Paul Levinson's Blog: Levinson at Large, page 246

August 8, 2016

Marco Polo Season 2: Masterpiece

I binged watched the second season of Marco Polo on Netflix the past few evenings - superb, better than the first season in every way, and the first season was pretty good indeed.

I don't want to give anything away in the complicated, twisty story - with lots of surprises, even for those who know history - so I'll just mention some of the highlights -


The opening credits are themselves a treat for eye and ear - animated brushstroke with meaningful images, and evocative voicing you just can't get out of your head.Probably my favorite single scene were horses set ablaze and running into the enemy camp - an assault via horseflesh, literally, deadly and devastating, with no loss of human life for the attackers.There's a great mix of religion, especially Islam and Christianity, into the story.  This was present in the first season, because Kublai Khan indeed welcomed all religions in his realm, but the religions play a much more decisive role in the second season.Women have outstanding roles, as fighters, lovers, strategists, and indeed all aspects of life.  A pleasure to see.There was so much attention on Kublai in some episodes, and so little on Marco, that at times I was thinking the series could be better named Kublai.  But Marco has some crucial moves, especially near the end.A personal favorite of mine in the twilight zone between historical fact and myth is Prester John.  It was good to see him brought into these battles for the world.Gabriel Byrne makes a fine appearance as the Pope.   And, actually, all the acting was top-drawer, with special kudos to Benedict Wong as Kubai and Joan Chen as his wife, the Empress Chabi.Beautifully projected, brilliantly plotted, with an eye equally keen for the teardrop, which the blind monk hears, and the grand spectacle of a people who conquered more of the world than any other, Marco Polo is a masterpiece of historical drama, and I'm looking forward to more.

See also Marco Polo: Evocative History

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Published on August 08, 2016 11:07

August 7, 2016

Ray Donovan 4.7: Easybeats

An altogether perfect episode 4.7 of Ray Donovan tonight.

First and foremost, the Mickey story, most of which is Ray's plan to get him to a safer haven in prison - the gay ward - before getting him released.  Mickey agrees, and gives the plan his all.  It's a matter of life and death, because the bad guys have put a man on the inside to kill Mickey.  Bunchy and Terry, forewarned, attest to their father's gayness when questioned; Conor, not forewarned does not;  but Mickey comes through with a brilliant spur-of-the-moment move, and he escapes getting strangled by the skin of his something or other.   It's a brilliant set piece, with equal doses of suspense and hilarity, served up with another outstanding Jon Voight performance.

The other fine part of the episode also concerns Mickey, but via Cochran, whom Ray has hired to get Mickey ultimately free.  And the best part of that was hearing "Friday On My Mind" - first sung by Hank Azarian (Cochran), pretty good, and then at the end, even better, by, I'm not sure, it was the same arrangement as the original, great Easybeats, but didn't sound exactly the same, maybe it was a different mix, but listen for yourself to video at the end of this review, and see/hear for yourself.

But, anyway, I've always loved that song and it was great to hear it again.  As I've said in my reviews of Ray Donovan a couple of times this season, the music has been just outstanding.  And, as a special treat, Stacy Keach came on at the end as the Texan, and I was glad to see he was was still breathing, because it will be good to see him back on the screen next week and maybe more.

Ok, I'm going to listen again to Friday on My Mind, and then maybe some Bob Seger - whose music was on a few weeks ago - and then, I don't know, maybe try to predict what they'll play on this show next week.




See also Ray Donovan 4.1: Good to Be Back ... Ray Donovan 4.2: Settling In ... Ray Donovan 4.4: Bob Seger

And see also Ray Donovan 3.1: New, Cloudy Ray ... Ray Donovan 3.2: Beat-downs ... Ray Donovan 3.7: Excommunication!

And see also Ray Donovan 2.1: Back in Business ... Ray Donovan 2.4: The Bad Guy ... Ray Donovan 2.5: Wool Over Eyes ... Ray Donovan 2.7: The Party from Hell ... Ray Donovan 2.10: Scorching ... Ray Donovan 2.11: Out of Control ... Ray Donovan Season 2 Finale: Most Happy Ending

And see also Ray Donovan Debuts with Originality and Flair ... Ray Donovan 1.2: His Assistants and his Family ... Ray Donovan 1.3: Mickey ... Ray Donovan 1.7 and Whitey Bulger ... Ray Donovan 1.8: Poetry and Death ... Ray Donovan Season 1 Finale: The Beginning of Redemption


  different kinds of crimes and fixes

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Published on August 07, 2016 20:41

August 5, 2016

Why Hillary Clinton Is Telling the Truth about Her Emails

Here's the situation: Hillary has said repeatedly that she didn't send or receive any classified emails via her private server when she was Secretary of State.  FBI Director Comey has said she did.   He also said she didn't lie to the FBI about this.

All of these statements are true.

Here's why:

1. A hundred out of the 30+ thousand emails Hillary sent on her private server were marked "classified" after she had sent them.  Therefore, Hillary could not have knowingly sent out or received such retroactively classified emails.  Comey may have been right to chastise her for using a private server, but that's a different issue (and, as been noted by everyone except Republicans, Hillary's predecessor Colin Powell sent private emails, as did Condoleezza Rice's staff.

2. Three of the emails on Hillary's private server were indeed marked classified - but the markings on two were incorrect.  So, in fact, these cannot be counted as classified emails that Hillary had on her private server.

3.  The marking on the third was correct - on 1 out of more than 30,000 emails - but it was not listed at the top. So although Hillary did have that one classified email on her private server, it's reasonable to conclude that she did not know it was classified.

And that's it.  No one is lying - neither Hillary Clinton nor the FBI Director. For some reason, the media today - including, unsurprisingly now, some of the geniuses at MSNBC, specifically Howard Fineman and Chris Cillizza - were saying that Hillary was not clear, was too defensive today, when she explained what happened.  But, in fact, it's not the least bit unclear, and I'm finding the media opacity on this issue no help at all, to the point of not doing their jobs.

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Published on August 05, 2016 15:11

Tyrant 3.5: Bassam and Daliya

Well, it's not quite Samson and Delilah, but it sure was good to see Bassam and Daliya in bed together at the end of Tyrant 3.5, and with any luck their relationship will work out better for Barry than Delilah did for Samson.

Daliya's little smile on her face at the very end certainly shows she enjoyed the evening, and, at this point there's no reason to think it's the smile of a traitor or anything more than genuine.  But, of course, with Tyrant, you never know.

Their relationship, if it it continues - and how can it not? - will certainly not have a good impact on Fauzi, who clearly loves Daliya and is counting on her in his run from President.   Neither Bassam or Daliya will want Fauzi to know about their night in bed.   If it doesn't immediately continue, we might even see Daliya enter a loveless marriage with Fauzi - well, based on affection, for sure, but not deep love - and serve as First Lady of Abbudin if Fauzi becomes President.   And if Bassam stays in town, there will be a continuing temptation ...

But that's getting ahead of the story.   At this point, Fauzi is still just a candidate for President, and he faces some strong competition from Al-Qadi, who acquitted himself very well in this episode in defusing a potentially deadly confrontation between protesters and the military, and Leila, who's not doing well in the polls, but is always a formidable contender.

Of course, we shouldn't completely count Bassam out as yet, either, regardless of what he might say to the contrary.  I'm looking forward to seeing the results of this election more than any other in the world except one - that'll take place in the United States in November.  With any luck, we should find out the results of the election in Abbudin a little sooner.

See also: Tyrant 3.1: Barry -> Bassam ... Tyrant 3.2: Whither Molly? ... Tyrant 3.3: Double Death
And see alsoTyrant 2.1: The Tyrant's Character ... Tyrant 2.5: The Caliphate ... Tyrant Season 2 Finale: Deserves to be Renewed 
And see alsoTyrant: Compelling Debut ... Tyrant 1.2: The Brother's Speech and His Wife ... Tyrant 1.3: A New Leaf? ... Tyrant 1.4: Close to the Bone ...Tyrant 1.6: Don't Mess with Jamal ... Tyrant 1.7-8: Coup ... Tyrant 1.9: Tariq ... Tyrant Season 1 Finale: The Truest Tyrant

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and earlier in the Middle East ...
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Published on August 05, 2016 10:26

August 1, 2016

Bones Season 11 Finale: The Ultimate Intern

Finally got around to watching the last few episodes of Bones Season 11.  I'd been diverted by the two conventions, Republican and Democratic, the first of which struck me as a gathering of little better than the bad guys on Bones, the second of our team at the Jeffersonian (hey, the Democrats do have far more respect for the Constitution and Declaration of Independence which Jefferson had a hand in writing), but I digress ...

Zack Addy was always far and away my favorite intern -  as well as serial killer in training, for that matter.  Zack was more brilliant than all the subsequent interns combined. And as for serial killing, well, he was just getting started.  (Hey, Hodgins was even talking about Zack in the great meta-retrospective episode 11.18 in June, giving us a little taste of what was to come.)

Because he's back in action now as the Puppeteer, with designs for who-knows-exactly-what on Bones. I've always found marionettes a little creepy anyway, which makes use of them, including turning murder victims into them, nicely effective.

Given Zack's genius and his knowledge of not only the lab at the Jeffersonian, but what makes our principals there tick, it's no surprise (in retrospect) that he was able to set them up and play them with false evidence, which they took a little too long to deconstruct.   He'll be in a great position to give everyone a run for their money next season.

But his knowledge of our heroes at Jeffersonian comes with a price - he commensurately has no knowledge or less knowledge about what has happened at the lab since he left.  This difference is embodied in all the interns who replaced him.  None of them are as smart as Zack, but I was exaggerating when I said he was smarter than all of them put together.  And working together, along lines of thought and investigation unfamiliar to Zack, may be just the way to get him.

We'll see if I'm right next year.  What I'm relatively sure of is Bones and Booth will survive.  I think Angela and Hodgins (maybe even walking again) are pretty safe, too.  But as for everyone else ... well, we'll just have to see what this charmingly ultimate intern psycho winds up doing to them.

See also Bones Back for Season 11: Aubrey and 'Audrey' ... Bones 11.2: Back in Place ... Bones 11.5 Meets Sleepy Hollow 3.5: Time Travel ...Bones 11.10: Shake-Up ... Bones 11.11: Meets Ironside ... Bones 11.18: Meta-Bones

See also Bones 10.1: The Fulcrum Changes ... Bones 10.2: J. Edgar and the DNA Confession ... Bones 10.3: Meets Rush and a Dominatrix ... Bones 10.4: Brennan and Angela on a Bench in the Playground ... Bones 10.5: Two Jokes and Three Times ... Bones 10.6: A Thousand Cuts ... Bones 10.7: The A-Word and Quarks ... Bones 10.8: Daisy's Doula ... Bones 10.9: The Milgram Experiment and the Birds ... Bones 200: 10.10: Just like Bogey and Bacall ... Bones 10.11: Life after Death, and Sweets in Wonderland ...Bones 10.12: The Digital Revolution ... Bones 10.13: The Almost-Serial Killer ...Bones 10.14: meets La Parure ... Bones 10.15: Cards in Hand ...Bones 10.16: Hodgins' Money ... Bones 10.17-18: Bullies and Capital Punishment ... Bones 10.19: Do You Buy Booth's Gambling Addiction? ...Bones 10.20: Intimations of a New Jeffersonian ... Bones 10.21: Ten Years Isn't Enough ... Bones Season 10 Finale: Rehearsals for Retirement?
And see also Bones 9.1: The Sweet Misery of Love ... Bones 9.2: Bobcat, Identity Theft, and Sweets ... Bones 9.3 and NCIS 11.2: Sweets and Ziva ... Bones 9.4: Metaphysics of Death in a Television Series ... Bones 9.5: Val and Deep Blue ... Bones 9.6: The Wedding ... Bones 9.7: Watch Out, Buenos Aires ...Bones 9.8: The Bug in the Neck ... Bones 9.9: Friday Night Bones in the Courtroom ... Bones 9.10: Horse Pucky ... Bones 9.11: Angels in Equations ... Bones 9.12: Fingernails ... Bones 9.13: Meets Nashville, and Wendell ... Bones 9.14: "You Cannot Drink Your Glass Away" ... Bones 9.15: Hodgins' Brother and the Ripped Off Toe ... Bones 9.16: Lampreys, Professors, and Insurance Companies ... Bones 9.17: Spartacus in the Kitchen ... Bones 9.18: Meets Day of the Triffids ... Bones 9.19: The Cornucopic Urn ... Bones 9.20: Above the Law ... Bones 9.21: Freezing and Thawing ... Bones 9.22: Promotion ... Bones 9.23: The New Intern ... Bones Season 9 Finale: Upping the Ante

And see also Bones 8.1: Walk Like an Egyptian ... Bones 8.2 of Contention ... Bones 8.3: Not Rotting Behind a Desk  ... Bones 8.4: Slashing Tiger and Donald Trump ... Bones 8.5: Applesauce on Election Eve ... Bones 8.6: Election Day ... Bones 8.7: Dollops in the Sky with Diamonds ...Bones 8.8: The Talking Remains ... Bones 8.9: I Am A Camera ... Bones 8.10-11: Double Bones ...Bones 8.12: Face of Enigmatic Evil ... Bones 8.13: Two for the Price of One ... Bones 8.14: Real Life ... Bones 8.15: The Magic Bullet and the Be-Spontaneous Paradox ... Bones 8.16: Bitter-Sweet Sweets and Honest Finn ... Bones 8.17: "Not Time Share, Time Travel" ... Bones 8.18: Couples ... Bones 8.19: The Head in the Toilet ... Bones 8.20: On Camera ... Bones 8.21: Christine, Hot Sauce, and the Judge ... Bones 8.22: Musical-Chair Parents ... Bones 8.23: The Bluff ... Bones Season 8 Finale: Can't Buy the Last Few Minutes

And see also Bones 7.1: Almost Home Sweet Home ... Bones 7.2: The New Kid and the Fluke ...Bones 7.3: Lance Bond and Prince Charmington ... Bones 7.4: The Tush on the Xerox ... Bones 7.5: Sexy Vehicle ... Bones 7.6: The Reassembler ... Bones 7.7: Baby! ... Bones 7.8: Parents ...Bones 7.9: Tabitha's Salon ... Bones 7.10: Mobile ... Bones 7.11: Truffles and Max ... Bones 7.12: The Corpse is Hanson ... Bones Season 7 Finale: Suspect Bones

And see also Bones 6.1: The Linchpin ... Bones 6.2: Hannah and her Prospects ... Bones 6.3 at the Jersey Shore, Yo, and Plymouth Rock ... Bones 6.4 Sans Hannah ... Bones 6.5: Shot and Pretty ... Bones 6.6: Accidental Relations ... Bones 6.7:  Newman and "Death by Chocolate" ...Bones 6.8: Melted Bones ... Bones 6.9: Adelbert Ames, Jr. ... Bones 6.10: Reflections ... Bones 6.11: The End and the Beginning of a Mystery ... Bones 6.12 Meets Big Love ... Bones 6.13: The Marrying Kind ... Bones 6.14: Bones' Acting Ability ... Bones 6.15: "Lunch for the Palin Family" ...Bones 6.16: Stuck in an Elevator, Stuck in Times ... Bones 6.17: The 8th Pair of Feet ... Bones 6.18: The Wile E. Chupacabra ... Bones 6.19 Test Runs The Finder ... Bones 6.20: This Very Statement is a Lie ... Bones 6.21: Sensitive Bones ... Bones 6.22: Phoenix Love ... Bones Season 6 Finale: Beautiful

And see also Bones: Hilarity and Crime and Bones is Back For Season 5: What Is Love? and 5.2: Anonymous Donors and Pipes and 5.3: Bones in Amish Country and 5.4: Bones Meets Peyton Place and Desperate Housewives and Ancient Bones 5.5 and Bones 5.6: A Chicken in Every Viewer's Pot and Psychological Bones 5.7 and Bones 5.8: Booth's "Pops" and Bones 5.9 Meets Avatar and Videogamers ... Bad Santa, Heart-Warming Bones 5.10 ... Bones 5.11: Of UFOs, Bloggers, and Triangles ... Bones 5.12: A Famous Skeleton and Angela's Baby ... Love with Teeth on Bones 5.13 ... Faith vs. Science vs. Psychology in Bones 5.14 ... Page 187 in Bones 5.15 ...Bones 100: Two Deep Kisses and One Wild Relationship ... Bones 5.17: The Deadly Stars ...Bones Under Water in 5.18 ... Bones 5.19: Ergo Together ...  Bones 5.20: Ergo Together ... Bones 5.21: The Rarity of Happy Endings ... Bones Season 5 Finale: Eye and Evolution
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the Sierra Waters time-travel trilogy


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Published on August 01, 2016 21:05

July 31, 2016

The Night Of #4: Chandra To The Rescue

Another great episode - #4 - of The Night Of on HBO tonight, in which Chandra, the hot-shot defense attorney's assistant, was the hero.   This series is clearly the best show on summer television, just as HBO says.

About Chandra - she's the only one who tells Naz what he and we want to hear. Allison Crowe, his expensive defense attorney, happy to work pro bono so she can get the publicity, tells him to take the deal.   Freddy wants him to take the deal. Everyone in the DA's office wants him to take the deal.  Even hard-bitten Jack Stone, who means well, wants Naz to take the deal.

And actually, there is one person other than Chandra who doesn't want Naz to take the 15-year plea-bargained sentence. Detective Box doesn't want Naz to take the deal, but doesn't want that for the wrong reasons - he wants Naz to be found guilty of first degree murder, which Box is sure Naz committed.  Not to put too fine a point on it, but Box wants to put Naz in a box, and will settle for life imprisonment as the best he can do in the (I would say enlightened) State of New York.

But Chandra, on the side of the angels and played just right by Amara Karan, tells Naz only to take the deal if he really did the murder.  And if not - to turn the deal down, to not publicly proclaim his guilt for a crime he didn't commit.  It was a breath of inspiration to hear.  And Naz takes her advice.   One of the first smart things he's done.

This is good not only because it felt right, but because it keeps the story in motion.  In a separate thread, we also learn why Freddy has taken Naz under his wing - because Freddy values knowledge and intelligence, and sees that in Naz, and that's good to see, too.

But if Naz didn't do it, we're still left with the question of who did?  At this point, it looks like Don Taylor had something to do with it, but that's a little obvious, so we'll just have to see what next week delivers.  I'm game - my only regret about this show is that I can't stream it all on Netflix or Amazon.


See also The Day After The Night Of on HBO ... The Night Of #3: The Schlep vs. the Star

a diferent kind of crime ....






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Published on July 31, 2016 23:05

July 30, 2016

Khizr Khan's Service to America

It's been almost two days since the conclusion of the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia, and the words that are still in my mind, in fact, the only words, are not from Presidents and First Ladies, not from candidates for President and Vice President, not from former Mayors and lots of other people, impassioned and eloquent and memorable as they were.   It's what Khizr Khan, his wife beside him, father of slain US-Muslim soldier Humayun Khan killed in the Iraq War, said to Donald Trump.

They've no doubt been seen by millions of people on the Internet.  They were heard by millions when Khan said them.  But here they are again - like all words for the ages, you can't read or hear them too many times:

Donald Trump, you're asking Americans to trust you with their future. Let me ask you, have you even read the United States Constitution? I will gladly lend you my copy ... Have you ever been to Arlington Cemetery? Go look at the graves of the brave patriots who died defending America -- you will see all faiths, genders and ethnicities. You have sacrificed nothing and no one.

Dan Rather said to Rachel Maddow last night that he thought those words - especially that final sentence - were the most powerful he had ever heard at any national political convention, going back to 1956.  I agree. Indeed, I think those words are more powerful and important than any great political statements in any arena - better than Lloyd Bentsen's "Senator, you're no Jack Kennedy" to Dan Quayle in the 1988 Vice Presidential debate, even better than Joseph Welch to Joe McCarthy in the 1954 Senate hearing, "At long last, have you left no sense of decency?"

What Khan said was even more important to our country and its future, and the world, because of who he is and whom he said it to.   Khan is an immigrant, and a man whose son made the ultimate sacrifice for this country, to save the soldiers around him.

And Trump is ... well ... poking holes in his positions is easier than shooting fish in a barrel.  But Khan burst Trump's balloon of bluster and hate and ignorance more fully and effectively than anyone I've seen before.  Khan's words laid bare Trump's appalling and pathetic ignorance, along with his selfishness and greed and profound inability to walk the walk.

Those words should be carved in a monument in some public place, as a response to the totalitarian impulse that has now gripped some of this nation.   And they should be kept in mind by anyone doesn't like Trump, but is thinking of staying home on Election Day, or maybe voting for a third party candidate, because they don't like Hillary Clinton much either. I think Hillary will make an excellent President and would be voting for her whoever her Republican rival.  But with Trump, and with Khizr Khan's words indelibly in my mind, I'd vote for Hillary in a heartbeat whatever my opinion of her career.

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Published on July 30, 2016 10:39

July 27, 2016

Marcella: Offbeat and Compelling

We live-streamed Marcella on Netflix the past week, mostly in the wee hours of the morning, after watching the Presidential conventions.   It was certainly more appealing than the GOP convention last week, but that's faint praise indeed.

In its own right, Marcella is an off-beat and compelling story about the a woman who returns to the Metropolitan Police in London to help with a case that's all-too-familiar.   This happens at the same time as her husband leaves her for a blonde business executive, and then things get really interesting when she's murdered.

But here's what really sets Marcella apart as a noir police procedural: she's suffering black-outs, due to stress, and these (of course) occur at crucial times in her life  and in the investigation.  So much so, that she begins to suspect herself as the killer of her husband's lover.

Black-outs are a great trope in fiction, especially in detective stories, and even more so if it's the detective who's suffering the blackouts.   I did in this in one of my Phil D'Amato novels - The Consciousness Plague - and it adds an underlying uneasiness and uncertainty to everything in the story, which is just what you want in a serial murder narrative.

But Marcella takes this to a new level, since the serial murders themselves make no sense, and, in addition to her black-outs, she comes out of one of them with blood on her hands, literally.  I won't spoil the ending for you, but it's good indeed, conclusive in one sense but intriguingly ambiguous in another.

Anna Friel does a memorable job in the title role, the supporting cast is strong, and I'm looking for season 2 to be announced.


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Published on July 27, 2016 09:02

July 25, 2016

The Night of #3: The Schlepp vs. the Star

An excellent third episode of The Night Of on HBO last night, in which Jack Stone gets some competition in his representation of Naz - from superstar attorney Alison Crowe.

Crowe is willing to serve as Naz's lawyer for nothing, an offer that of course appeals to Naz's parents and Jack can't beat.  Why is Crowe willing to do this?   Presumably for publicity, and in bringing her into the story in this way, The Night Of takes a shot at Gloria Allred.

Though it's more complicated than that.  In real life, although Allred likes publicity, she also does a lot of good for her clients and the world.   We haven't yet seen Crowe in action, but there's no reason to suppose that she won't be able to do the same.

But not if Jack has anything to do about that, even though his course from now on is unclear.  He still doesn't know for sure if Naz is guilty or innocent - just as we the audience don't yet know - but he increasingly wants to devote his all to doing the best that can be done for Naz.   He's not about to take Crowe taking over with a deferential bow, and it will be fun to see how he strikes back.

Meanwhile, speaking of celebrity, is that what's motivating Freddy to take Naz under his wing inside prison? Hard to say, but it's always good to Michael Kenneth Williams in any role on television.

We have five more episodes to go in this mini-series, and so far, as far as we know, we haven't met any other suspects.   If the killer is not Naz - which I can't believe it is - will the real killer be (a) revealed in the final episode, (b) sometime sooner, or (c) never at all?

Your guess is as good as mine, and I'll keep watching for a hint of an answer in this fine little series.

See also The Day After The Night Of on HBO

 
a diferent kind of crime ....


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Published on July 25, 2016 15:53

July 23, 2016

Hell on Wheels Finale: From Rail to Sea

A most fine and satisfying finale to Hell on Wheels tonight, with Bohannon doing just what I'd hoped and predicted (see my previous reviews) in the end:  taking a boat to China to find Mei.

It wasn't that hard to predict, but was still very good to see.  Being a Union colonel, killing Indians, of course didn't suit him for at least two reasons.   But neither did working on a much smaller railroad in California.   Only finding the love of his life - or at least his recent life - made sense.

Durant came across very well, too, which made me sorry we had to see his ultimate decline in the flashforward a few weeks back.  But every word Durant said in his testimony rang true.  He lied, cheated, stole, all in the service of building that railroad, and he succeeded.

And the railroad Durant had built with Bohannon's help is the vehicle that gets Bohannon from Washington to San Francisco, where he boards a boat to China, in the end.  That was one of the nicest touches in this finale, that Bohannon used what he built to help his personal dream a reality.  In other words, Bohannon helped make Durant's vision real, and in turn used that reality to get his own dream underway into reality.

Seeing Custer was fun, too - though knowing what's going to happen to him makes this not quite fun, either.  But it's Custer's style and swagger than convinces Bohannon he isn't a soldier anymore, and doesn't want to be one again.

And so this wonderful series ends.  I still miss Lily, and would have been happier if the Swede had been dispatched much earlier, but hey, we were treated to a few years of a great Western with real history and some memorably personal stories to boot.   How about a movie, say, five or ten years from now, which shows what Bohannon and Mei are up to?

See also Hell on Wheels 5.1: Rails and Truckee ... Hell on Wheels 5.2: Mei and Cullen ... Hell on Wheels 5.3: Prejudice ... Hell on Wheels 5.8: Letting Him Live? ... Hell on Wheels 5.9: A Good Night for Bohannon ... Hell on Wheels 5.10: Nitroglycerin and Love ... Hell on Wheels 5.11: Durant and Shakespeare ... Hell on Wheels 5.12: Sailing Away ... Hell on Wheels 5.13: Almost Grinds to a Halt

And see also Hell on Wheels 4.1-2: Rolling Again ... Hell on Wheels 4.5: New Blood ... Hell on Wheels 4.6: Bear and Sanity ... Hell on Wheels 4.7: Why? ... Hell on Wheels 4.8: Aftermath and Rebound ... Hell on Wheels 4.9: High Noon ... Hell on Wheels 4.10: A Tale of Two Sicko Killers ... Hell on Wheels 4.11: The Redemption of Ruth ... Hell on Wheels 4.12: Infuriating and Worthwhile ... Hell on Wheels Season 4 Finale: The Buffalo

And see also Hell on Wheels 3.1-2: Bohannan in Command ... Hell on Wheels 3.3: Talking and Walking ... Hell on Wheels 3.4: Extreme Lacrosse ... Hell on Wheels 3.5: The Glove ... Hell on Wheels 3.6: The Man in Charge ...Hell on Wheels 3.7: Water, Water ... Hell on Wheels 3.8: Canterbury Tales ...Hell on Wheels 3.9: Shoot-Out and Truths ... Hell on Wheels Season 3 finale: Train Calling in the Distance

And see also  Hell on Wheels: Blood, Sweat, and Tears on the Track, and the Telegraph ... Hell on Wheels 1.6: Horse vs. Rail ... Hell on Wheels 1.8: Multiple Tracks ... Hell on Wheels 1.9: Historical Inevitable and Unknown ... Hell on Wheels Season One Finale: Greek Tragedy, Western Style



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Published on July 23, 2016 21:18

Levinson at Large

Paul Levinson
At present, I'll be automatically porting over blog posts from my main blog, Paul Levinson's Infinite Regress. These consist of literate (I hope) reviews of mostly television, with some reviews of mov ...more
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