Cristina had a complete farewell season, stocked full of teary-eyed moments and recalls of how great the friendship between her and Mere had been. George got to appear in his military uniform and at least got to be around his friends when he died. Little Grey was surrounded by “family” in the calamity of the plane crash. McSteamy got a whole episode where he talked to everyone he loved and cracked jokes. This is not to mention some of the other more controversial exits of Katherine Heigl’s Izzy and Isiah Washington’s Dr. Burke who talked bad about the show and/or their fellow castmates and got to live for a possible future return.

No, McDreamy was made a bastard for wanting to go to D.C. to cure Alzheimer’s! He was told he wasn’t needed and basically that he was a hindrance to his wife’s proliferation. Then, to try to redeem him in the last second, they gave him half an hour of heroism before a jumping-the-shark-worthy death narration. This felt like a dagger to the heart, a dramatic Shakespearean twist that left you dissatisfied and your literary professor saying, “you just don’t get Shakespeare.” No, I got it, I just didn’t like it (note: I actually enjoy Shakespeare quite a bit and did take a course on it in College to revisit some of my high school favorites).

I thought, wow this was a real disservice to the fans but maybe there’ll be some redeeming quality in the show for the season ahead. And then came this article.

In it, Ms. Pompeo argues that Meredith is perfectly capable of carrying the show all herself just like the two other Shondaland shows How To Get Away With Murder (#HTGAWM) and Scandal (#Scandal). In it, creator Rhimes also makes a psuedo-argument for feminism in some way, saying that

“Meredith could evolve as a woman, independent from a man.” 

What the hell? So much wrong with this.

Side Note: As an author I am always challenged whenever I write something on just how my work will be used, interpretated and consumed. My episodic novella series The Writer (#TheWriter) this summer was meant to explore that very thing. However, I also realize that artists at some point are expected to cater to their fans as the work is no longer theirs. It is for this reason why this phrasing from these two women upset me.

Making this into a feminist move and declaring this as an opportunity for Meredith to grow is missing the essence of the show and why fans fell in love with it in the first place. Grey’s, unlike Scandal and How to Get Away With Murder, was always meant as a coming-of-age love story (or at least viewed that way by the fans). That is how it was presented to the audience. Coming-of-age for adults (baby meds as I called them, fresh from med school) into fully-formed people, doctors, life-savers, and how they navigate those waters. The love triangle was between Meredith, Shepherd/McDreamy and Cristina to see who was going to love and be there for Meredith the most to help form her into the woman she would one day become. It was a romance that also tested the bonds of true friendship and sisterhood. Hell, the very first episode, the very first scene sets up the love affair between Shepherd and Grey. It went from being a fling, to a forbidden love, to a complicated love, to a disdainful love, to a sacrifice everything love, to a real adult love, to a family love to a people will write about us kind of love.

This is what we tuned in for week after week. The people. Not the cases, not the drama with who would be chief, not even to find out who would next be living in that trailer in the woods. No, we tuned in for the McDreamys, the McSteamys, the Averys, the Dennys—and this is coming from a guy. Some of us also tuned in for the music, but mostly the relationships. Shondaland’s other two shows, however, are different.

Both Scandal and HTGAWM were always solely about the one woman and not the group around her, but even when you did remove the forbidden love triangle from Scandal, the show veered into something it wasn’t per Shonda’s own admission. Scandal turned into Alias. Sidney Bristow, where the hell are you (probably still chasing Rimbaldi artifacts). They were completely different. They didn’t rely on love. Grey’s did.

Now, Cristina (one part of the triangle; the best part of friendship) is gone. Shepherd (the other part of the triangle; the yin to Cristina’s Yang (see what I did there; holy crap a parenthetical in a parenthetical. You're breakin' the rules, man!) that balanced Meredith) is gone. This is a love story devoid of love, replaced with, what? Independence? Hmph! Well, OK. That’s fine in the end, just don’t try to make fans believe and rally behind something the show never was. I once looked to Grey’s to have my true love and friendship fantasy satiated. I guess I’ll look elsewhere for that from now on.

What do you think fellow Grey's fans out there. Am I overreacting to her comments? Do you like this new direction the show will go in, moving away from the love that once bolstered the show? Do you think it'll be the same show without Cristina and Derek for Meredith to balance herself off of? Let me know what you think in the comments below. Oh, and don't construe this as me never again watching the show. I will watch, but I have to wait and see if I like it anymore as last season disappointed in so many ways. Hint: click where it reads “no comments” to comment.

As always, check out my books on Amazon (if you’re looking for Halloween scares check  #AFuriousWind,  #DARKER, #BrandNewHome or #ThePowerOfTen). For those interested in something a little more dramatic, check out #TheWriter. The final episode of season one of The Writer is coming this Friday. All other 14 episodes are out now available exclusively on Amazon. Join us on Goodreads to talk about books and TV, and subscribe to my blog.

Until next time, "... then I'll know how to save a life. Ba-doo ba-doo ba-doo ba. Ba-doo ba-doo ba-doo ba. Ba doo doo doo." 

P.S. OK, so that may be lyrics from The Fray's "How To Save A Life"--a song made even more famous by the early days of the show--but I think they're good lyrics here and they apply, especially since I so hope Grey's doesn't need saving after this season of upheaval. 

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It’s Death Season Everybody #GreysAnatomy #Scandal

It’s Death Season Everybody #GreysAnatomy #Scandal

All pictures courtesy of ABC unless otherwise stated.

OK, so it seems as if every show this season has taken a turn to start killing off characters (or in Scandal’s case, giving us every reason to believe that a main character is dead, even saying he is dead only to bring him miraculously back; how the hell is Jake walking around so calmly after one week?) drawing from #HBO’s #GOT or Game of Thrones for those that are uninitiated. Two months ago Sleepy Hollow killed the black guy, Crane’s son and his wife. The Flash killed Cisco but then brought him back through time travel because Kyle Reese hadn’t impregnated him yet with the savior of the human race from the future robot takeover. Wait, why does that sound like a plot to a completely different movie or TV show (#Genisys). Revenge killed of Victoria Grayson, then ABC killed off #Revenge and CBS seems to be doing the same thing for #Stalker. #Empire killed off Vernon and killed in the ratings, but now contract disputes are trying to kill its second season. I feel like somebody is about to die on Nashville, and one of the CSI incarnations should die if only to prevent further world domination.

Of course, the two most shocking deaths came from #Shondaland, both of which I must say disappointed me. The first was Jake’s non-death death. That guy got stabbed more than Caesar and was left on a table to die, which, mind you, should have killed him with the moving of his body alone, right? His would-be killer, from what I remember of the previous episode started stabbing him while he was lying on the floor. He would have had to move his body onto the table after the guy was unconscious.

But did they let him die? No! No, they didn’t. And why not? Maybe for a big May sweeps blowout where everyone dies, I don’t know. But what they did do to me was a bit of a cop-out. Instead of killing Jake they killed some old spy, her grandchildren and her handler—people who we could hardly give much of a damn about. There was some Mellie stuff going on which I still haven’t figured out how I feel about it. If I’m going off on a tangent, it seems like they’re going to try to make Mellie president so they can extend the show longer with there still being a power/romance triangle (Liv and Fitz getting together after his presidency and him not being anything more than a mere citizen doesn’t seem as appealing but who knows). But for the most part, everything around B6-13 is now dead, as in not being pursued... of course, until the end of the episode in which Liv finally figures out who it was that tried killing Jake and leaked about the spy and her grandchildren. Outside of Jake struggling to survive in a dingy, filthy makeshift emergency surgical suite, it didn’t seem as eventful as it should have.

The authentic and most disappointing death to me was on Grey’s. SPOILERS! Derek died. Yeah. Yep. So that happened. If you’re not reading my feelings (and I know you are, you’re probably pretty smart), I hated this departure from Grey’s. When I wrote “Derek died” I realized that that was exactly how it felt watching it. It was so simple, so brief, such a flippant add-on to the season to me that it felt devoid of something. It honestly felt less like one of the two stalwart main characters of the show died, and was more akin to someone’s fat lazy hamster dying. You still feel sad about your friend’s hamster, but... they didn’t really care about that hamster; why should you? Whereas so many others that left Grey’s that might not have been as deserving of their exits were showered with the presence of others, Derek was left alone to mentally monologue his way toward a brain injury that would ultimately prove too severe for him to recover from.

This came after he saved the lives of four people on a mountain highway (after the Callie car crash why the heck are they still traveling those seemingly deserted scenic mountain roads?) after two vehicles got into a crash. Then, while he was busting a U-eey (that’s how the cool kids say it), a semi-truck T-boned his vehicle. He can’t even say his name but the doctors at the nearest hospital don’t do a CT scan and that is when he dies because they ignore the brain bleed.

It wasn’t the fact that he didn’t get to say goodbye to Meredith or that she came and quickly shut the machine off giving up hope in a matter of hours, but it was how the entire episode made it feel like there was drama going on behind-the-scenes with Patrick Dempsey. Yang got a long drawn-out goodbye that took essentially the entire season, Lexie and Sloan got a nice sendoff and at least got to say stuff to their loved ones. George got his 007 signature and a dream sequence where he showed up in uniform. Teddy got a strange declaration of love where Owen loved her enough to let her go. But Derek didn’t get any of that. To me, his death was about as bad as Webber’s wife passing away and him mentioning how she died. Maybe he’ll do a Denny and come back to have some hot ghost sex with Meredith one last time, but outside of that, I didn’t care for this “tentpole” character, the original McDreamy, the one that girls were going crazy for in the first season—I didn’t care for his departure. I know he wanted off, but it was better ways to send him off than that.

If that weren't bad enough, the next couple of episodes deal with his death in a strange way to me. First, I didn't appreciate the full one-year jump in time over the two-hour special. Don't get me wrong, I have enjoyed these jumps in time in the past on other shows and even on Grey's, but those were generally made at the very end of the season/beginning of the next season. I watched this week's episode and had to constantly stop and remind myself that it had been a year since Derek died and apparently Mere had a baby. What? This didn't even come after a long hiatus, just a big "we're skipping nuanced character development because we don't wanna continue mourning Derek, so here you go fans!"

Then they introduced this young new guy which, let's be honest, looks like a younger Dempsey clone. Luckily, he's only an intern right now, but I can't fathom any turn where they didn't bring him in to be a new guy for the female fandom to obsess over. I don't mind that at all, but the entire episode felt strange. Did anybody else notice the music? Remember those many years ago when Grey's first came on and was partially made famous by the soundtrack of up and coming artists like The Fray and others that brought a soothing calm, emotionally tethering us to the characters, that voice-over and the situations in the show? Well, last night didn't really have that. I know, some episodes have it and others don't, but it didn't feel good like the old Grey's did. It felt like ER which is not what I ever wanted from Grey's.

Finally, there is Derek's sister. Between her and Meredith, they seem to be the only two still reacting to his death, but for some reason I just can't bring myself to like her character. I never watched Private Practice. I tried, I didn't like it, I didn't go back. One of the reasons was because I didn't like the characters all that much. Now that Derek's sister is on here, it seems like the entire season has been about her. While I'm sure she has her own fans, I am not one, nor do I really like the other "black" Grey/Webber.

For me, with the killing off of Derek, the news that Ellen Pompeo wants to leave too, and the changes to the show, focusing on characters I just can't seem to care about, I might finally have to walk away from the show after this season or next. I know, diehard fans will hate me, but it just isn't the same and that is the real shame.

 

What do you all think, readers? Did you enjoy the ending of Derek (#RIPMcDreamy; #EndofMere-Der)? Or did you think that it wasn’t as good as some of the other notable departures from the show? What do you think about all the deaths in shows this season? Is it keeping your favorite show interesting, or is it starting to get a little overdone? And most importantly, are you still sticking with Grey's? Is it better than ever or do you also hear the death bell tolling for your viewership? Let me know in the comments below (click the no comments button if no one has left a comment yet).

As always, check out my books on Amazon (out now: The Provocateur, The White Cockatoo, A Dangerous Low, A Negotiation of Wounds) and soon to come (#BrandNewHome, #ThePowerOfTen, #Darker, and #TheWriter). Join us on Goodreads to talk about books and TV. Subscribe to my blog and leave your comments below.

Until next time, It was the Best of times. It was the Worst of Times.

P.S. OK, so I kinda went literary with my signoff. I’m still working on it, gosh! Get off my back about it people. It’ll come naturally and when it does, it will be a spectacular signoff. Anyways, Books!
 

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