Television Shows Rankdown

[miss denise]

On 4/12/2020 at 6:04 PM, *Wallace said:

Ahhh yayy I’m glad it is. Oooh nice at your Glee paper there. Mine was in a Queer Media/Television course and then I did a Glee script for my script writing class - which probably wasn’t good so yikes at that. Ahhh yeah I get all of this and I would have to do the same for my classes too. Those projects are definitely so fun so I’m glad we got to do them. I want to seee again!1 Bring it back!

 

Awww yess you did an amazing job all around. Aww yayy Alba love!

 

Omggg lmaooo yess I remember this now. Awww yeah I was sad he annoyed you but glad you came around to him  quickly. I can get how he can be annoying but yeah he always cracks me up. Awww i know you do! That’s fine. I don’t even know how I would have done a JtV write-up…. def wouldn’t be as elaborate as you soo you were better to take on this. Ahh yeah I agree - but it’s great you still mention the Sin Rostro stuff as that was huge.

 

Awww yayyy!! Ooh yess I always loved those title descriptions and lol yes the narrator is hilarious for sure. Lmaoo that is so funny. Lmaooo yesss that… and lmao the Alba gif you used there was perfect. So funny. Omgg so scared to see your raging on Part 2 but I know it’s coming. :shiver:

Yeah, this all sounds familiar to me, but don't say that, I'm sure it was great.  Yay, same! lol I'm not sure I can still access it, but want to see. 

 

  

 

Me too, but yeah he makes me laugh a lot. It isss difficult. I envy doing a competition show write-up, as that is so much more straightforward. Scripted shows can be so messy to explain, but I'm doing my best, so thanks.  

 

I agree! Thank you.  You know why.  

 

Okay, read through part 3! Sorry for the delay.  Love All-Stars for one reason and one reason only.  My dream partnership and the out of this world performances that I could never have even imagined!   I could go on so much here, but you know it all from pre-season to each week, the partnership, and just everything. That was a special moment for me and brought me a lot of joy in a tough year too.   And yay for linking all their dances!  Emmy winners too.  I mostly agree with you on S16 as well, although Kellie was my easy favorite. Loved so many of her & Derek's dances too and that was such a fun partnership. Same can be said for Amber & Derek, who I loved so much too.  You know. But yes, Amber and Corbin final 2 was one of my favorites! So sorry about Christina and how bad the rest of that elimination order was for you.  Amber needs all the dances linked! BUT YES to Team Foxing Awesome (and Call Me Maybe) that you also linked! S18 was rough for me in a lot of ways, but I did have a lot of people I enjoyed... didn't like how Charlie didn't get his deserved credit.   Loved Amy and what she brought to the show was groundbreaking and so incredible. No Contemporary linked? It was part of his Emmy noms that year.   S19 is one of my faves. I adore that whole final 4!!  But yes, Alfonso was my favorite and I agree with all you said. Iconic Jazz is iconic.   Cannot choose just one from Bethany, but love that Paso. S20 was another weird one... although again you KNOW with me and this partnership I wished into existence so long ago! Could not believe.  Nastia was amazing and so robbed, ugh. Cannot get into it. Loved Riker too and Willow's routines with Mark were so creative.  Wow all the dance montage videos. Love S21 and had a lot of favorites that season too, although Bindi especially.  She's now one of my favorite people and I just love her. So cool to see Nick on the show too. I really enjoyed a lot of that cast though. And omgggg

 

 

On 4/11/2020 at 8:58 AM, *Wallace said:

And a fun fact was that Denise got to dance some Argentine Tango steps with Derek a few months before the Bindi & Derek win so I’d like to think Denise had some of that luck to let Derek get his record breaking 6th win on the show.

Yeeeesssssssssssssss.  The best moment and birthday present ever.     I was like I was on the show and it was all the dreams coming true.    You  know how much that meant to me so thank you.  

 

On 4/12/2020 at 7:47 PM, *Wallace said:

I guess you got a new name.   

 

I can't be called that.  

[miss denise]

Jane the Virgin (part 2)

 

Back to finish up the second half of this Jane the Virgin write-up! So, where we left off...
 

 

Michael had just died out of nowhere and for no reason. We also had a three-year time jump.

There is also a death revealed in this next episode but I didn't mention that character in the last part, so no need to get into it now. Watch and find out.  
 

 
If you didn't read spoilers, you may want to even avoid this whole post because it will be confusing without knowing what I mentioned in hidden contents and things could still be unintentionally spoiled unless I put this ENTIRE post in a spoiler tag. So yeah. If you want to watch this show, I recommend you stop reading and do so.   But thanks for your time.

 

~~~

- So, Jane hit a writing slump following the events pre-time jump... and by this point she is no longer writing about Alba's family. She is instead working on a romance novel about her relationship with Michael called Snow Falling, which officially becomes her first published book.

 
 

 

 


 

 

 

 

She is offered a book deal and also starts working as the Lounge Manager at the Marbella. On a personal level, she is still struggling a lot with the events from right before the time jump. One reason I hated the time jump is that they skipped over ALL that time immediately following what happened and what we could have gotten from that.  So, at least there is still some of it to be seen three years later, and flashbacks as well. We also learn that Jane and her best friend, Lina, fell out of touch because Lina didn't know how to be happy around Jane following events I explained in the last post.

 

 

Yeah, that's nice, but why can't he just be alive?  Talking photo isn't gonna cut it, show.  
 

 

 

   
 

 

Due to the time jump, Mateo is obviously older now and no longer an infant. I remember older Mateo annoying me so much. I mean I guess there's not much to ~remember~ because it stayed this way through the end of the series last year.  On the other side of things, I love Petra and Rafael's twin girls, Anna and Elsa.   They're so adorable and funny. 

 

 

 

We also got the start of the weekly brunch between the families and the blossoming Petra and Jane friendship.   

 

 

 

- Rogelio is still in love with Xo and is thinking it may be okay to not have more children if he can be with her. Xo proposes to Rogelio and they get engaged. Jane officiates the wedding. 

 

 

In the best timing, Darci shows up again and is 7 months pregnant with Rogelio's child. lol

 

- Petra is running the Marbella. I forgot to mention Rafael went to jail at the end of the last episode before the time jump (the little things  ), but he's now a new man after his release.

 

 

  

 

Him and Jane are still good friends.  He is also noticeably hairier. 

 

 

Yes, let's not. Rafael is ready to get back to business at the Marbella though. He also has a new girlfriend, so he's not after either Jane nor Petra, but he can still dance with them...

 

 

 

And he does go back with Petra for some time.

 

- Petra in trouble with police due to her involvement in events following the murder I talked about earlier in spoiler tags and lying about her communication with Anezka.

 

- Rogelio battles legal issues before starring in a new telenovela . And I have to just...

 

 

 

 

 

- Luisa and Rose are back at it again... and more face masks are involved.  Rafael actually hired a PI to protect his family from Sin Rostro~ as well.

 

 

... When Luisa brags about accidentally artificially inseminating Jane.... 

 

Speaking of, things are horrible between Rafael and Luisa, but can't get into all that. This is a real bare bones recap of the rest of the season but I tried.  

 

In Season 4, Jane's book is finally published, released, and she gets to go on a book tour. Dreams do come true! 

 

 

- Jane is reunited with her ~first love, Adam (played by Tyler Posey), who she hasn't seen in 8 years. But she's starting to have feelings for Rafael (because nobody saw that coming) And if you're still reading this and didn't read the spoiler tags , as I said you WILL be confused.  

 

 

He is still back together with Petra though.

 

 

Jane tries to fight and deny her feelings for Rafael.

 

 

She does date Adam for awhile though and he gets to bond with Mateo, which is cute.

 

 

 

UGHH.
 

 

They do break up though and we all know what comes next, but I have to talk about some other things first. 

 

- Rafael loses ownership of the Marbella to Luisa at the start of the season and ends up living at the Villanueva home for awhile, before moving out into his own apartment (and eventually a home with Jane once they form a relationship).  Rafael also is attempting to find his parents, and gain information from Luisa, who is now living sober and happy without Rose.  Rose is always there in someway though, isn't she?   

 

 

 

 

- Petra and Rafael work together to buy back the hotel, but it causes tension in their own try at a romantic relationship again.  Petra ultimately ends the relationship. Rafael will do anything he can to get ownership back, but plans are soiled when Rose (ugh) sends a man to help Luisa out by burning down the hotel and claiming its insurance. Rafael also starts seeing a new woman, and wastes no time introducing her to all the kids, which upsets Jane.

 

 

  

 

He does end that relationship and the lady runs him over with a car.  

 

 

Oh Luisa.

 

Now that Jane is ready and Rafael has moved on from Petra and whoever else, the inevitable happens.

 

 

Jane and Rafael wrestle a bit with their relationship, whether to stay friends or pursue more. The uncertainty of it stresses out Mateo, so they must come to a decision. After keeping their new relationship for awhile, they decide to announce to everyone that they are now dating... including Petra, who was dating Rafael again herself early on in the season. By this point though, she cannot be bothered with this announcement.  

 

 

Jane did have some writer's block following the release of her book, but falling in love with Rafael inspires her to write again, and...

 

 

She realizes it also happens to be the anniversary of Michael's death. Meanwhile, Rafael still feels insecure that Jane chose Michael over him when he was alive. THE MAN DIED. Can we not?   

 

- Petra is finding new love herself with JR (the J also stands for Jane  ), who is her lawyer helping to clear her name because...

 

 

Petra's twin sister, Anezka dies, and Petra is blamed for it. There is some back and forth in this relationship, given JR's job as Petra's lawyer, but also with the situation itself as she tries to uncover what really happened with Anezka's death, and Petra learns that JR was initially being forced to make sure Petra went to jail, before she discovered Petra's innocence.  That all causes tension and mistrust from both sides. Then it turns out Petra did accidentally kill Anezka since she pushed her, but someone had removed screws from the balcony railing, which is what ultimately led to Anezka accidentally falling to her death.

I won't get into everything with this and Magda (Petra's mother) too, but gosh, there is a lot of drama and it is interesting.

 

 

Petra and JR do end up falling in love and Petra realizes she is bisexual. She starts to act a lot more giddy now that she's in love and also ~dresses~ up more, which people notice.  

 

 

 

- Rogelio gets the green light for an American version of his show Passions of Santos. He tries to get other famous people to be in it with him, including Eva Longoria, who is randomly his cousin. Darci also wants full custody of her and Rogelio's baby, but Xo helps prove that he would a committed father. 

 

- Xo is working on her dance studio business, but decides to actually shut it down to start teaching dance instead.  Her and Rogelio have their struggles as she feels he is too involved in his career and not her. 

 

 

 

 

On a heavier note, Xo discovers a lump in her breast and learns she has stage 3 breast cancer. She chooses to have a single mastectomy. 

 

 

 

 

- Alba celebrates her U.S. citizenship and also has quite a bit going on with her love life this season. She is in love with Jorge, who she ends up marrying, so that he can visit his sick mother in Mexico. Alba hopes that he will fall in love with her too though.   

 

The season also ends with several cliffhangers.... including the most shocking moment of the entire series.  

 

 

That's right. Michael is BACK from the dead. I'm sorry, whaaaaat?!!!!!! All the emotions and feels and confusion are what I experienced here and in the flipping ELEVEN MONTH HIATUS until the show came back.  

 

OMG yay this video has both of the finale's cliffhangers. But first and foremost... MICHAEL. This moment was absolutely bone chilling.  Jane was going to see Rafael, thinking that he was going to propose, but he had something else to reveal...  It had been over a year since his death scene only for this to come back up now... after a three year time jump and Jane finally moving on. There were SO many questions. Was that really Michael? Was he a twin? Was it someone else entirely wearing a mask (which happened a lot on this show)?  Is this scene real? If Michael didn't die, then... whattt?!  And why is he with Rafael??!! I have goosebumps even watching this now.  

Also in this scene, you can see JR shoot Petra's blackmailing stalker, which added the extra question of WHO did she just shoot.  But I literally forgot all about that after seeing Michael.    

 

And now on to Season 5 - the final season. The show picked back up where it left with those cliffhangers...

 

 

 

WITH THE LOVE OF JANE'S LIFE AND DECEASED HUSBAND MICHAEL BACK FROM THE DEAD.


 

We learn that this is in fact the real Michael and he never actually died. WE WERE BAMBOOZLED.   So for the last four years, Michael has been living in Montana by the name Jason. He was taken prisoner by Rose (who else?), who drugged him so his heart rate was slow enough to simulate death, and then essentially fried his brain to make him completely lose his memory.  I cannot make this stuff up. Rafael learns the truth from Rose in exchange for him giving her Luisa's location. Ugh. She kidnapped Michael, gave him amnesia, and faked his death to protect herself since she ran into Michael one time when one of her masks was visible.  She only let him live since she had promised Luisa she wouldn't kill anymore.

 

So yeah, Michael doesn't even remember Jane and has a completely different personality. This would be enough to make me rage, but they obviously brought him back for a reason (or you'd think... ), so all hope was not lost.  Jane is obviously beside herself and has such a tough time dealing with this and how her and Michael's past doesn't even exist in his mind at this time. It's also so sad when Rogelio finds out Michael doesn't remember him either.  

 

 

  

 

 

I hate to put this in spoiler tags because it is ICONIC but it's a huge spoiler so I have to. Jane has this truly epic 7-minute monologue where she lets it all OUT regarding what just happened with Michael's ~resurrection.  Ugh, this used to be on YouTube and now it's nowhere to be found. I have it saved on my laptop because it's THAT GOOD but if I upload myself, I get a copyright claim. Uggghh. You all do not understand how amazing this scene is. I rewatched this so many times after it aired and may a few more times tonight.  ALL THE AWARDS.  RIGHT NOW.   FOR GINA. I'm so mad I can't embed it here like I planned. If you all come over to my apartment, then I can show you the video on my laptop.   At least those gifs above are from it. Oh, and this!

 

 

  

 

So, Jane and Michael are technically still married after all this. Jane tries to help Michael get his memory back, but it is a struggle, and of course tough for her, even if she hadn't already been about to get engaged to Rafael. And imagine how tough it is for him as well.... he was so selfless to bring Michael back for Jane and let them have this closure.   Jane ultimately decides she wants to finalize the divorce with Michael and continue to move on with Rafael, which Michael agrees to after taking Jane on one date. However,  he then starts to regain his memory and remembers their whole life together and marriage. This leaves Jane conflicted and with unresolved feelings, causing Rafael to ask Jane to move out because he doesn't want to wait around for her to choose Michael over him again.   Since Jane has to work through her feelings again, this leads Rafael down the road to depression.  Jane visits Montana with Michael, only to realize she ~chooses~ Rafael. I have so many thoughts on this, which I'll get to, but Rafael doesn't accept Jane back just yet.... he even attempted to date someone else, but all roads lead back to Jane and they do get back together and Rafael proposes. 

 

 

This annoys me so much considering I'm Team Michael, but is pretty fun and over the top in their usual style.   So, Lina designs Jane's wedding dress (they reconnected, yay) and Alba officiates the wedding. There is a pretty entertaining chain of events pre-wedding as Rafael rushes to get Jane's newly finalized book copy to the authors who are reviewing it.  This leads to Rafael being arrested, Jane renting an entire bus to bail him out, and the whole wedding party being late.   

 

 

So okay, I guess here is where I'll begin my full-on rant. To backtrack again to the original "death"...  I was furious and it seemed like that was the show's way to deal with the love triangle that they created in the first place. They just killed him off and ~the problem was solved~.   That was horrible enough, but to bring him back, only for him to not remember anything, eventually remember, and then have Jane reject and divorce him because she had moved on over the years? I can only think they did this to appease the Jane and Rafael shippers, so that he wouldn't be the second choice, and she'd "choose" him first over Michael in this situation. There is really no other explanation why they would do that. But uhh...  It was not necessary. Jane and Rafael were already going to end up together, while Michael had to be DEAD, so they really did not need to do any more to validate the Jane/Rafael relationship. Also, people CAN and DO fall in love more than once in a lifetime, and Jane could have genuinely chosen to choose Rafael at that later point in her life without him being a second choice. There was no need to add more salt to the wound for Michael and Jane fans, by essentially "killing" him off twice. We went through ENOUGH pain the first time around. All they did was devastate and tick off a large portion of the fanbase, which is so sad. 

 

Also, let it be known that the cast of the show itself is Team Michael. I'm just saying.

 

 

I simply have no choice, but to forget this plot twists exists because otherwise I have to rage and question Jane and I don't want to do that.  

 

 

 

 

 

I agree so much with this tweet too. Although, I would have continued to feel like they had to kill Michael for Jane to be with Rafael, I would have been able to get behind them more where we were at in the show if they hadn't pulled this huge mess with Michael's comeback.  

 

 

I love this article as well, which says better a lot of what I just said. https://slate.com/culture/2019/08/jane-the-virgin-finale-michael-amnesia.html 

 

"That’s when it became clear to viewers: The newly returned Michael—the man she had been happily married to—wasn’t a serious option anymore. Instead, his return was simply a way for the writers to allow Jane to officially “choose” Rafael this time, not once but twice: first over Jason, then over the real Michael. That decision is driven even further home when Michael reappears toward the end of the show, engaged to a character we’ve met exactly once before, with a baby on the way, and musing about how they all ended up where they are “supposed” to be.

This storyline operates on the assumption—or at least, caters to viewers who hold it—that Rafael and Jane’s love after Michael’s death would never be “true” because he was her second choice. That does such a disservice to the very concept of love after grief and loss. Opening one’s heart after grief or entering a relationship with someone who has that past trauma is a challenging and complicated experience, not one to be down-rated just because it wouldn’t have happened if the previous partner were still alive. The Michael Returns plot reads like Rafael’s wish-fulfillment fantasy: that he can have the satisfaction of Jane formally choosing him this time over her late husband. In real life, a man who’s marrying a young widow doesn’t have that luxury and would need to accept that he is simply a different chapter of her life, not part of a competition.

 

We’ve seen this kind of relationship done justice before—on Jane the Virgin itself, in fact. Jane’s grandmother Alba (Ivonne Coll) has slowly learned to open her heart again after being a widow for years, and in this final season, she’s fully embraced her marriage with new love Jorge without any suggestion that it lessens her love for her late husband or is lessened by her having loved before. With this kind of role model right in front of the audience, Jane didn’t need to reject Michael to be with Rafael. It’s hard to see logic in a storyline that insists Alba and Jorge’s relationship can be a happy ending, but Rafael and Jane’s can’t unless she rejects her first husband.

 

It’s not about whom Jane ends up with. The show has always done a remarkable job of showing the strengths and flaws of all three members of its central love triangle, and as recently as Season 4, I marveled at how beautifully the writing seemed to understand that Jane and Rafael’s rekindled romance was no less beautiful or romantic than Jane and Michael’s past love had been. How rare to show that whole, painful process of Jane opening up and finding love again, without discrediting anyone involved. Bringing Michael back just to prove that Jane has moved on, then, felt not only redundant—we’d already seen that she’d moved on—but a little insulting. Insulting to Rafael, who was forced back into the jealous-guy mold he’d long left behind. Insulting to Jane, whose life suddenly had to revolve around choosing a guy when she’d long since left those days behind her. And insulting to Michael, a character who deserved better than to be a plot device for his wife and her new love in his final appearances. Don’t get me wrong: Jane the Virgin still leaves behind a legacy to be proud of. I just wish it hadn’t stumbled over this hurdle when the finish line was so near in sight."

 

 

 

 

- Jane writes for a bit for Rogelio's telenovela, but she gets an agent for her book and a publishing deal for $500,000 which was so amazing.  So proud of Jane. 

 

Although....

 

Jane needs to get Michael's permission for the book to be published, since he never signed away his life rights. Michael meets with Jane again and we learn he is now engaged and his fiance is pregnant.   Hmm. There is this whole scene about how it was their destiny, which is bogus. I truly wish Jane and Rafael happiness, but it would have been a heck of a lot easier without all this funny business going on.  

 

These tweets say it all.
 

 

 

- We find out that Mateo has trouble reading, which is extra sad for Jane considering how much she loves it. Mateo is also diagnosed with ADHD.

 

- Xo undergoes chemo treatment and is cancer free! She decides to pursue nursing, and her and Rogelio move to New York where his show is relocated.

 

- Petra and JR go through lots of ups and downs, include JR needing to bond with Anna and Elsa, but they ultimately find happiness together. 

 

 

And I just have to post this next one somewhere.

 

 

 

- Alba finds true love with Jorge after all.   

 

- The Sin Rostro case finally comes to a close...
 

 

Luisa worked undercover with the police and ends up killing Rose herself after she holds Jane hostage for hours. Gosh, I remember how scary this was.

 

The big ending of the show is....

 

 

... that Jane's book was made into a telenovela and Mateo is then revealed to be the narrator of the entire series. He was telling the love story of his parents, so I guess the plan was always for Jane and Rafael to end up together (but was it always the plan to do Michael and the fanbase THAT dirty? I sure would like to know) But there were some clever hints to Mateo being the show's narrator, like in the episode where he was diagnosed with ADHD, the narrator himself was having trouble staying focused. 

 

 

 

Now, I know I ranted a lot in the spoiler tags, but it's because I care. It's hard to look past something so huge and not let it impact my opinion of the show, but I do love the show itself in general and would recommend it... although for people who are going to feel the same as me on some things, it is a bit hard to set people up for that. But as I said before, Jane the Virgin is unlike any other show I've watched. It's fun, silly, dramatic, romantic, and full of great characters. The cast is excellent and the main characters are so likeable (or become likeable). So even though I majorly question why the writers did what they did, specifically near the end, it is an enjoyable show and a fun binge-watch if anyone wants to add it to their list.  The show has also been nominated for and won tons of awards, including Gina's Golden Globe win for Best Actress – Television Series Musical or Comedy in 2015, after only 9 episodes of the show had aired. That's how good she is.

 

 

And with that, I have concluded yet another write-up I did not have to do, but wanted to.    

[1234567890]

I don't even have to watch the show because of Denise.

[miss denise]

When more of my write-up is in hidden contents than not.  

[.Rei]

Denise's tribute post being mostly spoilers

 

[1234567890]

Just now, miss denise said:

When more of my write-up is in hidden contents than not.  

I don't like the spoiler I read so I am mad.

[miss denise]

2 minutes ago, 1234567890 said:

I don't even have to watch the show because of Denise.

   

 

[miss denise]

Just now, .Rei said:

Denise's tribute post being mostly spoilers

 

I KNOW.  I really could have put the entire thing in spoiler tags.

[miss denise]

1 minute ago, 1234567890 said:

I don't like the spoiler I read so I am mad.

I am too.   

[Elliott]

Denise & Wally: "Here's a minor detail about a show that aired years ago, so I'm going to spoil tag it."

Me: "ANYWAY THIS IS THE GIANT PLOT TWIST THAT RUINS THE SHOW IF YOU KNOW ABOUT IT BEFOREHAND, BUT I'M GONNA TALK ABOUT IT ANYWAY"

 

 

[*Chris]

Excellent job, once again Denise! Agree with everything especially some of the stuff in the spoiler - it made me mad, and it was hard to continue the finale. And that's how the production and CW did that show dirty  

Also love how most the characters are messy as f. when it comes to the drama in their lives

[*Chris]

 

 

I did not expect Big Little Lies to go out on my round, as I expected it to be easy but I guess I was wrong. I do like the show but I nominated it as I thought it was expendable at this point, and I haven’t heard any express that it was their top favourite so it made more sense to nominate it. In this write-up, I won’t go too much in detail because I do want people to watch this masterpiece especially when it comes to the acting notably from Nicole Kidman, Laura Dern, and Alexander Skarsgard. But to be honest, the entire cast of the first season is flawless from those mentioned to Reese Witherspoon to Shailene Woodley surprising us all to Zoe Kravitz and Adam Scott, as well as James Tupper. 

 

The series stars with a murder at a school in Monterey California - we do not know who the victim nor the killer until the finale. We then travel back in time to the first day of school where Madeline (Reese Witherspoon) meets Jane (Shailene Woodley), a single mom who just recently moved to the area. Shortly after the first day of the school, Jane’s son is accused of trying to choke Amabella, Renata’s daughter - this is not helping Jane’s arrival in the new town. As the season progresses, she develops a close friendship with Madeline and Celeste (Nicole Kidman), while Madeline has a rivalry with Renata (Laura Dern) over the production of Avenue Q.  The show also takes another look at the relationship of each character and their significant others, as well as their exes - we talk about affair, jealousy, and sexual & physical abuse… As the season ends, we find out who is the victim as well as the killer, among other shocking revelations. 

 

Like I’ve said, I haven’t seen the 2nd season which I’ve heard it’s not as good as the first but I definitely want to watch it sooner than later.  The entire first season was brilliantly written and directed, and the acting was flawless - it deserved all the awards it received at the Emmys & Golden Globe.

I would absolutely recommend everyone to watch it!

[*Wallace]

43 minutes ago, miss denise said:

When more of my write-up is in hidden contents than not.  

 

43 minutes ago, .Rei said:

Denise's tribute post being mostly spoilers

 

LMAOOO YESSS I love that too.   

41 minutes ago, miss denise said:

I KNOW.  I really could have put the entire thing in spoiler tags.

 

 

39 minutes ago, Elliott said:

Denise & Wally: "Here's a minor detail about a show that aired years ago, so I'm going to spoil tag it."

Me: "ANYWAY THIS IS THE GIANT PLOT TWIST THAT RUINS THE SHOW IF YOU KNOW ABOUT IT BEFOREHAND, BUT I'M GONNA TALK ABOUT IT ANYWAY"

 

 

 

 

But yeah nice JtV 2nd part write-up there Denise.... or at least what I was able to see from it.  Gah I'm starting to get overwhelmed with a number of things but i will read and comment on this write-up sometime this week!

[Steven_]

Just a few more hours left to vote. 

[miss denise]

3 hours ago, Elliott said:

Denise & Wally: "Here's a minor detail about a show that aired years ago, so I'm going to spoil tag it."

Me: "ANYWAY THIS IS THE GIANT PLOT TWIST THAT RUINS THE SHOW IF YOU KNOW ABOUT IT BEFOREHAND, BUT I'M GONNA TALK ABOUT IT ANYWAY"

 

 

It concluded airing less than a year ago.  It's hard to talk about without spoiling anything, so there are some spoilers not hidden, but I had to hide the biggest ones in case anyone wants to watch it.  

 

2 hours ago, *Chris said:

Excellent job, once again Denise! Agree with everything especially some of the stuff in the spoiler - it made me mad, and it was hard to continue the finale. And that's how the production and CW did that show dirty  

Also love how most the characters are messy as f. when it comes to the drama in their lives

Thank you.  Love the agreement so much.   The writers did it.  Jane shouldn't have let them!

 

    

 

2 hours ago, *Wallace said:

LMAOOO YESSS I love that too.   

 

But yeah nice JtV 2nd part write-up there Denise.... or at least what I was able to see from it.  Gah I'm starting to get overwhelmed with a number of things but i will read and comment on this write-up sometime this week!

lol. It's near impossible to talk about without spoiling it though.   I am CRYING seeing how huge some of the hidden contents sections are.  

 

Thank youu. There is much more hidden (which should help not freeze the page?)  Okay, I look forward to your thoughts.  

[Steven_]

20 hours ago, Steven_ said:

FINAL TWIST

 

Thanks for all the feedback. The next part of this game is to have all the rankers cut one more show, leaving us with our Final 20 shows. However, before that happens, I'll allow five shows to advance straight to the Top 20.

 

Fifteen rankers advancing fifteen shows to the Top 20 is just too much. If I were to do that, then why bother with months of game play since I could've just allowed each ranker to pick a show from the start and let those shows be in the endgame. However, I'm willing to allow you all have a say in which five shows advance straight to the Top 20. 

 

1. All rankers will privately message me five shows they want to be in the Top 20.

2. The five shows with the most votes will be in the Top 20.

3. If there is a tie, then I'll have you all vote again between the tied shows.

 

Since you'll all be choosing five shows, hopefully that increases the odds of one of your choices advancing to the Top 20.

 

You all have 24 hours from now to send in your votes.

 

After five shows advance, we will be left with 30 shows eligible for elimination. You all will then cut that in half by having each of you eliminate one show. The fifteen shows that survive will be in the Top 20.

 

Hopefully you all like this final twist since I wasn't originally going to allow any shows to advance straight to the Top 20. 

 

I'm bringing this to the current page in case any rankers didn't see it.

[*Diana]

Denise has me all heated and attached to a couple on a show that I have never seen and they don't end up together?

[1234567890]

8 minutes ago, *Diana said:

Denise has me all heated and attached to a couple on a show that I have never seen and they don't end up together?

OMG.

[Steven_]

1 more hour.

[Steven_]

Just letting you guys know I won't be posting the results until the missing write-ups are posted first.

 

[1234567890]

[1234567890]

Just @ me next time.

[Steven_]

I won't reveal how each person voted, but are any of you opposed to me revealing the vote tally?

[Solaris]

Just now, Steven_ said:

I won't reveal how each person voted, but are any of you opposed to me revealing the vote tally?

 

 

yes.  It will reveal all the broken deals on my end if you do that.  

[~Tom~]

Waking the Dead

 

 

I'm not sure if Waking the Dead is my overall favorite British police procedural (definitely not my #1 overall but it has the most episodes that I love and I was obsessed with it back in 2014, so I'm glad I go it as far as I did. 

 

Waking the Dead follows the work of a police force that investigates "cold cases", which usually concern murders that took place a number of years ago, and were never solved. The team, composed of head officer Detective Superintendent Peter Boyd (played by Trevor Eve), psychological profiler Dr Grace Foley (Sue Johnston), Detective Inspector Spencer Jordan (Wil Johnson), as well as a number of other supporting characters, uses evidence which has recently come to light, as well as contemporary technology to examine former evidence. Grace serves as a foil to Boyd, who is harsh with suspects while she is more sympathetic and they frequently disagree on suspects and their motives. Boyd and Spence often disagree on cases as well seeing as Boyd is a white upper-class liberal and Soence is a black working-class conservative. Initially, Boyd, Grace and Spence were accompanied by junior DC Mel Silver (Claire Goose), and stern forensic scientist Frankie Wharton (Holly Aird), however both left after the end of the fourth series when Mel is pushed off a building by a mentally ill patient. Her death was a real loss to the series because although she was cold at times, she was determiend and not afraid to question Boyd's methods (which could be harsh at times, he was not afraid to beat suspects to a pulp).

 

Some of my favorite episodes are Fugue States: Five-year-old twins Cindy and Jason were abducted in 1988. Sixteen years later, Jason is struck by a car and identified by his DNA after he is admitted to hospital. When the search for Cindy begins, Jason cannot recall anything about his life. Boyd does not think it is a coincidence when he discovers the driver that struck Jason had crossed paths with the boy shortly before the abduction. The ultimate outcome results in a touching reunion and it showed the team doesn't always get it right, either.

 

The story arc of Linda Cummings, who first appears in the episode called Sins, is one of the most fascinating ones in the series. The investigation into the murder of prison governor James Reading is re-opened after seven years when his head, missing at the time of the initial investigation, is found at the bottom of a river. His daughter eventually confesses to his murder and had help to cover up the crime by prison officer Linda Cummings, who is also responsible for the murder and revealed to be a psychopath, the very favorite kind of character of @aliasocfan. In a later episode, she escapes her mental health ward and orchestrates a plot to extract revenge by having Boyd kill the woman respnsible for his son Luke's death. Ultimately she doesn't but the torment she puts Boyd through is some captivating television.

 

Another excellent episode is Care: Where five children in an orphanage are abused from an early age, the oldest one haunts the others with tales of the Bag-Man. When a charred body from the scene of a car fire is discovered to be that of Claire Somers, a woman who disappeared from this orphanage twenty five-years ago when she was only seven years old, the team investigate and find the remains of a hotel room key on her person, they are led to the scene of a sixteen-year-old girl named Abigail tied up in the wardrobe. As the investigation into how or when the girl was kidnapped gets underway, the team discover that shortly before her death, Claire visited a local private clinic in order to obtain some pills to help her with depression. Boyd After discovering that a similar disappearance took place twenty five-years ago - that of a nine-year-old boy David Drew - and after the sudden death of the doctor, Boyd suspects that the The Bag Man is back. He drives the sanest of the grown-up kids, Teresa to her death. Turns out the reality is much more f*cked up, when Abigail is kidnapped, her adoptive mother comes after her not to rescue her but to extract Danny from trouble so she can ontniue to have a relationship with him. Quite a scary piece of work, this episode.

 

Something I look for when watching a series is if it declines in quality or stays the same as the seasons pass. This series ultimately improves as the seasons go on, and while it has a bit of a slump in the middle, it goes right back into form with the aforementioned Linda Cummings arc. Not every episode is stellar but there are many other fantastic episodes beyond the ones I mentioned here. I was obsessed with the show a few years back and watched a ton of the seasons with family so it's always going to be near the top of my list. I'd encourage everyone to give it a shot if they can get BritBox on Amazon Prime. 

Edited April 15, 2020 by ~Tom~