Monthly Archives: October 2013
‘Parks and Rec’: “Doppelgangers” Invade Pawnee
Early Leslie Knope was not always pleasant. She was sometimes selfish, a little narrow-minded, and always allowed her passion to cloud her judgment. Her semi-temper tantrum after Ann revealed her plans to relocate in “Doppelgangers” definitely hearkened back to that. This is not to say I don’t love Leslie because believe me, I DO LOVE LESLIE. But girl needs to think before reacts sometimes. Ann, smartly, tried to absorb the shock with waffles and a shirtless photo of Joe Biden before she confessed, but Leslie saw right through it and stalked off on a loyalty tangent. She’s actually kind of intolerable for much of the episode, trying to force everybody to sign legally-binding friendship contracts after other Pawnee employees hinted at leaving because “No one around here understands loyalty.” After (another) enlightening conversation with Ron, though, she realizes her mistake and tells Ann she’s ready to talk.
American Horror Story: Coven’s Promising Premiere
After American Horror Story’s disjointed, cluttered second season, I wasn’t too sure I’d be back for season three. It took such a nosedive after a stellar inaugural season that I didn’t think recovery was possible. I changed my mind with the release of each 15ish-second preview and after the cast was announced. It looked creepy, fresh, and fierce – and it acted the part in “Bitchcraft,” the premiere episode.
The show opens in 1834 New Orleans. Madame Delphine LaLaurie (Kathy Bates) hosts some kind of formal gathering in her home. Once all of her guests leave, she heads upstairs to start her nightly beauty routine: rubbing a mixture of blood and a human pancreas on her face like any self-respecting woman would. She’s disrupted, though, when she learns that her daughter was found copulating with a servant. Furious, she has him taken to the attic, where slaves are kept in crates in various states of torture; one man’s eyes and mouth are sewn shut, a woman’s skin has been peeled from her face. Delphine has a child bring in a bull’s head, which she puts over the slave’s like a mask because she’s “always loved the minotaur.” Later, she receives a visit from Marie Laveau (Angela Bassett), a priestess claiming to have a potion for Delphine that will curb her husband’s craving for younger women. She gladly takes it but soon discovers it’s poison. Marie sought revenge against Delphine, as her lover was the one who was fitted with a new head. Delphine died, and her body was never found.
‘We Are Men’: “We Are Dognappers Review”
We Are Men is probably going to be cancelled soon. The show is only mildly entertaining, which is never a good sign.
Two of the four main characters, Frank Russo (Tony Shalhoub) and Stuart Strickland (Jerry O’Connell), are total morons, who show few signs of character development. Frank’s aging Casanova ways show no signs of stopping. If anything, Stuart looks up to him and wants to live the same way. Frank still parties like a college student. His idea of a good party is one you can’t remember, which is why he loves Tiki Night. Stuart goes along with it as long as his second ex-wife, Amy, isn’t busy trying to empty his bank account.
It’s clear that Frank leads the group. In the episode “We Are Dognappers,” Stuart has the chance to finalize his divorce as long as he’s willing to give his ex-wife his dog, which he has had longer than his wife. Stuart gives in, but finds out that his wife ignores the dog. Frank’s solution is to have the group steal the dog. For some reason, the entire group agrees to this idea. Even Gil Bartis and Carter Thomas, who are the sane ones, don’t bring up the myriad of problems with this solution. Grown men try to go threw with a plot that a thirteen year old wouldn’t do because it’s stupid.
The Traditional Television Set is Not Going Anywhere
With the proliferation of tablets and the ability to watch television on your phone, there is a fear in the television industry that the traditional television sets are going away. While it is true that Hulu, Nexflix, and Amazon Prime are giving broadcast and cable networks are run for their money, that doesn’t mean people are going to ditch the giant 50 inch television currently occupying their living room wall. People are ditching their cable companies, not their television sets.
Sure, there are going to be a few people who own tablets, computers, and smartphones that won’t replace their television when it breaks, but they are in the minority. Right now, people are opting for Roku boxes or Google Chromcast, so that they can stream television and movies on their TV set. No one really wants to sit on their couch hunched over their tablet. Because of television’s bigger screen, it is more comfortable to watch. A tablet or smartphone is useful for a long plane or bus ride, but not for those who are only watching television in their house.
Satisfied is an Understatement for Breaking Bad Finale
After just over a week’s worth of reflection, my mind hasn’t changed. I still think the Breaking Bad finale was perfect, and I’m hardly alone. It was tight (TIGHT. Tight.), concise, and exactly what we needed. This show has never been about broad, unanswered questions or making a spectacle of itself. It was about as realistic as a show centered around a dying chemistry teacher’s meth empire could get. It had its share of over-the-top moments – Gus straightening his tie with half of a face, hydrofluoric acid and an assortment of body parts burning through a bathtub – but they took away nothing from the plot. Gilligan did the inevitable, tying up every loose end in the process, and presented it in a nice, neat package wrapped with a crystal blue bow.
And there has still been some blowback. Some felt it was boring and too orderly, others felt that not enough happened. Some went out of the way to craft intricate alternate theories, like Norm MacDonald’s “Walt died in the car” idea. The problem with things likes this is that they discredit the creator’s intentions. MacDonald’s theory is implausible not because of facts, but because it directly contradicts the show’s structure. It has never been vague or open-ended. Before “Felina” aired, it felt almost impossible to hear about the episode without mentions of shows like LOST in the same breath. The two shows had brilliant endings, but they were vastly different and appropriate for their respective genres. There’s no reason to combine the two because a flexible LOST-like ending would never work for a show like Breaking Bad.
For me, there’s nothing more satisfying television-wise than seeing something come full-circle. Nods to early episodes and closed plotlines fill me with so much (probably too much) joy. Maybe Walt blamed Gretchen and Elliot for much of this mess. We don’t know exactly what happened with him and Gray Matter, but something tells me he likely wouldn’t have had to pursue drug manufacturing to pay his medical bills and take care of his family if he were as wealthy as the Schwartzes. So to him, paying them a visit before the final showdown was his way of attacking the root of the problem, even though he didn’t hurt them – nor did he ever intend to. The show’s last scene was even more gratifying. He’s in a lab, probably thinking about how it pales in comparison to their previous workspaces, and he leaves a bloody handprint on a piece of equipment, a physical component of himself left on something that used to be his livelihood. All of this on top of Jesse escaping, Walt admitting that he wasn’t in it solely for his family, and the total destruction of some of the baddest bad guys we know, made it the perfect ending to a perfect show.
We may not ever experience a television show like this again. I’m honestly okay with that. Breaking Bad completely altered the way I look at television, films, books. It set a new precedent for other writers, other creators, and they’re constantly going to be upping their standards to catch up to it. I miss it already.
‘Dancing With The Stars’: Julianne’s Back
Within the first five minutes of last night’s Dancing with the Stars, the professional dancers were introducing guest judge Julianne Hough, who is a two time champion of the show. She was on the show last night to her new film Paradise and fill in for Len Goodman. Julianne mentioned that she is on the dancers’ side and wants to see everyone succeed. So when she gives a constructive criticism, she does it out of love.
Jack Osbourne danced the quickstep. The quickstep requires a lot of sprinting and its physically taxing on your body. He did pretty well throughout the routine and kept the energy in tact. The footwork seemed to be very polished and on point. Julianne said “Wow, that’s a definite improvement from last week.” The only critique she had for Jack is that he needs to showcase him having more fun. When he dances, he probably thinks way too hard about the dance steps and the counting aspect. Bruno was in love with Jack’s footwork, but in the end was starting to lose his frame. Carrie Ann thought Jack was more animated this week than last week which is a good sign. The judges all agreed and gave him 8s across the board. For this week, Jack scored a 24 out of 30.
Sleepy Hollow: “The Lesser Key of Solomon” Recap
This week, Sleepy Hollow took a break from fighting demons and delved into another topic: humans can be just as scary as demons. Especially, when they are Hessian soldiers whose sole purpose is to release the demons from Hell, including the demon that the show has been teasing for the last 3 episodes. He finally got a name: Moloch. He is the demon that Abbie and Jenny saw in the woods and he is responsible for killing John Cho’s character, Andy Dunn. Well, the first time Andy Dunn died.
Last night’s episode focused more on the strained relationship between Abbie and her sister Jenny. Their constant bickering with Ichabod scolding them makes for great bits of comedy. Lets hope they don’t keep this up, or else it will get very annoying very fast. Since Abbie is making a huge effort to prove how sorry she is for betraying Jenny, I think their bickering will be very minimal. Which is great, since Jenny agreed to help Ichabod and Abbie fight demons.
‘Hello Ladies’: Same Schtick Over and Over Again
Hello Ladies is mildly entertaining and kind of sad. The show relies too much on Stuart Prtichard, who is a fish out of water and a jerk.
Stuart Pritchard doesn’t deserve his friends. For some reason, Wade puts up with Stuart’s wannabe Casanova lifestyle and allows Stuart to control his life, even though all Wade wants is his wife to take him back. In “The Limo,” Wade rents a limo, so that he could take his wife, who he is currently separated from, on a special date. Wade’s wife tells him to get lost. Instead of having Wade cancel the limo, Stuart decides to have a party in it on Wade’s dime.
‘Glee : Tina in the Sky With Diamonds’
If you enjoyed the Beatles songs last week, Glee is back with even more Beatles songs. Not only did Glee continue to pay homage to the legendary fab four, but they had their McKinley High Prom. It was pure entertainment and jammed packed for episode two. Last night’s episode focused on Tina, the type of character you want to love and hate right now. This once shy, timid, girl, who pretended to have a stutter, is now the biggest bitch you can ever meet. She doesn’t want to be in the shadows anymore and wants to gain attention by becoming prom queen. This is not easy to say, but the diva award truly goes to Miss Tina Cohen Chang.
Once Tina finds out she was nominated for prom queen, she is ecstatic, but her prom date, Sam, isn’t so happy. Not only is Sam hurt that he didn’t get nominated for prom king, but Tina drops him as a date. She thought by going single, she could get more of the single prom votes. Soon after, she starts singing “Revolution,” an anthem in its own way. She truly wants to change the world. Everyone knows that Tina wants to shine, but the glee club decides to leave while she continues to sing.
Pawnee and Eagleton: Together Again on ‘Parks and Rec’
Leslie Knope would sooner give up waffles at JJ’s before making peace with Eagleton, Pawnee’s wealthy, Michael Buble-listening archrival, but in “The Pawnee-Eagleton Tip Off Classic,” that’s exactly what happened. Let’s go by character to see how we got there.
Leslie, Ben, and Chris
Leslie is one of the most lovable characters on television. She’s kind and tactical and loving; when it comes to her nemeses in Eagleton, though, she tends to throw all of that out the window. The episode opened with a press conference led by Leslie and Ingrid de Forest (Kristen Bell), her Eagleton counterpart. Deep in the trenches of the recall election, Leslie tries to win over her fellow Pawneeans in the only way she can: by cracking jokes at Eagleton’s expense.
Meanwhile, the dream team is back. Ben and Chris’ superiors over in Indianapolis enlisted the pair to help solve a budget crisis in Eagleton. AUDITING BROS! Leslie, who can’t pass up an opportunity to see Eagleton’s demise, tags along. The town is going bankrupt and Leslie likely hasn’t felt this much joy since meeting Joe Biden. She makes a great, predictable Good Will Hunting joke, and Ben seems to already be regretting his decision to let her join.
Wait! What's A Dial? 