I keep flip-flopping on the finale of Breaking Bad - if it slightly diminished the series or if it was brilliant in giving the audience all possible endings. I don't know if I'll ever truly make up my mind on it, but I'll never fully embrace it the way I did immediately after the episode. That episode provided me with a state of instant gratification, but it's best if you don't think about it too much.
There's a few schools of thought on the finale, one of which makes the most sense to me and for this series. In a series where just about nothing went as planned - with a few exceptions - everything goes to plan for Walter because he finally accepted the evil monster he is. He's accepted he's a terrible person who did all he did for himself. Once he came to that understanding, he could fully embrace his Heisenberg persona. That's one theory. He could never get his plans to come to fruition because he kept lying to himself. (Another is that he died in the cabin and the finale was his dream - because literally every fucking thing went right and his plan was incredibly improbable)
It's ironic I think. Vince Gilligan wanted to tie up all loose ends and yet here I am pondering the finale as if it hadn't. But then again, I don't think this series could have really just ended on Granite State - Jesse perpetually a slave to Neo Nazis isn't exactly a thing I wanted. And really, the ending wasn't a happy ending at all when you put it in perspective. Walt gets his version of a happy ending, but Jesse's life will suck, his family is deserted, and there's no guarantee that Flynn will accept the money (which even he would recognize as fishy) or that Skylar's legal problems are finished.
That's enough about the finale. Let's talk about the series and it's place in history. Here I will confess that before the finale aired, I planned to write about how Breaking Bad is the best series ever. Now, the finale didn't change my mind about it, I just thought more deeply about it and realized that doing that would be a mistake. First, I'd suffer from recency bias and secondly, if I'm going to proclaim something like that, I better be sure about it. Well, I'm far from sure.
For now, my publicly declared greatest series ever will remain The Wire. I'm finishing up The Sopranos - safely in my Top 5 - and still need to watch Deadwood and The Shield. Honestly, I probably shouldn't declare a greatest series ever until I finish those three shows. The only reason I'm even doing it is because I'm very skeptical any show can surpass The Wire. So skeptical in fact that I feel reasonably comfortable declaring it my greatest series. (Mad Men is widely considered to be among these shows; I've seen four seasons and I just don't think it's on the same level unfortunately. Alas, that's for another post)
I'm going to self-impose a waiting period of a year to re-asses Breaking Bad and see where I place it then. Right now, it's definitely benefiting from a recency bias. I remember almost every detail of the show from the past five seasons (I watched the entire series before this last season in less than three weeks). Considering the emphasis placed on detail in Breaking Bad, this would tend to positively influence my perception. Although, I do think the finale did more harm than good in my overall view of the series.
I will say this: In my personal ranking of TV shows - I don't have an official list because like I said I lack some shows that are considered - Breaking Bad is safely a Top 5 show of all time. I consider it behind The Wire, but for now at least, I have it above The Sopranos.
Breaking Bad did do something that no other television show did. It made a seemingly sympathetic, good man into an evil monster. To use the cliche, it turned Mr. Chips into Scarface. Now, The Shield fans, I unfortunately know a spoiler about that show - just for the pilot though. I know (SPOILER FOR PEOPLE WHO HAVEN'T SEEN THE SHIELD - ALSO CORRECT ME IF I'M WRONG HERE) that the main character kills another cop and that decision leads him down a road similar to Walter White's. Here's the difference. That cop clearly wasn't already Mr. Chips. When you decide to kill another cop - no matter how bad that cop is, you clearly aren't a seemingly sympathetic good man.
Now the original picture of Walter White wasn't completely accurate as the details on his past are revealed, but being a pride-driven man hardly makes you a bad person. What made Walt a bad person was a series of dangerously self-rationalizing decisions that kept escalating and he kept rationalizing until he was stuck in a cabin alone with his thoughts and he realized what he became and he was ok with what he became. So Breaking Bad managed to do that which I'm fairly certain The Shield couldn't have done, because he killed a cop in the first episode thus making him not really a good person. (SPOILERS FOR PEOPLE WHO HAVEN'T SEEN THE SHIELD STOPPED).
Unfortunately, Gilligan's insistence on closing every plot thread hurt the series more than it helped it. For instance, we sort of got a farewell sequence to Skinny Pete and Badger, but it made absolutely no fucking sense for them to be the ones Walt hired. That was pure fan service. I don't want ambiguity in my finales or anything, but you don't need to close EVERY plot point. Doing so makes it feel like the writers are manipulating events, not like it's an organic plot development - something the series successfully did in the series.
Anyway, I don't think Breaking Bad is the greatest series of all-time. If I had to guess, one of the three shows I still have yet to finish will end up surpassing Breaking Bad too. I feel pretty confident in saying Breaking Bad will end up as my #3 greatest series of all time. I think it's place as a consensus top five show of all time is pretty safe as well.
Sorry if that's not exactly a definitive answer, but the answer to this question is definitive. The important thing to remember is that this was one of the best series of all time and I enjoyed the ride.
I set up a poll. I want to know where you think Breaking Bad should be all-time. (The poll is to the right of this post >>>>>>>)
Playlist (Best of Breaking Bad Season 5 Part 2)
1. "Where is Santa Claus?" - Mr. & Mrs. Yellowman
2. "Oh Sherri" - Steve Perry
3. "She's Blinded Me With Science" - Thomas Dolby (Todd's ringtone)
4. "Take My True Love" - The Limeliters
5. "El Paso" - Marty Robbins
6. "Baby Blue" - Badfinger
Sunday, October 6, 2013
Thursday, October 3, 2013
Pilots Part 3
The Crazy Ones (Thu., CBS, 8:00 CT)
For better or worse, this show is Robin Williams at his most Robin Williamsy. I'd argue for worse, because his fast-paced rambling isn't remarkably funny and it's certainly a little old by now. Also, in the first episode already, there's blatant product placement with a story revolving around McDonald's and a "big" guest appearance from Kelly Clarkson that is almost entirely pointless and unfunny. (Does even the concept of Kelly Clarkson wanting to sing a sex song in a McDonald's commercial song sound funny at all to you?)
Williams is Williams and Sarah Michelle Gellar is competent. The supporting players are pretty broad humor-wise. There's Zachary who apparently sleeps with a lot of girls. Then there's the clueless assistant who flashed the McDonald's execs and allowed Williams to smell her hair to motivate him. Yeah, to say the least, they are thinly veiled characters.
If shallow characters, obvious product placement, and a guest star appearance whose only purpose is to showcase her vocal ability and to collect a paycheck appeal to you, then this is the show for you. Apparently, 15 million people watched this premiere - I don't think it really looked good in commercials either - which is immensely depressing to me.
Verdict - Unless you're a huge Robin Williams fan - of his comedy specifically - I'd avoid it.
Back in the Game (Wed., ABC, 7:30 pm)
To my complete surprise, I liked this pilot - with some serious reservations. It's the kind of pilot where I inexplicably liked it yet I know that there's basically no way that the show will be any good. There are big red warning signs that are surmounted past in this one episode thanks to... sheer luck? I don't know.
Maggie Lawson is charming as a single mother, recently divorced and forced to live with her alcoholic, uncaring father. James Caan plays him, which is depressing, but also probably why I liked it. Unfortunately, he plays an asshole who doesn't appear to have any redeeming qualities - he DID watch every one of his daughter's baseball games - but that's just about the only good thing about him.
The side characters is where the show really shows why it won't continue being a decent show. The fathers (or villains) are caricatures - there's not even an attempt to show them as human beings. They are delusional sexists who make fun of little kids. The kids who are on the "bad" baseball team - they are also caricatures - outrageously unrealistic one-note kids.
Verdict: I liked the three leads, but really the show's portrayal of anyone else is so mind-numbingly bad that there's no way this will be a good show.
The Millers (Thu., CBS, 7:30 pm)
Arrested Development, Running Wilde, The Increasingly Poor Decisions of Todd Margaret, Up All Night: What do they all have in common? It's a cancelled Will Arnett sitcom. He's like cancer to a sitcom's chances. This show has a good shot, because it follows the The Big Bang Theory, but it's also probably the worst of his five shows. (I've only not seen Up All Night)
The cast is magnificent. I'm not kidding when I say I liked everybody who was prominently featured. The aforementioned Arnett, Margo Martindale (The Americans), Beau Bridges, J.B. Smoove, Jayma Mays, and Nelson Franklin (unknown, but I loved him on New Girl) were in the pilot. Unfortunately, more jokes than not miss and for some reason, the laugh track hasn't died yet.
The premise is that Arnett's character got divorced, he keeps it from his parents (does this happen?) for three months, and then when his parents find out he's divorced, they split up themselves. Because they only stayed together to not set a bad example or something. The actors did the best they could, but the material is just not there. I may watch to see if they are maximize their cast, but I am skeptical.
Verdict: Unless you're really looking for a new show or love Will Arnett and want him to succeed, this show can easily be skipped.
Updated Thoughts on New Shows
Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.
The second episode and some digging on the people involved with this show have made me come to an unfortunate realization. The second episode was merely serviceable. That's fine except for the fact that I kind of want to watch shows that qualify as better than "serviceable" given the options I have. Hell, I'd rather re-watch Friday Night Lights or Buffy than watch a serviceable show for the first time.
I'm not quite giving up on this show, but I need to shorten my leash with shows like this. I have a limited amount of time and if I watched every mediocre show, I'd be losing the opportunity to watch shows like Deadwood or The Sopranos. I'll give it a few more episodes.
With that said, make no mistake, this is not a Joss Whedon show. Last week's pilot was co-written by Whedon and directed by him, but post-pilot, he's basically not involved. This show is like a lesser imitator of Whedon. Almost everyone involved has extensive experience working on Whedon shows. The co-creators with Whedon - Maurissa Tancharoen and Jed Whedon - worked with Whedon on Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along-Blog and Dollhouse. No offense to those two projects, but Buffy, Angel, and Firefly are all significantly better (Given what I've heard about Dollhouse at least.)
Then, the only other writer involved in the four episodes available on IMDB are to Jeffrey Bell, who wrote on Angel and was the head writer for a time.* But he was the head writer on Season 4, which was the worst season behind Season 1. This show is kind of seemingly like Whedon at his worst. Whedon at his worst is mediocre. All I'm saying is this show has the tag of a Whedon show, but it's actually a Whedon knock-off.
*Knowing the behind-the scenes for Angel's fourth season makes sense of why that show lost its way for a little. Whedon was pretty busy with two other shows. Talented writer Tim Minear wrote just one episode in that season and David Greenwalt - co-creator - left the show after the third season. The man who was supposed to become head writer left due to creative differences. That's a whole lot of change.
Brooklyn Nine-Nine
They seemed to have built strongly off the pilot with pretty good episodes. Most importantly, the characters are people I want to hang out with on a weekly basis and it has its fair share of laughs. It isn't a great comedy yet, but it is just oozing with potential. The first three episodes have earned enough goodwill for me that I will watch the rest of the season barring an immense drop in quality. If and when it ever reaches that potential, I'll make sure to be there to see it.
The Blacklist
I think my original plan was to watch more than just the pilot, but I have absolutely no desire to watch any more episodes when it came time to pull the trigger. Sleepy Hollow provides me with my improbably stupid show, but does it ten times better.
Trophy Wife
The second episode was pleasant with some mild laughs. I really like Malin Akerman in this role and all of the characters are likable and smart. Bradley Whitford plays the sort of cool, relaxed dad that I wish I had. I'm going to continue watching and hope it hits its stride soon.
Playlist
1. The Keepers - Santigold
2. Soapbox - Cyne
3. No Way Down - The Shins
4. The Way - Fastball
5. Get By - Talib Kweli
For better or worse, this show is Robin Williams at his most Robin Williamsy. I'd argue for worse, because his fast-paced rambling isn't remarkably funny and it's certainly a little old by now. Also, in the first episode already, there's blatant product placement with a story revolving around McDonald's and a "big" guest appearance from Kelly Clarkson that is almost entirely pointless and unfunny. (Does even the concept of Kelly Clarkson wanting to sing a sex song in a McDonald's commercial song sound funny at all to you?)
Williams is Williams and Sarah Michelle Gellar is competent. The supporting players are pretty broad humor-wise. There's Zachary who apparently sleeps with a lot of girls. Then there's the clueless assistant who flashed the McDonald's execs and allowed Williams to smell her hair to motivate him. Yeah, to say the least, they are thinly veiled characters.
If shallow characters, obvious product placement, and a guest star appearance whose only purpose is to showcase her vocal ability and to collect a paycheck appeal to you, then this is the show for you. Apparently, 15 million people watched this premiere - I don't think it really looked good in commercials either - which is immensely depressing to me.
Verdict - Unless you're a huge Robin Williams fan - of his comedy specifically - I'd avoid it.
Back in the Game (Wed., ABC, 7:30 pm)
To my complete surprise, I liked this pilot - with some serious reservations. It's the kind of pilot where I inexplicably liked it yet I know that there's basically no way that the show will be any good. There are big red warning signs that are surmounted past in this one episode thanks to... sheer luck? I don't know.
Maggie Lawson is charming as a single mother, recently divorced and forced to live with her alcoholic, uncaring father. James Caan plays him, which is depressing, but also probably why I liked it. Unfortunately, he plays an asshole who doesn't appear to have any redeeming qualities - he DID watch every one of his daughter's baseball games - but that's just about the only good thing about him.
The side characters is where the show really shows why it won't continue being a decent show. The fathers (or villains) are caricatures - there's not even an attempt to show them as human beings. They are delusional sexists who make fun of little kids. The kids who are on the "bad" baseball team - they are also caricatures - outrageously unrealistic one-note kids.
Verdict: I liked the three leads, but really the show's portrayal of anyone else is so mind-numbingly bad that there's no way this will be a good show.
The Millers (Thu., CBS, 7:30 pm)
Arrested Development, Running Wilde, The Increasingly Poor Decisions of Todd Margaret, Up All Night: What do they all have in common? It's a cancelled Will Arnett sitcom. He's like cancer to a sitcom's chances. This show has a good shot, because it follows the The Big Bang Theory, but it's also probably the worst of his five shows. (I've only not seen Up All Night)
The cast is magnificent. I'm not kidding when I say I liked everybody who was prominently featured. The aforementioned Arnett, Margo Martindale (The Americans), Beau Bridges, J.B. Smoove, Jayma Mays, and Nelson Franklin (unknown, but I loved him on New Girl) were in the pilot. Unfortunately, more jokes than not miss and for some reason, the laugh track hasn't died yet.
The premise is that Arnett's character got divorced, he keeps it from his parents (does this happen?) for three months, and then when his parents find out he's divorced, they split up themselves. Because they only stayed together to not set a bad example or something. The actors did the best they could, but the material is just not there. I may watch to see if they are maximize their cast, but I am skeptical.
Verdict: Unless you're really looking for a new show or love Will Arnett and want him to succeed, this show can easily be skipped.
Updated Thoughts on New Shows
Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.
The second episode and some digging on the people involved with this show have made me come to an unfortunate realization. The second episode was merely serviceable. That's fine except for the fact that I kind of want to watch shows that qualify as better than "serviceable" given the options I have. Hell, I'd rather re-watch Friday Night Lights or Buffy than watch a serviceable show for the first time.
I'm not quite giving up on this show, but I need to shorten my leash with shows like this. I have a limited amount of time and if I watched every mediocre show, I'd be losing the opportunity to watch shows like Deadwood or The Sopranos. I'll give it a few more episodes.
With that said, make no mistake, this is not a Joss Whedon show. Last week's pilot was co-written by Whedon and directed by him, but post-pilot, he's basically not involved. This show is like a lesser imitator of Whedon. Almost everyone involved has extensive experience working on Whedon shows. The co-creators with Whedon - Maurissa Tancharoen and Jed Whedon - worked with Whedon on Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along-Blog and Dollhouse. No offense to those two projects, but Buffy, Angel, and Firefly are all significantly better (Given what I've heard about Dollhouse at least.)
Then, the only other writer involved in the four episodes available on IMDB are to Jeffrey Bell, who wrote on Angel and was the head writer for a time.* But he was the head writer on Season 4, which was the worst season behind Season 1. This show is kind of seemingly like Whedon at his worst. Whedon at his worst is mediocre. All I'm saying is this show has the tag of a Whedon show, but it's actually a Whedon knock-off.
*Knowing the behind-the scenes for Angel's fourth season makes sense of why that show lost its way for a little. Whedon was pretty busy with two other shows. Talented writer Tim Minear wrote just one episode in that season and David Greenwalt - co-creator - left the show after the third season. The man who was supposed to become head writer left due to creative differences. That's a whole lot of change.
Brooklyn Nine-Nine
They seemed to have built strongly off the pilot with pretty good episodes. Most importantly, the characters are people I want to hang out with on a weekly basis and it has its fair share of laughs. It isn't a great comedy yet, but it is just oozing with potential. The first three episodes have earned enough goodwill for me that I will watch the rest of the season barring an immense drop in quality. If and when it ever reaches that potential, I'll make sure to be there to see it.
The Blacklist
I think my original plan was to watch more than just the pilot, but I have absolutely no desire to watch any more episodes when it came time to pull the trigger. Sleepy Hollow provides me with my improbably stupid show, but does it ten times better.
Trophy Wife
The second episode was pleasant with some mild laughs. I really like Malin Akerman in this role and all of the characters are likable and smart. Bradley Whitford plays the sort of cool, relaxed dad that I wish I had. I'm going to continue watching and hope it hits its stride soon.
Playlist
1. The Keepers - Santigold
2. Soapbox - Cyne
3. No Way Down - The Shins
4. The Way - Fastball
5. Get By - Talib Kweli
Sunday, September 29, 2013
Breaking Bad: "Felina"
It's over guys. It's really over. There's no more new episodes of Breaking Bad. That finale definitely sent the series out in a high note. For the fans of Breaking Bad who love Heisenberg the badass, this was the finale for you. In the end, Walter White wins.
I'll take you back a few seasons: Remember when Walt's family held an intervention to get Walt to take treatment for his cancer. Even though Walt eventually relented, he said he didn't want to take treatment. He wanted to make his own decisions for once. He wanted control. And that's really what this has all been about for Walt.
Well, Walt controlled his own destiny. He mapped out his death so the cancer couldn't take him and neither could the cops. He made sure his family would get the money in a brilliant ploy. Shame on us for thinking he wouldn't find a way to get the money to his family. Vince Gilligan and his team of writers managed to have their cake and eat it too: Walt would lose everything, but he also wins.
I'm a little frustrated because I don't see how Walt managed to get the ricin into Lydia's tea. I think internet fanboys will closely examine and figure out a way - or Talking Bad will tell us. But from what I saw, I couldn't figure out a window. That's a little annoying unless I can go back and see the moment. (Update: I'm an idiot. It was in the Stevia. Still, a little too convenient that she goes to same place, same table at 10 a.m. every day for my liking. Whatever, small complaint)
Other than that, Walt got to make his rounds and say his goodbyes to who he wanted and his fuck yous to who he wanted. He goes back to Gretchen and Elliot and I assumed - as I'm guessing most viewers did - that he was going to go on a murdering spree and start with those two. But Walt's more calculating than that.
His meeting with Gretchen and Elliot also served another purpose. He showed them how much money he made to them. He "earned" it. He's showing them how he achieved the same type of success as they did. Granted, he kind of ruined his life while earning it, but he did do that.
Then he goes to say goodbye to Skylar. As that conversation with Marie dragged on for a little too long, I became all too aware that Walt was already in it. I suspect most people were. That scene perhaps worked less for me because I completely expected that unfortunately. That's not to say I need to have every scene be unexpected, but it was played sort of for shock value and it didn't "shock" so it didn't work.
He also says goodbye to Holly. He gives his wife his final gift, a free pass out of the court proceedings - at least presumably. He can't say goodbye to Junior unfortunately, because he's being closely guarded. But he does get a last look at him - I don't think Junior would be as forgiving as Skylar because he's not as morally compromised.
So I guess Walt kind of does free Jesse after all? Haha, well that's funny how that worked out. He went on a suicide mission so that other people wouldn't take credit for his work. He originally planned to kill Jesse too I'm guessing. But when he found out that Jesse probably already paid for his crimes by being a slave, he saved him by jumping on top of him and taking a bullet to the side.
Side note: people who thought the ricin was for Walt? Really guys? Walt's not exactly the type of person who would kill himself. He's especially not the person who would give himself a poison that would slowly kill him in the process. Gunshot to the head? That's the way to go, not ricin.
When Walt asks Jesse to kill him, you could read it two ways. He didn't really want Jesse to kill him. He wanted Jesse to decide to not kill him in fact. Or he could have wanted Jesse to kill him for all the shit he's put Jesse through. I'm not sure which. I think it's the former though.
Thank you Vince Gilligan for giving Lydia and Todd the deaths they so richly deserve. Jesse gets to enact revenge on Todd, who is one of the worst people on any TV show I've seen. Emotionless bastard. Thank you for giving Lydia, so willing to let other people kill, but so unwilling to see it for herself, the death she deserves. A slow, grueling death that she learns will happen from Walt, whose murder she just ordered.
Jesse gets to go live in Alaska and live with his crimes and be thankful he's alive. He'll probably go check on Brock and see if he's alright, but otherwise he is probably getting as far away from ABQ as he possibly can. Who knows what he'll do with his life, but it won't involve meth! Jesse gets a happy ending!
So Walter White, person who says he's done it all for his family all along, finally admits to Skylar that he did it for himself. Well done, Walt. Well freaking done. You stopped rationalizing. Finally. That was the scene that made me love this finale. Walter White grew as a person while also killing like 10 people. But hey that's Breaking Bad for ya!
In the end, Walter White wins. Last episode could have been the finale as well where he lost. But this was the episode for Walt fans. I'm not really a Walt fan, but I don't object to this finale. He redeemed himself enough that I feel reasonably happy he got what he wanted. He wanted evil people dead and himself dead so maybe that's why I'm happy he got it, but still....
It's over guys. It's been fun talking Breaking Bad with you. I might be talking about the series as a whole next week, but at least for episodes, this is my last episode I'm reviewing. Thanks for reading.
Top 10 Breaking Bad Episodes
In preparation for the final episode of Breaking Bad's run, I decided to write the top ten Breaking Bad episodes. To be clear, these are the 10 episodes I think are the best, not necessarily my favorite episodes. Most of them feature something shocking happen naturally. This was written before the finale so that episode wasn't taken into consideration, but I don't think it would find it's way on here anyway. If it would make it on this list, you can safely put Breaking Bad as my choice for the greatest series of all time. So anyway, first the honorable mention episodes.
Honorable Mention
Better Caul Saul: Season 2, Episode 8
This episode deserves worthy mention for being Saul Goodman's first and best episode to date. That's right, this is his best episode, his very first. This is the episode you should watch to prepare for the upcoming series Better Call Saul. With that said, there's also the great pre-credits sequence where Badger gets busted by the cop.
Hermanos - Season 4, Episode 8
This is really just here for Gus' flashback scene. It gives the character of Gus more development. Season 4, by the way, has by a good amount, the most episodes I considered. This scene was also important for establishing Gus' need for revenge on Hector.
End Times - Season 4, Episode 12
Spoiler alert for the rest of this list: Face Off makes the list. I consider End Times and Face Off to be kind of the same episode. So consider Face Off's position to be both End Times and Face Off. You can't really just watch the latter episode without the former otherwise it loses its value. I mean they foreshadow Lilly of the Valley in this episode.
Say My Name - Season 5, Episode 7
Better Call Saul is Saul's best episode. Unfortunately, Say My Name is Mike Ehrmantraut's best episode. At least it's Jonathan Bank's best episode. Besides that now iconic line, this episode features Jesse disillusioned with Walt, refusing to work with him anymore. "Shut the fuck up and let me die in peace." (Gilligan really does find the most appropriate deaths for the big characters)
Confessions - Season 5, Episode 11
If you don't remember, this is the episode with the table side guacamole, the video confession of Walt claiming Hank is the mastermind, and the episode with the cliffhanger where Jesse almost burns Walt's house down. Yeah, this is a pretty good episode to say the least. He also coldly tells Walt Jr. about the cancer returning so that he will stay with him instead of going to Aunt Marie's.
10. Dead Freight, Season 5, Episode 5
I realize I just named three season 5 episode in a row, but I guess that's just the way it's going. Dead Freight is one of the more fun episodes in the series - until the end at least. It's an awesome train robbery in the West. And then an important, monumental event happens in the series - Todd kills Drew Sharp, a kid who just wanted a spider. The pre-credit sequence makes the episode a lot better the second time you watch it - almost like a string of inevitable things will happen and he dies every time - sort of like what's happening to Walt over the series.
9. Sunset - Season 3, Episode 7
Breaking Bad reached a new peak with this episode - a peak they would further ascend in just the next episode. With about 20 minutes to go, Hank is at the RV with Walt and Jesse inside of it - and there's still a ton of episode left. Then they get out of it by getting Saul's assistant to call Hank and claim she was at the hospital. It's cruel and it leads to Hank beating the shit out of Jesse. It's a great and suspenseful hour of television.
8. Phoenix - Season 2, Episode 12
This is Walt's turning point from basically good man who just wants to provide for his family to a monster. You could argue that Walt saved Jesse by murdering Jane. You could argue that "Jane had it coming." (I cringe just writing that.) But you'd be wrong. He didn't let Jane die because he wanted to save Jesse. He killed Jane because she was an enormous pain in his ass and not letting him control Jesse. This episode also features what Walt proclaimed was his "perfect time to die" in a later episode.
7. Half Measures - Season 3, Episode 12
Half Measures features a lot of great scenes. The pre-credits opening scene is one of Breaking Bad's better montages featuring Wendy, a hooker, doing her thing to the song "Windy," a classic hit song by The Association. Walt tries to save Jesse by telling Gus about it. Gus tells the two drug dealers - "No more children." I think they misinterpret (or Gus is an extremely cold dude) and kill the 11-year-old Tomas. Then the ending sequence happens where Walt runs over the dealers with a car, shoots one directly in the head, and says "run." Walt goes on to ruin all his good deeds in the next episode, but hey at least he saved Jesse here.
6. Crawl Space - Season 4, Episode 11
The back half of Season 4 of Breaking Bad is the best stretch of this series ever. Every episode escalates the action. The ending was able to convey perfectly the feeling of everything closing in on Walt until he devolves to madness, laughing like a maniac. It also features the funny scene of Bill Burr and Lavell Crawford (who I fear will forever be stuck in that hotel room) getting Ted to pay the IRS already. Then Ted tries to escape and injures himself. The image of Ted in Season 5 takes away the humor in that fall a bit though.
5. Pilot - Season 1, Episode 1
For as good as the pilot was, it's kind of amazing to be able to say that there were four episodes that exceeded it. Hell, some of the episodes I have below it might technically have been better. But the pilot draws you in immediately and while Season 1 may have not been your cup of tea, I don't think anyone stopped watching BECAUSE of the pilot. It forces you to find out how this man has come to this point - in his tidy whities driving an RV with three passed out people in it.
4. Salud, Season 4 Episode 10
Jesse gets taken to Mexico to teach the cartel how to cook blue meth. Jesse straight up owns their top chemist in a scene where he skeptically dismisses Jesse. Jesse cooks 96% quality, pleasing all there. Then he finds out he needs to stay there and Mike informs Jesse that if Jesse stays, everyone is staying. So the audience is clued in that something is up - and that something comes to beautiful fruition when Gus kills the cartel using poison (If you want the music to that scene, it's called "Tidal Wave" by The Oh Sees). Walt also shares his first "real" moment with Walt Jr. after he got beat up by Jesse in "Bug."
3. Face Off - Season 4, Episode 13
Like I said above, you can't really include this episode without End Times. Walt has finally gone just about as far as you can go - poisoning a kid. You could say "Well Walt knew that kid wasn't going to die," to which I say "ARE YOU FUCKING KIDDING ME?" - Anyway, the conclusion to Gus' death is perfect, his lone weakness being his downfall. So sad to see you go Gus and I'd much rather you better Walter White than the Neo Nazis in Season 5.
2. One Minute - Season 3, Episode 7
I think this is a bit of a surprise, but I assure you this pick is for much more than just the scene where Hank survives the cousin. Hank finally just accepts his punishment and admits to his crimes. Then he goes into the elevator and Marie and Hank cry their eyes out. Hank has reached a state of acceptance and tranquility and he's finally himself for the first time since he shot Tuco. And then he gets shot four times. Dammit. Go back and watch this episode and you'll realize how damn good it is.
1. Ozymandias - Season 5, Episode 14
Maybe this is recency bias, but I think this episode goes down in the annals of TV history. Wow what an hour where the audience pretty much has everything they have been waiting for happen in a single hour. Right away, Hank dies and thank you Vince Gilligan for giving him an awesome death. (Also R.I.P. Gomie) Walt loses most of his $80 million in cash. (69 to be exact. Oh Gilligan, you dog) Walt tells Jesse about Jane which should theoretically squash any theory that Walt will save Jesse in this final episode. Jesse is held slave to the Neo Nazis, perpetually forced to cook meth. Walt and Skylar get in a knife fight. Walt steals Holly. Walt finally does one decent thing for his family, albeit laced in truths and very real hate. This hour of television is among the most heartbreaking and shocking as television can ever get.
Hopefully the finale can find its way on this list in the future and hope everyone enjoys this article as a precursor to the final episode!
Honorable Mention
Better Caul Saul: Season 2, Episode 8
This episode deserves worthy mention for being Saul Goodman's first and best episode to date. That's right, this is his best episode, his very first. This is the episode you should watch to prepare for the upcoming series Better Call Saul. With that said, there's also the great pre-credits sequence where Badger gets busted by the cop.
Hermanos - Season 4, Episode 8
This is really just here for Gus' flashback scene. It gives the character of Gus more development. Season 4, by the way, has by a good amount, the most episodes I considered. This scene was also important for establishing Gus' need for revenge on Hector.
End Times - Season 4, Episode 12
Spoiler alert for the rest of this list: Face Off makes the list. I consider End Times and Face Off to be kind of the same episode. So consider Face Off's position to be both End Times and Face Off. You can't really just watch the latter episode without the former otherwise it loses its value. I mean they foreshadow Lilly of the Valley in this episode.
Say My Name - Season 5, Episode 7
Better Call Saul is Saul's best episode. Unfortunately, Say My Name is Mike Ehrmantraut's best episode. At least it's Jonathan Bank's best episode. Besides that now iconic line, this episode features Jesse disillusioned with Walt, refusing to work with him anymore. "Shut the fuck up and let me die in peace." (Gilligan really does find the most appropriate deaths for the big characters)
Confessions - Season 5, Episode 11
If you don't remember, this is the episode with the table side guacamole, the video confession of Walt claiming Hank is the mastermind, and the episode with the cliffhanger where Jesse almost burns Walt's house down. Yeah, this is a pretty good episode to say the least. He also coldly tells Walt Jr. about the cancer returning so that he will stay with him instead of going to Aunt Marie's.
10. Dead Freight, Season 5, Episode 5
I realize I just named three season 5 episode in a row, but I guess that's just the way it's going. Dead Freight is one of the more fun episodes in the series - until the end at least. It's an awesome train robbery in the West. And then an important, monumental event happens in the series - Todd kills Drew Sharp, a kid who just wanted a spider. The pre-credit sequence makes the episode a lot better the second time you watch it - almost like a string of inevitable things will happen and he dies every time - sort of like what's happening to Walt over the series.
9. Sunset - Season 3, Episode 7
Breaking Bad reached a new peak with this episode - a peak they would further ascend in just the next episode. With about 20 minutes to go, Hank is at the RV with Walt and Jesse inside of it - and there's still a ton of episode left. Then they get out of it by getting Saul's assistant to call Hank and claim she was at the hospital. It's cruel and it leads to Hank beating the shit out of Jesse. It's a great and suspenseful hour of television.
8. Phoenix - Season 2, Episode 12
This is Walt's turning point from basically good man who just wants to provide for his family to a monster. You could argue that Walt saved Jesse by murdering Jane. You could argue that "Jane had it coming." (I cringe just writing that.) But you'd be wrong. He didn't let Jane die because he wanted to save Jesse. He killed Jane because she was an enormous pain in his ass and not letting him control Jesse. This episode also features what Walt proclaimed was his "perfect time to die" in a later episode.
7. Half Measures - Season 3, Episode 12
Half Measures features a lot of great scenes. The pre-credits opening scene is one of Breaking Bad's better montages featuring Wendy, a hooker, doing her thing to the song "Windy," a classic hit song by The Association. Walt tries to save Jesse by telling Gus about it. Gus tells the two drug dealers - "No more children." I think they misinterpret (or Gus is an extremely cold dude) and kill the 11-year-old Tomas. Then the ending sequence happens where Walt runs over the dealers with a car, shoots one directly in the head, and says "run." Walt goes on to ruin all his good deeds in the next episode, but hey at least he saved Jesse here.
6. Crawl Space - Season 4, Episode 11
The back half of Season 4 of Breaking Bad is the best stretch of this series ever. Every episode escalates the action. The ending was able to convey perfectly the feeling of everything closing in on Walt until he devolves to madness, laughing like a maniac. It also features the funny scene of Bill Burr and Lavell Crawford (who I fear will forever be stuck in that hotel room) getting Ted to pay the IRS already. Then Ted tries to escape and injures himself. The image of Ted in Season 5 takes away the humor in that fall a bit though.
5. Pilot - Season 1, Episode 1
For as good as the pilot was, it's kind of amazing to be able to say that there were four episodes that exceeded it. Hell, some of the episodes I have below it might technically have been better. But the pilot draws you in immediately and while Season 1 may have not been your cup of tea, I don't think anyone stopped watching BECAUSE of the pilot. It forces you to find out how this man has come to this point - in his tidy whities driving an RV with three passed out people in it.
4. Salud, Season 4 Episode 10
Jesse gets taken to Mexico to teach the cartel how to cook blue meth. Jesse straight up owns their top chemist in a scene where he skeptically dismisses Jesse. Jesse cooks 96% quality, pleasing all there. Then he finds out he needs to stay there and Mike informs Jesse that if Jesse stays, everyone is staying. So the audience is clued in that something is up - and that something comes to beautiful fruition when Gus kills the cartel using poison (If you want the music to that scene, it's called "Tidal Wave" by The Oh Sees). Walt also shares his first "real" moment with Walt Jr. after he got beat up by Jesse in "Bug."
3. Face Off - Season 4, Episode 13
Like I said above, you can't really include this episode without End Times. Walt has finally gone just about as far as you can go - poisoning a kid. You could say "Well Walt knew that kid wasn't going to die," to which I say "ARE YOU FUCKING KIDDING ME?" - Anyway, the conclusion to Gus' death is perfect, his lone weakness being his downfall. So sad to see you go Gus and I'd much rather you better Walter White than the Neo Nazis in Season 5.
2. One Minute - Season 3, Episode 7
I think this is a bit of a surprise, but I assure you this pick is for much more than just the scene where Hank survives the cousin. Hank finally just accepts his punishment and admits to his crimes. Then he goes into the elevator and Marie and Hank cry their eyes out. Hank has reached a state of acceptance and tranquility and he's finally himself for the first time since he shot Tuco. And then he gets shot four times. Dammit. Go back and watch this episode and you'll realize how damn good it is.
1. Ozymandias - Season 5, Episode 14
Maybe this is recency bias, but I think this episode goes down in the annals of TV history. Wow what an hour where the audience pretty much has everything they have been waiting for happen in a single hour. Right away, Hank dies and thank you Vince Gilligan for giving him an awesome death. (Also R.I.P. Gomie) Walt loses most of his $80 million in cash. (69 to be exact. Oh Gilligan, you dog) Walt tells Jesse about Jane which should theoretically squash any theory that Walt will save Jesse in this final episode. Jesse is held slave to the Neo Nazis, perpetually forced to cook meth. Walt and Skylar get in a knife fight. Walt steals Holly. Walt finally does one decent thing for his family, albeit laced in truths and very real hate. This hour of television is among the most heartbreaking and shocking as television can ever get.
Hopefully the finale can find its way on this list in the future and hope everyone enjoys this article as a precursor to the final episode!
Thursday, September 26, 2013
Pilots - Part 2
These are part timely, part shows I didn't have time to watch the first time around because I was watching other pilots. This is basically pilot week, and while some shows have their pilot earlier or later, it appears this week is the standard. These shows were a combination of wanting to actually watch the show and seeing it on Hulu so fuck it.
The Goldbergs (Tue., ABC, 8:00 p.m.)
The Goldbergs gets the likely treatment I'm giving The Crazy Ones. There is so much negative buzz that I will only watch it if it's free on the internet. Well, this show was free on the internet. And it sucks just as much as I feared.
If you like Jeff Garlin screaming, this is probably the show for you. I personally didn't find him funny at all in this show because his humor is basically just straight up screaming. Well, that's not really fair. Everybody in this show screams. Troy Gentile stood out for being particularly bad at acting as Barry Goldberg. And as unfunny.
Verdict: Never planning to watch this again and I suggest you don't even start.
Hostages (Mon., CBS, 9:00 p.m.)
There's definitely a huge concern about a show when I did not enjoy the pilot episode AND I have serious doubts about if this could be stretched out over a season much less multiple ones. (If it's a hit - and I have no idea if it will - it will definitely be multiple seasons). I was mostly bored by it though.
Dylan McDermott plays a comically over the top FBI special agent who usually helps hostages escape, but instead is holding a doctor and her family hostage. The doctor, played by Toni Collete, is the one performing a routine surgery on the president and McDermott for some reason wants to kill him. It has something to do with his sick wife, but there is no indication of how in the world those two things could possibly be related.
Each of the family members is holding a secret from the rest of the family and it's really not that interesting. I don't know if it's the writing, the acting or a combination, but I could care less about their problems. Also, this show kind of suffers from "Well there's no way they will kill anybody in the first episode" so the tension just wasn't there for me, despite the music's best efforts to tell me there was tension.
Verdict: It's kind of intriguing enough to where I will follow along to see if it's good, but not enough to where I'll watch it until I know it's good. So I most likely just watched my last episode of this series.
Lucky 7 (Tue., ABC, 9:00 p.m.)
This has an intriguing premise, although displays a message that is well-explored. A group of seven gas station employees dream of winning the lottery and play it every week. When they do win, they find out that they have just as many problems with money as they did without. That's not really a bad message, but if the show plans to just show seven people who prove that and none of the stories are about how a person's life got better, it'd come across annoying and unrealistic to me. Money doesn't solve your problems, but it's also not like it won't help you either.
The people themselves weren't terribly interesting. An ex-convict who needs to get money to pay back for his former life? Original. A future father who needs money to get his own place for his wife and kid? This could have worked if I didn't hate the wife, who basically just threatened to leave him in the episode if he didn't get money. That's a loving relationship right there.
Anyway, I really liked the scene where they showed that the members won the lottery. Some of the scenes worked, some of them didn't. But I didn't like a lot of the characters so I'm not really sure how good of a strategy that is. Or at least I'm pretty sure that wasn't the creator's intent.
Verdict: This will be cancelled soon anyway after such terrible ratings so don't bother.
The Michael J. Fox Show (Thu., NBC, 8:00)
The biggest thing that a comedy pilot needs to do is make the viewer want to see these characters again. Humor, at least at first, is kind of a secondary thing. That's why the MJF Show works for me. The show is pretty tongue-in-cheek about Fox, his Parkinson's, and other people's reactions to his Parkinson's.
Michael J. Fox plays Mike Henry, a retired news anchor with Parkinson's. But he basically plays Michael J. Fox post-disease. He's famous so a lot of people stop him on the street and tell them how somebody they know also has Parkinson's, or Alzheimer's. I really liked the pilot, but the second episode was more sitcom cliche than I would have liked.
The supporting cast is top notch. Betsy Brandt (Breaking Bad) is good as the wife. Wendell Pierce (The Wire) is basically playing Bunk in this show but as a newscaster. Of the kids, Juliette Goglia made the best impression. I guess Katie Finneran is a regular in the show, but I don't see her point really. Neither of her story lines worked and it was the least funny part of the episode for me.
Verdict: The second episode leaves me worried, but I'll watch because I see potential in the show.
Playlist
1. "A Song from Under the Floorboards" - Magazine
2. "Punching in a Dream" - The Naked and Famous
3. "X Gone Give it to Ya" - DMX
4. "Too Close" - Alex Clare
5. "Master Hunter" - Laura Marling
The Goldbergs (Tue., ABC, 8:00 p.m.)
The Goldbergs gets the likely treatment I'm giving The Crazy Ones. There is so much negative buzz that I will only watch it if it's free on the internet. Well, this show was free on the internet. And it sucks just as much as I feared.
If you like Jeff Garlin screaming, this is probably the show for you. I personally didn't find him funny at all in this show because his humor is basically just straight up screaming. Well, that's not really fair. Everybody in this show screams. Troy Gentile stood out for being particularly bad at acting as Barry Goldberg. And as unfunny.
Verdict: Never planning to watch this again and I suggest you don't even start.
Hostages (Mon., CBS, 9:00 p.m.)
There's definitely a huge concern about a show when I did not enjoy the pilot episode AND I have serious doubts about if this could be stretched out over a season much less multiple ones. (If it's a hit - and I have no idea if it will - it will definitely be multiple seasons). I was mostly bored by it though.
Dylan McDermott plays a comically over the top FBI special agent who usually helps hostages escape, but instead is holding a doctor and her family hostage. The doctor, played by Toni Collete, is the one performing a routine surgery on the president and McDermott for some reason wants to kill him. It has something to do with his sick wife, but there is no indication of how in the world those two things could possibly be related.
Each of the family members is holding a secret from the rest of the family and it's really not that interesting. I don't know if it's the writing, the acting or a combination, but I could care less about their problems. Also, this show kind of suffers from "Well there's no way they will kill anybody in the first episode" so the tension just wasn't there for me, despite the music's best efforts to tell me there was tension.
Verdict: It's kind of intriguing enough to where I will follow along to see if it's good, but not enough to where I'll watch it until I know it's good. So I most likely just watched my last episode of this series.
Lucky 7 (Tue., ABC, 9:00 p.m.)
This has an intriguing premise, although displays a message that is well-explored. A group of seven gas station employees dream of winning the lottery and play it every week. When they do win, they find out that they have just as many problems with money as they did without. That's not really a bad message, but if the show plans to just show seven people who prove that and none of the stories are about how a person's life got better, it'd come across annoying and unrealistic to me. Money doesn't solve your problems, but it's also not like it won't help you either.
The people themselves weren't terribly interesting. An ex-convict who needs to get money to pay back for his former life? Original. A future father who needs money to get his own place for his wife and kid? This could have worked if I didn't hate the wife, who basically just threatened to leave him in the episode if he didn't get money. That's a loving relationship right there.
Anyway, I really liked the scene where they showed that the members won the lottery. Some of the scenes worked, some of them didn't. But I didn't like a lot of the characters so I'm not really sure how good of a strategy that is. Or at least I'm pretty sure that wasn't the creator's intent.
Verdict: This will be cancelled soon anyway after such terrible ratings so don't bother.
The Michael J. Fox Show (Thu., NBC, 8:00)
The biggest thing that a comedy pilot needs to do is make the viewer want to see these characters again. Humor, at least at first, is kind of a secondary thing. That's why the MJF Show works for me. The show is pretty tongue-in-cheek about Fox, his Parkinson's, and other people's reactions to his Parkinson's.
Michael J. Fox plays Mike Henry, a retired news anchor with Parkinson's. But he basically plays Michael J. Fox post-disease. He's famous so a lot of people stop him on the street and tell them how somebody they know also has Parkinson's, or Alzheimer's. I really liked the pilot, but the second episode was more sitcom cliche than I would have liked.
The supporting cast is top notch. Betsy Brandt (Breaking Bad) is good as the wife. Wendell Pierce (The Wire) is basically playing Bunk in this show but as a newscaster. Of the kids, Juliette Goglia made the best impression. I guess Katie Finneran is a regular in the show, but I don't see her point really. Neither of her story lines worked and it was the least funny part of the episode for me.
Verdict: The second episode leaves me worried, but I'll watch because I see potential in the show.
Playlist
1. "A Song from Under the Floorboards" - Magazine
2. "Punching in a Dream" - The Naked and Famous
3. "X Gone Give it to Ya" - DMX
4. "Too Close" - Alex Clare
5. "Master Hunter" - Laura Marling
Tuesday, September 24, 2013
Pilots - Part 1
I watched four pilots in the past two days. My mission is to accurately describe, give my opinion on, and tell you what I think of these shows in just three paragraphs (and one verdict). The reason I chose Mom was because of its cast, The Blacklist because of James Spader, Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. for Joss Whedon, and lastly, Trophy Wife, also for its cast.
Mom (Mon., CBS, 8:30 CT)
Playlist
1. "I'll Be Doggone" - Marvin Gaye
2. "Two Princes" - Spin Doctors
3. "Sometimes" - Cam Meekins
4. "Maps" - Yeah Yeah Yeahs
5. "Illuminate" - Ab-Soul ft. Kendrick Lamar
Mom (Mon., CBS, 8:30 CT)
This show has a live studio audience that laughs when jokes aren't funny, cheers when a popular guest star appears on screen, and literally "Awwwws" when something cute happens. This show should work better, but it has the stain of a Chuck Lorre sitcom on it.
If you want to see talent wasted by poor writing, despicable human beings, and unrelatable characters, this is the show for you. Anna Faris plays the titular character, a recovering alcoholic mother who hates her own mother, Allison Janney. Faris is the only character who doesn't seem like a terrible person, excluding the kids because they don't really count.
Anyway, French Stewart appears as a somewhat funny Chef who would by no means be employed in real life due to health codes. There's Nathan Corddry, who plays Faris' manager and lover. He's also married. But it's cool because his wife is bitch. But he can't divorce her because her dad owns the restaurant. This is the kind of stuff the show comes up with. Anyway, this is one of those shows where the audience will wonder why Faris chooses to put up with her mother's shit and for this episode at least, the answer is that her daughter improbably wants her mother - who she hates - to talk to her grandmother - who is all of the worst qualities of her mother magnified.
Verdict: This is likes Dads, but inoffensive and slightly funnier. Don't watch. Much better comedies exist.
The Blacklist (NBC, 9:00 CT)
The Blacklist had an interesting, yet troublesome start to begin its series. The amount of improbabilities that happen in this one episode is a little too high for my liking. The writing is mostly predictable when it's supposed to be shocking.
James Spader plays Raymond Reddington, a criminal's criminal who willfully lets himself get caught. It's not hard to figure out why he gets caught. He wants to spend more time with his daughter, fresh-faced agent Elizabeth Keen. That's kind of a spoiler, but it's kind of not. For one, we don't really know if that's true yet. For another, they telegraphed that she was his daughter so blatantly and obviously that they might as well had a neon sign in the background that pointed to Keen and said "THIS IS REDDINGTON'S DAUGHTER."
Spader obviously steals the show as he elevates the material above what it actually is. I don't know if this is a good show or not, but I'm guessing Spader will hide how bad it is for a long time before I figure it out. Or the writers will figure out what they want and just do a better job. Either way, I'll be watching with a similar type of quick hook I had with The Following last year. Points in this favor are that it's much better than The Following was. (I gave up on that show after two episodes so faint praise)
Verdict:Watch it for James Spader; Can't guarantee quality.
Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D (Tue, ABC, 7:00 CT)
The triumvirate of Joss Whedon, Jed Whedon, and Maurissa Tancharoen has created a slick show of basically awesome spies. The pilot was more style than substance as the only fleshed out character was Mike Peterson, an undiscovered superhero. The rest are introductions, explosions, impossible technology, and a lot of exposition.
Clark Gregg is the marquee name as Agent Coulson. That feels odd just saying that. I don't think it's a spoiler to say that he apparently faked his own death to motivate the superheroes in The Avengers. (Don't worry: That death rang kind of hollow anyway since nobody in the audience likely gave a shit about him). The next most famous person is Ming-Na Wen, who played Mulan and was a long-running character on ER. The rest of the characters are relative unknowns and, with the notable exception of Chloe Bennett as Skye, make little impression in the pilot.
Angels fans will appreciate J. August Richards in the pilot as Peterson and Firefly fans will appreciate Ron Glass. While Whedon's influence on this show will probably be minimal, either his impact was high in the episode or his impact on his fellow creators has been high. In this episode at least, this was clearly a Joss Whedon show as the dialogue is snappy and original. Also, he subverts your expectations and I was surprised three times in the pilot. The pilot shows promise. Hopefully, they can build off that.
Verdict: Watch the pilot. Approach the series with a heavy dose of skepticism that Agent Coulson and four actors who could be mistaken as characters on a CW show - I don't mean that as a compliment either.
Trophy Wife (ABC, Tue, 8:30 CT)
Trophy Wife had a fast-moving, character-laden pilot that's kind of a lovely mess. Bradley Whitford plays Pete, a twice-divorced newly married family man with three smart, manipulative kids. His new wife, Kate played by Malin Akerman, is much younger than he is. I hope they explore why they are together in future episodes.
Whitford's first divorce with Diane (Marcia Gay Harden) produced two surprisingly likable and well-acted kids who are NOT mad at their dad for marrying a new mom. Akerman gets a head start in earning the affection of Hilary, played by newcomer Gianna LePera, in a funny sequence in this episode. The other kid is played by veteran actor, Ryan Lee, who despite being born in 1996, has appeared in 35 titles according to IMDB. (Such as Super 8 and This is 40)
Whitford's second divorce with Jackie (Michaela Watkins) produced a lone, adopted Asian kid, Bert. He cons his babysitter in the the pilot and is the most memorable kid of the three. The pilot managed to interject everyone of these characters in the plot, which is why it's kind of a mess. But it's a carefully plotted, well-written mess.
Verdict: Definitely watch - All-Star cast, good writing, and an impossibly endless supply of ideas that could come from this premise.
Anyway, French Stewart appears as a somewhat funny Chef who would by no means be employed in real life due to health codes. There's Nathan Corddry, who plays Faris' manager and lover. He's also married. But it's cool because his wife is bitch. But he can't divorce her because her dad owns the restaurant. This is the kind of stuff the show comes up with. Anyway, this is one of those shows where the audience will wonder why Faris chooses to put up with her mother's shit and for this episode at least, the answer is that her daughter improbably wants her mother - who she hates - to talk to her grandmother - who is all of the worst qualities of her mother magnified.
Verdict: This is likes Dads, but inoffensive and slightly funnier. Don't watch. Much better comedies exist.
The Blacklist (NBC, 9:00 CT)
The Blacklist had an interesting, yet troublesome start to begin its series. The amount of improbabilities that happen in this one episode is a little too high for my liking. The writing is mostly predictable when it's supposed to be shocking.
James Spader plays Raymond Reddington, a criminal's criminal who willfully lets himself get caught. It's not hard to figure out why he gets caught. He wants to spend more time with his daughter, fresh-faced agent Elizabeth Keen. That's kind of a spoiler, but it's kind of not. For one, we don't really know if that's true yet. For another, they telegraphed that she was his daughter so blatantly and obviously that they might as well had a neon sign in the background that pointed to Keen and said "THIS IS REDDINGTON'S DAUGHTER."
Spader obviously steals the show as he elevates the material above what it actually is. I don't know if this is a good show or not, but I'm guessing Spader will hide how bad it is for a long time before I figure it out. Or the writers will figure out what they want and just do a better job. Either way, I'll be watching with a similar type of quick hook I had with The Following last year. Points in this favor are that it's much better than The Following was. (I gave up on that show after two episodes so faint praise)
Verdict:Watch it for James Spader; Can't guarantee quality.
Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D (Tue, ABC, 7:00 CT)
The triumvirate of Joss Whedon, Jed Whedon, and Maurissa Tancharoen has created a slick show of basically awesome spies. The pilot was more style than substance as the only fleshed out character was Mike Peterson, an undiscovered superhero. The rest are introductions, explosions, impossible technology, and a lot of exposition.
Clark Gregg is the marquee name as Agent Coulson. That feels odd just saying that. I don't think it's a spoiler to say that he apparently faked his own death to motivate the superheroes in The Avengers. (Don't worry: That death rang kind of hollow anyway since nobody in the audience likely gave a shit about him). The next most famous person is Ming-Na Wen, who played Mulan and was a long-running character on ER. The rest of the characters are relative unknowns and, with the notable exception of Chloe Bennett as Skye, make little impression in the pilot.
Angels fans will appreciate J. August Richards in the pilot as Peterson and Firefly fans will appreciate Ron Glass. While Whedon's influence on this show will probably be minimal, either his impact was high in the episode or his impact on his fellow creators has been high. In this episode at least, this was clearly a Joss Whedon show as the dialogue is snappy and original. Also, he subverts your expectations and I was surprised three times in the pilot. The pilot shows promise. Hopefully, they can build off that.
Verdict: Watch the pilot. Approach the series with a heavy dose of skepticism that Agent Coulson and four actors who could be mistaken as characters on a CW show - I don't mean that as a compliment either.
Trophy Wife (ABC, Tue, 8:30 CT)
Trophy Wife had a fast-moving, character-laden pilot that's kind of a lovely mess. Bradley Whitford plays Pete, a twice-divorced newly married family man with three smart, manipulative kids. His new wife, Kate played by Malin Akerman, is much younger than he is. I hope they explore why they are together in future episodes.
Whitford's first divorce with Diane (Marcia Gay Harden) produced two surprisingly likable and well-acted kids who are NOT mad at their dad for marrying a new mom. Akerman gets a head start in earning the affection of Hilary, played by newcomer Gianna LePera, in a funny sequence in this episode. The other kid is played by veteran actor, Ryan Lee, who despite being born in 1996, has appeared in 35 titles according to IMDB. (Such as Super 8 and This is 40)
Whitford's second divorce with Jackie (Michaela Watkins) produced a lone, adopted Asian kid, Bert. He cons his babysitter in the the pilot and is the most memorable kid of the three. The pilot managed to interject everyone of these characters in the plot, which is why it's kind of a mess. But it's a carefully plotted, well-written mess.
Verdict: Definitely watch - All-Star cast, good writing, and an impossibly endless supply of ideas that could come from this premise.
Playlist
1. "I'll Be Doggone" - Marvin Gaye
2. "Two Princes" - Spin Doctors
3. "Sometimes" - Cam Meekins
4. "Maps" - Yeah Yeah Yeahs
5. "Illuminate" - Ab-Soul ft. Kendrick Lamar
Sunday, September 22, 2013
Breaking Bad: "Granite State"
75 minutes left until Breaking Bad is officially over. And from my perspective, they will need all 75 minutes of it, because I don't know how they'll wrap this series up in that short amount of time, especially given Breaking Bad's usual pace. I don't doubt they will and I don't doubt that it will end up being perfectly paced, but it's just hard to see right now.
This episode scaled down a little - to say the least - from last episode. It's a piece-mover for the end of the series really. This was still good television, it just kind of seems like it was almost like the premiere of a new season. You're not really judging it yet because almost everything in the episode will pay off later.
But then again, a few things happen that are shocking still. I liked how they did the opener, defying our expectations a bit. First of all, Robert Forster is the vacuum repair man! And it's a real shop! Saul understandably wants to get out of town and that will be the last we will see of Saul in this series I think. That was a nice way to tie up his story while also still making sure to keep it relevant.
Walt has fallen far. He deserves every bit of it and I'll speak more on that later - just for you people who somehow are still on Team Walt. He tries to intimidate Saul to get him to stay with him, but Saul's had enough of his shit. Sure, Walt pathetically having a coughing fit probably didn't hurt. But it shows just how powerless Walt is now.
Meanwhile, Jesse.. oh Jesse. That small slimmer of hope that Jesse would escape vanished this episode. It makes sense that the Aryan Brotherhood would have cameras and have other means of making sure Jesse won't escape. But they need to make sure Jesse won't even attempt to escape anymore and they kill Andrea. This was actually kind of necessary for the time skip because it would help explain why Jesse would never escape. He wouldn't even risk Brock getting killed. He has a soft spot for children.
Todd somehow amps up his creepiness. Man, is he a creepy fuck. First of all, after breaking into the White residence, Todd creepily plays nice with Skylar - you know while her baby is being threatened - and wants to make sure that she won't tell the police on Lydia. I doubt Skylar will or did I suppose.
Then he meets with Lydia and gets that business going. They did make passing mention on why they are continuing to cook when they already have $69 million. Part of it is because the writers can't have Jesse killed, but enough of it makes sense to not be terribly obvious in my opinion. I mean they do need Jesse to cook 96% and Todd does know Lydia will do business with him if he can provide that quality of meth. So really the only stretch is that the Aryan brotherhood would agree to this. They don't really seem like the smartest people so I'm not bothered a lot by that stretch of belief.
So we skip to what I assume is around the time when the flash-forward happened to begin the season. They show the passage of time by having Walt grow out his hair and his beard. Walt is super depressed and lonely. That scene where he pays $10,000 just for an hour of company is one of the saddest things I have ever seen.
He reaches a point where he wants to give money to his family, but Walt Jr is not having any of that. Good for him. Money has compromised far too many people, but it's clear Wal... I'm sorry Flynn will not be one. So then Walt has lost all hope and just decides to turn himself in for the good of his family.
Except you know a little thing called Walt's ego happened. He cannot take his former partners claiming Walt had nothing to do with the company. His pride is being threatened. So he changes his mind, presumably buying that gun that he bought in the flash forward, then returning to get the ricin, and likely plans to go out with a bang.
People who claim that Walt has always done this for his family? You're watching this show wrong I'm sorry. Walt was offered his full treatment for the price of nothing and he rejected it due to pride. HE NEVER HAD TO MAKE METH. If he truly was looking out for his family, he would have swallowed his pride and accepted that money. It's all about Walt and his pride. He needs recognition, and he needs to do it himself. How more people haven't seen this is beyond me.
I mention that because it's a nice parallel to what happens in this episode. Walt's downfall is his pride, his ego. So he needs to actively choose to do something that could harm his family when there are alternative options. If he was cooking meth because he had no other choice: because he needed the money and he wanted to set his family up for his death, it'd be different. But he had a choice.
I have zero idea how there are still people who are Team Walt. Either it is physically impossible to dislike Bryan Cranston and people let that affect their opinion of Walt or there are more fucked up people in this world than I thought. I think I rooted for Walt far longer than I should have, because really letting Jane die should have been the straw. That is unforgivable and people who think she had it coming, you need help. I'm sorry. And people who think Walt's family betrayed him? Seriously, what fucking show are you watching? /end rant
I don't know how many months they skipped, but it made perfect sense. From what I'm watching, it seems like nothing super important happened between Walt escaping and Walt choosing to return to the ABQ. The Aryan brotherhood didn't go anywhere which means Jesse didn't go anywhere. They have most likely done the same thing for months, forcing Jesse to make meth, selling it to Lydia. Nothing really new happens.
Skylar and Flynn are still trying to recover a semblance of the life they once had. They aren't going anywhere. I'm not really sure there's anywhere else to go with Marie's story. I mean she was well-acted by Besty Brandt, but her entire relevance was being married to Hank and being sister to Skylar. The characters are all in some sort of purgatory waiting in place for Walt to come back and screw up all their plans.
75 minutes left. One week.
This episode scaled down a little - to say the least - from last episode. It's a piece-mover for the end of the series really. This was still good television, it just kind of seems like it was almost like the premiere of a new season. You're not really judging it yet because almost everything in the episode will pay off later.
But then again, a few things happen that are shocking still. I liked how they did the opener, defying our expectations a bit. First of all, Robert Forster is the vacuum repair man! And it's a real shop! Saul understandably wants to get out of town and that will be the last we will see of Saul in this series I think. That was a nice way to tie up his story while also still making sure to keep it relevant.
Walt has fallen far. He deserves every bit of it and I'll speak more on that later - just for you people who somehow are still on Team Walt. He tries to intimidate Saul to get him to stay with him, but Saul's had enough of his shit. Sure, Walt pathetically having a coughing fit probably didn't hurt. But it shows just how powerless Walt is now.
Meanwhile, Jesse.. oh Jesse. That small slimmer of hope that Jesse would escape vanished this episode. It makes sense that the Aryan Brotherhood would have cameras and have other means of making sure Jesse won't escape. But they need to make sure Jesse won't even attempt to escape anymore and they kill Andrea. This was actually kind of necessary for the time skip because it would help explain why Jesse would never escape. He wouldn't even risk Brock getting killed. He has a soft spot for children.
Todd somehow amps up his creepiness. Man, is he a creepy fuck. First of all, after breaking into the White residence, Todd creepily plays nice with Skylar - you know while her baby is being threatened - and wants to make sure that she won't tell the police on Lydia. I doubt Skylar will or did I suppose.
Then he meets with Lydia and gets that business going. They did make passing mention on why they are continuing to cook when they already have $69 million. Part of it is because the writers can't have Jesse killed, but enough of it makes sense to not be terribly obvious in my opinion. I mean they do need Jesse to cook 96% and Todd does know Lydia will do business with him if he can provide that quality of meth. So really the only stretch is that the Aryan brotherhood would agree to this. They don't really seem like the smartest people so I'm not bothered a lot by that stretch of belief.
So we skip to what I assume is around the time when the flash-forward happened to begin the season. They show the passage of time by having Walt grow out his hair and his beard. Walt is super depressed and lonely. That scene where he pays $10,000 just for an hour of company is one of the saddest things I have ever seen.
He reaches a point where he wants to give money to his family, but Walt Jr is not having any of that. Good for him. Money has compromised far too many people, but it's clear Wal... I'm sorry Flynn will not be one. So then Walt has lost all hope and just decides to turn himself in for the good of his family.
Except you know a little thing called Walt's ego happened. He cannot take his former partners claiming Walt had nothing to do with the company. His pride is being threatened. So he changes his mind, presumably buying that gun that he bought in the flash forward, then returning to get the ricin, and likely plans to go out with a bang.
People who claim that Walt has always done this for his family? You're watching this show wrong I'm sorry. Walt was offered his full treatment for the price of nothing and he rejected it due to pride. HE NEVER HAD TO MAKE METH. If he truly was looking out for his family, he would have swallowed his pride and accepted that money. It's all about Walt and his pride. He needs recognition, and he needs to do it himself. How more people haven't seen this is beyond me.
I mention that because it's a nice parallel to what happens in this episode. Walt's downfall is his pride, his ego. So he needs to actively choose to do something that could harm his family when there are alternative options. If he was cooking meth because he had no other choice: because he needed the money and he wanted to set his family up for his death, it'd be different. But he had a choice.
I have zero idea how there are still people who are Team Walt. Either it is physically impossible to dislike Bryan Cranston and people let that affect their opinion of Walt or there are more fucked up people in this world than I thought. I think I rooted for Walt far longer than I should have, because really letting Jane die should have been the straw. That is unforgivable and people who think she had it coming, you need help. I'm sorry. And people who think Walt's family betrayed him? Seriously, what fucking show are you watching? /end rant
I don't know how many months they skipped, but it made perfect sense. From what I'm watching, it seems like nothing super important happened between Walt escaping and Walt choosing to return to the ABQ. The Aryan brotherhood didn't go anywhere which means Jesse didn't go anywhere. They have most likely done the same thing for months, forcing Jesse to make meth, selling it to Lydia. Nothing really new happens.
Skylar and Flynn are still trying to recover a semblance of the life they once had. They aren't going anywhere. I'm not really sure there's anywhere else to go with Marie's story. I mean she was well-acted by Besty Brandt, but her entire relevance was being married to Hank and being sister to Skylar. The characters are all in some sort of purgatory waiting in place for Walt to come back and screw up all their plans.
75 minutes left. One week.
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