Parenthood

8 Series Finales…

In honor of last weekend’s season finales of Turn: Washington’s Spies and Orphan Black (which were both fantastic), I have made a list of other favorite series finales. Most of these finales are attached to personal memories, and some are just really good episodes of television. All these shows affected me in different ways at different times in my life, but I felt a real sense of loss when they ended. There were a couple great finales this year, but I did not include them because it is likely they will make my list of Best Episodes of 2017. As long as you do not watch the videos, there should not be any big spoilers.

1. Sex and the City: I was in high school when this show started, and I used to watch it at night when my parents were in bed, because my mother would have never approved. When I got to college, it was the show that everyone watched. It ended my junior year in college and I remember watching it with my roommates at our apartment in Elon, North Carolina. I would actually have preferred for Carrie to end up with Aiden, but I was happy with the way the other three women’s stories were wrapped up.



2. Parenthood: Jason Katims knows how to do a series finales, as evidenced by Friday Night Lights also being on this list. I do not like too much ambiguity in my series finales, and this let me know that the Bravermans would all be okay. I watched this finale at the Alamo Drafthouse in Austin, Texas surrounded by other Parenthood fans for an ATX Television Festival event. There was something cathartic being in a theater full of people, all of whom were sobbing.



3. Sons of Anarchy: I got into SOA in the middle of season three. I had put off watching it because of the subject matter, but could not ignore the critics raving about it. It also came to me at a time in my life when I needed to just completely lose myself in a world so unlike my own. When I moved to Austin, I bonded with one of my new friends over our love of Charlie Hunnam and the show, and we started watching the episodes together each week at my apartment. Obviously, I wish every character could have had a happy ending, but that is not what this show was about. It was about dealing with the consequences of the life each of them had chosen, and the actions they had taken along the way.



4. Buffy the Vampire Slayer: I do not really have a fun story for where I was when I watched the finale of this show. I actually think I was alone in my parent’s basement, which sounds kind of creepy. I got into this show late, and I don’t think I had even caught up on all the seasons yet, but wanted to watch the finale live. I did not really know what was happening at the time, but have obviously gone back and watched the entire series several times since then. This speech still brings me to tears every time I watch it:

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8 Episodes from 2015

Here are my favorite episodes of television from the past year in no particular order. If it is possible, there was even more good television than last year and it was very difficult to pick only eight episodes. They are not necessarily the BEST episodes from the year, just the ones that I enjoyed and the ones that affected me the most.

1. Justified – The Promise
I am not really sure what made me interested in checking out this show when it first aired. Timothy Olyphant was definitely a factor, but there just must have been something about those first trailers that drew me in. And I am so glad that they did because it quickly became one of my favorite shows on TV. Each season was engaging and they had some of the best guest stars of any show on TV. This finale not only wrapped up the season’s arc with an epic shootout, but also brought Raylan’s, Ava’s and Boyd’s stories full circle. Everyone ended up exactly where they should.

2. The Flash – Fast Enough / Arrow – Legends of Yesterday
Okay, so this is technically two episodes, but since it was a two-part crossover, I am counting them as one. There are so many things that I love about these shows, including the fact that The Flash has consistently had the best special effects of any show on TV and Arrow has the best stunts. I also really found the music in these episodes to be inspiring. It was subtle, but in the Flash episode, you could hear Arrow themes overlayed and in the Arrow episode you could hear Flash themes. It was beautiful and awesome. These episodes also introduced us to Hawkgirl, Hawkman and Vandal Savage, who will all be featured on the new series Legends of Tomorrow. I just love how these shows intertwine so seamlessly, yet still maintain their individual tones.

3. Outlander – Wentworth Prison
The performances in this episode from Sam Heughan, Caitroina Balfe and Tobias Menzies just blew me away and broke my heart. It was an incredibly difficult episode to watch, even as someone who has read the books and knew what was going to happen, but is was so well done. We saw just how evil and broken Black Jack Randall truly is and also what lengths Jamie would go to in order to protect Claire. It was an extremely powerful and moving episode of television, and one that will stay with me for a long time.

4. Playing House – Celebrate Me Scones
One word: Bosephus! This season finale also gave us Kenny Loggins and his pun-tastic green room, as well as Jeanine Willcall and a heartwrenching cliff-hanger. You would think that having one of my best friends from high school working at the network, I would be able to get *some* intel on whether or not there would be a third season, but my mind control skills do not seem to be working. I NEED MORE OF THIS AMAZING SHOW!

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8 Emmy Snubs…

There were a few happy surprises this morning (Tatiana Maslany!) but also a lot of disappointment. I know that there is just too much good television on right now, and it is not possible for every single person to be recognized, but here are just a few of the shows and actors that I wish had received nominations. It was difficult to find good videos for some of these performances, so there are a few links to TVLine’s Dream Emmy Nominations where they have embedded videos.

Fair warning: there are a few spoilers.

1. Shameless
This is one of the most underrated shows on television and last season was no exception. While William H. Macy was recognized for his performance as Frank Gallagher, Cameron Monaghan’s Ian was phenomenal this year as he slowly began to accept his bipolar diagnosis.



2. Outlander
The performances given by Sam Heughan, Caitroina Balfe and Tobias Menzes in the last two episodes of the first season were intense and profound. I am actually baffled that not a single one of them was nominated. If I could have included my favorite clip, it would have been the scene where Jamie says goodbye to Claire before she leaves him in Wentworth Prison with Black Jack. Instead, this clip is from the middle of the season when Jamie breaks down after having saved Claire.

3. Jane The Virgin
This was by far my favorite new show last year. It is moving and hilarious and filled with surprises. Gina Rodriguez and Jaime Camil in particular were revelations. Rodriguez won a Golden Globe for her role as Jane, so I was hoping she might get recognized again, but alas, I was wrong. Camil was more of a long-shot, but I was still disappointed. I was happily surprised to see Anthony Mendez get nominated for Best Narrator. I did not even know that was a category until this year. This is the clip where Jane calls Rogelio ‘Dad’ for the first time.

4. Justified
When this show started, I did not think that the characters of Ava and Boyd would be people that I cared so much about. Walton Goggins and Joelle Carter brought them to life in such a fantastic way that, no matter how horribly they behaved, you always rooted for them until the very end, even when they were at odds with each other. In this clip Ava tells Boyd that she has been informing to Raylan.

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Versatile and Creative Blogger Award Nominations….

I have been nominated for the Versatile Blogger Award and for the Creative Blogger Award by two of my FABulous readers. I am not totally sure what that means, but these are the rules:

  • Thank the person who nominated you and include a link to their blog.
  • Share seven facts about yourself.
  • Nominate some bloggers and add their links.
  • Notify the bloggers you included.
  • Keep the rules in your post to make it easy for everyone to know what to do!

I think I am technically supposed to make two separate lists for each nomination, but it was hard to enough to come up with these 7 things, so here goes…

      1. I love cheese. Seriously, anything with cheese is 100% better!
      2. Hallelujah is my favorite song and my favorite version is by Jeff Buckley, although I also enjoy many other covers.
      3. I love Philadelphia. I love Boat House Row when it is lit up at night. I prefer Pat’s over Geno’s. I love the Phillies and Chase Utley. I think we have the best city skyline. I love that we boo our own athletes, because that’s how we show how much we care. I miss the City of Brotherly Love and hope to someday move back.
      4. I’m a crier. Many things will trigger tears including, but not limited to, sad movies, episodes of Parenthood, even the old ASPCA commercial with Sarah McLachlin. Just this week, watching Orphan Black required several tissues.
      5. This is one of my favorite quotes: “Jesus was called a friend of sinners, relentlessly pursuing the downtrodden. What an irony that today his followers are seen in the opposite light! How can people love God, whom they can’t see, if those of us who claim to represent him don’t respond to outsiders with love?” It was written by David Kinnaman in his book unChristian: What a New Generation Really Thinks About Christianity… and Why it Matters
      6. The Breast Cancer 3-Day was the most difficult thing I have ever done in my life and I hope I get to do it again someday.
      7. I sing in my car and also talk out loud to myself a lot. I get this trait from my lovely mother.

Thank you to the people who nominated me: impossiblegirl123 and Abi C xx. It is nice to know that someone, outside of friends and family, is actually reading and enjoying what I write. Since both of those amazing bloggers have already been nominated by other people, my nominee for the Creative Blogger Award is Arianna Blogs TV and my nominee for the Versatile Blogger Award is Irish Twins at the Quinns!

xoxo

8 Parenthood Guest Stars…

I was originally going to make a list of my favorite Braverman moments, but it seems that everyone had that same idea this week so, instead, I have made a list of my favorite Parenthood guest stars. These characters were not an official part of the Braverman clan, but they had a big impact on their lives. I am not emotionally prepared for this series finale, but will definitely have plenty of tissues on hand tonight!

1. Mark Cyr played by Jason Ritter
Mr. Cyr was Amber’s high school English teacher, who she had a crush on, and then he dated Sarah. He and Sarah were engaged, until she met Hank at which point they broke up. Despite their age difference, which caused more than a few disagreements, he was always so good to Sarah and I was sad to see him go. Hank has grown on me, but I still wish Sarah had chosen Mark. Team Cyr for life.



2. Seth Holt played by John Corbett
Seth is Sarah’s ex-husband and the father of Amber and Drew. He a musician and an alcoholic and has a tumultuous relationship with his children. Seth was never around for long, but he always left his mark and I always enjoyed when Corbett popped up on this show. He was definitely not the perfect father, but I like that he and Amber ended up in a good place.



3. Zoe DeHaven played by Rosa Salazar
Zoe worked in Julia’s law firm and was planning to allow Julia and Joel to adopt her baby before ultimately changing her mind to keep it. This storyline was pretty heartbreaking, even if you saw it coming, and Salazar’s and Erika Christensen’s performances were perfect.



4. Ryan York played by Matt Lauria
Ryan is an Iraq war veteran that Zeek met at the VA. He dated Amber and they were engaged for a time before he decided to re-enlist. He is the father of Amber’s newborn baby, Zeek. I really adored this whole storyline in general. The chemistry between Lauria and Mae Whitman was always great and I loved the way they dealt with his PTSD.

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8 Returning Fall Shows…

I cannot believe that it is almost September. I feel like this year is flying by and I am a little sad that summer is almost over. The only good thing about the start of Fall is that it also means my TV shows are back! Here is the list of returning shows that I am most excited about watching.

1. Sons of Anarchy final season premieres September 9th on FX, stars Charlie Hunnam, Katey Sagal, Kim Coates, Theo Rossi, Tommy Flanagan, Mark Boone Junior, Dayton Callie, David Labrava, Michael Ornstein and Drea de Matteo. I am equally excited and sad about this season because I cannot wait to see what happens next but I do not ever want it to end! I trust that Kurt will take us on a crazy, fun ride that may or may not end in a horrible fiery crash.



2. The Good Wife season five premieres September 21 on CBS, stars Julianna Margulies, Matt Czuchry, Archie Panjabi, Christine Baranski, Alan Cumming and Chris Noth. I started to doubt this show halfway through season three, but I pushed through and was rewarded with an absolutely fantastic season four. Every performer is at the top of their game and the writing is impeccable. Now that Alicia is a little further removed from the loss of Will, it will be interesting to see how she moves on with her life and her career.



3. Sleepy Hollow season two premieres September 22 on Fox, stars Tom Mison, Nicole Beharie, Orlando Jones, Katia Winter, Lyndie Greenwood and John Noble. I was hoping that the first season of this show would be good and was happily surprised when it exceeded my expectations. At the end of last season, every single character was in a very precarious position so I cannot wait to see how they save themselves and each other.



4. Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. season 2 premieres September 23 on ABC, stars Clark Gregg, Ming-Na Wen, Brett Dalton, Chloe Bennet, Iain De Caestecker and Elizabeth Henstridge. It took a little while for this show to really find its footing in the first season but, when they finally did, they took us on a great ride. I am excited to see where we are headed, as the events of the season will surely lead us into the Avengers movie next summer.

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