Paul Levinson's Blog: Levinson at Large, page 381

The Walking Dead 2.7: Rick's Way vs. Shane's Way

I've been letting the searing, superb Walking Dead mid-season finale - 2.7 - settle in.   It was as powerful a presentation of two opposing ways to deal with a potentially deadly situation as ever I've seen on television.

On the one hand, Rick wants to cooperate in any way he can with Herschel, including not only protecting the walkers in the barn - whom Herschel considers not dead but sick (and therefore potentially curable) people - but bringing new walkers into the barn when they turn up.  Rick is not happy about this at all.  But he thinks he has no other choice.  Lori and Carl want to stay on the farm.  Lori is pregnant.  Taking his family back out into the insane world out there is not acceptable to Rick.

On the other hand, Shane might want to stay, but certainly not with walkers in the barn.  The very possibility of that is not only unacceptable, but insane to Shane's way of thinking.  Shane's conversation with Lori only intensifies Shane's convictions that the walkers must be destroyed.  Shane thinks he's the father of Lori's baby - which she does not really deny as a physical possibility - and he already has something of a fatherly relationship with Carl.  Shane risked his own life and sacrificed Otis to save Karl.

So who's right?  Although I had sympathy for Rick's approach, I have to side with Shane.  The very process of taking the two new walkers back from the water to the barn shows how dangerous they are - all that has happen is Rick or Herschel get too close to one of them, get bitten, and game over.

And although I felt bad for the walkers, and Herschel, when Shane opened the barn and started shooting the zombies in the head as they staggered out the door, he made the right decision.  Even Maggie nodded that it was ok for Glenn to join in the shooting.

And the heart-breaking denouement shows Rick pretty much agrees.  Everyone is stunned when Sophia dead-walks out of the barn (I hadn't figured she was in the barn, but thought she'd be found a walker in the drugstore), but Rick has the sense and the self-control to shoot her in the head, before she bites any of his family and people he feels responsible for.  He chose not to try to put Sophia in a harness and back in the barn.

It was a horrifying but instructive scene.   If Shane had been convinced by Rick, and tried peaceful coexistence with the walkers in the barn, what would have happened when Carol discovered her daughter?  Would she have been able to live with her daughter in the barn?  How about the others?

I suppose Rick's original point of view - Herschel's - could be vindicated if it turns out there is some way out there, now or in the future, to bring the walkers back to full human life.  But unless and until that happens, I think you have to give credit to Shane for doing the right thing.  And even if a cure is discovered, Shane made the best decision with the information he had at the time.



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 2.7: Secrets Told
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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The Plot to Save Socrates
"challenging fun" - Entertainment Weekly

"a Da Vinci-esque thriller" - New York Daily News

"Sierra Waters is sexy as hell" - curled up with a good book



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Boardwalk Empire 2.10: Double Shot

Boardwalk Empire 2.10 last night was all about the ending - shocking, slightly signaled, somewhat justified, and altogether what makes Boardwalk Empire such fine, pull-no-punches television.

The slight signaling occurred when Angela was unusually affectionate to Jimmy when he was about to leave for out of town business - this was a tip-off, in television narration, that something unusual would soon happen with Angela.  I thought Angela would be leaving Jimmy, which she did, but not in the everyday sense of the term.

The somewhat justified part of the ending concerns Manny Horvitz.  An assassin whom Manny knows was sent by Jimmy almost killed Manny last week.  He thus has every reason to want to return the favor, but not with the "almost," to Jimmy.   His showing up at Jimmy's house was no surprise.  Neither was his finding Angela sleeping peacefully in bed.

But Louise walking out of the shower, and receiving Manny's gunshot before he realizes that his target is not Jimmy - that was jolting indeed, to us as well as Manny.  So was his shooting Angela - stunning to us - and firing more bullets into both of them, to make sure they were dead.

He did this, presumably, to make sure Angela didn't go to the police about Manny shooting her lover.  There was no need to kill Angela to keep this from Jimmy, whose man Mickey who went to Philadelphia will no doubt reveal what he told Manny.  Or, if he doesn't, Jimmy will realize that anyway - even if weasel Mickey denies it.  Or, if Manny killed Mickey, that would tell Jimmy the same.

But Munya aka Manny is one butcher not to mess with.  And Jimmy brought this on himself - if you're going to aim at the prince, or even someone who has specials on assholes (Mickey's way with words), you better make sure you kill him.

So in less than a minute, Boardwalk Empire has been changed forever.   Who will take care of Jimmy's son?  (Speaking of whom - where was he during the shooting?  I guess Angela had him staying with friends, to give her and Louise the house to themselves - but this could have been made a little more clear.)  Jimmy's mother could have a bigger role - always welcome - but the Commodore may be recovering, and her attentions required there.   And that's just the family side.  What this will do to Jimmy professionally - what he'll do about Manny, and for that matter Lucky and Al, unhappy about the stall in the liquor flow, should make for riveting viewing.   Could an re-alliance of necessity with Nucky be in the works?


See also Boardwalk Empire 2.1: Politics in an Age Before YouTube  ... Boardwalk Empire 2.2: The Woman Behind the Throne ... Boardwalk Empire 2.3: Frankenstein and Victrola ... Boardwalk Empire 2.4: Nearly Flagrante Delicto ... Boardwalk Empire 2.5: Richard's Story ... Boardwalk Empire 2.6: Owen and Other Bad News for Nucky ... Boardwalk Empire 2.7: Shot in the Hand  ... Boardwalk Empire 2.8: Pups with Fangs ... Boardwalk Empire 2.9: Ireland, Radio, Polio 
And see also Boardwalk Emipre on HBO ... Boardwalk Empire 1.2: Lines and Centers Power ... Boardwalk Empire 1.10: Arnold Rothstein, Media Theorist  ... Season One Finale of Boardwalk Empire                 Special Discount Coupons for Angie's List, Avis, Budget Car, Garden.com, eMusic


The Plot to Save Socrates
"challenging fun" - Entertainment Weekly

"a Da Vinci-esque thriller" - New York Daily News

"Sierra Waters is sexy as hell" - curled up with a good book

Enjoy listening to audio books? Get a free audio book copy of The Plot to Save Socrates - or any one of 85,000 other titles - with a 14-day trial membership at Audible.com ... Paul Levinson's books ... Paul Levinson's music

Dexter 6.9: And Gellar Is ...

Gellar's status is finally established in Dexter 6.9.

Travis is on the floor of Gellar's Church.

Dexter leans over him, ascertians that Travis is still alive.  Dexter hears a noise - like a generator kicking on.

Dexter goes down into the cellar below, opens a freezer, and finds ... Gellar.  Or, to be more precise, Gellar's body.  Gellar, dead, in the cellar.  The generator or whatever made the noise presumably kicked on automatically.

What this means for Dexter is that he's been about as wrong as he's ever been.  As I mentioned last week,  it was more difficult than it might have been for Dexter to see the truth about Travis, since Dexter had first suspected Travis, and then came to believe that he had wrongly suspected Travis.  It's hard to double back to where you started.

Has Dexter ever been this wrong?   Not about someone who didn't really matter to him.

Is Dexter losing it?   Well, it's certainly clear that all of business about God - what brother Sam has brought him to see, or Dexter thinks he sees - hasn't done his incisive hunting and killing instinct much good.  He drove all the way to Nebraska, and though he was right to not kill Jonah, Dexter handled the whole matter not with his usual aplomb, and attracted Debra's suspicions for no good reason.  And Dexter did this in response to Sam's death.

I don't think Travis will be much of a threat to Dexter, even though Travis now literally has the upper hand.   I'm much more concerned about Deb finding out something really irreversible about her brother.

See also Dexter Season 6 Sneak Preview Review ... Dexter 6.4: Two Numbers and Two Killers Equals? ... Dexter 6.5 and 6.6: Decisive Sam ... Dexter 6.7: The State of Nebraska ... Dexter 6.8: Is Gellar Really Real?

And see also Dexter Season Five Sneak Preview Review ... Dexter 5.4: Dexter's Conscience ... Dexter 5.8 and Lumen ... Dexter 5.9: He's Getting Healthier ... Dexter 5.10: Monsters -Worse and Better ... Dexter 5.11: Sneak Preview with Spoilers  ... Dexter Season 5 Finale: Behind the Curtain

And see also Dexter Season 4: Sneak Preview Review ... The Family Man on Dexter 4.5 ... Dexter on the Couch in 4.6 ... Dexter 4.7: 'He Can't Kill Bambi' ... Dexter 4.8: Great Mistakes ... 4.9: Trinity's Surprising Daughter ... 4.10: More than Trinity ... 4.11: The "Soulless, Anti-Family Schmuck" ... 4.12: Revenges and Recapitulations

See also reviews of Season 3: Season's Happy Endings? ... Double Surprise ... Psychotic Law vs. Sociopath Science ... The Bright, Elusive Butterfly of Dexter ... The True Nature of Miguel ... Si Se Puede on Dexter ... and Dexter 3: Sneak Preview Review

Reviews of Season 2: Dexter's Back: A Preview and Dexter Meets Heroes and 6. Dexter and De-Lila-h and 7. Best Line About Dexter - from Lila and 8. How Will Dexter Get Out of This? and The Plot Gets Tighter and Sharper and Dex, Doakes, and Harry and Deb's Belief Saves Dex and All's ... Well

See also about Season 1: First Place to Dexter


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The Plot to Save Socrates

"challenging fun" - Entertainment Weekly

"a Da Vinci-esque thriller" - New York Daily News

"Sierra Waters is sexy as hell" - curled up with a good book


Paul Levinson's books ... Paul Levinson's music

The Pike Pepper Spray Meme: Pros and Cons

As the Huffington Post noted last week, John Pike's pepper spraying of UC Davis students has become a massive meme of Internet ridicule.   Jeanne Moos's CNN piece yesterday had some truly funny examples, my favorite probably being Pike as the cause of John Boehner's tears.

But I admit to having mixed emotions about this meme.  On the one hand, Pike's act of casual depravity - pepper spraying non-violent students like "he was watering a garden," as Sharon Osbourne aptly put it  - is deserving of all the cleansing ridicule the creative among us can bestow upon it.  Humor is a good way of diffusing cultural pain, of sublimating the fury we feel at Pike's nonchalant cruelty, as per Freud.

On the other hand, maybe we don't want our anger sublimated all that much.   Pike assaulted those students, plain and simple.  He committed a crime that warrants not only conviction and punishment - as in jail - but maximum publicity in its raw form, to serve as a warning and reminder to other police officers to control themselves when they are attempting to control groups of people.  All of that is no laughing matter.

Still, there is a healing quality in humor, in laughing at Pike's vent from hell aimed at everything from Mount Rushmore to the Beatles to Bambi.  My other favorite is Pike showing up in prehistoric cave art - Pike as the demon of authoritarian violence which has beset our species from the beginning - and here's a shout-out to James McGrath's contribution (James' comment on my blog post here yesterday got me thinking about this). Paul Levinson's books ... Paul Levinson's music

LA Woman Could Be Charged with 'Battery" for Pepper Spray - How About UC-Davis Cops?

I just heard that the woman who pepper sprayed shoppers in Los Angeles to get an edge on bargains could be charged with "battery".  Seems right.

And what about the UC-Davis police who pepper sprayed non-violent students week before last?

No such justice.

At least, not so far.   The two cops who pepper sprayed the students, and the head of their UC-Davis police unit, have suspended with pay, pending investigation.

Are students in California worth less as human beings than shoppers, or are cops out there somewhere above the law?

If anything, the cops should be charged with a crime worse than what was brought  against the pepper sprayer of shoppers.  Police are (a) paid by taxpayers to (b) protect not attack law-abiding citizens.

If anyone should be suspended - without, not with,  pay - it should be the officers who stood around, watched the two pepper-spraying cops, and did nothing.

I'd like to think that most police in America wouldn't stand by when their colleagues were breaking the law, and certainly wouldn't break the law by assaulting peaceful protesters themselves.   We do every good police officer a disservice by going easy on the rotten apples in uniform.

Governor Jerry Brown of California, is there any reason you're not saying this?   How about you, President Obama?



Occupy Wall Street Chronicles, Part 1



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Cairo and New York City: A Tale of Two Related Cities

With tensions on the rise in Cairo about the upcoming elections, with people out in Tahrir Square menaced by police and authorities, it is all to easy to smugly say thank goodness we don't have it that bad here in New York City, in the United States.

I admit to thinking something like that when the Arab Spring emerged some ten months ago.  But I don't believe that now -  not with cops in NYC arresting and roughing up protesters and members of the press, and cops out in California pepper-spraying and beating innocent students on campuses.

Hundreds of Egyptians died for freedom in the Arab Spring earlier this year, and more than 40 have been killed in the past week.  So far, that has not happened in the United States.   But although local authorities have made some moves to restrain the police here - as in Bloomberg's belated order that the NYPD must let the press do its job - there is still no Federal or across-the-board recognition from any part of the government in the United States that police here having been going much too too far in brutal attempts to control Occupiers.

The White House has publicly denounced what riot police are now doing in Egypt.  Will a mainstream, old-media reporter ask President Obama why he doesn't do the same about out-of-control police in New York and California?

In the global village that Marshall McLuhan foresaw in the 1960s and which has come into reality this past year, Cairo and New York City and every place in which people have come out in the streets for freedom and economic justice are more alike than apart.   It would be good if in the coming days and months this shared global community was not beset by violence from the authorities who represent the interests of an older world order which is cracking.



Occupy Wall Street Chronicles, Part 1



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First Amendment Trampling Bloomberg Caves: NYPD Ordered to Let Press Do Its Job

Progress: The New York Times reports that NYPD has been ordered to keep its hands of the press, and not prevent reporters from covering news as it did when the cops evacuated Zuccotti Park.  In that shameful event, not only were the protesters unconstitutionally evicted (in violaton of the freedom to peaceably assemble clause of the First Amendment), and the media kept from covering the story (in violation of the freedom of press provision), but reporters were manhandled and arrested.

Bloomberg not only knew all about this, but the press was kept from Zuccotti that morning at his order.  His first statement after the clearing said everything that happened in the Zuccotti eviction was his responsibility and no one else's.  "Make no mistake," that statement said, "the final decision to act was mine."  And when people and the media began complaining about the press being prevented from covering the eviction, Bloomberg hid behind the excuse of all totalitarian governments, saying it was for reporters' own safety - "to protect members of the press".

Fortunately, Bloomberg listened to reason when, according to the NY Times, "A coalition of news organizations ... sent a letter complaining about the treatment ."  That's all to the good.

But Bloomberg should be impeached.   There's no guarantee he won't do something like that again.  New York City deserves a Mayor who has a less steep learning curve where the First Amendment is involved.  The city that never sleeps needs a Mayor who gets First Amendment right the first time around.


my interview of NY Night News about Bloomberg, OWS, the press Paul Levinson's books ... Paul Levinson's music

Homeland 1.8: Surprises

I last reviewed Homeland, Showtime's new domestic terrorist/spy series, after I'd previewed the first three episodes.  I figured it was time to check in with a review again, especially in view of the excellent twists and surprises we've seen in the last few episodes of this thoughtful series.

The surprises begin when Carrie, seeing her investigation of Brody cut off, decides to pursue him personally.   This turns out to be literally, when she sleeps with him in the car in episode 1.6.  This progresses in 1.7 to the best episode in the series.

Carrie takes Brody to her cabin.  The two make love - and Carrie really enjoys it.  In the afterglow of the next early morning, she slips up and apologizes to Brody for not having his favorite tea in the boondocks, Yukon Gold.  This triggers Brody's realization that Carrie has been spying on him, and a no-holds-barred conversation (for Carrie) in which she confronts Brody about his being a terrorist.

Brody's explanation and behavior seemed believable - to Carrie and well as me - and the confirmation that Walker was checking out the premises near the airfield certainly confirm that Walker is up to no good.  Brody, it seems, was also set up by Nazir - to believe Brody had killed Walker.  And the secret Brody was keeping was not that he is on a mission of terror here in the homeland, but that he killed a fellow POW.

One part of Brody's explanation which struck me as a little week at the time - in episode 1.7 - is that he adopted Islam as the only mode of spiritual comfort available to him.   And at some point it also occurred to me that Brody as well as Walker could be here on a terrorist mission.

And that's pretty much the big reveal at the end of 1.8 - which was a good smack in the face, even though I somewhat saw it coming.  Brody, apparently, was still lied to by Nazir, who managed to not only turn Walker but Brody, too.  And that's why Brody's been praying with the Koran.

Carrie's job has now gotten much more difficult.  Having doubted Brody - falsely, she thinks - and feeling bad about that, she will be that much more resistant to seeing that Brody is a terrorist, after all.   Perhaps Saul, unencumbered by such guilt and now fully focused on this case, can be of help.  I suppose there's also still a chance that Brody may be some kind of triple agent - playing Nazir, not following him - but his comfort with the Koran, which he takes in private, argues strongly against that.

See also Homeland on Showtime

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The Plot to Save Socrates

"challenging fun" - Entertainment Weekly

"a Da Vinci-esque thriller" - New York Daily News

"Sierra Waters is sexy as hell" - curled up with a good book

Enjoy listening to audio books? Get a free audio book copy of The Plot to Save Socrates - or any one of 85,000 other titles - with a 14-day trial membership at Audible.com ...

Paul Levinson's books ... Paul Levinson's music

NCIS 9.10: Almost One Agent Short

We're "one agent short" - that's what McGee says to DiNozzo, who's sidelined in tonight's episode 9.10 of NCIS, for the very good reason that his father (DiNozzo, Sr.) is the chief suspect in the case at hand.

Robert Wagner is back playing Sr, as bon vivant and altogether excellent as ever.  But the evidence against him is impressive - finger prints on the bottle murder weapon, an angry argument caught on video with the victim, and no memory of what happened during the crucial hours.

The key to the whudunnit resides in Morgan Hunt (played by David Rees Snell of The Shield fame), the helpful exec who is quick to volunteer the incriminating tape.  But with Abby hard at work, the attempt to frame Sr won't stick - she finds that he was given a roofie  (and he, irrepressible, is almost flattered about that) and that his finger prints were only on the middle not the neck of the bottle.  But that was the part the murderer would have grasped, swinging the deadly bottle. As Abby points out, it's "conveniently wiped clean".  Good to see her play such a crucial role again.

Junior breaks the rest of the case, discovering the woman who drugged Sr, which leads the team to Hunt (she was working for him, but didn't quite know she was framing someone for murder).  The moral of this part of the story is the team indeed needs DiNozzo, which is no great revelation - we already knew this - but you can't see it too many times.

Gibbs once again plays the emotionally stabilizing role, not only stopping Sr. being taken away when Abby steps up with some of the further evidence, but arranging for the DiNozzos to spend their first Thanksgiving together in who knows how long.   Junior needs you as a father, Gibbs tells Sr., not your money, bringing home the point that NCIS is as much about family this year as fighting bad guys.

See also NCIS 9.1: Unpacking Partial Amnesia ... NCIS 9.2: Lying to Yourself ... NCIS 9.3: McGee's Grandmother ... NCIS 9.4: Turkey Vulture as Explained by DiNozzo ... NCIS 9.5: Behrooz's Mother ... NCIS 9.6: Too Good to be True ... NCIS 9.7: "You Were My Shannon, Leroy" ... NCIS 9.8: Intersections with Reality ... NCIS 9.9: Twists and History

And see also NCIS Back in Season 8 Action ... NCIS 8.2: Interns! ... NCIS 8.3: Tiff! ... NCIS 8.4: Gary Cooper not John Wayne ... NCIS 8.5: Dead DJ, DiNozzo Hoarse, and Baseball ... NCIS 8.6: The Written Woman ... NCIS 8.7: "James Bond Movie Directed by Fellini" ... NCIS 8.8: Ziva's Father ... NCIS 8.9: Leon's Story ... NCIS 8.10: DiNozzo In and Out ... NCIS 8.11: "The Sister Went Viral" ... Bob Newhart on NCIS 8.12 ... NCIS 8.13: The Wife or the Girlfriend ... NCIS 8.14: Kate ... NCIS 8.15: McGee and DiNozzo's Badges ... NCIS 8.16: Computer Games ... NCIS 8.17: Budget Cuts ... NCIS 8.18: Gibbs vs. the Kid ... NCIS 8.19: The Deadly Book ... NCIS 8.20: CIRay ... NCIS 8.21: Mask and Eye ... NCIS 8.22: "I'd Rather Have a Lead" ... NCIS 8.23: Answers and Questions ... NCIS Season 8 Finale

And see also NCIS  ... NCIS 7.16: Gibbs' Mother-in-Law Dilemma ... NCIS 7.17: Ducky's Ties ... NCIS 7.18: Bogus Treasure and Real Locker ... NCIS 7.21: NCIS Meets Laura ... NCIS Season 7 Finale: Retribution



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The Plot to Save Socrates

"challenging fun" - Entertainment Weekly

"a Da Vinci-esque thriller" - New York Daily News

"Sierra Waters is sexy as hell" - curled up with a good book

Enjoy listening to audio books? Get a free audio book copy of The Plot to Save Socrates - or any one of 85,000 other titles - with a 14-day trial membership at Audible.com ...

Paul Levinson's books ... Paul Levinson's music

The Walking Dead 2.6: Secrets Told

Well, the secrets finally started hitting the fan in The Walking Dead 2.6.

At least one has been more than a year in coming.   Lori at last reveals to Rick that she and Shane were sleeping together when Rick was presumed dead.   Rick says he knew, and he's not too upset about it.  This shows how well Rick has adopted to the crazed new world in which he and our heroes now live.

Lori also reveals that she's pregnant - actually, admits she's pregnant, after Rick confronts her about the abortion pills that Glenn brought back for her from the pharmacy in town on a new trip he and Maggie made.   Lori took some of the pills then chucked them out.

Glenn indeed was the sparkplug of most of the revelations.  Last week, he was the only one who knew about Lori's state and the walkers in the barn.   Now Dale knows about both - Glenn told him - and so does Maggie.  She of course already knew about the walkers - she calls one of them mom.  And Hershel makes the case that they're not dead or even monsters - but sick.   We might say he's naive, and we - and our band - know better.   But it got me thinking  - what if someone could come up a cure?  That would go against what the scientist at the CDC indicated last season - but why accept what he said as the absolute last word?

Glenn's a good character.  He always comes back, as he says in last Sunday's episode.   That's about the closest to confidence to be found in this stricken world - that, and Rick's impassioned attempt to convince Lori that having the new baby is the way to go.  And, for that matter, Andrea and Shane in the car.  Flickers of life for the future.

And The Walking Dead will be back next week, for its last episode for this part of the season.


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  And see also The Walking Dead 1.1-3:  Gone with the Wind, Zombie Style ... The Walking Dead Ends First Season
                 Special Discount Coupons for Angie's List, Avis, Budget Car, Garden.com, eMusic



The Plot to Save Socrates
"challenging fun" - Entertainment Weekly

"a Da Vinci-esque thriller" - New York Daily News

"Sierra Waters is sexy as hell" - curled up with a good book



Enjoy listening to audio books? Get a free audio book copy of The Plot to Save Socrates - or any one of 85,000 other titles - with a 14-day trial membership at Audible.com ... Paul Levinson's books ... Paul Levinson's music