Category Archives: Television
Justified – Season 3 – Episode 3: Harlan Roulette
A lot happens in this episode and a lot of people get shot, but since it’s mostly people we just met, we won’t worry too much. We’re learning more about the Oxy trade in Harlan, and it looks like there’s a headlong convergence of people looking to take it over. The new guy down from Detroit is all set to get involved in the business, while Boyd Crowder is interested in taking over all criminal activity in Harlan (except prostitution, apparently) There are a lot of addicts in Harlan nowdays, so business is booming. Raylan has a joke about that:
The difference between a drunk and an addict is that a drunk will steal your wallet and feel bad about it later; an addict will steal your wallet and help you look for it.
Justified – Season 3 Episode 2 – “Cut Ties”
The names of the episodes continue to be interesting double entendres, and we see more of the scheming and planning in this episode that will set up the big conflicts of this season. Boyd’s scheme to get the Benett’s money, Raylan’s plan to buy a house with Winona, Bad guys planning and scheming all over the place, and a couple of new players with plans of their own. Read the rest of this entry
Justified – Season 3 Episode 1 – The Gunfighter
Last season we saw the end of the Bennet clan as Mags committed suicide and all her sons were dead except Dickie, who was in custody for doing all kinds of bad stuff. Meanwhile, Boyd Crowder was going back into the family business by taking over the drug trade in Harlan. Raylan got shot in the process of bringing the Bennetts down, so when this season opens, we see Winona getting pulled over and informed of Raylan’s injuries. He’s in the hospital and Art tells her he’s going to be ok: he was shot straight through with no major damage. Lucky. Read the rest of this entry
The Shows: Early January Edition
So I’m probably not the best for this column anymore since I got rid of my Dish. Which means I know only watch shows that I bit torrent or else show up on Netflix years later. Still there is a bit of news. Feel free to chime in yourself.
First up if you haven’t been watching the BBC’s Sherlock shame on you. For those of you who didn’t watch it last year this is the famous detective living in contemporary London. The season this year (also short) is even better than last year. They’ve been updating some of Doyle’s most famous stories in very creative ways. Sunday had the Hounds of the Baskerville (still available for play at BBC). Before that we had a very interesting take on Irene Adler. This Sunday we have a take on the story where Doyle actually killed Holmes (only to be forced to bring him back). It’s his confrontation with Moriarty: The Reichenbach Fall. Seriously you need to watch these. Great acting. Very creative direction. They are far better than the recent films (although I liked those too)
More Danish
Having already blogged about Denmark’s excellent Forbrydelsen, it’s time to introduce you to more Danish televisual excellence, this time in the form of a political drama called Borgen. Now that Sarah Lund has entered the British Zeitgeist (this AbFab skit is brilliant), it seems that BBC4 is keen to continue to scour Scandinavia for cool stuff.
The series tells the story of Birgitte Nyborg, a female politician who navigates around Macchiavelli to become prime minister of Denmark. There’s not much more to say than that, only that it deftly portrays the machinations of European coalition politics and makes its characters believably human, i.e. they do human and not TV-human things. I physically applauded at the end of the second episode, which is an RJH sign that something is good. Fans of The Killing II will be delighted to see the return of the actor who played Strange, Lund’s sidekick. Man crush alert.
Borgen shows on LinkTV. Alas, a US remake is apparently on the cards.
I can’t find an embeddable trailer anywhere. Follow this link instead.
2011: The Best of Everything
We haven’t yet done our usual year end “best of” list for music or movies or TV of 2011, so I thought I’d do a combined list to kick off a discussion of all these categories. I’m a big fan of Metacritic, so, along with giving my own biased opinions, I’ll reprint some of their year-end lists here. Read the rest of this entry
Once Upon a Time
I just discovered this show. Is anyone else watching it?
My daughter got me hooked. I’ve only seen the most recent episode and the second episode so far (I’m waiting to watch more with my husband), but there’s something about it that’s really compelling.
At least for me–and it might be a bit girly for some of you, I’m not sure.
The best thing on TV is Danish
Denmark’s Forbrydelsen, “The Crime” but called “The Killing” in English, is fast achieving the almost universal acclaim of The Wire — every TV pundit in the UK seems to love it. It can never be The Wire, of course, but if you like proper grown-up crime drama, cast your eyes across the Kattegat and watch The Killing.
AMC’s version wasn’t that bad until they utterly ruined the series with a stupid, craven ending. Forbrydelsen I ended properly and season 2, now showing on the BBC, starts an entirely new story. Sarah Lund — whose Faroe Island sweaters have now kicked off an unlikely fashion craze — is boot-deep in an investigation involving the Danish army, political conspiracy, and a series of nasty murders. With Sweden’s Wallander also serving up a morbid portion of Scandinavian dysfunction and Sherlock ready to return to the BBC, European crime drama is very good right now. Read the rest of this entry
Breaking Bad – Season 4 Finale
Episode 13: Face Off
I started this episode with a lot of questions and some are answered right off the bat.
After Gus walks away from his car, Walt runs up and removes his homemade bomb from underneath it. That seems risky if Gus left someone behind to watch the car, but apparently Walt was able to see them leave, because he doesn’t appear troubled by this. He goes into the hospital to see Jesse and accuses him of tipping Gus off somehow. Jesse apparently didn’t do that, but he has a problem with Walt bringing the bomb into the hospital, which seems reasonable. Walt is all about getting Jesse to think of a place he could surprise Gus. Jesse is trying to think about this when two police officers approach and ask Jesse to talk with them about the issue of Jesse’s prediction that Brock was poisoned by ricin. Once the questioning starts, Jesse says he got the idea of ricin from watching “House” or the Discovery Channel. The officers say Jesse isn’t under arrest, but it’s clear they’re not going to let him leave. Jesse tells them to call Saul. Yes, in this case, you really better call Saul. Read the rest of this entry
Breaking Bad – Season 4 Part 12
Episode 12: End Times
This episode is a bit hard to follow in some ways. A lot is happening here as we accellerate toward whatever doom awaits at the end of the season. I had no idea what to expect with this episode: whether Walt would be in a rubber room or going on a violent killing spree or hanging himself in a closet or what?
Turns out, he didn’t completely crack up. He’s helping Skyler pack the family for protective custody at Hank’s. Walt is not going. He wants Skyler to take the family and leave him there. Skyler actually must still like him because she objects, but in the end, he convinces her. Walt clearly thinks this is the end and that he will not survive. The family heads off without him and he says goodbye, maybe forever. Then he sits down by the pool with his gun to wait. He seems calm. Resigned. Then he spins the gun on the table. It points to him initially, then, after a couple tries, it points to a plant with white flowers growing beside the pool. What does that mean? Read the rest of this entry
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