On the tv shows front
I'm all caught up. Here is where I stand.
I have to confess that I'm enjoying The Walking Dead this year. I gave a try to the premier before writing it off for good, and was pleasantly surprised. The first episode of season 3 was really good, and since then it's been a much much better show than in the previous seasons, as if the writers learned their lesson and tried to find back what made the pilot so great.
Also, I gave a last try to Dexter, and I acknowledge that the series shows a huge improvement. It is still extremely flawed (the silly voice-over, the heavy Ghost Harry scenes...) but last season was so bad that compared to it, this season is totally watchable and actually in the same league as the first four seasons. Not too cringe-worthy and entertaining enough to turn a blind eye on the contrived stuff and plotholes. To tell the truth I mostly enjoy it because of Ray Stevenson. Dexter, my boy, don't fuck with legionary Titus Pullo, the man is unkillable, even Julius Ceasar said so!
Stevenson is obviously having a lot of fun playing Izzac and is the highlight of this season (just like Jimmy Smits or Lightow were). And he's just so easy on the eyes that it makes me forget all the poor writing.
I still find Carrie's character fascinating, and Claire Danes continues to kill it in Homeland (Damian Lewis is fine too and has his moments), but after a great premier (the fabulous "Smile" episode) and a strong second episode, all the implausibilities have started to annoy the hell out of me, and some storylines look either silly and superfluous (Mike's) or telegraphed (Dana's). On the plus side, Virgil is back! I really wish Homeland was better written.
FRINGE is...FRINGE. I can't say I'm loving this final season and The Observers storyline but I am not too involved so I watch it in a sort of detached way. The winks at Blade Runner keep amusing me. Looks like the joke about Peter becoming an Observer wasn't a joke after all. I kinda brace myself for a cheesy and sentimental resolution based on how love will save him from losing his humanity before the end. Still, the show has its moments, and I like the parallels between Peter and Walter.
The Good Wife...I'm getting bored with the show. Juliana Margulies is excellent but I miss my favourite bits - Eli and Cary are underused and there's not enough Will/Diane stuff- , I see things coming from miles away (Maddie running against Peter was so predictable) and the new stupid (and supposedly kinky) Kalinda's storyline almost ruined the show for me. Why do they insist on giving her those storylines on the side? The character is good when paired up with Alicia, or Cary or Will. Let's focus on what actually work, people!
Boardwalk Empire is definitely my favourite show at the moment. This season has been terrific so far, with episodes built on a succession of scenes that are, each of them, little gems. "Best Sunday" was a wonderful episode and "Pony" was filled with great moments as well, and there are all those neat connections (like the Torrio's Vesuvius/Pompei story foreshadowing Van Alden's explosion of rage and the final blow-up at Babette's) that stress a tight writing.
The show has the best gallery of characters these days, and so many of them have grown on me, like Al Capone or Eli Thompson, characters I wasn't necessarily fond of before. I'm also kinda rooting for the little happiness Margaret and Owen find together, and I will miss Billie.
Gillian continues to be insane and manipulative and yet touching, like a troubled child; Mueller aka Van Alden is his usual creepy and crazy self to the point of being over-the-top again but it doesn't bother me anymore and his hulking out and going all Iron Man on his co-worker (turning him into another half-faced man!), with demented eyes, did fit in an episode that spent a lot of time with Billie the show-girl and wannabe movie actress, given the way actors overacted in silent movies. Also I like the recurring theme of people pretending to be someone else, and staging reality - like Gillian did for Jimmy's funeral -, until they can't take it anymore and need to let off some steam (Nucky with the actor at Billie's after having been rebuked himself as an "interloper", Margaret with Owen in the car, George with his iron...) or accept to show their real face for a little while...or give their true name in Billie's case. That's why the Gillian/Nucky scene was so important. We could see them wearing their two faces at the same time, the polite mask with the lies about Jimmy and then the ugly truth when she threw the whisky at Nucky's face. No wonder that the episode started with a close-up on Richard Harrow, the man with the half-face and the half-mask.
And Richard met Gyp! It has to mean and foreshadow something.
Boardwalk Empire isn't Deadwood, but it's a damn good show!
I have to confess that I'm enjoying The Walking Dead this year. I gave a try to the premier before writing it off for good, and was pleasantly surprised. The first episode of season 3 was really good, and since then it's been a much much better show than in the previous seasons, as if the writers learned their lesson and tried to find back what made the pilot so great.
Also, I gave a last try to Dexter, and I acknowledge that the series shows a huge improvement. It is still extremely flawed (the silly voice-over, the heavy Ghost Harry scenes...) but last season was so bad that compared to it, this season is totally watchable and actually in the same league as the first four seasons. Not too cringe-worthy and entertaining enough to turn a blind eye on the contrived stuff and plotholes. To tell the truth I mostly enjoy it because of Ray Stevenson. Dexter, my boy, don't fuck with legionary Titus Pullo, the man is unkillable, even Julius Ceasar said so!
Stevenson is obviously having a lot of fun playing Izzac and is the highlight of this season (just like Jimmy Smits or Lightow were). And he's just so easy on the eyes that it makes me forget all the poor writing.
I still find Carrie's character fascinating, and Claire Danes continues to kill it in Homeland (Damian Lewis is fine too and has his moments), but after a great premier (the fabulous "Smile" episode) and a strong second episode, all the implausibilities have started to annoy the hell out of me, and some storylines look either silly and superfluous (Mike's) or telegraphed (Dana's). On the plus side, Virgil is back! I really wish Homeland was better written.
FRINGE is...FRINGE. I can't say I'm loving this final season and The Observers storyline but I am not too involved so I watch it in a sort of detached way. The winks at Blade Runner keep amusing me. Looks like the joke about Peter becoming an Observer wasn't a joke after all. I kinda brace myself for a cheesy and sentimental resolution based on how love will save him from losing his humanity before the end. Still, the show has its moments, and I like the parallels between Peter and Walter.
The Good Wife...I'm getting bored with the show. Juliana Margulies is excellent but I miss my favourite bits - Eli and Cary are underused and there's not enough Will/Diane stuff- , I see things coming from miles away (Maddie running against Peter was so predictable) and the new stupid (and supposedly kinky) Kalinda's storyline almost ruined the show for me. Why do they insist on giving her those storylines on the side? The character is good when paired up with Alicia, or Cary or Will. Let's focus on what actually work, people!
Boardwalk Empire is definitely my favourite show at the moment. This season has been terrific so far, with episodes built on a succession of scenes that are, each of them, little gems. "Best Sunday" was a wonderful episode and "Pony" was filled with great moments as well, and there are all those neat connections (like the Torrio's Vesuvius/Pompei story foreshadowing Van Alden's explosion of rage and the final blow-up at Babette's) that stress a tight writing.
The show has the best gallery of characters these days, and so many of them have grown on me, like Al Capone or Eli Thompson, characters I wasn't necessarily fond of before. I'm also kinda rooting for the little happiness Margaret and Owen find together, and I will miss Billie.
Gillian continues to be insane and manipulative and yet touching, like a troubled child; Mueller aka Van Alden is his usual creepy and crazy self to the point of being over-the-top again but it doesn't bother me anymore and his hulking out and going all Iron Man on his co-worker (turning him into another half-faced man!), with demented eyes, did fit in an episode that spent a lot of time with Billie the show-girl and wannabe movie actress, given the way actors overacted in silent movies. Also I like the recurring theme of people pretending to be someone else, and staging reality - like Gillian did for Jimmy's funeral -, until they can't take it anymore and need to let off some steam (Nucky with the actor at Billie's after having been rebuked himself as an "interloper", Margaret with Owen in the car, George with his iron...) or accept to show their real face for a little while...or give their true name in Billie's case. That's why the Gillian/Nucky scene was so important. We could see them wearing their two faces at the same time, the polite mask with the lies about Jimmy and then the ugly truth when she threw the whisky at Nucky's face. No wonder that the episode started with a close-up on Richard Harrow, the man with the half-face and the half-mask.
And Richard met Gyp! It has to mean and foreshadow something.
Boardwalk Empire isn't Deadwood, but it's a damn good show!