Believe it or not, summer hiatus is winding down. The number of weeks remaining until our favorite shows begin again can be counted on one hand, mostly. Not bad. As long as summer hiatus seems to be when it is first stretched out in front of us, I have learned some coping strategies over the years that help me break it all up into smaller, more manageable segments. For me, we’re in the final segment.
First off, as I wrote in my article My Love/Hate Relationship with Hiatus – or Hellatus, there are only about six weeks or so from the ending of the season in mid-May until casting tidbits begin to occur and filming begins for the new season. That’s pretty short. I fill it by rewatching the finales of shows I love, reading and watching interviews given afterwards as well as watching those shows I ‘banked’ on my DVR. Last year it was Supernatural, Elementary, and Psych, six to seven episodes each. This year it was Elementary, The Mentalist (love Simon Baker!), and the Blacklist. Those filled the gap until new shows arrived thanks to A&E and TNT – USA has nothing for me this year with Burn Notice and Psych both retired and White Collar not yet returning with its final six episodes.
Then July comes, and with it, filming and set photos/reports and episode titles and endless interviews. I also fill many a night with shows like Cold Justice, Major Crimes, Longmire, and Perception. I’ve been rewatching Supernatural seasons 1 – 3 on DVDs and binge watching seasons 4 – 8 (midway through season 7 right now) on TNT. I also check out new shows, although most don’t get past the first episode, and while I did check back in with Under the Dome, I only managed two, maybe three full episodes and now don’t even bother. That’s all right though, because at the writing of this it is mid-August, and I can now count the number of weeks until Person of Interest premiers on one hand. Shows like Supernatural, Arrow, still engage some fingers on the other hand for counting and Grimm and Elementary both take up almost two full hands. Still the signs are here and ever increasing: Summer hiatus is drawing to a close.
So with that in mind, I give you five signs that confirm summer hiatus is almost done:
Number 5: Comic Con. It comes mid to late July every year. The weeks leading up to it are a flurry of announcements of which shows are confirmed and what cast members are coming. The TCAs arrive as a bit of a preview and then the main event arrives; complete with sizzle reels, cast interviews galore, written reports, tweets teasing the panels and endless YouTube videos – thank you to all who provide those!
Number 4: My summer shows end their run. Longmire concluded its third season, finally telling us who murdered Walt’s wife and the reason why. Thankfully, Henry is cleared of murder charges and we learn that the corruption involving this case stretches all the way to the Denver PD, although they had not a hand in the crime itself. On the cliffhanger note, we are left with Branch in mortal danger again, or his father (wonderfully portrayed by Gerald McRaney – ah, Simon and Simon/Major Dad J) and Vic and Walt’s future as something more than boss and subordinate is finally cleared with her divorce papers in hand and him spreading his beloved wife’s ashes to the Wyoming wind. Ferg, my favorite, is still the odd man out, but he has made it clear he doesn’t appreciate being underappreciated. At least Branch told him to his face that he deserved whatever promotion comes his way. Major Crimes ended, which I watched but not with anything more than an interest in passing time, Perception ends this week, and Cold Justice ended last. I love real crime solving shows and this one is a treat as we get to watch the team systematically work each cold case. I wish Criminal Minds operated more like this: more profiling and less glorification of the crime as we ‘see’ it and ‘live’ it through the perpetrator. I’d rather see it and solve it through the eyes of the profiler. But that’s why I watch Forensic Files and Cold Justice…and Mystery Detectives and…well, you name, I probably watch it.
Number 3: Shark Week begins – and Shark Week ends.
I’m with Dean Winchester with this one: Who doesn’t watch Shark Week; a whole week of sharks?
Number 2: Here in the northeast, the days turn cooler, the crickets take up near round the clock singing, and darkness begins to set in much earlier. Would you believe there are already leaves turning and even falling to the ground? I love the changing seasons, so this is a positive and a negative. It’s positive because fall here is gorgeous! It’s negative because the winters are long and cold and I’m not a skier, snowmobiler, or ice fisher. I love long walks with my dogs and once the darkness arrives and the cold sets in, those walks are much shorter – and a lot less fun. Still, it means the fall season is nearly upon us, and that is another positive. (On the flip side, I get a bit sorrowful come spring because while the daylight lasts a lot longer, and the temperatures warm, it means my favorite shows are hurtling towards their dénouement for the season, and hellatus arrives again. Of course Longmire returns, so there is that!
Number 1: My DVDs from last season are about to ship. Person of Interest Season 3 arrives on Tuesday, September 2nd – well, they will if I preorder them. (Write that at the top of the to-do list.) For the last two years, come my new DVDs for Person of Interest, I watch the just concluded season straight through right up to the premier. I plan on doing that starting September 2nd – two short weeks away.
So there you go, the five signs I see that hiatus/hellatus of 2014 is about to close. We’ve come a long way since May, just a little bit further and we’ll see Season 3 of Arrow and Elementary, Season 4 of Person of Interest and Grimm, Season 2 of Blacklist, Season 479 of NCIS (it’s my comfort food show) and Season 10 of Bones, Criminal Minds, and Supernatural. I plan on checking out Stalker – Maggie Q!, Scorpions, and The Flash. Other things will get picked up and put down as the season progresses, but for now, I’ve got a pretty full schedule.
Now, time to get back and finish my DVDs of Arrow, Season 1, and Person of Interest Season 1 and 2, and Season 7 and 8 of Supernatural courtesy of TNT’s syndication…
As always, thanks for reading. Elle2
Well, here I am again, guilty of reading your piece weeks ago, and just now getting my response back to you. At the time this was first posted, I was getting my classroom ready for another school year, and all I had time to do was give a quick read of a few posts, with no time to think of replying. I have to say, that when I read your article, I was so jealous of those signs of fall that you were seeing. I live in the South, and the heat and humidity have been miserable. (Of course, they always are.) We have just started to have some cooler temperatures in the mornings, and today was the first official day of fall. I spent my summer beginning a [i]Fringe[/i] season one rewatch. I digressed many times from that with some favorite [i]Supernatural[/i] episodes, and some[i] Firefly[/i] as well. Really, it was more of a reading summer for me. I re-read all the Harry Potter books, because it’s been a couple of years, and the last school year was a challenge, and I had promised myself an indulgence. I also read [u]Divergent[/u] and [u]Insurgent[/u], the first two books of that series. My other big reading undertaking was [u]A Dance With Dragons[/u], so I am caught up with George R. R. Martin until he finishes his next book. Of course, there were a couple of trashy romance novels thrown in there, too. I enjoyed [i]Rizzoli and Isles[/i] and [i]Major Crimes[/i] this summer, and right now I am into [i]The Strain[/i]. I picked up season two of [i]Orphan Black[/i], now I just need to get ahold of season one so I can watch them straight through.
To address the point of your article, some things that let me know that summer is drawing to a close – the first is, of course, getting back into my classroom, setting the furniture back up, decorating bulletin boards, and making copies. I have season tickets for football at my college alma mater, and they had their home opener the last weekend in August, so that is another signal to me that summer is over. Hand-in-hand with the beginning of football season, is the close of baseball season. My mom is an avid Atlanta Braves fan, and she watches every game they play. 🙂
Hey, Palindinteacher, no worries on the delay in response. It’s strange this week starting to review shows because it seems both so long ago since I last wrote a review and yet so near in time. Summer goes so fast, yet while in the midst of it, and spoiler addict that I am, the time seems so slow. Yep, fall is in full swing here in my neck of the country with the colors putting on a magnificent display. We’re in for a treat this next week plus with above average temps, in the 70s) with little rain in the forecast. I’m soaking it all in as much as I can and keeping the windows open for all the fresh air possible for once the cold hits, it’s a long haul until spring. Good thing there are lots of great shows to enjoy during that cold dark time of the year.
Sounds like you have some good things going on, yes, including back to school. I have several friends who are teachers and they both love and get dismayed at the idea of setting the classroom back up and the early mornings, and keeping young, energetic, and oftentimes highly distracted minds engaged. I hope you enjoy the football at your alma mater and the closing weeks of baseball. I’ll be seeing your around the site. 🙂