Welcome to a feature called "Writing Blind." In this series, I will be writing about seasons of television that I watched in the past year or so, but failed to write about at the time. I call it writing blind, because I will be sharing my thoughts months after I have already finished the season. This is both because I want to write about these seasons, but don't have the time to re-watch them and because it is a challenge to hopefully improve my writing.
Oz is probably the best show in existence with characters who have flexible characteristics and motivations. That's not really a compliment. Oz is primarily focused on plot more than character. The strength of the actors add character to places where there isn't. The show seems a little less concerned with getting inside the head space of individual characters than it does in making sure the plot is interesting. If it does attempt to do that, it does so bluntly.
The reason why I think this is the case is in its introduction to new inmates. It shows them in present day, and through a different camera filter, shows what they did to get in prison. This isn't a show particularly interested in delving into the complexities of man. These people are defined by what they did. This strategy helps with creator Tom Fontana's impatience with storytelling. He can consistently shift character motivations in order to do what he wants to do.
In this season, Nazi supporter Vernon Schillinger and formerly sane and normal person Tobias Beecher continue their feud. The smartest thing the show ever did was making Beecher crazy, in my opinion. It's more entertaining, it's different than what you'd expect, and there's not a lot of places to go by placing a normal person in Oz. So you get a cat-and-mouse game between the two that might not ever end.
The casting on this show is sometimes so goddamn good it's unbelievable. Schillinger has tried the direct approach, but being a good villain that he is, he decides he wants to hurt Beecher in the most painful way imaginable. So he sets Chris Keller in Oz to make Beecher fall in love with him. And it works. And it only works because Christopher Meloni is fantastic. Seriously, he makes the entire thing believable. It's cruel at the end when they break Beecher's arms and legs, and while that is the show's pulpy side, it's still affecting because Beecher was starting to gain some of his humanity back.
The other extremely disturbing storyline is undoubtedly Ryan O'Reilly, who begins the season in a power struggle for control of Oz with Adebisi. That changes quickly when he has cancer, which Dean Winters of course excels at playing. This is right up his wheelhouse. Acting tough while showing you are actually vulnerable on the inside because you are scared to death. Blink and that's sort of Dennis Duffy on 30 Rock. But then it takes a very dark turn.
Like I said, this show has no interest in making its characters in any way redeemable. You get the sense that they pretty much all deserve to be in prison for the rest of their lives and it's kind of a bold decision. The fact that the show was able to pull that off while still condemning the prison system successfully is something I'm not sure how they did. Because in theory, seeing that these are all evil sons of bitches would in some way prove the prison system works. These are bad guys. They are getting what they deserve. And yet, the show doesn't hold punches in the flaws of the system. Somehow it doesn't come across as hypocritical. This is actually the first time I'm noticing the contradictory nature of it in fact.
Anyway, O'Reilly ends up falling in love with Dr. Gloria Nathan. This seems innocent at first although he very quickly starts showing stalker tendencies. Stalker tendencies is one thing, but nothing prepared for me for when he has his mentally disabled brother Cyrus, kill her husband. (I have LOADS of problems with that character, but I'll get into that in season 3 when he's more prominent.) He does end up sacrificing himself for his brother so that his brother will get sent to Oz, which well that's like the bare minimum of having human decency. I mean he had his own brother, incapable of making decisions for himself or at the very least not in a position to say no to his brother, kill someone. So yeah he deserves it.
Said continues to be a compelling character, but looking over the season, he doesn't get a lot to do. That's a strange thing to say where I'm pretty sure he had something to do in each of the episodes, but he's still seeing what his purpose is after he orchestrated the riots. He provides legal counsel to multiple inmates, including Schillinger, and helps Poet get out of prison. The one false note to me was that Poet immediately got sent back to prison. As we've known him, I just don't really buy how quickly he got sent back.
Miguel Alvarez at first is clearly the leader of his gang, but he's threatened when Raoul Hernandez comes to prison and immediately takes control. Hernandez, played by the great Luis Guzman, challenges Alvarez and doesn't think he's tough enough for the gang. So he basically gives him an ultimatum where he has to rip out the eyes of a former gang member to guard or he himself will be out of the gang. So he does it. The ramifications of this are explored in the third season, but needless to say between that and when he withholds information about who raped Glynn's daughter, he was a pretty shitty person. (Side bar: Don't really like how they handled the rape. It's not shown, but it's clearly used as a plot device and it feels icky throughout)
Lastly, Oz's least interesting character, Scott McManus, who the show unfortunately finds interesting apparently has a bunch of "White Male Problems." God I hate McManus. Am I supposed to hate him? Terry Kinney is just a really shitty actor so I feel like that's where most of my hate is directed, but he just comes across as whiny and entitled. I think I was supposed to care when he lied for Diane, but yeah I didn't give a shit. He's such a boring character, no doubt to Kinney's performance.
In all, I don't think the quality diverged greatly from the first season and it managed to still remain mostly original. The storylines aren't stale and that remains true of just about every character. None of the characters feel the same and they haven't repeated anything yet. The only recurring elements of the first season - the Beecher-Schillinger feud and the power struggle for the prison - still don't feel repetitive or boring.
Still it's a bit of a case of diminishing returns. The show isn't exactly predictable, but you know what to expect at this point. I think originality and wow factor of the first season is lessened here. So while I don't think I liked the first a ton more than the second season, for whatever reason, I do think this season is marginally worse.
Grade - B
Showing posts with label Shows That Changed Television. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Shows That Changed Television. Show all posts
Tuesday, December 22, 2015
Tuesday, January 6, 2015
Rewind: 24 S5
A typical response to a complaint about any TV show is that "you're looking too much into this. Just sit back and enjoy it." Usually, I think that's a bunch of bullshit. That's usually code for "I have no actual legitimate counterpoint to your complaints, but I like this show so you should too." If you thinking about a show destroys that show, the show probably isn't that good.
On the other hand, that's absolutely the case with 24. Thinking about the show doesn't destroy the show, but it makes it less fun. 24 has really one purpose: pack as much action and edge-of-your seat moments as possible into 24 hours of television. The trick is to somehow manage that while creating a competent story that doesn't fall apart, making sure there are characters you would hate to see die, and making sure the "personal" moments don't feel cheap.
The fifth season has two things that the rest of the seasons I've seen don't have: a story that is mostly plausible within the confines of what 24 has defined as plausible every step of the way and zero awful plotlines. Somehow, none of the episodes feel like stalling for time. And there's definitely no "Kim getting attacked by a cougar" in this season.
This season has probably the best acting of any season. 24 has never been a show with particularly great acting. That changes this season. The standout of the season is Gregory Itzin, playing Charles Logan. I'm not sure anybody else could play a president who could seem so much like a weasel one minute and terrifying the next. He also plays desperate beggar so well it's almost painful to watch.
Kim Raver is also terrific as Audrey Raines. If I'm being honest, Mary Lynn Rajskub has never impressed me as an actress even if I like her character, but she definitely nails the scene where she watches Edgar Stiles die. Similarly, Louis Lombardo makes us care about a character who is basically just exposition throughout his screentime.
The fifth season could also be called: "Who's guest starring in this episode?" Because seemingly all the supporting characters get played by either good or recognizable actors. Sean Astin, Peter Weller, Connie Britton (who is severely underused), Kate Mara, C. Thomas Howell (Ponyboy), Henry Ian Cusick (AKA Desmond from Lost), Ray Wise (whose name might not ring a bell, but the guy is in everything), and Mark Sheppard. Good guest stars help elevate the writing, which is somewhat necessary in a show like 24 which is not too great at developing characters.
If there's one glaring thing that left me with a bad taste, it's that early Charles Logan and later Charles Logan don't quite make logical sense. I can't think of a conceivable reason that Logan and Cummings aren't both in on the plan. Logan's shock at Cummings' plans - and if I re-watched maybe Mike Novick was in the room whenever this was happening - doesn't make sense to me. Why doesn't Cummings know Logan's in on the plan? Either way, it's a small thing and it doesn't really matter to me anyway since I was already spoiled on Logan being a traitor.
Every list that I've search has the fifth season as the greatest season of 24. To be honest, not all that much is different from other seasons. It still relies on some of the same narrative tricks (detrimental family member leading to downfall, villain somehow escapes to further the plot of the show TWICE, etc.) and it's attempts at making us care about the characters' personal lives remain futile. The personal lives almost completely depend upon the actor so thank god that Itzin and Jean Smart are so good in their roles or the presidential marriage would have been a drag.
But this just goes to show what tight plotting, good acting, and constant action can do for a season. There's no repetitive storyline, no plot point seems irrelevant or annoying, and each episode seems important. Also, the show was willing to kill off major characters. They've killed off President Palmer, Michelle Dressler, Edgar Stiles, and Tony Almeida but not really. (I'm already spoiled that he comes back.) So I have to agree with every list on the internet that the fifth season is the best.
Grade - A
Playlist
1. "Sober" - Childish Gambino
2. "10538 Overture" - Electric Light Orchestra
3. "Autumn Sweater" - Yo La Tengo
4. "Feel Right" - Mark Ronson feat. Mystikal
5. "Green Fields" - The Brothers Four
Monday, January 5, 2015
Rewind: Mad Men S2
With the final season of Mad Men returning at an undetermined date in April, I will re-watch the first four seasons and watch the following two-and-a-half seasons for the first time. After each season, I will share my thoughts on the show.
Season 1
Mad Men is one of the hardest shows for me to write about. The other hardest show is The Simpsons. In a way, it's hard to write about them for the same reason: it's pretty damn hard to write about a show specifically designed for episodic analysis. Episodic analysis has become somewhat popular in recent years. Any good show, regardless of the need, has a post from AV Club, HitFix, or any number of well-visited television-themed sites hours after the episode airs, analyzing and grading that specific episode. Most of the shows don't need it. I enjoy it if it's from a good writer, but really most of the time I'm just wanting to find the perspective of another person and compare it to my own.
Mad Men (and The Simpsons) benefits from post-episode analysis, assuming the writer is given a screener and allowed time to reflect on the episode. (This is why it's hard for me. I don't get screeners, thus I'll inevitably miss something. Plus if I actually take the time necessary to uncover all the depths of an episode, it'll need to be posted the day later, thus removing the timeliness aspect.) Mad Men is designed in such a way where each episode can stand alone with its own themes. That's not to say that you can watch any old episode out of order. But there's always this weird sense of finality when the episode is over that most serialized shows don't provide. (While The Sopranos dabbled in this, I don't think I can say the same about it.)
I guess this is my way of saying Mad Men is growing on me. I've made it clear in my previous post that I really enjoy Mad Men, but I can't elevate it to the best shows of all time. I'm not sure I'll change my opinion, but the second season was just as good as the first, and arguably more impressive an achievement. Since Mad Men is in essence a show about characters, the only way for me to look at this season is by revisiting all the characters and see their progression.
Don Draper doesn't exactly progress as a character. It's more like Matt Weiner and the writers reveal more of the character. Whatever happened in between the end of season one and the beginning of season two - probably Betty finding out Don has been calling her psychiatrist - the dynamics of the Draper marriage have changed significantly. Don Draper appears to be very sincere and very intent on staying committed to Betty. But of course that can't happen. The very things that make Don Draper who he is prevent him from ever staying committed. To his credit, it's not totally his fault. Take a verifiable philanderer and give him a woman who might as well show up naked to his bed, he's just not going to say no.
Interestingly enough, this is a different affair from the first season. He does not seem to enjoy it or even like Bobbie Barrett. He just can't resist. Don hasn't exactly grown this season, but he certainly makes a more concerted effort to remain faithful and be a good husband. Too bad the timing could not have been worse. Draper's actions in the second season would have gone unnoticed by Betty in the first season. Hell, she probably would have appreciated him more because of them. But Betty has changed.
Betty has infinitely more control than she ever had in season one. But she's still basically a child at the start of the season like she was in season one. She flirts with the idea of affairs, but does so in a way that a child would and immediately backs off whenever it seems to go anywhere. And in her cruelest moment of the series thus far, she facilitates an affair between her two stable friends because she's too chicken to do it herself AND then she gets to feel morally superior by shaming her friend. It's terrible.
Like I've stressed, I remember less about specific details in the third and fourth season and especially so for character progression, but I would guess Betty will be "grown up" in the third season. Actually participating in affair was emotionally cathartic and allows her to finally start eating. Couple that with her very mature talk with Sally about what her and Don are going through and I think she's becoming a responsible mother as well. (I'll forgive her for her antiquated punishments which are probably a sign of the times more than her abilities as a mother.) Thus, when she accepts Don back, it doesn't feel like a cheat like it could have.
Small note: I'm also looking for my opinion on January Jones, which upon first viewing was not positive. I was much more impressed with Jones in the first season than I expected. The second season? Eh. The cracks are starting to show. I continued to be genuinely surprised by her until the middle of the season. I want to say "A Night to Remember." The rest of the episodes were better, but I think that colored my opinion of her performance in a negative way to where I could never get back to that pleasant surprise. Ah well.
In the first season, Peggy and Pete were arguably the most important characters behind Don Draper. Peggy was making her transformation from meek secretary to devoted advertising copywriter. Pete didn't exactly have as drastic of a transformation, but Mad Men spent a lot of time uncovering the complexities of his character. This season, both characters' change between seasons, but not really throughout the season.
Peggy Olsen may as well have renamed herself Peggy Draper, because she takes the misguided advice of Don Draper and follows in his footsteps. Much like Don forgot his past life as Dick Whitman, Peggy forgets her pregnancy and subsequent adoption. She even takes the advice of a priest, albeit in a way he didn't intend, when she confesses to Pete that she had his baby. At the end of the season, her actions of emulating Don Draper have led to her own office and she shows no signs of changing that either.
Pete meanwhile finds out his father died in an airplane crash. Don Draper doesn't exactly care for Pete's feelings, but he at first gives him the counsel he needs to find out how humans react. But after Duck tries to get Pete to use his father's death to land American Airlines, Don is in a much different mood and shakes him off. Later on, when Draper disappears in California, Pete doesn't turn him in like he would have in the first season. And he readily accepts his father-in-law dropping the Clearasil account, because the only reason he even got the account was under the pretext that the Campbells would have a baby. When Don genuinely praises him for his work, he decides to side with Don over Duck, mostly because Don's praise means everything to Pete.
The Duck-Don rivalry was the crux of the second season. Duck is envious of the amount of control Don seems to have over Sterling Cooper while Don is defensive of Duck's search for power. They also seem to have ideological differences about how to approach advertising. All of this leads to the desperate, yet nearly successful attempt by Duck to have Sterling Cooper sold to an overseas corporation. In somewhat of an anticlimatic moment that nonetheless is as satisfying as anything on this show, Don simply says "I have no contract" to shut down Duck's plans.
Duck Phillips was a great addition to the cast. He's a recovering alcoholic who is frustrated that his talent does not match his position. Due to his alcoholism, he's not exactly a great foil to Don Draper (as it's pretty clear which one will win the impending battle), but he stands out as a character in his own right. Plus, he's contrasted with Freddy Rumsen, a person whose alcoholism eventually gets him fired. Actually, he's contrasted with just about everyone in the office, who by modern-day standards surely qualify as an alcoholic. I'm guessing Duck just doesn't quite handle the alcohol as well as the others.
Lastly, in terms of characters who I'll spend a paragraph talking about, Joan Holloway unfortunately seems to develop in much the way that is expected, in hindsight at least (that's not a complaint. It's unfortunate because it sucks). In the first season, there's a hint that she wants more out of the office judging by her jealousy of Peggy's quick rise. She's given a chance her and is excellent at it, but nobody even thinks she wants it. What's sad is that if she spoke up, she might be able to get that job, but that's not the type of thing she would do.
Worse, she now has a fiancee who is completely uninterested in Joan being anything other than a housewife. That was a forgivable sin, because at least you could blame the time period. But then he rapes Joan in Don's office in one of the most harrowing scenes in television. And then... she remains with her fiance. I honestly don't remember anything about Joan past this season so I'm really hoping for more positive storylines for her.
Now, because Mad Men seems to spend time on each character, I'll have to bullet point the rest of the characters.
- Salvatore Romano gets married to a person he seems to truly love, although is completely uninterested in sexually due to his homosexuality. He and his wife host dinner with Ken Cosgrove, which is the closest he can get to intimacy with a man. (Masters of Sex also has a sexually repressed gay man married to a woman and a sexually repressed housewife. In my opinion, MoS does both better, in one case due to better acting (housewife) and the other due to more time spent on it.)
- Ken Cosgrove seems like much less of a creep than when first presented. Once again, he writes a short story, and while Sal's maybe not the most objective person, it seems genuinely good.
- Paul Kinsey is Mad Men's gateway to civil rights and... well his interests seem less about actual interest and more about showing off how progressive he is. Joan calls him out for exactly why he's dating a black woman, which is somewhat painful to watch because her speech is pretty racist, but she is completely correct.
- Harry Crane becomes head of television, apparently has resolved his issues with his wife, and is set to become a father. His disapproval with the civil rights march and his opinion on homosexuality plummet his character down from the seemingly good guy in season one.
- Roger meanwhile leaves his wife for Don's secretary. His looming divorce leads him to be eager to sell Sterling Cooper. It's pretty clear Jane Siegel is simply a replacement Joan Holloway since he can't have Joan. John Slattery continues to steal scenes even when he doesn't have anything significant to do.
- The young talent Duck brings in doesn't make a huge impression, but their arrival is completely worth it solely for the scene when everybody finds out Kurt is gay. That's one of the funniest scenes the show has ever done.
Looking back at the second season, it's actually kind of impressive how Draper-focused it was. The three main recurring storylines throughout were the Draper marriage, the Duck-Don rivalry, and Don Draper's past. Peggy's ascension was more background than at the forefront and Pete was majorly featured in just two or three episodes. But basically, the second season is all Don Draper.
The past life into Dick Whitman not only provides a chance for Jon Hamm to flex his acting talent, but it's also interesting just because here's a person he's totally comfortable being Dick Whitman around. Dick Whitman seems a hell of a lot more healthy about who he is - I'm not sure he could rise to where he is in the advertising world, but I do feel like he'd be happier. Either way, I think the show makes it pretty clear that Don's path to success - forget the past - hurts him. That doesn't seem like good news for Peggy at this point.
Playlist
1. "Let's Twist Again" - Chubby Checker
2. "Temptation is Hard to Fight" - George McGregor & The Bronzettes
3. "Lollipops and Roses" - Jack Jones
4. "Blue Room" - Perry Como
5. "Theme from a Summer Place" - Percy Faith
6. "Infanta" - The Decemberists
7. "Break it to Me Gently" - Brenda Lee
8. "I'm in Love" - The Pentagons
9. "Early in the Morning" - Peter, Paul, & Mary
10. "Telstar" - The Tornados
11. "Misirlou" - Martin Denny
12. "Cup of Loneliness" - George Jones
13. "Stranger on the Shore" - Acker Bilk
Season 1
Mad Men is one of the hardest shows for me to write about. The other hardest show is The Simpsons. In a way, it's hard to write about them for the same reason: it's pretty damn hard to write about a show specifically designed for episodic analysis. Episodic analysis has become somewhat popular in recent years. Any good show, regardless of the need, has a post from AV Club, HitFix, or any number of well-visited television-themed sites hours after the episode airs, analyzing and grading that specific episode. Most of the shows don't need it. I enjoy it if it's from a good writer, but really most of the time I'm just wanting to find the perspective of another person and compare it to my own.
Mad Men (and The Simpsons) benefits from post-episode analysis, assuming the writer is given a screener and allowed time to reflect on the episode. (This is why it's hard for me. I don't get screeners, thus I'll inevitably miss something. Plus if I actually take the time necessary to uncover all the depths of an episode, it'll need to be posted the day later, thus removing the timeliness aspect.) Mad Men is designed in such a way where each episode can stand alone with its own themes. That's not to say that you can watch any old episode out of order. But there's always this weird sense of finality when the episode is over that most serialized shows don't provide. (While The Sopranos dabbled in this, I don't think I can say the same about it.)
I guess this is my way of saying Mad Men is growing on me. I've made it clear in my previous post that I really enjoy Mad Men, but I can't elevate it to the best shows of all time. I'm not sure I'll change my opinion, but the second season was just as good as the first, and arguably more impressive an achievement. Since Mad Men is in essence a show about characters, the only way for me to look at this season is by revisiting all the characters and see their progression.
Don Draper doesn't exactly progress as a character. It's more like Matt Weiner and the writers reveal more of the character. Whatever happened in between the end of season one and the beginning of season two - probably Betty finding out Don has been calling her psychiatrist - the dynamics of the Draper marriage have changed significantly. Don Draper appears to be very sincere and very intent on staying committed to Betty. But of course that can't happen. The very things that make Don Draper who he is prevent him from ever staying committed. To his credit, it's not totally his fault. Take a verifiable philanderer and give him a woman who might as well show up naked to his bed, he's just not going to say no.
Interestingly enough, this is a different affair from the first season. He does not seem to enjoy it or even like Bobbie Barrett. He just can't resist. Don hasn't exactly grown this season, but he certainly makes a more concerted effort to remain faithful and be a good husband. Too bad the timing could not have been worse. Draper's actions in the second season would have gone unnoticed by Betty in the first season. Hell, she probably would have appreciated him more because of them. But Betty has changed.
Betty has infinitely more control than she ever had in season one. But she's still basically a child at the start of the season like she was in season one. She flirts with the idea of affairs, but does so in a way that a child would and immediately backs off whenever it seems to go anywhere. And in her cruelest moment of the series thus far, she facilitates an affair between her two stable friends because she's too chicken to do it herself AND then she gets to feel morally superior by shaming her friend. It's terrible.
Like I've stressed, I remember less about specific details in the third and fourth season and especially so for character progression, but I would guess Betty will be "grown up" in the third season. Actually participating in affair was emotionally cathartic and allows her to finally start eating. Couple that with her very mature talk with Sally about what her and Don are going through and I think she's becoming a responsible mother as well. (I'll forgive her for her antiquated punishments which are probably a sign of the times more than her abilities as a mother.) Thus, when she accepts Don back, it doesn't feel like a cheat like it could have.
Small note: I'm also looking for my opinion on January Jones, which upon first viewing was not positive. I was much more impressed with Jones in the first season than I expected. The second season? Eh. The cracks are starting to show. I continued to be genuinely surprised by her until the middle of the season. I want to say "A Night to Remember." The rest of the episodes were better, but I think that colored my opinion of her performance in a negative way to where I could never get back to that pleasant surprise. Ah well.
In the first season, Peggy and Pete were arguably the most important characters behind Don Draper. Peggy was making her transformation from meek secretary to devoted advertising copywriter. Pete didn't exactly have as drastic of a transformation, but Mad Men spent a lot of time uncovering the complexities of his character. This season, both characters' change between seasons, but not really throughout the season.
Peggy Olsen may as well have renamed herself Peggy Draper, because she takes the misguided advice of Don Draper and follows in his footsteps. Much like Don forgot his past life as Dick Whitman, Peggy forgets her pregnancy and subsequent adoption. She even takes the advice of a priest, albeit in a way he didn't intend, when she confesses to Pete that she had his baby. At the end of the season, her actions of emulating Don Draper have led to her own office and she shows no signs of changing that either.
Pete meanwhile finds out his father died in an airplane crash. Don Draper doesn't exactly care for Pete's feelings, but he at first gives him the counsel he needs to find out how humans react. But after Duck tries to get Pete to use his father's death to land American Airlines, Don is in a much different mood and shakes him off. Later on, when Draper disappears in California, Pete doesn't turn him in like he would have in the first season. And he readily accepts his father-in-law dropping the Clearasil account, because the only reason he even got the account was under the pretext that the Campbells would have a baby. When Don genuinely praises him for his work, he decides to side with Don over Duck, mostly because Don's praise means everything to Pete.
The Duck-Don rivalry was the crux of the second season. Duck is envious of the amount of control Don seems to have over Sterling Cooper while Don is defensive of Duck's search for power. They also seem to have ideological differences about how to approach advertising. All of this leads to the desperate, yet nearly successful attempt by Duck to have Sterling Cooper sold to an overseas corporation. In somewhat of an anticlimatic moment that nonetheless is as satisfying as anything on this show, Don simply says "I have no contract" to shut down Duck's plans.
Duck Phillips was a great addition to the cast. He's a recovering alcoholic who is frustrated that his talent does not match his position. Due to his alcoholism, he's not exactly a great foil to Don Draper (as it's pretty clear which one will win the impending battle), but he stands out as a character in his own right. Plus, he's contrasted with Freddy Rumsen, a person whose alcoholism eventually gets him fired. Actually, he's contrasted with just about everyone in the office, who by modern-day standards surely qualify as an alcoholic. I'm guessing Duck just doesn't quite handle the alcohol as well as the others.
Lastly, in terms of characters who I'll spend a paragraph talking about, Joan Holloway unfortunately seems to develop in much the way that is expected, in hindsight at least (that's not a complaint. It's unfortunate because it sucks). In the first season, there's a hint that she wants more out of the office judging by her jealousy of Peggy's quick rise. She's given a chance her and is excellent at it, but nobody even thinks she wants it. What's sad is that if she spoke up, she might be able to get that job, but that's not the type of thing she would do.
Worse, she now has a fiancee who is completely uninterested in Joan being anything other than a housewife. That was a forgivable sin, because at least you could blame the time period. But then he rapes Joan in Don's office in one of the most harrowing scenes in television. And then... she remains with her fiance. I honestly don't remember anything about Joan past this season so I'm really hoping for more positive storylines for her.
Now, because Mad Men seems to spend time on each character, I'll have to bullet point the rest of the characters.
- Salvatore Romano gets married to a person he seems to truly love, although is completely uninterested in sexually due to his homosexuality. He and his wife host dinner with Ken Cosgrove, which is the closest he can get to intimacy with a man. (Masters of Sex also has a sexually repressed gay man married to a woman and a sexually repressed housewife. In my opinion, MoS does both better, in one case due to better acting (housewife) and the other due to more time spent on it.)
- Ken Cosgrove seems like much less of a creep than when first presented. Once again, he writes a short story, and while Sal's maybe not the most objective person, it seems genuinely good.
- Paul Kinsey is Mad Men's gateway to civil rights and... well his interests seem less about actual interest and more about showing off how progressive he is. Joan calls him out for exactly why he's dating a black woman, which is somewhat painful to watch because her speech is pretty racist, but she is completely correct.
- Harry Crane becomes head of television, apparently has resolved his issues with his wife, and is set to become a father. His disapproval with the civil rights march and his opinion on homosexuality plummet his character down from the seemingly good guy in season one.
- Roger meanwhile leaves his wife for Don's secretary. His looming divorce leads him to be eager to sell Sterling Cooper. It's pretty clear Jane Siegel is simply a replacement Joan Holloway since he can't have Joan. John Slattery continues to steal scenes even when he doesn't have anything significant to do.
- The young talent Duck brings in doesn't make a huge impression, but their arrival is completely worth it solely for the scene when everybody finds out Kurt is gay. That's one of the funniest scenes the show has ever done.
Looking back at the second season, it's actually kind of impressive how Draper-focused it was. The three main recurring storylines throughout were the Draper marriage, the Duck-Don rivalry, and Don Draper's past. Peggy's ascension was more background than at the forefront and Pete was majorly featured in just two or three episodes. But basically, the second season is all Don Draper.
The past life into Dick Whitman not only provides a chance for Jon Hamm to flex his acting talent, but it's also interesting just because here's a person he's totally comfortable being Dick Whitman around. Dick Whitman seems a hell of a lot more healthy about who he is - I'm not sure he could rise to where he is in the advertising world, but I do feel like he'd be happier. Either way, I think the show makes it pretty clear that Don's path to success - forget the past - hurts him. That doesn't seem like good news for Peggy at this point.
Playlist
1. "Let's Twist Again" - Chubby Checker
2. "Temptation is Hard to Fight" - George McGregor & The Bronzettes
3. "Lollipops and Roses" - Jack Jones
4. "Blue Room" - Perry Como
5. "Theme from a Summer Place" - Percy Faith
6. "Infanta" - The Decemberists
7. "Break it to Me Gently" - Brenda Lee
8. "I'm in Love" - The Pentagons
9. "Early in the Morning" - Peter, Paul, & Mary
10. "Telstar" - The Tornados
11. "Misirlou" - Martin Denny
12. "Cup of Loneliness" - George Jones
13. "Stranger on the Shore" - Acker Bilk
Tuesday, December 9, 2014
Rewind: Mad Men S1
With the final season of Mad Men returning at an undetermined date in April, I will re-watch the first four seasons and watch the following two-and-a-half seasons for the first time. After each season, I will share my thoughts on the show.
Before I begin, let me share with you my experience with Mad Men. Like most people I presume, I did not start Mad Men in 2007 when it aired its first episode. I started watching Mad Men sometime after its fourth season in 2010. I'm pretty sure I binge-watched through all four seasons, although I have the faintest memory of how or why I started watching Mad Men. Since then, I have not seen a single episode.
The final episode of season four aired on October 17, 2010 and the first episode of the next season wasn't until March 25, 2012. I got Netflix for the first time as a month-long free trial in October of the previous year and didn't have it full-time until January of 2012. At that point, there were only three seasons of Mad Men on there. By the time the fifth season reached Netflix - I don't know exactly when but I can speculate that it was probably around the beginning of its sixth season in April 2013 - it had been at least three years since I had watched an episode of Mad Men. I had become interested in other shows and by the time Mad Men had entered my mind, it had set an end date and I decided to just wait and watch the whole series before its final season.
So I obviously didn't quit watching Mad Men, because I disliked the show. But I feel I have never truly embraced the show and re-watching this series will give me a chance to remedy that. Either that, or hopefully I can convey why exactly Mad Men doesn't quite earn its status in my opinion. Mad Men is generally considered among the best shows of all time, and I've always found that perplexing even as I have enjoyed the show.
Mad Men is an interesting show, because for the life of me, I have very little memory of what actually happens. What little plot there is on this show is really hard to remember. I know it's been four years, but I may as well be a newcomer to this series who's been spoiled with some memorable scenes. But this isn't exclusive to seasons I haven't seen in years - I'd be hard-pressed to describe what happens in this season, which I've watched over the past week. Seriously, if my father asked me why he should watch this show, I'd tell him not to watch it because nothing happens.
To be honest though, that says more about my father than about Mad Men itself. Mad Men is about characters - what they do, why they do it, and all the little complexities that define who each individual character is. The period detail is a superficial reason to watch Mad Men. It draws you in. The reason to watch this show is undoubtedly about watching endlessly fascinating characters come to life. I don't think I'm being hyperbolic when I say Mad Men has some of the best characters of all time in television - Don Draper, Pete Campbell, Peggy Olsen, Joan Holloway.
In the first episode, Don Draper is the ideal self-made men all men aspire to be: he's charming, suave, cool under pressure, and always looking sharp. Then the show slowly strips away at that, making him literally a self-made man, in name and practice. (I actually think it was a bit much that he was the reason the real Don Draper died). John Hamm is amazingly adept at portraying all facts of his character.
The character that probably stands out second is Peggy Olsen. Some people consider her transformation of character throughout the series to be the best part. I don't remember enough in order to proclaim that, but it's clear the first season is her discovering who she is and what she wants to be. By the end that answer seems largely defined by work. But she tries out other things before finding herself and she's probably not completely done. But work is a much farther place than she was at the start of the season.
I'm not sure I like the pregnancy aspect that much to her. I don't know if it's because I know what Elisabeth Moss looks like, but the makeup on her to make her appear fat is pretty atrocious. Plus, she really doesn't realize she's pregnant until she has the baby?! (This isn't exactly an original complaint, but nonetheless it's ridiculous anyway on a show that largely strives for realism.)
Then there's Pete Campbell, who's equally parts despicable and sympathetic. I might argue Campbell's an even more interesting character than Draper. The difference is that most want to be Draper. Nobody wants to be Pete Campbell. Campbell wants to be Draper and every time he attempts, he fails miraculously. But he's also progressive and forward-thinking.
The character of Campbell is only possible in a world where masculinity reigns, or at least the popular image of it. Campbell so clearly wants to be an alpha male and he is so clearly not. He wants to be with Peggy, who seems to be her own person, instead of with his wife, who seems happy to be the doting housewife. (My sympathy extends so far: he's choosing between Alison Brie and Elisabeth Moss. You can't lose Pete)
Speaking of doting housewives, January Jones is better than I remember. I remember thinking somehow that Betty Draper worked as a character and that Jones was a terrible actress. I'll amend that to say that Jones is not a good actress, but works well within the limited range required of her in this season. But the acting never really gets in the way, because the stiff line readings work in favor of the character.
Betty doesn't have much of an arc. What is there is her inability to be happy and inability to figure out why. It's patently obvious why she's unhappy, but since her mother always emphasized the superficial aspects of happiness, she can't figure out why. She has a good husband, which seems to be the only thing her mother taught her - find a good husband. Now that that's done, now what? She wants more out of life, but doesn't appear to know it yet.
There's also Roger Sterling and Joan Holloway. Holloway isn't quite the great character she would come to be, but Christina Hendrick's performance probably shook the writer's room into making it happen in the future. She's still fascinating though because of her antiquated beliefs harvested by her ability to survive in the old way of thinking. She's both challenged by Peggy and confused by why she won't take her advice. Sterling is a character who doesn't realize he's too old to act like he's young until he has a heart attack. The rest of his character shines purely from the charm of John Slattery.
The other four - let's call them white advertising execs - don't really distinguish themselves too much with probably the exception of Salvatore Romano. It's pretty clear he's gay early on, but his confident demeanor belies the fact that he's never indulged on it. The others pretty much only have one defining feature: Ken Cosgrove is a good writer, Harry Crane is married, and Paul Kinsey is an insecure, jealous shithead.
So far, my opinion on Mad Men hasn't changed. Great show? Yes. Best of all time? It's not that I don't think it is, it's that I don't even think it's in the conversation. (I wish I was able to define why exactly I feel this why, but the jury's still out, because it would take more than one season anyway) Still don't mistake that for me not liking the show. It's an impeccably designed, expertly acted, and well-written series. I'm not sure I can ask for anything more than that.
Playlist (All songs featured in first season)
1. "On the Street Where You Live" - Vic Damone
2. "Band of Gold" - Don Cherry
2. "Don't Think Twice, It's Alright" - Bob Dylan
3. "Great Divide" - The Cardigans
4. "I Can Dream, Can't I" - The Andrews Sister
5. "P.S. I Love You" - Bobby Vinton
6. "Manhattan" - Ella Fitzgerald
7. "Botch-A-Me" - Rosemary Clooney
8. "There Will Never Be Another You" - Bud Powell
9. "My Special Angel" - Bobby Helms
10. "Fly Me to Moon" - Julie London
11. "Agua de Beber" - Astrud Gilberto & Antonio Carlos Jobim
Before I begin, let me share with you my experience with Mad Men. Like most people I presume, I did not start Mad Men in 2007 when it aired its first episode. I started watching Mad Men sometime after its fourth season in 2010. I'm pretty sure I binge-watched through all four seasons, although I have the faintest memory of how or why I started watching Mad Men. Since then, I have not seen a single episode.
The final episode of season four aired on October 17, 2010 and the first episode of the next season wasn't until March 25, 2012. I got Netflix for the first time as a month-long free trial in October of the previous year and didn't have it full-time until January of 2012. At that point, there were only three seasons of Mad Men on there. By the time the fifth season reached Netflix - I don't know exactly when but I can speculate that it was probably around the beginning of its sixth season in April 2013 - it had been at least three years since I had watched an episode of Mad Men. I had become interested in other shows and by the time Mad Men had entered my mind, it had set an end date and I decided to just wait and watch the whole series before its final season.
So I obviously didn't quit watching Mad Men, because I disliked the show. But I feel I have never truly embraced the show and re-watching this series will give me a chance to remedy that. Either that, or hopefully I can convey why exactly Mad Men doesn't quite earn its status in my opinion. Mad Men is generally considered among the best shows of all time, and I've always found that perplexing even as I have enjoyed the show.
Mad Men is an interesting show, because for the life of me, I have very little memory of what actually happens. What little plot there is on this show is really hard to remember. I know it's been four years, but I may as well be a newcomer to this series who's been spoiled with some memorable scenes. But this isn't exclusive to seasons I haven't seen in years - I'd be hard-pressed to describe what happens in this season, which I've watched over the past week. Seriously, if my father asked me why he should watch this show, I'd tell him not to watch it because nothing happens.
To be honest though, that says more about my father than about Mad Men itself. Mad Men is about characters - what they do, why they do it, and all the little complexities that define who each individual character is. The period detail is a superficial reason to watch Mad Men. It draws you in. The reason to watch this show is undoubtedly about watching endlessly fascinating characters come to life. I don't think I'm being hyperbolic when I say Mad Men has some of the best characters of all time in television - Don Draper, Pete Campbell, Peggy Olsen, Joan Holloway.
In the first episode, Don Draper is the ideal self-made men all men aspire to be: he's charming, suave, cool under pressure, and always looking sharp. Then the show slowly strips away at that, making him literally a self-made man, in name and practice. (I actually think it was a bit much that he was the reason the real Don Draper died). John Hamm is amazingly adept at portraying all facts of his character.
The character that probably stands out second is Peggy Olsen. Some people consider her transformation of character throughout the series to be the best part. I don't remember enough in order to proclaim that, but it's clear the first season is her discovering who she is and what she wants to be. By the end that answer seems largely defined by work. But she tries out other things before finding herself and she's probably not completely done. But work is a much farther place than she was at the start of the season.
I'm not sure I like the pregnancy aspect that much to her. I don't know if it's because I know what Elisabeth Moss looks like, but the makeup on her to make her appear fat is pretty atrocious. Plus, she really doesn't realize she's pregnant until she has the baby?! (This isn't exactly an original complaint, but nonetheless it's ridiculous anyway on a show that largely strives for realism.)
Then there's Pete Campbell, who's equally parts despicable and sympathetic. I might argue Campbell's an even more interesting character than Draper. The difference is that most want to be Draper. Nobody wants to be Pete Campbell. Campbell wants to be Draper and every time he attempts, he fails miraculously. But he's also progressive and forward-thinking.
The character of Campbell is only possible in a world where masculinity reigns, or at least the popular image of it. Campbell so clearly wants to be an alpha male and he is so clearly not. He wants to be with Peggy, who seems to be her own person, instead of with his wife, who seems happy to be the doting housewife. (My sympathy extends so far: he's choosing between Alison Brie and Elisabeth Moss. You can't lose Pete)
Speaking of doting housewives, January Jones is better than I remember. I remember thinking somehow that Betty Draper worked as a character and that Jones was a terrible actress. I'll amend that to say that Jones is not a good actress, but works well within the limited range required of her in this season. But the acting never really gets in the way, because the stiff line readings work in favor of the character.
Betty doesn't have much of an arc. What is there is her inability to be happy and inability to figure out why. It's patently obvious why she's unhappy, but since her mother always emphasized the superficial aspects of happiness, she can't figure out why. She has a good husband, which seems to be the only thing her mother taught her - find a good husband. Now that that's done, now what? She wants more out of life, but doesn't appear to know it yet.
There's also Roger Sterling and Joan Holloway. Holloway isn't quite the great character she would come to be, but Christina Hendrick's performance probably shook the writer's room into making it happen in the future. She's still fascinating though because of her antiquated beliefs harvested by her ability to survive in the old way of thinking. She's both challenged by Peggy and confused by why she won't take her advice. Sterling is a character who doesn't realize he's too old to act like he's young until he has a heart attack. The rest of his character shines purely from the charm of John Slattery.
The other four - let's call them white advertising execs - don't really distinguish themselves too much with probably the exception of Salvatore Romano. It's pretty clear he's gay early on, but his confident demeanor belies the fact that he's never indulged on it. The others pretty much only have one defining feature: Ken Cosgrove is a good writer, Harry Crane is married, and Paul Kinsey is an insecure, jealous shithead.
So far, my opinion on Mad Men hasn't changed. Great show? Yes. Best of all time? It's not that I don't think it is, it's that I don't even think it's in the conversation. (I wish I was able to define why exactly I feel this why, but the jury's still out, because it would take more than one season anyway) Still don't mistake that for me not liking the show. It's an impeccably designed, expertly acted, and well-written series. I'm not sure I can ask for anything more than that.
Playlist (All songs featured in first season)
1. "On the Street Where You Live" - Vic Damone
2. "Band of Gold" - Don Cherry
2. "Don't Think Twice, It's Alright" - Bob Dylan
3. "Great Divide" - The Cardigans
4. "I Can Dream, Can't I" - The Andrews Sister
5. "P.S. I Love You" - Bobby Vinton
6. "Manhattan" - Ella Fitzgerald
7. "Botch-A-Me" - Rosemary Clooney
8. "There Will Never Be Another You" - Bud Powell
9. "My Special Angel" - Bobby Helms
10. "Fly Me to Moon" - Julie London
11. "Agua de Beber" - Astrud Gilberto & Antonio Carlos Jobim
Tuesday, November 25, 2014
Rewind: 24 S4
Going into the fourth season, 24 was coming off a serviceably good season that nonetheless was suffering from repetitive storylines and increasingly stale characters. The showrunners smartly decided to change up 24 - not too much, but enough to make it feel fresh. Beginning the season, there was no President Palmer, Jack Bauer was working as a bodyguard for a senator, and CTU was comprised of completely unknowns.
More than any other season thus far, 24 is insanely ridiculous and absurd. The attempts to delve into the personal lives of the characters have never felt more perfunctory and fruitless. The terrorists' preparation and planning for one day is laughably improbable, made worse when each attempt fails and the show tries to play it off like that was the plan. And yet, somehow some way, it works.
The fourth season of 24 is my favorite since the first season*, because while I may not care about most of the characters, it delivers on the one thing expected most of it: exhilarating, action-packed television. The season starts with a train crashing off the rails - and with convincing special effects - and ends with Jack Bauer faking his own death and walking off into thesunset sunrise. In between, the show delivered a remarkable amount of action scenes and Jack Bauer steamrolling through his enemies with the ease and skill we've come to love about this series.
*The first season thus far is my favorite, which seems to be an unpopular opinion. I have an easy explanation: Kim drags down the second season by herself on what is an the otherwise good season, and the third season really seems repetitive. There's too much of a "been there done that" feel, which this season most certainly avoids even as it employs the same tricks.
The fourth season got better as the season went along, probably in some part due to Erin Driscoll and her daughter. Driscoll was the show's biggest misstep in an otherwise good season. She starts the season by making what are clearly portrayed as wrong choices and we find out she fired Jack Bauer. Making matters worse is the actress playing her, Alberta Watson has a stilted performance and unconvincing emotional scenes. She's also involved in the unquestioned worst plot point of the season, her increasingly unstable daughter who eventually commits suicide. When Driscoll was replaced by Michelle, the season got better.
This season introduces a hell of a lot of new characters. CTU is virtually unrecognizable with Chloe O'Brien as the only familiar face. None of the new CTU characters immediately stand out and it takes a while to register them as actual characters and not simply as plot devices. Some of them improve with time, such as Edgar Stiles and Curtis Manning. Some of them never improve, such as Driscoll and Sarah Gavin.
However, the most compelling new characters were Senator James Heller and Audrey Raines. This is hardly a surprise as they were both brought back for the reincarnation of this show in 24: Live Another Day. Both characters immediately stand out due to the performances of William Devane and Kim Raver. Devane, most well-known for Knots Landing, outshines everybody when he's on screen, which makes it disappointing when he disappears halfway through the season. Raver pretty much has to play upset and devastated the entire time, which she does so ably. While it did get a bit tiresome, a lesser actress would have made her character unbearable. Thankfully, she's sympathetic and relatable.
One of the things that bothers me most about this season though is how much it relies on torture. The senator even agrees that it's a good thing to torture his own kid! One way or the other, it's hard to tell whether the writers agree that torture is necessary, but it certainly seems like it. Considering that there's proof torture is ineffective not to mention inhumane, I just find a problem with how often the show resorts to torture and it works nearly every time. I really wish one time, the agents were good enough at their job to get information out of a suspect by good old-fashioned interrogation techniques. I don't know if it would be that successful if only because dialogue is easily the weakest part of this show, but it would be a refreshing change of pace.
The show takes a stab at analyzing whether torture is right or wrong, but it seems to argue it's justifiable. The government tortured terrorists for months after 9/11 to mixed results. This show's form of torture? Oh, just like break their hand and then they'll immediately give up everything despite being deeply committed to the cause. It may help if the characters ever tortured the wrong person. I mean sure the senator's son was the wrong person technically, but they made him such a piece of a shit, it was hard to sympathize and he WAS holding something from the government. I mostly just wish the writers weren't like "How to we get from Point A to Point B? Oh let's just use torture on a suspect and he'll lead us there." Seriously, torture is used way too often in this season. I don't remember it being as big of an issue for the first three seasons.
24 is a show that I go back-and-forth with on its quality. On the one hand, when it works it really fucking works. The tension is palpable, the characters seem genuinely at risk, and you can't take your eyes off the screen. On the other hand, this show has some of the most ridiculous technobabble nonsense dialogue I've ever heard, overuses torture of all things, and has so many episodes that just seem like stalling for time.
The end result though is an almost always entertaining show. The show is willing to take risks, which means it can deliver on the threats the story presents. The fourth season is one of the better seasons the show has had thus far and probably one of the best seasons of the entire series.
Grade - B+
More than any other season thus far, 24 is insanely ridiculous and absurd. The attempts to delve into the personal lives of the characters have never felt more perfunctory and fruitless. The terrorists' preparation and planning for one day is laughably improbable, made worse when each attempt fails and the show tries to play it off like that was the plan. And yet, somehow some way, it works.
The fourth season of 24 is my favorite since the first season*, because while I may not care about most of the characters, it delivers on the one thing expected most of it: exhilarating, action-packed television. The season starts with a train crashing off the rails - and with convincing special effects - and ends with Jack Bauer faking his own death and walking off into the
*The first season thus far is my favorite, which seems to be an unpopular opinion. I have an easy explanation: Kim drags down the second season by herself on what is an the otherwise good season, and the third season really seems repetitive. There's too much of a "been there done that" feel, which this season most certainly avoids even as it employs the same tricks.
The fourth season got better as the season went along, probably in some part due to Erin Driscoll and her daughter. Driscoll was the show's biggest misstep in an otherwise good season. She starts the season by making what are clearly portrayed as wrong choices and we find out she fired Jack Bauer. Making matters worse is the actress playing her, Alberta Watson has a stilted performance and unconvincing emotional scenes. She's also involved in the unquestioned worst plot point of the season, her increasingly unstable daughter who eventually commits suicide. When Driscoll was replaced by Michelle, the season got better.
This season introduces a hell of a lot of new characters. CTU is virtually unrecognizable with Chloe O'Brien as the only familiar face. None of the new CTU characters immediately stand out and it takes a while to register them as actual characters and not simply as plot devices. Some of them improve with time, such as Edgar Stiles and Curtis Manning. Some of them never improve, such as Driscoll and Sarah Gavin.
However, the most compelling new characters were Senator James Heller and Audrey Raines. This is hardly a surprise as they were both brought back for the reincarnation of this show in 24: Live Another Day. Both characters immediately stand out due to the performances of William Devane and Kim Raver. Devane, most well-known for Knots Landing, outshines everybody when he's on screen, which makes it disappointing when he disappears halfway through the season. Raver pretty much has to play upset and devastated the entire time, which she does so ably. While it did get a bit tiresome, a lesser actress would have made her character unbearable. Thankfully, she's sympathetic and relatable.
As the season goes on, they start to bring back old cast members. I was surprised at how effectively they managed to bring them back onto the show without it seeming too out-of-place. Tony Almeida's was the one that made the least sense, but come on I'm willing to forgo logic to get him back on the show. But Michelle replacing Driscoll and President Palmer needing to give advice to an utterly ineffective and clueless president works surprisingly well.
I also liked the show's upheaval of the presidential side of the show. While I enjoyed three seasons with President Palmer, there wasn't much new material to grind from an idealistic president who is also entirely predictable. So for the first half of the season, the president is almost ignored and in the background. Then in the latter half, 24 more closely follows the president, but they take a completely different route. They make a completely unprepared and incompetent president who takes advice from Palmer (who I was very pleased to see despite my complaints about his predictability). Gregory Itzin is so good in this role that you feel bad for him. But than the end happens and all the pieces of his character are put into place - he'll gladly take credit for something someone else did.
The show takes a stab at analyzing whether torture is right or wrong, but it seems to argue it's justifiable. The government tortured terrorists for months after 9/11 to mixed results. This show's form of torture? Oh, just like break their hand and then they'll immediately give up everything despite being deeply committed to the cause. It may help if the characters ever tortured the wrong person. I mean sure the senator's son was the wrong person technically, but they made him such a piece of a shit, it was hard to sympathize and he WAS holding something from the government. I mostly just wish the writers weren't like "How to we get from Point A to Point B? Oh let's just use torture on a suspect and he'll lead us there." Seriously, torture is used way too often in this season. I don't remember it being as big of an issue for the first three seasons.
24 is a show that I go back-and-forth with on its quality. On the one hand, when it works it really fucking works. The tension is palpable, the characters seem genuinely at risk, and you can't take your eyes off the screen. On the other hand, this show has some of the most ridiculous technobabble nonsense dialogue I've ever heard, overuses torture of all things, and has so many episodes that just seem like stalling for time.
The end result though is an almost always entertaining show. The show is willing to take risks, which means it can deliver on the threats the story presents. The fourth season is one of the better seasons the show has had thus far and probably one of the best seasons of the entire series.
Grade - B+
Sunday, November 9, 2014
The Sopranos: Bust Out
This is a returning weekly feature. I cover each individual episode going from the beginning. I've already covered Season 1 and will post a weekly post on the second season every Sunday.
Happy Wanderer
Past Episodes
Big Girls Don't CryHappy Wanderer
D Girl
Full Leather Jacket
"Bust Out" begins with a witness identifying Tony near the scene of Matt's shooting. It is a smart writing decision even though we know Tony will not get caught. For one, there's a tension on whether that witness will be killed before the end. We want to like Tony and killing innocent people tends to make that hard. For two, it allows us to see Tony scared and genuinely afraid. Lastly, it forces Tony to want to spend more time with his family while he can.
The killing of Matt does weigh on Tony. Matt's a dumbass sure, but he's a stupid, naive kid who was in over his head. Obviously, it's a not a death that will stick with him for very long - shooting at your nephew tends to do that - but it's nice that it affects him from an audience point of view.
The onset of an indeterminate prison sentence forces Tony to look at his relationships with his children. Tony tries to connect with AJ. He also has hands down the best scene of the episode with Meadow. He's sitting alone in the kitchen, drinking when Meadow walks in. He tells Meadow it's all for her and AJ. It's really beautifully played by James Gandolfini - no surprise there.
Tony has another fantastic scene earlier in the episode with Dr. Melfi, when he tells her that he may be going away for a while. It's one of the better acting moments from Lorraine Bracco, who plays that scene with restrained terror. Those two scenes alone make this episode an easy A for me.
It's sort of horrible that while Tony may be going a way for a while, Carmela gets tempted to cheat on him. I'm not saying that as an indictment on her character given Tony's misgivings. Anyway, she's tempted by this impossibly good guy - hard-working, loyal, only single because his wife died. Clearly, the tandem of Robin Green, Mitchell Burgess, and Frank Renzulli were trying to make a situation where it would almost be unbelievable to not cheat.
And fittingly, the resolution doesn't disprove this either: they only don't cheat because Vic finds out what Tony has done to David Scatino. Scatino provides some depressing laughs with how bad he's treated and how uncaring they seem to be that they are destroying his business. It's almost a reminder to the audience that while he may care about his kids, he's also a monster who absolutely deserves to go to jail.
Meanwhile, Richie is still being influenced by Janice, who is telling Richie about how much Tony is disrespecting him. Richie tells Tony he wants more of the garbage business. This slow trickle of a season-long plot is increasingly making it clear this will not be resolved easily.
Things I would like to have expunged from my brain: Richie pointing at a gun at Janice while having sex with her with her saying "Baby you're the best." That is one of the most horrifying scenes in the entire run of The Sopranos for me.
Grade - A
Surprise Guest Appearances
Not a surprise, but I've been watching Louis Lombardi (who plays Skip) on the fourth season of 24, and he's a better actor than I originally thought. Two somewhat similar, but absolutely differently played characters.
Deaths
Surprisingly none
Quotes
"On your way out, you think you can roll the garbage cans down the hill? Tomorrow's pick-up day." - Tony to the police - The humor is all in the delivery by Gandolfini
"You're a cute prick, Pus, I'll give you that." Skip's underrated
"GET THE FUCK BACK IN YOUR FUCKING HOLE! NOW!" *few seconds of silence "Davey, you're doing a good job!" - Gandolfini is just the best
"Well I knew you had this business here Davey. It's my nature. The frog and the scorpion, you know?" - Tony to Davey confirming he intentionally ruined Davey's life
"Sometimes, we're all hypocrites." - Yeah, especially you Meadow in the later seasons
"I can't not notice he's fucking you." - Richie's approach to getting Junior on his side was funny
"Ok so I wanted to fuck her." - Tony getting to the point about how Melfi reminds him of Isabella
Playlist (first two from this episode)
1. "Wheel in the Sky" - Journey
2. "You're Still the One" - Shania Twain
3. "Urban Photograph" - Urban Cone
4. "Cousins" - Vampire Weekend
5. "Mr. Quiche" - Wildcat! Wildcat!
Full Leather Jacket
"Bust Out" begins with a witness identifying Tony near the scene of Matt's shooting. It is a smart writing decision even though we know Tony will not get caught. For one, there's a tension on whether that witness will be killed before the end. We want to like Tony and killing innocent people tends to make that hard. For two, it allows us to see Tony scared and genuinely afraid. Lastly, it forces Tony to want to spend more time with his family while he can.
The killing of Matt does weigh on Tony. Matt's a dumbass sure, but he's a stupid, naive kid who was in over his head. Obviously, it's a not a death that will stick with him for very long - shooting at your nephew tends to do that - but it's nice that it affects him from an audience point of view.
The onset of an indeterminate prison sentence forces Tony to look at his relationships with his children. Tony tries to connect with AJ. He also has hands down the best scene of the episode with Meadow. He's sitting alone in the kitchen, drinking when Meadow walks in. He tells Meadow it's all for her and AJ. It's really beautifully played by James Gandolfini - no surprise there.
Tony has another fantastic scene earlier in the episode with Dr. Melfi, when he tells her that he may be going away for a while. It's one of the better acting moments from Lorraine Bracco, who plays that scene with restrained terror. Those two scenes alone make this episode an easy A for me.
It's sort of horrible that while Tony may be going a way for a while, Carmela gets tempted to cheat on him. I'm not saying that as an indictment on her character given Tony's misgivings. Anyway, she's tempted by this impossibly good guy - hard-working, loyal, only single because his wife died. Clearly, the tandem of Robin Green, Mitchell Burgess, and Frank Renzulli were trying to make a situation where it would almost be unbelievable to not cheat.
And fittingly, the resolution doesn't disprove this either: they only don't cheat because Vic finds out what Tony has done to David Scatino. Scatino provides some depressing laughs with how bad he's treated and how uncaring they seem to be that they are destroying his business. It's almost a reminder to the audience that while he may care about his kids, he's also a monster who absolutely deserves to go to jail.
Meanwhile, Richie is still being influenced by Janice, who is telling Richie about how much Tony is disrespecting him. Richie tells Tony he wants more of the garbage business. This slow trickle of a season-long plot is increasingly making it clear this will not be resolved easily.
Things I would like to have expunged from my brain: Richie pointing at a gun at Janice while having sex with her with her saying "Baby you're the best." That is one of the most horrifying scenes in the entire run of The Sopranos for me.
Grade - A
Surprise Guest Appearances
Not a surprise, but I've been watching Louis Lombardi (who plays Skip) on the fourth season of 24, and he's a better actor than I originally thought. Two somewhat similar, but absolutely differently played characters.
Deaths
Surprisingly none
Quotes
"On your way out, you think you can roll the garbage cans down the hill? Tomorrow's pick-up day." - Tony to the police - The humor is all in the delivery by Gandolfini
"You're a cute prick, Pus, I'll give you that." Skip's underrated
"GET THE FUCK BACK IN YOUR FUCKING HOLE! NOW!" *few seconds of silence "Davey, you're doing a good job!" - Gandolfini is just the best
"Well I knew you had this business here Davey. It's my nature. The frog and the scorpion, you know?" - Tony to Davey confirming he intentionally ruined Davey's life
"Sometimes, we're all hypocrites." - Yeah, especially you Meadow in the later seasons
"I can't not notice he's fucking you." - Richie's approach to getting Junior on his side was funny
"Ok so I wanted to fuck her." - Tony getting to the point about how Melfi reminds him of Isabella
Playlist (first two from this episode)
1. "Wheel in the Sky" - Journey
2. "You're Still the One" - Shania Twain
3. "Urban Photograph" - Urban Cone
4. "Cousins" - Vampire Weekend
5. "Mr. Quiche" - Wildcat! Wildcat!
Sunday, August 31, 2014
Rewind: 24 S3
The third season of 24 is remarkably methodical. There's not really much spectacular about it, but there's also not really anything terrible about it. They have interesting storylines that tended to go a few episodes too long, but there's not any easily identifiable plot holes or stinkers. There was exactly one episode that ratcheted the tension enough to make my skin crawl, but the rest was mildly enjoyable television.
If it sounds like I'm complaining about this season, I'm not. Generally speaking, I'm the type of viewer who would tend to HATE 24 if I find a certain plot point implausible or repetitive - usually because that means it would go on for at least a few episodes. So if a season of 24 can make me feel ambivalent - not loving a season, but not really finding anything wrong with it - it's not the worst thing.
That said, I wasn't that invested in many of the storylines. The majority of the president's actions had a "been there, done that" feel. The debate setting for a second election was a smart choice although that ended after just five episodes. It was interesting to see President Palmer forced to acquiesce to a terrorist's demands. Sherry Palmer was a breath of a fresh air when she first appeared. (At which point she become quickly annoying) And... that's about it. Anything involving Anne was a drag because I did not care about Anne, and it was even worse that they broke up out of nowhere after all that trouble. I don't really have any strong feelings one way or the other about Wayne Palmer, except I guess at least his character is consistent.
I will say this: the threat is solid. The Salazars as villains are exactly like this season - serviceable, but nothing special. However a deadly virus that can theoretically kill nearly everyone? Yeah that's terrifying. I can't remember which specific episodes it is, but one of the episodes where Michelle is trying to contain the virus in the hotel is by far the best episode of this season. (For what it's worth, my best guess is the 17th episode)
And while Stephen Saunders is ok, making the president do orders against his will is extremely effective. Saunders' death was stupid, although at least foreshadowed. It certainly gave the sense that 24 episodes is far too many for a show like this. And Michelle not dying from the disease is kind of a cop-out, but at least understandable given that the writers are clearly not afraid of killing off major characters.
Speaking of which, the death of Ryan Chappelle is pretty astounding. It's not so much that he died but how he died. I think his actions from finding out about his death to the death were extremely well-written (although make note that I have zero idea how someone facing imminent death would react). Jack killing Nina was awesome - and I believe him killing her came at a detriment to the country if I remember correctly. Gael's death was also surprisingly touching considering half the episodes he was in, he was supposed to be a traitor.
The fact that the traitorous actions of Jack Bauer and Gael were all planned from the get-go is somewhat implausible, although it certainly does a lot to justify some rather outlandish actions and their potential consequences. Also, the threat certainly warrants their secretive behavior. I was all set to put Gael being a traitor as a negative, if only because he extremely conveniently happens to have an office completely separated from everyone else. (Unfortunately, I am not a big fan of the traitors in CTU which I'm pretty sure happens frequently enough that I will definitely have a problem with it in the future)
I have forgotten to talk about two major characters at all, which is Chase and Kim. Chase is another character that's simply ok. I didn't hate him. I'm not to sorry to find out he won't be returning for another season though. The romance between him and Kim took up far too much time - it really doesn't help that I knew neither character would return in the 4th season. One positive thing about that relationship is Jacks' reaction to it - hilarious and eventually touching. (And Jack's willingness to pull the trigger on Chase was not surprising, but still effective)
Bare with me a little longer as I talk about more plot somehow. 24 has more plot in one season than most shows do in entire series. At least that's what it seems like when you try to write about it all. Anyway, Jack's heroin withdrawal is a very good choice - making an invincible character need to deal with a weakness is always a strong idea. Predictably, it sort of peters out, but it would sort of be hard to watch 24 episodes of him sweating and nearly puking so I can't complain. I can however complain about the stupid tacked-on romance between Jack and Claudia, Hector's girlfriend. (In fact, Hector and Claudia doesn't work either)
This season justifies what will happen in the fourth season: a revamped cast. As much as I love President Palmer, there's only so much drama you can squeeze of his idealized persona. A new president will certainly give the show some much needed life in my opinion. (And really allow me to talk about new things because I'm grasping for topics beyond plot here.)
Overall, this appears to be your median 24 season. Everything is really solid. It does dishearten me a bit that I didn't love a median 24 season if only because it's clear this will never be one of my favorite shows. I think the best way to judge a 24 season is how much I want to watch the next episode upon finishing an episode: and I never really had that strong of an urge.
Grade - B
Playlist
1. "Ancient Audio" - Cyne
2. "I Wanna Get Better" - Bleachers
3. "I Wanna Go" - Summer Heart
4. "P.Y.T. (Pretty Young Thing)" - Michael Jackson
5. "Hip Hop is Dead" - Nas
If it sounds like I'm complaining about this season, I'm not. Generally speaking, I'm the type of viewer who would tend to HATE 24 if I find a certain plot point implausible or repetitive - usually because that means it would go on for at least a few episodes. So if a season of 24 can make me feel ambivalent - not loving a season, but not really finding anything wrong with it - it's not the worst thing.
That said, I wasn't that invested in many of the storylines. The majority of the president's actions had a "been there, done that" feel. The debate setting for a second election was a smart choice although that ended after just five episodes. It was interesting to see President Palmer forced to acquiesce to a terrorist's demands. Sherry Palmer was a breath of a fresh air when she first appeared. (At which point she become quickly annoying) And... that's about it. Anything involving Anne was a drag because I did not care about Anne, and it was even worse that they broke up out of nowhere after all that trouble. I don't really have any strong feelings one way or the other about Wayne Palmer, except I guess at least his character is consistent.
I will say this: the threat is solid. The Salazars as villains are exactly like this season - serviceable, but nothing special. However a deadly virus that can theoretically kill nearly everyone? Yeah that's terrifying. I can't remember which specific episodes it is, but one of the episodes where Michelle is trying to contain the virus in the hotel is by far the best episode of this season. (For what it's worth, my best guess is the 17th episode)
And while Stephen Saunders is ok, making the president do orders against his will is extremely effective. Saunders' death was stupid, although at least foreshadowed. It certainly gave the sense that 24 episodes is far too many for a show like this. And Michelle not dying from the disease is kind of a cop-out, but at least understandable given that the writers are clearly not afraid of killing off major characters.
Speaking of which, the death of Ryan Chappelle is pretty astounding. It's not so much that he died but how he died. I think his actions from finding out about his death to the death were extremely well-written (although make note that I have zero idea how someone facing imminent death would react). Jack killing Nina was awesome - and I believe him killing her came at a detriment to the country if I remember correctly. Gael's death was also surprisingly touching considering half the episodes he was in, he was supposed to be a traitor.
The fact that the traitorous actions of Jack Bauer and Gael were all planned from the get-go is somewhat implausible, although it certainly does a lot to justify some rather outlandish actions and their potential consequences. Also, the threat certainly warrants their secretive behavior. I was all set to put Gael being a traitor as a negative, if only because he extremely conveniently happens to have an office completely separated from everyone else. (Unfortunately, I am not a big fan of the traitors in CTU which I'm pretty sure happens frequently enough that I will definitely have a problem with it in the future)
I have forgotten to talk about two major characters at all, which is Chase and Kim. Chase is another character that's simply ok. I didn't hate him. I'm not to sorry to find out he won't be returning for another season though. The romance between him and Kim took up far too much time - it really doesn't help that I knew neither character would return in the 4th season. One positive thing about that relationship is Jacks' reaction to it - hilarious and eventually touching. (And Jack's willingness to pull the trigger on Chase was not surprising, but still effective)
Bare with me a little longer as I talk about more plot somehow. 24 has more plot in one season than most shows do in entire series. At least that's what it seems like when you try to write about it all. Anyway, Jack's heroin withdrawal is a very good choice - making an invincible character need to deal with a weakness is always a strong idea. Predictably, it sort of peters out, but it would sort of be hard to watch 24 episodes of him sweating and nearly puking so I can't complain. I can however complain about the stupid tacked-on romance between Jack and Claudia, Hector's girlfriend. (In fact, Hector and Claudia doesn't work either)
This season justifies what will happen in the fourth season: a revamped cast. As much as I love President Palmer, there's only so much drama you can squeeze of his idealized persona. A new president will certainly give the show some much needed life in my opinion. (And really allow me to talk about new things because I'm grasping for topics beyond plot here.)
Overall, this appears to be your median 24 season. Everything is really solid. It does dishearten me a bit that I didn't love a median 24 season if only because it's clear this will never be one of my favorite shows. I think the best way to judge a 24 season is how much I want to watch the next episode upon finishing an episode: and I never really had that strong of an urge.
Grade - B
Playlist
1. "Ancient Audio" - Cyne
2. "I Wanna Get Better" - Bleachers
3. "I Wanna Go" - Summer Heart
4. "P.Y.T. (Pretty Young Thing)" - Michael Jackson
5. "Hip Hop is Dead" - Nas
Sunday, July 13, 2014
The Sopranos: From Where to Eternity
This is a returning weekly feature. I cover each individual episode going from the beginning. I've already covered Season 1 and will post a weekly post on the second season every Sunday.
Happy Wanderer
Past Episodes
Big Girls Don't CryHappy Wanderer
D Girl
Full Leather Jacket
After a few episodes of good, but ultimately B quality Sopranos episodes, "From Where to Eternity" is an episode that foreshadows, entertains, and questions. It's a wonderful episode that has all the men with short tempers and little memory pondering life itself and what, if anything, comes after it.
We start where the last episode ended, with Chris in the hospital recovering from his wounds. Chris is too vital a character, too unfinished a story for him to die yet. He dies for one minute and apparently goes to hell. That's... not exactly hard to believe. His version of hell is appropriately dark and funny at the same time. He has a message for Tony and Paulie from Mikey: "Three o'clock." I'm sure if you dissected every episode - and plenty of people have in fact done that - you'd find 3 am or pm is a very important time. I myself am on my second watch through the series so I cannot confirm that.
Tony mostly shrugs this information off, although he does bring it up in therapy meetings. Dr. Melfi uses this opportunity to ask if he thinks Chris will go to hell. Tony says you only go to hell if you're really evil: child molesters, genocidal monsters. Interestingly enough, given the amount of people Tony's killed, manipulated, or affected, I'd say he's in that category. No matter, it's definitely an interesting perspective. I sort of don't believe him though - I think he's more that he doesn't believe in God at all - like he tells Paulie - "none of this matters." (Less interesting: Melfi's guilt at pressing the issue.)
Paulie on the other hand, clearly believes in God. Paulie, you see, is a simple man. And when Chris tells him an ominous message from the dead, he believes him. So that time haunts him throughout the episode. Did he kill Mikey then? No, no he didn't. So he has nightmares over it until his onetime girlfriend - future Scrubs star Judy Reyes - tells him to go see a psychic. The psychic talks of Paulie's first kill - since is The Sopranos, we can pretty much take it at face value I think that this guy actually has a gift. Paulie's worries are seemingly solved when Tony tells him "Why would Mikey be the leader of all the heavy hitters you've killed?"
Anyway, that portion of the episode is largely played for laughs, although I have to say it's a little better than your average overtly comic Sopranos stories if only because it involves a character analyzing himself and death itself. The fact that it's Paulie is why it's hilarious. This is also, I think, one of the first episodes where it seemed like the supernatural would play a part in The Sopranos. I don't think there's been an episode yet that has been so blatantly riddled with supernatural elements that suggest what the characters experience really happened.
Meanwhile the Carmela plotline is fascinating in its portrayal of how Carmela functions. She prays for Chris to live and to have sight if he does live. She also finds out that Ralph (not Cifaretto who doesn't seem to exist yet) has a well-known gumar who has a baby. She chastises Tony for it and asks him to get a vasectomy.
Only she softens when he leaves in the middle of the night from a phone call from Big Pussy. The look on her face as he leaves the house suggest she knows he's killing who was responsible for attempt on Christopher's life. And... when he comes home, she's completely forgiving of everything Tony did. I just find her character fascinating in its contradictions.
Lastly, Big Pussy - who's already worried about Tony treating him differently - and Tony go do the hit on Matt. The hit itself is less interesting than the steak dinner they enjoy afterword. Pussy looks as comfortable as he will ever be in this entire season. Tony makes a funny joke and then he asks Pussy if he believes in God - which isn't exactly a conversation you expect two mobsters to talk about. (This also adds to my belief that Tony doesn't believe or at least is skeptical) And yet for whatever reason, this scene leaves me a little uncomfortable as there seem to be signs of Pussy's impending death.
This episode was unsurprisingly written by the creator himself, David Chase. There are implications and themes that resonate throughout the entire series and only the creator could have written such an episode. It's directed by Henry Bronchtein, his second directorial effort out of four. It's a bit surprising he directed any Sopranos episodes if only because his last two directed shows were Hostages and The Following, both terrible shows.
Grade - A
Surprise Guest Appearance
Judy Reyes, Carla from Scrubs in other words, is Paulie's girlfriend
Deaths
Dumbass #2 dies this week, Matt
Quotes
"Tell Tony and Paulie, 3:00" - Christopher's message from hell - I'm fairly certain this time is important foreshadowing, but not sure of any specific situation
"We're soldiers. Soldiers don't go to hell." - Tony's opinion on hell
"Do what you do with a girl you want to fuck. Make him love you" - Skip with words of advice towards Pussy
"Oh I got balls, and as long as I got balls, they will remain intact." - Tony on getting a vasectomy
Playlist
1. "My Lover's Prayer" - Otis Redding (played throughout episode)
2. "We Move Like the Ocean" - Bad Suns
3. "XXX 88" - MØ feat. Diplo
4. "Wasted Hours" - Arcade Fire
5. "Higher" - Classified feat. B.O.B.
Full Leather Jacket
After a few episodes of good, but ultimately B quality Sopranos episodes, "From Where to Eternity" is an episode that foreshadows, entertains, and questions. It's a wonderful episode that has all the men with short tempers and little memory pondering life itself and what, if anything, comes after it.
We start where the last episode ended, with Chris in the hospital recovering from his wounds. Chris is too vital a character, too unfinished a story for him to die yet. He dies for one minute and apparently goes to hell. That's... not exactly hard to believe. His version of hell is appropriately dark and funny at the same time. He has a message for Tony and Paulie from Mikey: "Three o'clock." I'm sure if you dissected every episode - and plenty of people have in fact done that - you'd find 3 am or pm is a very important time. I myself am on my second watch through the series so I cannot confirm that.
Tony mostly shrugs this information off, although he does bring it up in therapy meetings. Dr. Melfi uses this opportunity to ask if he thinks Chris will go to hell. Tony says you only go to hell if you're really evil: child molesters, genocidal monsters. Interestingly enough, given the amount of people Tony's killed, manipulated, or affected, I'd say he's in that category. No matter, it's definitely an interesting perspective. I sort of don't believe him though - I think he's more that he doesn't believe in God at all - like he tells Paulie - "none of this matters." (Less interesting: Melfi's guilt at pressing the issue.)
Paulie on the other hand, clearly believes in God. Paulie, you see, is a simple man. And when Chris tells him an ominous message from the dead, he believes him. So that time haunts him throughout the episode. Did he kill Mikey then? No, no he didn't. So he has nightmares over it until his onetime girlfriend - future Scrubs star Judy Reyes - tells him to go see a psychic. The psychic talks of Paulie's first kill - since is The Sopranos, we can pretty much take it at face value I think that this guy actually has a gift. Paulie's worries are seemingly solved when Tony tells him "Why would Mikey be the leader of all the heavy hitters you've killed?"
Anyway, that portion of the episode is largely played for laughs, although I have to say it's a little better than your average overtly comic Sopranos stories if only because it involves a character analyzing himself and death itself. The fact that it's Paulie is why it's hilarious. This is also, I think, one of the first episodes where it seemed like the supernatural would play a part in The Sopranos. I don't think there's been an episode yet that has been so blatantly riddled with supernatural elements that suggest what the characters experience really happened.
Meanwhile the Carmela plotline is fascinating in its portrayal of how Carmela functions. She prays for Chris to live and to have sight if he does live. She also finds out that Ralph (not Cifaretto who doesn't seem to exist yet) has a well-known gumar who has a baby. She chastises Tony for it and asks him to get a vasectomy.
Only she softens when he leaves in the middle of the night from a phone call from Big Pussy. The look on her face as he leaves the house suggest she knows he's killing who was responsible for attempt on Christopher's life. And... when he comes home, she's completely forgiving of everything Tony did. I just find her character fascinating in its contradictions.
Lastly, Big Pussy - who's already worried about Tony treating him differently - and Tony go do the hit on Matt. The hit itself is less interesting than the steak dinner they enjoy afterword. Pussy looks as comfortable as he will ever be in this entire season. Tony makes a funny joke and then he asks Pussy if he believes in God - which isn't exactly a conversation you expect two mobsters to talk about. (This also adds to my belief that Tony doesn't believe or at least is skeptical) And yet for whatever reason, this scene leaves me a little uncomfortable as there seem to be signs of Pussy's impending death.
This episode was unsurprisingly written by the creator himself, David Chase. There are implications and themes that resonate throughout the entire series and only the creator could have written such an episode. It's directed by Henry Bronchtein, his second directorial effort out of four. It's a bit surprising he directed any Sopranos episodes if only because his last two directed shows were Hostages and The Following, both terrible shows.
Grade - A
Surprise Guest Appearance
Judy Reyes, Carla from Scrubs in other words, is Paulie's girlfriend
Deaths
Dumbass #2 dies this week, Matt
Quotes
"Tell Tony and Paulie, 3:00" - Christopher's message from hell - I'm fairly certain this time is important foreshadowing, but not sure of any specific situation
"We're soldiers. Soldiers don't go to hell." - Tony's opinion on hell
"Do what you do with a girl you want to fuck. Make him love you" - Skip with words of advice towards Pussy
"Oh I got balls, and as long as I got balls, they will remain intact." - Tony on getting a vasectomy
Playlist
1. "My Lover's Prayer" - Otis Redding (played throughout episode)
2. "We Move Like the Ocean" - Bad Suns
3. "XXX 88" - MØ feat. Diplo
4. "Wasted Hours" - Arcade Fire
5. "Higher" - Classified feat. B.O.B.
Sunday, July 6, 2014
The Sopranos: "Full Leather Jacket"
This is a returning weekly feature. I cover each individual episode going from the beginning. I've already covered Season 1 and will post a weekly post on the second season every Sunday.
Happy Wanderer
Past Episodes
Big Girls Don't CryHappy Wanderer
If things were calm between Tony and Richie at the start of the episode - relatively speaking - then by the end, it's clear one of them will have to die. This is brought about by two dumbasses of the highest order and an extremely convenient coincidence (in writing, that would be called a contrivance.)
Tony tells Richie Aprile that he needs to give Beansie - the man who he ran over with a car - a ramp and make is house handicap-accessible. He takes offense to this and by the time he does come around to doing it, he has his guys leave in the middle of building the ramp. But that's pretty much the mindgames Richie and Tony have been playing all season so this wasn't a big deal.
Richie gives Tony a jacket - a jacket that evidently means a lot to Richie since he took it off a guy who was much bigger than him in a fight. It's not really clear what his true intention is with the jacket at first, but soon it becomes clear it's a genuine gift. When he sees that Tony gave it to his maid's husband, he gets extremely insulted. Now, I realize that he needed to find out that Tony gave it away for the purposes of plot, but man the way he found out was ridiculously contrived. He just so happens to be sitting down in the house and the maid's husband just so happens to walk in at the same time? I mean how many times does the husband even go into that house? I can't think of too many times.
Meanwhile, Meadow's applying to college, which the show uses to make Carmela look like a horrible person. Usually she's just willfully ignorant, but she had to know how it looked when she went into the office of Joan Cusamano. To make things worse, she even suggest she forget about the poor Dominican kid with a 5.2 GPA. WOW. I mean that kid will turn out alright probably anyway, but still. Also, she is just bad enough to throw a letter from Berkley away claiming the form was incomplete, but not bad enough to go through with. Meadow's no dummy though and noticed. (In AJ news, he wants to go to Harvard. HA!)
Resident dumbasses Sean and Matt steal some safes with Christopher and have to chalk up a percentage to Tony. Furio comes to collect and takes an extra grand because fuck it he can do what he wants. Sean and Matt create an excuse to meet Richie Aprile. Aprile talks shit about Chris and says "if you ever want to do a favor for me." (paraphrased)
Naturally, Sean and Matt somehow take this as a sign that Richie wants to kill Christopher. I mean he might WANT to, but that's probably just talk. A clueless Christopher gets shot a few times by them, but not before he kills Sean. Matt goes back to Richie trying to get protection, but Richie is having none of that. David Proval plays a pretty hilarious pissed off man.
Lastly, Tony realizes that on some level he had to have given Meadow her friend's car knowing she would know how he came to acquire it. Dr. Mefli takes this as a sign that Tony did a good thing subconsciously. I have no idea where she got that. Either way, Tony should have realized that it was a bad idea and he ignored it.
That's all I have to say about the episode, it was pretty short at 42 minutes.
Grade - B+
Deaths
Sean
Quotes
"How can I express how little I give a fuck?" - Chris - A question I find myself wanting to ask constantly
"And maybe when I'm over there, I can fuck his wife" - Ever the wordsmith, Richie says sarcastically upon the suggestion he build Beansie a ramp
"I'd like to break my dick off in that ass of hers." - Matt's attempt at casual conversation with Tony
"These two suck each other's cocks." - Furio in Italian about Sean and Matt
"You're going to be going off to a wonderful college. What right do I have to interfere?" - Seeing how she's acted this whole episode, this line of dialogue takes on a new meaning
"All these years, I've been shielding her and protecting her from certain truths. And now, what do I want to rub her nose in it?" - Tony about Meadow
Playlist
1. "Paris" - Little Dragon
2. "Soliloquy" - Isaiah Rashad
3. "Graffiti" - Maximo Park
4. "I'm Back" - Eminem
5. "You Get What You Give" - New Radicals
Sunday, June 29, 2014
The Sopranos: "D Girl"
This is a returning weekly feature. I cover each individual episode going from the beginning. I've already covered Season 1 and will post a weekly post on the second season every Sunday.
Happy Wanderer
Past Episodes
Big Girls Don't CryHappy Wanderer
D Girl is not a great episode of Sopranos, but it is hilarious. This is an episode about Chris and Hollywood plus a significant plot about AJ. Those are traditionally some of the lesser Sopranos episodes - although also some of the more blatantly laugh-out-loud episodes. And it's definitely the case here as well.
The momentum to start this episode is a bit shaky as it's Chris' cousin's girlfriend who helps get Chris in contact with Hollywood. So Amy is seeing Chris's cousin - a man we've never seen nor will we ever again - and she just so happens to be in close contact with Jon Favreau who just so happens to be working on a mobster-affiliated movie. So another contrived plot from Sopranos - that's clearly something David Chase is utterly unconcerned with.
Jon plays his part well and is a good sport if I do say so myself. He comes across as an asshole, but also seems to represent your typical Hollywood asshole. He claims the mobster project is "a passion" of his which is clearly bullshit. He starts randomly cussing in the middle of conversations with Chris, which Amy always looked over at him weirdly for, which was perfect.
Alicia Witt though plays it better. When Chris whispers to an obnoxious partygoer and he immediately shuts up, the look she gives him is just pure lust. I don't know how she does that. And she is charming, but you always get the sense that she's deceiving you - which goes right past Chris of course. The title of this episode is when she gets offended at being called a "d girl," which strikes me as the ultimate Hollywood satire attempt - I don't think it really comes across like Todd A. Kessler (the writer) wanted it to cause it's not that funny or clever of an insight.
The other storyline is played mostly for laughs with AJ stupidly crashing the right side of his car when another car honked. He's learned Nietzsche and it kind of loses me in this. I don't know what fucking school he went to, but I'm thinking it's way too complex of stuff for 8th grade. Also, the show tries to have its cake and eat it too by trying to make fun of the fact that AJ is smarter than Tony, but also making AJ really dumb. It works for Meadow, because she's really successful and smart, but for AJ, not so much.
Anyway, the saving grace of the episode is just how funny it is. While the AJ stuff isn't really that great to me, Tony bewilderingly trying to understand his kid as he spouts existential views is the gift that keeps on giving. Naturally, Tony's more worried about AJ talking about death and nothingness more than AJ crashing and stealing the car.
Interspersed with this story is Livia Soprano, sort of in the background but ever present. She's brought up in Tony's therapy - Dr. Melfi tries to push her into the conversation, but Tony ends up deferring the conversation back to AJ. Also, AJ goes to her for advice and wow that was a bad idea. She sort of has a point and on some level I agree with her, but it's her fault. You also should probably not tell a kid that. (Quote below)
Lastly, Skip pushes Big Pussy to talk about some mobster that got blown up. I don't think Tony had anything to do with that - I could be wrong - but nonetheless Skip ends up pushing Big Pussy to wear a wire. He's obviously struggling with it, looking at himself in the mirror trying to put it on while his wife knocks on the door.
Lastly, the show uses this overtly comic episode's last five minutes to make the episode all worth it. Using AJ's confirmation and Big Pussy as a sponsor, it's all seemingly set up for a scene where Big Pussy has to defend Tony in front of AJ. Of course, he's wearing a wire at the time while he's talking about how Tony's a good guy. It kills him and he barely avoids breaking down before convincing AJ to go back down to the party.
Between that and Tony giving Christopher an ultimatum on whether to stay at the party or leave forever, I sort of wish those last five minutes were somehow the entire episode. Oh well, I'm just glad this episode ended on such a strong note.
Grade - B+
Surprise Guest Appearances
Jon Favreau, Janeane Garofalo, and Sandy Bernhard all play themselves
Quotes
"Swingers? He can suck my dick - that swings too." - Chris
"When I get confirmed, I'm going to be a man. So how come I can't drive?" - AJ
"Death just shows the ultimate absurdity of life." - AJ again
"She knows that even if God is dead, you're still going to kiss his ass." - Tony to AJ
"Don't expect happiness. You won't get it, people let you down, and I'm not naming any names, but in the end you die in your own arms." - Livia
"When you're married, you'll understand the importance of fresh produce" - Tony
"Fucking Walnuts doesn't lie as good as you."' - Chris to Amy
"Be a good Catholic for fifteen fucking minutes. Is that so much to ask?" - Carmela
Playlist
1. "Rhiannon" - Fleetwood Mac
2. "Fragile" - Tech N9ne feat. Kendrick Lamar, !MAYDAY!, & Kendall Morgan
3. 'Tell U What to Do" - Toftgard
4. "Last Nite" - The Strokes
5. "All Along the Watchtower" - Jimi Hendrix
Sunday, June 22, 2014
The Sopranos: "Happy Wanderer"
This is a returning weekly feature. I cover each individual episode going from the beginning. I've already covered Season 1 and will post a weekly post on the second season every Sunday.
Never get into business with Tony Soprano. He's like a disease, infecting all people who come into significant contact with him. David Scatino, charmed by the Tony who he sees at parent-teacher conferences, learned that the hard way. There's a certain reflective quality in these scenes. You start to be convinced Tony's not that bad of a guy and is a product of his environment. And then you see how he earns his money.
Scatino, played by Robert Patrick, is very clearly a compulsive gambler early on. He finds out Tony took control of the executive game from Junior and wants in. He's already a regular player in Richie Aprile's games. He did poorly and borrowed money from someone you shouldn't borrow money with. Of course, him being a compulsive gambler, he decided the best way to get that money back... is to keep gambling.
Now, I don't know how the Sopranos figured out what he owed them - clearly it's interest of some sort exponentially rising with each passing week. I like the moment when Richie scoffs at Scatino trying to bullshit his way into another game. Richie may be impulsive and greedy, but he knows his business. And really he's right in this episode. He lent money out, he needs to get it back so he shuts off the receiver, and then another party comes in and Richie won't be getting his money for a while.
Scatino stupidly comes to the executive game and Tony lets him play after little prodding. He gives him a starting amount of money to be able to play in the executive game. And he starts off well it sounds like. But he can't quit while he's ahead and gets even farther in the hole than he was before. By the end of the episode, he's given up his son's car.
If there's a weakness to this episode, it's Meadow and Eric's sudden friendship. It's a little difficult to give a shit about Eric. And he's the one who gets screwed over the most in this episode. This isn't unusual for Sopranos - they brought one-episode characters a lot that were never seen before or after that episode. But it still makes the episode suffer slightly.
But this show does use this opportunity to have Meadow reflect on her life of luxury benefiting from the pain of others. This was still back in the day when Meadow seemingly had a conscience. It's pretty telling that Carmela simply ignores what Tony is saying and in fact tries to get him to stop when he says that everything he does pays for their life. So this episode has the dual effect of shining a light on Tony's activities while shining a light on the characters who it benefits.
Meanwhile, Tony and Dr. Mefli are still working out the kinks of what transpired last episode. Tony kind of wonders why he comes there to bitch and moan when before he would rather be the "Gary Cooper type." (After having finally seen a Gary Cooper movie, I got to say Tony you're more interesting) It's a natural extension to them finally getting back to therapy.
Somewhat conveniently, this also happens to be the episode where Junior tells Tony that he has a secret uncle, who was probably developmentally disabled. If the purpose of that was only for Junior reflexively defending his brother after Tony makes somewhat innocuous comments (for him at least), this storyline was worth it. Anyway, the episode was a point for nature over nurture - although clearly this show has a multitude of evidence that's it's both.
And that's pretty much all that happens. Feeble-minded Sean and Matt get to work the executive game. Silvio hilariously lashes out over Matt because he was sweeping the cheese under his feet. Chris teaches us how to steal food as well. Otherwise, not a lot happens, even for Sopranos standards.
Grade - B+
Deaths
None, except Scatino's ability to live a happy life
Surprise Guest Appearances
Frank Sinatra Jr, who I didn't recognize nor would have.
Quotes
"You want to know what I'm thinking? I'm thinking about smashing your fucking face into a fucking hamburger." - Tony to Melfi in therapy
"I stick motherfucking provolone in my socks at night so they smell like your sister's crotch in the morning." - Silvio's funniest line ever probably
"Serious? Nah, he had everybody in stitches back then." - Tony on if he uncle was developmentally disabled
"So take that high moral ground and sleep in the fucking bus station if you want."
"That's a lucky break. I wonder what happened?" - Oh Carmela, your ignorance never ceases to amaze me
Playlist
1."The Happy Wanderer" - Frankie Yankovic (from this episode)
2. "Drowning" - Banks
3. "Sheila" - Jaime T
4. "Long Cool Woman in a Black Dress" - The Hollies
5. "Suicidal Thoughts" - Notorious BIG
Past Episodes
Big Girls Don't CryNever get into business with Tony Soprano. He's like a disease, infecting all people who come into significant contact with him. David Scatino, charmed by the Tony who he sees at parent-teacher conferences, learned that the hard way. There's a certain reflective quality in these scenes. You start to be convinced Tony's not that bad of a guy and is a product of his environment. And then you see how he earns his money.
Scatino, played by Robert Patrick, is very clearly a compulsive gambler early on. He finds out Tony took control of the executive game from Junior and wants in. He's already a regular player in Richie Aprile's games. He did poorly and borrowed money from someone you shouldn't borrow money with. Of course, him being a compulsive gambler, he decided the best way to get that money back... is to keep gambling.
Now, I don't know how the Sopranos figured out what he owed them - clearly it's interest of some sort exponentially rising with each passing week. I like the moment when Richie scoffs at Scatino trying to bullshit his way into another game. Richie may be impulsive and greedy, but he knows his business. And really he's right in this episode. He lent money out, he needs to get it back so he shuts off the receiver, and then another party comes in and Richie won't be getting his money for a while.
Scatino stupidly comes to the executive game and Tony lets him play after little prodding. He gives him a starting amount of money to be able to play in the executive game. And he starts off well it sounds like. But he can't quit while he's ahead and gets even farther in the hole than he was before. By the end of the episode, he's given up his son's car.
If there's a weakness to this episode, it's Meadow and Eric's sudden friendship. It's a little difficult to give a shit about Eric. And he's the one who gets screwed over the most in this episode. This isn't unusual for Sopranos - they brought one-episode characters a lot that were never seen before or after that episode. But it still makes the episode suffer slightly.
But this show does use this opportunity to have Meadow reflect on her life of luxury benefiting from the pain of others. This was still back in the day when Meadow seemingly had a conscience. It's pretty telling that Carmela simply ignores what Tony is saying and in fact tries to get him to stop when he says that everything he does pays for their life. So this episode has the dual effect of shining a light on Tony's activities while shining a light on the characters who it benefits.
Meanwhile, Tony and Dr. Mefli are still working out the kinks of what transpired last episode. Tony kind of wonders why he comes there to bitch and moan when before he would rather be the "Gary Cooper type." (After having finally seen a Gary Cooper movie, I got to say Tony you're more interesting) It's a natural extension to them finally getting back to therapy.
Somewhat conveniently, this also happens to be the episode where Junior tells Tony that he has a secret uncle, who was probably developmentally disabled. If the purpose of that was only for Junior reflexively defending his brother after Tony makes somewhat innocuous comments (for him at least), this storyline was worth it. Anyway, the episode was a point for nature over nurture - although clearly this show has a multitude of evidence that's it's both.
And that's pretty much all that happens. Feeble-minded Sean and Matt get to work the executive game. Silvio hilariously lashes out over Matt because he was sweeping the cheese under his feet. Chris teaches us how to steal food as well. Otherwise, not a lot happens, even for Sopranos standards.
Grade - B+
Deaths
None, except Scatino's ability to live a happy life
Surprise Guest Appearances
Frank Sinatra Jr, who I didn't recognize nor would have.
Quotes
"You want to know what I'm thinking? I'm thinking about smashing your fucking face into a fucking hamburger." - Tony to Melfi in therapy
"I stick motherfucking provolone in my socks at night so they smell like your sister's crotch in the morning." - Silvio's funniest line ever probably
"Serious? Nah, he had everybody in stitches back then." - Tony on if he uncle was developmentally disabled
"So take that high moral ground and sleep in the fucking bus station if you want."
"That's a lucky break. I wonder what happened?" - Oh Carmela, your ignorance never ceases to amaze me
Playlist
1."The Happy Wanderer" - Frankie Yankovic (from this episode)
2. "Drowning" - Banks
3. "Sheila" - Jaime T
4. "Long Cool Woman in a Black Dress" - The Hollies
5. "Suicidal Thoughts" - Notorious BIG
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