Quick Take on Alcatraz, The L.A. Complex, Arctic Air, and One Tree Hill season 9

 

Alcatraz

This show reminds me a lot of the first season of Fringe. It took me awhile to really jump on board with Fringe. While I liked the Peter and Walter characters Olivia had to grow on me. The show also started with a case of the week set up before they really started developing the characters and season long arcs. Alcatraz follows the same set up right now. At this point it is a case of the week show with each week revealing a little more about the cast. I'm hoping eventually they will stray away from the case of the week story lines and build a real story arc. If not I'm not sure I'll stay long term. 

I do like the characters for the most part. I like Jorge Garcia's character but to me he will always be Hurley just like Michael Emerson on Person of Interest will always be Ben. It's not their fault that they played great characters on Lost but it's a by product of being on one of my all time favorite shows. Sarah Jones character reminds me a lot of Olivia on Fringe. They are obviously trying to build the character but at this point she is not overly likable. The same goes for the Emerson character but I don't think he is supposed to be truly likable at this point. 

The one thing the show has done is established a great overall mystery that makes you want to keep watching to see how it all happened and why. Those questions are enough to keep me watching for now. 

The L.A. Complex

The previews for the show reminded me of any other CW show except it was made by Canadians and aired on MUCH. Of course I then found out that the CW was already picking it up for spring/summer TV which doesn't surprise me. 

What I did like was that it felt realistic. Nothing comes easy for people on the show. Only one character has a real showbiz job and even he struggles with being the worst actor on his "show."   This is what the reboot of Melrose Place should have been. The show is still growing but it has potential and the cast is mostly likable.

 

Arctic Air

Since learning that CBC actually airs quality TV shows I've followed the shows on the channel a little more then I use to. When I saw the ads for this one I was instantly intrigued. There aren't many shows with an Aboriginal in the lead role. It was nice seeing an Aboriginal actor get lot's of screen time. 

Of course they show early on that he has made mistakes and even has a son that he has nothing to do with (sadly this is quite realistic) but he doesn't come across as a bad guy. Just someone who made mistakes and doesn't really know how to fix it. 

One thing I like about the CBC is that their shows are all character driven rather then story. It's not that there is no story but they always have solid likable casts and Arctic Air is no different. Being on CBC gives it a little more room as far as ratings and as long as the show is on I see myself watching.

One Tree Hill Season 9

I stuck with this show for nine seasons and it's not like I will be giving up on it now that there is only three episodes left but I have no clue what the writers are doing.

It's like they decided that since it was the last season they were going to do whatever they pleased even if  most of it made no sense. Sure the show still has good parts (I enjoy Chris Keller) but I'm not enjoying most of the story lines at this point.  I will give Mark Schwann the benefit of the doubt with the missing Nathan since James Laffety wanted less episodes. 

Most of the character arcs seem to come out of nowhere. I hope they are going somewhere and the season ends up being redeemed but knowing the few spoilers I have seen I have my doubts. Regardless I just hope the ending justifies the means. It just seems like the show got 13 extra episodes and had no clue what to do with them. Considering I liked how season 8 ended they should have just pulled the plug.