Paul Levinson's Blog: Levinson at Large, page 324

The Blacklist 1.11: Red's Retribution

The Blacklist was back with a good episode - 1.11 - for Red tonight, in which we get to see another, tougher side of him, or a side we knew existed, but up until now had not seen in such back-to-back, vivid evidence.

Red was nearly killed in the last episode, and we couldn't expect him to take that lying down.  Indeed, we'd expect him to unleash just the reign of retribution and terror that we saw on the screen tonight, as he methodologically hunts down and eliminates just about everyone responsible for the depredations he and Elizabeth and the FBI suffered in December under Anlso's onslaught.

So as the team hunts down the serial killer of the title - the Good Samaritan killer, with some crucial advice from Red - we get a gruesome killing spree from Red himself, which could be considered serial killing the way it's supposed to be, with the victims being people who contributed in crucial ways to the near miss Red and his loved had with death in 2013.   This also showed Red for what already knew him to be, but only saw occasional evidence of:  someone unafraid to snuff a life in an instant, but only if justified, and very much enjoying the process in the bargain.

Meanwhile, we also get a startling revelation about Fitch near the end: he's not only a bad guy, but someone important enough in the government to sit across a table from US Assistant Attorney General Fowler and hold his own with her.   In addition to being a pleasure to see Alan Alda and Jane Alexander in the same scene, this tells us our government is a lot more involved with Red and who knows what else than we've so far seen.

And last, for now, there's Liz's husband, who's off on a job interview in Nebraska for most of the episode.  As I've been saying, and will say again - I think he's a bad guy, with a nefarious story we have not yet seen, and I'm looking forward to seeing it.

See also The Blacklist Debuts: Alias Meets Jay Z ... The Blacklist 1.2: Mysteries ... The Blacklist 1.3: Construction Site Heights ... The Blacklist 1.6: Truth and Enigma ... The Blacklist 1.7: Natural Immunity ... The Blacklist 1.8: The Father and the Husband ... The Blacklist 1.9: Field Transfusion ... The Blacklist 1.10: Those Words




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Almost Human 1.8: Guided Bullets

Ever since guided missiles appeared on the scene as super-weapons - beginning with the German V-2 rockets in World War II - science fiction has wondered about the possibility and deployment of guided bullets.   As deadly as the guided missile, now drone, can be, there's something exquisitely deadly about a guided bullet.  Were it possible, the guided bullet would be the ultimate weapon of assassination, capable of taking out any individual in its range for whom the guided bullet was given the proper coordinates.

Almost Human ratified its status tonight as the best kind of near-future science fiction on this planet with episode 1.8, which gave the guided bullet a good workout, in terms not only of the damage it could do, but how a target could be protected from its onslaught.   Unlike larger areas in our current world of the early 21st century, which can be protected from guided missiles only by anti-missile defense systems which are expensive (one anti-missile needed to take out each missile) and not completely reliable, the individual target in the future could be protected just by putting him or her in a titanium vehicle which would block the telemetry necessary for the guided bullet to fix on its target.   A titanium or any kind of small structure would be easier to construct than a titanium or any kind of shield to protect an entire neighborhood. That would require a barrier the size of the dome in Under the Dome, which is as much fantasy as science fiction.

And what makes Almost Human so appealing is that it accompanies its careful science fiction with humor and humanity.  Some of it - like Kennex killing MXs, and Dorian speaking foreign tongues when he's damaged - have become trope points that we can look forward to for a laugh.   Others, like Kennex deliberately mispronouncing Anil tonight, are just out-of-left-field funny.

And the series still has crucial plot points percolating close to the surface.  Tonight we get glimpses of Kennex's feelings for the woman who apparently betrayed him, and nice flirtation between him and Det. Stahl (as well as an interesting crack from Det. Paul that Stahl looks so good because her parents could afford to pay for superior genetic engineering).  When Almost Human starts to bring a little more of that into play, it could lay claim to being in the highest echelon of science fiction on television.

See also: Almost Human debuts: A Review ... Almost Human 1.2: Sexbots ... Almost Human 1.3: Change of Face ... Almost Human 1.4: Almost Breaking Bad ... Almost Human 1.5: Clones and Holograms ...Almost Human 1.6: The Blackmarket Heart and Double Dorian ... Almost Human 1.7: Meets Criminal Minds





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Helix 1.1-1.3: Zombies with Biology

I saw the first three episodes of Helix last - the first two on SyFy's premiere of the series, the third on Syfy's On Demand (a nice move by Syfy, much appreciated) - and thought it was pretty good.

The series comes highly recommended.  Although Battlestar Galactica's Ronald D. Moore isn't the showrunner, he's an executive producer and one of the writers for Helix, in which I thought I even heard one "frackin'" euphemism.  Billy Campbell, who was superb in The Killing, plays the lead scientist from the CDC who comes to the arctic base to investigate the viral outbreak.  Hiroyuki Sanada, who put in a couple of good appearances on Lost, is the lead scientist at the base who knows more than he reveals.

And what about the story?  Well, it's another zombie tale, which, due to the enormous and deserved success of The Walking Dead, is animating all kinds of popular culture including movies with World War Z and even speculative reality TV with Zombie Earth on NatGeo.  Helix, however, differs from all of these in starting at very beginning of the plague, and, at this point, looking as if it will stay there, at least for a while.  There is also excellent genetic and epidemiological science in this series.

And the science, I think, is what will lift and carry the series.  Much of the plot turns on how quickly the scientists can figure out what's really going on, which entails not only getting people who know to tell the truth, but also getting a handle on what's causing the symptoms.  Identifying who has been infected but is not yet showing symptoms is the first step, and there are lots of pitfalls on the road from that to developing a vaccine.

Indeed, the best plot twists so far involve the accidents and wrong turns in the science, which makes Helix a candidate for something we don't see much of on television:  good biological science fiction. This may makes Helix more a potentially worthy successor to Fringe than Battlestar Galactica or The Walking Dead.



Like biological science fiction? Try The Silk Code

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Bones 9.12: Fingernails

Bones was back with its first episode of 2014 - 9.12 - with an excellent story that cleared the table and set the agenda for the rest of the season and maybe beyond.

Serial killers are commonplace on television.  Criminal Minds specializes in them, The Following specializes in at least one of them, and most shows dealing with police and crime usually have at least one or two serial killers per season.  Bones, of course, has had no shortage of them, with Pelant being the last one in evidence.

But leave it to Bones to come with an original way of setting up its next serial killer narrative: as Pelant goes out, he literally hands the ball to a new serial killer in his final words to Bones.

A lot of episode 9.12 features Bones' belief in this new, female serial killer - that is, the killer is a woman - and her defense of this belief against just about everyone, including, initially, Booth.  Cam, I've got to say, comes out the worst in this, being at her most officious and annoying.  First, she dresses down Edison for taking a shower in the Jeffersonian facilities and using as his new home, which is against Jeffersonian policy.  Big deal.   Then she gets all authoritative and has the nerve to lecture Bones that she, Cam, is Bones' boss.   That's true, technically, but Cam of all people should be thrilled every day about how Bones' brilliance has solved so many cases.  A little more respect and awe would have helped along with her critique of Bones.

Hodgins' approach was much more laudable, wanting to do what he could to help Bones prove her suspicions.  And we get an excellent portrayal of Hodgins out of the lab - as an investigator and a human being.

The episode ended on a suitably ambiguous note, and here's what I think is going on:  I think the sister of the guy who did not kill himself - who had his fingernail damaged in the same way as Lana Brewster, the first victim in the case tonight - is the serial killer.    It's just a feeling I have.  But, as Booth said so winningly to Bones at the end, you've got to go with feelings sometime - especially, in Booth's case, if they're Bones'.

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

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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Banshee 2.2: Sneak Preview Review

Continuing with my sneak preview reviews of Banshee - this time, episode 2.2, set to air January 17, 2014 - courtesy of a screener disk provided by Starpulse.  As always, these reviews will deal in generalities and avoid specific spoilers.

Among the highlights of Banshee 2.2:

Lots of hand-to-hand punishing fighting, as always - but in this episode there's a lot more than usual involving women, including some woman-to-woman combat.The Indian versus the Amish conflict takes center stage.No Feds on camera.Probably the best female nudity we've seen so far in the series.Women have been throughout the most compelling characters in the series, other than Hood and Proctor.  This is not to say that the other men aren't good, it's rather that the women are more exceptional, each in her own way.  In season 2, we have at least four in riveting play: Ana, Rebecca, Siobhan, and Nola.   Each has an erotic relationship of some sort with Hood.  Each either packs a punch or is unafraid to mete out deadly force.   And each has significant screen time in episode 2.2, making it an outstanding feminist show.

One of the other defining characteristics of the series is how, with so many groups ready to commit violence and/or criminal acts, it's almost inevitable that one group will wrongly blame another for a hit it takes.   Watch out for a fine example of this in episode 2.2, and I'll be back here between January 17 and 24 with my sneak preview of episode 2.3.

See also Banshee Season 2 Premiere: Sneak Preview Review


Like crime stories that involve the Amish? Try The Silk Code

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Revolution 2.10: Mexico and More

Revolution resumed its second season with episode 2.10 tonight, and a story that multiplied its previously two-part parallel storyline into four.

The most interesting of the four - although all are good - finds Miles, Monroe, and Rachel in Mexico, in  pursuit of Monroe's son Connor.   The scenario for this is what Revolution does best - showing how the world has changed ever so ironically in the aftermath of the blackout and the bombings.  So there's a big fence between Mexico and what used to be the U.S., but it's intended to keep riffraff from up north from going into the promised land of Mexico, which has done much better post-blackout than the former U.S.   The scenario makes sense - parts of the world which were less dependent upon digital infrastructure would survive its collapse better than those like the U.S. which were most dependent.

Also percolating on all cylinders is the story back East, with Tom and wife Julia now scheming and killing their way to the very top, in the White House.  Tom's at his best when he's with Julia rather than moaning about how much he misses her, and Julia is much better as a woman willing and even eager to kill rather than the frightened wife which she was last season, and which she now says she never wants to be again.

Meanwhile, the third story is proceeding well in the Texas town that was the scene for most of the action in the Fall.  The Patriots are generously giving fruit from Florida to the people - fruit injected with something.  A drug to make them addicted, keep them docile?  Maybe more amenable to nanite control which we know the Patriots do know at least something about? We'll likely soon find out.

And the fourth story has Aaron in search of the nanites and his destiny.  This brings him together with Grace - always good to see her in the story - and, according to the coming attractions, with his long lost wife Priscilla.

Now, Revolution needs to be careful not to pull too many lost characters of the hat.  And I  would have rather seen Aaron  just reverse Cynthia's murder, and wondered why he didn't or couldn't do this at the time.  But I'm glad he's being given a chance to find happiness again, and I'm looking forward to seeing more next week.

See also Revolution 2.1: "The Last Surviving Friend" ... Revolution 2.2: Reanimation ... Revolution 2.4: Nanites and ... Maybe Aliens? ... Revolution 2.7: Firestarter Aaron vs. the Creepster ... Revolution 2.9: The Boy and the Attitude

And see also Revolution: Preview Review  ... Revolution 1.2: Fast Changes ... Revolution 1.14: Nanites and Jack Bauer ... Revolution 1.15: Major Tom and More 24 ... Revolution 1.16: Feeling a Little Like the Hatch in Lost ... Revolution 1.17: Even Better Nanites ... Revolution 1.18: Whodunnit? ... Revolution 1.19: Cheney's Bunker ... Revolution Season 1 Finale: Good Pivot




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Justified Season 5 Premiere: The Finest Words Around

A good laconic, trash-talking, smart and sassy debut of Justified season 5 last night.  Among the high points -
Raylan electing to talk to Winona and see their baby via Skype, rather than in person, even though Raylan is not very far away in Florida.  Sort of says it all about Raylan's inability to fully relate emotionally, and come to terms with the people he loves, doesn't it?  It was a quiet, very powerful scene.Wendy Crowe - sister of villain Darryl Crowe - catching Raylan's and everyone's eye.  A good addition to the cast and a good potential romantic interest for Raylan.Speaking of Darryl Crowe - he's played by Michael Rapoport - an excellent character actor in league with Timothy Oliphant, and therefore good to see.Boyd continuing not to take any guff from anyone, as he pursues his business of getting Ava out of prison and making his money - yes, in that order, as Boyd sufficiently demonstrates.The strength of Justified has always been its nonstop wise-cracking dialogue - probably the best word play on television - and this was in no short supply last night.  Not only Raylan and Boyd, but even the lesser characters have no shortage of quick and cutting observations - about life, the world, our popular culture, and of course each other as they go about their police and criminal business. They're also always up on appropriate current events, as Raylan's partner in Florida demonstrates when he taunts a bad guy whose boat has not quite been revved up for its trip to Cuba about the "old lady" who recently swam the distance.

So we've got alligators in Florida, drug dealers in Detroit, and who knows what else joining our customary vortex in Kentucky on Justified this year, and I'm looking forward to more.

See also Justified 4.1: Literate Boyd Quotes Asimov and Keynes




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Intelligence Debuts

Intelligence debuted with a strong episode tonight - cerebrally as well action-wise - along with a good starting plot and set-up for the series, and a generally outstanding cast.

Leading that cast is Josh Holloway in his first major television outing since his portrayal of Sawyer in Lost, one of the most memorable characters in that now classic series.  Michael Emerson who played Ben in Lost has done well for himself in Person of Interest, so Holloway had a lot to live up to.  He's doing fine so far with his customary mix of sarcasm and no nonsense, a good persona for the lead character who is a master operative with the added advantage of a brain that's hooked into the Internet.   It's a good premise for a series for our day and age - the digital equivalent of The Bionic Man - and Gabriel (Holloway's character) even has a lost love he is searching the world to find.

Also excellent is Meghan Ory as Gabriel's secret service agent protector Riley - yeah, he's more important than the President - with a good combination of mental and physical agility.  Gabriel loves his wife, but there's a chemistry between hum and Riley that's bound to lead to interesting complications sooner or later.

Marge Helgenberger as head of the unit Lilian I'm not so sure about.  Her cool, deadpan performance as Katherine on CSI worked great for that almost anime-come-to-life series, but in Intelligence ... I don't know, I'll need to see more before I buy her as someone with sufficient wisdom and vision to be running this whole operation.

Meanwhile, the world depicted in Intelligence is sufficiently different from and similar to ours to host good continuing story.   It's not the Chinese who are our enemies, it's a conservative militant group within China, in the classic James Bondian tradition.   And the set-up recognizes and in fact is predicated upon the increasing interconnection of all forms of communication and information delivery - indeed, this is what makes Gabriel's connection to the Internet so powerful and effective.

The series moves to Monday night next week, replacing Hostages on CBS, which had its moments, but was based on a fundamentally absurd premise through the very end.   In contrast, Intelligence is a realistic as tomorrow's app, which Gabriel is well aware of, and which makes the story, at least in its premiere, refreshing and convincing.





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Almost Human 1.7: Meets Criminal Minds

Anyone who thought Almost Human was just a retread of Isaac Asimov's robot stories received a punch in the face in the opening segment of tonight's episode 1.7, in which Dorian, contrary to Asimov's first law of robotics that a robot can never do harm to a human, punches Det. Paul smack in the kisser. And the reason was not on behalf of a loftier goal - the punch came from the short fuse Dorian has, literally and figuratively, because he was undercharged, on Paul's order.

The rest of the episode combined good out-of-control outbursts from undercharged Dorian, along with a script that could have been taken from Criminal Minds and propelled half a century into the future.  A sicko brilliant programmer - rejected from the police academy - sets up a series of bombs around the necks of people who also rejected or frustrated him.   Inevitably, someone we really care about - in this case, one of the two lead characters of the show, Kennex - gets a ticking collar around his neck, and it's up to Dorian with charge all be but depleted to save him.

The other aspect of this story is a good, cynical presentation of crowd-sourcing in support of online spectacles, in this case the sicko's various attempts to get his revenge on the world.  The Internet has already given megalomania of all kinds a great boost in our current age,  including malcontents and psychos who not only are depraved but want an audience for their depravities.  Today it's videos of beatings outside schoolyards; tomorrow it could well be what we saw tonight on Almost Human.  In either case, what I call this "dark side" of  New New Media is likely here to stay.   The police in Almost Human appropriately refer to such streaming as the "dark net".

Almost Human continues to offer a top-notch mix of science fiction, social commentary,  and police procedural.

See also: Almost Human debuts: A Review ... Almost Human 1.2: Sexbots ... Almost Human 1.3: Change of Face ... Almost Human 1.4: Almost Breaking Bad ... Almost Human 1.5: Clones and Holograms ... Almost Human 1.6: The Blackmarket Heart and Double Dorian





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How to Throw Out a Garbage Can and the Theory of Logical Types

I realized I ought to throw out one of my dented old garbage cans this morning, and immediately after realized that was no simple matter.  I soon after realized that Bertrand Russell's theory of logical types provided a solution.

The problem with garbage cans is that they're recognized as containers of garbage, not garbage themselves.  This is a good thing most of the time, but not when you want to get rid of the garbage can itself.

In McLuhanesque terms, the garbage pail is a medium, and the garbage is content. Bertrand Russell addressed this distinction in a systematic way in his theory of logical types, at the beginning of the 20th century.

Indeed, Russell used his theory of logical types to try untangle one of the most intractable paradoxes in human communication: the paradox of the liar.  If someone tells you, "everything I say is a lie," do you believe that statement?  If you do - that is, if you believe that statement is true - then that means you believe that it's true that everything including that statement is a lie.   But if the statement is a lie, that means that the statement could be true, which pitches you right back into the horns of the dilemma.

Russell's solution or way out was to note that the statement "everything I say is a lie" is a statement about other statements, and therefore not one of those other statements itself, and therefore need not share the characteristics of the statements in the category.   It is a "meta" statement, or, in McLuhan's terms, it is a medium not content.   Therefore it as a meta-statement could be true - a true statement about the falsity of all the statements within its category, all the content that the statement describes.

Now, this isn't a perfect solution.  For example, if the paradox of the liar is rendered as just "this statement is lie," then the only way the theory of logical types could help us is by obliging us to consider that statement to be two statements at the same time - a meta statement or description of content, and the content, with the first being true and the second false, which is a pretty steep paradox on its own (something being both true and false at the same time).   Further, we could untangle "everything I say is a lie" just by concluding that that statement is a lie, but not then concluding that therefore everything I say is true.   If we concluded that just some things I say are lies, then the original statement could be among the statements that are true.

But as for garbage cans, Russell's theory of logical types works just fine.   The problem in how to throw out the can arises from the fact that the can is not usually itself garbage.  But when it becomes time to trash the can, all that's needed is putting a sign on the can identifying it the can as garbage - say, "please throw out this can".

I'll let you know if it works.




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