#rewatched with my brother and his partner recently while I was visiting

[lasagoofs]

it's that time of the year again (hlvrai rewatch)

[thelifeofkaiblog]

Name 5 tv shows you watch a lot

•*•*• 20th June 2017 •*•*•

5 shows that I watch frequently….

• “Law & Order: SVU” - Olivia Benson and Odafin “Fin” Tutuola are amazing! The others are cool too, but OB & OT have been in it since the beginning - with OT joining in season 2, I think. He replaced Michelle Hurd’s character and she went on to star in Blindspot, which I occasionally watch. I was conflicted about the original partnership between OB and Elliot Stabler (Christopher Meloni) because ES was often too aggressive and it bothered me that OB’s character kept backing him up, even when his actions were questionable at best. That said, in more recent seasons (since ES left SVU), she has remarked on how her old partner would bend the rules and it wasn’t right. I was also very happy when OB adopted a baby/toddler, rather than the typical “meet someone, get married/pregnant, etc.” The show made it clear that it was tough and balancing a highly demanding job with being a single parent was never easy.

• “Criminal Minds” - I love the relationship Penelope Garcia and Derek Morgan have; I also think Garcia’s positive attitude, quirky style and the fact she’s not super slim like the others is perfect. I think the characters develop well through the series, though I never liked Lola Glaudini’s character and was quite relieved when she left. I also felt Thomas Gibson’s portrayal of the team leader seemed quite stiff and couldn’t warm up to “Jason Gideon” (Mandy Patinkin), so I was never really emotionally invested in their characters. I think everyone has a nice relationship with Dr Spencer Reid, with most being protective of his awkwardness and fact-spouting, but the relationship between him and JJ is particularly sweet. I find the behavioural analysis intriguing, though, and I’ve been hooked on it for years (same as L&O: SVU). I also enjoy the “Criminal Minds: Beyond Borders” show - I adore “Mae” and I think the group dynamic is nice. CM: BB has a small team of 5 and CM has a larger team varying between 7 and 10 members at a time, roughly.

• “iZombie” - Squish and I starters watching this on Netflix a while ago, just as one of those “pass the time”/“is probably cringey” shows. It is pretty cringey, but we did end up liking it enough to keep up-to-date on the episodes. Rose McIver looks awesome with the platinum hair (wig), super pale skin and dark eye makeup. I also quite like Peyton and Ravi’s characters, though I hope they unjumble the mess. As for Blaine, I hated him at first, then the character grew on me and now I’m undecided - I saw the actor first on Once Upon A Time (Netflix), which I used to binge-watch, but haven’t for a while.

• “Orange is the New Black” - this is tricky. I never jumped on the bandwagon with it, but I do like watching it with Squish. I’ve only seen the newer seasons and a some episodes of the first ones. I don’t like Piper, Alex or Ruby Rose’s character. I don’t understand the craze, but hey. I loved Samira Wiley’s character and I really connected with “Taystee”.

• "NCIS: LA” - Kensi (Daniela Ruah) is badass and she has to be in a relationship with Deeks (Eric Olsen), her real-life brother-in-law, so fair play to them and her husband (Eric’s brother) who is Deeks’ stunt double! I also like the team dynamic here, with Hetty (Linda Hunt) always being taken seriously regardless of her appearance, Sam (LL Cool J) and (Chris O'Donnell) Callen’s relaxed friendship, and the weird (but totally worthwhile) Nell and Eric moments.

I’ll add a 6th program, but I only watch the new episodes now, as I’ve seen all of the others multiple times and can’t keep rewatching all of them, unlike Criminal Minds and L&O: SVU, where there are only a handful I can’t sit through again.

• "Murdoch Mysteries” - I used to watch “Sue Thomas: FB Eye”, loosely based on the real Sue Thomas who was a deaf woman working for the FBI. Deanne Bray portrayed ST and Yannick Bisson was her co-worker and love interest. YB stars as Detective William Murdoch (so, similar profession to his ST: FBE character, just different century). I immediately liked the relationship Murdoch and the medical examiner, Dr Julia Ogden (Hélène Joy), develop throughout the series, while they solve murders. I supported the show’s growth with characters learning to accept homosexuality, sex workers and women working in traditionally male roles. I also liked that Julia insisted on having Rebecca James (an intelligent medical student who was a black female) as her assistant, despite resistance from some of the bosses, due to racism and sexism in the late 1800s - early 1900s. I like Constance George Crabtree’s quirkiness and was pleased with the pairing of him and Julia’s temporary successor Dr Emily Grace, but *SPOILER* her storyline went in a bisexual direction and she left the show. My brother and I used to watch the earlier episodes together.

Two final shows that I’ll add:

• "Midsomer Murders” (set in England) - I preferred the John Nettles’ “Detective Chief Inspector (DCI) Tom Barnaby” episodes, but that’s because I was used to him, I suppose. He retired from the show after several years and someone was cast as his cousin, another detective. He’s alright and I still like the shows, but it’s not quite the same. I don’t watch it regularly.

• “Murder, She Wrote” - Angela Lansbury is a legend. I was always excited to watch M,SW with my grandparents, particularly my (late) grandad when I was staying with them or they were visiting us. I loved every gentle, body, caring, stubborn, intelligent, creative and friendly aspect of the main character “Jessica Fletcher” (AL). She was an amateur sleuth, always (solving) “interfering” in cases with bumbling detectives, after writing successful murder mystery novels and developing an investigative talent. A show that was somewhat similar was “Columbo” with Peter Falk. I loved that show too, as did my grandad, but we didn’t watch it as often. Columbo always played oblivious, so the suspects rarely realised he was on to them until he stitched them up.