Paul Levinson's Blog: Levinson at Large, page 148

Watchmen 1.1: Promising Alternate History

I guess I'm either the best or worst kind of person to watch and review Watchmen on HBO:  I've of course heard of the iconic comic book story and its adaptations over the years, but I never read or saw any of it, and really know nothing about it.  But with a cast consisting of Regina King and Don Johnson, and the creator being Lost's Damon Lindelof, how could I resist?

Here's what I now know after watching the first episode:  This is an alternate history or reality in which, by 2019, Vietnam is a state in the United States, which must mean we won that war (undeclared and therefore illegal, and badly lost in our reality).  Police wear masks so they don't risk killers in the public, well, killing them.  So far, this is taking place mostly in Oklahoma, to the point where the Rodgers and Hammerstein musical plays a big role.

Now, I'm a sucker for alternate realities - I have a song, Samantha, on my new album coming out early next year, which I'll no doubt tell you about later on in these weekly reviews, but for now I'll just mention that that song is about star-crossed love across alternate realities (ok, here's a rough mix of it).  And I thought Counterpoint, now sadly departed, was one of the best shows on television in the past few years (not mention The Man in the High Castle, which with one more season left is almost sadly departed, and is flat out one of the best shows ever on television, period).  So, yeah, I'm a fan of alternate reality TV and novels (here's what I said about J. Neil Schulman's The Fractal Man), and I very much like the set-up so far of Watchmen.

I also liked the narrative.  Don Johnson's character is killed at the end if the episode (sorry, that's a spoiler in this reality), but the laws of television say that a star that big won't play a character who gets killed after one episode, so that means Judd (Johnson's character) either isn't really dead, even though we saw him hanging there, or he'll come back to life, which amounts to the same thing.

I also liked the music, not only because I always liked "Oklahoma" - my wife may have played a part in some summer camp production (I'm not sure, and she's sleeping, so I'll ask her tomorrow) - but all the music is original (i.e., meaning, you don't usually hear it in a television series, even one on HBO), with, for example, a powerful rendition of a song that accompanied Judd's hanging body.  (By the way, Trump, if you're reading this, that's what a lynching is, not the justified investigation that you're now undergoing).

So, yeah, I'm liking this a lot, and expect I'll be reviewing Watchmen once a week.



more alternate reality - "flat-out fantastic" - Scifi and Scary
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Evil 1.4: Raising the Ante

I generally don't like or review TV series in which children and babies are endangered - actually take away the word "generally," I don't like them at all.  But I'm making an exception for Evil 1.4, because the child and baby endangerment was part of a much larger, crucial story in the series.

As I've indicated earlier in these reviews, the central tension in Evil is the conflict between science and religion - which one provides the better explanation of evil, and with it the means of best dealing with it?  Up until episode 1.4, science was pretty much the victor.   But that changed.

In the main story, we encounter what science would call a sociopathic boy, who is a danger to his family, especially the new baby.  Our intrepid team comes to the conclusion that an exorcism might help, but before the exorcist is able to do his thing - or attempt to do it - well, if you've seen the episode you know what I'm talking about, and I won't be talking any more about that here.

But there is also a secondary story, which is powerful and frightening, and that concerns Kristen's four talkative and delightful daughters.   The virtual reality game they're playing is supposed to be disconcerting - for adults.  Ben gets this, and assuredly makes the game childproof.  But ... of course, that doesn't work.  Ben's too good to have made a mistake in his lock-out programming.  So, either someone else is removing the lock, or there's a real, evil something in that game.

Before we can see what damage it can do, the episode ends.  But this leaves the story wide open in the next and subsequent episodes to see what kind of evil has invested that otherwise well-designed virtual game.

I'll be watching.

See also: Evil: Incubus Mystery ... Evil 1.2: Miracles and Racism ... Evil 1.3: Possessed Alexa

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The Deuce 3.7: Who Is Lori Madison?

A beautiful, tragic penultimate episode of The Deuce on HBO tonight, as I suppose intelligent stories about the porn business are wont to be.

The beautiful part was a beauty of the soul, when Candy asked Lori who she was.  Candy explained that she was two people - the former prostitute and now porn director, Candy, and the woman, daughter, and mother, Eileen.   Candy could've read some of Erving Goffman, the sociologist who said all of us lead at least two lives, our public lives that we show to the world, and private lives that we show only to our family and close friends.  Sometime they're not very different.  Sometimes they are.

But Lori was unwilling to talk, even to her benefactor and friend of sorts, Candy, about Lori's private life.  She wouldn't even tell Candy her real name.  And so we were left to conclude that Lori was missing a life.  And the most important life at that.  Her private life.  Who she was, when only those she loved were looking.  So maybe that was an admission that she loved no one, and no one loved her.  The negation of what Candy had assured Lori of, that everyone loved Lori Madison.  Because Lori Madison was not a real person.  She was just an act.

And I suppose that explains what happened at the end of the episode.  It was horrible and so unnecessary.   You get the feeling that if only Lori had given herself more of a chance, she would have been professionally more successful, on her terms, and also found somebody to love.  (Unforgettable performance as Lori by Emily Meade.)

Did Candy realize, the next day, what happened, when Lori didn't show for work?  I think she certainly sensed it.   If you haven't seen The Deuce, it's worth seeing if only for this episode.

Next week is the series finale.

See also The Deuce 3.1: 1985 ... The Deuce 3.2: The First Amendment! ... The Deuce 3.3: Love and Money, Pimps and Agents ... The Deuce 3.4: Major Changes ... The Deuce 3.5: Lori and Candy ... The Deuce 3.6: Memorable Scenes

And see also The Deuce Is Back - Still Without Cellphones, and that's a Good Thing ... The Deuce 2.2: Fairytales Can Come True ... The Deuce 2.3: The Price ... The Deuce 2.4: The Ad-Lib ... The Deuce 2.6: "Bad Bad Larry Brown" ... The Deuce 2.9: Armand, Southern Accents, and an Ending ... The Deuce Season 2 Finale: The Video Revolution

And see also The Deuce: NYC 1971 By Way of The Wire and "Working with Marshall McLuhan" ... Marilyn Monroe on the Deuce 1.7 ... The Deuce Season 1 Finale: Hitchcock and Truffaut 

  
It all starts in the hot summer of 1960, when Marilyn walks off the set
of The Misfits and begins to hear a haunting song in her head,
"Goodbye Norma Jean" ... Paul Levinson's books ... Paul Levinson's music

The Affair 5.9: Thoughts, Looks, Words, and Actions

Whew, quite an episode 5.9 of The Affair tonight - the headline of which would be: Helen realizes that Sasha is responsible for Noah's lynching in the press, but Whitney is still furious with Noah for what he did to her and their family.

Unpacking this ... Helen realizes that Sasha wanted Noah's name and influence exorcised from his (Sasha's) movie, so Sasha seized an opportunity to make connections to make that happen.  Since Sasha's a master at publicity, it pretty much worked, and also had the benefit of pulling Helen further away from Noah.

Whitney's story is more complex.   She at first comes to her father's defense when she confronts one his accusers, on a plane to LA (ok, my late and brilliant editor David Hartwell always said that readers would allow one very unlikely coincidence in a story, and I think this applies to movies and TV series as well).  Noah's accuser, Audrey, was his student right after he was released from prison.  He put down her writing with a declaration that she had "no inner life".  It devastated her, and now she's joined the women who say Noah demeaned women.

As Whitney tells Audrey, ok, so my father was a "shitty" teacher, but that doesn't he deserves this kind of public destruction - losing his name on his movie, losing his new book deal, etc., so you can some big publicity for your book.  Audrey's not convinced.   But later, back in LA, when Helen tries to explain that all of this was her fault - because she inadvertently gave Sasha a rope to hang Noah - it turns out that Whitney's not convinced, either.  She recalls a scene from several seasons back when Noah joined her in a steamy hot tub, not realizing she was Audrey.  And she saw the way Noah looked at her and friend - like "prey" was the word Whitney used.   And this visceral recollection touched all the pain she carried inside her about Noah breaking up their family.

My take at this point:  I would say, in general, looks and thoughts don't and shouldn't count.  Words count, and actions even more.  And for the kind of blowing up of his life Noah is enduring now, he should have been guilty of actions - as he apparently was not with Eden.

More after the next episode, next week.

See also The Affair 5.1: Death, Nobility, and Science Fiction ... The Affair 5.2: Tears and Floods ... The Affair 5.3:  The Raya App ... The Affair 5.4: 2053 ... The Affair 5.5: No One Happy ... The Affair 5.6: Best Episode of the Season So Far - Finally, About Joanie ... The Affair 5.7: On Montauk, Now and Later ... The Affair 5.9: Moth to the Flame
And see also The Affair 4.1: Quakes and Propaganda ... The Affair 4.2: Meanwhile, Back on the Island ... The Affair 4.3: Dire Straits (Not the Band) in California ... The Affair 4.4: Ben ... The Affair 4.5: B'shert ... The Affair 4.6: "Good News and Bad News" ... The Affair 4.7: Noah and Janelle ... The Affair 4.8:  I Don't Believe It ... The Affair 4.9: Two Alisons ... The Affair Season 4 Finale: Best Scenes
And see also The Affair 3.1: Sneak Preview Review ... The Affair 3.2: Sneak Preview Review: Right Minds ... The Affair 3.3: Who Attached Noah? ... The Affair 3.4: The Same Endings in Montauk ... The Affair 3.5: Blocked Love ... The Affair 3.6: The Wound ... The Affair 3.7: The White Shirt ... The Affair 3.8: The "Miserable Hero" ... The Affair 3.9: A Sliver of Clarity ... The Affair 3.10: Taking Paris

And see also The Affair 2.1: Advances ... The Affair 2.2: Loving a Writer ... The Affair 2.3: The Half-Wolf ... The Affair 2.4: Helen at Distraction ... The Affair 2.5: Golden Cole ... The Affair 2.6: The End (of Noah's Novel) ... The Affair 2.7: Stunner ... The Affair 2.8: The Reading, the Review, the Prize ...And see also The Affair Premiere: Sneak Preview Review ... The Affair 1.2: Time Travel! ... The Affair 1.3: The Agent and the Sleepers ... The Affair 1.4: Come Together ... The Affair 1.5: Alison's Episode ... The Affair 1.6: Drugs and Vision ... The Affair 1.7: True Confessions ... The Affair 1.8: "I Love You / I Love You, Too" ... The Affair 1.9: Who Else on the Train? ... The Affair Season 1 Finale: The Arrest and the Rest
 
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Peaky Blinders season 5: A New Window on Fascism

With fascism rearing its ugly heads around the world, including in the White House in the United States, it was timely, chilling, and good to see it front and center stage in Season 5 of Peaky Blinders on Netflix.

Thomas has intersected with British government in previous seasons.  But in Season 5 we see him an eloquent member of Parliament, soon befriended by Oswald Mosley, a real MP who was prominent in the 1930s as head of the British Union of Fascists.  I had heard of him, but didn't explicitly know his story, which worked well for watching Peaking Blinders, since the shocks were real shocks to me.

Mosley seeks to recruit Thomas as his second-in-command, or prime deputy.  Thomas accepts, but seeks to use this position to bring Mosley down, with the cooperation of the British government.  Thomas sees Mosley as "the devil," and he is, ranging from his treatment of women to his Hitlerian anti-semitism, and he's vividly portrayed by Sam Claflin (whom I don't recall seeing before, but will look out for now as a top-notch actor).

Fascism fed on the discontent and dislocations caused by the stock market crash of 1929.  The Shelbys lose tons of money, and Thomas blames his cousin Michael, who was repping the family in America.  The conflict between Thomas and Michael provides a trenchant secondary theme of tension in this season, and of course Polly is drawn into the imbroglio, since she's Michael's mother.  Thomas still seems young and not that old (to me), but Michael and his wife cast the conflict with Thomas as one of age, with Michael urging Thomas to give way to a new generation and its new ways of conducting business.  If you know anything about Thomas, you don't need to see this season to know how he will react to Michael's suggestions.

But you do need to see Season 5 for many other compelling reasons.  Arthur once against presents an unforgettable portrait of a decent man riven by and unable to control the inchoate violence that inhabits his soul.   Winston Churchill, who appeared earlier in the series, puts in another few captivating minutes (as MP - he was not yet Prime Minister).  And the sheer flavor of the cultures portrayed, from the Protestant Scots to the Peaky Blinders' Jewish allies, is indelible.

Bring on Season 6.

See also Peaky Blinders: Peak Television ... Peaky Blinders Season 3: Still Peak ... Peaky Blinders Season 4: Best So Far


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Emergence 1.4: Android Child

Ok, as of the beginning of Emergence 1.4, we know what/who Piper is, if not the full story of how she came to be.  As Emily says, Piper is a totally artificial creation - body as well as mind.  This would make her, in science fiction parlance, an android.  Akin in television land to the beings in Westworld and Humans.  Maybe even more so, as there don't seem to be any trace of wires or digital circuitry in Piper.

And, as Benny helpfully explains, a child is a perfect vehicle for getting androids into human society.  After all, an android child can be made to look cute and in need of protection and sheltering.   Exactly what made Piper so irresistible to Jo.

So what now?  Kindred (aka John Locke from Lost, i.e., Terry O'Quinn is determined to get back his property, which apparently Piper is.  We still know little to nothing of his master plan.  But we know he has no trouble meting out death to anyone or thing who get his way.  And we know that Piper has no trouble doing that, either, though she may be troubled by her actions afterwards.

At this point, it's still hard to say what Piper is really up to.  When she screams and gets Jo to stop the car, and Pipe jumps out ...   It turns out that Piper is doing that to save a turtle, to keep it from getting run over.  Is that just more of Piper wanting to seem so sweet, to disable Jo's suspicions, or did Piper really care about saving that turtle?  In any case, it certainly had the effect of once again disarming Jo - psychologically.

So welcome Emergence to realm of full-fledged, undeniable science fiction.  Androids are one of my favorite sub-genres of the field, as both a fan and a writer.

See also: Emergence: May Just Make It ... Emergence 1.2: Cleaning Up ... Emergence 1.3: Robots and Androids




The androids are coming out into the open, for the first time in centuries .... Paul Levinson's books ... Paul Levinson's music

Fourth 2020 Democratic Presidential Debate: Winners and Losers

I thought the fourth 2020 Democratic presidential debate, just concluded on CNN, had far more winners and far fewer losers than in any of the previous debates.  Meaning: just about everyone did well.

Among the highlights:

Biden, who started off a little less than totally coherent in his phrasing - as he often does - did far better in the second half of the debate, and distinguished himself with powerful statements on the need to hit the ground running as President, and his copious experience on many issues ranging from foreign policy to gun control.  He also offered a good critique of Warren's proposals lacking specifics of how they'd be financed.Warren gave a strong defense of her progressive policies, and, on the process of campaigning, I was glad to hear her say (with a bit of sarcasm) that "selfies must be the new measure of democracy" - which is almost precisely the point I made after her four+ hours of selfies to all who wanted them after a rally and talk in New York last month (see my McLuhan in an Age of Social Media). Bernie also gave a strong defense of his policies, very similar to Warren's, and he also was almost charming in some of his banter with other candidates.Buttigieg gave an excellent defense of his proposal to expand the Supreme Court, and/or in some way to get out of the cut-throat politicization of the Court that currently grips this country.  On the other hand, I though he was unnecessarily aggressive in challenging Beto on Beto's proposal to have a mandatory buy-back of all assault weapons in the U. S. (which I support).I thought Beto, in general, was the most effective he's been in the debates so far, finding a good balance between passion and logic in his presentations, and offering an excellent, vivid example of working with a Republican (whom he got to know sharing a car ride from Texas to Washington, DC).Harris gave one of the best arguments I've ever heard on the urgency of women having complete control over their bodies.Klobuchar was also more effective than she's been in the past, and offered a believable mix of pragmatism and idealism in addressing our myriad problems.Even Andrew Yang made some good sense tonight, pointing out that breaking up monopolies - splitting of behemoths like Amazon - is using an old solution to the new problems of the 21st century.   On this one point, I agree with Yang not Warren.Tom Steyer the billionaire made his debate debut tonight.  He didn't get much time, but gets points from me in siding with Bernie and Warren that billionaires should be taxed far more than they are currently.Booker had the second best example of a social relationship with a surprising person: Booker the vegan had dinner with the "meat eating" Texan Ted Cruz.  He also was good in saying that women are entitled to control their own bodies, because that's a right intrinsic to all people. Castro was typically lucid and reasonable, especially his observation that "police violence is also gun violence, and we need to address that".  I don't know why he isn't doing better in the polls, but this may well be the last time we'll see him on the debate stage.That leaves just one candidate - Gabbard - for whom I can't think of anything positive worth noting in her debate performance.  Gabbard is wrong on so much many issues - especially foreign policy, and she's friends with Trey Gowdy? - that I'd find it hard to vote for her, unless somehow she were the Democrat running against Trump.

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El Camino: Flashbacks and Onward

El Camino, aptly described by IMDb as "a sequel of sorts, to Breaking Bad," is nothing but a success, unqualified.

The "of sorts" does amply to El Camino's status as a sequel, and one of the key reasons, perhaps the key reason, why it is so satisfying.  Walter (Bryan Cranston), Mike (Jonathan Banks), and Todd (Jesse Plemons), none of whom survived the original series, each appear in El Camino in flashback scenes that we haven't seen before in Breaking Bad.  Todd's was much better than Mike's, and Walter's was sheer magic, but all three in-and-of themselves make El Camino eminently worth watching.

Robert Forster, whose character Ed survived the original series, made a crucial and winning appearance in El Camino.   He was one of my favorite actors since the groundbreaking Medium Cool, and everything subsequent from Jackie Brown to even Heroes, and had the rare ability to be perfect in every disparate part he played.  In a tragic irony which somehow also is in line with Breaking Bad, Forster passed away on the day El Camino debuted on Netflix.  RIP, truly.

As for the story of El Camino, I don't want to give any of it away, so I won't talk about the plot.  But Aaron Paul does a fine job as Jesse Pinkman, who is appropriately a bit older and wiser and all-around more capable than he was in Breaking Bad.   The movie crackles with sarcasm and satire and all kinds of humor interspersed with bullets flying and other life-and-death situations, and is a good additional (very short) season to one of the most original and remarkable series ever on television.

Is there room for another sequel?   See the movie and decide.

See also my review of Breaking Bad: The Official Book



And see also Breaking Bad Final Episodes #1: Walt vs. Hank ... Breaking Bad Final Episodes #2: Skylar and Jesse ... Breaking Bad Final Episodes #3: The Ultimate Lie ... Breaking Bad Final Episodes #4: Old Yeller ... Breaking Bad Final Episode #5: Coordinates ... Breaking Bad Final Episode #6: The Knife and the Phone ...  Breaking Bad Penultimate: $10,000 for 2 Hours ... Breaking Bad Finale: "I Did It for Me"

Also: Talking about Walter White and Breaking Bad

And see also Breaking Bad Season 5 Premiere: Riveting Entropy ... Breaking Bad 5.3: Deal with the Devil ... Breaking Bad 5.7: Exit Mike ... Breaking Bad Final Half-Season Finale

And see also My Prediction about Breaking Bad ... Breaking Bad Season 4 Debuts ... Breaking Bad 4.2: Gun and Question ... Breaking Bad 4.11: Tightening Vice ... Breaking Bad 4.12: King vs. King ... Breaking Bad Season 4 Finale: Deceptive Flowers



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The Deuce 3.6: Memorable Scenes

An outstanding episode 3.6 of The Deuce on HBO tonight, with all kinds of memorable and game-changing developments.  Among my favorites -

Lori out west, finally firing her agent and leaving the guy who swore he'd make her a star.  She'll head back east now, to do ... what?Candy reaching deep into her own life to give an actress more context for her part.  Candy's life literally has nothing to do with the specific scene the actress needs help with.  But the actress is inspired, as are we the audience, nonetheless.  So is Harvey, who finally gives Candy a passionate kiss.   (Lots of finally's in this fine episode.)Vince is of course transformed by his brother's murder.  He's tougher and more sensitive, at the same time.  Sensitive because he now has a visceral appreciation of how precious life is.  Seeing him and Abby get back together and commit to each other was one of the best moments in the series.  I really hope they both survive this final season, and survive it together.But speaking of Vince, I'd say the strongest scenes was the series of scenes involving Rudy.  He admires that Vince acted like "a man" and killed his twin brother's killer.  He tells a mob guy, pretty high up there, who represents the father of the guy Vince killed, that he Rudy okayed the killing.  And, unsurprisingly, Rudy's second in command kills Rudy in a powerful last scene.So where does that leave Vince?  Possibly, presumably, since Rudy took responsibility for the killing of Frankie's killer, there will be no further need for the killer's father to exact retribution from Vince.  But I have no idea how these mob things work.

All I know is I'll be watching the remaining episodes of this unique series with rapt attention.

See also The Deuce 3.1: 1985 ... The Deuce 3.2: The First Amendment! ... The Deuce 3.3: Love and Money, Pimps and Agents ... The Deuce 3.4: Major Changes ... The Deuce 3.5: Lori and Candy

And see also The Deuce Is Back - Still Without Cellphones, and that's a Good Thing ... The Deuce 2.2: Fairytales Can Come True ... The Deuce 2.3: The Price ... The Deuce 2.4: The Ad-Lib ... The Deuce 2.6: "Bad Bad Larry Brown" ... The Deuce 2.9: Armand, Southern Accents, and an Ending ... The Deuce Season 2 Finale: The Video Revolution

And see also The Deuce: NYC 1971 By Way of The Wire and "Working with Marshall McLuhan" ... Marilyn Monroe on the Deuce 1.7 ... The Deuce Season 1 Finale: Hitchcock and Truffaut 

  
It all starts in the hot summer of 1960, when Marilyn walks off the set
of The Misfits and begins to hear a haunting song in her head,
"Goodbye Norma Jean" ... Paul Levinson's books ... Paul Levinson's music

Prodigal Son 1.4: Ainsley

The big step forward in Prodigal Son 1.4 is Ainsley coming to see her serial killer father at the very end of the episode.  He was certainly very happy about that, favoring her and us the audience with one of those Michael Sheen smiles.  As for Ainsley...

Well, we really don't know much about her.  She's played by Halston Sage, who did such a good job on The Orville.  So that in itself makes her character Ainsley ipso facto appealing.  In fact, that's one of the calling cards of Prodigal Son, with Sheen and Sage joining with Tom Payne and Lou Diamond Phillips to make one four-of-a-kind powerhouse of a leading cast.

But what's Ainsley's story?  Unlike Malcolm, she was apparently untouched by her father's psycho killings and her mother's acquiescence, which we also received confirmation of, tonight.  If it's indeed the case that Ainsley was shielded from what her parents were doing, that gives her a unique advantage in this narrative, a blank-slate counterpoint to Malcolm and everything he remembers, almost remembers, and one way or another knows.

But I have a feeling Ainsley knows more than that.  Her father's smile, I think, was more than just the smile of a father who is psycho glad to finally see his daughter again.  The bad good doctor likely knows something about Ainsley, someone we in the audience don't yet know, that is vitally important to his and this story.

Prodigal Son is already showing itself to be a complex drama with a lot more people in motion than just the son.

See also: Prodigal Son: A New Serial Killer ... Prodigal Son 1.2: Dreams or Memories? ... Prodigal Son 1.3: LSD and Chloroform

 
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