Season Finales

Here we are, at the end of the season for many a show, and we all find ourselves a little bit lost. Fear not, there are still many good shows to keep us satiated, like Game of Thrones and Legend of Korra. But right now I find myself thinking about whether these finales were worth all of the build up and if they've actually made me wanting to see the next season. Since there are quite a few that have just finished up I'll list them all out here:

Once Upon a Time:  What can I say about this show?  It first caught my attention because it's mixing the modern day with magic and another world, which is one of my favorite kind of plots.  But, to be honest, the show is very slow and very boring.  For all the time that we as an audience put into the show there just isn't enough payoff.  Granted, it is the first season, and the show is sold as a mystery, but even as a mystery it feels like nothing of note happens.  In the season finale (spoilers) we find out that August is the grown up version of Pinnochio, and he is turning back into wood because of his life as a hedonist instead of helping our heroine throughout her life, as he promised he would do.  In the episode before it he tried to trick Rumplestiltskin into thinking he was his long lost son, which I kinda wish he was.  There's this stupid line that August says where he asks if he even looks like the lost son, and to be honest, the older actor looks more like the kid who plays Rumplestiltskin's son that the kid who played Pinnochio.  Pretty much all that happens in the finale is that August reveals who he is and the lead runs away with her son.  That's it.  A whole season dedicated to her making that decision, something that could have happened in the first few episodes and only taken 15 minutes of screen time.  I was lost after they killed off the huntsman, him being clearly the coolest actor and character.  But there we are.  Will I watch the second season?  Maybe, in one go, but I won't be waiting for it.

Breakout Kings:  The season two finale was absolutely stunning.  It was chock full of everything that makes a dramatic television series good.  Good acting and characterisation, good writing, good tension, I honestly can't get enough of it.  Because I want you to watch this series I'm not going to give away any spoilers, but I will say that there were so many twists and turns that I had no idea what was going to happen next.  What I love about this series is that everyone seems like a real person, trying to run their lives on logic but having strong emotions and loyalties getting in the way.  If you haven't seen it watch it, it's definitely worth your time.   I can't wait for season 3, especially considering the big question posited at the end of the finale.

Castle:  This is a series that I'm a little bit on the fence for.  It has its good moments and its bad moments.  Because it is a syndicated series that has been around for several seasons it has a formula that it sticks to, which is some random person is murdered, the suspect is something weird or goofy, and then Castle and Becket go and catch the killer with sexual tension thrown in.  A good part of the show is about the sexual tension between Castle and Becket, and (spoiler) they finally get together at the end of the finale.  Yeah, that was nice to see, but you could see it from a mile away.  Honestly, this is really old school writing, and it would have been a much more dynamic show if they were off and on and stuff like that.  A show that does stir up this convention, and does it well, is Dexter.  In a way Castle is like a PG Dexter in a way, a show that's interesting and is a different take on the cop drama, but is safe for prime-time TV.  Now that they're together and Becket has resigned from the force the fifth season is going to be a lot different.  I'm sort of looking forward to it because I like Nathan Fillion, but I sure am not looking forward to the schlocky non main plot episodes I know are going to be there.

The Vampire Diaries:  I know this show is meant to be a high-school dramarama like all of the other stuff on the CW, but I've loved it since the beginning.  Simply because of Ian Somerhalder's portrayal of Damon.  This is going to be very spoiler heavy, you are warned.  I've sort of read the books, so I kind of knew what was going to happen, but the show goes off the book a lot, and in my opinion in a good way.  So, long story short, Klaus's body was killed, but his spirit was moved to Tyler's body.  Weird, but they can do something with that.  Elena trying to make a decision on which Salvator brother to choose was very reminiscent of Catherine's romance with both of them, but Elena was trying to be a good person and choose.  She chose Stephan right before she died, which happened very much the way that it had in the books.  And she turns into a vampire.  The difference is that in the books she was drinking the blood of both of the brothers and just so happened to drink more of Damon's so when she turns she has a sire bond to him.  In the show that one doctor who heals people with vamp blood had taken some of Damon's blood earlier in the series and had given that to Elena when she was taken to the hospital earlier.  You still with me?  So, since the sire bond was introduced with Tyler earlier in the season, and that it's in the book, Elena is for sure going to be sire bonded to Damon.  I'm looking forward to that.  I'm disappointed that Klaus and Alaric are gone, but I'm sure that Elijah, who's still around, is going to have some cool stuff to do.  I am very much looking forward to season 4, and Elena being a vampire, even though I don't much like vampires generally.

So there's still a lot of shows either on or coming out this year, and I'm both looking for stuff and dreading others.  I love how Game of Thrones is bringing the books to life, and I love how Legend of Korra is a big ball of fun, drama, comedy, and some mystery thrown in, and I have no idea what's going to happen in the next episode.  It's going to be an exciting summer.