Weekend Watching

I don't claim to be the biggest Doctor Who fan out there. I'd hardly say I'm a casual fan, I know what a T.A.R.D.I.S. is, and I can tell you the names of the past three actors who've brought the Doctor to life as well as the most recent acctresses that have played companions and their characters' names. Aside from that I hardly know what goes on in most of the episodes, and I got lost in the Master storyline both the first and second time round. Still, I was sad to see David Tennant leave the show, and hesitant to tune in and see what Matt Smith does with the part. I liked Christopher Eccleston's number Nine, even though he seemed a bit harsh at times, but I think Tennant's Ten brought the show back to life. He made the Doctor slightly eccentric and a lot of fun to watch. I think Smith's Eleven picks up on that, and from what I'd seen in the first episode, he's off to a great start. I love the backstory on his companion, and I think Amy's got a great chemistry with Eleven. I could actually make heads from tales with this episode (that seems like a first), and now I'm stoked for the rest of the season.

I remember catching a bit of Merlin when I was in Ireland, it showed up on RTE One or something and I couldn't help but think that it was pure cheese. Which, of course, means I'd watch it. I thought NBC was carrying this show in the states, but I guess it moved over to SyFy, which is a more fitting channel if you ask me. I would have placed it on BBC America, but their scheduling is odd. The effects are kind of cheesy, like Doctor Who's tend to be, and the costumes are reminiscent of the BBC's attempt at Robin Hood. Historical? Why sure, let's throw Morgana in some evening heels and give Arthur a knock off Thriller-esque leather jacket. Costume hilarities (and folklore interpretation fail) aside, the stories are pretty well knitted and I like the origin they've created for Merlin. I still don't buy Gwen and Arthur's relationship, but now that Morgana's aware of her magical abilites, Mordred's alive and well and living with the Druids, and Merlin's growing ever stronger, it seems like things are shaping up well. I wonder when they're going to kill Uther off though, shouldn't he be gone already? Next week: Lancelot shows up! Woot.

Legend of the Seeker is great. Full stop. I managed to catch up on last week's episode which dealt with a vengeful father of five (who lost his sons to the war and a manipulative king), some magical evil thing that made its victims look like the mummy (once again, Zedd fails as a wizard, surprise, surprise), and Kahlan and Cara faced off in a battle of "who's going to sacrifice themselves for the greater good?" Oh yeah, and it was Richard's birthday. Sometimes I think this show sounds a lot crackier than it turns out to be, but at least it doesn't suffer from Heroes' syndrome, in which it actually is a pile of crazy. This week's LOTS had Gimli, okay, John Rhys Davies, as Darken Rahl and Richard's father. I'll update this when I've seen the full episode.