Fall Season Premieres 2015

Please note, there are spoilers below, if you don't want to know the end of last season or this beginning of this one, don't read on....

I've spent a long time waiting for the Fall (or Autumn as we call it here in the land of tea and crumpets!) premieres, I have spent months feeling like I'm missing a limb when I have nothing to watch every week...  So here is my low down on the this years season premieres.....

Grey's Anatomy - Season 12

I am used to the overly dramatic and emotional finales when it comes to Grey's Anatomy but Season 11 was a disappointment, after the death of McDreamy (Patrick Dempsey) earlier in the season there was no more feels to be had.  There was no cliffhanger to wait for in the opening of Season 12, so where they usually open with a BANG, this season opened with a fizzle.  It was entertaining, don't get me wrong but just not what I'm used to, and I'm not sure about this new found bond between Meredith, Maggie and Lady Shepherd but there are definite storylines I'm looking forward to them getting their teeth into.  Owen and Amelia (will they won't they), April and Jackson (will they won’t they) and Miranda coping with the Chief job.  Lots to look forward to in the coming weeks I reckon......


Once Upon a Time - Season 5

No no no no no!!  I had a feeling I wouldn’t be happy with this season with what last season had to offer and the direction it was going to go in after the finale of Season 4.  I found Season 4 pretty average, there was no excited relationships developing, no unrequited love and no memorable bad guy (the Wicked Witch had her moments, but let’s face it Cruella, Ursula and Maleficent were ok at best!).  The season ends with Emma ‘eating’ the Darkness, so as expected Season 5 opened with her trying to fight the darkness within and stay one of the good guys.  Unfortunately, the presence of Rumpelstiltskin in her head seems to have other ideas.  Cue, 6 weeks later, countless memories lost and were back to the present day and flashback format (which I actually like) but in the present day Emma I the full blown Dark one with all the powers and evil of Gold and none of the charisma of Regina.  She has the power but Jennifer Morrison can not play a bad guy to save her life, she is terrible and I am willing them to get the Darkness out of her ASAP just so I don’t have to put up with her resting fish face any longer.  Other than that it was watchable (well Hook was watchable!).


Chicago Fire - Season 4

The end of Season 3 was tense and fortunately I was behind with last season so I didn’t have to wait long to find out what happens.  Gabby had found the young stripper, Katya dead in Casey’s apartment so I was all geared up for a murder arrest and subsequent fight for freedom for Casey as he has clearly been framed.  Instead, we got a very limp start where the police knew he didn’t do it (assumption over evidence I think!) and proceeded to get him involved in a sting operation to take down Nesbitt and his people trafficking business.  Lame indeed! (there is a possibility I am missing the bulk of the story by not watching the spin off series Chicago PD, may need to get into that!) Ok there were a few good points, Gabby and Casey are finally where they should be and Severide appears to be back to his womanising ways!  Here’s hoping they will up the drama in the coming weeks…


Supernatural - Season 11

Never ones to do anything by halves, Supernatural started with a BANG (and a cloud of black smoke)!! Dean has met with the Darkness and had a good old chinwag, Sam is fighting of strange construction workers with black veins and penchant for murder and Crowley is back on form in his usual and slightly unusual forms in the season opener.  So we know who the big bad guy is going to be but as the boys seem to have no allies left, how are they going to defeat the darkness?! I’m definitely hooked….again!

Vampire Diaries – Season 7

I was already annoyed with this season of vampire Diaries, before it even started, here’s why… In every other season, if someone has died, got trapped in an alternate universe, been possessed or lost their humanity, under no circumstances do they give up.  In fact, they always happen to come across and artifact, person or spell to help them bring that person back, until now!  As Nina Dobrev has left the series, they have had to trap Elena in a spell tied with Bonnie’s life so Bonnie dies, Elena wakes up – simple!  So in previous seasons they would have killed Bonnie for a second or two with a spell and hey presto Elena is awake and all is right with the world.  Obviously, this has to be different because Dobrev has left the programme but it’s annoying that the whole premise of the Vampire Diaries has just changed completely – why didn’t they just fully kill her, no chance of resurrection or spells and be done with it.   Other than that though, I really enjoyed it and am looking forward to what the rest of the season involves now we have new bad guys, the Heretics involved.

The Flash - Season 2

Oh so many feels…. I thought I had cried as much as I possible could over Barry Allen but they manage to stretch it that much further.  I cried happy tears and sad tears but all in all it was a great opener.  Getting a little bit bored of Ronnie being killed off…again… but hey ho – that should be the last time (fingers crossed!!).  Loving the new mentor in the form of Dr Stein, played by Victor Garber and hoping to see a view visits from Oliver Queen and co in the episodes to come.

Arrow - Season 4 

Speaking of which, there will have to be a crossover episode soon to find out who’s grave Oliver was standing over (please don’t be Felicity, please please please)  Laurel has somehow managed to become a new level of irritating and I can’t hope enough that it’s her grave that Oliver is standing over.  Loving Thea’s new bad-assery although it feels like she may spiral out of control very quickly and it will be down to Oliver to save her (or Roy if we are feeling hopeful!).  All in all a great opening and definitely got me itching to see the rest of the season, let’s hope it stays this good unlike last season that seemed to deflate from the middle onwards in my eyes.


Nashville - Season 4

The end of Season 3 was a cliffhanger to say the least, Deacon and his sister both went in for surgery so she could donate part of her liver to Deacon.  The episode ended with Rayna being told there was bad news..... I spent months panicking that Deacon may be dead - only to realise 2 days before the premiere that its likely his sister that had died and Deacon blamed Rayna for forcing her into.  However, what I actually got was his sister in a coma and Deacon 100% fit and healthy and just a little bit upset about his sister’s condition!  It was just a bit bizarre that it started and there was no real drama, other than Juliette's breakdown... I hoping it will step up the drama....and soon!

Supernatural: 10 Seasons, 220 Episodes, 7 Months

Now might seem like a weird time to be blogging about Supernatural, weeks after the Season 10 finale, but bear with me, there’s a point here.

Last year, at the end of November, I embarked on a Supernatural journey. I’d recently started a new job, so close to home I had an extra hour’s time at home in the morning before leaving, which gave me a chance to catch up on some TV Shows. I’d already burnt through The IT Crowd, and I was looking for something new to start. Friends both old and current had recommended Supernatural, and as a Tumblr user, I only understood 50% of my home feed, despite not following any Supernatural-related blogs.

Any Tumblr will understand that the place seems to be run by the ‘SuperWhoLock’ fandom! I’d also received a Supernatural themed tee in Qwertee’s ‘Insanitee sale', and really, I don’t know what other push I needed. I’d worked out that if I watched 1 episode each morning before work, it would take me just under a year to catch up. Spoilers ahead for all 10 Seasons!

I expected to get some sort of Supernatural-fatigue halfway through and give up, but honestly, I fell in love. There were seasons that I loved and will want to re-watch at some point (I’m looking at you, Season 5) and others that I just couldn’t stand (screw you, Season 6). What I didn’t expect was to have finished the entire lot in 7 months. I burnt through Season 6 as I hated the ‘Soul-less Sam’ storyline, and watched it more as background noise than anything else. Season 5 took me no time at all as I fell in love, and Season 7 took the longest as the leviathans bored the pants off me, and I couldn’t bring myself to carry on.

Throughout the last 7 months I really don’t feel like I’ve spoiled too much for myself. I truly didn’t know how each season would end (9 being the exception here) but it still wasn’t the same as watching it ‘live’. 

Now I feel like I understand Tumblr a whole lot better, and I’ve earnt the right to fill blog posts with Supernatural reaction memes! Apologies if this happens all the time now, but hey, I’ve got a lot of catching up to do. I'll also be found singing Carry on my Wayward Son a lot, #sorrynotsorry with that one.

So, am I looking forward to Season 11? I am! I don’t know how everyone else feels, but although Dean irritated the hell out of me, I loved Season 10, and I’m excited to see how the brothers deal with ‘the darkness’. What’s going to happen to Castiel? Anyone else Rowena has mind controlled that way hasn’t lived to tell the story. I’m sure he’ll find a way though. 

Now that there’s a Supernatural shaped hole in my mornings, I’ve started to catch up on Sleepy Hollow Season 2. I thought the first Season last year was full of promise, and I got to meet Tom Mison this year so I feel like I owe it to him. 

Doing it Wrong: My Experience at Birmingham's Comic Con

If you’ll excuse this brief interruption of film reviews, I want to tell you about my experience of Birmingham’s Comic-Con last weekend, where I had an incredible amount of fun at the same time as wanting to pass out or throw up.

It’s nothing on the scale of San Diego or anything else my American friends pull off, but I love our little convention, it’s the only time I can wear a geeky tee and squeal over Pokemon plushies without looking like an escaped mental patient. I’ve been going every year for about 4 years now, and it’s the best chance to bag some pretty cool merchandise that otherwise I’d have to buy online and import from the US. There’s a lady that makes great cupcakes too.

This year I brought a friend with me who’s a pro at these conventions. She’s a huge Supernatural fan and has been to almost all the official conventions, met the whole cast multiple times, etc, etc. I’ve never met anyone famous (that I know of!) and the thought of meeting a beloved star fills me with nausea. 

Well, one of the guests this year was Tom Mison (Who?! I hear you all cry). He’s the star of the current TV Series Sleepy Hollow, he’s delightful, and I’m a little bit in love with him. My friend convinced me to buy a photo shoot pass for him, and told me everything would be fine. 

Roll on last Saturday and we had a great time. The whole show had been taken over by Funko Pop figures, and I scored an absolute bargain on these three little exclusive cuties, thanks to the kind people at the stall not realising their true value. 

My friend had a photoshoot with Chris Gorham from Covert Affairs and Laurie Holden from The Walking Dead around lunchtime, so I waited in the queue with her for a while feeling positively sick, even though it wasn’t my photoshoot. I vaguely hear her mention Tom Mison’s name in a question and turn around to see him walk past, and I freaked. Seriously, I thought I was an actual grown up and I couldn’t cope!

Turns out the photoshoots ran over and whilst I was lingering around waiting, a tiny crowd of about 5 people gathered by the curtains. A staff member wandered over and asked if they were waiting for Tom, which they were, so I grabbed my bags and ran over to join them, in the nick of time, as 10 minutes later the queue snaked back right across the hall! I found myself stood very close to a guy who did not concern himself with personal hygiene, and right in front of a lady with a screaming baby. Awesome.

I hadn’t had time for lunch and at the point my friend and fiance found me, I was feeling faint, shaky and sick to my stomach, I must have looked an absolute mess! They made me practice my smile, and no sooner than the queue started moving I was alone again. In the photo shoot area. In front of Tom Mison. Without the ability to speak. I managed a ‘hello, how are you’, and even a ‘very good thanks’ when he asked me the same before wrapping my arm around him for the photo. He was an absolute sweetheart and did look a little concerned at one point. After the flash, I thanked him profusely before walking straight into a staff member, and then headed to the nearest burger van. Here’s the evidence! Please excuse the psycho killer smile I’m wearing.

Currently Watching: Supernatural

I’ve been really getting into TV Shows just lately. They’re just so good at the moment! After finishing Dexter last year, I needed something serious in my life to contrast all the New Girl and Community I’ve also been watching. One of my friends is a huge Supernatural fan and kept recommending it to me, and since I started my job I found 2 more huge fans, and before I knew it, I was lent the DVDs. FINALLY - although the huge fan to which Allie is referring is not actually me, however I have been bugging her to watch it for ages, so applaud this friend!

Horror is a genre I just can’t stand, but I’ve had in interest in all things supernatural (har-har) since high school sleepovers watching Most Haunted. Plus, now I work closer to home I have just enough time to watch an episode of something with my breakfast before heading off to work. I’d worked out though that at the rate I can watch it...it’ll take me approximately 10 months to fully catch up with Supernatural, and then I realised that it’s actually still going...sigh!

Is there anyone that doesn’t know what Supernatural is about? I’m only 2 Seasons in so this a very limited summary, but each episode follows two brothers, Sam (Jared Padalecki) and Dean Winchester (Jensen Ackles) as they hunt down all sorts of demons, spirits and creatures. They learnt their skills from their Dad who started hunting when his Wife, the brothers’ Mother, was murdered by a demon/spirit/thing.

So far, each episode has focused on a new hunt, with a larger, overarching storyline for each season, which I love. Each episode almost feels like a mini-film and so they’ll be great to re-watch over the years, but the bigger story has enough of a presence to keep you wanting to carry on through the Season. It’s nothing groundbreaking, but for me its something completely different, and that’s why I like it so much. There are tons of nods to classic rock music, and plenty of humour without it being too cheesy, and the banter between the two brothers certainly hasn’t gotten old yet.

Everyone has to have a team, right? That’s how these things work. I thought I would be Team Dean all the way, but actually, the more I watch, the more I’m drawn to Sam. I’m a sucker for a cute, socially awkward hunk I guess! I might change my mind though… Team Dean for me....

Spoilers ahead for the Season 2 finale...you've been warned!

Wow, wow, wow! I had doubts for this Season finale, I'll be honest. The last 3 or 4 episodes of Season 1 were definitely leading up to something big, but I came to the penultimate episode this time round and there were no clues whatsoever to how the finale would pan out. However, the last episode is double-length in two parts, and that worked really well. Knowing that two brothers are still in the seasons yet to come ruined the death of Sam scene for me a little as I knew he would come back somehow (FYI - this will happen ALOT!), but the emotions still hit me the same. I can't wait to start Season 3 now!