Down to the Wire

I'm in a monstrously grumptastic mood today, and one of the things I was thinking about this morning while grumbling through getting ready for work is how annoyed I am by the disappearance of conversation in my fannish life, how few people want to actually talk about anything and how the disparity between the fannish consumer and the fannish producer has grown even more pronounced and how much I hate that (the idea that because someone isn't a writer or vidder they have no intrinsic value sends me into a frenzy of anger), and mostly, how much I resent the fact that I have no more shows to review. That was the defining thing for me in starting this LJ: the chance to write the meta, generate discussion (even if sometimes the discussions haven't been pleasant), review and critique and dissect, and I have nothing to do that with anymore. Because of the asshat executives who cancelled both Firefly and Angel, the best shows -- the Jossverse -- for reviews are gone, and there is nothing currently airing that I either enjoy, or that is the kind of show worth reviewing. Much as I love Gilmore Girls, for instance, it's not a reviewy show the way Buffy, Angel, and Firefly were for me.

I don't like Lost (mark my words, JJ Abrams will only bring you heartache and misery) and only endure it for Naveen Andrews, and even with Alias and some new eps of Spooks/MI-5 and 24 coming up, I doubt there will really be anything reviewy there either. The only things I've had the slightest passing interest in this year are Kevin Hill (watchable solely for the luscious Taye Diggs), and Veronica Mars, but it doesn't always hold my interest, and isn't so far a review the next day type show. I miss the discussion, the analysis, the whole... fun of picking things apart and looking for deeper meanings. It makes me grumpy that I haven't got anything like that. The Shield will also be coming up, but... they lost me a while ago and now I watch more out of loyalty than anything. I loathe and despise the crime procedurals with the white hot fury of a thousand burning suns, but have to watch the despicable and cretinous CSI:NY for my favorite actor, Gary Sinise. The only procedural I give a crap about is Without a Trace and it's more a tribute to that cast and the personal storylines than anything else.

The best things are all on pay cable, which I can't afford. I will be waiting for the S2 discs of Dead Like Me, for a while, I'm sure, but look forward to seeing it; can't wait to watch Carnivale on something better than the horrible rainbowed dark and murky tapes we saw first season on, and eagerly await the ability to view the second season. The idea of more Deadwood is thrilling, too. But none of these are shows I can sink teeth into because I often won't see them for months and months and months after they air. One of my favorite discoveries so far is The Wire. I really like this series and am only to episode 5. I wish I'd had the chance to watch this series as it aired; it would have been interesting to review, especially because I have no idea half the time what's happening. I can't keep about 2/3 of the characters straight, and especially the different gang street wars confuse me, as do the relationships of the hateful, venal cops that McNulty battles with. (Plus, crime! While I'm writing a crime-based WIP, it's enormously helpful as research material.)

But when I get what's going on, what a wing-ding of a show it is. It's also one of the few shows I've seen that deals with homosexuality on a fairly realistic basis and challenges assumptions about its acceptance in these very tough, often discriminatory worlds. Not they don't also play it for a little prurient interest, as well, but it's fairer than most other shows could hope to be. Omar, the one criminal character who seems to be on opposite sides of the Barksdale group, in particular fascinates me: his elaborate cornrows and his cool facial scar; his obvious tender love of his boyfriend in a world where a homosexual man is most decidedly not welcome; his sarcastic wit and wary perspicacity; his amusing idiosyncracies such as not wanting his boyfriend to swear because it's uncouth and his friendliness to the cops... I could watch him alone on this show and be happy. I've never seen a young black male character, especially a drug-dealing homicidal thug, portrayed like this, and I'm mesmerized not just by the role but by the actor (and his boyfriend, as well). I have a bad feeling subsequent episodes will bring bad things for him, but I'm enjoying these, anyway.

I also like the lesbian cop McNulty works with, whose name totally escapes me right now. The actress is up and down, not always on top of the role, but the character has a really unusual background and relationships with people that I've never seen before, especially when most shows would just have her be the dyke cop in the background. Anyway, I have quite a few more S1 discs to get through, and am looking forward to seeing Aiden Gillen when he arrives. But this is the first show that feels rich enough in characters and story arcs to be a review-worthy outside of Deadwood, but like Deadwood, I'm seeing these so much later that I never have the chance to get down and dirty with them. I miss that, a lot. Most of the time I don't miss the grind of movie reviewing, but sometimes I do, and have been feeling the loss of writing my little post-ep TV reviews in LJ a lot this fall. The Wire is definitely a series worth that kind of attention. I'm almost thinking of investing in the discs becuase it would make such a great vidding show, as well, but I'll have to think about that.