Designated Survivor -- the First Two Seasons Were Great

This is another one of my recent guilty pleasures: Designated Survivor. I started watching it when it first came on ABC, and you can read my impressions of the first season here. I caught the second season on Netflix -- and now you can catch the whole run over there.

The first season follows what happens after a terrorist attack takes out the Presidential staff and the entire Congress. Only one member of the staff survives -- the Designated Survivor (which is a real thing, by the way). Tom Kirkman, the director of HUD becomes the next president, but he has many enemies, and often feels underqualified for the position. Still, he chooses to rise to the occasion.

Since he is mostly an outsider, he decides to do things the "right" way instead of how the parties would have him act. And as you may guess, this upsets a lot of people. He describes himself as a moderate and an independent. However, throughout the first two seasons, he often pushes forward what may be considered to be liberal agendas today. And the preachiness certainly pushed away several of my friends from continuing the show. I guess it didn't bug me that much.

The funny thing is -- I think Tom Kirkman, if he existed in real life, would be exactly the type of person I would like to see running our country. So much so, that if Keifer Sutherland were to run for president, I just might have a hard time NOT voting for him. I liked his character that much. And didn't that happen in real life in the Ukraine?

The second half of the first season and most of the second season spend more time on the politics, which I think I may have enjoyed more than the terrorist angle -- though that part was fun as well.

The main thing that irritated me was how poor Agent Hannah Wells gets treated. She's very good and very capable, but for some strange reason, no one takes her seriously. So many times we see her superiors and peers sending her to her room without listening to what she has to say. It's a very convoluted way to build up artificial suspense. Though -- I must admit that it mostly worked. I did like following her character.

I was at first excited about a third season, exclusively on Netflix. I watched the first episode and realized I wasn't even going to try to finish it. The writers changed the formula -- as if some executive said, "I want to see a lot more House of Cards." So, we got introduced to F-bombs and affairs, unexplained changes to people's characters, and really bad writing and ... well ... it just ruined the whole feel and show for me. And it felt ... fake. Eventually I'll get around to watching House of Cards, which is probably good, but it did not fit in Designated Survivor. 

I see that the show was cancelled for good after about 10 episodes in Season 3. Perhaps if enough people tell me it's worth watching I'll finish it out. But for now -- I got a lot of other good shows on my plate. For now I'll just pretend the 3rd season never happened and that it stayed cancelled after Season 2.

I strongly advise watching the first two seasons -- and then you can continue one at your own risk.

Remembering Colony -- Another Cancelled Show

Here is another one of my guilty pleasures -- the series called Colony. It showed on the USA network for three seasons until they decided to cancel it. And funny thing -- I didn't find out about the cancellation until a couple of years later. I caught the first season on USA and then around that time I stopped watching TV in lieu of the streaming services. So, I didn't finish seasons two and three until they showed up on streaming. All three seasons are currently on Netflix.

And big warning -- when I finished the last episode of season three, I was all geared up to watch season 4 and resolve the cliffhangers only to discover that it doesn't exist and will likely never exist. Dang.

First off -- I really love these dystopian shows, like V (Original), Walking Dead, Revolution, Jericho, and so on. So, this show fit in well with me.

Will Bowman (Josh Holloway) and Katie (Sarah Waynes Callies) live in a colony that used to be part of Los Angeles. Aliens have taken over our world and are using us as slave labor, and for some reason the humans in charge are cooperating. Well -- they kind of have to, because it's help or die. But these human leaders turn to a fascist model to control the people.

Will is a detective who helps to keep order in the colony, while Katie is a member of the Resistance. So, Katie must keep her identity hidden from her husband. And Will does what he needs to do, reluctantly, in order to survive. The one thing the two parents have in common is that they want the best for their children. 

One son is lost in another unreachable sector, and so Will decides to go after him.

In all, it turns out to be an enjoyable story. Sometimes the plot gets a little convoluted to set up conflict between the husband and wife, but I was able to overlook that and keep watching.

In the later seasons, it did seem to waffle some with filler episodes, but I think most of the original plot stayed intact. And fun plot twists along the way.

I wouldn't mind if they came back and finished off the story. Just one quick season?

If you don't mind ending on cliffhangers, you may enjoy this dystopian TV show, but if you know that unresolved loose ends are going to bug you -- then stay far away from this addicting show.

Umbrella Academy: Imaginative Show

I would have missed this show entirely if it weren't for Netflix's insistence that I watch it, and now I present one of the best sleeper shows: The Umbrella Academy.

All around the world, 43 children are born on the same time on the same day from women who weren't pregnant at the beginning of the day. Seven were adopted by the mysterious Sir Reginald Hargreeves. Each of these children, except for one (evidently), has different superpowers. Sir Hargreeves raises them and trains them, preparing for an upcoming evil so they can save the world.

But as time passes, the family falls apart and each child develops his or her own failings. One is already dead, and one has disappeared. 

When Sir Reginald dies, the remaining children reluctantly come together to attend the funeral. As such, the first two episodes are a little depressing and slow -- while each character is introduced -- but then it quickly picks up speed.

They come to learn that the world will end in eight days and only they can stop it -- and nobody has any idea what it is or how it will happen. And yes -- this show does depend on time travel -- and yeah -- it's not a strict treatment of timelines by any measure -- but then it again, it's only a device, and so it's easy to sit back, relax, and enjoy the story.

On the most part it's well-written, good acting, fun music, lots of energy, and lots of messed-up people. Sometimes I think the writers work a little too hard in pushing the kids in the wrong directions, but hey -- we humans do make stupid decisions sometimes. At least the characters seem consistent.

It also has crazy assassins, a talking monkey, and lots of things blowing up. What is there not to like?

The one question that has yet to be answered -- what ever happened to the other 36 miracle children? This story has so much untapped potential.

So -- if you have Netflix, give it a try. There are two seasons out, and in another year or so season three will drop.

WandaVision: A Visit to the Past

Here we are -- the beginning of Marvel's "Phase Four," and it all starts with a TV show -- WandaVision. Officially, I believe this is the first TV show to belong to an official "phase." Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. and all the Netflix shows evidently don't count for reasons I don't fully understand.

Instead of doing a long stretched-out TV show lasting several seasons, they gave us more of a mini-series -- nine episodes. It's kind of like a movie on the small screen with more time to flesh out the plot. And overall, I think it was a huge success. It does require a subscription to Disney+ -- and yes, it's all a big money machine, but they can take my money as long as they keep it interesting.

The first episode of WandaVision pulled me in immediately. It features Wanda and Vision starring in their own 50's show -- much like The Dick Van Dyke mixed with a little Leave It to Beaver. I was laughing, as it plays fun at all the tropes and issues that permeated most of the shows of the time.

The second episode moves on to the 60s, and so on. At the same time, the audience is trying to figure out what's really going on. Who's watching? Why is Vision alive again? Who is the influence behind it all?

Toward the end of the first episode, there's an awkward moment as Wanda and Vision try to remember their past, only to note that they can't, letting us all know that something is very wrong.

One of the biggest successes comes from all the funny Easter eggs that persist throughout the whole show -- inside jokes -- hidden meanings -- all kinds of things for Marvel fans to pick up on. It also manages to bring in characters from older movie series -- Ant Man, Thor, Captain Marvel, and so on. All to remind us that this show really does belong in the official Marvel universe.

It also sets the stage for future stories to take up the mantle -- a very successful formula in a franchise. Though, I understand that this show relies heavily on a known comic book series -- so some people already knew what was going to happen, and most likely know what's coming next.

Like all Marvel products, it's nowhere near my favorite show of all time, but it was very good in what it does. I may forget the details five years from now, but it was fun while I watched.

If you're a Marvel fan, it's worth catching this -- it does look like "required" watching so you can understand what's happening in later shows and movies. I know -- I usually hate that type of thing, but this time I'm really enjoying the new format. So, give it a try.