STARZ: Based on the novel by Neil Gaiman, American Gods is the story of a convict named Shadow Moon who is released from prison a few days early after his wife, Laura, is killed in a car accident. On his way home for her funeral, he meets a strange man who identifies himself as Mr. Wednesday. This man seems like some kind of con artist and hires Shadow to be his bodyguard. Shadow soon finds himself caught up in a conflict between greater beings, as he and Wednesday, who may be Odin (according to some information I found online) make their way across the U.S. to gather together all of the old gods so that they can confront the New Gods, led by Mr. World.
This show is...different, and rather bizarre. Coming out of a work by Neil Gaiman, I guess that is to be expected. In fact, it is so different and bizarre, both with its storytelling and its imagery, that I find it a rather fascinating and very refreshing escape from all of the same old tired cop shows and hospital shows and lawyer shows...none of which I ever watch anymore.
STARZ: Based on the novel series by Diana Gabaldon, Outlander is the story of World War II British Army nurse Claire Randall. After the war, Claire travels to Scotland with her husband, Frank, an MI-6 officer who is looking forward to a new career as an Oxford historian. At a formation of rocks, she is transported to 1743, when England and Scotland were in conflict. She falls in love with and marries Jamie Fraser, a Scot warrior.
This isn't the kind of show that would normally attract my attention. In fact, the only reason that I even gave it a chance was because Ronald D. Moore is executive producer. Together with David Eick, Moore had successfully rebooted Batlestar Galactica, a show that was and still is, in my opinion, the best dramatic science fiction series that's ever been on television. So, I wanted to see what else he could do. In spite of that, I stopped watching Outlander after the first season. Then, strangley enough, about halfway through season two, I found that I missed it, so I started watching again and have stuck with it ever since. The story itself is not one that has me completely hooked, but the show is so well done that it continues to hold my interest.
SHOWTIME: Homeland is primarily the story of CIA agent Carrie Mathison. When the series begins, a U.S. Marine sergeant returns home after eight years in captivity by (the Taliban?) He may or may not have been turned and be connected to a terror attack to be carried out on American soil, so Mathison is put on the case. This story plays out over the first season, after which Mathison returns to front line duty overseas. She is assigned to one of the CIA's riskiest stations in the Middle East and finds herself in the middle of the war on terror.
Now six seasons in, this show continues to be extremely well done. My only complaint is that the most recent season started to turn into a leftist propaganda piece, but the writers pulled back from that. Not entirely, perhaps, but enough to put the drama of the series ahead of any real-world political statement that the producers might have wanted to make.
SHOWTIME:What can I say about Twin Peaks? A product from David Lynch, this show is as strange and bizarre as anything else that's ever been on television, and very entertaining at the same time. If you watched the original series in 1990/91, then you know that the murder of Laura Palmer brought FBI Special Agent Dale Cooper to the town of Twin Peaks, where "bizarre" took on a whole new meaning. In one scene, which took place in a Purgatory-like place known as the Black Lodge, the dead Laura Palmer told the living Agent Cooper that she would see him again in 25 years. 25 years later (okay, 26 years, but it was 25 at the time of production) the show has returned.
When season 2 ended in 1991, Agent Cooper, or more precisely, a doppelganger, had been possessed by Bob, an evil entity. As this third season begins, evil Cooper is still out there while good Cooper is still stuck in the Black Lodge. Good Cooper gets out, however, but his return to the real world is proving to be anything but easy.
HBO: Based on the novel series A Song of Ice and Fire by George R.R. Martin, Game of Thrones tells the story of the seven Kingdoms of Westeros and the various houses (families) who rule there. There are so many major players and so many lands and so many things going on that I could write a whole blog-book about this show, but I won't. Suffice to say that, before the series begins, House Stark helps House Baratheon to steal rule of the Seven Kingdoms away from House Targaryen by revolting against the Mad King. Jaime Lannister kills that king and the Targaryen children flee Westeros to Esos. Then the show begins.
Unless you've been living on Mars for the last half-dozen years, you know that Game of Thrones is a huge mega-hit for HBO. It has earned that. When so many fantasy stories involve this quest or that quest, this is a show unlike any other -- a true masterpiece of television.
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