Paul Levinson's Blog: Levinson at Large, page 298

October 13, 2014

The Good Wife 6.4: Run-Up to Running

Hey, I've been really enjoying The Good Wife this season - the sixth - but haven't had a chance to review it, because I've been busy lamenting problems in other series, like Boardwalk Empire. But last night's Good Wife 6.4 was so good, I just had to say a few words.

First, it's great to see how much Alicia has come into her own and progressed this season - in the first part as a tough lawyer, in this episode and the last as a candidate for State's Attorney. She's mastered all of her previous issues and insecurities. In at least two cases - the current State Attorney threatening her, and the potent opposition research presented to her - Alicia's response is to step up and move closer to her candidacy. She's never looked, spoken, and behaved better.

The other characters have been in fine form, too. Bishop's having a sensational season as a highly intelligent criminal wheeler and dealer - in many ways, he's the most danger to Alicia's interests, as we saw at the end of the hour last night - and he's also got to be the best dressed man on television. I'd be happy to wear any of his excellent ties.

Diane is also having a strong season so far. Her leaving the descendants of Lockhart Gardner to join Alicia and Cary's firm was an compelling move, and I especially like the way she jumped in to support of Cary in court and Alicia on the the verge of running for office.

The Cary story has been a tiny bit over the top - I find it a little hard to believe that a State's Attorney would go as far as Castro in wanting to destroy Cary, just as a way of getting at Alicia, or nabbing Bishop, or whatever his deepest motives, if he believed that Cary wasn't really guilty. On the same topic, it's also not clear why Polmar has been prosecuting that same case against Cary so vehemently, given the close to cosy relationship he has with Alicia. For that matter, I don't why she isn't angrier with him. Possibly her being stopped by a cop for DWI - which happened right after she had a glass a wine with Polmar - could sour their relationship, especially if she finds out that Polmar was responsible for the cop who stopped Alicia, which I think he well may be.

In any case, I'm hoping nothing comes up which prevents Alicia from running for office - because, so far, she and show are doing the run-up to the running just perfectly.

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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Published on October 13, 2014 13:05

Boardwalk Empire 5.6: The Skipping Record

There's not much joy left in Boardwalk Empire these final episodes. I don't mean just in the story - which I'll get to in a second - but in the little popular culture details, the sporting events on radio, the use of telephone, the touches of 1920s life which Boardwalk Empire did so well in its earlier years. This season has increasingly little of that. Indeed, the most memorable detail, highly effective, in last night's episode 5.6 was the skipping 78-rpm vinyl at the end of the hour. The content of this medium was literally nothing. McLuhan would have had a field day with this message. The spinning signification of nothing - as in, the end of the story.

The nothing plays under the end of Chalky's life and story, but it's close to the end of the series, too. Chalky was a great character, in many ways more the soul of the series than anyone except Nucky himself. He certainly didn't go in a good way last night. Rather, he went like a lamb to the slaughter, accepting his fate in a way which went against what we knew of his powerful character. His death scene at the end was more of a blow than the people literally being slaughtered like cattle last night on The Walking Dead, next door on AMC.

The other death was Van Alden. He was a tortured, miserable person from the get-go, and got just what he deserved from Al in Chicago. Indeed, the wonder with Van Alden is why he didn't get eliminated much sooner. Meanwhile, in the same scene, the survival of Eli doesn't make much sense. I'm glad he survived. But it's not plausible that he wasn't gunned down right after Van Alden.

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Published on October 13, 2014 11:04

October 12, 2014

Homeland 4.3: Quinn and Carrie

It was crystal clear last week that there was nothing more Quinn could have done to save Sandy. Carrie might have been able to help save him, had there been a weapon under her seat, as Quinn expected. Maybe, likely, we'll find out why it wasn't there, later in the season.

But given how clear it was to us viewers that Quinn did all he could do to help Sandy, it wasn't clear why Carrie and everyone else last week and tonight kept saying that Quinn could have done more. It finally became clear, near the end of tonight's episode 4.3: all of this was just a dramatic ploy, on the part of the writing, to keep Quinn off-balance, and set us up for Quinn what discovers and communicates to Carrie: there was nothing either of them could have done to save Sandy. It was a coordinated attack, likely by Pakistani Intelligence, who would have done whatever may have been need to silence Sandy.

Which raises the new question of, why? But before we learn anything more about that, we see Carrie using her maximum, persuasive, long-distance wiles to get Quinn to join her in Islamabad. And she seals the deal by telling Quinn she loves him. She knows Quinn wants to hear that, because she knows that Quinn loves her.

It's a pleasure to see Carrie in such good operative shape this season. Part of that is seductive mode, to Quinn verbally on the phone, and to the college kid who survived the explosion - except that kid gets the in-person sell, suitably hands-on, just as Carrie advised her brunette underling.

With Brody gone, and now even his lookalike baby not with Carrie either, we're being treated to a very different story, with a very different Carrie this year. I'm liking it. Carrie is strong and liberated. And her relationship with Quinn, if it ever gets to go anywhere further, will be a lot better for her than what she had or thought she had with Brody.

See also Homeland 4.1-2: Carrie's State of Mind
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 Tinde r ... 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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Published on October 12, 2014 22:28

The Walking Dead 5.1: The Redemption of Carol

The Walking Dead returned for a brilliant season 5 debut tonight, which featured the keepers of Terminus slaughtering their human prey literally like cattle, and Carol redeeming herself in almost super-heroic fashion.

In many ways, in fact, tonight's episode was the most about Carol's heroism and redemption. She was exiled from our group by Rick last season for killing humans who were likely fatally ill, and therefore likely to turn into walkers. And then she did something even worse - certainly in my view - killing a teenage girl whose mind had made her a killer herself, in the psychotic but understandable belief that she could be friends with walkers, and therefore thinking there was no real harm in killing another human being, in this case her very own younger sister.

Carol's killing of the older sister, Lizzie, gave her a long road to redemption. In many ways, it was the single most depraved act on the series. But Carol walked that road tonight. She arrived at just the right time in the narrative - of course she did, but a story is allowed at least one big coincidence like that - and the explosion she set off stopped the butchery of our people right in its tracks. Rick, Darryl, et al took care of the rest. And when Rick later hugged Carol - right after a very different kind of hug with Daryl - this was a hug we could all share. It was deeply good to have Carol back.

The other satisfying thing was how quickly the Terminus story has apparently drawn to a close. What it shows is that this was essentially last season's story, which the producers aptly allowed to spill over into this season's debut. Rick, indeed, wanted to go back to Terminus, when all of our people were in the clear, and kill every last human who still was there. It was great to see Rick get back into full survival mode - including aggressive killing when needed - and I was at least a little sorry that Rick was persuaded, by Carol's return and its leading to Judith, to let whoever had survived at Terminus survive, at least for this night.

For the first time in a long time, it seems, all of our people are together. Tyreese - who also had a great evening - and his daughter, and everyone else. So what's left to follow this grand reunion? I haven't the vaguest idea - notwithstanding the strange bit at the very end with Morgan - which makes me look forward to next week's episode even more. In the battles that undoubtedly are ahead, our group is the strongest it's been in years.

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 Finale
And see also The Walking Dead 1.1-3: Gone with the Wind, Zombie Style ... The Walking Dead Ends First Season
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no cannibalism but at least a plague in The Consciousness Plague

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Published on October 12, 2014 20:54

October 9, 2014

Bones 10.3 Meets Rush and a Dominatrix

No, not Rush Limbaugh, but the victim in Bones 10.3, found big bottom out, sure resembles the blowhard conservative radio talker. Hutch is not only portly, but popular, enthralling millions with his Republican rants.

And the kicker is that the motive for his murder is that his SM sex therapy, administered by a dominatrix, had gotten Hutch/Rush to see the light - that is, go for a more moderate less inflammatory political stance. Devotees of Fox News - as distinct from the Fox network which broadcasts Bones (the two are ultimately connected but operationally separate) - might object to the political overtones of this fine episode of Bones, but I liked it just fine.

The show also had some good helpings of Bones and Booth, including Bones' revelation that Booth likes to be nibbled - on the ear, at least. But underlying this banter is a somewhat serious problem that will no doubt be addressed this season: Booth still has not gotten over his imprisonment and his house being shot up, not to mention the loss of Sweets.

That loss also comes to the surface in Booth's attitude towards Aubrey, the new kid on the Bones block. Booth always had a problem accepting new colleagues - or colleagues who are foisted upon him - but Aubrey's obvious resemblance to Sweets, in both appearance and earnestness, makes this all the more difficult for Booth. Fortunately, Booth is a reliable learner, and the scene in which Aubrey confronts Booth about the mistreatment Aubrey has been receiving is one of the best parts of this episode. Aubrey is right that Booth's dissing Aubrey is like Booth dissing Sweets, and the expression on Booth's face shows he's beginning to get it.

The season is progressing well by doing what it always does so well: depicting real people coming to terms, slowly, with a loss in their lives.

See also Bones 10.1: The Fulcrum Changes ... Bones 10.2: J. Edgar and the DNA Confession
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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Published on October 09, 2014 21:13

The Knick Sneak Preview 1.9: Sacrifice

Continuing with my sneak preview reviews The Knick - courtesy of an advance screener provided by Cinemax and Starpulse - herewith a brief review of episode 1.9, certified specific-spoiler free. As with all preview reviews, I'll discuss generalities, to give you an idea of the episode. If you prefer not getting even an inkling of the story ahead, you probably should not read any further.

The main theme of this quietly powerful episode is: sacrifice, made and not made, involving the now two prominent couples on the show -
What would someone be willing to do for a lover - not specifically in bed with the lover - to help the lover's life? Would the person making that sacrifice tell the lover about it? What would the lover's happiness about the received benefit lead to in the relationship? In episode 1.9, the answer to the last question comes at the very end, and to our 21st century eyes is quite shocking, though perfectly logical given the context of the story and the age in which it takes place.The time in which the series occurs - the first years of the 20th century - also figures profoundly in the situation in which our other couple find themselves. Racism was rampant, as we know and have already seen in The Knick. But other moral issues which still beset us were sharply drawn back then. Episode 1.9 presents a good tableau of one of those issues, with the position of each party not what you first might have thought - but which also makes sense in retrospect.None of these compelling issues are resolved in episode 1.9, which also contains no new gadgets, and no memorable patients treated in the hospital.The Knick continues to be a breath of air, at once both fresh and fetid, as we got a continuing look at the birth of own age, and with a splash of how little and how much we have changed since then.

See also The Knick: Paean to Scientific Method ... The Knick Sneak Preview Review 1.8: Good Loving, the Fix, and Typhoid Mary

deeper history

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Published on October 09, 2014 13:44

October 6, 2014

The Affair Premiere: Sneak Preview Review

Just saw The Affair's first episode, nearly a week before show time on Showtime, thanks to Showtime On Demand, for everyone who has that. The following review has spoilers.

The first episode is neatly split into two parts - two, mirror stories - a he-said, she-said, about the beginning of the affair, or how Noah and Allison first met. This is a good piece of writing, with agreement on all the events, but differences on who initiated conversations and suggestions, such as who suggested that Noah take an outdoor shower - Noah or Allison.

The background is also appealing. Noah is a grade-school teacher and an author of - so far - just one novel. As his rich father-in-law obnoxiously tells him, most people have one book in them, and that's it. Noah, of course, wants more. He's happily married, with four kids, but life isn't the best it could be for him. Not only has his first book not been all that successful - good enough to get a contract and advance for the second, but no best-seller - but with four kids he's lucky if he has a chance to make love to his wife. At least, that's how he sees things. He's an attractive man, in his story, who is somewhat unappreciated by his wife but wanted by other women.

Allison's story is more profound, certainly more tragic. She and her husband (or partner) lost their six-year old son. Her husband is beginning to get over the pain, but not yet Allison. He wants to sleep with her, but she's not comfortable making love with their son still so much on her mind. She's attracted - a bit, in her vision - to Noah, but not as much as Noah thinks she's attracted to him in his vision.

Both stories are presented to a police detective, at some future time - years in the future - as Noah and Allison are being separately interviewed. In this sense, The Affair resonated with True Detective. At this point, it's not clear what the interviews are about - apparently the death of one of their partners, likely Allison's, which may be a murder.

The acting is excellent. Dominic West is his customarily superb - and I'm impressed, as always, not only with his acting but his American accent, which I first took note of in my reviews of The Wire . Joshua Jackson is back in his first major series since Fringe, but the character he plays in The Affair - Allison's partner Cole - is so far a lot less likable than Peter on Fringe. Maura Tierney as Noah's wife is good in this part, as is Ruth Wilson as Allison in hers.

The filming is Long Island seashore evocative, and the mixture of the infidelity with some kind of likely murder makes The Affair an attractive contender off to a strong start.

a different kind of affair and murder

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Published on October 06, 2014 21:00

October 5, 2014

Homeland 4.1-2: Carrie's States of Mind

The big question was whether Homeland could sustain the energy and tension it had for the first three seasons, given the killing of Brody at the end of season 3, and given that he was at least half responsible for the energy and tension. Not just the initiating character - an American war hero under a terrorist's spell - but his subsequent relationship, against all odds, with Carrie.

The answer, based on the first two episodes, is yes - though we are being treated to a very different, somewhat more conventional, CIA story. But Carrie is the same character, just this side of sanity on the insanity border, and she once against plays a pivotal, wild, unpredictable role (brilliantly performed by Claire Danes, as always).

I mean, she maybe almost drowns her baby girl - who is Brody's baby girl - and the possible reasons for that are as complex as they can be. Part of her doesn't want to be a mother. Part of her wants to get back to Islamabad - though maybe part of why she wants so badly to get back to Islamabad is that she doesn't trust herself with her baby. And part of what must be driving her is that the baby looks just like Brody. The hair color is exactly right, and even the expression. In this triumph of casting, we as well as Carrie feel she's looking right down at Brody when she looks at her baby. So, if she hates that part of herself - or, a part of herself hates that she slept with Brody, and came to love him - he was, after all, the enemy, at least part of the time - then that gives her another motive for almost drowning her baby.

That scene in the bathtub was the most disturbing scene in the first two episodes. Which is saying a lot, since the killing of the Islamabad CIA chief Sandy, pulled right out of the car with Quinn and Claire doing their best to stop it, was pretty brutal, too. And the aftermath is a simmering can of worms, with Claire sure she and Quinn could have done more to save Sandy, and Quinn sure they did all that they could.

Quinn certainly did. Claire didn't do much, because she couldn't find the weapon that Quinn said was in the car. Assuming it wasn't really there, what more could Claire have done? Does she feel guilty because she thinks Quinn was diverting at least a little of his attention to save her? Maybe, but I don't even know if that's the case.

What is the case is that Homeland is off to a great, harrowing start, and it all revolves around Carrie's states of mind, as it alway has, even though this a very different situation indeed, without Brody.

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 Tinde r ... 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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Published on October 05, 2014 20:54

October 4, 2014

Gracepoint Debuts: Deja Vu with a Vengeance

Gracepoint debuted on Fox this past Thursday - the 10-part remake of the 8-part British series Broadchurch, which was on BBC America last year, and, word has it, was originally supposed to have 10 episodes, too. Word also has it that the ending has been changed for Gracepoint - meaning, the killer in Broadchurch will not be the killer in Gracepoint - but otherwise the story will be the same.

And it's a powerful, heart-wrenching story indeed, in which there are as many or more prime suspects in the killing of Danny as his age - 11. Further, these suspects come from everywhere, including Danny's family and the family of one of the two main investigating officers.

In a remarkable move, David Tenant plays the lead investigator in Gracepoint as well as Broadchurch, though with different names. Anna Gunn of Breaking Bad fame plays his second in command, with the same name, though with a ranking of Detective rather than DS, which was Ellie Miller's rank in Broadchurch for the character memorably played by Olivia Colman.

There's been lots of head-scratching and even complaint about why a series recently shown in America should be re-made with the same lead actor no less. But I've got to say: after feeling the same way, I'm now glad that the series has been remade. Why? Because the story is so compelling, complex in plot yet fundamentally raw in emotion, that I'm happy to see it again.

I reviewed Broadchurch here last year. You're welcome to read those reviews, though they will no doubt contain spoilers, if not about the ending then about how our story and characters get there. And to make matters even more interesting on the meta level, there will be a second season of Broadchurch over in the UK.

It's enough to make your head spin - deja vu with a vengeance - but you know what? - I think it's good for television to do crazy things like this.

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Published on October 04, 2014 22:32

Hell on Wheels 4.10: A Tale of Two Sicko Killers

Most shows have one sicko killer - or, if more than one, two or more working together. Leave it to Hell on Wheels to have two, totally separate, each on the verge of murdering and sometimes doing just that, and, somehow, managing to survive. Hell on Wheels 4.10 could have been titled a tale of two sicko killers.

We knew we'd be seeing more of Sidney - why else have him escape the justice of the gatling last week? We also knew he'd challenge Cullen again, and likely do some killing in process. We didn't know he'd kill Ezra - not deliberately, but in the depravity of setting fire to a church full of people. That in itself, the death of Ezra, made this episode of Hell on Wheels a tragically memorable episode, in a series of such throughout the seasons, beginning most notably with the murder of Lily by the Swede, aka, I"m Norwegian!"

Ruth's shooting Sidney as Cullen was trying to arrest him - with Sidney's gun drawn on Cullen - was satisfying and motivated. What I don't get is why didn't she put another bullet into Sidney and rid the world of this high-style sicko? Or, why not have Sidney die of the two shots he received, right there? Possibly the story is leaving it to Cullen to ultimately end it for Sidney - by giving him the hanging which introduced him to our story a bunch of episodes ago - but I still find Ruth's not pumping another shot into Sidney surprising, given the anguish she's feeling over the death of Ezra.

Meanwhile, the Swede's still living a charmed life, disobeying Brigham Young at just about every turn, and receiving little more than a slap in the face for it. The Swede had his hand on his razor, and might have used it against the Mormon leader, but real history couldn't allow this - Brigham Young died of natural causes, cholera and its complications, in a bed in Salt Lake City. And the Swede looks as if he's set to go back to the railroad, which sets up the rest of this or maybe next season for an ultimate confrontation with Cullen.

I'm hoping it's this season, as the Swede is even more reprehensible than Snow - the Swede is a killer with no sense of humor, driven entirely by his inner demented demons. You can judge fiction by the power of its villains, and challenge they pose to our heroes. At this point, Hell on Wheels has two - well, maybe three, if we include Campbell - and I'm looking forward in November to seeing them get their just deserts.

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

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 October 04, 2014 20:35

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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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