Caught myself up on Sherlock and House of Cards (thank you, Netflix.)
Sherlock Special: 8/10. I liked it a lot, but at times it felt weighted down by yelling at the camera "look how damn clever we are using Victorian Times to comment on current fashionable politics". I will continue to watch.
House of Cards Season 4: 6.5/10. Compared to the completely unpalatable third season, this one stepped the game back up to the level of seasons previous. Although much of it felt as if it'd fallen into the realm of fantasy and dumped all political realism (a huge issue with season 3), I'm also living in a country where a reality television star and previous first lady are locking heads for president...so maybe it's actually quite gritty? I will continue to watch which I didn't imagine after season 3.
Finished True Blood. Before I rate it, I need to make clear I am not holding it to anywhere near the same standard as the two above it. My expectations for this show were very low and I did not expect to learn anything from it. It was meant to be for pure enjoyment and hot guys. On the pure enjoyment scale, it is a 7/10. On the hot guys scale it is 10/10. As for trying to hold it to a properly critical scale, it's pretty ****e. The world building and characters with the exception of the female lead are all surprisingly well drawn and compelling for what I expected. Problematically, the writers just kept adding people, having no idea how to create an overall plot and no clue how to focus on particular characters really destroyed them for much of the show. Thematically, the only thing it has going for it is a sometimes interesting exploration of bigotry...that was actually quite well done for the material it was working with. But a hand-cletching female lead and plot lines that never seem to add up or be particularly compelling keeps this from being anything besides a 4.5/10.
Started:
Young Justice. So far I highly recommend it for those who loved Justice League or any of the Animated series as much as I did.