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Summer Entertainment Plans

Sure, it’s not the most exciting post title, but I couldn’t bring myself to ask “What Are You Douxing This Summer?” And “Summer Entertainment Plans” sums up what you’ll find below: the Doux Reviews writers talk about their plans for catching up on old shows and watching new ones. Because a darkened room and a bowl of popcorn is the best way to enjoy the sunshine and joy of the summer season.

Chris The show I am most looking forward to getting through this summer is Daredevil. I started it, but time has been precious this spring and I have not had the chance to finish it. So far, I love the subtlety of the characters and the story being told. I want to know what happens next. I’m looking forward to waking up on a rainy Sunday, with nothing in the diary, and spending the day marathoning through it.

Jess The husband and I are pretty darn excited about the return of genuine “Sci-Fi Fridays” to SyFy this summer (June 12)! After a long dry spell (and the unfortunate turn to the WWE), SyFy has finally decided to get back to basics with a full night of science fiction programming on Fridays, including Season 3 of Defiance and new shows Killjoys (including Aaron Ashmore from Warehouse 13 and Smallville) and Dark Matter (from the Stargate series writers/producers, based on their comic of the same name). I have no idea how good the night will turn out to be, but we enjoy Defiance and are hopeful for the other two. Sci-Fi Fridays! Woot!

That said, this summer I’m most looking forward to the return of Rectify (July 9, 10:00 p.m., Sundance). In my last two year-in-review pieces, I’ve highlighted this wonderful show about a man recently released from death row on a technicality, saying “Introspective and powerfully moving, Rectify embraces the pain, joy, and grace this world has to offer, while fully recognizing the lingering and often irreversible effects of choices made long ago. A true standout.” I can’t recommend the show more highly to anyone looking for a quiet, thoughtful examination of the human condition. Seasons 1 and 2 comprise a total of 16 episodes, all of which are now available for streaming via Netflix. So there’s still time to catch up before the Season 3 premiere in early July!

Heather You guys, I am going to watch Season 1 of Jane the Virgin this summer. I admit, I have dragged my heels thus far because the premise doesn't thrill me. (For some reason that I'm bound to find out later was hilariously wrong, I kept thinking it would be tonally like Ugly Betty.) However, the people who have insisted that I watch it are near and dear to my entertainment heart, therefore I must submit.

Josie I like to set up a big marathoning project each summer, because even my leisure activities need to correspond to my multicolored Excel spreadsheet schedule. (I’m cool like that.) I started watching The Good Wife in December, but I started with the middle of Seaason Three. That means catching up on early episodes of The Good Wife, and I’m going to use the same method I used for How I Met Your Mother: “backwards watching.” That’s the official name for watching Season Three, then Two, then One. It’s oddly satisfying.

I’m also thinking about diving back into Boardwalk Empire, which has Charlie Cox (Daredevil himself!) in a few seasons. I don’t even remember if I got to the end of the first season of BE, so I’ll probably start at the beginning again. Speaking of Daredevil: I'm going to watch it again.

As for current shows: Hannibal! So excited. Such beautiful violence. And now with 25% more Gillian Anderson.

Billie For me, the show I'm looking forward to the most is the six-episode series finale of Continuum. That show has given us an incredibly complex and enjoyable time travel story combined with some fascinating social commentary, and I'm very upset that the show is about to end. Even though I'm also relieved that Simon Barry was given the opportunity to actually *end* the story, instead of it being abruptly cancelled and unfinished.

Runner up is Fear the Walking Dead. I'm a huge fan of The Walking Dead pretty much in spite of the gore; I'm there mostly for the characters and the end of the world scenario. Here's hoping the spinoff is as good as the original. (Does that ever happen?)


We’d love to hear from you: which TV shows will you devote yourself to this summer? Any rewatches planned?

5 comments:

  1. Rectify is so underrated, I'm so glad to see it get attention. Boardwalk Empire is hit and miss, but Cox was delightful on it.

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  2. My plan is to watch Forever, a show I DVR'd throughout the season, waiting to see if it was renewed or at least cancelled on a good note. I've also got plans to finally watch all of the recently completed season 10 of Supernatural.

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  3. Mr. Robot is the biggie for me this summer, based on my wildly positive reaction to the premiere. Also looking forward to Season Two of The Last Ship.

    I have also sworn that I will not, WILL NOT, hatewatch Under The Dumb and The Strain this summer. Life's too short to waste a moment.

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  4. Binge watch seasons 6-10 of supernatural followed by daredevil and cheers.

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  5. carolej126: I loved Forever, I was very sad to see it cancelled. Especially since a few days ago ABC reshuffled their Fall schedule in a way that opened a hole in the EXACT spot Forever used to occupy. I can't say the storylines were terribly original, but the characters were all very likable, and the show did a good job exploring issues of mortality in a way that could be melancholy without being depressing.

    The big ones for me this summer in terms of new episodes are going to be Teen Wolf and The Last Ship. When Teen Wolf started a few years ago, I did not expect I would be enjoying it as much as I am, but it's become The Vampire Diaries with less CW Teen Melodrama(which imho is a VERY good thing). And I really dug the first season of The Last Ship. I thought the actors playing the senior officers on the ship were very believable as the kind of people you'd be willing to follow in a situation like that. I thought the characters made believable decisions, and believable mistakes. And after all these years I'm still a bit in love with Rhona Mitra. :) I think even today she could strap on the pistols and convincingly play Lara Croft in a live-action Tomb Raider movie, it's a shame she never got the chance. Plus, I was a Navy BRAT growing up, so a series set primarily on a US Navy vessel is going to have extra appeal to me. I can't speak to just how accurate all the military stuff was on the show, but it felt right enough that it didn't take me out of the story.

    I'm also in the middle of Sense8, the Netflix show from JMS and the Wachowskis. A lot of people have been comparing it to Heroes, and they aren't without cause. There are some definite similarities. Not necessarily in the storyline. But the tone is similar, and also in the fact that the series moves WAY TOO F-ING SLOW. I think part of it is that the Wachowskis are a little too in love with their own work, so they let things run on for too long. And also I think it's a problem with series being developed for services like Netflix, Amazon etc. that aren't beholden to the time constraints of broadcasting and assume that many of their viewers will watch the entire season in a compressed period of time. It's like they're overcompensating for the fact that they don't have to trim each episode down to 42 minutes anymore, and they know their viewers won't have to wait a week to watch the next one. I hope the pendulum swings back a bit, because if shows keep moving in this direction, they're going to get downright ponderous.

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