Aşk 101: Bölüm 1 (2020)

Series Summary (from Netflix): While trying to make their teacher fall for a basketball coach, four misfits and a model student find friendship, love, and the courage to be themselves.

I'm watching this because at this point, it's like "why not?" when I hear about a dizi. I actually watched the first episode long ago, as I stumbled across it on Netflix, but it didn't grab me. After more than a year of being fully immersed in dizi culture, I was ready to give it another shot.

Friday Night Lights: 1.1 "Pilot"

Series Summary (from IMDb): The trials and tribulations of small town Texas football players, their friends, family, and coaching staff. (I love how succinct it is!)

I'm watching this because: I've heard so many good things about this show—from critics, from my sister, from friends. I purchased the series for about $40 from Amazon a couple years ago, and I watched the first episode about four times at different times, but it just never grabbed me ... until now. After I finished The West Wing (one of the most addictive and satisfying viewing experiences of my life), I decided to give Friday Night Lights another go.

Recap: The pilot episode follows the week leading up to the Dillon Panthers' first game of the season. Football is life in Dillon, and the football players are revered. New head coach Eric Taylor (Kyle Chandler) is under extreme pressure to deliver a win—and perhaps a state championship. Starting quarterback Jason Street (Scott Porter) is the team's star, and he's looking forward to guaranteed college scholarships ... until he is gravely injured in the season opener. Backup Matt Saracen (Zach Gilford) saves the game with a last-second Hail Mary.

Reactions: For whatever reason, the fifth time's the charm. Even though I basically knew what would happen, thanks to my previous four viewings of the pilot over the past two years, I was riveted to the screen, and I immediately watched the next two episodes, as well. I love, love, love Coach & Tami Taylor (Connie Britton), I think Saracen is adorable, and, for the first time ever, I get why Taylor Kitsch (as bad boy Tim Riggins) was supposed to be the "next big thing."

Keep watching? No question. I'm completely smitten!

Watch it on Amazon or Netflix.

The Post That Inspired This Blog

This was originally published on my other blog, Christian Chick's Thoughts, on August 26, 2012.

The other night, I finished watching Dawson's Creek. I watched the pilot episode in May, right before my gallbladder surgery. In the week following surgery, I watched all of seasons one, two, and three. The final three seasons I watched at a more reasonable rate—about one season per month. Now that I've finished, I have a few things to say about the series! (This is more for me than for you, so you won't hurt my feelings if you click away now—especially if you've never seen Dawson's Creek!)

1. For a show called Dawson's Creek, I cared surprisingly little for good old Dawson Leery. In fact, I rejoiced whenever Dawson didn't appear in an episode, which happened surprisingly often in season six. Really, Dawson's Creek turned into the Joey Potter show, and that was fine by me. Even when Joey was making boneheaded decisions (like leaving Pacey for Eddie), I was captivated by the life and times of Miss Potter.
2. As I watched the first few seasons, all the Tom Cruise references made me snicker, knowing that Joey's portrayer was actually married to the man. Then the news of the Cruise-Holmes divorce hit, and any Tom Cruise reference after that wasn't quite so humorous. Also, I found it interesting that two Cruise exes appeared in the same episode, though they never shared a scene: Mimi Rogers (ex-Mrs. Cruise #1) played Jen's mom in a season six episode.
3. Is it just me, or does Capeside have the longest, most convoluted school year on record? Season one: sophomore year. Season two: sophomore year. Season one clearly begins at the beginning of their sophomore year and ends either at Christmas or summer break, as Joey is contemplating a semester abroad and would have to leave in a couple of days. Then in season two, they have homecoming. I've never heard of a spring homecoming, though I suppose it's possible ... but would the guys be wearing their football jerseys if that were the case? 
4. Holy dropped story lines, Batman! Does anyone remember Eve? Anyone? In season three, she was the bad girl Dawson met on the bus from Philly (where Gail lived momentarily) who turned out to possibly be Jen's half-sister. She disappeared and was never mentioned again until the end of season six, when the writers did acknowledge that they dropped the ball. Jen mentioned her, and when someone asked who she was, Jack's reply made me smile because it was so true: "Long story. Ambiguous ending." And then there's Gail's new husband. The whole reason everyone goes back to Capeside in the finale is for her wedding, but after the actual wedding, Gail's husband is never seen again—not at the house, not at the hospital, not at the funeral. Even though he didn't know Jen, you'd think he would have been there to support his wife. Also, this doesn't constitute a dropped story line per se, but I wish they would have told us what happened to C.J. (Jensen Ackles of Days of Our Lives and Supernatural), Jen's season six boyfriend, as he was supposedly the love of Jen's life. 
5. Boy, did the writers know how to do death! I did the ugly cry twice during Dawson's Creek. The first time was the episode after Mitch's car accident. I cried off and on through the entire episode as characters remembered how Mitch impacted their lives. And then there was Jen. I actually knew she would die because, for some unknown reason, I watched the finale when it aired, even though I'd never before seen a single episode. I had no idea, though, that Jen would end up being one of my favorite characters—especially since I loathed her through the first few seasons! Michelle Williams knocked that last episode out of the park, and I found myself wondering why on earth she didn't at least get nominated for an Emmy for that performance. I also found myself crying. A lot. And I was glad no one else was there to witness my farewell to Jen Lindley/Dawson's Creek meltdown!
6. Pacey & Joey. In season one, I was pulling for Dawson and Joey. That was before Dawson got all annoying and Pacey got sweet. Once Dawson's went down the Pacey-Joey road, there was no turning back ... at least for me. The writers seemed to have another opinion, as they "forgot" about the Pacey-Joey magic for all of season five and the first half of season six. Fortunately, they found their way back to Pacey and Joey in the end! In my favorite episode of the entire series, season six's "Castaways," none of the other main characters appeared, only Pacey and Joey. Not only did it feature a return to the wonderful Pacey-Joey banter of yore, but it also marked the end of the hideous growth on Joshua Jackson's face—the ill-advised goatee. If you have Netflix or Amazon Prime, you can watch the episode free.
7. I have never liked Paula Cole's "I Don't Want to Wait." Never. But I was still disappointed when I started watching Dawson's and realized that Paula Cole's tune had been replaced by Jann Arden's "Run Like Mad." That song ended up growing on me, and I could definitely sing the whole thing for you, but I felt sheer joy when I heard the strains of the original theme on the series finale! And without knowing the original theme, one of the funniest moments of the finale would make no sense: Sam (the Joey character on Dawson's show The Creek) comes into Colby (the Dawson character)'s room and says, "I can't take it anymore, Colby. I don't want to wait for my life to be over. I want to know right now. What will it be?" Love it!
8. Some people (like Blendy) didn't like the finale. I loved it! I thought it stayed true to the characters in a way that had been missing for quite some time—and the return to greatness may have had something to do with the fact that creator Kevin Williamson wrote it. I thought it was the perfect combination of humor and sadness, and it left me feeling satisfied ... what more could you want from a finale? (Blendy's beef with the finale is that we didn't see Joey pick Pacey. But we see the aftermath of that choice, plus Williamson totally telegraphed that she would make that choice, and that's good enough for me!)

If you've seen Dawson's Creek, I'd love to know your thoughts!