Hello Jugglers. Contrary to popular belief I haven’t fallen off the face of the earth. Okay, maybe there isn’t any sort of popular belief – I am not even sure anyone noticed I hadn’t been posting. My apologies for not being around much. There have been a few reasons for that.
In November I took a trip to South Africa to visit friends, but there was a broader mission, if you will, to the trip. These friends are with an organization dedicated to helping children affected by the AIDS and child rape epidemics in that country. We went over to help them start a project to build a shelter for the 20 children who are currently living in a two bedroom house in the townships outside of Durban. We hope to not only build a sustainable place for these kids, but offer a place for additional kids who need help. While we were in Durban we did our fair share of tourist activities, but we also did quite a bit of work with the people there and have forged friendships and partnerships that will last us a lifetime. This experience has affected my outlook on several things – including my relationship with my television. On top of that, we are preparing to move into our 120 square foot off the grid house next year and my habits will have to change drastically at that time.
Also, as it turns out, we have entered the mid-season hiatus time of year. So, even if I did feel like watching a lot of television, there isn’t anything on from now until after the first of the year. Whichever one is the actual reason for my absence is still up for interpretation.
Don’t get me wrong, I did spend some time after returning to catch up with things I recorded while we were gone. However, there was a time in my life that I would have spent the first three days back from a trip catching up on everything at once. That was not the case with this trip back. I took my time, watched them as I had a spare hour or two while not working on projects for the ZOA or the Tiny House (not to mention working a full time job). I don’t know what this means for my future here at the Juggler – or at least as someone who regularly keeps up with sci-fi television for our readers, but my life is changing and I may have to find a new place for myself.
But, since I am still here I thought I would recap some of the television up through the mid season hiatus.
Fringe – Still my favorite show on TV. This season has been an absolute roller coaster. First there was no Peter, then Peter was back but no one knew who he was. But wait – maybe it isn’t actually Peter that is out of place. What if everyone else is part of yet another alternate universe? Fringe plays a hardball game with the concept of infinite universes and I trust that they know where they will be taking us. Mid-season ended with a cliffhanger that makes us rethink everything we thought before. How could they…again?
The Walking Dead – Just like Fringe, even though this show isn’t specifically Pagan there are a lot of things that spiritual people of any faith can take from the series. This season, more than the establishing mythology of the first, is really about exploring our relationships to the post apocalyptic world around us and how it might change us. Characters we thought of as bad are surprisingly good. Characters who we thought were good are really really bad and characters we thought were alive…well, might not be. Watching Shane’s spiral into darkness is stark and challenging. It is painful to watch from the audience perspective because not everyone on screen sees what has happened to him. On top of that, we have a family cut off from the horrors of the outside world who believe that the Walkers (zombies) are just sick people and are keeping them in a barn waiting for a cure. In the mid-season ender, there is an incredibly moving scene where our band of survivors make a difficult choice – especially when this concept hits very close to home for them. Some other fans have been saying they find this season slow, but I disagree. I think the character development we have seen this year will really help us understand better how the show will continue and make us care more about the survivors as the story progresses.
American Horror Story – I wrote about this quickly before we left for SA, but I really can’t keep up with it like I can other series. It terrifies me – so Ryan Murphy; Mission Accomplished. I made the mistake of watching last week’s episode on Friday night before bed. Spooky Little Girl was possibly one of the most visually terrifying show of the series so far. I tried to cleanse my palate by watching a rerun of The Big Bang Theory after it was over. I tried to go to bed, but I couldn’t sleep so I ended up sleeping on the couch with the lights and the Disney Channel on. True story. Anyway, the show is completely over the top and entirely unbelievable – and yet, you can’t look away. The layers this show is built upon are dense and exciting. And it all exists in a little mythology so ridiculous that if it were packaged any other way would be asinine. But as it is, the show is fun. It is as fun as it is evil.
Grimm and Once Upon A Time – The head-to-head competition for the best Fairy Tale series is still continuing. I have to admit, I prefer the Monster of the Week theme of Grimm over the LOST-style flashbacks of Once Upon A Time. But, both are reasonably enjoyable. One thing I can say for Grimm that I haven’t been able to say about OUAT is that I am learning new things. The last two episodes featured tales that I wasn’t particularly familiar with, The Queen Bee and Bluebeard, which lead me to research and read versions of these stories the next day. How often does network television make you do research like that?
I’ll be sure to post updates as I can after series return post-Winter Holidays. Also, definitely stay tuned for more posts about beer – which will remain one of my favorite cultural topics and hobbies.
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