Did I already say that Alphas is freakin' awesome? Last night's episode was on the messy side, but there was lots of interesting content. We saw one side of the alpha world with the fight club and now we see the other side, with alphas trying to live on their own, far away from everyone else. Hurricane Rosen rolls in and messes things up like he usually does. Rosen's approach to this war with Stanton Parrish has been really poor as this episode highlights. He wants a direct resolution--finding out about the device, no matter the costs--while Stanton Parrish is playing a longer game. While Parrish isn't making any friends either, he provides an alternative to the single-minded Rosen and the government. Rosen doesn't offer much right now, and while he may be the good guy from a story perspective, few alphas seem him as one. Skyler fit right into the war, wanting the best for her daughter and also knowing that Rosen isn't the answer. Is Parrish? We could see her on the other side the next time we see her. Kat Watch: Not in the episode. Rosen said he had her take apart the machine but she didn't find anything. Boo! In hindsight, it was probably for the best she wasn't in an already cluttered episode.
Breakthrough on Grimm! Hank finally learns about Nick's Grimmhood! This is amazing stuff for a show which painfully and ploddingly tried to keep everyone in the dark every episode. Now there's only the Juliette problem, which is turning into more fail from the writers.
If people didn't already know Walt will be screwed. In this week's episode, the third to last of the first half, we see the height of Heisenberg--the cold-blooded drug boss who can look anyone in the eye and make demands--and the low of Walt--the angry, vindictive man who berates Jesse and later shoots Mike then pathetically apologizes. Walt, in the end, is not Gus, nor will he ever be, not even close. Gus ran a tight ship, controlled and unremorseful, every move serving a distinct purpose. Walt can't be like that. He's a dead man.
The season finale of True Blood was relatively better than the season finale in previous season, and the rest of the season was as well, so I'd call Alan Ball's final season a success. Now, his tenure has been rocky to say the least, but he pulled it out in the end, leaving the show on firm footing for the final season. What made the season finale particularly good was its separation of the important and unimportant (well, except for the Alcide stuff which was out of place as usual). There isn't any time dawdling around with Russell. He's dead within the first few minutes, making his existence this season more of a funny story on the side for the audience to smile at. Same with Maurella popping out babies. It's funny but isn't important to the main plot of the episode. Then there's the actually important parts of the episode, the raid on the Authority HQ, Lots of blood and exploding vampires which is always fun. And then the end, Bill dying and reforming as Lilith (or Billith as people are saying) which was surprising. Bill was already the bad guy for most of the season and for him to continue on, as an even more dangerous creature, is a significant departure from the path the show seemed to be on. So the stuff I didn't like: Tara and Pam was completely forced, perhaps in an attempt to regain the LGBT viewership. Alcide became packmaster finally, after an uneventful detour for a few episodes. Cue the V problems storyline. In hindsight, the fire monster storyline seems even worse than it did before. Now it's 100% irrelevant.
The first season of Strike Back, the Sky1 production, focused a lot on how the CIA is a bunch of dicks. This third season is going back to this idea, with the CIA almost killing the team at the beginning of the episode. The rest of the episode was fairly interesting with the Tauregs. One of the things I like about the show is how the characters explore different regions and cultures around the world while chasing the bad guy.
For those who thought Suits would break the USA and transcend its initial case per week premise, think again. After a summer of twists and turns, plotting and backstabbing, Suits returned to where it was before the season began. No Hardman in the picture, Jessica back in charge, Harvey and Donna doing fine, Mike and Rachel not together, and no one liking Louis, although he's more hated now. There's stuff to clean up, but the characters are allowed to practice law in peace now. The bulk of the episode was perfectly fine, with lots of great scenes like Mike and Harvey stoned. But the introduction of Tess and what happened later reeked of plot device. Awful writing. The writers wanted to keep Mike and Rachel apart, so they introduce this never before seen childhood friend and have her and Mike sleep together, and Rachel sees. Terrible, lazy, even offensive. No other way to put it.
At this point, it's best to think of Burn Notice's overall plot (and some stuff in between) as a big farce. Burn Notice is a lot like NTSF:SD:SUV; stuff blows up, people get shot, and the plot makes no fucking sense. Just like in all the previous summer/season finales, this season's summer finale ended with a big shocker--another big bad! We're already 20 layers deep and it's just getting started, as the ratings are still good. 50 more big bads (when all actors/actresses in Hollywood have been used up), 20 more evil international organizations with no clear intent, and we'll probably end up at the final boss, Michael's father. Other than that, the episode had a cool setup, putting the team out on their own, so the action was pretty good. But the ending... expected yet disappointing every time.
Tuesday, August 28, 2012
Tuesday, August 21, 2012
Reviews 8/15/12 - 8/21/12
Alphas did it again, this time with a cool haunted hospital episode. And it's not a generic slasher haunted hospital. The characters confront what they manifest themselves, and it's not the same for everyone. Gary sees Anna, Bill fights himself (this was dumb, to be honest), and Rachel sees Nina. The rest of the episode was spent on Rosen getting Nina to start "pulling" people in order to extract a memory from a senator. Part of this is using Kat as a guinea pig, and Kat remembers glimpses from her 16th birthday after being pulled. As promptly as that happens, Rosen and Nina are off, leaving behind poor Kat, highlighting how bad of a therapist Rosen is and how fixated he is on finding Stanton Parish. One thing that bothers me, though, is why Rosen doesn't want Kat to help the team. He might not have time to help her, but she seems like she could be helpful when the team needs a person to do something very specific.
Grimm wraps up the two parter with more of the same stuff as the first episode. There is the fighting, the meaningless, mysterious dialogue, and once again lingering questions. We learn this week that Renard is a bastard, literally. So does this new fact go with anything we've seen in the past and can it help us answer anything? Not really. We now know that he's not in the inside circle of royalty, but that still doesn't mean much without more details. The plot moved forward, as Juliette is woken by a kiss from a purified Renard. But, surprise, she doesn't remember anything. *Collective groan* On the plus side, there was plenty of Monroe and Rosalee, an awesome duo and the best part of the show.
I don't think I'll be watching any more of Major Crimes. Between always complaining Rusty and always sucking up Sykes, the new parts of the show are too much to take. Provenza and Raydor fighting is fine, but the rest is too much. I'll wait until Provenza and Flynn get their own spin-off.
This week's episode of Breaking Bad was the best episode of the season, brilliantly following up on the train heist from the week before and the deadly shooting by Todd. It's about as complete of an episode you'll get, with lots of plot but also some really solid character work. First, Walt, Mike, and Jesse have to deal with the body and it's somewhat sickening, the crew slowly tearing down the bike then dissolving it (and they used plastic!) before moving on to the kid--thankfully that part wasn't shown. They decide to let Todd stay after Walt lays out the options. They, like Skyler, don't have much going for them, as paying him off or killing him would make their situation even worse. So they get back to business, and Jesse sees that side of Walt, the one which whistles gleefully in the aftermath of child's murder, further burdening his mind. Then there's Mike, constantly being pursued by the DEA. He's freaking Mike, but there's a limit to abilities, and there is no way he'll stay perfect. This all comes together when Mike and Jesse confront Walt; they're out, ready to sell they're share of the methylamine. Walt is pissed but he's Walt and, in his mind, he can do everything. However, Mike tries to sell the methylamine and hits a brick wall--they want Walt's share as well to take the blue meth off the street. Now logically Mike should be able to find another buyer, but ultimatums are good for storytelling. Mike and Jesse are forced into a corner. They want to cash out, but Walt is standing in their way. Jesse tries to convince Walt at his home, and Walt has to bust out the Gray Matter history. It's not about money or drugs for him--it's about empire building. Jesse always thought Walt wanted money for cancer and he's seen a different side of Walt over time, but this is the first time Walt has explicitly laid out what he wants. The hilariously awkward dinner with Jesse, Walt, and Skyler follows, before heading towards the end of the episode, which is action-y like the previous episode. Mike ties Walt down and goes to talk to the DEA before selling all the methylamine, but Walt manages to escape. He supposedly has a plan that allows Mike and Jesse to get all the money they want but also lets Walt keep his share of the methylamine. Great episode from beginning to end. So many problems and potential solutions, and all roads all leading to what all viewers can see as an unhappy ending.
I like this season of True Blood, much more than the previous two seasons. In the latest episodes, there have been surprising clarity to the show that hasn't been seen since the second season. There haven't been the stupid side-stories or quivering fools we've grown accustomed to. Mainly, every character with a significant part is a badass and the other characters don't have their own storyline. A great example of this is Sam and Luna. They have, personally, a huge task at hand, to save Emma, but no one wants to see them for half an episode. So instead of having them chase random creatures as they may have in previous seasons, they have Steve Newlin having Emma, which brings Sam and Luna to the Authority HQ where they get caught at about the same as Pam. Now Sam gets to ask Pam to help Luna, and Pam gets to say a funny line about not knowing who Luna is. We don't spend much time on Sam and yet he's getting stuff done. Meanwhile, the Lilith blood has driven Bill and the others crazy while Eric and Nora, both off Lilith, run off, but not before Eric kills the general which supposedly will draw the wrath of the military, which has yet unseen anti-vampire weapons. Then there's Russell who has a whole bunch of faeries ready to be eaten after he defeats the head faerie who actually sucks at fighting.
After two seasons of Falling Skies, I'm ready to say that Falling Skies will never be a good show. It'll have its moments, maybe twice a season, but it's not cut out of be a good show, not in the way Alphas is or even The Walking Dead to an extent. The writers are so interested in moving the plot in whatever direction they want that the characters and dialogue become afterthoughts. But it's those elements which separate the average shows from the rest, and it's clear we won't be getting anything worthwhile. The season finale is what you'd expect from Falling Skies--lots of plot development. General lets 2nd Mass go fight, Tom declines, gets tossed in jail, rebel Skitters come with mission, Tom and others go on mission, they get caught, rebels save them, Red Eye is killed, Tom kills overlord, they go back to Charleston, get ready to go back to fight, and finally another alien shows up. It's basically an hour of info-dump and cliches. Woman throwing up = pregnant; non-white soldier = dead; big twist = generic third-party alien; overlord alien = supersuperduperduperduperidest genius with massive, glaring flaws; 2nd Mass = fighters4lyfe; Hal waking from coma = a couple episodes with him plotting before the inevitable reset. You get the picture...
I haven't said much about Weeds this season, because, well, nothing noteworthy has happened. In its last season, Weeds is staggering to the finish line more than ever before, with some of the most pointless episodes of television I've ever seen. Stuff is happening--sex, a pregnancy which turns out to be fake, more sex, pot growing, pharmaceutical sales, more sex--but none of it means anything. You keep expecting a "so what?" to pop up, but it never comes. I get that these characters are terrible messed up, resulting in them doing messed up things, but there is nothing new, not even an attempt to return to the earlier seasons in some form.
Strike Back is the Cinemax equivalent of Starz's Spartacus. There is over the top violence and sex, and yet there is something oddly compelling about it. Call it trash if you want--you're still watching. Strike Back is a step towards serious programming for Cinemax, known mainly for softcore porn. There is an actual plot and the sex is not the main point of the show. In fact, the season premiere was shockingly restrained with only two sex scenes. The show's core retains most from the first season, a wholly British production. Toss in an American, a bit of 24, and you get the new Strike Back which aired last year. The third season is again a Sky1/Cinemax production and all the gungho kickassery one could want. The season premiere introduces the lovely Rhona Mitra as the new head of Section 20 after much deception, and she's already fighting with Scott. The writers got Stonebridge back into action rather quickly and, it seems, disposed of his wife so he'll be with Section 20 permanently. The plot in the first two episode has Section 20 in Somalia ttracking stolen nuclear triggers which go missing at the end of the episode, and there's this shadowy charity at the end of the episode to signal conspiracy.
Boss is a serious show. Most people figure this out pretty quickly. Tom Kane, played by Kelsey Grammer, grits his teeth and growls out his lines, as the camera lingers on his eyes, burning full with intensity. The ambient music grows, and the viewers is told, "We're not playing games." We're supposed to be impressed, thinking to ourselves, "Wow, this is SERIOUS!!" but it's mostly funny the way the producers try to hammer in the seriousness of certain situations. Okay, so Boss takes itself far too seriously and becomes comedic once or twice an episode when it's really trying to make a point, but it's the summer and there isn't much serialized television. I can see that the people on the show are trying hard, and the story isn't half bad, so I suppose there's nothing wrong with watching it each week. Watching Kane trying to create a legacy for himself is pretty interesting once you throw in the rest of the political and personal intrigue.
Grimm wraps up the two parter with more of the same stuff as the first episode. There is the fighting, the meaningless, mysterious dialogue, and once again lingering questions. We learn this week that Renard is a bastard, literally. So does this new fact go with anything we've seen in the past and can it help us answer anything? Not really. We now know that he's not in the inside circle of royalty, but that still doesn't mean much without more details. The plot moved forward, as Juliette is woken by a kiss from a purified Renard. But, surprise, she doesn't remember anything. *Collective groan* On the plus side, there was plenty of Monroe and Rosalee, an awesome duo and the best part of the show.
I don't think I'll be watching any more of Major Crimes. Between always complaining Rusty and always sucking up Sykes, the new parts of the show are too much to take. Provenza and Raydor fighting is fine, but the rest is too much. I'll wait until Provenza and Flynn get their own spin-off.
This week's episode of Breaking Bad was the best episode of the season, brilliantly following up on the train heist from the week before and the deadly shooting by Todd. It's about as complete of an episode you'll get, with lots of plot but also some really solid character work. First, Walt, Mike, and Jesse have to deal with the body and it's somewhat sickening, the crew slowly tearing down the bike then dissolving it (and they used plastic!) before moving on to the kid--thankfully that part wasn't shown. They decide to let Todd stay after Walt lays out the options. They, like Skyler, don't have much going for them, as paying him off or killing him would make their situation even worse. So they get back to business, and Jesse sees that side of Walt, the one which whistles gleefully in the aftermath of child's murder, further burdening his mind. Then there's Mike, constantly being pursued by the DEA. He's freaking Mike, but there's a limit to abilities, and there is no way he'll stay perfect. This all comes together when Mike and Jesse confront Walt; they're out, ready to sell they're share of the methylamine. Walt is pissed but he's Walt and, in his mind, he can do everything. However, Mike tries to sell the methylamine and hits a brick wall--they want Walt's share as well to take the blue meth off the street. Now logically Mike should be able to find another buyer, but ultimatums are good for storytelling. Mike and Jesse are forced into a corner. They want to cash out, but Walt is standing in their way. Jesse tries to convince Walt at his home, and Walt has to bust out the Gray Matter history. It's not about money or drugs for him--it's about empire building. Jesse always thought Walt wanted money for cancer and he's seen a different side of Walt over time, but this is the first time Walt has explicitly laid out what he wants. The hilariously awkward dinner with Jesse, Walt, and Skyler follows, before heading towards the end of the episode, which is action-y like the previous episode. Mike ties Walt down and goes to talk to the DEA before selling all the methylamine, but Walt manages to escape. He supposedly has a plan that allows Mike and Jesse to get all the money they want but also lets Walt keep his share of the methylamine. Great episode from beginning to end. So many problems and potential solutions, and all roads all leading to what all viewers can see as an unhappy ending.
I like this season of True Blood, much more than the previous two seasons. In the latest episodes, there have been surprising clarity to the show that hasn't been seen since the second season. There haven't been the stupid side-stories or quivering fools we've grown accustomed to. Mainly, every character with a significant part is a badass and the other characters don't have their own storyline. A great example of this is Sam and Luna. They have, personally, a huge task at hand, to save Emma, but no one wants to see them for half an episode. So instead of having them chase random creatures as they may have in previous seasons, they have Steve Newlin having Emma, which brings Sam and Luna to the Authority HQ where they get caught at about the same as Pam. Now Sam gets to ask Pam to help Luna, and Pam gets to say a funny line about not knowing who Luna is. We don't spend much time on Sam and yet he's getting stuff done. Meanwhile, the Lilith blood has driven Bill and the others crazy while Eric and Nora, both off Lilith, run off, but not before Eric kills the general which supposedly will draw the wrath of the military, which has yet unseen anti-vampire weapons. Then there's Russell who has a whole bunch of faeries ready to be eaten after he defeats the head faerie who actually sucks at fighting.
After two seasons of Falling Skies, I'm ready to say that Falling Skies will never be a good show. It'll have its moments, maybe twice a season, but it's not cut out of be a good show, not in the way Alphas is or even The Walking Dead to an extent. The writers are so interested in moving the plot in whatever direction they want that the characters and dialogue become afterthoughts. But it's those elements which separate the average shows from the rest, and it's clear we won't be getting anything worthwhile. The season finale is what you'd expect from Falling Skies--lots of plot development. General lets 2nd Mass go fight, Tom declines, gets tossed in jail, rebel Skitters come with mission, Tom and others go on mission, they get caught, rebels save them, Red Eye is killed, Tom kills overlord, they go back to Charleston, get ready to go back to fight, and finally another alien shows up. It's basically an hour of info-dump and cliches. Woman throwing up = pregnant; non-white soldier = dead; big twist = generic third-party alien; overlord alien = supersuperduperduperduperidest genius with massive, glaring flaws; 2nd Mass = fighters4lyfe; Hal waking from coma = a couple episodes with him plotting before the inevitable reset. You get the picture...
I haven't said much about Weeds this season, because, well, nothing noteworthy has happened. In its last season, Weeds is staggering to the finish line more than ever before, with some of the most pointless episodes of television I've ever seen. Stuff is happening--sex, a pregnancy which turns out to be fake, more sex, pot growing, pharmaceutical sales, more sex--but none of it means anything. You keep expecting a "so what?" to pop up, but it never comes. I get that these characters are terrible messed up, resulting in them doing messed up things, but there is nothing new, not even an attempt to return to the earlier seasons in some form.
Strike Back is the Cinemax equivalent of Starz's Spartacus. There is over the top violence and sex, and yet there is something oddly compelling about it. Call it trash if you want--you're still watching. Strike Back is a step towards serious programming for Cinemax, known mainly for softcore porn. There is an actual plot and the sex is not the main point of the show. In fact, the season premiere was shockingly restrained with only two sex scenes. The show's core retains most from the first season, a wholly British production. Toss in an American, a bit of 24, and you get the new Strike Back which aired last year. The third season is again a Sky1/Cinemax production and all the gungho kickassery one could want. The season premiere introduces the lovely Rhona Mitra as the new head of Section 20 after much deception, and she's already fighting with Scott. The writers got Stonebridge back into action rather quickly and, it seems, disposed of his wife so he'll be with Section 20 permanently. The plot in the first two episode has Section 20 in Somalia ttracking stolen nuclear triggers which go missing at the end of the episode, and there's this shadowy charity at the end of the episode to signal conspiracy.
Boss is a serious show. Most people figure this out pretty quickly. Tom Kane, played by Kelsey Grammer, grits his teeth and growls out his lines, as the camera lingers on his eyes, burning full with intensity. The ambient music grows, and the viewers is told, "We're not playing games." We're supposed to be impressed, thinking to ourselves, "Wow, this is SERIOUS!!" but it's mostly funny the way the producers try to hammer in the seriousness of certain situations. Okay, so Boss takes itself far too seriously and becomes comedic once or twice an episode when it's really trying to make a point, but it's the summer and there isn't much serialized television. I can see that the people on the show are trying hard, and the story isn't half bad, so I suppose there's nothing wrong with watching it each week. Watching Kane trying to create a legacy for himself is pretty interesting once you throw in the rest of the political and personal intrigue.
Wednesday, August 15, 2012
Reviews 8/9/12 - 8/14/12
I've basically caught up on everything I've missed. I'm debating whether to watch the rest of Political Animals. The date for the reviews include Tuesday, but I honestly don't have anything to say about Tuesday shows so I left them off.
Major Crimes continues right on from The Closer without much hesitation. The characters are basically all there except for Pope, Gabriel, and obviously Brenda, the look of the show is the same, and there's the Rusty kid from the finale. There's so much familiarity that anyone who watched The Closer not only for Brenda will find much to like. And yet, I can't help but think something is missing. The Closer began with Brenda finding herself in an antagonistic division with everyone trying to undermine her. Major Crimes is very similar in this regard, with everyone hating on Raydor (she's actually been a thorn in their sides for a while unlike Brenda who had just arrived), so we once again get that Prime Suspect vibe from the show. But after everyone came to respect Brenda, there was still plenty to watch. Brenda handled suspects like no other, using a mixture of anger and subterfuge to break them down, and it made for good television. Raydor's thing so far is that she cuts deals with suspects. Is that all she brings to the table? I hope not.
I don't like how The Closer ended. I don't want to be thinking, "What's Brenda Leigh Johnson doing today?" while we're following Raydor and her new crew, because we all know Brenda's going to be doing something interesting at her new job at the DA's office. I mean, is Brenda really going to give up crime solving and dead people? Something tells me she won't, unless she takes a big step back from this whole world for a while. Aside from that, the series finale went as one would expect. We get to see all Brenda's familiar traits one last time, she finally nabs Stroh (alas Croelick is still out there, following the reports that Jason O'Mara would not return), gets to shoot him a couple times, and the team says their goodbyes. It's not an overly sentimental affair, but it marked the end of an era. With all her quirks and mannerism, Brenda was one of the most distinct characters of the past decade
Of the shows currently airing, there are few whose new episodes I really want to watch immediately. Breaking Bad is one, Alphas is another. I don't care too much for the rest. The writers do such a superb job with the characters that I want to know what happens to them next. Some shows (Warehouse 13, Grimm, to name a few) would have bungled the flashback device, but Alphas dives right in. Nina's backstory is both sad and chilling. She intervenes in domestic issues as a child, keeping her father in the house, which ultimately results in him killing himself. It's the perfect backdrop for her actions in the present when she's basically unhinged, making Rachel kiss her (yes, gratuitous by the writers, but they make sure to let us know how much Rachel hated it), making Tommy leave his family, pushing Rosen again, and finally jumping off the rooftop. She's may be back at the end of the hospital, eyes cover and arms strapped down, but there's so much wrong with her. Although Nina's story was very dark, Kat balanced it out. She has tons of spunk and is incredibly likable. I hope she gets to stick around longer or maybe even become a permanent member of the team. But I suspect she, like Nina, has a dark past, one that has been forgotten, setting Kat up as Nina's foil. All the members of the team have their own specifics debilitations, while Nina has no clear one. It is in fact her memory that holds her back and her inability to let go of her past.
With horrible, worsening ratings each year, NBC tried something different this year with Grimm. The network decided to start airing it in mid-August, right after the Olympics and a month before all the other shows will premiere, and on a Monday, not on its regular night of Friday. This would seem like a risky move, as network ratings are decidedly lower during the summer... but it's not like anyone watches NBC anyways. The season premiere got off to an okay start, a 2.0 demo, better than the first season average and only a hair lower than the series premiere. Now if the goal of these moves were to attract new viewers, NBC failed pretty badly. The first season of Grimm was good when it focused on the procedural aspects of the show, the different Wesen and how Nick eventually dealt with them. It was at its very worst when it touched on the mythology. It did so in the most infuriating way, exemplified by Captain Rernard always using "mystery speak." Every character skirted around the core of the mythology--a few words here, an implication there--but never a fully fleshed out picture, and yet the mythology was always a big part of the show, used as motivation for actions many episodes. Characters would do something because of ____, but we don't even know what the hell _____ is.
The second season premiere focused almost entirely on this mythology aspect of the show. The plot device coins rear their heads once more, with this silly melting quest, and there is more of that useless mystery speak regarding Juliette, Nick, Renard. On the plus side, Nick's mother explains how the Grimms worked for the seven royal families, and how there's this thing out there that would allow the royal families to control the world, and Grimm knights hid the location by making a map and splitting it between them. The episode ends with a "To be continued," as Nick's about to get smacked in the face, but beyond that, there is little implication about what's really important. There are too many mysteries, too many magical objects out there that it's hard to tell what actually matters.
Breaking Bad became an action show this week with a full-on train heist with plenty of excitement to go around, starting from Walt bugging Hank's office and finding out that Lydia didn't actually plant the tracker. The heist is fun in usual Breaking Bad fashion, crafty rather than brutal. There are some hiccups late in the heist, but everything goes fine until the end. The kid rolls up on his bike and Todd shoots him dead. Normally if this were just Jesse and Walt, they would weasel out of it. It might take an episode or two, but eventually the kid would be alive and no problem. But there's Todd. He doesn't know how they operate, and he makes damn sure no one will find out about the heist. While Breaking Bad has action episodes from time to time, Walt and Jesse never shot anyone, nor were they ever comfortable shooting someone. And they are clearly not comfortable this time. Now what do they do?
Grudgingly, I went ahead and watched the season premiere of Hell on Wheels. Like the first season, the premiere was all over the place. All the characters are in different places and positions than they were in the first season, but still with no sense of direction. There is nothing cohesive in the little town that explains why exactly these characters are important to each other or the world around them, and why the writers have chosen to show them versus other people. Especially troublesome is Bohannon being the exact same as he was in the first season. While Anson Mount plays him with this greatly grim studiousness, Bohannon become tiresome after a while. He's told his stories, he's fought Yankee soldiers, he's wallowed in himself--and now, in the second season, he's doing it all over again.
I don't understand why True Blood can't be like this week's episode every week. No Arlene, no Terry, all the characters being active. Sam and Luna are actually doing stuff, trying to find Emma by changing in mice which was pretty funny. Sookie and Jason learn that Sookie belongs to Warlow contractually. Hoyt leaving for Alaska gave us some good moments from Jessica, stabilizing her for a while, and Jason, who's usually too silly to be taken seriously. There was movement at the Authority where things are getting crazier each week. Yes, the vampires are all really stupid, especially the way they handled Russell from the beginning (although it's dumb that vampire strength seems to be determined solely by age), but the story is moving forward. And Tara becoming a vampire has been a great move. She's no longer the quivering victim who mucks up the show!
Okay, time to make the Falling Skies-Walking Dead comparison. The second season of The Walking Dead was too slow; the second season of Falling Skies is too fast. The Walking Dead spent its past season on the farm with no serious threat to the groups existence, and the show really stagnated there. But at least there were hints of cracks as the season trudged along and the zombies always kept things interesting. On the other hand, Falling Skies is eager to get to the next plot point, always racing towards the new problem. There's no time to let anything develop. This is what I've complained about the past few weeks, and this week's episode was a great example of that. After so long to get to Charleston, there are a few minutes for viewers to get acclimated with the new setting before the first hint of trouble: the general doesn't want intelligence on the skitters. Then the contrivances come with Pope trying to escape and getting caught, Maggie getting caught trying to stop them, and Hal getting caught trying to escape with Maggie. It turns out that Terry O'Quinn's history professor character, leader of the Charleston group, is one of those dictator types.
Longmire, bizarrely, has dangled Walt's big mystery in front of us this whole season. There were this weird, stylized flashbacks which meant nothing and bits of dialogue which also meant nothing. When the reveal finally came, that his wife was murdered and Walt was involved in the murderer's murder, I didn't really care. No reaction. Does this change my view of Walt? Not really. He's always been one of those old timers who doesn't give a crap, no matter how rude or hypocritical. A bigger problem is that the reveal doesn't open up any new plot avenues other than Katie becoming more pissed. The good thing about Longmire is that the crimes, as unrealistic as they are, are Montana crimes, not LA crimes ported over. So we get to see different kinds of people, different cultures, and a different way of handling crimes.
NBC previewed Animal Practice while the Olympics closing ceremony was still going on, so it didn't start with much sympathy. Still, the premiere got massive ratings and NBC's goal of getting people to watch, even for a few minutes, was fulfilled. From there, though, the number of people sticking around depends on how many people like stupid humor. There's nothing smart or redeeming about Animal Practice. One of its main attractions is a monkey, which may be passable entertainment for some. We'll see where the show goes, but I don't have high hopes.
Common Law, off by itself on Friday nights, hasn't been a breakout hit for USA as have other shows (maybe USA could learn something from this and Fairly Legal) on the network. It has this gimmicky premise of two cops in relationship group therapy which enhances an otherwise boring show. The procedural side of the show is very plain, and with plenty of procedurals already out there, it brings nothing new to the table. The season finale takes us through the origins of the partners' original conflict, which should have been brought up earlier, and they resolve the case. If the show doesn't get renewed, this is a nice stopping point. They've resolved the immediate issue which put them into therapy in the first place and there aren't really any strings left hanging, except for Wes's ex-wife, if anyone cares.
As much crap as NBC gets, no one can say that it doesn't try with its comedies. Go On stars Matthew Perry as a sports radio host whose wife died which puts him in therapy. Not funny, you say? The writers jam as much comedy into the first half as they can before confronting the fact that his wife just died. It's some stupid bit about making a bracket for who has had the worst thing happen to them, and I was ready to hate the show. The second half is much better, and touches on serious issues while maintaining a humorous tone. I want to see Go On be more of the second half, which was funny at times without being over the top.
Major Crimes continues right on from The Closer without much hesitation. The characters are basically all there except for Pope, Gabriel, and obviously Brenda, the look of the show is the same, and there's the Rusty kid from the finale. There's so much familiarity that anyone who watched The Closer not only for Brenda will find much to like. And yet, I can't help but think something is missing. The Closer began with Brenda finding herself in an antagonistic division with everyone trying to undermine her. Major Crimes is very similar in this regard, with everyone hating on Raydor (she's actually been a thorn in their sides for a while unlike Brenda who had just arrived), so we once again get that Prime Suspect vibe from the show. But after everyone came to respect Brenda, there was still plenty to watch. Brenda handled suspects like no other, using a mixture of anger and subterfuge to break them down, and it made for good television. Raydor's thing so far is that she cuts deals with suspects. Is that all she brings to the table? I hope not.
I don't like how The Closer ended. I don't want to be thinking, "What's Brenda Leigh Johnson doing today?" while we're following Raydor and her new crew, because we all know Brenda's going to be doing something interesting at her new job at the DA's office. I mean, is Brenda really going to give up crime solving and dead people? Something tells me she won't, unless she takes a big step back from this whole world for a while. Aside from that, the series finale went as one would expect. We get to see all Brenda's familiar traits one last time, she finally nabs Stroh (alas Croelick is still out there, following the reports that Jason O'Mara would not return), gets to shoot him a couple times, and the team says their goodbyes. It's not an overly sentimental affair, but it marked the end of an era. With all her quirks and mannerism, Brenda was one of the most distinct characters of the past decade
Of the shows currently airing, there are few whose new episodes I really want to watch immediately. Breaking Bad is one, Alphas is another. I don't care too much for the rest. The writers do such a superb job with the characters that I want to know what happens to them next. Some shows (Warehouse 13, Grimm, to name a few) would have bungled the flashback device, but Alphas dives right in. Nina's backstory is both sad and chilling. She intervenes in domestic issues as a child, keeping her father in the house, which ultimately results in him killing himself. It's the perfect backdrop for her actions in the present when she's basically unhinged, making Rachel kiss her (yes, gratuitous by the writers, but they make sure to let us know how much Rachel hated it), making Tommy leave his family, pushing Rosen again, and finally jumping off the rooftop. She's may be back at the end of the hospital, eyes cover and arms strapped down, but there's so much wrong with her. Although Nina's story was very dark, Kat balanced it out. She has tons of spunk and is incredibly likable. I hope she gets to stick around longer or maybe even become a permanent member of the team. But I suspect she, like Nina, has a dark past, one that has been forgotten, setting Kat up as Nina's foil. All the members of the team have their own specifics debilitations, while Nina has no clear one. It is in fact her memory that holds her back and her inability to let go of her past.
With horrible, worsening ratings each year, NBC tried something different this year with Grimm. The network decided to start airing it in mid-August, right after the Olympics and a month before all the other shows will premiere, and on a Monday, not on its regular night of Friday. This would seem like a risky move, as network ratings are decidedly lower during the summer... but it's not like anyone watches NBC anyways. The season premiere got off to an okay start, a 2.0 demo, better than the first season average and only a hair lower than the series premiere. Now if the goal of these moves were to attract new viewers, NBC failed pretty badly. The first season of Grimm was good when it focused on the procedural aspects of the show, the different Wesen and how Nick eventually dealt with them. It was at its very worst when it touched on the mythology. It did so in the most infuriating way, exemplified by Captain Rernard always using "mystery speak." Every character skirted around the core of the mythology--a few words here, an implication there--but never a fully fleshed out picture, and yet the mythology was always a big part of the show, used as motivation for actions many episodes. Characters would do something because of ____, but we don't even know what the hell _____ is.
The second season premiere focused almost entirely on this mythology aspect of the show. The plot device coins rear their heads once more, with this silly melting quest, and there is more of that useless mystery speak regarding Juliette, Nick, Renard. On the plus side, Nick's mother explains how the Grimms worked for the seven royal families, and how there's this thing out there that would allow the royal families to control the world, and Grimm knights hid the location by making a map and splitting it between them. The episode ends with a "To be continued," as Nick's about to get smacked in the face, but beyond that, there is little implication about what's really important. There are too many mysteries, too many magical objects out there that it's hard to tell what actually matters.
Breaking Bad became an action show this week with a full-on train heist with plenty of excitement to go around, starting from Walt bugging Hank's office and finding out that Lydia didn't actually plant the tracker. The heist is fun in usual Breaking Bad fashion, crafty rather than brutal. There are some hiccups late in the heist, but everything goes fine until the end. The kid rolls up on his bike and Todd shoots him dead. Normally if this were just Jesse and Walt, they would weasel out of it. It might take an episode or two, but eventually the kid would be alive and no problem. But there's Todd. He doesn't know how they operate, and he makes damn sure no one will find out about the heist. While Breaking Bad has action episodes from time to time, Walt and Jesse never shot anyone, nor were they ever comfortable shooting someone. And they are clearly not comfortable this time. Now what do they do?
Grudgingly, I went ahead and watched the season premiere of Hell on Wheels. Like the first season, the premiere was all over the place. All the characters are in different places and positions than they were in the first season, but still with no sense of direction. There is nothing cohesive in the little town that explains why exactly these characters are important to each other or the world around them, and why the writers have chosen to show them versus other people. Especially troublesome is Bohannon being the exact same as he was in the first season. While Anson Mount plays him with this greatly grim studiousness, Bohannon become tiresome after a while. He's told his stories, he's fought Yankee soldiers, he's wallowed in himself--and now, in the second season, he's doing it all over again.
I don't understand why True Blood can't be like this week's episode every week. No Arlene, no Terry, all the characters being active. Sam and Luna are actually doing stuff, trying to find Emma by changing in mice which was pretty funny. Sookie and Jason learn that Sookie belongs to Warlow contractually. Hoyt leaving for Alaska gave us some good moments from Jessica, stabilizing her for a while, and Jason, who's usually too silly to be taken seriously. There was movement at the Authority where things are getting crazier each week. Yes, the vampires are all really stupid, especially the way they handled Russell from the beginning (although it's dumb that vampire strength seems to be determined solely by age), but the story is moving forward. And Tara becoming a vampire has been a great move. She's no longer the quivering victim who mucks up the show!
Okay, time to make the Falling Skies-Walking Dead comparison. The second season of The Walking Dead was too slow; the second season of Falling Skies is too fast. The Walking Dead spent its past season on the farm with no serious threat to the groups existence, and the show really stagnated there. But at least there were hints of cracks as the season trudged along and the zombies always kept things interesting. On the other hand, Falling Skies is eager to get to the next plot point, always racing towards the new problem. There's no time to let anything develop. This is what I've complained about the past few weeks, and this week's episode was a great example of that. After so long to get to Charleston, there are a few minutes for viewers to get acclimated with the new setting before the first hint of trouble: the general doesn't want intelligence on the skitters. Then the contrivances come with Pope trying to escape and getting caught, Maggie getting caught trying to stop them, and Hal getting caught trying to escape with Maggie. It turns out that Terry O'Quinn's history professor character, leader of the Charleston group, is one of those dictator types.
Longmire, bizarrely, has dangled Walt's big mystery in front of us this whole season. There were this weird, stylized flashbacks which meant nothing and bits of dialogue which also meant nothing. When the reveal finally came, that his wife was murdered and Walt was involved in the murderer's murder, I didn't really care. No reaction. Does this change my view of Walt? Not really. He's always been one of those old timers who doesn't give a crap, no matter how rude or hypocritical. A bigger problem is that the reveal doesn't open up any new plot avenues other than Katie becoming more pissed. The good thing about Longmire is that the crimes, as unrealistic as they are, are Montana crimes, not LA crimes ported over. So we get to see different kinds of people, different cultures, and a different way of handling crimes.
NBC previewed Animal Practice while the Olympics closing ceremony was still going on, so it didn't start with much sympathy. Still, the premiere got massive ratings and NBC's goal of getting people to watch, even for a few minutes, was fulfilled. From there, though, the number of people sticking around depends on how many people like stupid humor. There's nothing smart or redeeming about Animal Practice. One of its main attractions is a monkey, which may be passable entertainment for some. We'll see where the show goes, but I don't have high hopes.
Common Law, off by itself on Friday nights, hasn't been a breakout hit for USA as have other shows (maybe USA could learn something from this and Fairly Legal) on the network. It has this gimmicky premise of two cops in relationship group therapy which enhances an otherwise boring show. The procedural side of the show is very plain, and with plenty of procedurals already out there, it brings nothing new to the table. The season finale takes us through the origins of the partners' original conflict, which should have been brought up earlier, and they resolve the case. If the show doesn't get renewed, this is a nice stopping point. They've resolved the immediate issue which put them into therapy in the first place and there aren't really any strings left hanging, except for Wes's ex-wife, if anyone cares.
As much crap as NBC gets, no one can say that it doesn't try with its comedies. Go On stars Matthew Perry as a sports radio host whose wife died which puts him in therapy. Not funny, you say? The writers jam as much comedy into the first half as they can before confronting the fact that his wife just died. It's some stupid bit about making a bracket for who has had the worst thing happen to them, and I was ready to hate the show. The second half is much better, and touches on serious issues while maintaining a humorous tone. I want to see Go On be more of the second half, which was funny at times without being over the top.
Thursday, August 9, 2012
Reviews 7/31/12 - 8/8/12
I'm a couple days behind writing this, so I've included a few extra days of shows. It also helps that USA didn't have new shows for 2 days. I'm slowly making my way through the shows I've missed.
I'm going to be watching Dallas next season--not because any aspect of the show is any good, but because the twists are so wacky that you want to stick around to see what wackiness will follow. Dallas is a summer which shouldn't be taken too seriously, even if the writers try to drum up season-long storylines like Ann vs. her ex-husbands and the Venezuelans. The main draw of the show is how the regular characters interact with each other and what ridiculous thing they're hiding.
Alphas is getting quite interesting in its second season. We get to see the larger alpha community in the form of an underground fight club (I really like that there aren't people killing each other like in every other TV fight club), and Bill drawn to these people like him. Then there's Gary moving into the office which was done really well. Alphas has always done an excellent job with the characters and Gary's mother being in all those scenes was more than you'll see in most shows.
In its third to last episode, The Closer landed with a shocker that Brenda's mother had died, after all the cancer stuff with her father. Perhaps that would be the wakeup call for Brenda, after alienating everyone with her behavior. Somehow, Fritz stuck around long enough to see this happen. We can now see how the series will end according to various people on the show, with Brenda not a MC, still with Fritz, but also not in serious trouble. She'll prioritize her life, put family first, and leave crime solving behind. The penultimate episode finally reveals who the mole is, and it's Gabriel's girlfriend, first introduced only a few episodes ago. It's convenient to set it up like this, making her the mole so that there isn't any big fallout between the existing characters, and it is a cop out. But the series is just about finished anyways, so complaining doesn't really matter. The reveal does put into perspective Brenda's unwillingness to listen to others, as Gabriel expressed discontent over what was going on, yet was ignored.
Breaking Bad began with Walt's 50th birthday, While we've been watching Breaking Bad for years, and it feels like lots of time has passed, we're instantly reminded that Walt hasn't been in the drug business for a long time. He's not a grizzled veteran of the drug trade like Gus, and he sure as hell doesn't know much about running the business. But Walt thinks he's more than that. He's the big boss, the cook, the guy who makes the operation what it is; there would be no blue meth without him. Sure, there would be no meth without him, but Walt doesn't understand business and all the complications involved with it. He doesn't understand people, and really doesn't get Skyler. Skyler finally snaps, but Walt misreads the situation from beginning to end. He starts off not understanding why she would be upset, even though she had actually dropped hints prior to that, and when she does tell him, he can only come up with meager excuses about the nature of the business--which he really has no clue about. Finally, he can only be mean and threaten good. Yeah, good idea, Walt.
In an episode where there is no action and lots of talking, Falling Skies did okay for what the episode was. Given the level of acting on the show and the clunkiness of the writing, we could have had a lot worse. Yes, I'm not going to touch the episode again and at times I wanted to bang my head against the wall, but I managed to make it through the episode--progress! Aside from the usual lousy acting, what bothered me most was the fixation on Charleston. In previous episodes, there was so much else that was going on that Charleston became more of an afterthought, a place to go towards as they were dealing with other problems. In this episode, though, the writers turn on the Charleston hose. Every other scene has someone expressing how great Charleston will be and all the great things they have. And then at the end, strawberries!!!
True Blood's kind of off in bizarro land so I'm waiting a bit before making a big deal out of anything. Luckily, nothing is too terrible. At the same time, none of the stories are particularly interesting, especially with how silly all the stories are.
Harvey practicing law is a constant feature of Suits, so of course he would have to be saved at some point. Last week's episode solves the problem with the whole "skeletons in the closet" plot device which manages to save Harvey but leaves plenty of problems behind.
Damages's hacker story moved the plot forward, introducing the idea that there is a third-party out there who may have stolen the information. But the way in which is done reflects how far behind the media is when it comes to technology. The hacking scenes were awkward in the portrayal of the Samurai 7 hacker and the whole hacker magic thing was going on. This week's story spends more time on the character aspect of the season, giving us lots of McClaren to explain some of his behavior and dipping into the Kate-Patty connection. As much as we can now see why McClaren acts the way he does, he's still obviously a pretty scummy guy who seems to do things for no particular reasons and could still be involved in Naomi's death. Ellen is having disturbing dreams now, similar to the first season flashforwards.
Covert Affairs continues on its much improved third season by putting the characters in different positions than we've ever seen them. Auggie is out on his own--no Parker, no Annie, and an alien job. Annie is also out on her own now, and she falls into the arms of another man (you'd think the CIA would be more careful with her an romantic relationships, given her history). Looks like there will be lots of angst in the future.
White Collar: Well, there's Peter going back to his job. If my expectations for the show had been higher, I probably would have been miffed, but everyone saw this coming. The show needs to return to the same format with Peter and Neal having a case every week.
I'm going to be watching Dallas next season--not because any aspect of the show is any good, but because the twists are so wacky that you want to stick around to see what wackiness will follow. Dallas is a summer which shouldn't be taken too seriously, even if the writers try to drum up season-long storylines like Ann vs. her ex-husbands and the Venezuelans. The main draw of the show is how the regular characters interact with each other and what ridiculous thing they're hiding.
Alphas is getting quite interesting in its second season. We get to see the larger alpha community in the form of an underground fight club (I really like that there aren't people killing each other like in every other TV fight club), and Bill drawn to these people like him. Then there's Gary moving into the office which was done really well. Alphas has always done an excellent job with the characters and Gary's mother being in all those scenes was more than you'll see in most shows.
In its third to last episode, The Closer landed with a shocker that Brenda's mother had died, after all the cancer stuff with her father. Perhaps that would be the wakeup call for Brenda, after alienating everyone with her behavior. Somehow, Fritz stuck around long enough to see this happen. We can now see how the series will end according to various people on the show, with Brenda not a MC, still with Fritz, but also not in serious trouble. She'll prioritize her life, put family first, and leave crime solving behind. The penultimate episode finally reveals who the mole is, and it's Gabriel's girlfriend, first introduced only a few episodes ago. It's convenient to set it up like this, making her the mole so that there isn't any big fallout between the existing characters, and it is a cop out. But the series is just about finished anyways, so complaining doesn't really matter. The reveal does put into perspective Brenda's unwillingness to listen to others, as Gabriel expressed discontent over what was going on, yet was ignored.
Breaking Bad began with Walt's 50th birthday, While we've been watching Breaking Bad for years, and it feels like lots of time has passed, we're instantly reminded that Walt hasn't been in the drug business for a long time. He's not a grizzled veteran of the drug trade like Gus, and he sure as hell doesn't know much about running the business. But Walt thinks he's more than that. He's the big boss, the cook, the guy who makes the operation what it is; there would be no blue meth without him. Sure, there would be no meth without him, but Walt doesn't understand business and all the complications involved with it. He doesn't understand people, and really doesn't get Skyler. Skyler finally snaps, but Walt misreads the situation from beginning to end. He starts off not understanding why she would be upset, even though she had actually dropped hints prior to that, and when she does tell him, he can only come up with meager excuses about the nature of the business--which he really has no clue about. Finally, he can only be mean and threaten good. Yeah, good idea, Walt.
In an episode where there is no action and lots of talking, Falling Skies did okay for what the episode was. Given the level of acting on the show and the clunkiness of the writing, we could have had a lot worse. Yes, I'm not going to touch the episode again and at times I wanted to bang my head against the wall, but I managed to make it through the episode--progress! Aside from the usual lousy acting, what bothered me most was the fixation on Charleston. In previous episodes, there was so much else that was going on that Charleston became more of an afterthought, a place to go towards as they were dealing with other problems. In this episode, though, the writers turn on the Charleston hose. Every other scene has someone expressing how great Charleston will be and all the great things they have. And then at the end, strawberries!!!
True Blood's kind of off in bizarro land so I'm waiting a bit before making a big deal out of anything. Luckily, nothing is too terrible. At the same time, none of the stories are particularly interesting, especially with how silly all the stories are.
Harvey practicing law is a constant feature of Suits, so of course he would have to be saved at some point. Last week's episode solves the problem with the whole "skeletons in the closet" plot device which manages to save Harvey but leaves plenty of problems behind.
Damages's hacker story moved the plot forward, introducing the idea that there is a third-party out there who may have stolen the information. But the way in which is done reflects how far behind the media is when it comes to technology. The hacking scenes were awkward in the portrayal of the Samurai 7 hacker and the whole hacker magic thing was going on. This week's story spends more time on the character aspect of the season, giving us lots of McClaren to explain some of his behavior and dipping into the Kate-Patty connection. As much as we can now see why McClaren acts the way he does, he's still obviously a pretty scummy guy who seems to do things for no particular reasons and could still be involved in Naomi's death. Ellen is having disturbing dreams now, similar to the first season flashforwards.
Covert Affairs continues on its much improved third season by putting the characters in different positions than we've ever seen them. Auggie is out on his own--no Parker, no Annie, and an alien job. Annie is also out on her own now, and she falls into the arms of another man (you'd think the CIA would be more careful with her an romantic relationships, given her history). Looks like there will be lots of angst in the future.
White Collar: Well, there's Peter going back to his job. If my expectations for the show had been higher, I probably would have been miffed, but everyone saw this coming. The show needs to return to the same format with Peter and Neal having a case every week.
Wednesday, August 1, 2012
Reviews 7/24/12 - 7/30/12
In its second season, Alphas remains largely the same show it was last season with a group of superhumans capturing other superhumans. This is to be expected from Syfy, post-BSG/Caprica. The changes, however, do add an extra dynamic to the show that it didn't have in the first season. The team is far more fractious, with Gary often getting mad, Bill getting into it with Rosen, and Nina going off the rails. Of course, it doesn't help when government agents are hanging all over the team. This weeks episode featured an alpha who can move faster than anyone due to prior experiments which also cause him to age faster. He's knows Stanton Parish, so his capture is important, but someone shoots him right as he's caught. Immediately, we want to know who the shooter is, as it would be a tie to Stanton Parish, but there is no evidence. My best guess would be Hicks, who's been shown to make some incredible shots.
In my eyes, Warehouse 13 is on its last legs, struggling to find a worthwhile plot, while trying to maintain the grab an artifact per week theme. The major plots of the fourth season hinge on then potential for two artifacts to unleash evil after using them to save Steve and the Warehouse. We don't know what this evil is, so all we're left with is Artie and Claudia worrying about what might happen in the future.
Breaking Bad can pretty much do anything and I'd be entertained. Badger and Skinny Pete buying cases, Walt and Jesse cooking, Mike doing his thing, Saul whining. The show has such an engrossing visual style and the writing is so sharp that these seemingly normal situations turn out to be almost on the same level as when the something super crazy happens. This week's episode continues the creation of Walt's new drug business and it turns out to be different than he had imagined. They have a new places to cook--tented houses being cleaned of bugs--Mike to handle the business side, and no Gus. But it isn't what Walt wanted. Money has to go to this person and that person, people in jail who might squeal, and in the end, only a portion goes to Walt--less than what they got with Gus, though they are cooking less. Meanwhile, Skyler cracks and goes ballistic on Marie, which would be highly gratifying if not for the underlying possibility that Marie looks further into Walt's activities.
As True Blood heads into the home stretch, the show has thrown away any idea of a coherent narrative. Everyone is off doing their own thing. The vampires are being wacky, Sookie and Jason are looking for their parents killer, Alcide and his new girlfriend are doing... something, Lafyette is now helping Arlene and Holly with Terry, Luna shifts into Sam and it becomes an awkward/funny/touching situation, Tara bonds with Pam, and Hoyt saves Jessica but still doesn't like her. But like I said last week, this season isn't too bad because nothing is actively annoying me. I guess that's a start.
While I like that Suits usually deals with larger real-world implications than other USA shows, the whole trumped up poker storyline was too silly and stupid to enjoy. Louis and Rachel was fun, especially the recordings filled with Littisms.
Burn Notice: Well, Nate is dead, Anson is dead, and Fi is out. Was it Rebecca, and is there yet another big bad waiting out there? If there is another big bad, I'll be really pissed (yes, I know I said I'd stop watching the show last time something like this happened).
As someone who doesn't like whatever craziness surrounds Boris, last week's episode of Royal Pains was, well, painful. And what was up with Hank "only love interest for doctors can be other doctors" Lawson almost hooking up with someone? It looked like the writers wanted to do something with Star Trek, but Evan and Brady seemed more like pseudo-fans than anything else. There have been tons of weddings on Star Trek, far more than on other sci-fi shows, and the rote Enterprise bashing was lame. (I know people get all nostalgic about Star Trek, but Enterprise is at least as good as Voyager, and it at least had some lofty goals, even if they were missed spectacularly.)
This season of Damages is quickly diverging from the previous seasons. As Patty correctly states, there are no facts in the case, and it's not just the characters who are in the dark--viewers know just as little. The flashbacks, always a good source of information in a twisty manner, are all questionable, possible fictional constructs of McClaren or Rachel. We're left with nothing but a pure battle between Patty and Ellen, without any pesky facts or evidence to get in their way. This is pretty cool stuff, and it makes for compelling television when both characters are trying to outsmart each other in the courtroom when the normal procedures don't apply. After losing to Patty last week, Ellen struck a blow, calling in question everything Rachel has said, disabling most of Patty's arguments.
After a rather boring second season, Covert Affairs's third season is off to a much better start. For starters, Annie is working for a new person with new rules, and Auggie is also in a new place. Last week's episode raised stakes quite high when Auggie and Parker are captured by pirates, and it makes for an interesting, Auggie having just proposed and also having not told her about the whole CIA part of his life, all while Joan and Lena are grappling with each other and Annie tries to figure out what to do.
In my eyes, Warehouse 13 is on its last legs, struggling to find a worthwhile plot, while trying to maintain the grab an artifact per week theme. The major plots of the fourth season hinge on then potential for two artifacts to unleash evil after using them to save Steve and the Warehouse. We don't know what this evil is, so all we're left with is Artie and Claudia worrying about what might happen in the future.
Breaking Bad can pretty much do anything and I'd be entertained. Badger and Skinny Pete buying cases, Walt and Jesse cooking, Mike doing his thing, Saul whining. The show has such an engrossing visual style and the writing is so sharp that these seemingly normal situations turn out to be almost on the same level as when the something super crazy happens. This week's episode continues the creation of Walt's new drug business and it turns out to be different than he had imagined. They have a new places to cook--tented houses being cleaned of bugs--Mike to handle the business side, and no Gus. But it isn't what Walt wanted. Money has to go to this person and that person, people in jail who might squeal, and in the end, only a portion goes to Walt--less than what they got with Gus, though they are cooking less. Meanwhile, Skyler cracks and goes ballistic on Marie, which would be highly gratifying if not for the underlying possibility that Marie looks further into Walt's activities.
As True Blood heads into the home stretch, the show has thrown away any idea of a coherent narrative. Everyone is off doing their own thing. The vampires are being wacky, Sookie and Jason are looking for their parents killer, Alcide and his new girlfriend are doing... something, Lafyette is now helping Arlene and Holly with Terry, Luna shifts into Sam and it becomes an awkward/funny/touching situation, Tara bonds with Pam, and Hoyt saves Jessica but still doesn't like her. But like I said last week, this season isn't too bad because nothing is actively annoying me. I guess that's a start.
While I like that Suits usually deals with larger real-world implications than other USA shows, the whole trumped up poker storyline was too silly and stupid to enjoy. Louis and Rachel was fun, especially the recordings filled with Littisms.
Burn Notice: Well, Nate is dead, Anson is dead, and Fi is out. Was it Rebecca, and is there yet another big bad waiting out there? If there is another big bad, I'll be really pissed (yes, I know I said I'd stop watching the show last time something like this happened).
As someone who doesn't like whatever craziness surrounds Boris, last week's episode of Royal Pains was, well, painful. And what was up with Hank "only love interest for doctors can be other doctors" Lawson almost hooking up with someone? It looked like the writers wanted to do something with Star Trek, but Evan and Brady seemed more like pseudo-fans than anything else. There have been tons of weddings on Star Trek, far more than on other sci-fi shows, and the rote Enterprise bashing was lame. (I know people get all nostalgic about Star Trek, but Enterprise is at least as good as Voyager, and it at least had some lofty goals, even if they were missed spectacularly.)
This season of Damages is quickly diverging from the previous seasons. As Patty correctly states, there are no facts in the case, and it's not just the characters who are in the dark--viewers know just as little. The flashbacks, always a good source of information in a twisty manner, are all questionable, possible fictional constructs of McClaren or Rachel. We're left with nothing but a pure battle between Patty and Ellen, without any pesky facts or evidence to get in their way. This is pretty cool stuff, and it makes for compelling television when both characters are trying to outsmart each other in the courtroom when the normal procedures don't apply. After losing to Patty last week, Ellen struck a blow, calling in question everything Rachel has said, disabling most of Patty's arguments.
After a rather boring second season, Covert Affairs's third season is off to a much better start. For starters, Annie is working for a new person with new rules, and Auggie is also in a new place. Last week's episode raised stakes quite high when Auggie and Parker are captured by pirates, and it makes for an interesting, Auggie having just proposed and also having not told her about the whole CIA part of his life, all while Joan and Lena are grappling with each other and Annie tries to figure out what to do.
Tuesday, July 24, 2012
Reviews 7/17/12 - 7/23/12
Way behind on television once again. :(
Warehouse 13, being a fantasy dramedy, never had a grand vision of where the show would go. The mythology grew, villains plotted, but at the end of the day, the show is about finding artifacts. The end of the last season saw the Warehouse blow to pieces, Steve dead, and Peter, Myka, and Artie standing in the rubble. This would be a monumental shift if it had lasted for more than an episode, but no, there is of course an artifact that fixes things, except Steve is still dead. The artifact Artie uses supposedly creates something evil, which could be interesting if done correctly. I like HG being alive, as Jaime Murray is pretty great.
Alphas was one of the biggest television surprises from last year. Sure it didn’t get nominated for any serious awards, and likely won’t be remember 20 years from now, but it broke out of the mold of Syfy shows in the way it approached the characters and the situation they’re in. The characters have their own, distinct limitations, their own powers, and different ways of thinking, and they really came together through the course of the season. The second season premiere begins eight months after Rosen’s very public revelation about the existence of Alphas. It’s pretty clever how the writers get the team back together. We get to see the inside of Binghamton, how chips are placed in all the prisoners, while reintroducing Gary who’d hurt some being after being reassigned to the NSA (yes, the government is really terrible). Then, there is trouble in prison, and… the guy in charge wants only Rosen! So Rosen is let out of the mental facility, he rounds up the team, and they save the day. As with Warehouse 13, the show has returned to its original premise, alphas catching alphas, but the changes from season to season are more pronounced. The characters have changed in the eight months, and it’ll be a while before they get back into the swing of things. What’s more, at least some people in the world believe in alphas, as much as the government tried to discredit Rosen, and Stanton Parish is executing his plans now that Rosen is out.
Unlike in previous seasons of Breaking Bad, the beginning episodes this season have largely been absent of those shocking events which make your heart stop. The show, however, remains eminently watchable, each minute as gripping as the next. The season premiere is contained in a small world, with Walt, Jesse, and Mike cleaning up their immediate problems from the previous season. The second episode does the exact opposite, showing us the whole world Walt has been in, and we realize just how small he is. From the opening scene, the hilarious sauce taste test, to the interrogations, we see that Gus’s network extended far beyond Albuquerque or even Mexico. We see Mike trying to take care of the situation, reassuring partners, and even bringing this woman Lydia into the fold. In this context, Walt’s actions—replacing the ricin cigarette, trying to get Skyler to come on board, restarting the meth business—seem doomed to failure. There is so much going on, but Walt has no idea any of this is going on, nor does he want to learn more. He is the master of the universe, his small, insignificant universe.
My criticism of Falling Skies last week, that plot developments happen too quickly and without notice, is again in play this week. Ben and Karen are somewhere out in the woods, Karen turns on Ben, then Tom saves the day and captures a tall alien in the process. There’s no explanation how this comes about, but it immediately propels the episode in a certain direction. The stories each week are distinct and interesting, emphasizing that Falling Skies was never meant to be a completely serialized show. Other than the march to Charleston and Ben’s harness, we can see the divide between each episode, the clear episodic nature of the show. One episode, Weaver’s daughter shows up, she’s forgotten by the next episode, then Weaver becomes gravely ill, he’s treated, and now he’s perfectly fine. This is actually fine, as a show like Walking Dead gets bogged down by serialization. Whether Falling Skies succeeds in the end are the plots, which have greatly improved this season. This week’s episode was one of the best episodes yet, featuring disgusting bugs like the episode a few weeks ago as well as real stakes with Jamil and Boone getting killed. Falling Skies needs this sobering reality, especially when the first season episodes had those ridiculous candlelight vigils. In terms of story, I’m a little miffed we learned nothing more when the tall alien was in custody. He seems to be giving the usual “we know better” spiel that all advanced aliens give when they invade.
Leverage always does the “fight the rich, evil bad guy” thing, but this week’s episode was a little different. The bad guy isn’t rich and isn’t evil. He’s more willfully ignorant, with a son who wants him to get help. There is this other bad guy, the owner of the team, who doesn’t factor into the episode too much. The episode has lots of funny moments with Vlad the ex-hockey player, Nate, and Sophie. Of course, nothing could top the hilarious Jack the Bear name given to Elliot’s hockey player character.
True Blood: I was surprised to see that we’re already at episode seven of this season, past the halfway point. Between the Authority HQ and Bon Temps, we haven’t been to many places this season. But the plot is slowly rolling along as the vampires, on Lilith blood, went rampaging. Okay, so none of this makes any sense, but stuff is happening, right? More importantly, unlike other seasons, there isn’t an explicit big bad causing trouble. Russell has become just one of many problems, and remains charming as ever. The rest of the episode was okay—Sookie burning off her fae power, Jason shooting Jessica in the head, fire monster laughing at Terry, Lafayette going to wierdoland, Tara disowning her mother—and, surprisingly, nothing this season has really bothered me. There were lots of stupid stories in previous seasons, but not this season.
Suits is more dynamic than any other USA show. There are no easy answers to the multiple problems and there haven’t been those classic resets which show up on its USA counterparts every season. Last week’s episode went even further, following Donna’s discovery of the missing memo in the previous episode. After Donna shreds the memo and everyone finds out, she’s fired, but not before a lot of emotion. Donna and Harvey arguing was one of the most legit scenes I’ve seen on USA. Really good work from Sarah Rafferty since the start of the show and this episode. We’ll probably see her soon enough, because ditching a character right now doesn’t seem like a good plot choice.
USA, the network where nothing changes. Burn Notice started the season of Fiona in jail and Anson on the loose. A few episodes and prison scares later, Fiona is out, after helping catch this bad guy. We’re back to square one, with Michael and Fiona with the CIA instead of out on their own. The show will return to normal and the conspiracy story will continue going around and around in circles. The biggest change will be the size of Michael’s team with the new girl and Pearce. Compared to the first season when there was only Sam and Fiona, there are a lot of people and combinations now.
White Collar also did a rest, with Neal coming back safe and sound, having brought back the island boss buy from Cape Verde who turns to be a notorious criminal. The difference is that Mozzie isn’t around anymore and Peter is out of his job, although I’m sure they'll be worked into the fold eventually. While this was always inevitable, I wonder if the writers can come up with a situation that was as good as the one from the previous season, when Neal and Mozzie were sitting on all the art and they didn’t know what to do with it.
Damages, in previous seasons, focused on the case primarily, and the cases determined where the plot went. This final season, though, appears to be going in a new direction, with Patty vs. Ellen driving the plot. The second episode manages to shed more light on McClaren, but the episode focuses on the legal battle between Patty and Ellen before the trial even begins. Ellen believes she is outmaneuvering Patty, going through these hoops to remove the judge who she believes is partial to Patty. In reality, Patty has complete control of the situation, preying on Ellen’s founded paranoia and using her to remove the judge who was actually biased against her.
Wednesday, July 18, 2012
Reviews 7/10/12 - 7/16/12
I’ve fallen way behind on television once again. I’ve watched all the USA shows, but still need to watch multiple episodes of The Newsroom, Continuum, Common Law, and this week’s episode of Perception. I’m probably leaving out some other. The main point is, it’ll be a while before I catch up.
Breaking Bad will go down in history was one of the greatest television shows ever. Its unrelenting pace, its distinct visual style, its monumental acting performances will forever be remembered. What I will remember most is Vince Gilligan’s handling of the show, his impeccable planning and foresight. There are plenty of wishy-washy shows out there, which either make stuff up as they go or don’t have anywhere good to go. Breaking Bad stands out among all shows, with its ability to shock viewers at all turns at any time in a season, not just at the beginning and end. Each season flows in the next, setting up potential conflicts and characters relevant in the current season and also in the future. It is in this way that Breaking Bad reached its fifth and final season.
The fifth season starts with an ominous flash ahead to Walt’s 52nd birthday. He’s at a diner in the northeast, far away from home, haggard with facial hair and a crestfallen demeanor. He buys a machine gun, cuing us into the fact that bad shit will go down this season. We go back to the present in the aftermath of Gus’s death. Walt is running around, cleaning up after himself, getting rid of the poisonous plant among other incriminating items. This is all good—until he realizes the biggest piece of evidence, the surveillance camera. He and Jesse drag Mike, who is still recovering, back to help them, as they are all doomed if they don’t do anything. They end up having to destroy Gus laptop which is in police lockup, and do so in a funny way, with a giant magnet from the junkyard guy. They end up getting away, although they have to leave behind the truck after it tipped over. The bigger problem for them is Hank, who recognizes the lab was exactly what Gale drew and is ever more determined to get to the bottom of Gus’s operation. Meanwhile, we see what happened to Ted and it’s not pretty. He’s paralyzed and bald, and won’t tell anyone about what happened, or so he claims to Skylar. The season premiere ends with Walt hugging Skylar and telling her he forgives her. Sure, Walt, we believe you.
I guess True Blood is finally getting somewhere. Yes, it’s still all over the place with storylines flying by left and right, but the vampire story is going somewhere. The episode ends with Russell miraculously breaking free and killing Law & Order, a surprising twist since Christopher Meloni was the main new character. We still don’t know what the fuck is happening, but Russell is now on the loose and stuff will happen. The rest of the stories are okay, Hoyt getting dragged into a vampire killing crew, the fire monster, Sookie and Jason finding the faerie club, Tara-Jessica drama.
Political Animals is a confusing show. It airs on USA, not known in the past half-decade for having serious programming, and its lighting is similar to other shows on the network. But its subject matter and tone seem to be serious with the bulimia, homosexuality in the White House, infidelity, dramatic outbursts throughout the first episode. And yet, it’s hard to take the show seriously. Right off the bat, it’s obviously about Hilary Clinton, and the show goes out of its way to make this comparison so many times that it gets dumb after a while. Worst of all is Ciarán Hinds's hideous Bill Clinton accent which is basically a parody. In many ways, the characters on the show are less competent than those on Veep, a parody about the Vice President and her staff. Barrish's staff is utterly confused about anything the Iranians do, and the antics with the Russian foreign minister are just childish, in an attempt to be playful. Altogether, the show tries to be super-dramatic like an HBO show while maintaining the fun of its USA counterparts. These don’t work in context of the Secretary of State, a crucially important role in the world where a mistake has real consequences.
In an attempt to fix Falling Skies, new showrunner Remi Aubuchon has taken the approach of having plot developments come very fast and without warning. A few weeks ago it was Weaver’s daughter returning out of nowhere, this week is was Weaver falling ill and Karen returning out of nowhere. While these plot developments are fine, the way in which they are handled leave much to be desired. They randomly happened, so there’s no flow between episodes and at the end of the episode, the immediate problems are resolved. Ben and Karen run off at the end of the episode, but is there any indication what will happen next? Not really. The other change is that he's focusing more on relationships, and they're all pretty lame with lots of silliness like Tom suddenly calling Anne his dead wife's name.
Now in its fifth season, there isn’t much Leverage hasn’t done yet. The show has always been fun, with elaborate schemes and funny characters, but none of the overarching, season-long plots have ever worked. The season premiere finds the team in Portland, after Boston got burned in the fourth season finale. They have a new place above a brewery, and quickly get to helping little people and bringing down the bad guys. The episode ends with Hardison and Nate up to something, reminiscent of the “mystery dialogue” that started all the previous arcs. Yawn.
Suits continues to move along perfectly in its second season. We get to see more of Louis and Donna, and learn what they are about, while the overall plot develops to set the stage for a rich battle between the factions at Pearson Hardman. Now the firm is facing fraud charges and Donna knows the memo exists, trouble not only for the firm but also the characters individually. But WTF was up with Rachel's plot? Is there something in Meghan Markle's contract that says she has to be in every episode?
I wasn’t planning on reviewing Louie and Anger Management this week, but I have to note how astounded I am that they are on the same network, airing on the same night. On the one hand, there is Louie, in which Louie goes off to Miami and has a good, eventually awkward, time. It diverges from normal episodes, but is similar to previous travel episodes and the audience can recognize what it is. Then there is Anger Management, which is just about the same every week. Charlie has the patients at his house, sitting on the couches, being weird. Charlie then is at the prison with the inmates, sitting in a circle, being weird. Charlie is then with Kate, sitting opposite each other, talking about sex.
If Damages had maintained the quality of its first season through four seasons, there'd probably be many more critics talking about it, and direct comparisons with Breaking Bad, also entering its final season. As it stands, the later seasons of Damages couldn't live up to brilliance of the first, and the show has fallen by the wayside. I feel like these problems are mostly by design. The setup each season is largely the same. There's Ellen, there's Patty, there's wrongdoing by corporate types, there's a case, and there are of course the flashforwards, flashbacks, and the occasional dream. There is much less room to move in this framework than in Breaking Bad, where anything can pretty much happen without fear of disrupting the next season. The fifth and final season of Damages is the Patty vs Ellen, a battle that has been coming since the first season and was teased at the end of the fourth season. The legal case revolves around a Wikileaks-like organization and is douchbag owner, and information that shouldn't have gone public. There are two twists that got my attention--Jenna Elfman's character getting killed so early and Ellen appearing to be dead or at least unconscious in the future--but the rest left my empty. It doesn't help that Ryan Phillipe is pretty boring, no comparison to Ted Danson, Željko Ivanek, Campbell Scott, Martin Short, John Goodman, or Dylan Baker, actors who elevated the show with the performances.
Royal Pains is like the exact opposite of Breaking Bad; its writers don't really know where anything is going and wing it until they have something that could work and let the rest fall in place. In their minds, there has to be a Boris story each season, so he'll randomly show up some point in each season and then a medical emergency will somehow arise. This time, it appears as though Boris detained an intruder and shot him, and the government is looking in it or something like that. Boris uses plenty of "mystery speak," jumbling up the order of sentences to sound cryptic for the sake of being cryptic.
Covert Affairs mercifully killed off Jai at the beginning of the third season. Let's face it--he was a useless character, never having a place on the show with the other characters other than the squabble with him on occasion. He reminds me a lot of Jill on Royal Pains, a character who was never given anything to do and then written off. He probably didn't need to die to change up the show, but the ultimate result of his death is that Annie and Auggie are sent off in new directions while Joan must struggle with her husband. Annie's new role gives her more leeway, as her boss is far for freewheeling than Joan, and she ends up sleeping with her target. Could this be a revival to a show which captivated me in the first season but bored me to tears in the second?
Although I've never been too keen on White Collar's overall plot machinations, always too random and filled with "mystery speak," when the actions gets rolling, it's hard to think of a show which comes close. I had to pause as Neal, Mozzie, and Peter were racing down the streets of Cape Verde from an incentivized mob and think how sick the scene was. One thing that really bothered me, the way Collins found out about Cape Verde, from Peter's papers in plain sight, was ridiculous. You'd think Peter would have learned by now that putting important evidence in an obvious place when someone crazy is looking for is a bad idea. I actually thought this was some kind of deception at first, because it seemed ridiculously easy for Collins to find the evidence and get to Cape Verde.
Wednesday, July 11, 2012
Reviews 7/3/12 - 7/9/12
I'll be busy the next few weeks, so I will fall behind on shows. I still have to watch Newsroom (will problem review several episodes at once), Longmire, and Continuum.
The rational part of my mind is telling me that Louie was raped in last week's episode, and it's also telling me not to make a big deal out of it. The setup to the ending was quite good with Melissa Leo killing it with her performance. They go from being antagonistic to blow job to smashed window to eating out. It's a weird chain of events, with Louie going with the flow despite a few roadblocks until the disturbing ending. Now, Louie is supposed to be a comedy, and while Louie's reactions were funny, it paints the idea of rape and sex as more gray than black or white, which could be controversial.
So... I went and watched the third episode of Anger Management. It's a fascinating show to watch, if you keep reminding yourself it's on FX and not CBS. It's also disappointing to think that Charlie Sheen, unconstrained by CBS and network television, can only recreate a CBS show. It's a typical multicamera comedy about a guy with a peculiar occupation, therapist in this case, and his slightly dysfunctional family and group of friends.
The main purpose of the exploration into Wilfred and Ryan's mind seems, on the outside, to be about a change of setting, not any deep message about the human psyche. The third episode of the season uses the new setting of the workplace to give Wilfred more people to interact with and more plots. This allows to see the same Wilfred we've come to love but also new situations which we wouldn't have seen had the show continued as the first season did.
Perception is, like most shows, a procedural. It has a special twist to differentiate it from others, the main character has schizophrenia. But it’s not a debilitating problem—no, it helps him solve crimes! Okay, so this show isn’t supposed to be realistic or meaningful about the disease, and there are probably schizophrenia advocacy groups writing up a press release if they haven’t had already. Eric McCormack manages to be charming enough as to be likable when he’s being crazy, and the writers don’t go completely overboard with his quirks. What results is a passable summer drama, fitting in with TNT’s slate.
While The Closer will likely not be remember as a top show in an era already inundated with procedurals, its end closes what I think is an important part of TV history, big movie stars moving to television. Nowadays, stars mostly go to premium cable where special roles are more fertile, but Kyra Sedgwick pioneered it spectacularly. Brenda Lee Johnson is the kind of character you see a few times each decade. She is the complete package. Her disarming sweet Southern charm to lure in unsuspecting prey, her single-minded dedication to her job, her a willingness to get down and dirty with the worst criminals—these traits elevated The Closer above similar shows. And while Brenda often crossed the line, she also wasn't someone from The Shield; she never does anything for personal gain. The Closer begins its final sixth episode by returning to Phillip Stroh, the rapist attorney (both meanings), but he isn't caught, indicating he will return before the end. It's a solid episode with lots of bobbing and weaving from both sides, ending with the two rapists caught, but not Stroh, since he likely was not involved with this particular crime.
We’re getting a good ways in this season of True Blood, and it’s abundantly clear the show is continuing on the path it’s been on the past few years. Every character is given equal weight, each with their own story. Terry is off with the fire monster, Sam gets shot, Tara slowly realizes the fun she can have as a vampire, Lafayette going crazy, and Jason looking into his parent’s murder. The fire monster is more interesting than the others, because monsters are always cool, but the other stories take way too much space. Long ago, the writers should have consolidated the character, at least sticking them together, so we wouldn’t have these disjointed stories which aren’t particularly interesting to begin with. Even still, it’s not like the vampire plot is doing much better. Bill and Eric find Russell and learn that Nora helped dig him up, so at least the story moved along. But back at the Authority HQ, it was the same cooperate with humans speech we’ve already heard in previous episodes.
Discerning between bad writing and bad acting is difficult when there are no direct comparisons. A line may sound cheesy, but we can’t really know what it would sound like if, say, Jon Hamm spoke them, even if we imagine it would sound marginally less cheesy. This bothers me most when I have an issue with Falling Skies. The dialogue, when spoken by the younger actors, will usually sound terrible, and I can’t tell you bears the most responsibility. In the second season, Hal and Ben have gotten larger roles, and with that more dialogue. Most of Ben's scenes aren't working, and neither did Rick's. I know, I know... kid actors. But reinforcing the bad writing idea is the awkward writing for all the romantic relationships. On the plus side, we learn that the Skitters themselves were enslaved by the harness. Generic, yes, but the story is at least moving.
Weeds tries to change things up with Nancy being all happy and content with not being a drug dealer, but at this point, it’s hard to really care whether she’s changed or not. So much has happened that she can’t be forgiven, no matter how hard she tries. Some stuff actually happens this week, unlike the season premiere in which literally nothing happens. It doesn’t feel like an endgame, but it’s kind of too late for that anyways.
The rational part of my mind is telling me that Louie was raped in last week's episode, and it's also telling me not to make a big deal out of it. The setup to the ending was quite good with Melissa Leo killing it with her performance. They go from being antagonistic to blow job to smashed window to eating out. It's a weird chain of events, with Louie going with the flow despite a few roadblocks until the disturbing ending. Now, Louie is supposed to be a comedy, and while Louie's reactions were funny, it paints the idea of rape and sex as more gray than black or white, which could be controversial.
So... I went and watched the third episode of Anger Management. It's a fascinating show to watch, if you keep reminding yourself it's on FX and not CBS. It's also disappointing to think that Charlie Sheen, unconstrained by CBS and network television, can only recreate a CBS show. It's a typical multicamera comedy about a guy with a peculiar occupation, therapist in this case, and his slightly dysfunctional family and group of friends.
The main purpose of the exploration into Wilfred and Ryan's mind seems, on the outside, to be about a change of setting, not any deep message about the human psyche. The third episode of the season uses the new setting of the workplace to give Wilfred more people to interact with and more plots. This allows to see the same Wilfred we've come to love but also new situations which we wouldn't have seen had the show continued as the first season did.
Tuesday, July 3, 2012
Reviews 6/26/12 - 7/2/12
After last week’s misstep, Falling Skies rebounded nicely with a quieter episode which had some great character moments, not necessarily because of the acting, but the writers actually came up with an interesting situation. My biggest problem with the episode is that the plot developments went by a bit too quick, and there wasn’t enough time to fully development things in one episode. We meet Weaver’s daughter who’s living a with band of kids, and of course the writers play up the family drama angle up as much as possible. Again, I wish it went on for more than an episode, but there were genuinely good moments in there. Prior to the episode, Falling Skies didn’t emphasize the creepy nature of the skitters and their parasitic harnesses. This episode, however, embraces it fully, and gave us a stunning scene in which we see a bunch of kids about to be harnessed. Lots of gooiness, tendrils, and everything else icky. For those brief moments, I was freaking out over what everything looked like. Good job, prop, special effects, and visual effects guys.
True Blood isn’t exactly racings forward as previous seasons did, but there are enough interesting parts per episode to keep it afloat. The indisputable highlight of the episode was Pam and Eric’s scene. Pam is an awesome character, always willing to let off the best one-liner insults, but also vulnerable enough when it counts. We root for her when she’s winning and feel bad for her when she’s hurt. With Eric and Bill on the verge of getting killed for not bringing Russell back, Eric lets her go in order to keep her safe by preventing her from helping him. I do wonder, though, whether the scenes would have been more potent had the flashbacks been in this episode rather than the previous one. The rest of the episode had a bit with everything like the funky fairy detour, so we know they haven’t been forgotten (unlike, it seems, the werepanthers). And oh yeah, Alcide and Sookie, known killer of Alcide’s fiancée, kiss as Eric and Bill watch. Bon Temps, everybody. Needless to say, the brief Terry and Sam parts did nothing for me. Yeah, I want to know what happens next, but those measly few scenes are just too brief for anything to really come of them. The thing that bothered me most, though, was the kid vampire who was killed. There wasn't one time in all the episodes in which I didn't feel like he was just blurting out his lines. Surely there was a kid out there who could say the lines semi-realistically... or not.
Longmire: For all their efforts to be realistic, police procedurals in the end are about as unrealistic as 24. While the world we live in indeed has plenty of crime, the rates at which such fantastical murders and schemes occur are greatly overstated in these worlds. Imagine the public reaction if the Criminal Minds world suddenly became a reality. Widespread panic sweeps across the US, as crazed murderers rampage across the country, impeded only by a small group of FBI agents. But in the Criminal Minds world, the public is fine, accepting of their world where killers seem commonplace. Longmire, though framed in a grittier world than that of Criminal Minds, has its own set of problems. It’s located in a small town in Montana, and yet there seems to be an awful lot of wild adventures going on. Cartel members, child snatchers, major Native American conflicts, frequent shootouts—a lot has happened in just 5 episodes in this dinky town with a couple sheriffs. This week’s episode lays it on pretty thick with the Native American stuff. Now, I realize the US government has screwed them since the beginning of time until present day, in every possible way, but I’m not sure a fictional television show is where this kind of activism, with an increasingly preachy tone, should happen. And besides, are there plenty of other plots already ongoing?
Weeds is one of those shows which should have ended long ago. Agrestic burning down pushed the show down a certain pass and it was all downhill from there. Now, there have been interesting developments here and there, but the show has grown tired, going from one twist to another in order to propel the family from one location to the next. At long last, the show will come to an end for a 13 episode final season. The eighth season premiere begins where the seventh left off, with Nancy getting shot. Nothing really happens in the episode except we learn that the shooter is Tim Scottson, the son of Nancy's second husband all the way back in the second season.
Episodes is a fun show for someone like me who constantly wonders what's going on in private in the television industry. There are times when you question how such terrible shows can end up on network television with millions watching, and Episodes provides answers, however fictional they may be. The writers--in the show Sean and Beverly--are well-meaning, genuinely funny people whose creation is ripped to shreds and built back up into a monstrosity by the desire for ratings and stupid network executives. This would be a comforting thought, that there really is talent out there, just the networks are destroying it. On the other hand, writers of Episodes would want us to think that, as they and their friends would take less heat if they make bad shows. Back to the matter of the show, it tries hard to make us like Beverly and Sean as they navigate their way through Hollywood, but I could care less about what happens to them.
For some reason the official season premiere of Wilfred was last week rather than the episode the week before, the super-trippy episode which explained how Ryan got to where he was. It makes in the sense that the official season premiere is more in line with what we've seen before. Lop off the final episode of the first season, change Wilfred's attitude towards Drew, add in Allison Mack, and you get the second season premiere.
Louie is one of those shows which doesn't really require regular viewing if you care about plot, and the season premiere doesn't exactly offer anything we haven't seen before (though his black ex-wife was a fun change). Sometimes things will carry over from episode to episode, but everything is so surreal that randomly watching a couple episodes is about the same as watching consecutive episodes. Thematically, you don't need to watch every episode either as you can gather tons of information about Louie from a single episode. In the season premiere you can see a lot of Louie's attitudes towards relationships in the episode as he tries his hardest not to be committed and yet be frustrated at his predicament.
On the onset, Anger Management presents itself as a CBS comedy; it definitely has all the right parts: the profession--psychology--a bunch of other quirky characters, the family, an overbearing laugh track, and obvious writing. So you wonder why this show ended up on FX, home to Louie and Archer, as esteemed as comedies can get, and you look deeper into the show. In the end, you conclude that the only reason it's on FX is because of Charlie Sheen and the viewers he'll bring. Indeed, Anger Managed debuted to stunning ratings and showed that even cable--FX!--can devolve the easy-thinking writing that dominates network television.
Suits really spread out its wings last week, with all the other characters having plenty of screen time, in addition to Harvey and Mike's usual legal work. There was Louis, trying to prove his worth and Jessica acknowledging it, and Donna and Rachel having drinks. It may not seem like much, but it looks like the writers are making a considerable effort to make the show into a real ensemble one. Mike got dragged into the office politics this week and while we know Mike won't be drawn in by Hardman, he's in the crosshairs now. This season is focusing on Mike's development as a lawyer and the fact that sometimes the "good guy" doesn't win. It's basically the opposite of Fairly Legal, where everyone wins once a mediator steps in.
Burn Notice continues to give the new characters a bit more to do with Pearce getting a lot to do for a change, interacting with all the characters. Although Michael and Fi will be separated for a while longer, it looks like the writers are pushing Jesse and Pearce together. At the beginning of the season, Burn Notice is working nicely right now. The team situation is changed up and we don't quite know what to expect week in and week out. Can the writers keep this up?
There was a bizarre interview with Royal Pains executive producers last week. They have several statements that make no sense, like Hank having to be with another doctor, and others which are a mark of unambitious writing, when they basically said that they had nothing more for Jill to do. The main problem with her character, from the very beginning, is that everything she did was defined by how it affected Hank romantically. There were attempts to broaden her character with the clinic and friendship with Divya, but ultimately, the writers did the will-they-won't-they thing with Hank way too many times and then ditched her. My thoughts after reading the interview was that this was an isolated incident. After all, Divya has grown plenty since the beginning, and even Paige eventually got something to do. Why the writers could never write anything consistent and long-lasting for Jill is quite baffling. I want to believe that Jill Flint is leaving because of something behind the scenes, out of hope that the writers are really more competent than their words indicate. But in last week's episode, there was another mark against the writers when the Hank and Evan conflict abruptly ended. Again, we see the writers unable to carry through with a plot in a meaningful way, ending things before they really begin. These brief half-season arcs begin with so much promise but always peter out this way. It's a matter of trust, and before long, viewers realize something which seems "big" really isn't.
With only 10 episodes this season and 4 episodes already aired, Dallas is rolling along nicely. Plot twists continue to come, information is revealed, and characters are continually backstabbing each other. For those who like the deception and intricate web of liars, Dallas pretty much hits the mark. For those looking for something more in terms of character, there is not much there.
Tuesday, June 26, 2012
Reviews 6/19/12 - 6/25/12
The Newsroom is supposed to leave viewers misty-eyed at the end of the pilot, reminiscent of a bygone era when Americans could trust journalists to give them the truth every night of the week. In this regard, Aaron Sorkin succeeds. He is a master of drawing pathos out of nowhere, after all. The massive problems quickly arise, however, when Sorkin thinks he has good ideas--which is about all the time. He's not a deep thinker, someone who really understands anything at all, and yet his ideological bent is so present that an outside viewer, with no knowledge of Sorkin, may mistake the show for a parody. This begins in the pilot's opening monologue when the main character, a news anchor, rants about why America is no longer the greatest nation.
In full he says, "We stood up for what was right, we fought for moral reasons, we passed laws, struck down laws for moral reasons, we waged wars on poverty, not on poor people. We sacrificed, we cared about our neighbors, we put our money where our mouths were, and we never beat our chest. We built great big things, made ungodly technological advances, explored the universe, cured diseases, and we cultivated the world's greatest artists and the world's greatest economy. We reached for the stars, acted like men, we aspired to intelligence, we didn't belittle it, it didn't make us feel inferior. We didn't identify ourselves by who we voted for in the last election, and we didn't scare so easy. We were able be these things and do these things because we were informed by great men, men who were revered. First step in solving a problem is recognizing there is one. America is not the greatest country anymore."
The first part about the past is, of course, a crock of bullshit by anyone who knows anything about history, and the second part about the "great men" is just dishonest pandering to the media elite. Fundamentally, Aaron Sorkin does not understand why America is the greatest country. Prior to the monologue, the main character rattles off America's rankings in various subjects, adding that the only thing America is first in is military spending. (Herein lies Sorkin's uncritical mind. More reasonable analysis would point out that America has by far the largest GDP in the world and that comparable countries spend a much lower share of their GDP on military expenditures. A statement like this would show that the US is indeed rich as fuck (the real reason for being #1) but also that perhaps the US does spend too much on the military. Stupid statements with no perspective, like pointing out that the US spends more than the next 26 countries combined, means nothing without context. (Journalists seem to love numbers--26, 40 quadrillion barrels, 100 thousand barrels--which hardly mean anything, and are adverse to percentages and comparisons.) But what do I know, I'm not a journalist.
The Newsroom keys in on broadcast journalism, and there are actually a few good moments in the pilot when everyone is scrambling after the Deepwater Horizon rig blows up and they are trying to figure out what happened. The tension in newsroom--the uncertainty of what happened and what's going to happen, whether the story will blow up in their faces--is exciting stuff. Unfortunately, it also shows what's wrong with journalism. Who are these journalists? Are they experts about anything? The answer, after seeing the characters interact for over an hour, is an emphatic no. These are regular people, spurned to action by proximity to computers with the AP wire, not education or special ability. Then they try to dig deeper. "Should government regulators have done more?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?" We see the uncritical eye of journalist and the problem with the 24/7 newscycle. They look for a simple answers to problems, thinking there are never tradeoffs between things. Suppose the rigs have a 0.001% chance of exploding in a year, and suppose checking them once a month reduces this risk to 0.00099% (either by catching a problem or companies being more careful as a result), then is there a clear imperative that they should be checked each month? What happens when a serious fault is found? Is there an incentive through a fine/punishment so companies make sure there are no problems, even minor ones? Shouldn't this be important information for these "great men?" (Obviously I have no clue about any specifics, but that's the kind of information I'd like to know.) At the most basic level, these journalists should recognize that no one wants an oil rig to blow up and that the risk of explosion may depend on how much things cost, but apparently no one cared to find out these things.
There is instant reaction to developing stories, regardless of all the facts. Journalists are so eager to get the story out and they know so little that they end up going on air, spouting off a few choice facts, getting into the faces of interviewees, entertaining the public, and suddenly they're supposed to be revered. That's horseshit and apparently what Aaron Sorkin is promoting.
I caught up on The Killing in the past week, and if there's one thing that was clear to me after watching episodes consecutively, it's that you can't keep the tone and lighting of a show so gloomy for 26 episodes. It's not the story that bothered me (though a good story could have helped) so much as the sluggishness and overall feel of the show. By the end, I just wanted it to be over with. As for the eventual reveal of the real killer Terry, I thought that came together fairly well. I believe in my first review of The Killing, I predicted the killer would be Jamie, thinking his crazy political aspirations would lead him to kill. Close enough, I guess!
Falling Skies hasn't changed, unfortunately. This week's episode featured one of the stupidest moments on the series, Tom volunteering to join the Berserkers right after they try to kill him. This is somehow supposed to make sense, but it just makes Tom look either stupid or too boy scout. The rest of the episode is a tad more sensible. Jimmy gets killed off kind of randomly and a plane supposedly from Charleston arrives. In the end, the group heads south for Charleston where great promises await. The characters didn't seem to mind that it sounded far too good to be true, though. I guess that never happened in Tom's history books.
True Blood always starts seasons quickly, but this season is quite different, with the third episode essentially repeating everything in the second episode, which was already a bit sparse. We get different looks at the same situation, but overall it was a bit surprisingly to see the season proceed in this manner. Maybe this means the end of the season will be exciting for change. The stuff that is usually good remained good, so Pam's flashbacks were great, as well as the exploration into vampire history. Of course there was the usual bad parts with Tara and the pointless Terry parts.
I have been reluctant to comment on Continuum since it doesn't air in the US, but by the time it reaches Syfy, I'll probably have forgotten everything. The show continues to expand on the future and it also dived into time travel mechanics, namely what would happen if someone's ancestor was killed. As we saw in this week's episode, killing one's grandmother does nothing to that person. Huge implications for the future and whether Kiera can actually return to where she belongs.
Suits builds on the discord sown in the season two premiere with more drama and setup for the future. This time we see more Rachel and how she fits in to Mike's life. Mike wants to be with her and honest, but Harvey recognizes that more people should not know about Mike's secret, and since Harvey has more power, Mike has to comply. They haven't reached the stage yet where Mike would be willing to blackmail Harvey, but that's definitely a possibility, given their predicament.
Burn Notice seems to have gotten a second wind in its sixth season, although it's yet to be seen whether it lasts. With Fiona dealing with people in prison and Michael not thinking straight, there are more elements which actually matter than in previous seasons when there was a random big bad to contend with.
Wilfred is a puzzling show and the second season premiere may be the most puzzling episode yet. It drags us back and forth between Ryan's work and the mental institution, both equally crazy places, before settling in a world where Ryan is still a lawyer, albeit a very tired one, Jenna is still there but is with another guy (Edit: it's Drew, actually), and the basement exists. At the end of the day, Wilfred is a show about a talking dog. It'll be delightful no matter what, regardless of the plot.
Dallas took a step down in the second week as we got to see how the show would go without the normal expository material. There is more of the shady dealings, backstabbings, and characters trying to control their feelings, but also a lot more of the clunky, juvenile science from the first two episodes. It's embarrassingly bad. Even the most seasoned actors wouldn't be able to make it sound believable.
Royal Pains is trying to go for more drama this season and I'm hesitant to say whether this was a good move. Admittedly, Hank and Evan fighting is more interesting than the usual storylines, but this constant sniping undermines their characters and makes them all look back, Divya included. One thing I'll say for certain is that the handling of Jill's story has been horrific. The writers drag out her leaving for a season, then abruptly has her job taken away right before leaving, and then in last week's episode gets a new, better job in Africa. WTF?
In full he says, "We stood up for what was right, we fought for moral reasons, we passed laws, struck down laws for moral reasons, we waged wars on poverty, not on poor people. We sacrificed, we cared about our neighbors, we put our money where our mouths were, and we never beat our chest. We built great big things, made ungodly technological advances, explored the universe, cured diseases, and we cultivated the world's greatest artists and the world's greatest economy. We reached for the stars, acted like men, we aspired to intelligence, we didn't belittle it, it didn't make us feel inferior. We didn't identify ourselves by who we voted for in the last election, and we didn't scare so easy. We were able be these things and do these things because we were informed by great men, men who were revered. First step in solving a problem is recognizing there is one. America is not the greatest country anymore."
The first part about the past is, of course, a crock of bullshit by anyone who knows anything about history, and the second part about the "great men" is just dishonest pandering to the media elite. Fundamentally, Aaron Sorkin does not understand why America is the greatest country. Prior to the monologue, the main character rattles off America's rankings in various subjects, adding that the only thing America is first in is military spending. (Herein lies Sorkin's uncritical mind. More reasonable analysis would point out that America has by far the largest GDP in the world and that comparable countries spend a much lower share of their GDP on military expenditures. A statement like this would show that the US is indeed rich as fuck (the real reason for being #1) but also that perhaps the US does spend too much on the military. Stupid statements with no perspective, like pointing out that the US spends more than the next 26 countries combined, means nothing without context. (Journalists seem to love numbers--26, 40 quadrillion barrels, 100 thousand barrels--which hardly mean anything, and are adverse to percentages and comparisons.) But what do I know, I'm not a journalist.
The Newsroom keys in on broadcast journalism, and there are actually a few good moments in the pilot when everyone is scrambling after the Deepwater Horizon rig blows up and they are trying to figure out what happened. The tension in newsroom--the uncertainty of what happened and what's going to happen, whether the story will blow up in their faces--is exciting stuff. Unfortunately, it also shows what's wrong with journalism. Who are these journalists? Are they experts about anything? The answer, after seeing the characters interact for over an hour, is an emphatic no. These are regular people, spurned to action by proximity to computers with the AP wire, not education or special ability. Then they try to dig deeper. "Should government regulators have done more?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?" We see the uncritical eye of journalist and the problem with the 24/7 newscycle. They look for a simple answers to problems, thinking there are never tradeoffs between things. Suppose the rigs have a 0.001% chance of exploding in a year, and suppose checking them once a month reduces this risk to 0.00099% (either by catching a problem or companies being more careful as a result), then is there a clear imperative that they should be checked each month? What happens when a serious fault is found? Is there an incentive through a fine/punishment so companies make sure there are no problems, even minor ones? Shouldn't this be important information for these "great men?" (Obviously I have no clue about any specifics, but that's the kind of information I'd like to know.) At the most basic level, these journalists should recognize that no one wants an oil rig to blow up and that the risk of explosion may depend on how much things cost, but apparently no one cared to find out these things.
There is instant reaction to developing stories, regardless of all the facts. Journalists are so eager to get the story out and they know so little that they end up going on air, spouting off a few choice facts, getting into the faces of interviewees, entertaining the public, and suddenly they're supposed to be revered. That's horseshit and apparently what Aaron Sorkin is promoting.
I caught up on The Killing in the past week, and if there's one thing that was clear to me after watching episodes consecutively, it's that you can't keep the tone and lighting of a show so gloomy for 26 episodes. It's not the story that bothered me (though a good story could have helped) so much as the sluggishness and overall feel of the show. By the end, I just wanted it to be over with. As for the eventual reveal of the real killer Terry, I thought that came together fairly well. I believe in my first review of The Killing, I predicted the killer would be Jamie, thinking his crazy political aspirations would lead him to kill. Close enough, I guess!
Falling Skies hasn't changed, unfortunately. This week's episode featured one of the stupidest moments on the series, Tom volunteering to join the Berserkers right after they try to kill him. This is somehow supposed to make sense, but it just makes Tom look either stupid or too boy scout. The rest of the episode is a tad more sensible. Jimmy gets killed off kind of randomly and a plane supposedly from Charleston arrives. In the end, the group heads south for Charleston where great promises await. The characters didn't seem to mind that it sounded far too good to be true, though. I guess that never happened in Tom's history books.
True Blood always starts seasons quickly, but this season is quite different, with the third episode essentially repeating everything in the second episode, which was already a bit sparse. We get different looks at the same situation, but overall it was a bit surprisingly to see the season proceed in this manner. Maybe this means the end of the season will be exciting for change. The stuff that is usually good remained good, so Pam's flashbacks were great, as well as the exploration into vampire history. Of course there was the usual bad parts with Tara and the pointless Terry parts.
I have been reluctant to comment on Continuum since it doesn't air in the US, but by the time it reaches Syfy, I'll probably have forgotten everything. The show continues to expand on the future and it also dived into time travel mechanics, namely what would happen if someone's ancestor was killed. As we saw in this week's episode, killing one's grandmother does nothing to that person. Huge implications for the future and whether Kiera can actually return to where she belongs.
Suits builds on the discord sown in the season two premiere with more drama and setup for the future. This time we see more Rachel and how she fits in to Mike's life. Mike wants to be with her and honest, but Harvey recognizes that more people should not know about Mike's secret, and since Harvey has more power, Mike has to comply. They haven't reached the stage yet where Mike would be willing to blackmail Harvey, but that's definitely a possibility, given their predicament.
Burn Notice seems to have gotten a second wind in its sixth season, although it's yet to be seen whether it lasts. With Fiona dealing with people in prison and Michael not thinking straight, there are more elements which actually matter than in previous seasons when there was a random big bad to contend with.
Wilfred is a puzzling show and the second season premiere may be the most puzzling episode yet. It drags us back and forth between Ryan's work and the mental institution, both equally crazy places, before settling in a world where Ryan is still a lawyer, albeit a very tired one, Jenna is still there but is with another guy (Edit: it's Drew, actually), and the basement exists. At the end of the day, Wilfred is a show about a talking dog. It'll be delightful no matter what, regardless of the plot.
Dallas took a step down in the second week as we got to see how the show would go without the normal expository material. There is more of the shady dealings, backstabbings, and characters trying to control their feelings, but also a lot more of the clunky, juvenile science from the first two episodes. It's embarrassingly bad. Even the most seasoned actors wouldn't be able to make it sound believable.
Royal Pains is trying to go for more drama this season and I'm hesitant to say whether this was a good move. Admittedly, Hank and Evan fighting is more interesting than the usual storylines, but this constant sniping undermines their characters and makes them all look back, Divya included. One thing I'll say for certain is that the handling of Jill's story has been horrific. The writers drag out her leaving for a season, then abruptly has her job taken away right before leaving, and then in last week's episode gets a new, better job in Africa. WTF?
Tuesday, June 19, 2012
Reviews 6/12/12 - 6/18/12
The first season of Falling Skies was hit or miss--mostly miss. It has a cool idea, a band of humans fight back against aliens following a quick invasion, but the theme never realized itself into good television. The show tried, once in a while, to capture the post-apocalyptic feeling that should have been ever present given their horrible predicament; however, this would promptly be tamped by these mind numbing scenes when Tom strolls back into camp, has a reunion with his boys, and everyone is happy. Almost every episode ended with everyone happy, thinking that everything would be okay, and if all is well, then there's little tension from week to week. The cheese factor was far too high for any serious drama to exist. The second season premiere improves on these problems somewhat--I suspect, by virtue of plot density--and is more watchable than the previous season. Everything turns out fine in the end (this feature of the show is going to stay whether we like it or not), but at least there are several important difficulties which won't be resolved in next week's episode. There is actually distrust going on with Tom and his sons, and among them, and Pope isn't playing games anymore. On the mythology front, we learn that the skitters have this parasite/machine that can implant itself into people, bore holes in jars to escape, and fly back to a skitter and jump in its eye--that's it. The cliffhanger at the end of last season is mostly brushed away, with a tall alien giving out platitudes about surrendering and whatnot before letting Tom go and shooting the other prisoners. I'm hoping Falling Skies improves this season, but I love the idea behind the show so much that I'm sticking around for it no matter what.
Girls has been a very controversial show, and after watching the season finale, I think much of the arguing had nothing to do with the show itself. There is nothing about the show that warrants too much discussion. One side says something negative, the other feels compelled not only to heap unwarranted praise on the show (like saying the first season is the greatest thing ever) but also to start attacking the other side personally. From what I've read in the AV Club, negative discussion of the show would often end up in accusations of sexism...... because that's the only reason why you wouldn't like it. I mean seriously, is someone saying that Lena Dunham unattractive sexist? And is Todd VanDerWerff having a section on Glee's girls each week equally sexist? (The funny thing is, I clearly remember people complaining about it before but he and other gentlemen never cared. I suppose the lesson here is that objectifying not super-hot women gets a knee-jerk MISOGYNY cry while objectifying super-hot women does not.)You know what's sexist? The guy in India who cut off his daughter's head and paraded it around town. The Taliban poisoning the water supply of a girls' school. A ton of those Hollywood director who use the casting couch. You see these people white knighting on the AV Club, directing their vitriol random commentators to make themselves feel better, and it's pretty sad. Why not attack every show with a hot girl who can't act? Attack HBO for putting all that T&A in Game of Thrones.
About the show itself, Girls is a fun show, with enough unexpected events each week to keep viewers on their toes. But let's not pretend Girls is anything more than a quaint, quirky show that fits in with the rest of HBO's comedies. This isn't revolutionary or anything. The characters are unlikable, spoiled, and full of neuroses (a pleasant way of saying they're self-obsessed). Shoshanna isn't too bad, but her character seems to come from an NBC sitcom, not this warped reality. We never see them put effort into anything, nor are they particularly good people. Somehow, they manage to survive despite not doing anything of value. In this sense, 2 Broke Girls is actually more realistic. Girls tries to go deeper than purely work issues, to find something inside of the characters that viewers would be surprised to find inside themselves, but I think these glimmers of humanity never quite come through all the unlikable features, although there are some intersections. In the end, I like seeing what the characters do each week since the settings and situation vary so much, but there's nothing actually redeeming about any part of the show.
In week two, True Blood has already fallen into the trap of previous season--a couple interesting parts and the rest useless. The writers just love to keep 10 separate storylines, thinking each should be in every episode, when these protracted plots serve to make the episodes almost unbearable. (Is it too hard to do it Vampire Diaries style, putting off a couple plots for a a number of weeks, then bringing it back in full force, so viewers don't get bored?) Worse, the portrayal of the Authority leaves something to be desired. Although their rituals and religion are cool additions to the show, the Authority seems rather incompetent. They don't know anything about what's going on, or what Bill and Eric have been up to. For a group of seemingly powerful vampires, you'd think they'd have a massive database of information about every vampire, and spies everywhere. Instead, they're interrogating and getting nothing. And why would they need Bill and Eric to get Russell if they were so powerful themselves?
Suits is easily the most compelling drama on USA. I guess this isn't too much of a complement, considering how USA executives purposefully dumb things down, but I'd also say that Suits is more compelling than anything on TNT (maybe except The Closer). There is serious drama on the show--Mike lying about his education, Mike's girl problems, and now the other partner, Hardman, returning--and that USA slickness and carefree attitude we've come to know. All of this comes together in a nice package, and it makes Suits not only a good USA drama, but a good drama in general.
If you were to draw a string from one Burn Notice big bad to another, you'd notice something peculiar: it's one long chain. There's one big bad, then another, then another, each related only to the one directly before and after. It's this kind of storytelling which has driven Burn Notice for five seasons and is unlikely to stop, as Matt Nix basically admits that the network is the reason why the show is the way it is, if you read between the lines a bit. (Exact quote: For a lot of reasons, many of them having to do with how the show works on the network — and I’m not blaming anyone for this — our season premieres often have to hit the reset button fairly quickly.) It's a little different with Fi in prison for the time being, I'm guessing until the midseason finale, but the show can largely operate in the same way. Anson pops in once in a while, Jesse fills in for Fi, Fi has to survive in prison, and the rest of the parts fall in place.
I have a hard time caring about Royal Pains's ongoing stories. I barely remember what went down with Hank and Evan's father, and I've tuned out the Boris drama. But nothing irks me more than the Jill stuff. Since the very beginning of the show, Jill has been an ill-defined character, being part of the show only because she had a relationship with Hank. Slowly, this included Divya, but she's always been a pointless character outside of her interactions with the more important characters. The writers then tried to spice things up by having her take a position in Uruguay, and this dragged on for a season. But the writers hit a complete reset last week, having the job fall through. I get it, she doesn't have a job now and sets up a situation where she can help Hank with HankMed, but seriously, this kind of string pulling makes Burn Notice look good.
While the new Dallas isn't as bad as the recent Blue Lagoon remake on Lifetime (which is a serious challenger for the worst thing created in the history of forever), it's also not great television. The story is similar to the original, with JR, a billion years old, and his son John Ross scheming to no end while Bobby and his adopted son Christopher try to stay afloat. The first two episodes contain a multitude of twists, and by the end of it, we really get the sense that most of the characters are terrible people who have no morality and will stop at nothing to get what they want. One of the clunkiest parts of the show is when the writers are trying to be modern, bringing in this alternative energy angle. It's comes off as juvenile with discussion about Elena and Christopher's college degrees, as if an undergraduate education will be enough to compete with firms with millions of dollars who are hiring PhDs. Yeah, Elena can totally turn the tides of alternative energy!
Franklin and Bash is a silly, stupid show. Each episode has a court scene where everything goes bonkers and flies in the face of every other courtroom show. It's this kind of thing which sets the show apart from others and why I continue to watch it.
Girls has been a very controversial show, and after watching the season finale, I think much of the arguing had nothing to do with the show itself. There is nothing about the show that warrants too much discussion. One side says something negative, the other feels compelled not only to heap unwarranted praise on the show (like saying the first season is the greatest thing ever) but also to start attacking the other side personally. From what I've read in the AV Club, negative discussion of the show would often end up in accusations of sexism...... because that's the only reason why you wouldn't like it. I mean seriously, is someone saying that Lena Dunham unattractive sexist? And is Todd VanDerWerff having a section on Glee's girls each week equally sexist? (The funny thing is, I clearly remember people complaining about it before but he and other gentlemen never cared. I suppose the lesson here is that objectifying not super-hot women gets a knee-jerk MISOGYNY cry while objectifying super-hot women does not.)You know what's sexist? The guy in India who cut off his daughter's head and paraded it around town. The Taliban poisoning the water supply of a girls' school. A ton of those Hollywood director who use the casting couch. You see these people white knighting on the AV Club, directing their vitriol random commentators to make themselves feel better, and it's pretty sad. Why not attack every show with a hot girl who can't act? Attack HBO for putting all that T&A in Game of Thrones.
About the show itself, Girls is a fun show, with enough unexpected events each week to keep viewers on their toes. But let's not pretend Girls is anything more than a quaint, quirky show that fits in with the rest of HBO's comedies. This isn't revolutionary or anything. The characters are unlikable, spoiled, and full of neuroses (a pleasant way of saying they're self-obsessed). Shoshanna isn't too bad, but her character seems to come from an NBC sitcom, not this warped reality. We never see them put effort into anything, nor are they particularly good people. Somehow, they manage to survive despite not doing anything of value. In this sense, 2 Broke Girls is actually more realistic. Girls tries to go deeper than purely work issues, to find something inside of the characters that viewers would be surprised to find inside themselves, but I think these glimmers of humanity never quite come through all the unlikable features, although there are some intersections. In the end, I like seeing what the characters do each week since the settings and situation vary so much, but there's nothing actually redeeming about any part of the show.
In week two, True Blood has already fallen into the trap of previous season--a couple interesting parts and the rest useless. The writers just love to keep 10 separate storylines, thinking each should be in every episode, when these protracted plots serve to make the episodes almost unbearable. (Is it too hard to do it Vampire Diaries style, putting off a couple plots for a a number of weeks, then bringing it back in full force, so viewers don't get bored?) Worse, the portrayal of the Authority leaves something to be desired. Although their rituals and religion are cool additions to the show, the Authority seems rather incompetent. They don't know anything about what's going on, or what Bill and Eric have been up to. For a group of seemingly powerful vampires, you'd think they'd have a massive database of information about every vampire, and spies everywhere. Instead, they're interrogating and getting nothing. And why would they need Bill and Eric to get Russell if they were so powerful themselves?
Suits is easily the most compelling drama on USA. I guess this isn't too much of a complement, considering how USA executives purposefully dumb things down, but I'd also say that Suits is more compelling than anything on TNT (maybe except The Closer). There is serious drama on the show--Mike lying about his education, Mike's girl problems, and now the other partner, Hardman, returning--and that USA slickness and carefree attitude we've come to know. All of this comes together in a nice package, and it makes Suits not only a good USA drama, but a good drama in general.
If you were to draw a string from one Burn Notice big bad to another, you'd notice something peculiar: it's one long chain. There's one big bad, then another, then another, each related only to the one directly before and after. It's this kind of storytelling which has driven Burn Notice for five seasons and is unlikely to stop, as Matt Nix basically admits that the network is the reason why the show is the way it is, if you read between the lines a bit. (Exact quote: For a lot of reasons, many of them having to do with how the show works on the network — and I’m not blaming anyone for this — our season premieres often have to hit the reset button fairly quickly.) It's a little different with Fi in prison for the time being, I'm guessing until the midseason finale, but the show can largely operate in the same way. Anson pops in once in a while, Jesse fills in for Fi, Fi has to survive in prison, and the rest of the parts fall in place.
I have a hard time caring about Royal Pains's ongoing stories. I barely remember what went down with Hank and Evan's father, and I've tuned out the Boris drama. But nothing irks me more than the Jill stuff. Since the very beginning of the show, Jill has been an ill-defined character, being part of the show only because she had a relationship with Hank. Slowly, this included Divya, but she's always been a pointless character outside of her interactions with the more important characters. The writers then tried to spice things up by having her take a position in Uruguay, and this dragged on for a season. But the writers hit a complete reset last week, having the job fall through. I get it, she doesn't have a job now and sets up a situation where she can help Hank with HankMed, but seriously, this kind of string pulling makes Burn Notice look good.
While the new Dallas isn't as bad as the recent Blue Lagoon remake on Lifetime (which is a serious challenger for the worst thing created in the history of forever), it's also not great television. The story is similar to the original, with JR, a billion years old, and his son John Ross scheming to no end while Bobby and his adopted son Christopher try to stay afloat. The first two episodes contain a multitude of twists, and by the end of it, we really get the sense that most of the characters are terrible people who have no morality and will stop at nothing to get what they want. One of the clunkiest parts of the show is when the writers are trying to be modern, bringing in this alternative energy angle. It's comes off as juvenile with discussion about Elena and Christopher's college degrees, as if an undergraduate education will be enough to compete with firms with millions of dollars who are hiring PhDs. Yeah, Elena can totally turn the tides of alternative energy!
Franklin and Bash is a silly, stupid show. Each episode has a court scene where everything goes bonkers and flies in the face of every other courtroom show. It's this kind of thing which sets the show apart from others and why I continue to watch it.
