The CW's Star-Crossed: A Preview

          There has been recent talk about The CW's new television series Star Crossed. I actually forgot all about it until I heard that Reign and The Tomorrow People are competing for time slots with Star Crossed and another science fiction show 100. I saw the Star Crossed trailer and a clip or two and I must say I am intrigued.

Will love conquer all?

        First off the show is about a "Romeo & Juilet" couple (a human girl and alien boy) who despite all the hate between their races fall in love. Some background story: an alien race crash lands on Earth and they receive a not so warm welcome by the military. One of the young alien boys escapes and finds shelter in a shed where he is discovered by a compassionate girl who protects him. Kind of like E.T. but these extraterrestrials are much better looking (because they look human). However, like always the military comes in guns blazing and takes the alien boy away. The little girl thinks he's dead but he survives with a scar from the confrontation. Years later the alien children are teenagers and it's decided that they should integrate with the human high school students which is where the long lost friends meet again. Needless to say the human public is not pleased. It's like the Little Rock, Arkansas event where angry white folks picketed and protested black students attending white schools. 

Typical "high school stalk your crush" behavior...

       Given the show centers on the teens (well most of the actors are in their 20s, ironic), you can expect some heated moments. Not just romantic moments but some violent ones where the alien teens clash with most of the human teens. The aliens seem to be referred to in a slur: Tatties, because of their birth-mark-like tattoos that cover their bodies. Yet the show will also cover racism, intolerance, xenophobia, interracial marriage, and civil rights. 

They're just jealous of those awesome tats you got!

        Humans are slow when it comes to social and racial integration but you may find it even more surprising as well as disgusting that humans would be against aliens coming to Earth and integrating with their population. The only difference between these aliens and the humans are the markings on the aliens' skin. Why should the humans hate them so much? Personally I think it would be cool, but I should remember that in high school fitting in is very important to a teenager who hasn't experienced the world yet. So of course there will be friction among the students and a possibility of interracial romances will be met with some disdain by both sides.

Sorry... sweaty palms. Damn teenage hormones! 

        Love conquers all. If history has taught us anything it is that kids have a habit of forming their own bonds and rebel against their parents. When you're a teenager your hormones are racing, you feel you must assimilate to fit in, and different things scare you the most. It would have been easier for the kids if they were forced to socialize when they were toddlers. Growing up with someone different seems to lessen a child's fear because of the familiarity. Despite a teenager's desire to fit in, as a species we seem to bond with others in our age group in order to rebel. With any luck these teens will follow the age old tradition of bonding: music, sports, and sex. Music blurred the lines of race time and again and everyone seems more agreeable when they cheer for their favorite team. But love has to be the ultimate way of crossing lines that others have drawn in the sand. 

      So my opinion? I think the show has a chance. People are getting more into science fiction as well as vampires as of late. I think it's because it happens to be a real question we have in our minds. Are there aliens out there? What do they look like? If they came here how would we react? How would we feel about integrating our races? What does it mean for our evolution as a species? etc. We are fast approaching the future and this show is not only an intriguing love story but also a mirror of humanity and our potential to form bonds with other races despite the rest being ignorant.

The Blacklist: Who Is Raymond Reddington?

      Ever since Raymond Reddington surrendered himself to the FBI to broker a deal for his notoriously secret Black List we have all been wondering: Who is Raymond Reddington?

Hardcore "Simon Says" game ever

       Red, as we all call him, is known as "The Criminal's Concierge"; he can get you anything you need, he's a high class middle man but don't assume that he's subject to your rules. Red always has a plan, he's calculating although his light, courteous demeanor would suggest otherwise. While he may be a criminal working with very dangerous, elite criminals he is not made of stone. Red forms close friendships with few people and they are always under his protection. Red killed Floriana Campo mostly because her human trafficking scheme victimized Red's bodyguard and he was ready to cave to Anslo's will when his accountant/casual lover had a gun to her head. Yet Red protects no one as fiercely as he protects Elizabeth Keen or Lizzy as he affectionately calls her.

This Angel is really a Devil.

Tom never breaks character, not even when he's gutted.

       We've all wondered why Red seems so focused and doting on Keen, to the annoyance of the serious Agent Ressler. Although Keen is a rookie Criminal Profiler, Red conditions that he will only help the FBI if he can have Keen as a mediator. The theory we all vehemently believe as fact is that Keen is Red's daughter. I also believe that but I don't know if she's his daughter from when he was in the Navy. She may be an illegitimate daughter he had along the way. His daughter whom he left at age 4 I think died. That's the only other reason why Red would take a photo from the Stewmaker's album (and why he pushed the freak in a tub of acid) and why he looked up a profile on a young woman in a private file. 

Ressler just can't figure Red out...

        Reasons why Liz Keen is Red's daughter are that for one: why did Red come form out of the shadows? While he helps the FBI he treats it like a hobby as he seems more focused on Keen's marital status. We all have to admit that Tom Keen is hiding something. He just seems too perfect. Any normal guy would have probably asked for a divorce by now given Keen's job and the home invasion. Red seems to believe that Tom is working for a very dangerous criminal organization that Red knows personally. Me, I think Tom was a Russian spy and now a sleeper agent. Whatever Tom's double status, Red would resort to violence in order to get Tom away from Keen. Then there was that time when Red visited Keen's adoptive father. They knew each other and Red expressed his gratitude for his friend in taking Lizzy in. In conclusion I think Liz may be very close to Red. Close enough for him to risk his shadow status and the anger of a secret cabal. 

Yes no one thinks we know each other...

        The theory floating around about Red is that he's a deep cover CIA agent. Well that seems to be a huge possibility. A deep cover CIA agent that not even Malik is aware of. It could explain why he abandoned his family without any real explanation. Red was on the fast track in becoming an admiral at such a young age and seems to be the perfect candidate for such work as dealing with the world's worst criminals: assassins, double agents, mass murderers, terrorists, etc. 

Where's the third Stooge?

       There's more to Red than meets the eye. One minute he'll save your life but the next he can just as easily kill you if it suits his needs. He has a devil-may-care attitude but also an indifference. He is a philosopher and lives his life to the fullest but he also is a cold blooded killer. There's 50 shades of gray when it comes to Raymond Reddington, but maybe we'll discover a few more of his secrets when The Blacklist returns. 

Thoughts on "Sleepy Hollow" So Far

          When I first saw advertisements for the FOX show Sleepy Hollow I admit I had my doubts. However, when I saw the Pilot I was intrigued. Then after a few more I was hooked. How they did the story line, the characters of Ichabod Crane and Katrina, and intertwining the Apocalypse with the epic history of the American Revolution is brilliant. 

Screw the King! America rules!

Awww so happy… when's the other shoe gonna drop?

          First off having Ichabod Crane be an English man and a teacher from Oxford fight on the side of George Washington is an excellent idea. He not only is smart but has photographic memory making him essential in past and present investigations with Abby Mills. With Crane's talent for observation an echo of a Sherlock Holmes matched with Abby's cop instincts they are a crime fighting dream team. Also Crane's bafflement about our modern slang and rituals is fun to watch. 

He looks good for 200.

        His first meeting with the skeptical yet dedicated officer of the law Abby Mills was not exactly a good first impression. He was unaware that slavery had been abolished for over 150 years, which caused an embarrassing yet funny faux pas. Good thing Abby wasn't too insulted.

Ahhh a great American Past time...

       Abby and Crane make a great team and their chemistry is electric. They work together as great investigators with Crane filling in the blanks of the past and Abby with her modern law cop savvy. Another spark is the rapier wit and rapport that they bounce off each other. There are some light moments when times seem their darkest. Like when they were setting up a trap for Death, Abby and Captain Frank Irving had to break the news to Crane that his friend Thomas Jefferson had one of his slaves as his mistress and on top of that, Jefferson stole Crane's quote. Then there was the time they went to see a baseball game. And also when Abby explains how the modern USA operates where Crane is outraged by what America has become. What Crane raves against is sometimes what we as Americans feel and although it has little to do with the show it does reflect some of our irritations. The wardrobe choices for Crane are also interesting. Despite him being in the modern age, Ichabod holds on to his Revolutionary wardrobe. No one has suggested he go to the GAP but we would be angry if he did. Crane stands out in the crowd and that's what we want.        

One of these is not like the other...

          Tying the Book of Revelations with events of the American Revolution was a clever story device. Also making Katrina, Crane's love interest from the novel and wife in the show, a witch makes the story much more fascinating. Skeptics like Crane and Abby (another reason they are a great team) being turned into believers in the supernatural is a plot device that makes it great for horror stories. While they believe they still have reason on their side. 

This guy rides a horse because he couldn't pass the DMV eye test.

       Then making the Headless Horseman the Horseman of Death sounded right to me. Not only because he rides a white horse and even though his head was cut off he's still alive but because I feel like it's perfect poetry. What really blew me away was that Death isn't really Death but someone who became Death like it was a job you could give to anyone. Making him Ichabod's old friend that he stole Katrina from (Ichabod you old dog!) was amazing symmetry. It kind of plays into the Cain and Abel theme. No they're not brothers but they were close enough to be brothers and close enough for Abraham to take his break up and Ichabod's "betrayal" so hard. Perhaps they'll patch things up because like real brothers who fight they still love each other and will find a way to make up.

I think I left my keys in here.

       The horror genre plays really well here. It encompasses not only our modern fears but resurrects our primal fears. Everyone fears the unknown especially the dark. Moloch's evil roots itself in not only our minds but in nature. In "Sanctuary" Ichabod came face to face with a creature that had embedded itself into the earth as well as the house. The roots were like veins as when he chopped them up, blood splattered everywhere. That's a horror movie if I ever saw one. 

Where's Freddy Kruger when you need him?

        My pet peeve though is the short storyline of Crane's son. I really would have liked to see Crane interact with his descendants. It would have been really awesome if one of Crane's descendants was working for Moloch. I think that would be an interesting conflict for Ichabod. I hope they find a way to resurrect the Crane son storyline. It was too good to cut short.

Umm I thought we ordered a one way glass.

         Bottom line, Sleepy Hollow is a classic American Gothic Horror story that has been reinvented into a modern horror thriller. The chemistry of the cast, the thrilling storyline, and the supernatural elements makes it a very engaging show. The highlights of Abby and Crane's personal talks in the records room are so revealing in their emotional intimacy. Here are these two lonely souls who have been broken down by life and had their normal lives turned upside down. They take comfort in each other's doubts and like two recovering minds they rely on each other for support. I hope FOX gives this show a chance. There are so few good TV shows out there I'd hate to lose this one.

That's severe whip lash!

I'll drink to that.

Arrow: Malcolm Merlyn the Revenge

This man must have 9 lives!

          Some narcissistic sociopaths just won't die. A few episodes before the mid-season finale, Malcolm Merlyn rose from the dead and resurfaced to help an "old friend" or more like "one night stand". Moira revealed that she and Malcolm had a very brief affair a while back, but that wasn't the most shocking part (kinda gross seeing how big a jerk Malcolm is). The most shocking part was that Thea is actually Malcolm's biological daughter and now he's back to claim her.

You shot my ride! Now I'll have to drive myself.

"Claim her"? Really, Malcolm? He can't be that egotistical to think that Thea would come and accept this psychopath as her father? Thea is more stubborn than Malcolm. Malcolm wanted to get another chance to be a father; to be there for Thea. However, I doubt he should get a second chance so easily. Malcolm may have faked his death but his son Tommy is still rotting in a grave. Malcolm was a horrible father, driven mad by grief from the death of his saintly wife and how did he honor her? Malcolm abandons his young son who already lost one parent, then he comes back with a plan to commit genocide, and he bullies Tommy most of the time. When Tommy was cut off from his trust because Malcolm called him a waste of space then he tried to make up for it by having Tommy work for him. Bi-polar much, Malcolm? Not what Thea needs. Thankfully Moira is one tough Mamma who will do anything for her children. Malcolm went running (like the coward he was) as soon as Moira did a big name drop: Ra's al Ghul. 

Okay he can catch an arrow, but what about a fly?

Merlyn joined a fraternity that doesn't take kindly to quitters. You leave the League of Assassins, you leave in a body bag. Most people suffering from a loss join a grief counseling group or retreat into a bottle, but joining an elite club of killers is a bit extreme. Just another reason why Moira was right to not tell Thea that Malcolm's her real dad. I doubt Thea ever would have let Malcolm into her life let alone within 10 feet of her. Your father is the one who raises you and so Robert Queen was and always be Thea's father. I think if Thea ever found out (which she will because secrets never stay secret for long, not unless you want to keep drama on the show) then either Moira or Oliver would tell her the same thing. On a side note: Thea crushed on Tommy, her older half-brother. GROSS! Thank God Tommy set Thea straight. 

With friends like Merlyn who needs enemies.

Bottom line is, I hate Malcolm Merlyn and he frustrates me to no end, but I guess that's one of the reasons I think we should keep him around. Malcolm is a sociopath, a narcissist, and a cold-blooded killer and what's a great hero story without a villain who believes he's in the right? Not a very interesting one. Slade's vengeance story can only go so far and Blood's Darth Vador schtick will get old (villains wearing masks is only scary or fun when they are Batman villains), but the wrath of Malcolm Merlyn will keep me watching because he's the cock roach you love to keep smashing until you flush him down the toilet and he climbs back out.

No "World's #1 Dad" mug for you.

Grimm: Nick's Super Grimm Powers

       At the start of season 3 of NBC's Grimm, Nick was sprayed with Baron Samedi's zombie luggi but it didn't work the way the Wesen expected it to as now Nick goes all Hulk in stressful situations. In season 2, Nick was blinded by parasites but after they cured him, Nick gained super hearing. We don't know why but Grimms are different from regular people. It's unknown as to why they are the only ones who can see Wesen when they wulga. 

I need a shower in Clear Eye right NOW

       Every time Nick gets attacked he comes out stronger, slowly turning into a super Grimm. This leads me to believe that Grimms have some mutated gene or something. They have something similar to a sixth sense yet instead of ghosts they see Wesen. The Grimm gene is a tricky thing. Girls get it sooner than boys (girls really do mature faster than boys in any aspect) but sometimes it doesn't activate or the gene activates when a Grimm is an adult, like Nick; one day he just saw Adalind wolga. Also the Wesen seem to sense when someone sees them like animals sense an earth quake before it comes.

A very rude awakening

Nick should switch to decaf.

         Grimms seem to have a different immune system too. The zombie goo affected Nick differently. I think the Grimm's immune system takes an infection and mutates it into a strength. Nick was blinded but it heightened his hearing, so now he can smash anything without seeing it. Nick's Lazarus Syndrome is still cause for worry. Juliet nearly had a heart attack because when Nick was asleep his heart stopped beating and he grew pale and cold. Also when Nick is in a stressful situation he goes all zombie and punches out whatever is causing his stress.

Nick is a lethal weapon

          We still don't know what the long term affects are for Nick's Lazarus Syndrome but I suspect it won't be a major issue given that the Wesen are at war with the Royal families who want to rule the world again. Blue bloods already rule the world we don't need more autocratic people running it.

Science Fiction: A Philosopher's Dream

         
       Every science fiction movie/TV show I've seen so far has contained some sort of philosophical or socialist message. The message is also pretty obvious much of the time, but I think that's what science fiction is for: to convey a message to the people because it's only a matter of time before science fiction becomes science fact.

You can't enter heaven without going through hell

        A lot of sic-fi movies I've seen in the past year focus on social inequality; class warfare. The film Elysium is literal class warfare where the rich and privileged reside in a space craft that is a paradise. They have access to healthcare, clean water, and food while the millions of people on Earth are in abject poverty, suffer from hunger, disease, high percentage of crime, and even the terrain is barren like a desert. If you've seen Africa then it's kind of like that. Earth has become a third world. Max Da Costa is the hero of the story and he wants to ascend into Elysium; so much so that he fuses his body to a robotic suit to combat the authorities who try to keep him out of the paradise they have created. This also reflects our own society to exclude others from ascending to their level. The new Total Recall film starring Colin Farrell also depicts class inequality with the rich and privileged on the other side of the Earth. 

What is real, indeed?

          Another film, District 9 goes deeper into racism, segregation, xenophobia, an illegal alien problem with actual aliens as the ones who are being prejudiced against and everyone fears and hates them. The people just want them to go home, which expresses some public perspective of illegal aliens entering the United States and taking jobs for less pay. It's only when Wikus van de Merwe is forced to interact with them for his own survival does he change his opinions and views and becomes more sympathetic towards the aliens.

The Ancient Egyptians would be jealous

         Some science fiction stories describe our desire to explore our origins and the unknown. It's a sort of search for "God", our creators. Prometheus is about a team of scientists who are in search of their creators they dubbed "The Engineers". Their search takes them far beyond our own solar system and to a desolate planet. The ruins they found with a virus resemble a Mayan Temple: majestic, abandoned, the bones of a great race now a shadow of its former glory. It was very disappointing for the crew to discover the containers of the virus was meant for them. The Engineers saw the humans, their creation as a failed experiment. It's kind of like discovering that there's no God. You climb to the top of the mountain to meet with God but find that it's only thin air and clouds. Yet despite almost all of the crew being killed, the remaining survivors continue on their journey to find out more about the Engineers, their creators. That shows how passionate we are about our origins. We have this desire to know and understand where we come from in order to understand ourselves and our futures.

Set phasers to stun. 

         Where Prometheus was claustrophobic and cynical, Star Trek was optimistic and hopeful. The popular TV series turned film franchise has reignited a passion to explore and discover new worlds and civilizations in order to understand what's out there. It's an odyssey with no specific destination and for us that's the excitement of it all. Interacting with aliens and working together achieves a sort of world peace for not just Earth but the galaxies. Part of our goal in life is to get rid of war and achieve what Star Trek has already accomplished. 

The force was strong with us…& then came the Phantom Menace

         Star Wars has touched all of our lives in some way whether you were there when it came out or your parents introduced you. I know the new films weren't that good but on the whole Star Wars is about how far a civilization can fall once democracy fails. The crumble of democracy is an actual fear we all have and that has happened in the Middle East. Demolishing a democracy and then setting up an autocracy has happened and will continue to happen. And it's all lead by a charismatic dictator come disguised as a savior. Senator Palpatine preyed on Anakin's weaknesses in order to fit his will. That's what dictators do, prey on the weakness and disgruntled people in order to obtain their affection and by extension bind the people to them. The older films are about rebellion, resurgence of faith and religion, and a messiah come to deliver us from evil. 

Nothing if not an ugly truth about humanity in crisis

            Science fiction can also cover survival. In the TV series Revolution, after the power went out people were in a panic. Some have killed people for a bag of chips. It paints an ugly picture on when civilization falls so do humans. There's no more compassion or unity but a will to survive by any means necessary. Then people find their footing after a few years, new border lines are drawn, new leadership, and hope. Order is restored once more. Old regimes fall and new ones come up as the New United States of America drop two nukes on cities, killing 1,000s of people. They use this as an opportunity to reclaim and rebuild America in their own image. Think if Hitler/Stalin/Mussolini were the same entity and give them meth. The show paints us another hideous picture of how far America has fallen from the ideal that it once was when the Founding Fathers signed the Declaration of Independence. A Land of the free and Home of the brave sounds like the fevered dream of a mad man. The water boarding scene was kind of a criticism of the United States, but that's what science fiction allows you to do; take a horrible aspect of real life and turn it into a plot device that gives the heroes a reason to stand up to corruption.

Shoot the mutants & get a prize!

             Curiosity killed the cat because Kitty Cat just couldn't leave it alone. Our aspirations to discovery have gotten us into trouble. Firefly battled with our idea in trying to make people more peaceful; kind of like a short cut which is cheating. It's a lack of faith in humanity that led to the PAX turning humans into monsters that devolve into cannibals, rapists, and murderers. The 2005 film Doom also deals with this issue. It highlights the good and evil of man and how it may also be programmed into our DNA to be good or evil and how humans repeat the same mistakes. The crew discovers that they have found a extinct species similar to their own but they have an extra chromosome that makes them perfect. The civilization before had created their own monsters that led to their own destruction and nearly destroyed the entire crew. 

Update your files, let's go!

          Other stories represent philosophical questions like in the new FOX TV series Almost Human, what makes a human human? The debate on whether or not giving a robot human emotions, that can bond with people and form personal opinions makes them human is a heated one. I suppose it debates on the theory of the soul. If it has a soul then it's pretty close to human. John Kennex has a robotic leg and I believe this represents how John feels he's lost a piece of his soul and so he can connect with his synthetic partner, Dorian, who is physically robotic but also he's someone John can talk to like a real person. Having flesh and bones gives us the idea that since we call ourselves human then we must be human; a species classification. The film Looper is all about: "Would you really kill yourself?" It's a time loop that continues to repeat the same mistakes. So in order to stop the cycle from repeating itself, one must simply close the loop and allow a new cycle to come forth. Returning to Total Recall and also looking at The Matrix it's about the philosophical question of what is real? Are we all really asleep? Inception begs the question which is the dream and which is the reality? When we die do we simply just wake up?

        Science Fiction allows us to address social issues and throw them into our faces to make us think. It's a way we can warn ourselves that this could all be a reality some day. It's something that could actually happen and we have a choice to take charge of our own destiny.

Why I'm Over "Revenge"

        When I first saw the premiere of ABC's Revenge, I was very drawn in. I always liked revenge stories but I found this particularly interesting as it's based off the revenge novel The Count of Monte Cristo. Think if Edmund Dantès had a daughter and she decided to avenge him for his life being ruined as he was framed for a crime he didn't commit or he was a scape goat for powerful people. I was excited about it, but after a while the story sort of fizzled out for me. 

Emily is wearing red for Revenge

         I really liked Emily Thorne. Her last name was subtle and denoted her real agenda and how for the formidable socialite, Victoria Grayson, Emily has continually been a pain to her. When I write a revenge story or am writing an idea for a revenge story, I like to make the person seeking revenge fall in love with some one close to the enemy, i.e. Victoria's son, Daniel. At first Daniel seemed vulnerable and desired to escape his family's rich life style. Emily sees this vulnerability and to me she seemed to like it out of personal reasons. She grew a little protective of his well-being. When Daniel was beaten in prison (courtesy of Victoria in a ploy to get him out of prison), Emily found the man who had something to do with the beating and beat the crap out of him. Her narration dictated that women are more primal than men when it comes to protecting the nest; women are more ferocious and they find protecting their family very gratifying. 

Is it me or are these two giving off heat?

       But then suddenly Emily saw how Daniel was changing; how he was becoming more like his family and also she was frustrated by how she no longer can have power over him. This resulted her in resenting him and lumping him in with the people she hated. Daniel also became less mild, doting, and vulnerable and becoming more willful and desiring to be the alpha in everything. I feel Emily and Daniel have lost their sizzle.

Emily in innocent white? Where's the sexy red?

          Daniel shoots Emily after discovering her secret but I didn't like that. I was actually hoping Charlotte shot her because they're sisters and Emily's sad expression made me believe that she was pleading with a sister. Next episode Emily seems to have lost her memory and Daniel now his a conflict of conscience. Is she faking or has she really lost her memory? Will Daniel try to kill her again or will he try and save his marriage and the woman he fell in love with? Interesting questions but to me this seems like a last ditch effort to keep the story interesting by temporarily de-railing Emily's revenge train. 

It's not drama unless someone ends up in the hospital

Mirror, mirror on the wall...

         I love Madeleine Stowe. She has a kind of femme fatale aura. She portrays Victoria as a lioness, she stalks her prey, very protective of her brood, and if she senses danger she'll rip your eyes out with her claws. Victoria and Emily are a lot alike, which makes them quite a match for each other. They are mirror images of each other but after a while I feel they seemed to disconnect. The dynamic between them has gotten less fencing and more cage fighting; going from elegant to messy. Victoria is a tragic yet empowering figure who has survived a tragic childhood and is now a force in the world of the elite. Again she and Emily are two peas in a pod in that they are survivors. No matter the storm they can pass right through, scathed but alive and ready for another fight. Now they seem just frantic. 

These dueling divas be balling!

            Emily has three suitors and since they're hot you'd think that would sound like a real good trashy romance novel but it isn't. Emily has completely written off Daniel and Jack has not lived up to my expectations. Remember when Jack confessed to have a soulful connection to Emily when they first met? Now it seems he's being more of a dick to her instead of trying to understand her. I guess when their dog died so did the soulmate flame. Then there's Aiden. I was kind of hoping that he would just disappear because he's just there to fill space. He doesn't seem to be helping Emily in her vengeance scheme by sleeping with her. Someone would have found out if Daniel didn't happen to overhear Emily's secret. 

It was simpler with just a triangle...

…now it's a confusing square.

          Now the story structure. So far every premiere episode has started with the exciting part: someone gets shot or is in mortal danger. Season 1 was exciting but after 2 more seasons the technique is too played out and frustrating for me. Season 3 I got tired of waiting for the wedding and seeing Emily get shot. I stopped watching 3 or 4 episodes before the wedding. Also Charlotte was getting annoying again. She was likable after going to rehab but then she got bitchy again. 

Mom never likes the girls Danny brings home

         Revenge stories are great. They are exciting because of the drama and pleasure of seeing someone get their just desserts. It's the poetry of a Shakespearean play set in any era. It's a fantasy we all have from time to time when someone has deeply wronged us. Yet revenge stories shouldn't take so long. I would restrict a revenge story arc to one season. You can still have all that has happened on Revenge but you just have to compact it. I still keep up with the show but I just stick with Wikipedia or magazines.