Thirty Days of TV: Day Twenty-Nine

Day 29 - Current TV show obsession


I don't think I have one. That is to say: I've several open canon shows which I love to watch. My old, closed canon shows are still dearly loved. Several of the shows I marathoned over the last months I like or even love as well. But there isn't one single show which captures me more than any other does right now, which drives me to write meta post after meta post, fanfiction after fanfiction, that kind of involvement which I'd say qualifies as "obsession". It doesn't help that the open-canon shows I currently follow either don't have much fanfic or meta at all or do have a lot of fanfic, but not on subjects I'm interested in. Of course, l could apply the "do it yourself" principle here and write it myself, instead of just reviews and a the very occasional fanfiction, but that's just it: were I truly obsessed, I'd do it, despite the lack of real life time, you know?

Then again: with some canons, it takes a while. I loved Babylon 5 dearly when it was first broadcast, but it took me almost a decade to write fanfiction about it, and then it came in a veritable of explosion of stories. With other canons it happens immediately (independent of quality): during the first two seasons of Heroes, I did the whole enchilada, busily writing fanfiction and discussing the show left right and center. (Then, um, season 3 happened, I quit half way through and never looked back.) I think the last show that sort of qualifies for "tv show obsession" was Merlin - until season 5 ; though I was really glad the last three episodes were good again and enabled me bid the show farewell with fondness and some still niggling plot bunnies to feed at some point. Of the shows I'm currently following, Breaking Bad is the one I think about most (but alas, just one fanfic came out of that, and my excuse is the old fannish one of the fantastically well written canon being less inspiring than flawed canon), Once Upon A Time provides me with the "I enjoy this way more than I thought I would, but I seem to be watching a different show from the fanfic-writing part of fandom (which reminds me of Lost and Merlin both)" type of fannish experience, Elementary (which has this weird mini hiati, and why, show, why? I miss you!) gives me my current favourite female-male friendship but doesn't really inspire obsession, and my absolutely favourite current historical show isn't back yet, i.e. The Borgias.

In conclusion: I don't have one right now.


( The rest of the days )

Jo Graham & Melissa Scott: Steel Blues

This is the second book of a series called The Order of the Air; I had read the first one, Lost Things, and enjoyed it, but this second one, which just got published, I am really in love with. In both cases, you have an adventure set in the 20s and now early 30s respectively, with both "realistic" and supernatural elements and an ensemble of characters who all in different ways went through the shattering experience that was WWI and came to form a family of choice afterwards. (Which means it pushes several of my reader buttons.) I'm not sure what made the difference that pushed from like to love: maybe it's that the pacing, the balance feels surer this time around - and maybe it's the addition of a new character to the already enjoyable team of Alma (owner of Gilchrist Aviation, mechanic), Lewis (pilot, her lover ), Jerry (archaelogist, Alma's friend and the lover of her first husband Gil; they had a agreed upon marriage a trois) and Mitch (pilot and ace): Stasi, con woman & thief extraordinaire. Stasi brings an additional element of humor into the narrative, and also I like her pragmatic approach to being a medium (it would be spoilery to tell just how she manages to track someone down, but the method was one of those "why didn't anyone think of doing this before?" chuckling moments for me.

The plot combines a coast-to-coast air race which Gilchrist Aviation, hit by the Depression like everyone, has to win, with a cursed necklace, a lot of banter, and friendships tested. There is a bit of the atmosphere of the Indiana Jones films there - but more of an ensemble story, and with a female team leader. (One of the things I deeply appreciate about both books is that there is no big soul searching in the male characters about this whole working for a woman; it's a given, though it's also clear that in the world at large, which is changing, it's not yet the norm.) But for all the rollicking adventure spirit, the characters have depth; as I said, they're all in their individual ways marred by their previous losses, and have been rebuilding their lives. (My fondness for this theme is probably why of co-author Jo Graham's other series, I like Stealing Fire best.) Lastly: I also like the way the plots match the period - an archaeological discovery kicks of the plot in the first one, fitting the 20s and the "King Tut" craze, and there is distinct feeling of early 30s Howard Hawks directed screwball comedy in all the Stasi scenes in the second one. It's a book that gives you a really good time, and makes you look forward to the next adventure.