mad about series
i spent so much time doing this…
after the pressures of “de universa,” i relaxed a bit by getting back to some of the tv series I’d like to watch. i was made to reflect all the other tv series I have “wasted” my time with. it was not really a waste. these I consider as part of sequence of events:
PRISON BREAK
this would be have to be my much loved action-drama series t date. i first encountered this last year, after the de universa of the brothers ahead of us. I am impressed by the storyline. i am amazed of its sustaining suspense... getting me so addicted, inducing me to crave episodes after episodes. scofield’s character-personality is remarkable. i never thought that such a personality disorder (but i would rather term it as gift) or rather a person with a low latent inhibition could be so cool. i could somehow resonate or at least relate to the character, not that i have low latent inhibition, but i tend to be analytical while considering the bigger picture or the grand scheme. like scofield, i live on strategies. i was, however, overwhelmed by what they are against, “the company.” whenever i would watch this, i would easily get affected. i would at times feel headaches or a pains in my chest as i feel like so involved in the story. however, what is most painful or most difficult to endure is that “waiting” like when you are hanged for a long time and wondering what would the next episode be. this has got to be one of the downside of the “series,” it doesn’t seem to end.
LOST
before i knew PRISON BREAK, this headed my list. i am astounded by the style. i was enthralled by the mystery as the survivors of the plane crash find their way on the mysterious island. it presented a somewhat parallelism of two planes of existence: (1) their experience of being actually lost in an island; and (2) their experience of being lost in their own lives. their survival in the island matched an opportunity to confront their past, to make sense of their lives, and to embrace conversion. it tackles profoundly the behavioral, sociological, psychological and mystical aspect of life. yet, the island is enveloped with a cloud of mystery, still an enigma in my mind. the plot or the story is non-linear; the viewer is left to make the connections. while watching episodes after episodes, you get to feel that you are filling the gaps. watching this let’s you feel like playing a jigsaw puzzle. i laud those who have conceptualized this. the i'm currently finishing season 3.
HEROES
this is another impressive action series as it brings out that child in me from the past. i am not sure, if all of us, when we were young and got introduced to many superheroes, that we desired to have such superpowers. i did. and somehow, until now, i tend to wish to have them. “but be careful what you wish for,” they say. this is precisely the struggle of the characters. while some of us want to have superpowers, at least a greater majority of them do not want them. each character possesses a unique ability. from where these powers came from is still a mystery. it's not the glory of the heroes that are highlighted here. it's basically about the numerous struggles they undergo. while superman sings, "it's not easy to be me," and spiderman's uncle ben warns, "from great power comes great responsibility;" this series simply points out that it is damned hard to be different. while for me, reflecting on it further, it emphasizes the uniqueness and giftedness of every person, that no one is born a "junk." here we highlight the human dignity.
CHARMED
it’s the gorgeous halliwel sisters and the “magical” fantasy theme of the series that made me anticipate this series. it presented diverse conflicting themes of the story: how to balance their magical lives and their ordinary everyday lives; the burden and struggle in keeping their destinies secret from the outside world that would create tensions on friendships, workplace, and lovel ives; the forbidden loves between piper and the whitelighter and between phoebe and the half-demon; and the eventual death of prue. the latter episodes are not as captivating as the initial ones. especially when we get to learn that the creator and executive producer constance burge has left the show to executive producer brad kern. that’s when the structure of the show turned into “the demon of the week” plot. The concept of the “power of three” highlights the merit of synergy, love, unity. Such gifts are ordained in service to others.
DAWSON’S CREEK
how would you deal the situation when you fall in love with your best friend or your childhood friend? this, perhaps, captures my attention to be an avid viewer of this teenage-drama series. as the series progresses, young people are found to be entangled into a complex web of love relationships: joey loves dawson who loves jen. jen, however, is afraid of commitment. joey realizing that dawson loves jen, seeks refuge to pacey. pacey eventually falls in love with joey who is still in love with dawson. pacey confronts dawson who loves jen but still is protective of joey, and so on… and the million-dollar question of pacey to dawson: “who would it be? the blond or the brunette?” more complications and issues arise as the series further progress. the series relevantly captured teenage viewers as they tackled relevant teenage issues. in fact, it simply revolved into the agonizing life-decisions of teenagers which is not really about morality or practicality, but simply, that is. yet, i feel that the series provided insufficient background (historically and psychologically) as to how, why and what moved these teenagers to take such course of actions in their life-decisions.
PARTY OF FIVE
picture this: both parents died in a car-crash accident. all five children eventually became orphans. it was up to the somewhat irresponsible 24-year old charlie to take charge and care for his younger siblings. to support the family, charlie took over the family’s business (restaurant), thus the start of his conversion. yet while charlie deals with his own issues, the other siblings had their own woes. this series is not only a struggle of coping up with the loss of parents, but of growing up together as a family.
ROSWELL
this is another teenage drama-series i used to watch, but packaged with a different setting. the town of roswell in new mexico has been identified with alien presences. four-alien human hybrids have been sent to earth as everyday teenagers to wait for the day so that they would return to their planet to save their race. but while on earth, their battles are everyday struggles that normal teenagers face. eventually, as the story unfolds, their struggle is more than that of a normal teenager… as aliens they are being hunted, by who or should i say by what… i haven’t finished this series yet.
ALLY MCBEAL
the theme song , searching my soul, perhaps, encapsulates the point of the series. the protagonist, obviously a woman, single, and a lawyer in her thirties, eventually ended up working with a classmate’s firm. while being introduced to her fellow associates, she finds that her high school and college love partner was not only working at her new firm and that she also learned that he is married. i find this series not only hilarious but weird. there are a lot of lunacies in it. in fact, each character manifested his or her own “insanity.” could this series be affirming and tolerating of our own inanities? yet it’s about life searching. what does it take for one to be happy and fulfilled?
DOOGIE HOWSER, MD
i think I was in my fourth or fifth grade in my elementary years when i began watching this series. I was fascinated by the thought of a 16-year old teenager as a doctor. i was not really religious of watching it, for I could not relate to its theme. but I understood the conflict of his age: his youthful years and his professional experience.
FRIENDS
this sit-com amuses me even until now. i don’t know if the plot is going somewhere. i am not even sure if there is a plot. all I know is that it presents a clique between chandler, ross, joey, monica, phoebe, and rachel, all having their own oddity. they would talk about almost everything from relationships to work to marriage to one’s own insanity. yet the message is clear. friends are there for one another, and are willing to accept us as who w
e are.
i remember the lenten season of the year 2001 when they have featured in studio 25 a marathon of episodes of this series. while i was still in the dark about my vocation path, this series have inclined me towards married life, raising a family of my own. while watching this series, i imagine and wonder how i would raise my own
family. the theme of this drama-series deals a moral or controversial issue that the family encounters. The family was headed by a protestant minister, no wonder why the theme is of that inclination. i learned a lot of values watching this series. it stresses the importance of a family in one’s life.
LOIS AND CLARK
we know the usual plot and story of superman. but this series focuses on superman’s daily events at metropolis and his romantic affairs with lois lane. i really am drawned and amused by lois lane’s character (played by teri hatcher) in this series. the series present an effective chemistry between the two. at the time I was watching I believed that i am beyond my playful and childhood stage as i got to be more interested with their love affairs rather than the superman actions – there’s really not much in this series.
SMALLVILLE
i am about to start to watch this series and so i could not comment much on this. the plot follows the adventures of young clark kent’s life in the town of smallville at kansas. I expect a lot of good stuffs from this.
MACGYVER
this is one of the earlier action series i was looking forward to watch when i was in my elementary years. angus macgyver is a freelance secret agent who would rather use his brains rather than any other weaponry to solve desperate problems. for each episode, i was looking forward to his macgyver methods, using his knowledge on chemistry and physics. what is fascinating is that he would make use of ordinary common items or elements such as duct tapes, a swiss knife, chewing gum to create stuffs that would help him in his tasks. in my admiration, i would imitate, and worse, reinvent such macgyverisms. but instead of building and saving, i tend to wreck and destroy stuffs. this series moves one to love science. it is pro-science and anti-violence, a positive way of looking at action themes.
Labels: entertainment, random thoughts, reflection, tv series
