Paul Levinson's Blog: Levinson at Large, page 256

The Path to Better Gun Control

Hillary Clinton gave an excellent talk in Connecticut earlier today about her commitment to sensible gun law reform.   I'm hopeful that, with Hillary as President, our country will finally be able to do this, starting with closing the loopholes to our current laws, including the so-called "Charleston loophole," which the allowed the young killer in Charleston to buy a gun even though his background check had not been concluded.

Closing these loopholes has been vehemently opposed by the NRA, which is why someone with an "F" from the NRA, which Hillary has, is desirable (in contrast to Bernie Sanders' D-).   She promised in Connecticut to search for ways of tightening our gun laws every minute of her Presidency.  That's what we need.

Passing effective gun control laws will be more difficult than the Affordable Care Act, due to the Second Amendment.  New laws will require not only Hillary as President, but a Democratic Senate and House of Representatives, which is what it took to pass Obamacare.  But in order for the new health care law to stand, it needed to also pass Supreme Court muster.  And the country got lucky. The Republican-appointed Chief Justice Roberts decided to join the progressives in support of the law.

A new, strong gun-control law will not need such luck if Hillary is President, owing to the vacancy now on the Supreme Court with Antonin Scalia's passing.   If the Senate confirms Obama's appointment Merrick Garland, which seems highly unlikely, there will be a moderate progressive fifth justice on the Court.   If not, and Hillary wins, and the Senate goes Democratic, we'll either get Garland or an even more progressive new nominee from Hillary.

The possibility of a reliably progressive Supreme Court and a sensible, no-nonsense approach to gun control is one of the main reasons why the election of Hillary Clinton is so important.   Just as Obamacare got us on the road, at long last, to universal heath care, gun control laws under Hillary Clinton could finally put America on a path away from the deaths by guns that daily ravage our country.


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How to Beat Donald Trump

I was interviewed about Donald Trump a few years ago - actually, about ten years ago, time flies when you're having a good time - and then quoted in and asked to blurb this 2007 biography of Trump, No Such Thing as Over-Exposure: Inside the Life and Celebrity of Donald Trump, by Robert Slater.

I admit that I admired something of Trump back then, or at least his success, which is why I was happy to blurb the book.   Slater thought I understood a bit of what made Trump tick.   I thought so, too, and think so today, when what makes Trump tick is vastly more crucial to our nation and indeed the world than it was a decade ago.

I told Slater, and he agreed, that Trump was motivated, to the point of being addicted, to two things. One has become obvious and all too well-known.  Trump is addicted to publicity.  He's the very embodiment of the principle that there's no such thing as bad publicity, aka the worst publicity is no publicity, and everything he's said and done since announcing his candidacy for President last summer proves this.   That was the sense of the title of Slater's biography of Trump.   No Such Thing as Over-Exposure.

But there's a second part to Trump's compulsion: he's addicted to winning. We saw the first major expression of this after his big loss in Wisconsin. He declined to appear on the Sunday talk shows, for the first time since November, the weekend after Wisconsin.

No candidate likes to lose.   But look at what Hillary did after her losses to Bernie - she immediately redoubled her efforts and media appearances.   Indeed, having lost a very difficult primary to Obama in 2008, she came back in 2016.   We've yet to see what Bernie will do in the future if, as now seems likely, he doesn't get the Democratic nomination, but so far he seems unbowed by the victories Hillary has mounted,   On the Republican side, Cruz and Kasich seem largely unfazed by their considerable defeats.

This analysis of Trump is of course now muddied by his big win in New York last night. But I think it will  prove out in the months ahead.  If Trump does not get the Republican nomination, I predict he'll kick and scream but do nothing more (though his supporters may riot), including not launching a third party effort. If he does get the nomination, and loses the general election, I predict we'll never see him run for office again. Trump's addicted to winning, and therefore hates losing with every ounce of his being.  That's why he traded so many of his companies off to bankruptcy - he'd rather leave the field than risk losing even more.

The way to beat Trump is, therefore, to beat him.  And although that might sound like tautological gibberish, I believe it has a deep grain of truth.  Trump has a glass jaw when it comes to losing.   It's why he sulked after losing Wisconsin.   He's probably won too many primaries to leave the political field any time before the GOP Convention.   But if doesn't get the nomination, or does but loses the general election, we'll likely never see him on the ballot again.   That may be scant comfort, but it's something.

It may not be easy to stop Trump, but once that happens, I bet he won't be coming back soon, or ever again.


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My New Policy Regarding Hillary Detractors

Now that Hillary Clinton has won New York, and by a very substantial margin, I hope the Bernie Sanders campaign can ease up on some of its destructive rhetoric.   Campaigns are not run by angels, but some of what the Sanders campaign has recently done, including an ad that incorrectly says Washington politicians vote under the influence of money received for speeches - an ad correctly called out by Chris Matthews on MSNBC several nights in a row (it's illegal for people in Congress to take money while in office, as Matthews correctly points out) - are beyond the pale.

The fact is neither Hillary nor Bernie are perfect, which means there are grounds for criticizing either, but I don't think it's too much to ask for the truth.

And then there's the tone of the criticisms.   I disagree profoundly with Bernie's lack of support of the Sandy Hook parents and their suit against gun manufacturers and dealers, but I think it's more than enough to state this disagreement, and not impugn Bernie personally.   Unfortunately, I've not seen the same about Hillary among some of Bernie's supporters.

In fact, in many discussions over the past few months, I've been treated to being cursed out and insulted, as well as presented with all kinds vicious - and groundless - characterizations of Hillary.   Indeed, I just was treated to some of this about Hillary today, on Facebook.

Accordingly, I've decided that, as of now, I will block and de-friend anyone who resorts to nasty insults rather than logic in commenting about any of my political Tweets, Facebook, or other online posts.   Disagreement is fine, and is the lifeblood of rational discourse.   Insults, often vulgar, are not, and indeed poison the discourse.

Here are some possible questions about my new policy, with, one hopes, helpful answers:

Levinson, I thought you believe in the First Amendment?

I do,  but last time I checked, I was neither Congress nor any part of government.  Therefore I'm entitled, unlike the government, to block any speech I find atrocious.

Come on, haven't you said nasty things about political candidates?

Yes, I have, but mostly against Trump.   Actually, that's true, but, even so, I don't think insult is helpful, and I'm going to try from now on to keep my criticism non-insulting, which is more effective, anyway.

Will you block long-term friends and family?

They'll probably get a pass, but it depends how long-term the offending friend in question may be. And as for family, I reserve the right to critique him or her at the next seder we attend.




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The Good Wife 7.19: Elusive Happy Endings

As The Good Wife winds down with the first of its four very last episodes - 7.19, on last night - we can naturally expect wrap-ups of some slightly secondary though important stories.

We had a nice example of that last night with Diane and her husband Kurt, replete with her calling him out about his predilection for hot young Republican blondes, and cursing out a game example of same when she strolls into Diane's office with an insistence on keeping the cushy deal Kurt made with her for his company.   But the important thing about this little set piece is that it tells us Diane and Kurt have a good chance of living happily ever after - hard to come by and good to see in life in general and this narrative in particular.

The same, unsurprisingly, can not yet be said about Alicia.   Though Peter's going back to prison and Alicia standing by him has a nice ironic poetry to it, as both acknowledge near the end of the hour, it's not what we want to see for either of them.   Alicia can't be happy with the father of her children in jail, however much she may want to leave Peter in the past.

So how will she get Peter out of this mess?   I'm thinking we haven't seen the last of the at-turns dangerous and buffoonish NSA and how it can unintentionally be of help to Alicia.   If there's anything in the NSA recordings of Alicia relevant to Peter, she might be able to use that, and the NSA's understandable obsession with secrecy, to get Peter out of the clutches of the Feds.   I certainly hope so - and, if not that, for something else that will keep Peter out of lock-up.

But is that enough of a happy ending for Alicia?  She keeps insisting she loves and wants Jason, and he seems to feel the same, but for some reason I can't quite see that working out, either.   In the end, I just don't think she loves him as much as she loved Will, and since he can't come back from the dead, well, Alicia's future happiness remains far more questionable than does Diane's.

Another reason why I wish this unique show weren't ending, but, hey, I just watch and review the best of television, I don't create it, and the most I can do is eagerly await and regret the three final episodes soon to air on Sundays.


See also The Good Wife 7.1: Shake-Up ... The Good Wife 7.6: Hillary, Trump, and Alicia ... The Good Wife 7.10: Selfish Eli

And see also The Good Wife 6.4: Run-up to Running ... The Good Wife 6.10: Cary's Fate ... The Good Wife 6.11: Kalinda for Cary


See also I Dreamt I Called Will Gardner Last Night

And The Good Wife 5.1: Capital Punishment and Politicians' Daughters ... The Good Wife 5.5: The Villain in this Story ... The Good Wife 5.9: Reddit, Crowd Sourcing, and the First Amendment on Trial ... The Good Wife 5.11: Bowling Bowls and Bogdanovich ... The Good Wife 5.13: NSA on Television ... The Good Wife: 5.15: Stunner! ... The Good Wife 5.19: Tying Up Loose Ends ... The Good Wife Season 5 Finale: Musical Chairs

And see also The Good Wife 4.1 Meets Occupy Wall Street ...  The Good Wife 4.2: Reunited ... The Good Wife 4.3: "Template-Based Link Analysis Algorithm" ... The Good Wife 4.5 Meets The Sopranos ... The Good Wife 4.20: Anonymous ... The Good Wife Season 4 Finale: Good Twist!
And see also The Good Wife 3.1: Recusal and Rosh Hashanah ... The Good Wife: 3.2: Periwigs and Skype ... The Good Wife 3.7: Peter v. Will ...  Dexter's Sister on The Good Wife 3.10  ... The Good Wife 3.12: Two Suits  ... The Good Wife 3.13 Meets Murder on the Orient Express ... The Good Wife 3.15: Will and Baseball

And see also  The Good Wife Starts Second Season on CBS ... The Good Wife 2.2: Lou Dobbs, Joe Trippi, and Obama Girl ... The Good Wife 2.4: Surprise Candidate, Intimate Interpsonal Distance ... The Good Wife 2.9 Takes on Capital Punishment ... The Good Wife 2.16: Information Wars 
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Fear the Walking Dead 2.2: Almost the Last Night of the World

Fear the Walking Dead is back on AMC for its second season, and up to its second episode, just on the air tonight.  As I said last year when I first began watching the first season, I like this series in some ways a lot more than The Walking Dead, as heretical as that might sound.  But the proximity of Fear to our normalcy, such as it is, makes it more compelling in some ways than the parent show, in which the world, or at least the East Coast of the US part of it, often seems like another planet.

Tonight's episode of FTHW continued the theme of this second season - to wit, the sea is no escape from either the infected, as they're called in this series, or humans already on the road to the pathology of the mind caused by the apocalyptic epidemic.  Indeed, in 2.2, we and our heroes learn there's no likely safe haven on shore, either, however far that might be from fallen LA.

The father of the family in the house on the shore is planning on doing a Jonestown on his wife, his kids, himself, as Nick sadly but aptly puts it.   What the father is planning is also reminiscent of Ray Bradbury's "The Last Night of the World" (in the 1969 movie, The Illustrated Man, screenplay by Howard B. Kreitsek, not in the original anthology), in which a scientist murders his children to spare them an horrific end of the world, only to wake the next morning with his wife to find the scientific predictions were wrong.

Of course, in Fear the Walking Dead, as in The Walking Dead, the end of the world is all too real. Still, it's a little early in both shows to murder your children to keep them from the infected, so the father in question in tonight's episode still deserved to be opposed.

As is also the case with both Walking Dead series, few rescue plans turn to be completely successful, and often are not at all.   The main takeaway of tonight's episode is Madison learning not only that you can't save everyone but you may well not be able to save anyone in this apocalypse aborning.

Strong stuff, and I'm looking forward to more.

And see also Fear the Walking Dead 1.1: Great Beginnings ... Fear TWD 1.2: Tobias Leads the Way ... Fear TWD Season 1 Finale: Water Water

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Outlander 2.2: The King and the Forest

One of the features of Outlander that I'm not a big fan of are the gross depictions of life in the mid-1700s.   I suppose this makes the narrative more realistic and literally colorful, but I could live without it, and prefer my history through rosier glasses.

In Outlander 2.2, we get a long few minutes of this with the King of France on the commode, or whatever they called it back then, with no results.   Jaime suggests poritch aka porridge as an aid, in this case displaying knowledge as much from Scotland as from the future, and so it goes.

Of much greater interest is Claire's low-cut, voluminous dress, which she designed herself.  The costuming in this series is universally excellent, and Claire's dress draws much deserved attention and appreciation.   The French court is aptly portrayed as rife with erotic tension.

The most serious erotic tension, though, is between Claire and Jaime, as he struggles to overcome the trauma of his rape by Black Jack.   The best scene between them is when Jamie discovers that Claire has shaved her "lovely forest," and she asks him with just the right of amount of seduction and a touch of uncertainty if he likes it.   (The actors are just superb in these scenes.)  Jamie (of course) very much does, but even this new element is not enough to shake up the corner of his head that Black Jack now inhabits.

The revelation that Black Jack is alive seems unlikely to help with this, but ironically may be just what Jamie needs.  Nightmares wield their greatest power when we cannot confront them in reality.

The introduction of Black Jack's younger brother will no doubt pave the way for this confrontation. But speaking of Black Jack and his relatives, I still like to see more of Claire and Black Jack's descendant in the 20th century.

See also Outlander 2.1: Split Hour

And see also Outlander 1.1-3: The Hope of Time Travel ... Outlander 1.6:  Outstanding ... Outlander 1.7: Tender Intertemporal Polygamy ...Outlander 1.8: The Other Side ... Outlander 1.9: Spanking Good ... Outlander 1.10: A Glimmer of Paradox ... Outlander 1.11: Vaccination and Time Travel ... Outlander 1.12: Black Jack's Progeny ...Outlander 1.13: Mother's Day ... Outlander 1.14: All That Jazz ... Outlander Season 1 Finale: Let's Change History

 
Sierra Waters series, #1, time travel

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Banshee 4.3: Serial Killers and Theories

Banshee gave us the new Book of Job - or at least, Job, back, sense of sarcasm still much intact, after an ordeal that only he could survive.

The gunfight which won him his freedom was also top-drawer, with one big drawback, though, that I find not very explicable.  If our heroes knew that the bad guys were going to take the money and kill them, then why bring the money in the first place?   Why not just put a few real bills over a stack of white paper in  a suitcase, and then shoot the bejesus out of the bad guys when they discovered this?

Otherwise, though, a pretty good episode, especially with Proctor and the young woman he helps by bringing her back to Rebecca's room.   In many ways, Proctor is the most powerful character in this series - and that's saying a lot, because the show is filled with charismatic powerhouses - and part of his appeal is the way his wounded, even twisted humanity sometimes peeks almost angelically through.

But back to the murder at hand.  I don't think Rebecca's killer is just the serial killer we're beginning to see at large.  At least, I hope not.  That would be too easy.  But possibility the real killer is using the serial killer as a cover.   Or the real killer is doing the serial killings to distract from his (though, who knows, possible her) killing of Rebecca (and I still think Carrie could have been the intended victim).

The killer is certainly not Hood.  We of course already know how his blood got in the car.   But did  I hear something from Brock about Hood's semen being in Rebecca?   Possibly she slept with him as part of her good efforts to nurse him back to health after he saved her life - but wasn't that too long ago for any semen to still be in evidence?   We'll have to see - maybe I misheard.

Meanwhile, the white supremacists are moving along as expected - though I've got to say that, at this point, they're not as fearsome an adversary as Rabbit or even the Native Americans at their zenith.   Looking forward, in any case, to more next week.

See also Banshee Season 4 Debut: Whunnit? ... Banshee 4.2: Carrie and Rebecca

And see also Banshee 3.1: Taking Stock ... Banshee 3.2: Women in Charge ...Banshee 3.3: Burton vs. Nola ... Banshee 3.4: Burton and Rebecca ... Banshee 3.5: Almost the Alamo ...  Banshee 3.6: Perfect What-If Bookends ... Banshee 3.7: Movie with Movie ... Banshee 3.8: What Did Rebecca Find with Burton? ... Banshee 3.9: Loyalty ... Banshee Season 3 Finale: Subtractions and Additions

And see also Banshee Season 2 Premiere: Sneak Preview Review ... Banshee 2.2: Sneak Preview Review ... Banshee 2.3 Sneak Preview Review ... Banshee 2.4 Sneak Preview Review ... Banshee 2.5: Sneak Preview Review ... Banshee 2.6: Sneak Preview Review ... Banshee 2.7: Sneak Preview Review ... Banshee 2.8: Sneak Preview Review ... Banshee 2.9 Sneak Preview Review ... Banshee Season 2 Finale: Sneak Preview Review ... Banshee Season 2 Finale: Just Right and Shattering


Like crime stories that involve the Amish? Try The Silk Code
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Bones 11.11: Meets Ironside

Bones was back with episode 11.11 on Thursday, in the beginning of the wrap-up of what sadly will be its next-to-last season.

The big news in this episode is Hodgins in a wheelchair, likely permanently, as we learn near the end of the hour.   I'm not very happy about this development, not only because I feel bad for Hodgins and our characters, who have suffered enough, but because putting Hodgins in a wheelchair is a too-easy, even trite, way to generate interest.

We've already seen this, to excellent effect, in the famous Ironside series in the late 60s-70s.  That was the set-up of the narrative, and it provided a powerful backdrop to everything.   Introducing it at this late date in Bones is another matter, and seems a little like a stunt.   And if Hodgins suddenly miraculously gets better, than will seem like a rabbit pulled out of a hat, too.

The one good thing, plot-wise, about this development, is the way it provides another occasion for Bones and Booth to present their different views of life, equally appealing in their own ways.  Bones puts her faith in science, as always, though she would say that faith has nothing to do with it - that science is just the facts.   Booth has a more spiritual view of the universe.  This leads Bones to be more pessimistic than Booth about Hodgins' eventual recovery.

Though Bones may be right about the facts, Booth is undeniably right about needing to keep Hodgins' spirits high.   He gets support from an unlikely but thoroughly logical ally in Wendell, who tells Bones that his complete recovery from bone cancer was in effect miraculous.   Bones of course sees the scientific differences between the conditions of Hodgins and Wendell - as indeed there are - but the combination of Booth and Wendell will likely have some kind of moderating effect on Bones.  It certainly did on the audience.

I've always been a firm believer in the principle of while there's life there's hope - which, come to think of it, is how I feel about Bones in general.

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

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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Bosch Season 2: Dragnet with Uber

I just finished the second season of Bosch last night, streaming on Amazon Prime.   Like the first season, this gritty, fast-moving, wise-cracking LA cop series is the living incarnation of Dragnet - that iconic very early television series featuring Jack Webb as Joe Friday - which is to say, very good indeed.

There were some differences between this second season and the first.  Almost no romance - which I missed - but made up for by a stunner in the middle of the season, and one of the best shoot-outs ever on television a little after that.  Indeed, my main complaint about this second season is that it took a little too long to get there, after which the action was lightning on the screen.

The repartee, as it was in the first season, and in Dragnet, was nonstop and top-notch.  It's also pretty hip, with Bosch invoking Uber - not using the app but invoking the name - at one crucial juncture. As was clear in the first season, Titus Welliver inhabits this role with perfect intensity and laconic style, and there's no doubt that, although he's played cops on television often in this past, this will be the defining role of his career.

Jamie Hector is also excellent as Bosch's partner, and although this hasn't quite yet attained what Hector did as Marlon in The Wire, it's a strong contender.   Lance Reddick, whose career also began to catch fire on The Wire, is excellent as always in a top brass role, and in the second season he plays an especially pivotal role.

Back to the lack of romance in the second season, there are also fewer really memorable women on hand.   But this is just one season, and with Bosch already renewed for a third, there's every reason to look forward to stories with all sorts of people in bed in what has become the best cop show on television.

See also Bosch: First Half: Highly Recommended ... Bosch: Second Half as Fine as the First


                   another kind of police story 
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Billions Season 1 Finale: Finally

Billions concluded its excellent first season last night with something it has needed to do from the very beginning:  resolving the insanity of Wendy being married to Prosecutor Chuck and at the same time being the chief psychological adviser of Axe, currently being investigated up and down by Chuck.

The resolution, which began last week with Chuck's breaking into Wendy's laptop to see her notes about Axe - though perhaps not really breaking in, if we buy Chuck's argument that how can you be breaking in if the owner of the laptop has given you the password? - came to a head in the only way possible that didn't strain belief:  Wendy leaves both Chuck and Axe.

She has ample reason and motive to leave both - the two bitter adversaries have been using her mercilessly throughout the show.  That she put up with this so long, that Chuck and Axe each put up with it for their own different reasons, was unbelievable.  But Chuck loved her, as did Axe in a way, and this along with each using Wendy as a barometer of what was going on with the enemy is what kept this intense and bizarre triangle in motion, kept us distracted and even mesmerized enough to let it keep ringing.

I've got to say - and Bernie Sanders wouldn't like this (but who cares) - that I think Axe has at least the slightly superior argument in that great one-on-one between the two at the very end of the episode.  Yeah, Chuck may be a right in a narrow technical, legal, sense, but Axe has the superior moral position when he points out whom is he really hurting in his wheeling and dealing, which certainly benefits lots of people.  Both men have done wrong to their personnel, but as far as the world at large: which one has really brought more value to the world?

It's also clear that part of Chuck's rage against Axe is not just about what Axe may be doing that's illegal, but about what Axe may be doing to Wendy.  We the audience know that they haven't slept together, but even if Chuck could be sure of that, he would still deeply resent the emotional connection between Axe and Wendy.  His use of his office to prosecute that is surely an abuse of power.

Chuck's anger over Wendy won't be abated by her leaving Axe, because Wendy has also left Chuck, who not completely incorrectly blames Axe for Wendy's leaving Chuck, even though Chuck knows he is to blame for this too.   It will be fun to see what new role Wendy plays in the next season, and for that matter, fun to see the next season in general, at which time we'll have a brand new President, too.

See also Billions on Showtime: Winning Me Over ... Billions 1.6: Pivotal Wendy


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