Category Archives: Review

ABC Family – The Fosters

The Fosters is compelling drama.  With engaging storylines for teens and adults, this show in just two seasons has covered a wide range of issues from teens not just deciding whether or not they are ready to be sexually active, but discovering their own sexual orientation, to adults dealing with alcohol and drug-addiction, the loss of a pregnancy, and from both the child’s perspective and the adults perspective the show routinely deals with the concepts of adoption, and foster family situations and issues, and all the aspects of abandonment and drama that goes with it,

All that said, it walks the line that keeps it feeling like a night time drama, and not like it is falling over the edge into a soap-opera.  The situations feel realistic enough, and believable enough, that going along for the ride, and understanding how these characters deal with the wide-range of issues and challenges they face can be eye-opening for audience members, and can give families that choose to watch this show together some amazing topics to discuss.

The modern world is becoming an ever more complex place.  Some days it can feel hard to figure out how to bring up a conversation we know needs to be had, and yet if it is forced it simply does not feel right, and yet, after watching an episode together it is so easy to stop and say, “Wow, how would we have handled that?”  or sometimes, “Wow, how can we avoid finding ourselves in that situation?”

The Fosters does not shy away from the tough situations — an adult having sex with a minor, and their parent finding out and going through the emotional roller coaster of dealing with the sense of betrayal that comes with knowing someone they trusted in their lives chose to behave in such a way with their 17 year-old kid.

During season two the show also dealt with the concept of what makes a family, and what makes the bond between parent and child.  Is it DNA?  Is it the 9 months spent in the womb — or is it those years spent in the home together, loving one another, facing the challenges of life together, and knowing that whatever happens, you will always be there for one another?

From one week to the next the ongoing plots may give the viewer some idea of what to expect, but there are so many twists and turns, as the teens continue to, in typical teen fashion, do unexpected things, that surprises always await, and the cast delivers, time and again.

The Fosters on IMDB
The Fosters on ABC Family

“The Fosters” stars Teri Polo (“Meet the Parents”) as Stef Adams Foster, Sherri Saum (“In Treatment”) as Lena Adams Foster, Jake T. Austin (“Wizards of Waverly Place”) as Jesus Adams Foster, Hayden Byerly (“Parenthood”) as Jude Adams Foster, David Lambert (“Aaron Stone”) as Brandon Adams Foster, Maia Mitchell (“Teen Beach Movie”) as Callie Jacob, Danny Nucci (“Titanic”) as Mike Foster and Cierra Ramirez (“The Secret Life of the American Teenager”) as Mariana Adams Foster.

And, of course, you can find The Fosters online:

Facebook: www.facebook.com/TheFostersonABCFamily
Twitter: twitter.com/TheFostersABCF @TheFostersABCF #TheFosters
Tumblr: TheFosters-onabcfamily.tumblr.com
Pintrest: Pinterest.com/TheFostersABCF
Instagram: Instagram.com/thefostersabcf

Summer Series Renewals

After the first episode of Outlander aired to a delighted audience STARZ announced the show would have a second season.  Recently fans of ABC Family’s Switched at Birth heard the fan-favorite would have another season, and today word comes that FX’s The Strain will also have a second season.

USA Suits official pic of Donna (Sarah Rafferty)

USA Suits official pic of Donna (Sarah Rafferty)

Earlier this month it was announced that the USA show Suits would have a 5th season, Suits is a show that does not appear to get a lot of watercooler conversation, like it’s character Louis Litt (played so well by Rick Hoffman) the show is under-appreciated by many because it is simply so reliably good.  With roughly 10 episode season, each season has an arc with a flowing narrative, and character growth.  Lead characters Harvey (Gabriel Macht) and Mike (Patrick J. Adams) have matured in the past four seasons, one going from being so career focused he seemed unaware other people existed to now caring about the man he has been mentoring.  He no longer leaves others to fend for themselves in a dog-eat-dog world, but will do what he must to defend them.  And when it comes to the hard choices, the Harvey who once would have chosen Money or the Client, now has to consider and think, because he has come to realize friends and people matter.

Mike Ross on the other hand started out seeming like a kid pretending to be a man, and after four seasons with Harvey mentoring him, and learning from the lawyers at the lawfirm (which has undergone some name changes) he ended season 4, not just a man, but a better man than we might have hoped for just a few years ago.

The characters of Donna (Sarah Rafferty) and Rachel (Meghan Markle) with their quick wit and willingness to challenge these two men to be better than they thought themselves capable of being is part of what makes the show sparkle.  Without Donna we might never have come to see the vulnerable side of Harvey, and without Rachel we might never have come to see the strength and courage of Mike.

In Season 4, as so many shows do, they shook up the status quo — in this case breaking up the parternship of the mentor and his mentee.  Mike went out on his own to see what he could do without his mentor there to catch him when he fell, and the result was fantastic, because it gave not only Mike a chance to grow and develop, but also Harvey.

Suits has earned it’s 5th season, and if you have not see the previous four, next time you are looking for a show give Suits and its 50+ episodes to date a chance.   (Fans may also recognize Gina Torres of Firefly/Serenity who rocks this universe as the managing partner of the law firm.)

Love at Stake – Vampire Romance from Kerrelyn Sparks

If you are into sub-genre of Vampire Romance then you have probably heard some talk of the Love At Stake series by Kerrelyn Sparks.  These books have a wonderful sense of humor about them, all take place in one world, with a narrative that benefits from reading them in order, but does not demand it.

Think of it as someone writing a book for each year of the history of a country, and in each book they focus on two different people living in the country during that year, and taking part in the major events.  Do you have to know about the events of the previous year for the current events to make sense?  Not really.  But it does add depth and understanding.  And because these are the “major figures” in those events, the leaders and their lieutenants and their families, people you have met in the books will often show up in subsequent books, those who were the leads in a book will be guest stars in a future book, or vice-versa.

The series starts with How To Marry A Millionaire Vampire where the readers meet Roman Draganesti, a charismatic leader of the vampire world who happens to be a brilliant scientist who has, thankfully, invented synthetic blood.  This invention is known throughout the mortal world as a scientific breakthrough that made blood-transfusions much easier, but of course for the Vampire community it was life-changing in an entirely different way.

But that is the past, the present and future are what the story is all about, and as it unfolds he meets a woman the reader can not help but hope he can save, and love.

Having established Roman, and his entourage of entertaining, and interesting characters, the series launches with a sequence of adventures and on-going plots that have kept me eagerly awaiting the release of each upcoming book.  The only aspect that has begun to wear on me is the titles playing off of movie titles.   Where many of them have been fun, and brought a smile to my face, a few have not tied into the plot as strongly as I might have liked and felt a bit unnecessary.   These are such great books, I can not help but wonder what titles the author would be giving the books if she were not trying for those plays on words/titles.

According to the authors website, the books are, in order:

Be Still My Vampire Heart by Kerrelyn Sparks

Be Still My Vampire Heart by Kerrelyn Sparks

How to Marry a Millionaire Vampire
Vamps and the City
“A Very Vampy Christmas” from Sugarplums and Scandal
Be Still My Vampire Heart
The Undead Next Door
All I Want for Christmas is a Vampire
Secret Life of a Vampire
Forbidden Nights with a Vampire
The Vampire and the Virgin
Eat Prey Love
Vampire Mine
Sexiest Vampire Alive

How To Seduce A Vampire by Kerrelyn Sparks

How To Seduce A Vampire by Kerrelyn Sparks

Wanted: Undead or Alive
Wild About You
Vampires Gone Wild
The Vampire with the Dragon Tattoo
How to Seduce a Vampire (Without Really Trying)
Crouching Tiger, Forbidden Vampire

This series of novels is full of interesting characters who take turns in supporting and featured positions, filling out a world of intrigue, love, and plots that keep readers coming back wanting to know what adventure waits within the pages of the next book.  (In this case, Crouching Tiger, Forbidden Vampire on sale Dec 30, 2014.)

Major Crimes

When the character of Sharon Raydor was first introduced on TNT’s The Closer she was what that show needed.  A counter-balance to Brenda Leigh Johnson, Sharon Raydor is a strong woman who follows the rules, to the letter, and did the tough job of investigating officer involved shootings and trying to prevent lawsuits against the LAPD.

In those early appearances, where she was guest staring in the world of characters the audience had come to know and love over several seasons, there were virtually no soft edges, especially in the beginning.  As time wore on we found out she had children — it was almost a revelation when the audience discovered she had a heart.  Sharon Raydor felt Brenda Leigh Johnson was a kindred spirit and they might have the potential to be friends, and the two seemed startled to refer to one another as friends.

Then TNT announced The Closer was coming to an end… and Major Crimes would rise in its place.  It was an odd feeling to many regular viewers, since The Closer had been all about the team in the Major Crimes division.  Why change the name of the show?  What was happening?  A cast shake up was happening, but was that all?

Then there was the feeling of how was Sharon Raydor, who was a solid upstanding character, but had thus far lacked the charisma of Brenda Leigh Johnson, going to take over as the lead of the show?

Graham Patrick Martin, in the role of Rusty Beck, made the difference.  Rusty, who first appeared at the very end of the The Closer, as a witness to a crime, gave the audience a new perspective from which to see Captain Sharon Raydor… suddenly she was not just the always at the office, always on duty cop.  Rusty needed a protector, a guardian, and through him we got to see her as Sharon, in her apartment, occasionally even with her heart on her sleeve.  Through Rusty she was humanized, opened up, and softened into a character the audience could care about just as we had grown to know and love Brenda Leigh Johnson.

The strengths of The Closer were carried forward into Major Crimes, even as a new leader brought a new style, a new goal, and subtle shifts in how the episodes unfold.  I may miss Brenda’s drawer full of candy, and her forever saying Thank You, but in the end I love that not only does Sharon close the case with a confession, she goes that step further and gets a deal that means we know the guilty party will do time.

And, as an added bonus for long time watchers of the shows, Jon Tenney has been reprising his role of FBI Agent Fritz Howard (otherwise known as Brenda Leigh Johnson’s husband), until recently with just the occasional appearance.  But the final three episodes of the current season clearly set him up with the opportunity for a spin-off of his own.  With a strong-willed, determined second in command (Laurie Holden), and a detective with a skill for going undercover (Malcolm-Jamal Warner) those three could could make a strong core cast to yet another powerful show.