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Doux News: March 14, 2020

TV news – When should we start watching a show? – What we're reviewing these days – Help wanted

What's the latest in TV news? Coronavirus, coronavirus, coronavirus. Shows closing down production. That's the news. Oh, and Melissa Benoist is pregnant. Take care, Melissa! Don't get coronavirus!

You may have noticed that it's been awhile since we posted Doux News. I made a choice awhile back to focus on reviews that would be permanently part of our back catalog instead of putting my efforts into a newsletter that is, by its nature, ephemeral. But I've been missing connecting with everyone on a more general level, so I'm considering getting back to posting Doux News again. Maybe the focus should be different. Maybe television news isn't what I should be doing. There's just so much of it! I can't possibly hope to do anything comprehensive.

But I can talk about what I'm watching. And what we're reviewing.

When should we start watching a show? I used to believe that if you didn't get in on the ground floor, as in the first season, what was the point? But with this onslaught of peak television, my perspective has changed. In the past few months, I have watched:
three seasons of The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel
four seasons of The Expanse
six seasons of Madam Secretary
four seasons of Outlander

I've also started, or restarted, Black Lightning, a show that I stupidly dropped after watching the pilot.

Maybe it's best to not even try a show until it's well established and has found an audience. I love starting something, falling in love, and then having a lot of it still to enjoy. Has this happened with you lately? If so, what was it? Suggestions for my next binge are welcome!



What am I reviewing these days? The final season of Supernatural, of course. Long anticipated, but now it's finally happening. There's a new episode coming this Monday, and I'm both looking forward to it and dreading it. After fifteen years of reviewing this show, I'm certain that I'll be an emotional dishrag when the final episode airs. It might even be worse than the depression I fell into when Buffy ended.

Fortunately for me, I also have Outlander. As I've mentioned elsewhere, I discovered Outlander last July (2019) when it finally became available on Netflix. I finished the first four seasons in a couple of weeks, and immediately watched the whole thing again. And then I started reading the books. They're very long books and there are eight of them – soon to be nine.

It's been a very long time since I was this obsessed with a television show (again, see Buffy). ChrisB had posted reviews of the first thirteen episodes of Outlander back when they aired in 2014-2015. During this fall and winter, I took up where Chris left off and posted 42 reviews, completing season one as well as two through four. I'm now reviewing season five as it airs.

I fully realize that Outlander isn't for everyone because while it's a mixed genre show with time travel, it is also a love story. I'm a life-long science fiction fan and I don't usually do love stories. But I am so deeply immersed in Outlander right now that it is helping alleviate the stress I might be feeling about losing Supernatural.



What we're reviewing these days

We often review shows in rotation. Right now, the Agents of Doux are reviewing Star Trek: Picard. We've been steadily increasing our Trek coverage in the past few years, which showed some foresight on our part. Did you know that we completed Next Gen this past fall? We also just finished reviewing The Good Place. It ended beautifully. Sigh.

Ariel Williams is (sadly) covering the (sadly) final season of The Magicians, one of my favorite current shows. I'm (sadly) sad about losing The Magicians. It's unique and weird and I'll miss it. It had better not end on a massive cliffhanger.

CoramDeo is currently covering The Flash and will also review the third season of Star Trek: Discovery.

Joseph Santini is reviewing Batwoman. And btw, he is still catching up since he only recently picked up the show after another writer had to drop it.

Josie Kafka will be reviewing the pilot episode of Devs, and plans to review Peaky Blinders this summer.

Logan Cox recently finished episode reviews of HBO's Watchmen and a season review of The Boys. He is currently finishing up Mr. Robot, will do a second season review of Altered Carbon, and will be covering the third season of Westworld. That's a lot.



Mark Greig just finished reviewing the fourth season of The Expanse (one of my new faves) and might be planning some retro reviews. Mark is also posting season reviews of Star Wars: The Clone Wars and individual episode reviews of Batman: The Animated Series. (Did you know Mark reviewed a metric ton of classic Doctor Who?)

Mikey Heinrich, who just finished season twelve of Doctor Who, is currently covering Legends of Tomorrow.

Panda is doing season (or more accurately, "part") reviews of Chilling Adventures of Sabrina.

Shari, who recently finished Arrow for us, will be covering the second season of Roswell, New Mexico (starting soon – March 16!).



Victoria Grossack is reviewing Supergirl, and just finished season three of The Crown. Victoria has also recently completed the fourth season of Lucifer for us. Personally, I can't wait for Lucifer's fifth season. The show may have been uncancelled for a second time, too – season six is a strong possibility.

Help wanted

Our writer Laure Mack bid us farewell this winter. She covered seasons three through six of The 100 for us as well as many other things, and I thank her for her contributions and wish her the best. So we're now looking for someone to cover the final season of The 100 for us. Contact me if you're interested. (That's billiedoux at gmail dot com.)



I'd also like to thank Aaron Studer, who has also recently left Doux Reviews. He finished Gotham for us, and reviewed the first season of The Umbrella Academy. All the best, Aaron.

Doux Reviews has a lot of existing reviews and articles. At this moment, we have just over 9,200, and we're currently planning the online party we're going to have when we hit 10,000. We're nearing a huge milestone of 50,000 comments, too.

And by the way, while our hit rate remains consistent, the number of comments has dropped in the past couple of years. We love to hear from you guys. If you have a moment and have something to say, please post a comment!
---
Billie Doux loves good television and spends way too much time writing about it.

17 comments:

  1. Addendum. According to Deadline, Supernatural has closed down production with only a couple of weeks remaining. I will keep any jokes about Supernatural never ending to myself.

    https://deadline.com/2020/03/supernatural-shuts-down-production-final-season-the-100-will-try-to-finish-series-finale-coronavirus-1202883027/

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  2. I stopped commenting because I'm mostly late to the party after everyone forgot the episode in question. But I'm reading everything You guys post after watching the relevant episode. :)

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  3. Patryk, thanks so much. I always enjoy your comments. :)

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  4. One thing is certain about the Magicians: it won't end the way the books ended.

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  5. Laure left? :( Her reviews of The 100 were so good.

    And, yes, the finale of The Good Place was wonderful.

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  6. Hi Billie and Co. I am a LONG time reader and just love coming to your site...its always my go-to. I don't comment much because, like Patryk, I'm usually late to the party and don't have much to add. Also, I don't feel like I ever have anything useful to say, except "Thanks for the review" or "I liked this too", or "I didn't like this..."...anyway, just wanted to let all your writers know how much I appreciate the time and effort it takes to watch a show (multiple times) and write a cohesive ANALYSIS (not just a recap), and how much I also love reading everyone else's thoughts and opinions. Right now I am finishing Supernatural with you, also the Magicians (LOVE LOVE LOVE), I blew through the Expanse and am waiting for the final season, I just watched The Boys, Witcher, Hunters...will watch The 100 when it's on, as well as Westworld. Oh and Agents of Shield when it returns. My current guilty pleasure is Grace and Frankie, cuz I need a laugh with all the violent, nutty shows I watch. I think at some point I'll circle back to Legends and watch the whole show, I dropped it after about 3 episodes because I was saturated when it came out. Anyway...THANKS for all you do...
    Sooze

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  7. Sooze, what a lovely comment -- thank you so much for being part of Doux. You've been hanging with us for such a long time and I genuinely appreciate it.

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  8. Replying to Billie - OMG. This is what caused coronavirus. They tried to end Supernatural and...... it. can. never. end. J2 are doomed to wander the Earth saving people and hunting things FOREVER...... ;)

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  9. Juliette, someone on Twitter thought of something similar. :)

    https://twitter.com/JensenAckles/status/1239644060585000967

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  10. I also love coming here, I love that the reviews feel like you're taking to a friend about a show. I've also discovered or re-discovered many shows here like Supernatural and Buffy and more recently The Boys (I came for Doctor Who), and I read all the superhero reviews because it makes me feel like I know what my friends are talking about lol... and the reviews are usually a pretty enjoyable read.
    So thank you so much!

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  11. Nonei, thank you so much for the lovely comment and for being a part of this community. :)

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  12. Is it possible to have a group hug in a comment thread? Because I'm down for it.

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  13. Billie, you've GOT to check out Killing Eve.

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  14. Nate, thanks for the suggestion -- I'll do that.

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  15. Billie, I would love to see reviews of Messiah here at Doux Reviews.
    I loved it and binged it over the weekend when it came out. I know it is not for everyone, but for me it was a fascinating show. Very thought provoking and spiritual.

    Even if your not reviewing it, it is worth the binge. It was certainly one of the best series I have seen lately.

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  16. TJ, I'll definitely keep it mind -- thanks much.

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