Okay, I've been in denial about this for a while now, but it's time for me to come clean.

I'm on vacation.

So, apologies are in order, first and foremost. As I write this, I am two episodes behind on my reviews of Orphan Black, and two episodes behind on my reviews of Hannibal. I've been telling myself—and anyone else who asked—that I would get caught up any day now.

But I'm admitting today it's not going to happen.

Sorry.

You see, The Unenthusiastic Critic and I are getting married in just under two weeks. (If you missed it, you can watch the proposal video here, and marvel at the fact that anyone ever agreed to marry me.) The point is, the happy day is nearly upon us, friends and family descend on Chicago in just over a week, and I have a shitload of stuff to do if I'm going to get me to the church on time.

When I announced my spring-summer review schedule, back at the beginning of April, I was keenly aware that it was completely insane, but I somehow thought I could maintain the necessary level of insanity right up until the eve of my wedding. And I almost succeeded: I reviewed all 10 episodes of Game of Thrones (51,000 words), all seven episodes of Mad Men (23,000 words), all eight episodes of Louie (a pithy 17,500 words), and eight out of 10 Orphan Black episodes (24,000 words). (Admittedly, with a mere 5,500 words on two episodes of Hannibal, I'd barely begun to clear my critical throat on that show, but still.)

In all, it was 35 reviews, totaling over 121,000 words, in 12 weeks. This is roughly the equivalent of doing the infamous NaNoWriMo challenge every month for three straight months, and I'm rather proud of the fact that I pulled it off—or almost pulled it off—without managing to get fired from my real job, and without my fiancée ending our engagement.

But the last few miles of a marathon are the hardest (I hear), and I've been stumbling lately. I hate to collapse puking with just a mile to go, but I'm afraid I must. I'm out of time, and—between you and me—I'm out of gas. Writing good no more me can do, I'm feared.

So, for the next couple of weeks, I'm going to focus my remaining energy on getting ready for our impending nuptials. If I have any spare time (what's that?), I'm going to read a book (remember books?), or see a movie (anything good playing?), or maybe even take a nap and recharge the batteries.

I shall return in a few weeks—a well-rested, newly-minted married man—and at that time I'll try to return to those dropped reviews in some form. (I'm thinking I'll have a chance to rewatch the whole season of Orphan Black by then, and perhaps write a final overview post. If I return to Hannibal, I'll probably just jump back into the series, already in progress.)

And I've got some ideas brewing for the next shows I'm going to tackle, either episode-by-episode or in Binge Watch format. Watch this space.

Until then, wish me and The Unenthusiastic Critic luck on our big day, and enjoy the break from my long-winded pontifications. It's summer: go outside and have some fun.