User blog:Thief12/Thief12 and Season 8

Ok, Season 8 has already started and I'm back at the wiki. Other than a few scattered edits, I remained on the sidelines during the off-season cause I was quite busy working on another wiki. But now that the season has begun, I'm back as usual. Considering that I'm watching the show on Hulu, I will probably contribute from Tuesdays/Wednesdays onward cause I don't wanna have anything spoiled.

Now, after the first 4 hours, I wanted to share my thoughts on how it's going so far. My overall appreciation of the first episodes is that I'm not surprised at all. Other than a few glimpses of awesomeness, the season has began in a somewhat bland mode, suffering from the same old clichés and the same old routine. Granted, it has been that way through most of the show's life, but - so far - I don't feel it working this time as effectively as other seasons.

Some random complaints and nitpicks:


 * Overall, the first two episodes felt kinda bland.
 * Just like the last season, President Allison Taylor lacks charisma.
 * The chick that played Meredith Reed was pretty bad. And I don't really like that much the guy that plays Omar Hassan either.
 * The subplot with Dana Walsh and Kevin Wade is ludicrous. How stupid do you have to be to give your house keys to a psycho?
 * The bit with Jack going to Jim Koernig's house, only to be tied and beat up by psycho guard felt like an obvious attempt of the writers to stretch/waste time. It reminded me of last season's safe room runaround with Ule Matobo and wife.
 * The usually excellent Doug Hutchinson was wasted in a too-brief role.
 * It was obvious that they would bring her back, but Renee Walker's return felt awfully forced and pulled-by-the-hairs.

Things that I liked:


 * The axe bit made me jump in my seat.
 * The helicopter explosion was cool too. Of course, it makes you wonder why Davros didn't use the same rocket launcher on Hassan's motorcade, but well.
 * The last 20 minutes or so of Day 8: 6:00pm-7:00pm, when Jack gets out of the Koernig's house and tries to warn Cole Ortiz that the President is heading to a trap was excellent.

I think I'll add more as it progresses.