Monsters of Television

“There’s pride on Bourbon Street.”

The devil’s grin.

Ah, the resentment episode. Or maybe the resentment series.

There was definitely a different feeling about this episode than the last. While the pilot exhibited more hope, this second episode demonstrated a lot more pain, suffering, and anger about the state of New Orleans. And a lot of that resentment is redirected at the city’s burgeoning tourism industry, especially the pity-tourists who came to see the damage.

Last time I reviewed Treme, I broke it down into the main storylines and talked about each in turn. This time, however, it’s a little crowded (there are a lot of characters to follow and, I assume, it’ll thin out eventually) so I’m going to break it down into “Interesting Storylines” and “‘Nobody Cares’ Storylines.”

The terms are probably self-explanatory but an issue with such a crowded show is that a couple of the threads are overshadowed by how good the other stuff is or that the thread is just made me fall asleep. So boring that not even John Goodman can save it. Oh, was that a spoiler?

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“I’m the Doctor. I’m worse than everybody’s aunt.”

At the end of The End of Time, I cried like a little boy whose favorite toy had been taken away from him. I didn’t want to live in a universe where David Tennant wasn’t the Doctor. He was manic, but brilliant, with a zest for (and a love of) life motivated by the all the carnage and death he had rained down on not only his own people but on those around him. (“I’m sorry. I’m so sorry.” will never be the same.) And while I am happy to have Tennant stretch himself elsewhere, the 10th Doctor’s departure was one I simply didn’t want to see.

So poor Matt Smith had a great deal to live up to. Indeed, there was no pressure on Steven Moffat, his writing and creative chops having already been proven in previous episodes (if you haven’t watched “Silence in the Library” / “Forest of the Dead” two-parter for some reason, you need to go and do that). Indeed, the trailer following The End of Time did have the feel, as one of my friends put it, of being The Young Doctor Who Chronicles. Eventual trailers created sparks of hope about Smith’s ability to fill the role, but they’re trailers: they’re supposed to get you excited.

But after watching “The Eleventh Hour” (Get it?), I’m pretty much head over heels for this custard loving, bow-tie wearing, chronically late Doctor. And while I enjoyed the episode, after sitting on it for a bit, I’m iffy on a number of factors.

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“You seduced me with The Sound and The Fury.”

Yeah. That totally just happened.

Nate and Lorelai will forever haunt this series.

It’s getting to a point where I have to wonder if it’s just that I’ve pigeon-holed Peter Krause and Lauren Graham into their past roles or if the writers are consciously meta-writing to call attention to it for avid television viewers. I’m starting to think the latter because, a lot of times, the show will take a device from a previous show and turn it around. Little bits such as discussing how Sarah Braverman flirts with a “hair flip” (Lorelai Gilmore calls attention to her “hair twirl”) to major plotlines from both Gilmore Girls and Six Feet Under.

Ladies first.

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“Dead people more reliable than alive people.”

I don’t have a whole lot to say about “Everybody Loves Hugo.” This is probably for the best as I’m pretty busy (hopefully the unexpected Glee rant helped ease your need for a fix) and should really be doing other things.

It wasn’t that I didn’t find the episode enjoyable, I did, but it’s clearly the kick off to the tail end of the season as, finally, I think all the pieces are in place (there I go, assuming our characters are pieces in a chess game between larger than life entities…wait…), and I’d almost rather wait and see what happens next week before giving any thoughts about this week. Read more »

You’re benefiting from my motivation failing me (and a desire to generate traffic to the blog, even if it’s just to be told I’m wrong and a hater).

Glee came back last night, and since there was nothing else on, I watched it. When the show went on its hiatus, I had cooled on it considerably. I thought the pilot was great, but as the episodes wore on I found myself starting to dislike the show. My issues were (are) many of the same issues that others had. The wildly inconsistent characterization, even within episodes (not to mention unclear motivation for many characters). Narratively unmotivated, sometimes superfluous, musical numbers. Really idiotic plot lines. Overproduced musical numbers. Engaging in stereotypes without deconstructing them as they think they are. Failing to find a good balance for their ensemble (poor Other Asian).

After having four months to stew on these things (the relentless promoting of the show by Fox certainly didn’t help), I had decided not to watch the return because I knew I would just end up railing against it. And I’m pretty much ready to rail, even if I thought the episode, overall, worked okay. Read more »

“What do you think is going to happen here? You’re going to logic me into coming back?”

Talb having the night of his life.

I would say this is a filler week but, really, how can you tell anymore?

The “trapped together” episode is the kind of theme you’re supposed to avoid as a spec writer since nothing really happens and it usually isn’t very demonstrative of the tenets of a series (unless the tenets of the series include being trapped together). These episodes are generally set-up for more exciting times, like a sacrifice for later in the season. It gives writers the opportunity to try out material they’re too uninspired to work in naturally. But these are staff writers so they can do whatever they want.

Chase and Cameron working out their relationship issues. Talb and Foreman getting high in the basment. 13 and Wilson playing Truth or Dare. Did John Hughes bank a House episode before he left?

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“That’ll work.”

Sending a man home.

How difficult it must be for some to watch a show like Treme and not be predisposed to affectation and nostalgia, maybe even still brewing rage for allowing what happened in New Orleans to occur. Years later, we as a country are still picking New Orleans as the underdog, rooting for them to win and rise from devastation, a destruction that is to the popular consciousness, a man-made disaster catalyzed by nature. Some four and a half years later, the country still champions the city as a site that deserves only the highest accolades for its perseverance, thus far represented by beating the favored Indianapolis Colts in the Super Bowl.

Trite as the venue of this nation’s full-fledged support may be (at least in comparison to the disaster), there is a certain fondness people look upon New Orleans with, pity in a lot of ways. This is a media-saturated culture and it absorbed just about as much in pictures, footage, audio, and overwrought narrative as it could take on. New Orleans rose to become a beacon of hope for every baby step it took from the wreckage was something to celebrate and coo about as if the city was an infant afflicted with rickets. Each wobble elicited a “good for them” from pasty, distant middle America.

I am not one of those people.

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“There’s always a choice, brother.”

Call this one “Greatest Hits (Flash Remix by Desmond Hume).”

Throughout “Happily Ever After,” Desmond relives (if that’s even the right word) his best moments from the Island-existing reality in the flash-sideways, albeit slightly scrambled. The episode provides a place to wriggle into the narrative idea of what “caused” the flash-sideways and how it can be reconciled with the rest of the show.

And what’s the thing that reconciles it? The same things that you need to make a good a film: a girl and a nuclear weapon. Wait… Read more »

“Oh, it’s fun here.”

That is a gun in Nichols' belt. And he is happy to take over this show.

I held back on the review of the first episode of season 9 due to its two-parter nature, and that I didn’t have much to say beyond repeating the word “Exposition” 500 times (the minimum amount of words I like to supply for an entry). With the second part, the story comes into focus, as well as motivations for the departure of Goren and Eames.

As a way to hand the show over to Nichols and Stevens (the former’s new partner) the show does this oddly, with some degree of effectiveness. Ultimately what makes the episode (as I’ll treat the two-parter as a single episode) feel a bit off is the issue of jurisdiction, an issue that the episode grapples with as well. Read more »