I enjoyed the Burn Notice summer finale, but then again, I always enjoy Burn Notice. And “Guilty as Charged” didn’t provide me with the extra adrenaline rush I typically get from the show’s climactic chapters. Part of that is because the bulk of the episode was devoted to a standalone case-of-the-week plot line, which is typical of a Burn Notice episode, but atypical of one of their finales. Another reason is because the character of John Barrett had just been introduced a few weeks prior, which means he couldn’t get the same mythological buildup as previous Big Bads of the series, like Carla, Victor, and Simon. The result was that he didn’t have the same intimidation factor or pose as understandable a threat to Michael as bad guys past. Moreover, Barrett, for all the evils he’s supposedly responsible for, has never done anything to wrong Michael personally, and so the satisfaction of personalized vengeance was absent as well. I didn’t fear Jesse’s retribution against Michael either, because Jesse has been established as such a good guy over the course of the season that I couldn’t see him actually trying to kill Michael (though the final scene leaves some ambiguity about that).
The standalone story involved the kidnapping of a little girl and Michael’s attempt to rescue her. It was very enjoyable, and had it appeared in a mid-season episode I’d have no issue with it. In typical Burn Notice fashion, Michael’s client decides to ignore his advice and completely screws up the rescue attempt. Why don’t these people ever learn? Just kidding. Obviously I get that each one only makes this mistake once and has no way of learning from the errors of past clients. I thoroughly enjoyed the execution of plan B, however. The kidnapper agrees to trade the girl in exchange for Michael breaking his murderer brother out of prison. I loved the whole notion of the fake prison break, as Michael and friends were able to setup a fake police transport vehicle, with a fake prisoner inside (whose head Fiona shaved and doused with blood to make him look like the brother from a distance), and stage a fake assault and rescue on their own fake van. It was both clever and a lot of fun to watch.
It was tough to see Michael continuing to refuse to look at what he’s done to Jesse. All season long, when confronted with it by Fiona and Madeline, Michael justified it by saying it was in the service of the greater good. Now that Jesse’s found out the truth, Michael still refuses to examine his actions by claiming that his tasks at hand require all his attention. And when he finally meets Jesse face to face, Michael gives what is arguably the lamest apology in the history of the world, if it can even be considered an apology at all. Michael justifies his non-apology by claiming, “I know you’re in no mood for an apology.” The truth is that an admission of wrong-doing and a sincere, well thought out apology might have meant a lot to Jesse.
I don’t believe Michael is acting this way because he’s a bad person. I just think he’s afraid that if he actually stops to confront what he did-bringing all the misery he, himself, has experienced these past 4 years onto someone else-he won’t be able to live with the guilt. So he’s set up many layers of defense mechanisms to prevent himself from facing the truth.
Did Vaughn’s betrayal come as any surprise? I’m surprised Michael didn’t plan for that contingency, given his discovery last week that Vaughn has been lying to him all along about how and when he came into Michael’s life. Vaughn’s betrayal proved not only that Michael can’t trust him, but that Vaughn is clearly willing to sacrifice Michael’s life to get what he wants.
In the climactic scene, Jesse actually does shoot Michael with a sniper rifle, though apparently only to get the henchman who was choking Michael from behind, while intentionally missing Michael’s vital organs. But at the end of the episode, after Michael has veered Barrett’s car off the road, killing him, an unidentified man grabs the suitcase containing the bible and flees, leaving Michael there to bleed to death. My money is definitely on Jesse, and if I’m right, that means Jesse really was willing to let Michael die for his betrayal.
Burn Notice doesn’t come back until November 11th, so we’ll have to wait until then to find out who took the bible, where things stand with Jesse, what Vaughn’s prerogative truly is, and oh yeah, whether Michael lives or dies. Just kidding about that last one. The odds of Michael dying are exactly zero percent. And that refers to a true death, not to a temporary heart failure followed by resuscitation which seems almost mandatory on shows nowadays.
Until November.
Friday, August 27, 2010
Thursday, August 26, 2010
RESCUE ME: “Goodbye”
After a disappointing first half of season 6, Rescue Me has come on strong and is back to being a top-notch character drama. The season’s penultimate episode, “Goodbye,” consisted of three plot lines: Damien’s decision to stay or leave the firehouse, Lou’s inability to leave the job behind despite knowing it will cost him his life, and the age-old triangle of Janet, Tommy, and Sheila. And all three worked like gangbusters for me (the fact that Teddy was nowhere to be found didn’t hurt either; I’ll explain my objections to his role this season at the bottom).
The common thread through these plot lines is well summed up in the episode’s title, as we see various characters unable to say goodbye to dangerous and addictive relationships. For both Lou and Damien, that relationship is with the FDNY and their comrades within. For Sheila and Tommy, that relationship is each other.
Rescue Me has never shied away from giving truly important scenes the proper time to breathe. You’ll seldom see an 11 minute scene on any television show, but that’s what we got from the opening scene of “Goodbye” and it was well worth it. The scene was full of the traditional, hilarious, Tommy Gavin bullshit as he tried to get himself out of an impossible situation; first by intentionally choking on a piece of food to distract everyone from the bomb Mickey was about to drop, and then through his usual stammering and doubletalk.
But the best part of that scene is the way Sheila was able to put all the blame on Tommy after Mickey revealed he had caught the two of them half-naked and squirming on top of each other. Sheila didn’t accomplish this by lying, but by brilliantly framing the truth in just such a way that made her look innocent. “I told him to stop.” When Janet and Mickey ask Tommy if this is true, all he can say is yes. “I told him I had no more feelings for him and to get out.” Again, all Tommy can do is admit it. “He grabbed me and kissed me and I told him I felt nothing, so he threw me onto the couch and ripped my dress off.” Again, technically true. And yet, anyone who saw that scene in the previous episode knows full well Tommy went over there to end things for good, and then Sheila pushed every one of his buttons to manipulate him to her purpose. And since Sheila is much, much smarter than Tommy, she of course got her way. I’m not whitewashing what Tommy did; he has free will as much as anyone else. But Sheila was the true instigator of that encounter, and the way she used “the truth” to her advantage once she was caught, while simultaneously throwing Tommy under the bus, was magnificent.
Sheila was of course able to earn some quick forgiveness from Mickey, and Tommy should consider himself lucky Janet chose to forgive him…or unlucky, depending on how you feel about Janet. The condition for Janet’s forgiveness, he has to truly say goodbye to Sheila once and for all. No more contact. No more nothin’.
Despite that command, Tommy calls Sheila one more time to apologize for all the times he’s let her down (and there have been A LOT). Despite Sheila’s earlier insistence that she’s over Tommy and is ready to move on with Mickey, the phone call makes it abundantly clear who she still has that passion for. “Did you ever really love me?” she asks. Tommy admits he did, but says that at the end of the day, he loved Janet more, though not in so many words. Sheila’s façade cracks as she breaks down crying and tells Tommy that she hates him and he should never call her again. Somehow I doubt this is the last we’ve seen of these two together.
Sometimes, writers can go back to the same well once too often when they can’t figure out how to take characters in new directions. Rescue Me has fallen victim to this on a number of occasions, whether it’s Tommy’s repeated attempts to stay on the wagon, his hot and cold relationship with his estranged wife, or Franco’s multiple failed attempts to find a relationship that means more to him than sex. That being said, I will never feel that way about Tommy and Sheila. When those two are in a room together, there is so much heat, so much anger, so much wounded passion and sizzling chemistry, that the writers can go back to that well as many times as they want and I won’t complain. I always thought Tommy was a fool for choosing the ice queen over a woman with so much fire and passion, even if she is tightrope-walking the borderline of crazy.
Janet has one final test for Tommy, as she presents him with two glasses of liquor posing as a consequence-free last drink, a veritable Trojan horse. Tommy sussed out the trap (I’ll admit I was scared he wouldn’t for a moment) and poured both glasses down the sink. Having said goodbye to two dangerous addictions, Sheila and alcohol, he is ready to make one final go of it with Janet, and she appears willing to give him the chance.
Damien and Lou, however, were less successful in their bids to extricate themselves from dangerous situations. After Lou’s second heart attack on the job, the doctor tells him, in no uncertain terms, that if he doesn’t quit immediately he’s going to die. Lou makes one feeble attempt to bring up retirement with Needles, but when Needles makes an offhanded joke about rookies getting the jitters and wanting to quit, in reference to Damien, Lou backs down and fails to bring it up. I imagine this is a psychologically accurate portrayal of how hard it is for guys in that line of work to let go. Between saving people’s lives, the addiction to danger, and more than anything, the camaraderie that forms between friends in the same firehouse, it is difficult to say goodbye. To someone like Lou, who puts his life on the line every day, the threat of death by heart attack might be less intimidating than the threat of losing the only way of life he's ever known. Having a family, or even a woman in his life to go home to, would certainly make that transition easier; but Lou has never been that lucky. He managed to forego his demise this episode, but if he can’t muster up the courage to quit soon, he won’t have much time left.
Now, Damien. Oh boy. If there was one person I didn’t think was in imminent danger (though in hindsight, I should have), it was Damien. Damien is a confused young man. Last week, we saw how he had to take directions every step of the way from his girlfriend, while he had sex for the first time in his life (side note, if he is in fact dead, thank god he got to do that first). And in “Goodbye,” we see that Damien is just as confused and malleable about his direction in life as he is about sex. After weeks of working on him, Sheila and Mickey convince Damien the job is too dangerous, and that he should turn in his papers. But the truth is it’s too late. Damien loves this job. He’s already begun to feel the camaraderie and the addiction to excitement the other guys no so well. All it takes is a couple of war stories, one actual war story Chief Feinberg, and a great anecdote from Tommy about a practical joke Damien’s old man played on him when they were just starting out, and Damien knows he’s not ready to let this go.
In the episode’s climactic scene, I fully expected Lou to have his third heart attack and die right there. When he can’t breathe, and then a pile of metal coffins literally falls on top of him, he seems to be a goner for sure. But I should’ve given the show more credit than to think it would be that predictable. As the rest of the guys try to help out a clearly still-breathing Lou, Damien calls out from a short distance away, while foolishly clutching his helmet in his hand instead of wearing it on his head, “Come on guys, we gotta go!!!” Just then, debris crashes through the ceiling from the floor above, crushing Damien to the ground. Alive or dead, it’s hard to imagine Sheila truly forgiving Tommy for pulling her son back into the job (after having been the one to bring him in, in the first place). And if Damien is dead, I’d expect nothing short of a tour de force from Callie Thorne in next week’s finale. There’s no telling how Damien’s tragedy will affect those around him. It may drive Tommy back to the bottle. It may knock Sheila completely off the razor’s edge of sanity. And if nothing else, it will hopefully make Lou see the danger of staying on duty when he’s not equipped to handle the job. Even if he doesn’t die himself, it’s an inevitability he’ll get someone else killed. After all, if the guys weren’t helping Lou up, then Damien doesn’t double back to tell them they have to go, and he’s still alive. I’m not going to write off Damien yet, though. Not after one of this season’s earlier episodes ended with Lou lying on the ground after a heart attack, not moving and with his eyes wide open, looking deader than dead, only for me to find out the next week that he was alive and kicking.
As promised, my issue with Teddy this season. This is a 2-parter, and both have to do with last season’s finale in which he shot Tommy in the gut, and forced everyone in the room to sit there and watch him die, which he did for several minutes. I expected Teddy to be in jail at the start of this season, seeing as how he shot someone to death in a room full of witnesses. But not only is he not in jail, the police don’t even seem to be looking for the shooter. When someone is brought into the emergency room with a gunshot wound, there is a police investigation. It strains all credulity and story logic to think this guy would be running around with nobody looking for him. But making matters worse, and this is part 2, is the fact that nobody in Teddy or Tommy’s life seems to be saying boo about the fact that Teddy shot him to death. Even Tommy seems to be having reasonable conversations with Teddy as if nothing happened. And when I hear Teddy tell Tommy that he loves him and that he only shot him for his own good, and I see that accepted by Tommy and everyone else as the truth, I kind of want to throw my remote at the screen. Or better yet, jump inside the screen and yell, “HELLLOOO???? HE SHOT YOU!!! WITH AN ACTUAL GUN!!! THAT HAD ACTUAL BULLETS IN IT!!! TO DEATH!!!!!!!! DOES ANYBODY CARE????” In short, the more they keep Teddy off the screen in the finale, the way they have these past few weeks, the happier and less distracted I’ll be.
Lighting a candle for Damien.
The common thread through these plot lines is well summed up in the episode’s title, as we see various characters unable to say goodbye to dangerous and addictive relationships. For both Lou and Damien, that relationship is with the FDNY and their comrades within. For Sheila and Tommy, that relationship is each other.
Rescue Me has never shied away from giving truly important scenes the proper time to breathe. You’ll seldom see an 11 minute scene on any television show, but that’s what we got from the opening scene of “Goodbye” and it was well worth it. The scene was full of the traditional, hilarious, Tommy Gavin bullshit as he tried to get himself out of an impossible situation; first by intentionally choking on a piece of food to distract everyone from the bomb Mickey was about to drop, and then through his usual stammering and doubletalk.
But the best part of that scene is the way Sheila was able to put all the blame on Tommy after Mickey revealed he had caught the two of them half-naked and squirming on top of each other. Sheila didn’t accomplish this by lying, but by brilliantly framing the truth in just such a way that made her look innocent. “I told him to stop.” When Janet and Mickey ask Tommy if this is true, all he can say is yes. “I told him I had no more feelings for him and to get out.” Again, all Tommy can do is admit it. “He grabbed me and kissed me and I told him I felt nothing, so he threw me onto the couch and ripped my dress off.” Again, technically true. And yet, anyone who saw that scene in the previous episode knows full well Tommy went over there to end things for good, and then Sheila pushed every one of his buttons to manipulate him to her purpose. And since Sheila is much, much smarter than Tommy, she of course got her way. I’m not whitewashing what Tommy did; he has free will as much as anyone else. But Sheila was the true instigator of that encounter, and the way she used “the truth” to her advantage once she was caught, while simultaneously throwing Tommy under the bus, was magnificent.
Sheila was of course able to earn some quick forgiveness from Mickey, and Tommy should consider himself lucky Janet chose to forgive him…or unlucky, depending on how you feel about Janet. The condition for Janet’s forgiveness, he has to truly say goodbye to Sheila once and for all. No more contact. No more nothin’.
Despite that command, Tommy calls Sheila one more time to apologize for all the times he’s let her down (and there have been A LOT). Despite Sheila’s earlier insistence that she’s over Tommy and is ready to move on with Mickey, the phone call makes it abundantly clear who she still has that passion for. “Did you ever really love me?” she asks. Tommy admits he did, but says that at the end of the day, he loved Janet more, though not in so many words. Sheila’s façade cracks as she breaks down crying and tells Tommy that she hates him and he should never call her again. Somehow I doubt this is the last we’ve seen of these two together.
Sometimes, writers can go back to the same well once too often when they can’t figure out how to take characters in new directions. Rescue Me has fallen victim to this on a number of occasions, whether it’s Tommy’s repeated attempts to stay on the wagon, his hot and cold relationship with his estranged wife, or Franco’s multiple failed attempts to find a relationship that means more to him than sex. That being said, I will never feel that way about Tommy and Sheila. When those two are in a room together, there is so much heat, so much anger, so much wounded passion and sizzling chemistry, that the writers can go back to that well as many times as they want and I won’t complain. I always thought Tommy was a fool for choosing the ice queen over a woman with so much fire and passion, even if she is tightrope-walking the borderline of crazy.
Janet has one final test for Tommy, as she presents him with two glasses of liquor posing as a consequence-free last drink, a veritable Trojan horse. Tommy sussed out the trap (I’ll admit I was scared he wouldn’t for a moment) and poured both glasses down the sink. Having said goodbye to two dangerous addictions, Sheila and alcohol, he is ready to make one final go of it with Janet, and she appears willing to give him the chance.
Damien and Lou, however, were less successful in their bids to extricate themselves from dangerous situations. After Lou’s second heart attack on the job, the doctor tells him, in no uncertain terms, that if he doesn’t quit immediately he’s going to die. Lou makes one feeble attempt to bring up retirement with Needles, but when Needles makes an offhanded joke about rookies getting the jitters and wanting to quit, in reference to Damien, Lou backs down and fails to bring it up. I imagine this is a psychologically accurate portrayal of how hard it is for guys in that line of work to let go. Between saving people’s lives, the addiction to danger, and more than anything, the camaraderie that forms between friends in the same firehouse, it is difficult to say goodbye. To someone like Lou, who puts his life on the line every day, the threat of death by heart attack might be less intimidating than the threat of losing the only way of life he's ever known. Having a family, or even a woman in his life to go home to, would certainly make that transition easier; but Lou has never been that lucky. He managed to forego his demise this episode, but if he can’t muster up the courage to quit soon, he won’t have much time left.
Now, Damien. Oh boy. If there was one person I didn’t think was in imminent danger (though in hindsight, I should have), it was Damien. Damien is a confused young man. Last week, we saw how he had to take directions every step of the way from his girlfriend, while he had sex for the first time in his life (side note, if he is in fact dead, thank god he got to do that first). And in “Goodbye,” we see that Damien is just as confused and malleable about his direction in life as he is about sex. After weeks of working on him, Sheila and Mickey convince Damien the job is too dangerous, and that he should turn in his papers. But the truth is it’s too late. Damien loves this job. He’s already begun to feel the camaraderie and the addiction to excitement the other guys no so well. All it takes is a couple of war stories, one actual war story Chief Feinberg, and a great anecdote from Tommy about a practical joke Damien’s old man played on him when they were just starting out, and Damien knows he’s not ready to let this go.
In the episode’s climactic scene, I fully expected Lou to have his third heart attack and die right there. When he can’t breathe, and then a pile of metal coffins literally falls on top of him, he seems to be a goner for sure. But I should’ve given the show more credit than to think it would be that predictable. As the rest of the guys try to help out a clearly still-breathing Lou, Damien calls out from a short distance away, while foolishly clutching his helmet in his hand instead of wearing it on his head, “Come on guys, we gotta go!!!” Just then, debris crashes through the ceiling from the floor above, crushing Damien to the ground. Alive or dead, it’s hard to imagine Sheila truly forgiving Tommy for pulling her son back into the job (after having been the one to bring him in, in the first place). And if Damien is dead, I’d expect nothing short of a tour de force from Callie Thorne in next week’s finale. There’s no telling how Damien’s tragedy will affect those around him. It may drive Tommy back to the bottle. It may knock Sheila completely off the razor’s edge of sanity. And if nothing else, it will hopefully make Lou see the danger of staying on duty when he’s not equipped to handle the job. Even if he doesn’t die himself, it’s an inevitability he’ll get someone else killed. After all, if the guys weren’t helping Lou up, then Damien doesn’t double back to tell them they have to go, and he’s still alive. I’m not going to write off Damien yet, though. Not after one of this season’s earlier episodes ended with Lou lying on the ground after a heart attack, not moving and with his eyes wide open, looking deader than dead, only for me to find out the next week that he was alive and kicking.
As promised, my issue with Teddy this season. This is a 2-parter, and both have to do with last season’s finale in which he shot Tommy in the gut, and forced everyone in the room to sit there and watch him die, which he did for several minutes. I expected Teddy to be in jail at the start of this season, seeing as how he shot someone to death in a room full of witnesses. But not only is he not in jail, the police don’t even seem to be looking for the shooter. When someone is brought into the emergency room with a gunshot wound, there is a police investigation. It strains all credulity and story logic to think this guy would be running around with nobody looking for him. But making matters worse, and this is part 2, is the fact that nobody in Teddy or Tommy’s life seems to be saying boo about the fact that Teddy shot him to death. Even Tommy seems to be having reasonable conversations with Teddy as if nothing happened. And when I hear Teddy tell Tommy that he loves him and that he only shot him for his own good, and I see that accepted by Tommy and everyone else as the truth, I kind of want to throw my remote at the screen. Or better yet, jump inside the screen and yell, “HELLLOOO???? HE SHOT YOU!!! WITH AN ACTUAL GUN!!! THAT HAD ACTUAL BULLETS IN IT!!! TO DEATH!!!!!!!! DOES ANYBODY CARE????” In short, the more they keep Teddy off the screen in the finale, the way they have these past few weeks, the happier and less distracted I’ll be.
Lighting a candle for Damien.
Wednesday, August 25, 2010
RUBICON: "Connecting the Dots"
“Connecting the Dots” was easily my favorite episode of Rubicon to date. Will now realizes he has gotten himself involved in something very dangerous: kill orders, assassins, top-secret C.I.A. files, etc. And for awhile during this ep, it sure seemed like he was gonna do the smart thing and let it drop. But in the end, that’s not how he’s built and not why he entered the business he did.
My favorite moment of the episode, and of the series to date, came after Will had followed Donald Bloom to a restaurant. Though I should say I had an issue with Will’s plan, given that he has a 9-5 job, and obviously wouldn’t be able to do any sort of a thorough all-day tail job. In any event, Will got lucky (or unlucky, depending on how things go) and was able to track him to a restaurant where Bloom had a lunch date with Kale, apparently an ex-lover. The moment where Will spots Kale and Kale spots him right back was truly terrifying. Isn’t this the man responsible for David’s death? Does this mean Will is now going to be targeted? Will panicked and fled. What else could he do?
I also loved the scene right after where a still shaken Will goes to Maggie for information. Will's fear and paranoia are absolutely palpable. James Badge Dale has done a wonderful job with such a taciturn character, able to convey mountains of thought and feeling with nothing more than a look. And poor Maggie has been put right in the middle of something she doesn’t understand. She has Kale grilling her for info on Will, and now vice-versa. It seems she hasn’t chosen a side yet as she’s neglected to inform on either one of them. (Remember, she lied to Kale and didn’t tell him about Will’s problems moving on from David’s death.)
A more fascinating character than Maggie who also seems not to have chosen a side is Kale, himself. Earlier in the season I had assumed he was fully complicit in David’s death. But in his choice not to tell Spangler about the incident with Will, followed by his warning to Will, it seems that Kale may have a genuine concern for our hero’s well being. Moreover, near the end of the episode, we see him spying on Bloom and Spangler. There’s no way of knowing exactly what was going through Kale’s head when he saw them emerge from their secret meeting, but it seems clear that this went on behind his back and that it constitutes some form of betrayal in his mind.
Meanwhile, it has become clear that Spangler is the mastermind behind the whole conspiracy. After his brilliant tie speech and overall political maneuvering last week, we know this man if a force to be reckoned with. And he seems to be one step ahead of Will all the time, getting to David’s Houston file and shredding it before Will can get his hands on it.
The scene between Will and Ed was a powerful one. When Will sees what this conspiracy is doing to Ed, and we get a glimpse of how the “codes cracked him,” he makes the choice to take Ed out of the equation. He lies and tells Ed they’ve been following a dead end. But based on Ed’s reaction, I’m not convinced this will bring him back from the brink as opposed to, say, driving him to suicide. The unexpected benefit to Will is that Spangler was listening, and now views Will as a non-threat.
What I’m wondering is if Will was simply lying for Ed’s sake, or if he had truly planned to stop, himself. If the latter, it’s possible that Kale’s comment about not wanting to see Will involved in any “mayhem” could have convinced Will to get back in the game. Whatever the case, it was both exciting and creepy to see Will constructing his own “connect the dots” puzzle. He is closer than ever to solving this jigsaw, but also closer than ever to losing his mind.
While I’d still like to know more about Miles and Grant as characters I’m really enjoying Tanya. She’s clearly good at her job and, as Will said, was way ahead of the curve on Geogre Beck. Despite her success with Spangler, Will may be right that she’s not cut out for this business. Even her victory drove her to drinking. I’m guessing the blood test Will ordered for her will measure her blood-alcohol level, rather than just testing for actual drugs.
Ms. Rhumor has finally joined the rest of the cast. It appears she may be the next target for assassination by Donald Bloom on orders from Spangler. Unlike Will, who truly lives this life and understands what he’s getting himself into, Katherine is getting herself involved in something she can’t possibly understand and is hopelessly ill equipped to contend with. I'm glad she's finally starting to mesh with the A-plot, but it's taken a bit too long for that to happen.
As far as the conspiracy itself goes, I’m very interested in the cover-up, but remotely intrigued by the thing being covered up. Go codes for assassinations, shredding of documents by API, Will being recorded and followed-that’s all great stuff. But the second I hear about oil I start to roll my eyes. Why is it always about friggin’ oil? Every show, every movie. If there's a conspiracy, dollars to donuts, it's about oil (re: almost every season of 24).Why can’t it be about a shadow government or cheesecake or something? Really, anything would be preferable to oil at this point.
That being said, this episode has me excited to see how these dots will connect down the home stretch of the season.
My favorite moment of the episode, and of the series to date, came after Will had followed Donald Bloom to a restaurant. Though I should say I had an issue with Will’s plan, given that he has a 9-5 job, and obviously wouldn’t be able to do any sort of a thorough all-day tail job. In any event, Will got lucky (or unlucky, depending on how things go) and was able to track him to a restaurant where Bloom had a lunch date with Kale, apparently an ex-lover. The moment where Will spots Kale and Kale spots him right back was truly terrifying. Isn’t this the man responsible for David’s death? Does this mean Will is now going to be targeted? Will panicked and fled. What else could he do?
I also loved the scene right after where a still shaken Will goes to Maggie for information. Will's fear and paranoia are absolutely palpable. James Badge Dale has done a wonderful job with such a taciturn character, able to convey mountains of thought and feeling with nothing more than a look. And poor Maggie has been put right in the middle of something she doesn’t understand. She has Kale grilling her for info on Will, and now vice-versa. It seems she hasn’t chosen a side yet as she’s neglected to inform on either one of them. (Remember, she lied to Kale and didn’t tell him about Will’s problems moving on from David’s death.)
A more fascinating character than Maggie who also seems not to have chosen a side is Kale, himself. Earlier in the season I had assumed he was fully complicit in David’s death. But in his choice not to tell Spangler about the incident with Will, followed by his warning to Will, it seems that Kale may have a genuine concern for our hero’s well being. Moreover, near the end of the episode, we see him spying on Bloom and Spangler. There’s no way of knowing exactly what was going through Kale’s head when he saw them emerge from their secret meeting, but it seems clear that this went on behind his back and that it constitutes some form of betrayal in his mind.
Meanwhile, it has become clear that Spangler is the mastermind behind the whole conspiracy. After his brilliant tie speech and overall political maneuvering last week, we know this man if a force to be reckoned with. And he seems to be one step ahead of Will all the time, getting to David’s Houston file and shredding it before Will can get his hands on it.
The scene between Will and Ed was a powerful one. When Will sees what this conspiracy is doing to Ed, and we get a glimpse of how the “codes cracked him,” he makes the choice to take Ed out of the equation. He lies and tells Ed they’ve been following a dead end. But based on Ed’s reaction, I’m not convinced this will bring him back from the brink as opposed to, say, driving him to suicide. The unexpected benefit to Will is that Spangler was listening, and now views Will as a non-threat.
What I’m wondering is if Will was simply lying for Ed’s sake, or if he had truly planned to stop, himself. If the latter, it’s possible that Kale’s comment about not wanting to see Will involved in any “mayhem” could have convinced Will to get back in the game. Whatever the case, it was both exciting and creepy to see Will constructing his own “connect the dots” puzzle. He is closer than ever to solving this jigsaw, but also closer than ever to losing his mind.
While I’d still like to know more about Miles and Grant as characters I’m really enjoying Tanya. She’s clearly good at her job and, as Will said, was way ahead of the curve on Geogre Beck. Despite her success with Spangler, Will may be right that she’s not cut out for this business. Even her victory drove her to drinking. I’m guessing the blood test Will ordered for her will measure her blood-alcohol level, rather than just testing for actual drugs.
Ms. Rhumor has finally joined the rest of the cast. It appears she may be the next target for assassination by Donald Bloom on orders from Spangler. Unlike Will, who truly lives this life and understands what he’s getting himself into, Katherine is getting herself involved in something she can’t possibly understand and is hopelessly ill equipped to contend with. I'm glad she's finally starting to mesh with the A-plot, but it's taken a bit too long for that to happen.
As far as the conspiracy itself goes, I’m very interested in the cover-up, but remotely intrigued by the thing being covered up. Go codes for assassinations, shredding of documents by API, Will being recorded and followed-that’s all great stuff. But the second I hear about oil I start to roll my eyes. Why is it always about friggin’ oil? Every show, every movie. If there's a conspiracy, dollars to donuts, it's about oil (re: almost every season of 24).Why can’t it be about a shadow government or cheesecake or something? Really, anything would be preferable to oil at this point.
That being said, this episode has me excited to see how these dots will connect down the home stretch of the season.
Tuesday, August 24, 2010
WEEDS: “Felling and Swamping”
I enjoyed this episode much more than the season premiere, in which almost nothing happened. I feel like these 2 episodes should have been condensed into one, with the events of the premiere occupying roughly the first 5 minutes. Either way, the Botwins have successfully fled (for now) and are ready to start their new lives.
I loved the way Nancy was forced to begrudgingly admit being glad Pilar was murdered, even though she qualified the statement by saying she wished Shane hadn't been the one who did it. Let’s face it, Pilar threatened to kill Silas and Shane. And I see no reason to believe she wouldn’t have made good on that threat before Nancy figured out a way to stop her. I don’t have a problem with Shane killing her; it was certainly a form of self defense. It’s Shane’s response I find disturbing. Instead of being tortured, he is bragging about being a murderer-wearing it like a badge of honor. I’m skeptical that Shane is a full-blown sociopath. I predict he will have a delayed guilt reaction some time later in the season.
Poor Silas has had his life ruined again and again by this dysfunctional family. He’d probably be better on his own, now that he has his fake I.D. Even if the Botwins, I mean the “Newmans,” manage to start a whole new life for themselves, how long can it really be before Nancy derails it all over again? It’s just who she is. It’s inevitable.
I enjoyed the bonfire scene of all the Botwins burning their old identities. And I still love the chemistry between Nancy and Andy. I think 5 seasons of teasing us is enough though, it’s time for them to get together.
So now both Esteban and the FBI are looking for Nancy. I still can’t tell if Esteban wants to kill Nancy and take his son from her cold, dead hands, or if he wants both of them back. He has always been on the fence about loving her or wanting her dead, and now that ambivalence seems kicked up another notch.
But “Felling and Swamping,” unlike the premiere, has me looking forward to whatever adventure the Botwins/Newmans have in store for them this year.
I loved the way Nancy was forced to begrudgingly admit being glad Pilar was murdered, even though she qualified the statement by saying she wished Shane hadn't been the one who did it. Let’s face it, Pilar threatened to kill Silas and Shane. And I see no reason to believe she wouldn’t have made good on that threat before Nancy figured out a way to stop her. I don’t have a problem with Shane killing her; it was certainly a form of self defense. It’s Shane’s response I find disturbing. Instead of being tortured, he is bragging about being a murderer-wearing it like a badge of honor. I’m skeptical that Shane is a full-blown sociopath. I predict he will have a delayed guilt reaction some time later in the season.
Poor Silas has had his life ruined again and again by this dysfunctional family. He’d probably be better on his own, now that he has his fake I.D. Even if the Botwins, I mean the “Newmans,” manage to start a whole new life for themselves, how long can it really be before Nancy derails it all over again? It’s just who she is. It’s inevitable.
I enjoyed the bonfire scene of all the Botwins burning their old identities. And I still love the chemistry between Nancy and Andy. I think 5 seasons of teasing us is enough though, it’s time for them to get together.
So now both Esteban and the FBI are looking for Nancy. I still can’t tell if Esteban wants to kill Nancy and take his son from her cold, dead hands, or if he wants both of them back. He has always been on the fence about loving her or wanting her dead, and now that ambivalence seems kicked up another notch.
But “Felling and Swamping,” unlike the premiere, has me looking forward to whatever adventure the Botwins/Newmans have in store for them this year.
HUNG: “Third Base or The Rash”
I enjoyed last night’s Hung, a solid 6, which is pretty much always my reaction to that show. After all the lore of Ray’s legendary days on the diamond, it was great to see him poke one out of the park, even if it was just a set-up.
I loved the scene with Ray fingering Ms. Preggers in the bath tub, and really enjoyed some of those underwater camera angles. It seems like he’s learning to be more of a professional, given the way he was able to push through his torn rotator cuff and finish her off. I will confess that for a few seconds I thought he actually broke his fingers while they were inside her, which would have been epic. It’s unclear to me whether he actually got paid for that. If he didn’t, I suppose I’d have to retract my statement about him learning to be a professional.
I’m glad Mike and Frances were able to work things out. Tanya running across the diamond and climbing over the centerfield fence was the comic highlight of the episode. I’m assuming Frances witnessing that clarified for her what had actually been going on all this time. I don’t really see how Mike can stay on the show as a regular after this episode, given that his plot line has come to a natural conclusion, which is too bad.
I loved Ronnie telling Ray, “People like me rule the fucking world.” I just wish Ray had come back with, “You’re a dermatologist, you don’t rule shit.” (No offense to any dermatologists out there, you're job is very important and we thank you...but if you thought you ruled the world, consider this your bubble being burst) Ronnie can feel his wife slipping away, but I can’t feel too bad for him given that he’s brought it all on himself. He’s treating her like a vessel for him to store a baby in, since it has to be clear to him by now that it’s not what she wants. If this is a deal breaker for him, then he should get a divorce and find someone who can give him the kind of family he wants. Bullying his wife into having his baby is not a reasonable route to take, nor is it an ethical one.
I’m still enjoying the burgeoning flirtation between Ray and Jessica and hope to see something happen on that front. But I still can’t shake the feeling that season 2 Jessica is too drastically different from season 1 Jessica. Don’t get me wrong, I vastly prefer this new incarnation with, you know, a soul. But the shift feels a bit inorganic.
Only 2 episodes to go.
I loved the scene with Ray fingering Ms. Preggers in the bath tub, and really enjoyed some of those underwater camera angles. It seems like he’s learning to be more of a professional, given the way he was able to push through his torn rotator cuff and finish her off. I will confess that for a few seconds I thought he actually broke his fingers while they were inside her, which would have been epic. It’s unclear to me whether he actually got paid for that. If he didn’t, I suppose I’d have to retract my statement about him learning to be a professional.
I’m glad Mike and Frances were able to work things out. Tanya running across the diamond and climbing over the centerfield fence was the comic highlight of the episode. I’m assuming Frances witnessing that clarified for her what had actually been going on all this time. I don’t really see how Mike can stay on the show as a regular after this episode, given that his plot line has come to a natural conclusion, which is too bad.
I loved Ronnie telling Ray, “People like me rule the fucking world.” I just wish Ray had come back with, “You’re a dermatologist, you don’t rule shit.” (No offense to any dermatologists out there, you're job is very important and we thank you...but if you thought you ruled the world, consider this your bubble being burst) Ronnie can feel his wife slipping away, but I can’t feel too bad for him given that he’s brought it all on himself. He’s treating her like a vessel for him to store a baby in, since it has to be clear to him by now that it’s not what she wants. If this is a deal breaker for him, then he should get a divorce and find someone who can give him the kind of family he wants. Bullying his wife into having his baby is not a reasonable route to take, nor is it an ethical one.
I’m still enjoying the burgeoning flirtation between Ray and Jessica and hope to see something happen on that front. But I still can’t shake the feeling that season 2 Jessica is too drastically different from season 1 Jessica. Don’t get me wrong, I vastly prefer this new incarnation with, you know, a soul. But the shift feels a bit inorganic.
Only 2 episodes to go.
Two Consecutive Halfway Decent Episodes of Entourage: Who Knew That Was Still Even Possible?
After hating almost every episode of this show for the past five years, I’ve suddenly become interested (albeit mildly) in the direction the series has taken. While I’m long past being able to laugh at the show’s juvenile and chauvinistic sense of humor, the dramatic plot lines of both Ari and Vince suddenly have legs. The best aspect of Entourage has always been its handling of the business of Hollywood. Ari is caught in a professional quagmire, as everyone he’s ever wronged is coming out of the woodwork to take him down. His marriage, which has always seemed contentious but impregnable, is suddenly in genuine jeopardy as a direct result of his disgusting behavior at work. Ari’s hubris may end up bringing him to his knees. Let’s see if he can fight his way out of it this time.
Vince, who last season had nothing to do but bang a different random girl each episode, suddenly finds himself in a genuine freefall: cocaine, porn stars, terrible business decisions and a seeming death wish. This is Entourage, not Breaking Bad, so of course he’ll pull himself out of this muck eventually. But it may not happen this season. He may seriously damage his career and could easily get his heart squashed by the delectable Sasha Grey, just like he did by Mandy Moore back in season 2.
I continue to be disinterested in both Drama and Turtle’s plot lines, but I’ll take what I can get from this show.
Vince, who last season had nothing to do but bang a different random girl each episode, suddenly finds himself in a genuine freefall: cocaine, porn stars, terrible business decisions and a seeming death wish. This is Entourage, not Breaking Bad, so of course he’ll pull himself out of this muck eventually. But it may not happen this season. He may seriously damage his career and could easily get his heart squashed by the delectable Sasha Grey, just like he did by Mandy Moore back in season 2.
I continue to be disinterested in both Drama and Turtle’s plot lines, but I’ll take what I can get from this show.
WHY I'M DONE WITH THE BIG C
So I’ve watch two episodes of this terrible show and I think I’m done. I first thought the “C” in the title stood for cancer, but it’s become clear that Crap is a much more fitting substitution.
I continue to be amazed at the lauding of Laura Linney’s completely absurd, one-note performance. Every scene she’s in and line she delivers teems with the same phony, self-assured, jubilation. I don’t buy that this woman has cancer. Not for one second. She doesn’t even seem bothered she’s gonna die. Who knew the actual stages of grief were Denial, Anger, Cartwheels, Acceptance? Is she sad? Does she even care? I’d like to see an ounce of nuance rather than Linney making the exact same acting choices in every single scene.
In the show’s second episode, whose title I really don’t care enough to look up, Linney proved that her character, whose name I really don’t care enough to remember, is an absolutely terrible person. What she did to her son in storming onto his school bus and talking about how close they were when he was an infant, in front of all his classmates, was unforgivable. She basically guaranteed in no uncertain terms that his social life will be a living hell for the rest of high school. And she's a high school teacher, so it's not like she doesn't understand the gravity of what she's done to him. If my mom had done that to me, I’d have refused to ever go back to that school. I’m serious. I’d have said, “Put a gun to my head. An actual gun with bullets. And then maybe, maybe, we’ll talk. Because truancy and juvie hall is a far better option right now.” That’s on top of throwing her husband out of the house and only giving him the explanation that he leaves the kitchen cabinets open. The list goes on: burning her son’s clothes, storming out of the therapy session, etc.
I hated the character of Jackie when Nurse Jackie came out. I thought she was an utterly despicable person. But at least the show was up front about it. It didn’t expect me to like her as she cheated on her husband and stole people’s organs. I feel I’m somehow expected to like Laura Linney’s detestable character…CATHY!!! Glad I remembered that, now I can die happy. To be clear, I gave up on Nurse Jackie eventually as well, once I realized she truly had no remorse for anything she’d done. But at least I was able to stick around longer than 2 episodes.
I also hate Cathy’s over-the-top, clichéd brother. He’s the most boring homeless person I’ve ever seen in my life. Save the whales, stop global warming, I only eat garbage and dried shit…blah, blah, blah. I get it already. Tone it down.
I also find the show’s handling of cancer massively offensive. I should say upfront that my dad is the executive editor of the Skin Cancer Foundation, so I happen to know a little bit about this. There are abso-friggin-lutely treatments for melanoma at her stage. No dermatologist would tell a patient who was more than a year away from death that there's no viable plan of attack. I’m not saying those treatments would necessarily work, but they would absolutely be tried by any competent doctor and patient who isn’t crazy. My dad has informed me that in the week since The Big C aired, the foundation’s blogs and message boards have been flooded with posts from actual melanoma patients who are outraged by its representation on this show. The creators clearly just played Pin The Tail On The Donkey in choosing what brand of cancer to give Linney, and then decided it wasn’t worth doing a single second of research about it.
In summation, I am done with this show….FOREVER.
Good night and good luck.
I continue to be amazed at the lauding of Laura Linney’s completely absurd, one-note performance. Every scene she’s in and line she delivers teems with the same phony, self-assured, jubilation. I don’t buy that this woman has cancer. Not for one second. She doesn’t even seem bothered she’s gonna die. Who knew the actual stages of grief were Denial, Anger, Cartwheels, Acceptance? Is she sad? Does she even care? I’d like to see an ounce of nuance rather than Linney making the exact same acting choices in every single scene.
In the show’s second episode, whose title I really don’t care enough to look up, Linney proved that her character, whose name I really don’t care enough to remember, is an absolutely terrible person. What she did to her son in storming onto his school bus and talking about how close they were when he was an infant, in front of all his classmates, was unforgivable. She basically guaranteed in no uncertain terms that his social life will be a living hell for the rest of high school. And she's a high school teacher, so it's not like she doesn't understand the gravity of what she's done to him. If my mom had done that to me, I’d have refused to ever go back to that school. I’m serious. I’d have said, “Put a gun to my head. An actual gun with bullets. And then maybe, maybe, we’ll talk. Because truancy and juvie hall is a far better option right now.” That’s on top of throwing her husband out of the house and only giving him the explanation that he leaves the kitchen cabinets open. The list goes on: burning her son’s clothes, storming out of the therapy session, etc.
I hated the character of Jackie when Nurse Jackie came out. I thought she was an utterly despicable person. But at least the show was up front about it. It didn’t expect me to like her as she cheated on her husband and stole people’s organs. I feel I’m somehow expected to like Laura Linney’s detestable character…CATHY!!! Glad I remembered that, now I can die happy. To be clear, I gave up on Nurse Jackie eventually as well, once I realized she truly had no remorse for anything she’d done. But at least I was able to stick around longer than 2 episodes.
I also hate Cathy’s over-the-top, clichéd brother. He’s the most boring homeless person I’ve ever seen in my life. Save the whales, stop global warming, I only eat garbage and dried shit…blah, blah, blah. I get it already. Tone it down.
I also find the show’s handling of cancer massively offensive. I should say upfront that my dad is the executive editor of the Skin Cancer Foundation, so I happen to know a little bit about this. There are abso-friggin-lutely treatments for melanoma at her stage. No dermatologist would tell a patient who was more than a year away from death that there's no viable plan of attack. I’m not saying those treatments would necessarily work, but they would absolutely be tried by any competent doctor and patient who isn’t crazy. My dad has informed me that in the week since The Big C aired, the foundation’s blogs and message boards have been flooded with posts from actual melanoma patients who are outraged by its representation on this show. The creators clearly just played Pin The Tail On The Donkey in choosing what brand of cancer to give Linney, and then decided it wasn’t worth doing a single second of research about it.
In summation, I am done with this show….FOREVER.
Good night and good luck.
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