I'm really enjoying Agents of s.h.i.e.l.d. right now. The show somehow managed to get better and better with time, after a few difficult seasons trying to find itself. Kind of like Deep space nine in a sense.

The "return" of Ward was really unexpected, but made a lot of sense in context. Nice twist!

I watched most of season 1 but didn't go back to it after that. Maybe I'll give it another try - when does it start getting better, season 3 or 4? I don't mind skipping the bad years for a show like this.

My wife and I watched Netflix's 13 reasons why, which was the subject of criticism by a few people fearing that its subject (bullying and teen suicide) would push youngters to commit the irreparable.

That's nonsense. First, this is fiction; it's not about teaching lessons or about telling people what to do. It does have a positive message ultimately, but the reason for its existence is to tell a good story. Which it does, even if for dramatic purposes (the series has to last 13 episodes), common sense is sometimes set aside.

Second, I think it might have exactly the opposite effect. By seeing how bullying, even seemingly "innocent", can have dramatic effect, viewers really don't feel like acting the way several of the series's characters do. By seeing how bad choices lead to catastrophic events down the line, viewers reflect that in similar situations, they will act more wisely. 

The best aspect of the series, I think, is how authentic it sounds... particularly seeing how all the parents and adults involved are completely out of the loop, even those who mean well. That, in fact, is probably the reason why several school counselors over here went #%* over the show: they refuse to admit that their bromides and good intentions might resonate so little with kids. Personally, having raised two boys to adulthood, I can vouch for the authenticity of the show when it comes to most adult-kid relations. Even with love, patience and understanding, things can be pretty hard. And without those, things are definitely harder.

My own high school experience was nothing like that, thankfully... but I am sure that too many kids go through this kind of trauma. To have our nose rubbed in it would be at the very least educative, even if it wasn't also a good plain old story. Which it is.

I'm dying to see this but I left off starting my re-watch of the original series until last week so I'm still in the middle of season 2. Hope to finish soon, to reduce the risk of hearing spoilers before I see the new one!

My favorite Television Show is

Lt. Kenda, Homicide Detective on Discovery Id Channel.




Fascinating Former Lieutenant of Colorado Springs Police Department that shares the cases that he works on and does it in a very candid and very personal way possible. He's makes it real and helps you understand the dynamics of police work very personal and shares it without a script.

House of cards season 5 sees the whole thing coming to a boil as different long established plot lines are resolved or on the verge to be.

And man, that speech Underwood gives mid-season, speaking directly to the viewer... That's pretty much telling it like it is, right?

Last night On Demand I watched the new Syfy series Blood Drive which is sort of a mash-up of old exploitation movies and the splatter sub genre and very much embraces the whole grindhouse aesthetic. It is set in the dystopian year of 1999 where water is rationed, the death penalty is lowered to age thirteen and an ominous company sort of runs everything even employing the police. A cop accidentally discovers an underground racing league and is forced to partner with a femme fatale in a death race where the cars run on human blood. The vehicle engines actually open up and eat people, visually it made me think "Christine (1983) meets Evil Dead". The female lead character is named Grace D'Argento which I think is a pretty clear nod to director Dario Argento. This show is very over-the-top, full of fan service and eye candy but will probably only appeal to a small demographic. I feel like for fans of the Ash vs Evil Dead TV series on Starz this might be worth checking out.