Monsters of Television

“Beep beep beep”

First off, apologies on lack of post about the show last week. I just didn’t have much to say about it (even now the episode’s incredibly fuzzy) and I had things to grade. Such is the way of things. Secondly, apologies for this review taking a while to occur. Week before spring break with lots to do.

So, with the niceties out of the way, we can commence. The episode has found me firmly in the “This is a good show” camp. I’m not in the “No. 1 show on TV” camp, but that’s because I can’t possibly watch everything on television, so I just don’t know. But it is a good show, a smart show. An adult show.

Now if I can only change the strainer in my dish washer…

I say “adult show,” but I can’t be sure entirely what that means. I think it’s the fact that show relies not on blood and zooming inside of bodies or snarky misanthropic geniuses or a super-agent on the quest to save the world, but rather on character that I feel it’s a more adult show. And this episode drove this idea home for me. I can’t compare to the other episodes at the moment (damn you, CBS), but it’s not a show that’s afraid for people to have moments that not only feel natural, but allows the show allows these moments to occur without getting in the way.

Take  the scene between Peter and Alicia near the start of the episode, with Peter walking in, complimenting the apartment. It’s a slow scene (for much of TV anyway), done in a single shot lasting around 50 seconds before an off-screen voice begins the transition to the scene. The camera swings around the counter and frames Peter and Alicia  in the center of the shot. As they talk, there’s no cut to a close-up, no give and take of shot/reverse-shot. Instead, we have two characters struggling to make conversation, struggling to adapt to being in each other’s lives again.

And the show just lets this moment happen, this rather important moment happen. There’s no cutting and no music to try and heighten the emotion. That we can feel the silences, aided by the absence of cutting, is what heightens the scene. The tension between Alicia and Peter is thick, with neither sure of what should be done, but with ideas (and desires, possibly) of what should be done. It doesn’t have to show us in their bedroom, not talking or looking at one another. This scene tells us that will happen anyway.

And this episode is filled with them. Alicia and Will’s brief, sexually tense scene in his office builds nicely. Diane’s visit to Kurt McVeigh’s ballistics lab uses a tracking shot to give the audience a clear view of what Diane is seeing, a room she’s clearly not overly comfortable in. All handled with finesse and appreciation for an audience that maybe doesn’t need bells and whistles all the time.

Narratively speaking, the episode represents, obviously, a shift in the show’s dynamics with Peter back at home as well as opening up the plot of Peter working to figure out why he’s under investigation. To that end, I’m always pleased to see actors I like playing against type (or, at least, somewhat against type). Alan Cumming’s Eli Gold is clearly modeled on Rahm Emanuel (“That you speak your mind, your mind tends toward expletives, you’re a classically trained pianist, and you require Saturdays off.”), something I’m all for. Cumming is always an energetic figure (his performance in Eyes Wide Shut is painfully out of place), and Cumming’s  particular brand of energy for Eli will be a welcome dynamic to the show.

I do still stand my contention that Peter’s political stuff shouldn’t be front and center, or if it will be, that Alicia needs to be more involved, otherwise it will feel out of place. That the show is edging toward that, slowly of course, will need to be addressed and somehow fold Alicia, who isn’t ready just yet for Peter to be around all the time, into the plot without making it suddenly became The Wronged Politician.

FINAL THOUGHTS

• Still trying to wrap my brain around Kalinda. She obviously has a great deal of loyalty to Alicia at the very least and a fair amount to the firm overall, but since I’m missing pieces I can’t figure out why. Someone mind filling me in, or is it still a bit of a mystery?
• This is the first time I’ve really liked Gary Cole, and I’m chalking it up to the fact that Christine Baranski makes everyone around her instantly better.
• “Whatever happens, I respect you, Diane.” “Didn’t they say that to Secretariat before they put him down?” “I don’t think they said ‘Diane.'” WIN.