Paul Levinson's Blog: Levinson at Large, page 295

Bones 10.7: The A-Word and Quarks

A delightful Bones 10.7 tonight, which starts off and follows through with Christine's using the word jackass. Booth is concerned that this is "gateway" profanity, but Bones has a cooler head, and the fun begins.

In the Jeffersonian, the genius intern who looks a little like Hodgins gets told by Bones that he - the intern - is a pain in her ass.   In other words, motivated by Christine, Bones is liberated to say what she justifiably feels without sugar-coating.   Earlier, she explained that expletives have the cathartic purpose of allowing people to express their anger without resorting to violence, and it's always good to see Bones practice what she preaches.

Of course, an expletive can also provoke violence, and, as is usually the case on Bones, Booth is by no means entirely wrong.  By the end of the episode, we find that Christine, cute as a button, has called her teacher a jackass, and then she calls Bones this, too.   In Christine's case, this is because Bones had said that the word "jackass" was ok.   When I was a kid, I frequently wanted to call my teachers jackasses, but didn't, because no one told me the word was ok.  More's the pity.  Bones and Christine may both have the healthier attitude that it's ok to use these words, but the episode ends with Bones needing to talk to Christine about this, and Booth smiling from ear to ear.

Meanwhile, Bones has a good conversation with Aubrey, in which she calls upon the example of quarks in physics and its initial reception as an example of how to live with pain.  This might seem like a minor thread in the episode, but I think it's about as profound as can be, because it highlights the way Bones can bring the most esoteric science to bear on a fundamental human problem.   She's not really detached at all.   She's connected to life in a deeper way than most people.

Let's hear it for the A-word and quarks and their good role on TV.

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
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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A different kind of police fiction


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Interstellar: 2001 meets Time for the Stars, with a Touch of Frequency

I just saw Interstellar in IMAX in New York City, in what the theater announced to be the second biggest IMAX screen in the world (the largest is in Sydney, Australia). Was the movie up to the theater?  Well, until the last 30 or so minutes I'd say it was - a masterpiece in many ways.   But the ending - or, at least, the science of the ending - just didn't do it for me.

The two best parts of the movie - in addition to the powerful story of an astronaut taking a ship through a black hole near Saturn, to save the human race from ecological disaster - was the computer on the ship, and the way that going in or near a black hole slows down time, so the astronaut and crew age at at a normal rate while the people back on Earth, aging at their normal rate, age much more quickly, where hours in space equal years and decades on Earth.

The computer - TARS by name - was a worthy homage and successor to HAL of 2001, smart-talking, funny, sage, and brave.   It - the computer doesn't want to be referred to as "he" - looks good as a walking rectangle with a pair of wide stilts for legs.   There have been lots of computers on spaceships over the years - including Star Trek - but TARS is far and away the best.

The aging effects were beautifully done, with Matthew McConaughey putting in his best work in this movie and indeed right up there with his riveting performances on television and in the movies in the past few years.  Jessica Chastain is also excellent as his daughter who becomes the same age as her father - at the same time as her father - as the plot progresses.   All of this was reminiscent of Robert Heinlein's classic juvenile science fiction novel, Time for the Stars, except Interstellar situates these personal paradoxes in a much grander story.

So far, so great.  The special effects were also outstanding, and better in many ways than previous state of the art movies in space like the second Star Wars trilogy.   The science, too, was good, and made Interstellar, until this point, a fine hard science fiction movie - one, moreover, with real heart.

But then came the ending, which hinged on father/daughter communication across time.  In this case, I saw this done far better in the father/son communication across time via ham radio in Frequency, a very well controlled, tight little movie.   In the case of Interstellar, the time travel depends upon a murky interpretation of quantum mechanics, which not only verged on the mystical, as quantum mechanics always does, but withdrew the strong mix of hard science and human emotion which worked so well in the rest of the movie.  Instead, we got superb emotion, but situated in an unclear, metaphysical base.

Nonetheless, I'd strongly recommend Interstellar, for the first two-and-a-half hours the movie, which were exceptional science fiction and movie-making indeed.




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Why I'm Against Net Neutrality

President Obama expressed his strong support for net neutrality during his visit to China the other day.  Here, briefly, is why I disagree.

First of all, I see any attempt to regulate non-criminal communication in the United States, via the FCC or otherwise, as a violation of the First Amendment, which says "Congress shall make no law ... abridging freedom of speech or press".   I think this prohibition must be taken seriously, lest we slide into societies such as the one in China, where media are controlled by the government.  This means the FCC should keep its hands off media even when their actions would support or enable good things.

But I don't think net neutrality is a good thing.  How many people watch movies and television shows on Netflix?   These statistics say 36 million Americans use Netflix in one way or another, and 63 percent of Americans use Netflix to stream.   How do you feel, when you're streaming a movie or television show on Netflix, when the movie freezes or the connection is lost?    Smoother streaming is what favored access on the Internet is all about.   Note that it would not lock out any person or IP.   It would just give better service to organizations like Netflix and Amazon, which serve millions and millions of people.

Some people say that unless we have net neutrality, big corporations will further dominate communication and media, and thereby American life.    But in our current configuration, huge corporations already dominate our media - traditional media, whether Viacom or Comcast, already have massive power and control over what we're able to see, and when we see it.   Streaming gives people another option - a greater choice over what they see, with more specific options - and, certainly, competition is good for the consumer of television and movies. Net neutrality would weaken this competition, by making Netflix and Amazon less effective.  The result would serve not consumers, but traditional media giants.

Just to be clear: I would vigorously oppose any attempt to block anyone's access to the Internet, including charging people for that access.  But net neutrality is not needed to maintain those freedoms - and, indeed, it could impede them, by bolstering the corporations that emerged well before the current Internet, don't yet completely understand it, and therefore still stand in the way of the democratization of media that the Internet brings. Paul Levinson's books ... Paul Levinson's music

John Wick: A Man and His Dog

John Wick is being billed as Keano Reeves' best film since The Matrix.  It is.   And, if no-holds-barred shoot-em-ups like Banshee are your glasses of tea, you might like it even more.

John Wilk, played by Reeves, is a hit-man who, against all odds, managed to get out of the business alive and relatively happy.  In this, John Wilk shares a provenance with movies like The Assassins with Sylvester Stallone and Antonio Banderas, in my view the very best of this genre, in which there's of course always something to get the retired assassin drawn back in.

In Wick's case, it's a double punch.  His wife, whose love got him to leave the business, dies of natural causes.   She arranged to send him a sweet little puppy to keep him company after she's gone. But the headstrong son of a Russian mob boss makes the mistake of cruelly killing the puppy when stealing the keys to Reeves' car.

The death of the puppy was a highly effective and moving scene.   It certainly made me want to bring those bad guys to justice, and it was the motivation that set Wick back to his lifetime profession.   When the dog killer wonders to Wick and others why Wick is so upset about the puppy's death - "it's just a fucking dog" - we know, having witnessed its killing and what happened with Wick and the puppy before that, why that little puppy was so much more.

The action is great, even though there were a couple of easy shots that Wick missed, in service of the plot, and there were a couple of holes in the plots logic, too.  But, on the other hand, the supporting cast was outstanding, including Lance Reddick of The Wire, Lost, and Fringe fame, who's always good to see on the screen, and Willem Dafoe as another hit man.

If the Russian mob, bigger than life killers, and hotels for assassins with rules of the house that must be followed if you don't want to be killed yourself, take a 90-minute break and check out this fine movie.

has ancient hitmen 

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Shadow-Banned on Reddit!

Hey, I've been meaning to tell you about something I discovered a few weeks ago - I've been shadow-banned on Reddit!   And, I've got to say I'm pretty happy about it.

What's "shadow-banning," you may ask?  It's a nasty little way that Reddit deals with spammers and other people they don't like.  Your account seems intact.   But your Up and Down votes don't show up, and neither do any submissions of stories you seek to make.   In other words, rather than just ban you outright, you're deluded into thinking your account is fine, when, in fact, it's just a shadow of itself - or a shadow on the wall of Reddit.

Indeed, although I was shadow-banned four months ago, I first found out about it just a few weeks ago, when I Up-voted a story about Marshall McLuhan - not written by me - and found that my Up-vote had no impact on the number of Up-votes shown.  I looked more carefully, and found this in my waiting messages:

rom 1point618[M] via /r/printSF/ sent 4 months ago
You've been shadowbanned, probably for posting a bunch of spam from tumblr.
This is a reddit-wide thing, so I can't do anything about it. See /r/shadowbanned or /r/ShadowBan for more information.

Just for the record, although I've recently become active on Tumblr, I was barely on there at all four months ago, and don't recall ever submitting anything from Tumblr to Reddit.

So why was I shadow-banned?

My best guess someone was peeved by my public condemnation of Reddit and its poor performance in the aftermath of the Boston bombings, when it ID'd via crowdsourcing someone as the bomber who had nothing to do with it.   In fact, The Newsroom just dealt with that same lamentable behavior of Reddit in The Newsroom's third season debut last night, and I talked about it - incorrigible that I am - in my review.

But, who knows?  Maybe it was for some other reason that I know nothing about.  I do know that I'm actually happy about being shadow-banned.  It's great example of what I call the "Dark Side of New New Media" in my New New Media book - in this case, the petty and arbitrary dictatorial conduct of moderators on all too-many an online system.   I'll certainly use this as an example in the next edition of my book.

But I'll also confess to enjoying the outlaw-ish quality of being shadow-banned.  It's fun, especially for a professor and often serious author like me, to be an outlaw.   So much so, that I thought I'd put up a song that I recorded with my group, The New Outlook, way back in 1965.   A guy by the name of Mark Goodman wrote it, Stu Nitekman (aka Jonathan Hatch) sang the lead, and I'm doing high falsetto harmony.  I'm "The Outcast" - or least, I'm that on Reddit, and I'm proud of it.

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The Walking Dead 5.5: Anatomy of a Shattered Dream

The crushing denouement of The Walking Dead 5.5 was, upon reflection, completely obvious, in retrospect.   But The Walking Dead did its job so well that it came as a bolt from the blue depths of despair, nonetheless.

What was the likelihood that Abraham and his original band from Texas would have come upon a scientist who had the key to reversing the plague, with the brilliant idea of engineering a virus that could kill the walking dead a second time - this time, permanently and really - and immunize everyone who had not yet become a zombie?   It was the kind of idea a fan fiction writer might have come up with, and it was an ingenuous idea, indeed.  But that's all it was, an idea.

Abraham's back story vividly shows why he was so vulnerable to signing on to Eugene's scheme. Abraham's family is gone, and Eugene gives him the opportunity to be of supreme use in this dying world - help make the world alive again.   A mission like this was just what Abraham needed to live. It was irresistible.

Significantly, Rick and our central cast are not as vulnerable to such scams and delusions, because they have themselves, their literal and extended families, to motive them.   But Abraham had no one, and Eugene came along at just the right time.

So where does the story go from here, with the attainable goal of a reversing virus now lying in ruins on that road in the South?   It was such a good goal, I'm almost hoping that, someway, Eugene gets to tell his great idea to some team of scientists than can make it a reality, after all.

But, until then, or something as saving of the world comes along, Abraham, Eugene, and company are just another group of lucky, desperate survivors, who would do best reuniting with Rick.

See also: The Walking Dead 5.1: The Redemption of Carole ... The Walking Dead 5.3: Meets Alfred Hitchcock and The Twilight Zone ... The Walking Dead 5.4: Hospital of Horror

And see also The Walking Dead 4.1: The New Plague ... The Walking Dead 4.2: The Baby and the Flu ... The Walking Dead 4.3: Death in Every Corner ...The Walking Dead 4.4: Hershel, Carl, and Maggie ... The Walking Dead 4.6: The Good Governor ... The Walking Dead 4.7: The Governor's Other Foot ... The Walking Dead 4.8: Vintage Fall Finale ... The Walking Dead 4.9: A Nightmare on Walking Dead Street ... The Walking Dead 4:14: Too Far ... The Walking Dead Season 4 Finale: From the Gunfire into the Frying Pan


And see also The Walking Dead 3.3 meets Meadowlands ... The Walking Dead 3.4: Going to the Limit ... The Walking Dead 3.9: Making Crazy Sense ... The Walking Dead 3.10: Reinforcements ... The Walking Dead 3.11: The Patch ... The Walking Dead 3.12: The Lesson of Morgan ... The Walking Dead 3.13: The Deal ... The Walking Dead 3.14: Inescapable Parable ... The Walking Dead 3.15: Merle ... The Walking Dead 3.16: Kill or Die, or Die and Kill
And see also The Walking Dead Back on AMC ... The Walking Dead 2.2: The Nature of Vet  ... The Walking Dead 2.3: Shane and Otis ... The Walking Dead 2.4: What Happened at the Pharmacy ... The Walking Dead 2.6: Secrets Told ... The Walking Dead 2.7: Rick's Way vs. Shane's Way ...  The Walking Dead 2.8: The Farm, the Road, and the Town  ... The Walking Dead 2.9: Worse than Walkers ... The Walking Dead 2.11: Young Calling the Shots ... The Walking Dead 2.12: Walkers Without Bites ... The Walking Dead Season 2 FinaleAnd see also The Walking Dead 1.1-3:  Gone with the Wind, Zombie Style ... The Walking Dead Ends First Season#SFWApro


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The Affair 1.5: Alison's Episode

An excellent episode of The Affair tonight - 1.5 - which broke ground in a variety of important ways, including The first half is Alison's and the second half is Noah's story, reversing the usual template of Noah going first.  This gives us, in effect, a straight hour of Alison's - since she had the last half in last week's episode - and she uses it to really good effect.  Her scenes with Noah are the best we've seen of the two of them, from her perspective.   She's the least conflicted she's been with Noah - which makes sense, given the end of last week's episode - and is really enjoying the relationship.   This is confirmed by her mother, who recognizes the liberation of Alison's sexual energies.   And although her mother is a bit of a nut, it's clear that she's speaking the truth.We learn in Noah's interview with the detective that he's telling the detective everything we see on the screen - he asks the detective if he really wants to hear all the details of his home life. This presumably means that the same is true with Alison. We also get some great details from Noah about what it's like to be a teacher - this, again, in Alison's episode.  Noah's explanation of why he loves being a professor rings true - at least to me, because, what he says pretty well sums up what I love (teaching) and don't like at all (academic politics) about being a professor.   Alison responds to this by kissing Noah, and shows the deepest feelings for Noah we've seen from Alison so far.The fight that Noah has with Oscar is likely significant to the police investigation.   At this point, it seems that Oscar is the most likely killer, though you never know.  Noah is justified in being angry at Oscar, after he shows up unexpectedly at Noah's place and blurts out where he saw Noah - Ditch Plains - not where Helen expected.   This is the first lie that Noah has been caught in, and though he talks his way out it, we're likely to see more in the future.And - we now know who the victim is: Scott, Cole's brother.  I guess there's a chance that there will be a different victim in Alison's story, but so far the two accounts have not differed on such major points.Looking forward to next week.

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 a different kind of love story 

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The Newsroom 3.1: Media on Media

I could've lived without a show about the Boston bombings, but if it was to be done, the best way to do it would be The Newsroom, which told the story of the Boston bombings tonight with all of the brilliance and trimmings we've come to expect of this remarkable show.   A good way indeed to start off its final season, sad as that fact is and tragic as the Boston bombings are.

As always, the media are the story on The Newsroom, and, in particular, the way not only The Newsroom crew but other media covered the Boston bombings.    The Newsroom people are understandably wary of going with any story or information too soon, given the burning they received with the Genoa story last season.   But not so other media - traditional and social.

John King on CNN, in reality and on this episode, wrongly reported that the FBI had a suspect.   King was and is a well-respected journalist, so The Newsroom was tempted to go along with his report, but wisely holds back.

Far more egregious is what Reddit did in reality.   They crowd-sourced an attempt to identify the bombers, and came up badly wrong.   The suspect they thought they ID'd - a Brown University student - was in reality a poor soul who hurt no one except himself.   After Reddit put his family through the anguish of an incorrect identification as one of the bombers, the family suffered further anguish when it was discovered that the student was missing because he had taken his own life.   Will was right to lash out at citizen journalism in this case.

Meanwhile, as always, The Newsroom has other stories percolating and ready to boil.   Neil, for noble reasons, may be guilty of abetting espionage.   And it seems that the whole network may be vulnerable to a hostile financial takeover.

The Newsroom has just started - as Will also says near the end - and, knowing that this will be the last season it starts, I miss it already.


analysis of the first two seasons


See also The Newsroom Season 2 Debuts on Occupy Wall Street and More ... and (about Trayvon Martin) If Only There Was a Video Recording ... The Newsroom 2.2: The Power of Video ... The Newsroom 2.7: Autopsy of a Bad Decision ... The Newsroom 2.8: The Course of True Love ... The Newsroom Season 2 Finale: Love, Triumph, and Wikipedia

And see also The Newsroom and McLuhan ... The Newsroom and The Hour ...The Newsroom Season 1 Finale: The Lost Voice Mail



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Homeland 4.7: The Manifestation

Well, if Homeland had to bring back Brody, they did it in the best possible way in episode 4.7: a manifestation of Carrie's delusions.  Indeed, the apex of that manifestation.

The key to what was happening with Carrie was presented well before the appearance of Brody - played by Damian Lewis.   When Carrie is running through the hospital, she's accosted by Quinn, whom Carrie beats down.   First, in her condition, there's no way Carrie would've gotten the better of Quinn so easily.  Second, what was Quinn doing in the hospital?   Third, Carrie's bettering of Quinn in combat is a manifestation of how she feels about Quinn:  she thinks/knows she's better than him, even though she's somewhat attracted to him,  and a part of her would like to beat him out of her life.

Because, as the Brody scene makes clear, she still loves Brody.  Note that this Brody - as my wife immediately noticed  - was not quite like the Brody we knew.  He was much calmer, in control, and even nurturing of Carrie.   Because, that's just want Carrie wanted.

Meanwhile, this whole thread finally dealt with the elephant in the room throughout this whole season so far.  Not only has Carrie not really gotten over Brody, but her dependence on drugs makes her vulnerable to what her Pakistani/terrorist counterpart did to her.   The good news is that, once Carrie gets through this, she may be at last over Brody.  Seeing his manifestation may be part of her getting him out of her system.  But she'll never lose her dependance on drugs.

The other excellent thread in this episode is Saul and Haqqani.  That conversation at the table is priceless. Saul critiques Islam.  Haqqani responds with an apt critique of Christianity.  Saul replies: I'm Jewish. And Haqqani has no answer.

This season of Homeland is really something - which means, in some ways I'm enjoying it more than the first three.

See also Homeland 4.1-2: Carrie's State of Mind ... Homeland 4.3: Quinn and Carrie ... Homeland 4.4: Carrie's Counterpart ... Homeland 4.5: Righteous Seduction ... Homeland 4.6: The Biggest Reveal
And see also Homeland 3.1: Sneak Preview Review ... Homeland 3.2: Sneak Preview Review ... Homeland 3.3: Two Prisons ... Homeland 3.4: Twist! ...Homeland 3.6: Further Down the Rabbit Hole ... Homeland 3.7: Revealing What We Already Knew ... Homeland 3.8: Signs of Life ...Homeland 3.9: Perfect Timing ... Homeland 3.10: Someone Has to Die ... Homeland 3.11: The Loyalist ... Homeland Season 3 Finale: Redemption and Betrayal
And see Homeland 2.1-2: Sneak Preview Review ... Homeland 2.3-5: Sneak Preview Review ... Homeland 2.6: What Brody Knows ... Homeland 2.7: Love Me Tinder ... Homeland 2.8: The Personal and the Professional ...Homeland Season 2 Finale: The Shocker and the Reality
And see also  Homeland on Showtime ... Homeland 1.8: Surprises ... Homeland Concludes First Season: Exceptional

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Hell on Wheels 4.11: The Redemption of Ruth

A more physically brutal than usual Hell on Wheels 4.11 tonight, with a powerful story to match, but one which, in the end, strains credulity.

This is apparently the first of at least two episodes which revolve around Ruth's shooting of Sydney, and the murder charges she will face if he dies.  Which indeed he does, tonight, by his own hand, after Cullen's heroic efforts to save him. But Sydney's death will look like it was caused by Ruth's bullets, which it was - even though he would have been saved - and this is enough to get Ruth locked up to stand trial for murder.

But ... Cullen doesn't want this, Louise doesn't want this, Durant doesn't want this, no one in the town of Cheyenne wants this except the provisional Governor, who's determined that the rule of law has to be followed.  Except - in what rule of law is killing a mad clever dog, whose actions killed an innocent boy, something that must lead to the killer of the dog, Ruth, being brought to trial?

The provisional Governor wants it, but he's already been shown to be morally bankrupt.  Further, with Mickey's family in town, Governor Campbell has no muscle to back up his hypocritical interpretation of justice being served, anyway.  So why is Cullen going along with this?

I don't know - except that Ruth on trial will make a good story, but that's hardly a reason to burden the plot of the narrative like this.  It's indeed interesting, even compelling, to see Ruth stick to her guns about getting satisfaction not only when she shot Sydney, but even more satisfaction when Cullen told her Sydney was dead.

And maybe this is what this storyline is about - the redemption of Ruth.   But until Cullen gets his head straightened out about ultimate morality and tinhorn justice, Hell on Wheels will be verging off-track.

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

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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