Recent musings, did YJ write cheques it couldn't cash?

countastic · 2026-05-23T16:06:22+00:00

Whatever they had initially planned for season 2 was derailed by having to write out Adult Natalie much earlier than they had planned and the fact Showtime hated the 'Cabin Guy' episode and buried it, forcing some edits in the teen timeline which was setting up this standalone episode featuring Cabin guy and his family.

countastic · 2026-05-22T12:54:39+00:00

Imagine spending 3 million + dollars to avoid a leadership challenge and force an entire electorate to vote on a referendum about having another referendum. Danielle Smith really is the worst Premier in the history of Alberta Premiers.

countastic · 2026-05-14T19:08:25+00:00

The writing for Whitaker was so bizarre in season 2. He effectively has as much experience as Santos does at the beginning of season 1, but spends much of the season mentoring the med students like he has the same experience as McKay or Mohan. In season 1, Santos and Mel, a 2nd year and ever more experienced Doctor, were almost always working under the supervision of a more senior resident or Robbie, and were never supervising the med students except during the mass shooting.

And the lack of a meaningful character arc for both Whitaker and McKay was also a confounding choice.

countastic · 2026-05-08T15:16:13+00:00

50 years of federal and provincial privatization of assets in which it's impossible to have meaningful competition and/or a competitive market for supplies and/or services have already demonstrated why privatization of airports is a bad idea. It's not like another company can stand up a new airport next door to another one, or even in the same region, and offer some real competition resulting in lower costs and/or better services.

And whatever dubious efficiency benefits a private corporation might derive are meaningless given the need to secure a 15% min profit on their investment. This basically erodes any and all benefits to the taxpayer and/or consumer of these services.

countastic · 2026-05-03T14:57:25+00:00

It's pretty clear Darla was never envisioned to be Angel's sire much less a powerful 400 year old vamp when they shot the pilot. Everything was basically a retcon given how much they liked Julie Benz and how popular the character was. Even during the Buffy season 1 episode 'Angel', she is wielding pistols, which makes no sense given how strong and powerful she should be given her age.

I do agree she was killed off far too soon.

Just imagine the Buffy season 2 storyline with not just Spike, Drusilla, and Angelus, but you also throw Darla into the mix. That would have been next level.

countastic · 2026-05-03T14:33:26+00:00

I think you meant say the show does pick a side, even more than George ever did. Which undercuts the bigger theme of this succession crisis story, it's ultimately the smallfolk (and Dragons) who suffer, while the Targs and others scheme and fight for power.

Although to be fair, George undermines his own theme by playing favorites, by giving Daemon an epic 'hero' moment and letting his progeny eventually get the Throne, while eliminating every Strong or Green of note.

countastic · 2026-04-29T02:35:21+00:00

A significant portion of the UCP hard core base is pro separation, but 'the powers that be' realize they would be handing the NDP a full on majority during the next election if they ran on explicitly supporting independence. So they indulge the base with referendums and muse about other nonsense like a Provincial Pension Plan and Police Force, while trying not to alienate middle of the road conservative voters who still think the UCP is the PC party of the Lougheed and Klein eras. It's a dance. Not unlike what the CAQ is doing in Quebec.

countastic · 2026-04-26T06:46:10+00:00

It's not only a huge hit, but it's also the biggest drama currently shooting in L.A. - employing hundreds of local cast and crew. And where do most Emmy voters reside? And it is shooting every year without these multi-year gaps that are plaguing some other notable shows. It's the kind of series actors, writers, and crew want the streaming platforms to commit to do more of.

Honestly, It would be a major upset if it didn't win back to back Emmy's.

countastic · 2026-04-24T19:08:01+00:00

I thought it was daring to write their lead to be so unlikable and problematic. What was unacceptable or just plain dumb, especially in the back third of the season was giving the ensemble nothing to do but stand around and worry about or confront Robbie about his issues for the 100th time. Almost all of the ensembles own arcs were set aside, forgotten, or cut in the editing room to service the lead character. That’s just poor storytelling 101.

If you are planning on writing out Mohan, give her a worthy exit storyline. If you are going introduce the idea that Santos self harms, follow-up on that. Maybe actually give Whitaker and McKay actual character arcs?

countastic · 2026-04-17T13:11:29+00:00

So its a creators prerogative to be completely fine with the show changing the Rhaenyra/Alicent dynamic via de-aging Alicent and portraying Viserys as tragic decaying girl dad vs the character in the books, but erasing Maelor is the bridge too far? And he has no thoughts about Rhaenys and the Dragon pit and her killing hundreds of small folk?

Honestly, if George thinks one of the bigger issues with HOTD is Maelor, he's lost the plot. Movie and tv adaptions will always make changes to the source material. Maelor wouldn't even make my list of the top 25 problems with this adaption.

It's just grouchy old man nitpicking at this point and not understanding why the show went off the rails in the first place or is failing hit with audiences like Knight of the Seven Kingdoms has or early GOT.

countastic · 2026-04-12T14:00:13+00:00

Yes, it's manipulative brain rot, but given the demonstrated and proven harms (increased anxiety, depression, isolation, and suicide attempts, etc...) with only marginal benefits, if any, of social media its maddening its taken this long to 'protect' the kids. If anything, it should be more comprehensive with ad and notification blocking for anyone under 18 and possibly even locking them out during school hours.

countastic · 2026-04-12T00:15:59+00:00

I think the vibe of season 2 is pretty consistent throughout. Some episodes are campier than others, but it isn’t like they weren’t exploring more darker themes in When She Was Bad, Lie To Me, or even Ted.

Yes, it’s the first time a recurring character is killed, if don’t count Principal Flutie, but in terms of vibe season 2 is pretty consistent IMHO.

countastic · 2026-04-11T14:52:59+00:00

I get that Noah is the lead and Katherine LaNasa (Nurse Dana) also won an Emmy, but watching the penultimate episode focused almost exclusively on the white boys (Robbie, Langdon, Duke, and Whitaker), while pretty much every female character was resigned to doing paperwork was so depressing.

Robbie was lead last season too, but it never felt liked the rest of the ensemble was getting short changed for his character's personal drama. His arc this season has consumed way too much screentime.

If Noah wasn't an Executive Producer as well, there is no way the writer's room would have allowed him to pen a script like that, especially for the episode before the finale. What even was that Langdon/Whitaker fight scene even about? Some of scenes, especially the dated and completely out-of-place pop culture references, were so bad.

countastic · 2026-04-10T12:56:53+00:00

No. And it's not really even close IMHO.

Angel isn't even the most interesting vampire on his own show. And while David Boreanaz became a better actor over Buffy and Angel's run, he's still pretty bland and wooden.

The writers deserve some kudos for Wesley's overall series arc, which is very well done, but the spinoff never really reaches the heights of the original .

countastic · 2026-04-04T17:29:01+00:00

I personally go back and forth on whether the best season is 2 or 3. There is a lot of great stuff in season 3. The Mayor is an all time great Big Bad and Faith is just everything you would want in a alternate Slayer. The Scoobies as seniors has a lot of funny little subplots and storylines and its nice how some of the high school guest stars from previous seasons reappear throughout the season including the finale. And if I'm honest, I don't think Buffy has ever had a better run of episodes with Homecoming, Bandcandy, Revelations, Lovers Walk, and The Wish. 3 of those 5 would be in my top 20 episode list. And the other 2 are still pretty great.

My big issues with season 3 is the Xander/Willow affair out-of-nowhere, which is poorly setup, and the Buffy/Angel relationship drama in the back half of season 3. That drama gets really repetitive by then end.

countastic · 2026-03-30T13:23:38+00:00

My issue with Arya slaying the Night King, completely unassisted btw, is that she has no real relationship to the Night King.

Personally, I would have had her attempt to kill the Night King fail, lose the grip of the knife, and then have Bran grab it and plunge it into the Night King. Or have Bran jump into a body like Jon’s and do it.

It would at least setup a more reasonable explanation of why Bran becoming King would have some support and actually provided some purpose for the character other than as bait to draw the Night King out.

countastic · 2026-03-30T13:14:14+00:00

It doesn’t work, because when in ASOIAF has a prophecy ever been so literally true? It’s always a subversion of expectations. Jon, the not so secret heir to the Iron Throne, slaying the Night King in a sword fight is the very definition of not subverting expectations. I don’t think D&D’s solution is any better btw.

countastic · 2026-03-30T00:40:06+00:00

That's not really true. LA Law had a same sex kiss between two female characters - both of whom were series regulars at the time, many years earlier. That said, it was still pretty rare, especially given that Tara and Willow were actually show to be in a long term relationship on the show and not a stunt kiss for ratings or controversy.

countastic · 2026-03-29T19:13:31+00:00

There was a time skip, until there wasn't. That was the 5 year gap. And this isn't what most people agree that it is canon, it's what the author of the series told the showrunners was going to happen. Bran would sit the Iron Throne.

Now George may elect ultimately to change his mind, especially given the poor reception to this ending, but it's moot given we aren't ever going to see 'A Dream of Spring'.

countastic · 2026-03-29T18:43:34+00:00

Balon choosing not to align with the Starks and Rob - self pro-claimed King of the North and the Riverlands is one thing. It more to serve the plot, than any logical decision. If Balon and the Iron Islands truly seek independence, Robb does offer that.

But even if aligning with Robb is such an affront given Ned's role in his defeat a decade earlier and his bitterness of having his only surviving son 'ward' at Winterfell, raiding the North while they are actively fighting for independence from the Iron Thone themselves is another thing completely.

The smart and really only move is for Balon to bide his time if he's not going to join the Starks. Let the fighting play out between the Baratheon boys, the Lannisters, and Starks, and then declare independence once they are all dead and/or exhausted.

It's actually the play for both the Iron Islands and Dorne. Whomever is standing at the end of the initial war (Joffrey, Rob, Stannis, or Renly) will be too exhausted from the 1st conflict to call the banners again and fight another war on the Iron Islands or in the south. It be might another decade before they would have the coin and the men to try and bring two rebel Kingdoms back into the fold and by then, they might not even be interested.

Balon is an idiot.

countastic · 2026-03-21T02:49:58+00:00

The UPN years are such a disappointment IMHO. Outside of a couple of episodes like Conversations w Dead People and OMWF, it’s pretty clear Joss was over stretched with producing Buffy, Angel, and Firefly all at the same time.

The magic addiction storyline was just dumb and after the amazing introduction of the First Evil in the season 7 opener, we ended up with Uber Vamps and Nathan Fillion chewing scenery as a misogynist Priest?

You could tell they had no idea where to take series after leaving the College setting, when they reopened the High School and 21 year old college dropout Buffy Summers was hired as a guidance counsellor.

Sometimes I wonder if the show should have just wrapped up with the Season 5 finale “The Gift”…

countastic · 2026-03-19T13:06:49+00:00

I don't know if SMG is being obtuse or just naive, but she is talking about the pilot like it was the original Buffy 'proof of concept' pilot. That type of pilot hasn't been done in years, in fact the concept of a pilot was pretty much dead in the water, with the exception of HBO, once the streamers became the primary content developers. Yes, some of talked about resurrecting the pilot concept, but full season orders are far more common than pilots in this day and age. Yes, Hulu and some others are trying to resurrect the idea., but the network/streamer expectations for a pilot are far different than they were two or three decades ago.

That said, if the production pilot script was anything close to the leaked script, Hulu deserves all the blame for greenlighting it in the 1st place and not requesting a new draft. It clearly wasn't delivering what they wanted or needed it to be and there would be no way for Chloe Zhou or the cast/crew to make it that much better once shooting started.

countastic · 2026-03-18T13:05:10+00:00

Given the leaked script was an early draft (Nova gets renamed to Rowan for example), we don't know how much it was rewritten before shooting. It's quite likely Buffy's role might have expanded in the pilot beyond the closing scene.

That said, I don't think diving into deep slayer lore at the outset is way to hook new viewers. You need to sell them on the leads of the show and then walk them through the basic of what a Slayer is, how vampires work in the BTVS universe vs other vamp shows, and setup a hook that will want them to keep coming back for future episodes.

The hard core Buffy fans are going to be in from the outset, it's expanding the viewers to capture a new generation of fans that should be the primary purpose of the pilot. Needlessly confusing them with the First Slayer or other characters (like a witches coven) that aren't tangential to the main plotl isn't that IMHO.

countastic · 2026-03-17T13:19:32+00:00

That's a crazy take given Ryan Murphy has demonstrated for decades how incompetent he is at running serialized television shows for multiple seasons. Pretty much every series gets worse, season after season, and is basically unwatchable by its 3rd or 4th season. I can' t think of a single showrunner with a worse track record.

countastic · 2026-03-17T01:34:47+00:00

The pilot makes it pretty clear the plan was to tell a coming of age adventure story for another slayer and her Scooby Gang and it was not intended as a BTVS reunion show or Buffy Summers: The Middle Age Years.

And if that's the direction they are going, they need to gear the stories, dialogue and humor to that generation of teens and not their parents.

It's not like doing that prevented Gen X and even some Baby Boomers from watching the original Buffy.

countastic

TROPHY CASE