Assured Destruction

It's a short run down of some programmes that I've watched but here it goes ...

Defiance: This has been a decent but slightly lacking first season. Let me point out that I intend to watch the second season and while I enjoyed a lot of the events over the last few episodes such as the wedding, Nikki's downfall, Stahma/Kenya's affair, Irisa fulfilling parts of her destiny and Datak predictably winning the mayoral vote over Amanda, I still feel the show needs to be a bit more adventurous. In a lot of ways, even with some of the machinations going on, the show still hasn't moved into gripping television just yet. Hopefully though it will next season.

Skins: Well, it's been three episodes since I last discussed this show and to be honest, I am not enjoying this final series at all. It's not that the episodes are awful but they just feel uneventful. Fire Part 2 gave us a pretty annoying ending for Effy, Naomi and Emily while the two-parter Pure did nothing to Cassie except give her her a lame triangle, some pretentious rubbish with photography and an unexplored subplot with her family and a stalker to boot. I am beginning to wonder if this six part series would've been better focusing on a character per episode, instead of giving three characters a two parter each. I can only hope that Cook's story, Rise ends the series on an interesting note.

The Americans: I really love this show but what I don't love is that it airs on a Saturday after one of ITV's terrible talent shows though. Like Homeland, this series deserves a better day to air and better promotional material as well. At least eight episodes have aired now and the show has gotten better and better. Philip and Elizabeth are compelling to watch, especially given that now they seem unable to maintain their arranged marriage but it's the likes of Claudia and Stan who are just that tiny bit more interesting though. Claudia has been quite the fly in the ointment for the Jennings since she was assigned to be their handler and Stan's relationship with Nina has been gripping to watch too. I can't see it ending well though. Nina has casualty written all over her.

The Returned: And the series that has continued to dominate Twitter every Sunday night has only gotten better and better. Tomorrow night might be the finale but over the last three weeks we've gotten backstories for the likes Serge, Lucy and Adele and more importantly we've had the town become aware of Camille being alive, Victor choosing not to seek vengeance against the man that wronged him, more stuff with Adele and Simon as well as Julie and Laure and Lena's back getting healed as well. It's going to be interesting to see how the finale will top all the brilliant and surreal stuff that has happened so far.

- Indira Varma has been cast as Ellaria Sand in the fourth season of Game Of Thrones.
- Naveen Andrews will be playing a Victorian version of Jafar in the spin-off Once Upon A Time In Wonderland.
- Sean Maguire meanwhile will be replacing Tom Ellis as Robin Hood in Once Upon A Time.
- Though it's first season has yet to air, Starz have already commissioned a second season for Black Sails.
- UK viewers can watch the final eight episodes of Breaking Bad on Netflix from August.
- Summer Glau will be in the second season of Arrow while Caity Lotz has been cast as Black Canary for the show.
- Luke Roberts has been cast in upcoming CW series, Reign as Simon Westbrook.
- Michael Vartan will be appearing in the second season of Bates Motel, playing George a love interest for Norma.
-  A spin-off for Supernatural is currently in the works with the CW. It'll be based on a character who will be introduced in the upcoming ninth season.
- Channel 4 will air the second season of The Returned in 2014.

Two Weddings And A Liberation

It's been an interesting few weeks for some of the programmes I've watched. I'd like to also point out that shows such as In The Flesh (courtesy of BBCAmerica airing it recently), Dates (courtesy of Channel 4), and The Fall (courtesy of RTE1/BBC2/Netflix) are not being covered here but will be in later blogs during the week. Promise. Anyways, onto the shows I've taken note of here ...

Banshee: This show is ... it's there, isn't it? Seven episodes in and it's good viewing but it's not really compelling stuff. The main interest still seems to be Proctor because the Ukranian mob that are after Lucas and Carrie (who decided to leave her ex tied to a bed in the last episode) are boring as fuck, character wise. Lucas and Carrie are another point of contention as well to be honest. I think I'm getting a little less interested in their backstory but maybe the final three episodes will change my mind on things.

Defiance: Like Banshee, this is becoming another show that just feels there to be honest. It's still probably one of SyFy's better shows but eight episodes in, it's still not really gripping me. It doesn't help that aside from Irisa and the Tars at times, most of the characters don't feel fleshed out enough. It also doesn't help that Nolan is one of the dullest every man characters we've had on TV for a while and while the affair between Stahma and Kenya has shown some interesting enough facets to the characters, it's still the type of tryst that makes me wish this show had an actual gay character as well. On the plus side, at least Irisa is still interesting to watch though.

Game Of Thrones: Did anything remotely discussion worthy happen in the final three episodes of this show? Oh yeah, that's right - every flipping thing was discussion worthy. Season 3 has hands down been the show at it's very best and with the likes of Tyrion/Sansa engaged, the horror of the Red Wedding, Daenerys becoming a liberator and Jon/Ygritte's relationship taking a sour turn of sorts, Melisandre's continued devotion to Stannis's claim for the Iron Throne and Jaime finally returning to King's Landing, it's been a busy bunch of episodes. The finale did feel more like a set up for the upcoming fourth season but it's been such a triumphant season, it's hard to complain. There's a reason why this show has been the best thing on television this year.

The Americans: It's been about five years since ITV last aired a US show in a prime time slot on Saturday and that was the excellent but short lived Pushing Daisies. Thankfully, this show doesn't seem destined to be short lived just yet. Having watched the first two episodes, I can honestly say I love this show. It's got a great premise, a wonderful onscreen partnership with Matthew Rhys and Keri Russell as KGB agents Philip and Elizabeth and it certainly makes you think. I can see why this has gone down a storm and it's nice to see that ITV are going to air another US show, they've picked a worthy candidate like this one. If you're not watching this show, give it a go. You won't be disappointed.

The Returned: It's been hyped to the rafters and the trailers have been aired relentlessly but was the French supernatural thriller worth it? Judging by the first episode alone - absolutely, yes! There are very few original things that can still be done with this particular genre and while I dread that a generic US version is in the works (or will be within a year), the show definitely offered something new as the focus mainly pivoted from creepy child Victor hanging around the local nurse and school girl Camille and her family's reactions to seeing the girl barely aged since her death. It's a wonderful show with some brilliant performances, genuine chills and a nice sense of mystery and confusion. This deserves to be a huge hit for Channel 4.

- Christopher Eccleston has signed up for apocalyptic drama The Leftovers, in which he'll play a reverend. The series will be airing on HBO. Justin Theroux will also feature in the series, playing the lead character
- Speaking of HBO, they'll also be doing a first contact series named The Spark as well.
- Lauren Graham will be adapting her debut novel Someday, Someday, Maybe into a TV series.
- Amanda Noret and Sam Huntington will be returning for the Veronica Mars movie.
- Christian has joined TNT crime series, King & Maxwell.
- Vinnie Jones will be a brutal criminal in the eighth season of Psych.
- Stephen King's Under The Dome will air on Channel 5.
- Marc Gugghenheim has said that Oliver will go from vigilante to hero in the second season of Arrow.
- Bridget Regan has been cast as Neal's love interest for Season 5 of White Collar.
- Michelle Fairley will be guest starring in the third season of Suits.

The Bear And The Maiden Fair

It's been a while but here's a rundown of the last couple of shows I've been watching over the last few weeks.

Arrow: It's been an interesting first season and here we got a finale that proved why this show deserves to run for quite a while now. Dealing with the Glades and the consequences of Moira's confessions are one thing but this show manning up and actually killing off two prominent characters was another and they're characters I'll miss seeing but this episode gave them both interesting exits. Equally as interesting was seeing Oliver vs. Malcolm, Felicity becoming a bigger part of the gang and Roy's own acts of goodness as well. All in all, I can't wait to see where they'll take this show in it's second season.

Banshee: Having watched the first three episodes of Alan Ball's new show on SkyAtlantic recently, I have to admit it's good. It doesn't feel as smart as predecessors such as Six Feet Under or the first few years of True Blood but it's been engaging enough and the ongoing machinations of Proctor have probably been a lot more interesting than the love angle with Lucas and Carrie (formerly Anastasia) but it's not quite gripping yet as a series. I imagine the later episodes will hook me in more but for now, it seems more of a casual viewing than a must see and that's not the only show I can say that about.

Defiance: As with a certain other show, this remains watchable but not addictive television for the moment. It still looks good but the writing and the acting in parts let it down, particularly with Nolan, who five episodes in remains a fairly bland character to be honest. On the plus side, at least the last two episodes gave us more insight into his and Irisa's first meeting (and she remains this show's strongest character) as well as some stuff on Kenya and Amanda's mother and Stahma and Datak's thirst for power and the lengths both of them are prepared to get it. The show does need more of a push though but it's starting to go in the right direction at least.

Game Of Thrones: I am loving this season and seven episodes in, it's shaping up to be the best one we've had and considering the high standard of the previous two, that's really saying a lot. Over the last few weeks, we've seen Jaime put himself out there to help Brienne, the development of Jon and Ygritte's relationship, Melisandre getting her claws into Gendry and Arya being taken by the Hound while Tyrion and Cersei have been forced into marrying Sansa and Loras by Tywin (I could watch a spin-off with him and Olenna) as well as Daenerys putting the slavers of Yunkai in their place as well and Margaery letting her mask slip a little along with Joffrey showing some awareness for other threats. So far, this season hasn't put a foot wrong though the torture scenes with Theon are getting a bit much to handle.

Glee: It's been a rather interesting if polarising fourth season for this show but the last two episodes, especially the finale have been a return to form of sorts. The revelation of the Catfish plot was obvious all along but at least it's finally resolved and Brittany managed to get a rather satisfying exit from the show as well. Also, we finally managed to see Will and Emma get hitched and the subplot with Blaine trying to propose to Kurt was actually better handled than expected. I'm certainly looking forward to seeing where this show will go next season.

Once Upon A Time: Another interesting if not perfect finale. As antagonists, Greg and Tamara have gone from having decent potential to becoming flat out annoying and for a scenario where Storybrooke could've been blown up, it was solved fairly quickly, wasn't it? On the plus side, it does seem like they're setting up Peter Pan for the main antagonist for next season and at least Belle regained her memories and I did like that Regina might be a good guy for the time being along with a big plot for Henry next year.

The Vampire Diaries: Is that it - really? It wasn't a terrible finale but I can't help feeling it could've been a little better. I mean, why did Bonnie have to be killed off and why did Silas have to look like Stefan as well? On the plus side, Katherine taking the cure is interesting, the Delena fans can take some fun in them together and Jeremy seems to be back (as well as Tyler for now) and the gang finally graduated too. Finale wise, it wasn't poor but it could've been a little better but at least next season will be a mostly Klaus free zone too.

- Warehouse 13 has been renewed for a fifth and final season of six episodes.
- Both The New Normal and Happy Endings have been cancelled.
- The Wonder Woman prequel is still in development by the CW.
- Burn Notice's seventh season will be it's last one.
- The remake of Sirens will air on USA Network, starring Michael Mosley, Kevin Daniels, Jessica McNamee and Kevin Bigley.
- Kristin Wiig will guest star as an FBI agent on The Simpsons.
- Revenge's third season will air for 24 episodes in two different blocks as will upcoming seasons of Once Upon A Time, Scandal and Grey's Anatomy.
- Michael Raymond James will be a regular in the third season of Once Upon A Time.
- HBO have picked up a comedy pilot centering on three gay friends and their lives in San Francisco by Michael Lannon and the series will star Jonathan Groff in one of the lead roles.
- 24 will return for a ninth season of 12 episodes in 2014 with the title of Live Another Day.

A Dragon Is Not A Slave

Well, it's been rather interesting with the latest few shows I've been looking at, so here's a roundup of them ...

Arrow: There are only three episodes left for the first season finale and this latest one was a nice gem of an episode. It was nice to see former Angel actor J. August Richards playing someone with genuine menace and there was a nice exploration into Oliver and Tommy's deteriorating friendship as well as the whole saga with Laurel and more flashbacks to the Island, I can't wait to see where else the show will go in the last three episodes.

Defiance: It looks good, it's got an excellent cast, an interesting premise and is created by Rocknes S. O'Bannon but the first two episodes whilst establishing most of the general plots and main players didn't feel quite as adventurous as I was hoping. I am liking the show but I do hope that as the season progresses, it'll surprise me a bit more because so far it feels all too familiar.

Game Of Thrones: There are moments when this show floors me and the last five minutes of And Now His Watch Is Ended certainly did that when Daenerys took her Unsullied, Missandei, reclaimed her dragon and showed the slave masters of Astapor that you just don't mess with her. It's only been four episodes (though three for her) and so far Daenerys has been better served her than she was in the previous season. The rest of the plots however have equally been as interesting - Pod's legendary prowess, Jaime/Brienne's team up, Margaery's growing hold on Joffrey to Cersei's annoyance, Varys's various scenes with Tyrion and Olenna and Arya and the Hound meeting up amongst the chaos with Theon's psychological torment, Bran's warg dreams and the chaos with the Night's Watch as well. We;re not even halfway through this season and it's shaping up to being the show's best one yet.

Glee: After the horribly misconceived shooting episode, it's a relief that the last two episodes have been something of a marked improvement for the show. I like that the show has made Ryder's Catfish plot a little more interesting and delved more into his and Kitty's pasts and the whole night at the ballet subplot with Santana, Rachel and Kurt has been interesting enough to watch as well as the middle one of them getting her Funny Girl part. This season has been pretty patchy in places but these two episodes definitely felt more like a step in the right direction and the last two look suitably decent as well.

Once Upon A Time: An interesting episode where we briefly met Robin Hood, saw Hook bound and gagged in the back of a truck as part of a crazy scheme by Tamara and Owen (both of whom are shaping up as decent antagonists) and more importantly got some more Rumbelle flashbacks whilst dealing with the fact that our sweet Belle is more of a naughty girl now named Lacey, who somewhat appreciates Gold's darker side while Regina managed to suss out what Emma was hiding from her this time. I'm struggling to see how this show has devolved for some because while we've had stronger episodes this season, this was still another goodie and Lacey is a lot of fun to watch too.

The Vampire Diaries: You know what the best thing about the backdoor pilot for The Originals is? It's that it's now picked up for a bloody series and the possibility of a mostly Klaus free fifth season has now become a reality. Which is a good thing because I am genuinely fed up of the character and while Silas will undoubtedly dominate the fifth year, at least the show will have moved on from the originals and that can only be a good thing. As for the last two episodes - still enjoying Elena as an emotionless bitch, finding Bonnie's out of control powers interesting, getting bored with Stefan and Damon trying to get their precious snowflake back and Katherine's snarkiness combined with Caroline's common sense at times is a nice way of balancing things out. However I'm not really sure if I care at this point who gets the cure as long as someone does and soon already.

- It might be dividing viewers and reviewers but DaVinci's Demons has been renewed for a second season of 10 episodes from Starz.
- Expect a proposal in the fourth season finale of Glee, which will also be set around Regionals as well.
- MTV have picked up a Scream series but a writer has yet to be announced for it.
- ABC are doing their own version of The Saint starring Adam Rayner as Simon Templar and Eliza Dusku as Patricia Holm.
- Max Beesley has signed up for a recurring role in the third season of Suits.
- Devious Maids and Mistresses will premiere on new station TLC for UK digital viewers.
- There's rumblings about a plot concerning experimenting on vampires in True Blood's upcoming sixth season.
- Brad Paisley will be guest appearing on an upcoming episode of Nashville.
- Mike Kelley has left Revenge while the show's second season finale will kill off a main character.
- Comedy Central have cancelled Futurama.

First Look: Defiance

It's been a while for Farscape creator Rocknes s. O Brannon and while he's had moderate hits like V and sadly a recent flop with Cult, it seems that his latest creation, Defiance, along with Kevin Muprhy and Michael Taylor has the potential to be a massive hit.

Defiance is a 13 part series set in the year 2046 where Earth has been taken over by aliens and there's now a co-existence between humanity and the extraterrestrial with the action taking place within a town called Defiance. There's also a computer game version as well from MMO that is actually linked to the show but according to producers, not in a way that will deter casual viewers of the series. Still, it's an extra way of enhancing the viewing experience of the series though.

In terms of the cast, former Ugly Betty guest star Grant Bowler is the leading man, playing the role of former Marine and current lawkeeper Joshua Nolan, who has an adopted alien daughter, Irisa Nyira, (Stephanie Leonidas) an Irathient warrior (a feral marauding race) who acts as the deputy for Nolan's lawkeeper. It seems that Nolan's character will be one who'll have conflict with the alien inhabitants of his town.

Speaking of aliens, the two who are definitely worth watching out for in this show are power couple Datak Tarr and Stahma Tarr, played by Tony Curran (24) and Jaime Murray (Hustle) respectively. They're from the Castithan race, who are similar to albinism with the former being a co-founder of the town Defiance and the latter being a very strong political player as the series progresses.

Also in the cast includes former Dexter regular, Julie Benz, playing the role of town Mayor Amanda Rosewater while former The L Word actress, Mia Kirshner is playing Amanda's sister, Kenya, a woman who has been described as a self assured proprietress of a Need/Want bar/brothel/gambling hall while Lost's Fionnula Flanagan will also be appearing in the series as a character named Nicolette Riordan, the former Mayor of Defiance and a mentor to Amanda.

Last but not least another cast member revealed has been Graham Greene as Rafe McCawley along with Nicole Munoz as Christie McCawley, Justin Rain as Quentin McCawley and Dewshane Williams as Tommy Lasalle. With a mixture in different species of aliens, political intrigue, elements of a space western and a post-apocalyptic feel to it, the signs for Defiance are actually looking pretty good. SyFy themselves clearly have confidence in it as talks of a second season have been looming around for a while and even UK viewers will only have to wait a day before seeing the series.

Season 1 Trailer:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B3XKZU459DI

Defiance Game Trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HoWSSoIpXOk&list=UUKy1dAqELo0zrOtPkf0eTMw&index

Defiance - Season 1 airs Mondays 9pm on SyFy US from April 15th and Tuesdays at 9pm on SyFy UK from April 16th.