Monsters of Television

“I promise this weekend will be spent staring out windows while holding a glass of scotch.”

30 Rock, I’m starting to think you and I are in an abusive relationship. I keep coming back to you this season when I know I shouldn’t, and you’ve pretty routinely beaten me up each time. But then you do an episode like this, and it’s like you’ve suddenly swore you’re going to stop hitting me, you’ve stopped drinking, and you bought me those exceptionally yummy Premium Mint Chocolate M&Ms. 2 bags even!

And I forgive you and act like you never did horrible things like Kenneth having Donkey Fever or botch up (and come too late to)  the late night debacle or inflict an episode like “Winter Madness” on me. And then we curl up and wonder what’s going on in your writers room that you can only produce something like this so late in the season. Or were you planning on this all along? Read more »

“Who cares about a stupid exam? We’re a study group.”

They could’ve stayed in Spanish forever. It could’ve been that simple. And it would’ve been kind of easy for them, and Community isn’t really about easy and simple. It likes to tweak the sitcom enough to do different things, including acknowledge the passing of time in a fairly realistic way given its setting. And after the awesomeness of last week’s “Modern Warfare,” “English as a Second Language” was kind of a nice refresher course on the series overall structure.

Of course, a show sets a precedent like this and I start holding it accountable: it had better end in 4 years. I don’t want to see Community: The New Class with Jeff as the instructor for Introduction to Judicial Systems helping a bunch of new kids figure out their way in life.

…I just doomed us all, didn’t I? (I expect a creator credit and an associate producer credit if that happens, Dan Harmon.) Read more »

“The two of you here together? Please tell me there’s an explanation that doesn’t involve the apocalypse.”

Look at that. First quote not by Chuck Bass.

You know that couple that always fights and they swear they’re better off for it? Or that group of friends that all gossip behind each other’s backs but are closer than anyone else you know? Some people just work that way. “Frenemies” I believe they are referred to as but I dare not use the term out of self-respect and the respect for those of you reading this. That’s how the relationships on Gossip Girl work. They thrive on the dysfunctional. This Ocean’s Eleven style episode showed us just how much they need it (and how much we love to see it).

No event in recent Gossip Girl history has brought this many members of the main cast together for a single, delicious purpose. The heist? Prove that Dr. Holland Campbell is lying about having an affair with Rufus and expose her connection to the pills involved in the evil deeds of Doctor van der Woodsen. Under the leadership of Blair, the Upper East Side version of Danny Ocean, a master plan is concocted. Chuck, Jenny, Nate and even Dan all have their parts to play to put things right. Huh. Crashing rich parties for the sake of helping people. Maybe it’s a little Robin Hood too. I declare this review to be an OUTLAAAAWWW!! Read more »

“As long as we’re solvent ghouls.”

It’s fun watching a show that creates parallels without hitting you over the head with them (I am not talking about…okay, that was totally about last night’s Lost…). Much like the question of whether or not the plug needs to be pulled on Max Wilder, the rock star in the coma by the episode’s end, the fates of L&G and Alicia’s and Cary’s placements within that firm are all in question, and who has whose best interests at heart swirl around the episode at a dizzying pace.

The parallels between who controls Wilder’s fate and those who control the fate of L&G and Alicia and Cary are never made explicit, and it makes for richer storytelling when a show trusts viewers enough to draw those connections themselves (and if they don’t, the show is still enjoyable). They’re there, underlining the episode, making the drama that much better. But perhaps underlining the show overall are contemporary concerns about the economy. Read more »

“I mean wasn’t that the point of us bein’ rappers? So we didn’t have to get a job!”

Never before have I laughed so hard while simultaneously being terrified for my future. The many facets of the entertainment industry are constantly changing. The focus seems to change between a focus on the artistic and a focus on business. The Boondocks certainly seems to think business rules in the music industry right now. And they beat up poor Otis “Thugnificent” Jackson to prove that very point.

The rap reign of Thugnificent is over. His peak 4 years ago (40 years in rapper time) has flat-lined. So how to stay relevant? First: use auto-tuner on every song on your new album. “It let’s you sing even if you can’t sing!” Jay-Z would be less than thrilled. Riley certainly was. He’d rather hear the new number one track by young up-and-comer Sgt. Gudda, an obvious knock to Soulja Boy, the poster child for commercially constructed personalities.So the old originality game isn’t working. Auto-tuner didn’t work. Only thing left is to adapt someone else’s style. But his dance is nowhere near as trend setting as that of his younger rival. Read more »

Oh, it’s like they’re talking us about our expectations of and reactions to the show!

So glad we don't have chess clocks for this game

“Across the Sea” has been a fairly polarizing episode. And as Damon Lindelof has sagely pointed out: “Wait. ‘Polarizing’ is a BAD thing?” And he’s right. Polarizing isn’t a bad thing. It encourages discussion and debate and argument (and people to leave rude comments on major TV critics’ blogs) that helps us, in theory, come together about an issue or text. Sure it can start flame wars, but it can also aid in understanding, and I like to think we’re all civil enough to engage in these types of discussion, even on the Internet (despite the Greater Internet Fuckwad Theory).

Indeed, the reaction to “Across the Sea” has been as varied as I imagine the reaction to “Exposé” was. And that’s great. These types of episodes ultimately help us figure out what we expect the show to be about. Mythic archetypes or personal stories? Running through the jungle, shooting and exploding things or sitting in the jungle, contemplating the nature of man? It’s these types of episodes that tell us, ultimately, more about ourselves than it tells us about the show.

Me? I was just bored. Read more »

“Monday night can be a bit of a wasteland.”

This is a movie I would watch.

All they needed was a shot of Shaw sitting in a cave and telling Chuck to slide.

Though it hasn’t been made explicitly clear, I like to think what has expedited Chuck’s condition (if it was inevitable at all) is PTSD from actively shooting a person. Popping caps into Supes so his drugged-out crush object can push him off a bridge into a river can’t be easy to live with, especially for a pansy like Chuck. The fact that this was never addressed in the shiny, happy episode after (“vs The Honeymooners”) and, really, not until this very week, not only seems weird (Chuck in a de facto red test after an entire series of being afraid of guns would probably be something to talk about) but yet another missed opportunity. But it’s here now and they pull it off.

I’m a sucker for episodes of television where reality is distorted by the subconscious or some kind of cranial malady (drug scenes excluded because they are almost always exceptionally lame) in an effort to create surreal, symbolic visions of reality. Some might see it as a crutch but I see it as a chance to expand story. This belongs to the latter. As we press onward to further the connection between Chuck and his father, bolstered by a sub-A story discussing him, the Intersect co-mingling with Chuck’s deep, dark chemical responses adds a new wrinkle to their storytelling, especially if they tie this into the crushing stress Chuck has to feel with the weight of the world on his shoulders. Possibilities abound. Unfortunately, after “vs The Honeymooners,” I’m wary of what they’ll do with it.

Read more »

“willem. DAFOOOOOOOOOOE!”

When did “douchey” become synonymous with “pretentious”? Did I miss that new edition of the thesaurus? “Robots Vs. Wrestlers” sets up this relationship pretty quickly, and as a result the episode engages in some not-so-subtle class conversations (you don’t get any less subtle than naming Michael York’s character Jefferson Van Smoot). But they’re not fully developed or developed in a way that makes a lot of sense. And then there’s the newest show ultimatum that doesn’t really work either. And Robin’s unmotivated return to the group at the end of the episode.

There are still a number of funny bits in “Robots Vs. Wrestlers,” but the episode as a whole is a bit of a mixed bag. Read more »

“She wanted to forget.”

Law & Order is a twisty show. Often there are red herring witnesses and suspects who do 180s at the drop of a hat. But the show will often also twist around a little too much, pull baits and switches, and bounces between ideas link a pinball. At this stage in the show’s run, it knows how to turn on a dime even if those turns feels a little unnecessary.

“The Taxman Cometh” is bogged down in these turns. It starts off as a case about an accidental overdose and turns into a case about alternative cancer treatments, tax loopholes and gay rights. Yes, that’s right. The becomes all three of those things, shifting between each of them as dictated by the plot. Read more »

“Fine. But I’m not saying ‘unconditionally.'”

Oh, Amber.

Earlier in the series, and really throughout, Zeek has acted as the purveyor of the mighty name Braverman, making sure that Jabbar is going to take the name, bucking his children up with phrases akin to, “Hey, come on. You’re a Braverman!” The last name which, let’s face it, sounds a little made up (apologies to any readers surnamed Braverman but, come on, it sounds like a cartoon hero’s alter-ego), is a source of pride for ol’ Zeek. He believes himself the patriarch of nobility (but hard-workin’ nobility). He has two markedly successful children, one who is wildly talented, just trying to get out of her own way, and, you know, Crosby, who’s cool (he might be successful, too, though it doesn’t seem like he ever works). The Bravermans breed pride which makes failure so hard to swallow for them.

Failure is the theme for this episode and not just for the main cast but for the children as well. It was a dangerous and, at times, horribly awkward, time to be a Braverman. Good thing Jabbar hasn’t taken the name yet.

Read more »