HBO summer season finales
Thank god the Entourage writers had the good sense to allow the Medellin fiasco that has dragged the season into the dumps to legitimately earn the rotten tomatoes it so richly deserved. I don't understand why they took a character like Billy Walsh, originally a bold independent artist and quiet creative genius during the Queen's Boulevard story line, and morphed him into this crude, rude, bombastic, moronic, unlikable, and now clearly talentless buffoon who destroyed Medellin, not to mention Vince and Eric's careers and bank accounts. That whole story line had become such a drain to watch that I stopped looking forward to Entourage each week as it had become, instead, a rote chore.
I was also completely fed up with the weekly "Johnny/Turtle Lame-Ass Meaningless B-Plot That Has Nothing To Do With Nothing" routine. What happened to Turtle's girlfriend way back at the beginning of the season? And how about Johnny's series? How come we never saw him actually working now that he finally got himself a full-time gig and a career out from under his brother's waning shadow, considering Vince was doing nothing last season except waiting for something to happen with Medellin?
And while it looks like Eric was right all along about Billy and Medellin, it was frustrating to see him constantly backing down the entire season finale when he finally had a chance to stand up for himself again so that at the end he'd be the last man standing tall and true. Instead he goes along with the flow, says nothing he's really feeling, and doesn't even get the chance at the very end to say, "I told you so." Very frustrating. Johnny getting the girl on the beach was endearing, though. The only high point of the episode.
But at least it's over. Here's hoping the producers and the boys get back to basics next season.
I stopped considering Flight of the Conchords a Must-See on my summer hit list. It's cute enough as a companion with Entourage, kinda kitschy, but not something I felt I had to keep up with every week after a while. They really only had two plot lines, and after you've seen them both a couple times each, it's enough already. We watched the finale, and again, it was a variation on a theme - but this time it did appear that they wrote it to stand alone as a series finale if they weren't given a pick-up order. Everything in it's place, sort of. Murray makes a success of himself managing the second band, Mel becomes a fan of said second band and ignores Bret and Jemaine. And Bret and Jemaine stay the same, they never change, which is their thing. The end. You wonder where they're going to go after that now that they are getting a second season, surprisingly enough.
Despite some weak, piddly saber-rattling at the summer TCA, it seems now that HBO never really intended to renew the pretentious, mostly critically reviled and audience bankrupt, piece of shit that was Milch's latest self-indulgent folly, John from Cincinnati, considering they couldn't cancel it fast enough after the season finale. I think the ax fell about 30 seconds after the credits stopped rolling, and that was 10 hours and 30 seconds too late, if you ask me. What a waste of the plum Sopranos time slot that should have by rights gone to the infinitely superior and phenomenal second season of Big Love, not to mention a complete waste of the ex-Deadwood cast. The only thing I learned from watching that show, other than the fact that Milch is one of those producer/writers (like Sorkin) who needs a choke collar on him at all times, is the fact that Rebecca De Mornay cannot act her way out of a paper bag. I never realized that before. Take that woman's SAG card away from her before she hurts someone with it.
On the flip side, at least HBO was wise enough to slide Big Love back into the Sunday 9 pm slot for the last two weeks of its season, after moving it over to Mondays to make way for the undeserving JFC. I hope that's a sign that when BL comes back for its third season, it will continue to air on Sunday nights, as it should have, because it was a Sunday night series in its first season, and it should remain a Sunday night series for however long it continues to air - which, after such a strong second season, I hope is another season or two after its already confirmed third season. I'm fully committed and addicted to the Henrickson clan and every one of their extended and rapidly extending family.
And, seriously, for all I see fans bemoaning the dearth of strong female characters to drive story lines and an overall series arc, here is show that is hip deep and overflowing with strong, fascinating women who are the very heart and soul and core of every single thing that has happened, is happening, and will happen in the future. All the men in the series may believe they have some kind of power or drive or destiny, but absolutely nothing transpires on this show that ultimately the women don't either allow to come to pass or conspire to achieve in the end.
Of course, not that these women don't fuck up too, especially our darling Nicki. Like, had she not simply kept her mouth shut and not called Alby to announce to him that Roman was coming home, he wouldn't have had time to come up with the plan to call in the State Police to arrest Roman on the Mann Act upon his arrival. Ironically, however, I'm not even sure that's the one sin Roman is guilty of, considering how much he and Adaleen were revolted by Abbott's arrest earlier in the season under the same charges. At the time, the writers seem to make it plain that Roman considered Abbott a pervert for trafficking young girls across state lines, which seems to be one crime Roman must not have been engaging in while in charge of Juniper Creek. He didn't even force Rhonda into marrying him until after she was 16 and said she was ready. So come season three it'll be interesting to see if the Mann Act charges will even stick. I certainly hope they don't get rid of Harry Dean Stanton - he's just too good to lose. Besides, Roman and Adaleen make too good a team against Alby and the evil she-devil Lura.
I was happy to see the season end with Barb's decision to shit or get off the pot, so to speak, as a full-fledged First Wife, especially given Margene's increasingly childish petulance and immature behavior since her drunken white-trash mother landed on their doorstep weeks ago. It's one thing for Margene to stand up for herself, it's another for her to act like a rebellious, obstinate, and mean-spirited teenager. More and more I can see where Barb and Nicki have a sister relationship contrasted with Barb and Margene's mother-daughter relationship. Barb may refer to Margene as her sister-wife, but I doubt she can really see her as more than an older daughter, especially when Margene acts far more immature than Barb's own teenage daughter, Sarah. Maybe it'll take a third baby to finally force Margene to grow up and reclaim whatever maturity she had gained before her mother and Ana mucked things up.
Speaking of Ana, while I liked her story line earlier in the season, and thought it ended on a perfect note when Bill realized he only felt lust for Ana and not the testimony and love he felt for Margene when he was dating her, I felt bringing Ana back in at the end of the season ruined that perfect moment and also Ana's characterization. Where there was a sweetness to Ana's character earlier in the season during the courtship phase, there was a duplicitous shrew instead in the finale. She was catty and bitchy to Barb and Nicki, who were being blindsided and set up by both Ana and Margene who behaved as if they were enjoying a grand childish joke at the two women's expense - and shame on Margene for perpetrating that. But that's how she's been behaving for weeks.
I just didn't see any reason for bringing Ana back unless the writers intend to try and force the issue again in season three, which I hope not because I don't see the series working anywhere near as well if they try and add a fourth female to the mix.
I don't know if I was surprised or not to discover all along that Lois really was behind Wanda's attempt to poison Frank. There seems to be a missing scene somewhere, though - what happened after she tried to convince Wanda to poison Roman? I can't believe nothing went down after that. Maybe there will be an explanation on the dvd set when it comes out. ;) I'm just glad Wanda managed to keep from doing harm to Kathy - I like Kathy! I think Kathy is good for Joey and Wanda. And I think Wanda knows it too, even if she's a little jealous of Kathy being there.
I can't wait until next summer for season three - it's too long! And if the writers strike does come to pass, I guess it'll be the summer programs that really get screwed up, and then it'll be even longer we'll have to wait. *sigh*
I was also completely fed up with the weekly "Johnny/Turtle Lame-Ass Meaningless B-Plot That Has Nothing To Do With Nothing" routine. What happened to Turtle's girlfriend way back at the beginning of the season? And how about Johnny's series? How come we never saw him actually working now that he finally got himself a full-time gig and a career out from under his brother's waning shadow, considering Vince was doing nothing last season except waiting for something to happen with Medellin?
And while it looks like Eric was right all along about Billy and Medellin, it was frustrating to see him constantly backing down the entire season finale when he finally had a chance to stand up for himself again so that at the end he'd be the last man standing tall and true. Instead he goes along with the flow, says nothing he's really feeling, and doesn't even get the chance at the very end to say, "I told you so." Very frustrating. Johnny getting the girl on the beach was endearing, though. The only high point of the episode.
But at least it's over. Here's hoping the producers and the boys get back to basics next season.
I stopped considering Flight of the Conchords a Must-See on my summer hit list. It's cute enough as a companion with Entourage, kinda kitschy, but not something I felt I had to keep up with every week after a while. They really only had two plot lines, and after you've seen them both a couple times each, it's enough already. We watched the finale, and again, it was a variation on a theme - but this time it did appear that they wrote it to stand alone as a series finale if they weren't given a pick-up order. Everything in it's place, sort of. Murray makes a success of himself managing the second band, Mel becomes a fan of said second band and ignores Bret and Jemaine. And Bret and Jemaine stay the same, they never change, which is their thing. The end. You wonder where they're going to go after that now that they are getting a second season, surprisingly enough.
Despite some weak, piddly saber-rattling at the summer TCA, it seems now that HBO never really intended to renew the pretentious, mostly critically reviled and audience bankrupt, piece of shit that was Milch's latest self-indulgent folly, John from Cincinnati, considering they couldn't cancel it fast enough after the season finale. I think the ax fell about 30 seconds after the credits stopped rolling, and that was 10 hours and 30 seconds too late, if you ask me. What a waste of the plum Sopranos time slot that should have by rights gone to the infinitely superior and phenomenal second season of Big Love, not to mention a complete waste of the ex-Deadwood cast. The only thing I learned from watching that show, other than the fact that Milch is one of those producer/writers (like Sorkin) who needs a choke collar on him at all times, is the fact that Rebecca De Mornay cannot act her way out of a paper bag. I never realized that before. Take that woman's SAG card away from her before she hurts someone with it.
On the flip side, at least HBO was wise enough to slide Big Love back into the Sunday 9 pm slot for the last two weeks of its season, after moving it over to Mondays to make way for the undeserving JFC. I hope that's a sign that when BL comes back for its third season, it will continue to air on Sunday nights, as it should have, because it was a Sunday night series in its first season, and it should remain a Sunday night series for however long it continues to air - which, after such a strong second season, I hope is another season or two after its already confirmed third season. I'm fully committed and addicted to the Henrickson clan and every one of their extended and rapidly extending family.
And, seriously, for all I see fans bemoaning the dearth of strong female characters to drive story lines and an overall series arc, here is show that is hip deep and overflowing with strong, fascinating women who are the very heart and soul and core of every single thing that has happened, is happening, and will happen in the future. All the men in the series may believe they have some kind of power or drive or destiny, but absolutely nothing transpires on this show that ultimately the women don't either allow to come to pass or conspire to achieve in the end.
Of course, not that these women don't fuck up too, especially our darling Nicki. Like, had she not simply kept her mouth shut and not called Alby to announce to him that Roman was coming home, he wouldn't have had time to come up with the plan to call in the State Police to arrest Roman on the Mann Act upon his arrival. Ironically, however, I'm not even sure that's the one sin Roman is guilty of, considering how much he and Adaleen were revolted by Abbott's arrest earlier in the season under the same charges. At the time, the writers seem to make it plain that Roman considered Abbott a pervert for trafficking young girls across state lines, which seems to be one crime Roman must not have been engaging in while in charge of Juniper Creek. He didn't even force Rhonda into marrying him until after she was 16 and said she was ready. So come season three it'll be interesting to see if the Mann Act charges will even stick. I certainly hope they don't get rid of Harry Dean Stanton - he's just too good to lose. Besides, Roman and Adaleen make too good a team against Alby and the evil she-devil Lura.
I was happy to see the season end with Barb's decision to shit or get off the pot, so to speak, as a full-fledged First Wife, especially given Margene's increasingly childish petulance and immature behavior since her drunken white-trash mother landed on their doorstep weeks ago. It's one thing for Margene to stand up for herself, it's another for her to act like a rebellious, obstinate, and mean-spirited teenager. More and more I can see where Barb and Nicki have a sister relationship contrasted with Barb and Margene's mother-daughter relationship. Barb may refer to Margene as her sister-wife, but I doubt she can really see her as more than an older daughter, especially when Margene acts far more immature than Barb's own teenage daughter, Sarah. Maybe it'll take a third baby to finally force Margene to grow up and reclaim whatever maturity she had gained before her mother and Ana mucked things up.
Speaking of Ana, while I liked her story line earlier in the season, and thought it ended on a perfect note when Bill realized he only felt lust for Ana and not the testimony and love he felt for Margene when he was dating her, I felt bringing Ana back in at the end of the season ruined that perfect moment and also Ana's characterization. Where there was a sweetness to Ana's character earlier in the season during the courtship phase, there was a duplicitous shrew instead in the finale. She was catty and bitchy to Barb and Nicki, who were being blindsided and set up by both Ana and Margene who behaved as if they were enjoying a grand childish joke at the two women's expense - and shame on Margene for perpetrating that. But that's how she's been behaving for weeks.
I just didn't see any reason for bringing Ana back unless the writers intend to try and force the issue again in season three, which I hope not because I don't see the series working anywhere near as well if they try and add a fourth female to the mix.
I don't know if I was surprised or not to discover all along that Lois really was behind Wanda's attempt to poison Frank. There seems to be a missing scene somewhere, though - what happened after she tried to convince Wanda to poison Roman? I can't believe nothing went down after that. Maybe there will be an explanation on the dvd set when it comes out. ;) I'm just glad Wanda managed to keep from doing harm to Kathy - I like Kathy! I think Kathy is good for Joey and Wanda. And I think Wanda knows it too, even if she's a little jealous of Kathy being there.
I can't wait until next summer for season three - it's too long! And if the writers strike does come to pass, I guess it'll be the summer programs that really get screwed up, and then it'll be even longer we'll have to wait. *sigh*