Discussion Post
Showtime's The Affair, and why I'm starting to prefer single season shows
This last weekend I had a four-day break for Easter. My plan was to job search (which I DID do), read (which I didn't), do some grading and planning (which I did do...but not as much as I should have) and write up reviews for the two books I finished recently--
99 Days and
First There Was Forever--or any of the five or six movies I could review (which I didn't even come close to doing). What I ended up doing instead was binged watched the third and fourth seasons of HBO's
Girls and the first season of Showtime's
The Affair. While
Girls was exactly what I was expecting, I've watched the first two seasons already, obviously, I'm finding myself torn on my feelings for
The Affair.
The Affair, if you are unfamiliar with the show, is about, well, an affair. This aforementioned affair takes place between a married man in his, I'm assuming, late 40s who is spending the summer in Montauk with his wife's affluent family. Noah, the married man, has one published, mostly unread, novel under his belt, and is struggling to write his second. He has that vague unhappiness that often seems to settle on middle-aged family men. He dislikes his in-laws, even though (although maybe because) they pay his children's private school tuitions and his mortgage.
Allison, the woman with whom he has the affair, is a local woman. She is also married and is struggling to get over the death of her young son. While she loves her husband, she feels trapped in the small town where she has lived her whole life. On top of that, she cannot look at her husband without seeing her son.
The show itself is pretty riveting. From the opening credits sung by Fiona Apple (one of my all-time favorite singers), I was enthralled with the story. I liked the flash-back manner in which it is told interspersed with the present time in which Noah and Allison are separately being interviewed by an officer about an at-first unknown death. What makes the show different is that each episode is broken up into two parts: Noah's POV and Allison's POV. While certain aspects are the same, there are often pretty large discrepancies in the ways in which our main characters see the same events. This lends to an interesting dynamic of two unreliable narrators and leaves the audience to discern the truth. Everything about the show is well-done. It's intriguing, the actors are all wonderful in their roles, and the writing is original. So what's my problem?
It's this: the main story is the mystery of how the person (who you do find out) died (which you do not find out). In my opinion, it's hard to maintain interest in a mystery when several months pass in between seasons. As I got closer to the last couple of episodes it become more and more obvious that I was not going to get the answers that I desperately needed to know...and probably won't until late fall of 2016. I didn't know anything about the show when I started watching, besides the fact that a good portion of the actors were nominated for awards this last award season with Ruth Wilson, who plays Allison, winning a Golden Globe. If I had known that I would be left feeling so unsatisfied, I don't know if I would have watched it. Like what I've been doing lately with book series, I would have probably waited until all seasons were out before I started watching.
In this day and age of instant gratification, it's hard to hold people's interest. While I hate waiting for the next season of epic shows like
Game of Thrones--and I seriously hate waiting--again, I feel like it is different when what you are dealing with is a mystery. Shows like
Law & Order, NCIS, and
Criminal Minds are so popular because you find out whodunit at the end of the hour. While I personally don't care for those shows (although I find myself putting them on as background noise a lot lately), to make an audience wait for three years is asking a lot. Also, imagine if they decide to drag it on for even longer now that it is getting so much attention!
So what's the solution? Personally, I love this new format of single season shows like
True Detective and
American Horror Story. These single seasons attract stellar stars (Kathy Bates, Jessica Lange, Matthew McConaughey, Woody Harrelson, etc) who will sign on for one season where they probably wouldn't for multiple seasons. Because the writers and producers stay the same, however, the audience feels comfortable knowing what to expect. I don't know about you, but I often don't even watch shows I may be otherwise interested in for the first year or so because they get cancelled so often. Finally, and most importantly, with single season shows, the audience knows that shit is going to get wrapped up. You are going to find out whodunit. You are going to see how it all plays out in 10 or 12 or 15 episodes instead of 3 or 5 or 8 years.
So will I watch The Affair when it comes back on the air this fall? I honestly don't know. I may wait until I know the show is over before I continue watching, or maybe I'll find myself sucked in once again. The fact that it has the delicious Joshua Jackson isn't hurting it, that's for sure. What I can say is that I wish it would have taken these other show's leads and told the story in a single season, but patience has never really been one of my biggest virtues.
How do you feel about this subject? Have you watched The Affair? Do you like the single season format? Sound off below!
Friday, April 17, 2015
Weekly Rewind 4.17.15
Weekly Rewind
The new books on my shelves and my week in a nutshell.
Since I started this blog I've participated in Stacking the Shelves, which is a weekly feature hosted by Tynga's Reviews, and I'm going to continue linking to that meme. Throughout my student teaching semester I was using my weekend post as a way to let people know what's going on in my life, so I've decided to rename my weekend post because this feature is more personal than just what books I've received. The Weekly Rewind will be about what's going on with me and my blog, as well as about the books I've added to my shelves.
Wednesday, April 15, 2015
Waiting on Wednesdays (96) Hello?
Author: Liza Wiemer
Publisher: Spencer Hill
Release Date: October 27, 2015
Late one night, in a moment of deep grief, Tricia places a call to her deceased grandmother’s old phone number. She expects the disconnect notice, but is thrown when another teen— also up late and coping with his own frustrations—answers. It’s Emerson, and though they're perfect strangers, Tricia senses an unexplainable, deeper connection between them.
When his phone rings, Emerson expects it to be his sometimes-overbearing girlfriend Angie, but instead ends up transfixed by Tricia’s tenderness and heartache. The two make a pact, thus setting the events of HELLO? in motion.
HELLO? is the story of five small town Wisconsin teens: Tricia, who has lost her family and is trying to find her way; her over-protective boyfriend Brian, a potter; the perfectionist Emerson; his girlfriend, the insecure and unpredictable Angie; and her tough best friend Brenda, an aspiring actress and screenwriter.
Told from all five viewpoints: narration (Tricia), narration (Emerson), free verse poetry (Angie), screenplay format (Brenda), narration and drawings (Brian), HELLO? offers a textured account of five lives and weaves together the stories of these teens into a compelling narrative of serendipity and a whole that is much greater than the sum of its parts.
Why I'm excited:
I adore multiple POVs, but the fact that this is told in multiple POVs and formats has me sold, sold, sold. This sounds a little bit heavy, but I just love books that have parts told in screenplays and pictures. I've had this on my TBR for awhile, and was thrilled to see it finally has a cover. I'll definitely be keeping my eye out for this one.
Thursday, April 9, 2015
Discussion Post: Showtime's The Affair and why I'm starting to prefer single season shows
Discussion Post
Showtime's The Affair, and why I'm starting to prefer single season shows
This last weekend I had a four-day break for Easter. My plan was to job search (which I DID do), read (which I didn't), do some grading and planning (which I did do...but not as much as I should have) and write up reviews for the two books I finished recently--99 Days and First There Was Forever--or any of the five or six movies I could review (which I didn't even come close to doing). What I ended up doing instead was binged watched the third and fourth seasons of HBO's Girls and the first season of Showtime's The Affair. While Girls was exactly what I was expecting, I've watched the first two seasons already, obviously, I'm finding myself torn on my feelings for The Affair.
The Affair, if you are unfamiliar with the show, is about, well, an affair. This aforementioned affair takes place between a married man in his, I'm assuming, late 40s who is spending the summer in Montauk with his wife's affluent family. Noah, the married man, has one published, mostly unread, novel under his belt, and is struggling to write his second. He has that vague unhappiness that often seems to settle on middle-aged family men. He dislikes his in-laws, even though (although maybe because) they pay his children's private school tuitions and his mortgage.
Allison, the woman with whom he has the affair, is a local woman. She is also married and is struggling to get over the death of her young son. While she loves her husband, she feels trapped in the small town where she has lived her whole life. On top of that, she cannot look at her husband without seeing her son.
The show itself is pretty riveting. From the opening credits sung by Fiona Apple (one of my all-time favorite singers), I was enthralled with the story. I liked the flash-back manner in which it is told interspersed with the present time in which Noah and Allison are separately being interviewed by an officer about an at-first unknown death. What makes the show different is that each episode is broken up into two parts: Noah's POV and Allison's POV. While certain aspects are the same, there are often pretty large discrepancies in the ways in which our main characters see the same events. This lends to an interesting dynamic of two unreliable narrators and leaves the audience to discern the truth. Everything about the show is well-done. It's intriguing, the actors are all wonderful in their roles, and the writing is original. So what's my problem?
It's this: the main story is the mystery of how the person (who you do find out) died (which you do not find out). In my opinion, it's hard to maintain interest in a mystery when several months pass in between seasons. As I got closer to the last couple of episodes it become more and more obvious that I was not going to get the answers that I desperately needed to know...and probably won't until late fall of 2016. I didn't know anything about the show when I started watching, besides the fact that a good portion of the actors were nominated for awards this last award season with Ruth Wilson, who plays Allison, winning a Golden Globe. If I had known that I would be left feeling so unsatisfied, I don't know if I would have watched it. Like what I've been doing lately with book series, I would have probably waited until all seasons were out before I started watching.
In this day and age of instant gratification, it's hard to hold people's interest. While I hate waiting for the next season of epic shows like Game of Thrones--and I seriously hate waiting--again, I feel like it is different when what you are dealing with is a mystery. Shows like Law & Order, NCIS, and Criminal Minds are so popular because you find out whodunit at the end of the hour. While I personally don't care for those shows (although I find myself putting them on as background noise a lot lately), to make an audience wait for three years is asking a lot. Also, imagine if they decide to drag it on for even longer now that it is getting so much attention!
So what's the solution? Personally, I love this new format of single season shows like True Detective and American Horror Story. These single seasons attract stellar stars (Kathy Bates, Jessica Lange, Matthew McConaughey, Woody Harrelson, etc) who will sign on for one season where they probably wouldn't for multiple seasons. Because the writers and producers stay the same, however, the audience feels comfortable knowing what to expect. I don't know about you, but I often don't even watch shows I may be otherwise interested in for the first year or so because they get cancelled so often. Finally, and most importantly, with single season shows, the audience knows that shit is going to get wrapped up. You are going to find out whodunit. You are going to see how it all plays out in 10 or 12 or 15 episodes instead of 3 or 5 or 8 years.
Tuesday, April 7, 2015
Waiting on Wednesday (95) Things I Can't Explain
Author: Mitchell Kriegman
Publisher: Thomas Dunne
Release Date: November 10, 2015
Things I Can’t Explain is a complete re-imagining of Clarissa Explains it All, as 20-something Clarissa tries to navigate the unemployment line, mompreneurs and the collision of two people in love.
She was a smart, snappy, light-hearted girl who knew it all at fourteen. Now a woman in her late twenties, her searching blue eyes are more serious, but mostly amused by the people around her. The gap-toothed smile that made her seem younger than she really was is gone, but she still lightens up the room. Her unpredictable wardrobe rocks just like when she was a kid, but her fashion sense has evolved and it makes men and women turn their heads.
After leaving high school early, Clarissa interned at the Daily Post while attending night school. At the ripe old age of twenty- two she had it made – her own journalism beat (fashion, gender politics and crime), an affordable apartment in FiDi and a livable wage. She was so totally ahead of the game. Ah, those were the days! All three of them. Remember the Stock Market Crash of 08? Remember when people actually bought newspapers?
All of Clarissa’s charming obsessions, charts, graphs, and superstitions have survived into adulthood, but they’ve evolved into an ever-greater need to claw the world back under control. Her mid-twenties crisis has left her with a whole set of things she can’t explain: an ex-boyfriend turned stalker, her parents’ divorce, a micro relationship with the cute coffee guy, java addiction, “To-Flue Glue,” and then there’s Sam. Where’s Sam anyway?
Things I Can't Explain is about knowing it all in your teens and then feeling like you know nothing in your twenties.
Why I'm excited:
I loved the show Clarissa Explains It All when I was younger. I thought Clarissa was so freaking cool. I am both excited and terrified of this book. It's weird, right? I would never have thought that they would make a book about the show so long after it was over. That said, I'm so curious about this that there is no way I'm not going to pick it up. Anybody else remember this show?
Friday, April 3, 2015
Weekly Rewind 4.4.15
Weekly Rewind
The new books on my shelves and my week in a nutshell.
Since I started this blog I've participated in Stacking the Shelves, which is a weekly feature hosted by Tynga's Reviews, and I'm going to continue linking to that meme. Throughout my student teaching semester I was using my weekend post as a way to let people know what's going on in my life, so I've decided to rename my weekend post because this feature is more personal than just what books I've received. The Weekly Rewind will be about what's going on with me and my blog, as well as about the books I've added to my shelves.
The Prom Goer's Interstellar Excursion by Chris McCoy
Billed as Superbad meets Spaceballs. A dude chases after his dream girl that was abducted by aliens. Sounds so fun.
Denton Little's Deathdate by Lance Rubin
In a world where everybody already knows the day they are going to die, the hero's deathdate is approaching--and it's the day of the prom.
First There Was Forever by Juliana Romano
I'm pretty far into this, and while I don't hate it, I'm fairly bored. The story of two girls and one boy has just been done, and the writing isn't special enough to make this original.
Kissing Ted Callahan by Amy Spalding
I loved this author debut--and enjoyed her sophomore effort--so I'm excited for this one.
The Truth Commission by Susan Juby
I'm excited for this for this reason, per GR: This dryly funny, knife-sharp novel, written as "narrative nonfiction" by Normandy herself, features footnotes, illustrations and a combination mystery/love story that will capture readers from the first page.
Where They Found Her by Kimberly McCreight
An adult psychological thriller from the author of Reconstructing Amelia.
Birdman by Michael Keaton
I'm not as excited for this one as, a true movie lover, I feel like I should be. It's due back to the library tomorrow...so it might not happen unless I decide to throw it into the dvd player in the next couple of hours.
Thursday, April 2, 2015
Life of Crime (Movie Review)
Director: Daniel Schechter
Author: Daniel Schechter based on a novel by Elmore Leonard
Starring: Jennifer Anniston, Tim Robbins, John Hawkes
Storyline from IMDb.com:
Two common criminals get more than they bargained for after kidnapping the wife of a corrupt real-estate developer who shows no interest in paying the $1 million dollar ransom for her safe return.
Wednesday, April 1, 2015
Waiting on Wednesday (94) The Singular & Extraordinary Tale of Mirror & Goliath
Author: Ishbelle Bee
Publisher: Angry Robot
Release Date: October 28, 2015
In the summer of 1887 my grandfather stole a clock.
It was six feet high
and the shape of a coffin.
1888. A little girl called Mirror and her shape-shifting guardian Goliath Honeyflower are washed up on the shores of Victorian England. Something has been wrong with Mirror since the day her grandfather locked her inside a mysterious clock that was painted all over with ladybirds. Mirror does not know what she is, but she knows she is no longer human.
John Loveheart, meanwhile, was not born wicked. But after the sinister death of his parents, he was taken by Mr Fingers, the demon lord of the underworld. Some say he is mad. John would be inclined to agree.
Now Mr Fingers is determined to find the little girl called Mirror, whose flesh he intends to eat, and whose soul is the key to his eternal reign. And John Loveheart has been called by his otherworldly father to help him track Mirror down…
Why I'm excited:
That cover!! Soooooo pretty! Even without this gorgeous cover, I love the way this sounds: the girl who is no longer human, the underworld, his intention to eat her (!). It all sounds amazing. I wants it.
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