What pulled me back was the characters. Aside from house, I was curious to see the ways that Dr. Wilson would grow, and he manages to seamlessly weave his way in by the end of season 4 as the vessel for one of the main plot points. The mass job interview conducted by House to find a new medical team was also a joy to watch. The crowning glory of the season was the finale, which was a unique adventure into the way that House's mind solves puzzles, and the risks he takes to get an upper hand.
It was enough to pull me into watching season 5. The interesting thing I found about my experience with these two seasons is that I was a lot less interested in season 5 as I went through the first half or so. It lacked any major issues that could last longer than two episodes. The character development was very good, which in retrospect was the underlining issue. The fifth season was about people. The patients began to have a more profound effect on the main characters, and often caused them to change their minds completely.
House had a lot of moments where he shows true compassion, regret, or fear, which is a major change for the careless jerk that he usually is. Scenes with he and Wilson, even if they are only for a few seconds and overlaid with music, are among the best in the season.
The episodes took an unexpected change at a excellent time, having House hallucinate a dead character from season 4 right at the end of a rather uplifting episode. It really set a tone for the remaining episode, delving deeper into House's mind. As the hallucinations become more vivid, House takes another great risk to fix himself. Though he believes it to work, the last few episodes end up being one big hallucination, which amounts to an incredible twist ending that takes place in Cuddy's office. In that moment, Hugh Laurie shows us his best acting under the role of Dr. House, conveying several emotions at once. His shock over the uncertainty of his own life was completely believable. The season ends with House being admitted into a mental institution after a silent goodbye from Dr. Wilson. The scene has a wonderful orchestrated version of The Rolling Stones' "As Tears Go By" playing as House hobbles toward the front door before the season cuts to black for the final time.
The sixth season started with a 90-minute episode that began with a completely new intro and song. The Radiohead tune "No Surprises" played as we are shown scenes of House in the institution that are actually rather hard to watch. Particularly one moment where House screams for help while banging on the door of his padded room.
The episode plays like a movie, not giving us any sign of his old co-workers (sans a two-minute call to Wilson), and providing us with an incredible new cast of characters. What's really amazing about it is the way it still retained the whole House formula, which I've actually taken a liking to, while not diving into medical jargon or what have you. The epiphany House gets comes in a much different way than usual, but it still makes for a great conclusion to a wonderful episode.
As someone with multiple interests ranging from sci-fi to musicals, I’ve become rather accustom to people ragging on certain shows that I watch. Due to embarrassment, I didn’t openly admit to being a hardcore Buffy the Vampire Slayer fan for the longest time, because I knew that if I did, all I’d get were complaints about how the dialogue is way too corny. And maybe I can understand from the perspective of someone watching a random episode with no background knowledge, but anyone who watched the show religiously, or perhaps still enjoys catching the odd episode on reruns, will have about 132 reasons to argue that point. Then again, I get embarrassed walking by my landlords while holding a take-out bag of McDonald’s, so maybe a minor part of the embarrassment factor is on me. And then of course, there is Battlestar Galactica, a show that I had to relentlessly push on my ever reluctant friends to watch, until they finally gave in and loved it. You see, the problem lies with categorization. All it takes is for someone to hear the term “sci-fi” and they are immediately put off and refuse to give it a chance. The same goes for my new favourite indulgence: Glee.
When people think of Glee, the next go-to word is “musical.” And with that association, a huge chunk of an otherwise open-minded audience just vanishes. Well firstly, I have to ask: what the hell is so bad about musicals? This cast is extremely talented, most of them classically trained, and believe me, it shows. The songs that are covered are just amazingly done. I admit, there were a couple that I didn’t enjoy, but it was mostly due to my not liking the original song, and on that note, the self-proclaimed “gleeks” even managed to sway my opinion about some numbers that I had previously been impartial to. However, one common complaint is that the covers don’t do the originals justice. Well to this, I’m just gonna put it out there that honestly, a good many of these people likely don’t enjoy MOST covers, and this isn’t unusual. A lot of times when a favourite song of mine is redone, my immediate thought is that “these BASTARDS ruined MY song!” and the usual screaming and punching of the person nearest to me ensues. But as with many other people, my problem in these moments is just that I’m so devoted to the original that even the best cover in the world wouldn’t do it justice. This is a mind-frame that you simply can’t watch Glee in, you’ll just hate it. This group is frakkin talented, there’s no denying it, but what they are doing are COVERS—they aren’t supposed to sound exactly like the original, and in fact, the further away from the original the better. Otherwise, what’s the point of trying to bring a fresh perspective to a well-known song?
People also comment on how unrealistic the show is, because what kind of high school students spontaneously break into song, and how could popular kids ever join a glee club? Pay attention ladies and gents, being a geek isn’t a bad thing anymore; at least, not in television. Seth Cohen anyone? And as for the unrealistic aspect... oh, hi True Blood, Vampire Diaries, Fringe, LOST, and a million other unrealistic shows that are nonetheless hugely successful. Even shows like The Office or Parks and Recreation (two of my favourite programs right now) which claim to be documentary style are not *actually* realistic. This is pure entertainment douchebags, stop taking it so seriously and just accept it for what it is. It may not be realistic but it sure puts a smile on your face.
People also comment on how unrealistic the show is, because what kind of high school students spontaneously break into song, and how could popular kids ever join a glee club? Pay attention ladies and gents, being a geek isn’t a bad thing anymore; at least, not in television. Seth Cohen anyone? And as for the unrealistic aspect... oh, hi True Blood, Vampire Diaries, Fringe, LOST, and a million other unrealistic shows that are nonetheless hugely successful. Even shows like The Office or Parks and Recreation (two of my favourite programs right now) which claim to be documentary style are not *actually* realistic. This is pure entertainment douchebags, stop taking it so seriously and just accept it for what it is. It may not be realistic but it sure puts a smile on your face.
Let’s not forget th
e amazing originality of Glee, which is the first show I have heard of to incorporate music into each and every episode. Shows like Buffy and Scrubs did it for an episode, but Glee does it constantly and still manages to pull it off with flying colours. Even the segue music that connects and adds emotionality to scenes is different. For the most part, these numbers are sung and not instrumental as with almost every other television program. This just adds to the, for lack of a better word, gleeful atmosphere. The hilarity of the situations also add to this atmosphere, a favourite quirk of mine being the constant “slushee facials” that the gleeks are subject to as a result of belonging to the club. And yet, there are many moments in Glee that aren’t funny, but rather serious and often heart-warming, and if you think that this combination may be tricky to pull off, you’d be wrong.I can’t continue on without giving mention to the characters, who are actually really well-structured. Firstly, it was nice to see a show with such a diverse crowd. Along with racial diversity, we also have characters who are disabled and characters with different sexual orientations. As the show progresses, we see that each character is given a storyline, not just the more prominent characters. Some argue that this was done to almost exploit the fact that a lot of programs aren’t diverse, but really even if this is the case, should we be complaining about the motives? The effect is the same, and that’s the point. And yes, a lot of the characters are stereotypical, but most programs I know either do the same thing, or go completely opposite in attempts to avoid this complaint. But back to the characters. Aside from being a musical, I’d put Glee into the comedy genre as well because it just downright hilarious, and a lot of this has to do with the writing of the characters. Sue Sylvester, played by Jane Lynch, definitely stands out. She is blunt with a dry, sarcastic and often politically incorrect sort of humour, a combination that is incredibly well-received due to the recent boom of this sort of comedy. If you’re one for quotable characters a la Michael Scott, she is right up there. The younger characters deal with a lot of issues that are relevant to what real high school kids go through, but the issues are completely put in a “worst-case scenario” perspective, giving extreme examples and putting otherwise taboo issues right out there, and lessening the embarrassment factor. Lea Michele, who plays ambitious Rachel Berry, is delightful. Her talent is just so pure, and her over-the-top drama is so extreme that it’s funny. Glee club teacher Will Schuester, played by Matthew Morrison, is definitely a triple threat, and is refreshing to watch as someone who genuinely cares about his students and those in his life. Pretty much every character has something unique to offer.
The biggest thing that irks me though, is the reason for people complaining. If you’re just not a fan of musicals, it’s pretty obvious that you’re not going to like a show that is classified as such. I mean, really? What did you expect? It doesn’t mean that the show is shit, it means that you’re not a fan of the genre, and even if it was the best representation of a musical out there, you’d still hate it. So that opinion is pretty redundant if you ask me. But... let’s end on a happier note than that. Watch Glee!
The biggest thing that irks me though, is the reason for people complaining. If you’re just not a fan of musicals, it’s pretty obvious that you’re not going to like a show that is classified as such. I mean, really? What did you expect? It doesn’t mean that the show is shit, it means that you’re not a fan of the genre, and even if it was the best representation of a musical out there, you’d still hate it. So that opinion is pretty redundant if you ask me. But... let’s end on a happier note than that. Watch Glee!
So what are the main problems I've heard people have about Final Fantasy XIII, or 13 if you can't count like a Roman. Well there's five main problems I can think of off hand, some of which kind of bleed together and they are as follows:
1) The story is just too linear.
2) The voice acting can be corny (more so in some characters than others).
3) The characters themselves aren't the freshest of personalities
4) The story lacks originality.
5) All I do is auto attack in the battle system
Alright, well I'm going to try to make this as spoiler free as possible so here it goes.
So really is it a big deal that we're stuck on a path here? You get a dose of fighting followed by a little story, there's save points everywhere so you don't have to worry about time management while you play.
3) The characters lack fresh personalities. No shit, there aren't any new ones unless you want the protagonist to be an 80 year old woman with diabetes that battles a dark army of sugary foods with new and more powerful diabetes magi...medication. Yes the personalities are all stock now, as are the character models, character arcs, the conflicts, and the plot twists. This isn't just with video games it's with movies and television too. There are certain defined genres and each has a few formulaic plots where you just change or rearrange minor details. Back in reference to gaming we're always going to get some dark character with a cryptic and slowly revealed past that somehow ties to the current story, we're always going to have some over the top happy bastard/bitch, some character that would be really cool if not for some fatal annoying aesthetic flaw, a girl that shows off her breasts but has no hint of sexuality in her personality. If you keep asking for something new you're going to get a manic depressive accountant with one testicle and a past of tax fraud and I don't think anyone wants that.
4) The story lacks originality. D'uh. I think I covered this with complaint #3. I don't think Final Fantasy XIII is that unoriginal but it's not remarkably groundbreaking either. I haven't seen a fresh story premise since PS1 or maybe PS2 era consoles. People keep buying movie tickets to the same stories in Hollywood; you're going to keep getting the same in video games too. Really though I think what a lot of people mean when they say Final Fantasy XIII isn't very original with the story is that it's not Final Fantasy VII's story. I'm sorry but I think if the game designers focus on creating RPGs with Semi-Industrial/Magic based storylines we're just going to ruin the memory of Final Fantasy VII or at least cheapen it.
5) All you do in FFXIII battles is auto attack. Yep that's pretty well true. I'm a big fan of traditional turn based battles but really they haven't changed that much in this game. Instead of the focus being on entering commands (which you can still do manually if you want) the focus is on entering battle strategies constantly. Now characters are versatile in their roles and you constantly need them to switch to another one to get through the battle safely...are you really upset that the AI selects Firaga for you rather than you casting it yourself. Either way people are going to complain about battle systems...it's either the same thing and it lacks creativity or they change something and the game designers have ruined it by going away from what works best. WHAT DO YOU WANT!?
What I've come to understand is that people are always going to complain about things and I don't even think they know why half the time; sometimes it seems like people complain just so they can find someone else that agrees so they can feel like they belong; my advice would be to be careful with your complaining. I tend to listen to people that calmly list pros and cons but when people get whiny/preachy/outraged I lose interest/respect even if I would have otherwise agreed with their opinion.
