Some neat stuff went down this week.

Silver is basically sidelined this week, I admire his tenacity despite it being so bullheadedly stupid. Good thing he managed to get Madi on his good side so quickly. Mr. Scott is fading fast but a smart man always passes down his wisdom. Even though Madi’s been groomed predominantly by her mother, it looks like her father is going to fill in some missing pieces she’s going to need for when she takes over.

I was right about Rackham’s idea being really stupid but I didn’t see him taking that stupidity and making a stand with it. If he’s going to get rolled over, he’s not going out without making a name for himself. He did want a clear name, after all, telling Anne that that’s about all he had and cared for. The people of Nassau will speak his name one way or another.

Vane throws Blackbeard under the boat again. A man’s home is hard to throw away I guess. Coupled with that knowledge he got on the boat last episode, I’m sure Vane feels like he’s got a workable plan he can do with Flint and I’m inclined to agree with him.

It’s fantastic to see the independent arms of the pirates come together to put the squeeze on England (without them even knowing it). They’ve been apart for so long, but Nassau brings them together. Woodes Rogers is getting squeezed from every single side, Eleanore is basically seen as floating garbage by everyone and Max is doing everything she can do to hang on (interesting seeing her share the same boat as Rackham, but being on the opposite side of it). I really like where this is going, ingenious way to take the Spanish treasure everyone has been after for so long, remix it, and turn it into another treasure hunt with huge stakes. Sucks to be Anne right now, practically all of known civilization is after her.

Pimp’s Paradise

The title refers to Frank and Carl, but by the end of the episode Frank has a lot to celebrate and Carl can’t keep fronting to everyone who walks by him. Losing Nick has devastated him.

Carl tries to keep his spirits (and his image) up by throwing a house party. Fiona puts an end to that the second she comes home and Carl leaves, pouting like a child. Sean manages to actually talk to him which is some kind of win considering how shut down Carl’s been since he watched Nick lose it to his madness. The one scene with Dominique was a great touch.

Frank on the other hand, won over Queenie to stay. He wined, dined, smothered her in attention, stood up for Chuckie (full effect Shameless!) and laid it on thick when Debbie came back. Gotta give it to Frank, the only other creature on Earth that knows how to burrow as well as he does is a tick.

This maneuvering by Frank ended up turning around the power structure of the house. Fiona’s absence from the house completely eroded her standing. No one over the age of 4 listens to her. She’s at odds with Debbie over the pregnancy, Lip is circling his own stupid drain of being thrown under the love bus and Ian is off making what could actually be his first positive relationship. Fiona’s name is on the paper work for the house, but it’s Carl’s money paying for it and Queenie moving in means there is a mother figure taking over her place. Fiona is literally getting pushed out with Debbie getting the attention she wants (just in time too as she was seconds away from hitting Erica’s landing strip) and Frank is finally getting one over on her. She has zero backup from any family member (how Liam wanted to stick around with kale on his plate is beyond me). Without Sean I’m sure she would have put up a fight, but with his place to fall back on, she relents quickly.

Queenie seems like a positive influence so she could be good in the end, but there’s little chance Frank is not going to maul that relationship again and Debbie is going to spiral into Fiona’s arms when the baby comes. Debbie has started to show so I’m sure the last bit of the season will be mostly about Debbie’s pregnancy. Time will probably move fast to do the birth in birth in the season finale or maybe in episode 11.

Half way through the season!

The gears of the wheelers and dealers did a lot of spinning this week. With Vane and Blackbeard through the English barricade, then run into a Spanish ship and decided to pirate it up. Upon taking it over, they find that the big thing the ship was carrying is sensitive information about Nassau. Vane may have a way back and unbeknownst to him…

Flint pulls off another miracle oration to the Queen of his captures. With Silver’s attempts finding no purchase they needed a hail mary. Mr. Scott’s injury in the beaches of Nassau turns out to be that hail mary. With the king brought home, that gives Flint the in he needs and Mr. Scott gives him the go ahead to talk to his wife about their insured future. With Nassau lost, the island of refugees with a fallen king, their survival is at stake. Flint, Silver and the remaining pirates could keep them afloat for awhile by going out for supplies. But the ever clever Flint finds a much better thread to pull on, a much more promising, long-term plan. Revolution by pirate and slaves holding steadfast together against the English. Take back Nassau and use it as a base to draw others toward the cause and long-term prosperity. Flint and Vane are headed back together and they don’t even know it.

While Flint has taken the lion’s share of motivational speaking, Max proves herself to be no slouch again (her business acumen is really impressive). With Eleanore bringing Rogers around, Max’s status on Nassau turned precarious. Not one to be pushed to the side, she comes up with a plan and a pitch that Rogers had to take notice of. She wants to buy her way into this new society and be a full partner with a seat at the table. Moving that share of the Spanish treasure turned out to be a smart idea…until her spot gets blown up by the info that the Spanish know part of the gold stash was washed and she doesn’t have all of it.

Enter Rackham and Anne, on foot with their share, when Rackham has a mid-name crisis. He’s not down with having to change his name in order to use the money, much to Anne’s chagrin and normal common sense. A man must have his standards, though, so Rackham decides to turn back to try and sneak in a pardon in order to shake some heat and come back. There is no way that’s going to work out for him.

4 and 3 and 2 and 1, 1! I’ve said it before and I’ll set it again, Broad City is the best comedy show airing right now.

Season 3 starts off with Two Chainz and it had me screaming in delight. The real life friendship of Abbi and Ilana make this show effortlessly funny. They aren’t acting, it’s 100% legit chemistry that lights them up through every hilarious moment.

From the cold open of the split screen bathroom shot montage to the final gag of Abbi helping Ilana out of her chain belt the laughter never let up. The premise of this episode is bizarrely simple but weird, clever and makes for a complex series of events. Abbi and Ilana meet for brunch where Ilana drops her bike lock key into a storm drain. Abbi’s shirt gets ruined when she tries to fish it out (“What was that? A train?!”) and needs to get a new shirt before going to a friends gallery show. That’s the start of both of their problems and it’s all downhill from there.

This episode has it all. The moment to moment side jokes (just about every conversational bit of dialog from Ilana. She’s far and away my favorite comedic character and actor right now). The elaborate set ups and amazing payoffs (the bits with Ilana’s chain belt and pretty much the entire art gallery scene). The banter from bit characters (“Oh, don’t judge me! You’re the one who’s wearing he stolen shirt!” …. “Nice ass!” “I KNOW!”), I think there is a joke at least every 30 seconds.

They’re off to a killer start, I can’t wait for more.

The theme of this episode was breaking out. Both sides of our story are feeling the pinch. Flint, Silver, and that crew are captured on the island with seemingly no way out. Silver tries to work on the daughter of the leader, but Mom is as hard as they come. The crew is thinning out and they don’t have much time left.

Back on Nassau, control has basically been lost. The deal that went down at the end of the last episode proved to be too much and everyone is against Vane and he’s got to get off the island as England’s grip starts to strengthen. This band is breaking up (for now at least).

This show pulls off another major set piece with dazzling special effects. The plot to break through England’s barricade is cool enough, but watching it unfold is something else. Some really great CG work and practical effects involving crazy amounts of fire. Kudos to compositing all of that together believably. These are some ambitious scripts and they somehow manage to keep knocking it out of the park.

NSFW

Half way through the season!

Another solid episode that had more heartbreak than you can shake a stick at.

Lip. Wake up, dummy. It’s over and there is nothing you can do about it. It was a fling that was never going to turn into anything no matter how much you wished it to be otherwise.

Debbie. Her story had some ups and downs and as usual, her family bounces because whatever is going on in their life is more important than hers. Not sure if she’s going to be able to stick around with her “new family.” The best and worst was Frank in full con mode trying to convince Debbie to seduce Erika (they did name Tyler’s wife) instead of Tyler. An in is an in to Frank Gallagher.

Ian. The progress I thought was going to happen is in motion. So far so good.

Chuckie. The poor kid (literally and figuratively). Grandma to the rescue and who’s there to meet his old fling? Frank. The opportunities this guy gets are unreal.

Fiona. One more nab at the house and Gus gives her the big boot! Hard to watch, but I do side with Gus. Not sure if I would have done the same thing, but I understand it. Chalk that one up to a life lesson Fiona. She went through with the abortion which I wasn’t sure was going to happen. Now there is some complication foreshadowing which might lead to her not being able to have children when she chooses to. Hmmm.

Carl. His face when he’s standing outside the house when they arresting Nick! This was brutal for me. I really liked the Carl and Nick dynamic and seeing it explode like this is so sad. Brings Carl back into the fold after coming in from seeing Gus and he throws his cash down for her. I wanted him to say “It’s time we bring everyone back together,” but watching him walk out without letting her protest was powerful too. I assume this is the end of his corn rows, but I don’t know what he’s going to do now.

As much as people complain about “slow” Walking Dead episodes, they’re done for a good reason. Half the show is build up and that takes people down roads they would never go down themselves. The urge to go pedal to the metal in a zombie show never lets up. Walking Dead ended episode 8 in the jowls of the dad to take off for more than two months. So that brings us to this week where everyone is ready for their Walker fix and the show has to basically come back with a second season premiere. Everything paid off on Sunday.

I think every plotline they built out in the first half came to fruition in this one episode and it was insane. I mean this thing kicked off on a nail-biter into a fist pumping triumph that cartwheeled into the opening credits. Then it came back to Alexandria with the simmer that was left from the previous episode only to boil over for the next 45 minutes. People got munched, people got hurt and the band is back together.

Awesome pacing, awesome payoffs and some deaths that were pretty surprising (and much needed). I can sing the praises of this episode looking like a full cinematic experience, but I’ll lay it out like this: No Way Out was a major turning point for the show. All that set up for Morgan (and Carol) is through the net now and fascinating. Traumatic experiences that changes everyone in the group. Growth from those that would not leave their shells. I’m really interested in where Carl goes from this. The introduction and pushback of that Saviors group promises to bring horror that only the living know how to do. A major battle was one surviving the herd, but the spring has been set for the next big thing and we’re going to get it by the end of the season. No one is ever safe on this show, but everyone watching is on pins and needles now. I think this is the most exciting time for The Walking Dead.

Refugees

The episode opens with Frank ripping out the copper pipes of the house. How great is that? The man has won and there is no way to stay in the house, so prep to find a new place begins…only for the sheriff to show up and kick them out. This causes a minor Gallagher reunion.

Ian and Lip patch things up, Carl and Nick poke around for their own place with negative results. Debbie and Fiona are at least on speaking terms (“I’m still a Gallagher”) but Fiona still doesn’t know about Debbie and Frank’s in progress family replacement plan, The big surprise for Frank is that he’s found a person he can’t corrupt into a final voyage. Tyler’s wife (I don’t think her first name has been said and I can’t remember their last name) has done it all, so Frank’s go to debauchery tactics don’t work. He’s amazingly charming though and manages to show her around to start getting her affairs in order while Debbie tries to seduce Tyler (they think she’s 18). Frank is a great team member when he gets someone to work with.

Special shout out to Ever Carradine, the actress playing Tyler’s wife. William H. Macy is a brilliant actor, as just about every scene he’s in proves. They keep finding (props to the casting department) phenomenal actresses for him to play against and she goes toe to toe with him. The material isn’t easy and Macy as Frank sets a high bar. I give the award to best scenes this episode to these two.

Kevin works on his guilt issues about Yanis which leads to a gaggle of child refugees coming to live with him and V. Fiona focuses on getting a place for her and Liam to crash (cue dumb fight with Sean) and keeps delaying her abortion. “You didn’t think I was having second thoughts, do you?” Yes, we do, Fiona.

Good to see someone forcing Ian to grow up some. He’s been a tornado for some time and it’s exciting to see someone new check his shit at the door (and whoa, Tony shows up after a few years telling Ian “Your sister turned me gay.”) Speaking of blasts from the past, Amanda drops in on Lip and his dumb ass can’t see the fire in her eyes right from the start. Letting her into his room leads to the end of Mrs. Robinson. Not sure what the under over is of him ever seeing her again.

“Hello?” Chuckie! I’d like to say it’s messed up that everyone forgot about him, but I did after 50 minutes so I can’t hold it against them after the day they had.

Next week: NSFW

A lot of floating around in episode 3.

On Nassau, Max works toward converting the treasure and gets informed about the incoming trouble. This forces the rallying of the pirates to show a united front. Big stand out for this section was Max and Anne’s talk in the cave. Beautiful silhouette shot of Anne for her last line before she leaves.

Blackbeard makes a wise power move with results soon to come (meaning next week). I dig his time talking with Vane. Interesting history gives them interesting dialog. They work on screen together really well.

As Eleanor and her new “teammates” get closer to Nassau she discovers that Woodes has agreed to an accelerated takeover timetable from his financiers. The pressure is on more than she thought and when they reach Nassau, Eleanor proves her worth once more by sending out Hornigold as the messenger. Looks like Nassau loses a major foothold right out of the gate.

The horrors of being adrift at the mercy of mother nature with Flint. Fantastic makeup work sold the crews desperate shape. This episode covers 3 weeks and the look on John Silver’s face at the end of it really shows. Another awesome scene with just Flint and Silver and a killer last shot buttons up the episode. All hell might break loose on all fronts in episode 4.

Going Once, Going Twice

I’m glad they brought the Yanis plot line in for a landing. A bit predictable, but very Shameless. We’ll see what the fallout is next week, but I see some rough times for Kevin ahead.

Frank wheeling and dealing for Debbie continues to be awesome. For every downer, she manages to keep her head up. That’s an admirable personality trait. And it actually looks like he’s landed her a scam she can believe in.

Now for the brothers. Bumpy road for Lip, it looks like the Mrs. Robinson plot line is coming to a head soon. I’d like to see him move on. Did Ian find some inspiration at the firehouse (in more than one way)? It’ll be awesome to see him get some kind of foothold on his life. It could really give him purpose and a legit future if he can make it work. Carl makes some headway with Dominique in a legit adorable and funny way. Nick speaks! Love him and Carl together.

It wouldn’t be Shameless without money problems. V and Kevin have got a serious empty bar problem, but the Gallaghers are boned. Fiona managed to put a decent plan into motion but it wasn’t enough. What a devastating end to the episode. This is a major upheaval for the family that I’m not too sure how they are going to deal with (at least Lip is at school). They’ve talked about housing problems in the past and dodged a bullet with their cousin Patrick some time ago, but there’s no way out of this one. Our family is homeless.

Looking forward to episode 5.

Awesome episode. A little bit of everything. Some politics on Nassau with the pirate crew trying to hold it down, Rackham and Max’s move makes sense, but doing anything on the sly without Vane knowing is not good. Got a good dose of Eleanor’s past as she navigates her own political traps. Blackbeard steps out of the shadows and lays down some old school law, (much to the embarrassment of the kids) which was a great scene.

The show stopper was every scene of the tempest. The most exciting bit of TV I’ve seen in some time. Looked amazing and was super intense. The mast taking off was insane. It must have taken 6 months to finish that sequence. They set the bar high on this one and it’s only the second episode of the season. I hope they can meet it.

It’s season 3! For some reason, I always forget when Black Sails comes back, so this was a pleasant surprise. It usually takes BS some time to get going so this first episode was a ton of set up.

There’s just a ton of bad news coming to wash ashore Nassau. The pirates have a finger hold on that island. It’s a much steeper hill to climb for Max, Rackham, Vane and Anne than I think they ever imagined. Max had a fantastic line to Anne about their situation that went something like this: “We stole a mountain of Spanish gold and are keeping it on English land we stole. We can’t protect ourselves from what’s coming.” Her thoughts of being known simply as “the whore who lost everything” is probably going to come true.

Meanwhile, Flint is going bananas taking on the world on the ocean and John Silver is trying to hold it down on one leg. Oh, and a major name from the past is en route and no one knows about it. Serious dark horse.

Eleanore has flipped! She’s always wanted the best for the island, but if she gets caught with the people she’s now rolling with, she’s going to be turned into chum by her old crew.