Friends: Blackout, a Butt, and Laundry Detergent (S1: E5-7)

"The One with the East German Laundry Detergent"

I'm beginning to notice that Friends has a very specific formula already.  This isn't necessarily a bad thing, although it's certainly disheartening to see your favorite sitcom turn out to be so formulaic (I was 12 when the show ended so formulaic wasn't really formulaic to me.)  In fact, it helped the show pretty much be a safe option to watch every episode.  You know what you're getting and if you like that product, than you're virtually guaranteed to like every episode.

The opening scene follows the tradition of the first five episodes and has the friends talk about sex and the differences between boys and girls yet again.  With the exception of "The One with the Thumb," they've all been basically separated from the plot.  None of them have been particularly strong either, although that could certainly be that it has aged poorly.  Still, these kind of conversations were pretty limited in who they related to as it's about the New York dating scene.  That applies to people who live in New York and maybe Los Angeles, but that's pretty much it.

The episode takes the three friends and puts them in three pairs.  I found two of them to work really well and another one that didn't really go over well with me.

The one that didn't work for me was Monica and Joey trying to break up another couple on a double date.  This portion wasn't terribly funny, or at least funny enough to justify why we should root for Joey and Monica to succeed.  Joey broke up with Angela and from the scenes we see Angela and her date seem happy.  Why would we root for Joey and Monica to break them up despite the fact that they are the title characters?  It certainly doesn't help that we never see Angela again.

And really the justification for why he breaks up with Angela is that she nibbles loudly?  That seems like it only applies to eating wings or food like that.  Evidently, all's it takes to break up a couple is to spill wine on one of the spouse's shirts to get closer.  I just never found a reason why the audience would root for Joey and Monica to succeed OR any scenes showing them succeeding.

I do find it interesting that the creators originally intended for Joey and Monica to get together, but ultimately scrapped this plan.  I wonder if they intended it this early, which judging by the decision to double date them, I think they did.  I also wonder if this episode did anything to dissuade them. 

Ross and Rachel doing laundry together was another one that worked.  David Schwimmer helped these scenes a lot in my opinion generating laughs just through his own comedic style.  His attempts to woo Rachel are hilarious and not very successful.  I mean if you're trying to woo another person, shouldn't the other person be at least somewhat aware that you are trying to do that?  That said, I'm not sure Rachel's obliviousness really worked.  She knows Ross has a crush on her and he has stated his intentions in the pilot.  Here she acts like they've been best friends for years with no romantic intentions.

Still, Ross' attempts to explain why he can't do laundry in his building are hilarious.  Also, when he tries to compliment Rachel and realizes he's just fawning and just stops the conversation is funny.  When Rachel holds up her white panties and Ross crumbles, it works.  This makes sense at the time since the Ross the audience knows has only had sex with one woman and so far has been a clumsy fool.  I'll be looking for when they change his character, because he becomes a charming womanizer at some point.  (Unlike with Rachel, this change is for the worse at least for character's sake)

Lastly, Chandler tries to break up with the infamous Janice.  Her laugh is ever present in this episode, but she does not say "Oh. My. God." once.  Matthew Perry pretty much steals this episode making a storyline that could have missed and elevating it to the best story in the episode.  Specifically, he accidentally hits Janice in the face, buries his face in couch, and then jumps over the couch exclaiming "I hit her in the eye."  The combination of the jump and dialogue is definitely a highlight.  Plus, Phoebe's ability to break up with people easily while Chandler inadvertently says he will commit is a funny concept.  I wonder why they never acknowledged her ability later on ever.

Side note: Monica says her brother didn't tell her when he lost his virginity, which we know is false.  I mean this is to be expected in the later seasons, but like two episodes before this, we found out he told his sister about having sex with Carol.

Overall, I laughed a lot so this episode.  Also, the best episode of the season has also been the most formulaic so it makes senses that the second best episode is also formulaic.  I'm sensing a trend here.

Grade - B+

"The One with the Butt"
This episode is interesting because I don't know what to talk about.  I mean whereas I found good or bad things in each of this episode, this episode was mostly serviceable.  Again, I laughed a decent amount elevating it past an average grade, but there's not much that happens here.

In the opening scene, they do NOT talk about sex.  And it's related to the plot!  Joey's in an awful play, which hits the right notes.  It's just ridiculous enough to be funny, but I could easily see this play existing somewhere.  Anyway, it leads to Estelle being his agent, who's a great character, who lands him his first "big" role in playing Al Pacino's butt double.

Despite the fact that this literally requires no acting whatsoever, Joey over thinks this as what happens most times in sitcoms for easy tasks.  But Joey saying he's going for "quiet desperation" in his butt acting is worth this whole story.  Then at the end, the friends recited his play, which helped establish the type of friends these people are.

The other story is Monica's OCD like manners.  This is an example of a story where I don't know what to say.  It wasn't exactly great, but it's not like it didn't work.  It helped develop a part of Monica the character that's already been established.  So I can't really say anything bad about this either as that's more than I can say about Joey.

I don't think Matthew Perry could do any wrong in this first season.  I don't even know if it's the material's he given, but he is clearly the most polished and identifiable character right now.  He "lucks" into a girl who is willing to have sex with him, but she also gets around.

Chandler's attempts at getting a date with her are pretty hilarious, but not to the extent where it's shocking she says yes.  Also, I do think it was a good decision to have Chandler break up with her, because it reveals that there's more to him than it seems.  I don't know I can't imagine it would be that easy to date someone who you know has at least three other mates despite her beauty.

Overall, a funny, if somewhat nondescript episode.

Grade - B

The One with the Blackout
Well, this episode is just awesome.  Again, Matthew Perry is the MVP of this season.  He gets stuck in an ATM vestibule with Jill Goodacre and most of the episode is Chandler's thoughts and actions.  Almost all of it is hilarious.  He almost completely screws up and yet it doesn't matter because they are stuck in the same place.

Then there's Chandler's mumbling to Joey, which I know so well I understood it.  I don't remember if it was clear the first time or if knowing it ahead of time makes it clear.  Then Joey doesn't say anything at all, and probably says something dirty, to which Chandler responds, "Oh like I haven't thought of that."  It was a smart decision to not know what Joey is saying because our imagination is probably funnier than what he actually said.

Then the rest of the friends get blackout when Phoebe begins playing her song.  I don't think they have utilized her funny songs yet in this show's run, and it will be at least another another episode until they do.  It was pretty smart to start the show like that though.  And hey again the opening is pertinent to the plot and not completely unrelated!

So the friends invariably end up talking about sex, because that's evidently what you do when there's no power and you have to entertain yourself.  This leads to the weirdest places they have had sex, and I don't think Rachel's weirdest being at the foot of the bed actually makes any sense, but whatever.  It's an excuse for her to want passion and the show makes that passion Paulo.

Because it's certainly nothing else.  He doesn't even speak English.  I suppose this is kind of a new direction from the standard.  Create a threat for the two title characters to postpone getting together and they literally made the threat as little of an actual threat as possible.  I mean this relationship is completely based off sex so this pretty much gives the writer's free reign to do whatever.

It kind of works surprisingly in stalling the inevitable though.  I mean they made it funny by having the cat jump on Ross when he's about to make his move.  Unfortunately, when we hear Phoebe, Monica, and Joey singing "Top of the World" it's really clear the cat is fake.  Not that I want it to be a real cat, but it has to at least appear to be a real cat.

So the episode ends with Ross and Rachel's inevitable relationship put on hold.  I'll be wondering how much of this toying with the audience seems organic and how much seems like the writers just stalling.  While this is obviously stalling, it's decently good writing and not completely contrived so there's no reason to get annoyed yet.  And of course, you had to know they would stall it if you've ever seen a sitcom ever.  So this is a great episode of Friends that doesn't follow it's typical formula!

Late addition - The episode prominently features Joey proclaiming Ross is in the "friend zone."  That's not a real thing in my opinion, but I didn't have a problem with it because Joey's the one saying it so that's perfectly in character.  But I don't think there is such a "friend zone" personally.

Grade - A

Quotes

"Why do you have to break up with her?  Just be a man and stop calling her." - Me and Joey have very different definitions of how to be a man

"You want to know a freakish coincidence.  Guess who's doing laundry there too?" - Ross

"Who?" - Rachel asks with genuine curiosity

"Me.  Was that not clear?"

"This is great.  We never do anything together" - Phoebe

"Yeah, maybe tomorrow we can rent a car and run over some puppies." - Chandler

"Ew, I don't want to do that." - Phoebe

"Oh come on.  Like you've never gotten a little rambunctious with Ross." - Joey

"She said yes!  She said yes! Awful play man" - Chandler

"Hey butt guy, what the hell you doing?"

"I mean this woman was unbelievably sexy, intelligent, unattainable.... tell me why did this again?" - Ross to Chandler

"Mental note: If Jill Goodacre offers you gum, you take it.  If she offers you mangled animal carcass, you take it." - Chandler's thoughts

"Technically the sex is not being had." - Ross

"Ross, this probably isn't the best time to bring it up, but you have to throw a party for Monica." - Joey

Playlist
1. "Royals" - Lorde
2. "I Feel Free" - Cream
3. "The House that Heaven Built" - Japandroids
4. "Jesus Christ" - Brand New
5. "Roses" - Outkast

Rewind: The Simpsons S3

I've been going about this show all wrong.  I've been waiting and waiting and waiting.... and waiting for an episode that is laugh-out loud hilarious.  And then I watched "Radio Bart" and I didn't really laugh a lot in that episode - maybe I'm alone in that.  But the sheer number of jokes, parodies, dark humor, and just plain truth in that episode was shocking.

It made me realize not to watch The Simpsons to laugh.  I suppose some people might laugh a lot at this show, but I've quickly found I'm not one of them.  To be clear, it's not like I DON'T laugh some of the time, it's just that in terms of my favorite comedies ever, it falls far short just by laughs.  That's not really a knock on the show.  It's main purpose doesn't appear to get the audience to laugh I'd argue.

The Simpsons' jokes are the variety where you watch what they are parodying, maybe laugh a little, take a step back, think about what they just parodied, and realized how close to the truth it was.  It deals in harsh bitter realities where the average human being isn't smart.  At this point, any time I laugh I consider it a bonus.

The Simpsons reminds me of the great comedians whose stand-up is as much about making you laugh as about pointing out funny observations, revealing how society really is, and poking fun at traditionally acceptable standards.  In fact, the show reminds me specifically of Louis C.K., one of my favorite comedians.  The more I think about it, the more that comparison makes sense, and the less I understand why their humor isn't translating into laughs for me.  (I want to reiterate that this is relatively speaking.  It's not like I'm stone cold watching these episodes.  It's all about my expectations.)

The season starts off fine with a weird Michael Jackson episode made weirder with time, an elaborate Mr. Smith Goes to Washington parody, and Homer being an unbelievable asshole to Flanders.  Homer hating Flanders is funny because of its irrational nature, but in that episode they took it too far and it no longer became funny to me, just incredibly harsh.  The next two episodes are similarly goofy - for the better in "Bart the Murderer" and for the worse in "Homer Defined" where Homer acts out of character for the service of the plot.

Then there's a four episode stretch of mediocrity.  Three of them feature father-children stories making me wonder why they didn't spread that out.  The other is "Treehouse of Horror II," which was solid but not any better than season two's Halloween special.  It's peculiar in this golden age why they chose to essentially recycle "father messes up, father tries desperately to earn forgiveness" back to back simply switching the child from Lisa to Bart.  The "Like Father, Like Clown" works because it gives some insight into Krusty's upbringing garnering sympathy from the audience.

After a serviceable Burns episode and the sappy marriage episode, there's "Radio Bart."  Maybe it's because I have a weakness for mediums that parody narratives and expose them as contrived stories.  Maybe it's because I find the idea of a person being a hero simply for suffering a tragedy to be a valid question.  Whatever the reason, at this point, the show clicks for me.  (It's a pretty ridiculously interwoven well-written plot, jokes aside as well)

Something I'm impressed about this season is the lack of filler.  There's no bad episodes.  The "filler" in this season is fleshing out the supporting characters.  Run out of ideas for Homer?  Let's develop a story around Ned Flanders ("When Flanders Failed").  Written enough stories about Bart wreaking havoc?  Let's develop a story around the love life of Edna Krabappel ("Bart the Lover").  There's also full episodes dedicated to the seemingly one-note Otto ("The Otto Show"), the deliciously evil Monty Burns ("Burns Verkaufen der Kraftwerk"), and alcoholic enabler Moe ("Flaming Moe's").

Besides "Radio Bart," two other episodes stick out to me.  Anybody who knows me probably knows one "Homer at the Bat."  I'm a huge baseball fan and that episode certainly stood out for defying conventional wisdom about players (Strawberry a suck-up; Canseco an impossibly helpful savior).  Also, the hypnotist telling the players to give 110% only for them to respond that 100% is the most you can give was great.

The other episode was "Bart's Friend Falls in Love," which surprised me because the title of this episode didn't leave me optimistic.  The "A-story" didn't really do much for me, except for the sex education instructional.  However, every time Homer said something with a dictionary-laden vocabulary, I laughed.  In fact, this episode provided the most laughs of any episode I've seen on The Simpsons.  (As a side note, the finale of this season also made me laugh a lot.  Maybe a sign for things to come in season four?)

Overall, it would be inaccurate to say that season three exceeded my expectations.  But that's due to the enormity of my expectations rather than the quality.  It came very close.  The episodes were thoughtful, extremely well-written, sometimes funny, and an unflinching insight into American life.   Would I like it if I found the episodes funnier?  Sure, and the last few episode of season three are promising going into next season.  But at this point, I've changed what I expect of the show so nevertheless I should be satisfied. (I hope I've belabored the point enough, but I don't mean this as a bad thing as a statement like that would usually imply.)

Playlist
1. "I Get Down" - Shad
2. "Mistaken for Strangers" - The National
3. "Love Game" - Eminem ft. Kendrick Lamar
4. "Ants Marching" - Dave Matthews Band
5. "You (Ha Ha Ha)" - Charli XCX

Friends: A Baby, A Thumb, and a Broken Nose (S1: E2-4)

"The One With the Sonogram at the End"
I feel like this episode is loaded with important plots that could have been spread out a bit more.  Ross finds out he has a child, we get some important information about Ross and Monica's childhood, and Rachel needs to give the ring back to Barry (the last is more important, character-wise).

This show opens with the friends talking about how boys and girls like sex.  This is pretty weak actually.  It's not really that clever or original.  (Wow so boys think the kissing isn't important and girls do!!)  This is the kind of humor that's really broad and none of the humor is character-based.  I could see the scene in literally every sitcom ever made.

Then Carol, who changes actresses the next time we see her, tells Ross that she's pregnant.  They meet at Ross' work to show he's an archaeologist.  Ross talks with his co-worker and that part of the scene kind of falls flat.  Oh she hates men and transfers that over to the not real caveman?  Again, the show is suffering from not being original at all with their humor.

Then Ross, in a bit of a stretch for comedy's sake, breaks off the caveman's arm - Ross is many things, but he's not stupid.  But I did enjoy the visual of the fake hand hugging Ross when he hugs Carol.

Then Ross and Monica's parents come over for dinner.  They really toned down Monica's fear of her parents later on, and the evident disdain that Judy Gellar had for her daughter.  I understand harsh criticism, but that was just straight up cruel.  I will say that Jack's speech which was trying to make Monica feel better, but actually made her feel worse was well-done.  It's the type of thing I could see a parent saying unlike "Spaghetti?  That's.... easy" (And I do know what they were going for - my grandma is like that - but then again, I do have a grandma like that and it didn't really feel realistic).  And despite my doubt that it would ever actually happen, Judy's "And you knew about this?!" to Monica worked nonetheless. (I have too much to talk about in this post so I'll post about Christina Pickles and Elliot Gould specifically at a later date)

Then the episode basically splits into two stories.  Rachel needs to give back her ring to Barry.  Her leaving the ring in the lasagna actually makes sense - it's a very sitcom thing to do, but her inexperience with cooking makes this very plausible.  But what was not so plausible is that Monica would let her take care of the lasagna when she wants everything to go right with her parents.  Hell, she barely let Rachel make the dessert for Thanksgiving in one of the later seasons (the dessert with meat).  And that was a grown up Rachel who had six years to improve upon this one!

Then they overcompensated by making Barry into the biggest douchebag imaginable.  Some of that scene worked - such as the little kid getting his teeth done randomly interjected into them talking - and some of it didn't - such as when Barry says that Mindy won't settle for that ring.  Really?  There's no way he's that much of an asshole that he would say something like that.  Nonetheless, it is important in the development of Rachel Green.  So far, my estimation that it was a gradual change is correct as this is the kind of scene that subtly changes a person.

Lastly, Ross goes to meet with Carol and Susan - I suppose back then it was just funny that they were lesbians, because that shit would be under the microscope nowadays.  So that has dated.  Their arguments about the baby name and the last name were both good questions and good for the humor in the scene.  Again Ross acts like a bumbling idiot again, but I suppose this makes more sense given the situation than the first scene.  Then the episode ends with seeing the baby on the monitor - then the various friends react to it in the post-credits sequence.

Overall, this was a mediocre episode of television heightened above the average sitcom just because of the amount of laughs it provides.  I don't know how it works for other people, but Friends actually makes me laugh out loud a few times an episode, which other shows don't do.  I don't know if this is normal mostly because the things I hear about the show aren't totally positive.  But I'm fairly certain in saying that this show is much better than a show like The Big Bang Theory now, because it doesn't rely on stereotypes and not believable characters.

Grade - B-

"The One with The Thumb"
Despite the fact that this episode is a really sitcom-y episode, this episode works really well.  Part of that is that it does the sitcom-y portions about as well as you can.  Also, the audience finds out more about the main cast.  The show uses the central characters arguing with each other by pointing out their weaknesses for the first time.  The show runners were really good at doing this and making it funny.

The open of the episode is basically just the friends talking about relationship jingo that is incredibly out of date now.  That's not really a big problem with me, because it leads to Ross finding out his childhood dog didn't really go on a farm.  I don't really care if this is plausible or not, it's hilarious and makes the entire beginning worth it despite having aged.

Phoebe, previously a side character, gets her own story here, which is mostly self-contained.  She carries a story that involves literally no other people.  Her bank deposits an extra $500, which she cannot accept because it's not her money.  She then writes to the bank, who proceeds to give her a football phone and another $500.  Then she gives all her earnings and the phone to a homeless woman.  Phoebe reluctantly agrees to let the woman buy her a soda, which ends up having a thumb in it, which she receives $7,000 for.

This for the most part works.  The idea of trying to get rid of money and ending up with more and more than you originally got in the first place is a solid concept.  And the payoff to that story line was pretty great too with Phoebe offering $7,000 so Chandler will never smoke again.  "Yeah, alright" - which I list in the quotes, but which is only funny if you know what preceded it - a monologue about how he is weak and needs to smoke. (But Chandler paid her back right?  Because he did smoke again.  I've watched way too much Friends)

Speaking of the Chandler smoking story line, this doesn't work as well for me.  He can smoke outside if he really wants to hide it and most of the comedy of this is because he tries to hide smoking.  Interestingly enough, the way that they got Chandler to start smoking was surprisingly organic.  Joey's an actor - is this the first time the audience finds this out? - and needs to smoke for a role.  So of course Chandler will show him how to smoke.  And later seasons fill in Joey and Chandler's history - Joey I don't believe had lived with Chandler for three years, when Chandler had stopped smoking.  So Joey presumably knows that Chandler used to smoke, but not the experience of trying to get him to quit.  I know the episode didn't say this, but it didn't really say Joey was there three years ago either.

Then the best story line of the episode that ties the entire episode together is Monica's relationship with Alan.  They take this to the logical extreme of your friends liking your date more than you do.  It was reasonably funny and it was obvious where it was heading up.  The final scene with Monica breaking the news to the friends about how she will break up with Alan was just hilarious.  The friends went through the various breakup stages together and it just works.  It obviously wasn't meant to portray real life, but it went far enough into parody to work for me.

Overall, the three stories end up seamlessly connected with one another - you can't remove one of the stories or another story is negatively affected.  I think this was the show firing on all cylinders.  Chandler's story didn't work for me, but Matthew Perry salvages the scenes with his comedic talent.  The best episode so far.

Grade: A-

"The One with George Stephanapoulos"
This episode is about the two main conflicts the show started with: Ross getting over his relationship with Carol and Rachel accepting her new life.  They are pretty necessary developments for these characters.

Rachel needs to run into an area where she assesses her new life and how far she has come.  Somewhat understandably, especially given her past, she's not exactly happy with the outcome.  I mean she had a cushioned, sheltered life and now she's on her own, working as a waitress - and she's quite bad at it too.

The arrival of her rather obnoxious and one-note friends brings about that assessment.  It says a lot about her character that she spent time with these brainless dimwits.  But she's different now - not a lot different, but different enough for an audience to sympathize with her.  It helps that Jennifer Anniston plays her, as she's a somewhat underrated actress with some poor movie choices on her resume.

Phoebe is staying at Monica's, which means they have a slumber party.  The scene portrays years of friendship with how well they interact with each other.  Rachel's gloominess about how her life will turn out inevitably impacts the moods of the other two - It's not exactly like Monica or Phoebe are having terribly great lives planned out ahead of them at that moment.

Then they order a pizza which the pizza delivery boy got wrong because that's usually what happens when everything seems to be going wrong.  It was supposed to go to George Stephanapoulos, and that's where the episode loses me a little.  They talk about how attractive he is and then they talk about the guys.  This relates to me not even a little, which is fine I guess.  The only purpose of it is to juxtapose their statements about the guys with the guys doing something stupid.  It doesn't really work, especially since the guys' actions seems forced in order for comedy.

However, I'm surprised at two things.  Phoebe commenting on Joey being surprisingly tender, which is kind of true in that Joey is surprisingly sensitive for... well for being such a manwhore.  Then the comment where Monica thinks Chandler can surprise you was odd because Monica ended up with Chandler.  It's only odd because the writers had no intention of bringing them together.  This isn't the first foreshadowing that wasn't really a foreshadowing at the time for Monica and Chandler.

The other story line involves Ross getting over Carol.  There's a dumb joke about it being Ross' birthday, which was actually seven months ago.  Look, these guys are best friends and hang out all the time.  Are we supposed to believe that they wouldn't take Ross to a hockey game and would pick one of them to have a date instead?  That's weird.  One of the friends on a date and then a third wheel?  Why not just get to the point and say "We have three tickets and we want Ross to go."  It's actually plausible and not stupid.

In fact this entire story just misses.  Haha the emergency lady is fat and is complaining about a candy bar!  And really she's spending the notoriously busy work day of a nurse calling a company about her candy bar?  Then there's Ross getting hit by a hockey puck at the game and then fighting with a little kid and the puck hitting the nurse at the hospital.  Swing and a miss.

But we do find out that Ross has only been with Carol in his whole life, something that doesn't really jibe with Ross' dating profile after this episode.  But hey, at the time this was kind of important information.

Then the episode ends with Rachel getting a call from the credit card company and telling them she's fine.  And she means it.  This is important simply because the show wants to establish that Rachel would rather be here than be spoiled rich with someone she doesn't love.  With all the problems that Rachel goes through, it's important that the audience knows she's at least happy, if worried about her future.  (Or at least happier with these friends than her former life)

Grade - C+

Overall, that's now two important character-driven episodes that aren't terribly strong and one sitcom-y episode that is.  Wonder if that's going to be a trend.

Quotes
"Remember when life was simpler and she was just a lesbian?" (Ross) --- "Ah, those were the days" (Chandler) - Perry's delivery makes this line

"I'm not going to tell you what she spent on that wedding.... but $40,000 is  a lot of money." - Jack Gellar

"Well, you see what these people are doing.  They know what they're doing, they take their time, they get. the. job. done." - Ross about parents

"Hello Susan.  Good shake, good shake" - Ross

"Oh my God, Chi Chi" - Ross' reaction to finding out his dog wasn't sent to a farm

"You know what I like most about him though?  The way he makes me feel about myself" - Ross

"Oh you do, do you?" - Joey mocking Ross

"Joey ate my last stick of gum, so I killed him!" - Chandler

"If you never smoke again, I'll give you $7,000! (Phoebe) "Yeah, alright" (Chandler)

"Joey, what would you do if you were omnipotent?" (Monica) "Probably kill myself" (Joey)

"Hey that woman has an ass like Carol's!  What?  I thought we were trying to find stuff." - Joey

"She's going for the pizza - HEY THAT'S NOT FOR YOU BITCH" - Phoebe

"Ha you're going to be in a wheelchair for the rest of your life, palewaleeee I'm so very sorry.  Can I..... sign you?" - Ross upon seeing a man in a wheelchair after his original comment

Playlist
1. "Billie Jean" - Michael Jackson
2. "Hurricane" - MS MR
3. "Moving at the Speed of Life" - Living Legends
4. "Time of Season" - The Zombies
5. "Normal Person" - Arcade Fire

Rewind: The Walking Dead S2

The Walking Dead has some amazing makeup artists that achieve the impossible in showing convincing zombie portrayals that I haven't seen yet in the zombie genre.  It's by far the best thing about the show.  I felt I should start this review with something positive, because most of this review will not be positive.  (That's a warning for TWD fans)

This isn't a very good show.  Basically, to me at least, the appeal of this show is "Do you like zombies?"  You HAVE to like zombies to like this show.  You have to find zombies awesome actually.  I'm mildly interested in the zombie genre and I've actually liked quite a bit of the movies in that genre so The Walking Dead should theoretically appeal to me.  The problem though is that if you don't love zombies, if you don't love mindless action, this isn't a good show at all.

A very important part of making a good television show involves making interesting characters who you want to see succeed.  The Walking Dead does NOT have that whatsoever.  I kind of care about Rick, Glenn, and Daryl.  I'm not sure if that's because of the writing or if it is because those are the only good actors on the show.  (Though Dale is played by a good actor too and I stopped caring about him in this season - except for his tendency to widen his eyes for serious moments).

Having character development is vital to a show where anyone can die.  If you care about the majority of the characters, every scene is heightened because of that potential - especially in a zombie genre.  When you don't care about the characters, you don't really care if they die.  I know that Sophia was a kid, but this show made zero attempt at making me care if she lived or died and they wasted six episodes until that resolution was cleared up.  In the five episodes before, I could not care less if they found here - to the show's credit I just assumed she would live so I guess points there.

This show is poorly written.  The writers basically came up with interesting ideas that they wanted to explore and then wrote ways to get to that idea.  None of it is very organic and nearly every conflict needed to be brought about by a character doing something stupid, usually by the apparently brain dead Lori.  An example: Rick and Glenn go find Hershel, who's at a bar.  They go explicitly to find Hershel.  Lori objects to this because Rick needs to stay with their son.  Then they leave and she GOES OFF AND ABANDONS HER SON TO FIND THEM.  What did she think she was going to do?  Save them from zombies?  Yeah, right you're going to be able to horde off zombies when Rick and Glenn can't.  Anyway, then she crashes her car because she's reading a map while driving.  SO STUPID.

Then there's the fact that almost all of these characters are unlikeable.  I've already mentioned Lori, who exists to give the negative feedback.  Andrea is another character who is pretty easy to hate - she gets mad at Dale for saving her life, then shoots at Daryl with three people around him (assuming shooting was the right move).  I like Maggie I guess.  But I think liking her is just an extension of me liking Glenn really cause her purpose is to date Glenn and not much else.  The female characters on this show are not written well at all.  Then there's T-Dog who gets jackshit to do all season. (I'm sure I will care about his obvious and inevitable death soon)

This show is poorly acted for the most part as well.  Andrew Lincoln as Rick Grimes, Steven Yeun as Glenn, Scott Wilson as Hershel, and Norman Reedus as Daryl are all good actors who seem to elevate the material they are given.  The rest though?  They leave something to be desired.  Jon Bernthal as Shane is mediocre at best and sometimes he's given more than he can handle.  Chandler Riggs as Carl is straight up awful as an actor, but he's a kid so I guess that's more understandable.  And Sarah Wayne Callies isn't great as Lori.  It's partly the writing, it's also partly the bug eyes she develops anytime she's mad, frustrated, upset, or really any emotion.

Yet another problem with this show is the lack of tension.  The zombie scenes create a certain amount of tension, but I was pretty sure who wasn't going to die.  And I was mostly right.  A zombie show should NOT have zombie scenes where it seems like nobody will die.  And if somebody does die, it's usually someone the audience just met like Otis.  It's hard to care about a character dying after two episodes. (Side note: It should be a sin that on a show as poorly acted as this, that they bring in Michael Raymond-James of Terriers and Pruitt Taylor Vance of Deadwood and have them killed off almost immediately.  Raymond-James was scary good in his 10 minutes of screen time.  Someone give this guy a TV show... oh wait someone already did.  Sigh)

While I'm being honest, this review was written after having seen the first 11 episodes.  I haven't seen the last two yet which I've heard are among the show's best.  Overall, I don't think that changes anything I've said yet.  I'm done watching this show for good now.  For people who want to complain "If you don't like it, don't watch it" I won't.  I watched the rest of season two specifically to write this review or I would have stopped.

The Walking Dead is a more apt title for the living "characters" on this show than the zombies - oh I'm sorry "walkers."

Playlist
1. "Bohemian Rhapsody" - Queen
2. "Centerfield" - John Fogerty
3. "Real World" - Matchbox 20
4. "Multiples" - Atmosphere
5. "Neighborhood #3 (Power Out)" - Arcade Fire

The Sopranos: Season 1

Confession: I'm writing this review having seen the first season of The Sopranos sporadically at best for the past five or so months.  But if I don't write it now, it won't get written and I do want to get my thoughts on this season out there.

Looking back, The Sopranos had a surprisingly clear run of episodes that I find easy to clump together as separate parts of the season.  The first six are universally great, fantastic in execution with some interesting ideas raised in each.  The next six episodes I find uniformly mediocre (with one exception), raised only by the fact that each episode advances the plot in a major way usually.  The finale of the first season rivals some of the best episodes of this series finishing out the season on a high note.

I'm not sure any other season (I'm only through four) has that sort of hit or miss impact that this season has.  Saying the episodes are hit-or-miss isn't exactly correct in the sense that the "mediocre" episodes don't miss so much as disappoint in one way or the other.  But I wonder if that run of mediocre episodes would be a record for The Sopranos - as arbitrary as it would be.

"Down Neck" prominently features Anthony, "The Legend of Tennessee Moltisanti" features an awkward and somewhat out-of-place analysis of Italian Americans as portrayed in the media, "Boca" has large sections of its episodes on a soccer coach who we never meet again, "A Hit is a Hit" has some pretty weak representations of African Americans, and "Isabella" features what I consider to be a sorry excuse for an attempted murder.  (To clarify that last point, two professional hit men miss Tony who is literally feet away from them.  I know Tony needed to live, but you could have made it more plausible.)

The one exception in that run of episodes is "Nobody Knows Anything," the episode where Tony is told that Big Pussy is wearing a wire.  This episode is elevated for me in hindsight seeing that Tony is given every indication that Big Pussy is a rat, and yet he refuses to believe it.  Also, Livia Soprano makes her move convincing Junior to murder her son.  Tony's struggle with dealing with possibly having to kill Big Pussy definitely is the highlight of the episode for me.

I find the pilot of The Sopranos to be one of the best it ever did.  I really like its unconventional nature from the rest of the series.  In a way, it reminds me of "Mr. Ruggerio's Neighborhood" (another one of my favorites) in how different the structure of the episode is from the rest of the series.

Then there's "College," commonly regarded as the best episode The Sopranos ever did.  I'm not sure I'd go that far - I mean I have an incomplete list at best right now - but it certainly changed the landscape of television.  A lot of important things happen in this episode.  Edie Falco expresses her acting chops and reveals herself to be more than just your stereotypical mob wife.  Tony brutally murders another man in harsh detail that's rough to watch.  Also, one minute Tony is making progress, connecting with his daughter and the next minute he's forced to lie to her and somewhat sabotage that relationship for the future.

In my personal opinion, The Sopranos first season ages a bit badly.  There's a few story lines here where we are introduced to a character we've never met and then never meet again and it's the A story in the episode!  They severely cut down on that in future seasons (and when it did do that, it was more effective to me - "University" for instance).  The problem isn't so much that we just met the character, but that's its random and there's little reason why they only show up once in the series.  Typically, these people live in the same mob world as Tony so you'd expect they'd cross paths a few times.

My typical complaint that some of the plots on this show are contrived doesn't really fit in this season.  They put the most plot they ever did in this season (through four seasons at least) and it's by far.  They didn't have as much room for contrived standalone episodes.  The one standalone episode in this season is College (which isn't contrived at all!) - I think every other episode is vital to the plot.

The Sopranos were experts at two things in my opinion: just about every main character was as well-written as they come and the acting of the cast.  Rarely if ever did any character do something that made you question the character you've come to know.  Sure, they did bad things, but they were usually perfectly in character.  And of course, James Gandolfini, Edie Falco, and the rest of the cast brought their "A" game every week.  That kind of consistent production makes even bad episodes of The Sopranos enjoyable to watch.  The plot wasn't always up to par with the rest of the show and it didn't really even matter.  (In fact, relying on plot tends to make episodes either great or terrible if the characterization isn't there.)

Overall, The Sopranos doesn't quite live up to its reputation in this season.  It comes really close though.  But still.... this season had in my mind four classic episodes.  That happened in a season that didn't live up to my enormous expectations.  I'm also unfairly watching this season having seen many of the shows it influenced, but my theory is that if the show is to be considered one of the best of all time, it needs to hold up.  This show does hold up to be clear.  I do, however, think age has slightly diminished this season - something I don't think about any other season by the way.

Grade: A-

Playlist
1. This Old Heart of Mine (Is Weak for You) - The Isley Brothers
2. The World I Know - Collective Soul
3. Goodbye - Slaugherhouse
4. Percussion Gun - White Rabbits (If you must only listen to one song, pick this one)
5. Trapped - Tupac 

Rewind: Downton Abbey S2

Well, Downton Abbey is officially considered a soap opera in my book.  It's a nice-looking and well-acted soap opera, but it's still a soap opera.  I do not consider this a positive.  I've heard that Downton Abbey progressively gets worse and worse with each season.  This is absolutely accurate so far.

Here's the biggest problem that the season suffered: they had basically one overarching story line for each character.  They visited that story line every episode.  If you did not like the story line or were annoyed by its repetitiveness, well it didn't matter.  Because it happened EVERY episode.  You see sometimes you're not supposed to like a character and that's why the story line annoys you, but other times the character behaves wildly out of character and that's why the story bothers you.  Or the plot keeps throwing curveballs at an inevitability in ways that feel contrived.

Examples of a story line that bothered me because a character behaves unlike the character we've come to know: Sybil decides she loves Branson.  I can buy that Sybil is the type of person who would run away from Downton Abbey because she wants her own life.  We are given no indication of WHY she loves Branson though.  Branson just kind of declares his love for her, offers her marriage, and then there's barely any time spent on explaining why exactly Sybil would want to be with Branson.  Especially since Branson's scenes were spent badgering her about giving up her life and spouting his radical political ideas.  Each successive Branson/Sybil scene infuriated me, because I did not buy this romance.

Another example of a story line that bothered me because of inconsistent characterization: Robert Crawley having a affair on his wife (though nothing actually happened).  This just tells me the writers had nothing to do with this character so they invented a conflict that could not possibly occur with the season one Crawley.  They gave him weak scenes were he fought with his wife, but nothing that drives a man to cheat on his wife.  Also, this needed to happen so he could understand where Sybil was coming from - but that just kind of seems more like "How do we play out a scenario where he'd accept Branson?" more than anything organic.

Story lines that bothered me because they showed the same scene each episode with a different variation and no progress on it developed whatsoever until the end: Anna and Bates, perpetually destined to never be happy for some reason.  Creating conflicts between two people that would be happy if they were together is just lazy because they are afraid they won't have anything to write if they are together.  So you're telling me Bates' wife hates him SO MUCH that she would kill herself and frame Bates.  Needless to say, it's hard to take this show too seriously when they have soap opera villains like that.

That's not to say they didn't at least nail some characters down.  If only they had mastered every character as they do with Mr. Carson, then this would be an all-time classic of a show.  And surprisingly, the Matthew Crawley and Lady Mary romance did NOT feel contrived.  Up until Lavinia dies and Matthew annoyingly doesn't want to be happy for the rest of his life, everything felt like natural developments.  It wasn't hard to buy why they weren't together even as we knew they would end up together.  It helps that Sir Richard is an awesome character if somewhat one-note in being evil.  (You could argue that Sir Richard being actually an appealing mate would have been better writing, but then again Lady Mary and Matthew never end up together if that is true.)

As for the rest of the cast?  Well some of them annoyed me, but not to the point to where it's a weakness (Isobel's arc) and some of them I liked, but not enough to be impressed by (Mrs. Hughes).  Besides, this cast is so enormously large, I can't really go through each character and say a particular strength or weakness without boring you.  (Side note: I couldn't get through this entire review without mention Maggie Smith as Violet, who is still a highlight and almost worth watching the show by herself.)

The shame about the writing being the show's weakness is that it's pretty much the show's only weakness.  Like I said above, the acting is top-notch across the board.  The period drama aspect is... umm accurate I guess?  I can only assume on that one.  The direction usually has a few shots each episode that stand out to me.  The lackluster and far-fetched at times plot is the show's downfall from being a legitimately good show (which I don't think it is at this point in their run).

Interested in Downton Abbey?  Watch the first season, which I wholeheartedly recommend and then stop if you can.  Unless the soapy aspects of this show is the type to draw you in - and it very well could be - I wouldn't watch past the first season.

A necessary disclaimer: I hate most romantic comedies (I refer to them as rom coms; if it's a good romantic comedy, I don't call it a rom com) so the romance in the show is not inherently appealing.  If you like romance in your shows, definitely watch this show as its about the only story line for about 70% of the characters.  I could forgive this if the writing made me invested in the romances, which for the most part it did not.

I can't recommend the second season and if you're the type of person to continue watching a show just because you started, don't start at all.  (I kind of suffer this problem; I may or may not watch the third season, which I haven't exactly heard good things about either.)

(If you're interested, my Season 1 Review)

Playlist
1. "I've Got a Name" - Jim Groce
2. "Feel Tall" - Oncue
3. "Y Control" - Yeah Yeah Yeahs
4. "Country Grammar" - Nelly
5. "Provider" - N.E.R.D.

The Sopranos: I Dream of Jeanie Cusamano

This is a returning weekly feature. I'm reviewing The Sopranos episodes starting from the beginning.  This is the final episode of the first season.  

Past Episodes
Pilot
46 Long
Denial, Acceptance, Anger

Meadowlands
College
Pax Soprano

Down Neck

The Legend of Tennessee Moltisanti

Boca

A Hit is a Hit

Nobody Knows Anything

Isabella

This is kind of an important episode in the series, and yet I forgot most of what happened.  I watched it for the first time earlier this year so this is particularly odd.  I honestly think I accidentally skipped over some of the episode, because some of the scenes seem brand new to me.  (Or I was half-asleep and managed to somehow pick up the major things happening)

First, let's talk about Tony and his mother, Livia.  It's a shame that Nancy Merchand's health starting declining after the first season and she basically became a non-entity in the storylines.  The idea of Tony's mother lived on, but the character of Livia itself was barely present after the first season and then of course, she passed away between the second and third seasons.  I would have loved to see what they did with her character.

Tony has his fair share of problems with his mother, but in his mind, she's his mother.  He can complain all he wants, but she gave birth to him, raised him, and molded him as an adult.  He just cannot accept that his mother would try to have him murdered.  He's more infatuated with the image of his mother than Liva herself.  She's basically worthless as a human being, and Tony's continued interactions with her is likely due to an internal sense of obligation.

Dr. Mefli broaches the topic that possibly Livia may have had something to do with his attempted "carjacking."  Mefli wants to be more aggressive with Tony, because if she isn't able to get to the root of the problem, he could just keep denying his mother's insistence on destroying Tony - both figuratively and literally.  And that could lead to his death.  Melfi is sort of a moral guide on this show so she does her best to "save his life" which she sees as convincing Tony that his problems - at least immediate ones - are the fault of his mother.

Tony reacts violently, threatening Melfi and in the scene, you can see James Gandolfini's spit fly into her face.  It's a well-acted scene - I have some problems with this show, but it's never the acting.  Only thanks to an FBI intervention in a misguided attempt to get him to testify does he find out that his mother was responsible.  Undeniable proof.

Also a prominent storyline that ties nicely in with Livia's betrayal of her son is Artie Bucco finding out that Tony burned down Vesuvio's (I think that's how you spell it).  In this case, Livia's "dementia" works against her, because Tony uses it in his argument for why he wouldn't.  Of course, Artie doesn't buy it, but he refuses to call the cops and when he goes to tell his wife, his wife is so pleased with the way the restaurant is shaping up that he can't work up the nerve to ruin her mood and honestly make his life more difficult.

This is the kind of thing The Sopranos did often.  Showed a supposedly moral character have a line that they are willing to cross to make their life easier.  Everyone has a price.  Artie's price is the ability to run a restaurant that he wants to.  Because honestly, I don't think calling the police would help his business a whole lot.  They go to this well often throughout the series, though I think this is the most effective.  It's mostly extremely effective just because of the stakes and it again tied in with the Liva storyline in the most organic and natural way possible - something The Sopranos doesn't do very well in my opinion.  (To clarify, The Sopranos nails down its characters, but its plot is contrived quite a bit.)

Meanwhile, with the news that Junior DID put out a hit on Tony confirmed, it's time to enact revenge.  First, they figure the likely assassin will be someone that Junior can trust - Chucky.  Well, Chucky meets his death early in the episode - in broad daylight by the dock.  Then they nab Mikey as well when he is on his morning jog.  Mikey's sprint towards the woods reminded me of Pine Barrens.  Wonder if that sequence in any way motivated Pine Barrens or if the Sopranos writers are just fascinated with killing in the woods.

Junior is asked if he is not really the mob boss.  That he was just a fall guy and that Tony was really the boss.  This was basically true, but Junior's dignity and pride would not allow him to give Tony credit.  Reminds me of Walter White's pride actually.

In an episode with so much happening, I find it hilarious so much screen time is given to showing how much of an enormous asshole that Father Phil is.  What's funny is that his advice is usually spot-on and nobody follows that advice due to an unwillingness to change.  It was funny when Carmela just had enough of his shit.  There was a good point though in that Father Phil has a price as well.  He gets to smooch off food and wine and watches movies he wants to watch in huge houses and convince himself he's only doing it because he wants to change Tony.  Even though he knows full well Tony's not changing.

This finale is a lot better on re-watch I have to say.  For one, it concludes many of the major and minor storylines.  In an episode where Tony becomes the official mob boss, wipes out the entire section that opposed him (and the rest were arrested), and Tony finally comes clean about seeing a psychiatrist, they managed to do two major character studies in Father Phil and Artie Bucco, two essentially side characters.  They did it in a way that fit into the larger narrative and helped moved the more essential storylines forward too.

Deaths

Jimmy Altieri - The "rat" who was much worse at being a rat than Big Pussy - also less interesting.

Chuckie Signore - To my surprise he was in three episodes, but he gets killed personally Tony (which I can't imagine would happen in a hypothetical real world given Tony's status) on his own boat.  Likely Tony's hitman if Tony didn't strike first.

Mikey Palmice - I was a fan of Mikey and am sorry to see him go.

Quotes

"You smell like Paco Rabonne crawled up your ass and died." - Chris on how Jimmy smells for the Russian girls.  

"Hey my mother never went after my basket" - Basket meaning penis of course

"I'll take care of my uncle and I'll take care of Mikey P, but inside, I'll know" - Tony

"Yes, I'm humbled that you would take my word." - Tony hilariously says.  It's a good point that Melfi fears for her life and yet is willing to take Tony at his word

"Pussy, Booty, I don't know his last name." - Melfi with a collection of words she will likely never repeat in her life

"I didn't burn down your restaurant.  I swear to God on my mother" - Artie doesn't know how little this swearing means.  Might as well swear to the shirt he's wearing.

"I want to fuck Angie Dickinson, see who gets lucky first?" - Junior to the FBI agent

"Someday soon, you'll have families of your own and you'll remember the little moments - like this that were good." - Tony in a touching last scene

Playlist

1.  The Lion's Roar - First Aid Kit

2. Hip Hop is Dead - Nas ft. will.i.am

3. Dreams Old Men Dream - Cold War Kids

4. Hell of a Life - Kanye West

5. Fly - Sugar Ray