Haven’t talked about summer TV in some time and much of it is coming to a close soon, so let’s get to it.

The Strain- Liking this season a lot, but Eph’s kid is a little snot. They are slowing bring his vampire mother and him together (she’s been sniffing him out for a few episodes now) and I hope they finally pull the trigger on it this week. It’s long overdue and I’m hoping he gets eaten. While being a kid offers a certain amount of ignorance and stupidity (and the mourning and denial of his undead mother), I find his attitude most of the time insufferable, he can really drag things down. Hopefully, Abe finds the book he’s looking for this week too. It’s time to get him back to kicking ass.

Face Off– Some interesting challenges this year, but the cast is one of the weakest in quite some time. Every week there are 2 teams that are clearly on the bottom, a couple middle of the road and one or two who are head and shoulders above the rest. I think the time crunch and stress of the show is too much for many of the cast.

Falling Skies– The series is coming to a close, and there have been some smart changes made. They’ve splintered the 2nd Mass with Pope’s defection (making a new villain) and the Espheni aren’t giving up the fight. More espionage like tactics could thin the human herd quite a bit. Looking forward to how they end the show.

America’s Best Dance Crew– Back from a 3-year break, they condensed the season to 7 episodes with the finale at this year’s VMA’s. Great crews this year, cool looking set, but I don’t like the judges at all. They are all pretty corny, given no time to critique and it’s basically all meaningless praise, even when there were clear mistakes.

Mr. Robot– Far and away the best new show of the year let alone the summer. Can’t wait for every new episode and there are only 2 left. So much misdirection, a great cast, and plot make it like a journey. Episode 8 “White Rose” had some major reveals that answer and raise just as many questions. A lot of pressure on ending this arc in a satisfying ending, but they haven’t let me down yet and the craftsmanship of “White Rose” was probably the best yet. The last “what is going on?!” show like this was Lost and that one did a swan dive into the dirt. I’m optimistic they’ll pull it off though, can’t wait to see it.

I haven’t watched The Sopranos since it ended in 2007 and have been meaning to get back to it for some time now. With a lull of movies and TV shows recently, I pushed the first season up in my Netflix list.

I’m 7 episodes in and realized that I’ve never seen all of season 1 before. That, and I don’t think I watched the show as it aired until season 3. Most of this feels new so it’s really exciting and entertaining in that “great new show” feeling. I’m picking up all the seeds that show up in the later seasons (like Christopher’s Hollywood aspirations) and it’s a marvel at how well casted this show is.

It’s a real shame that we lost James Gandolfini two years ago, he’s a magnificent actor. He’s also surprisingly thin at the start (though he’s never been a small guy) while AJ (Robert Iler) was a rather round kid! I forgot how funny the show is too. It’s not jokes per say, but the off handed comments that they fire off (usually from Tony, but the Paulie, Big Pussy and Silvio troop are always strong contenders with their banter). Christopher often steals scenes, he’s such a great (and integral) character, it’s hard to imagine anyone else but Michael Imperioli in the role. I totally forgot about what a 10 ton anchor Tony’s mother was too. She’d drive anyone up the wall with her nonsense (the show would probable ended up much differently if Nancy Marchand didn’t die in 2000, her loss was a great one).

The show really holds up 16 years from its debut. The only bit of production that seems oddly places are the paused scenes/fade to white of the child Tony Soprano scenes. Comes off as really amateurish. Gotta love the low angle shots when someone is being punched and kicked on the ground just off of camera.

It’s good to visit the great past works, I’m looking forward to watching more.

Orange Is The New Black- Season 3 had a much stronger ending than I thought was going to. I thought Piper was getting really soft and worn out, but they turned her something wicked for the end. She’s really becoming institutionalized which is surprisingly fun to see.

Pushing the backgrounds of the other inmates continued in this season which was great to see. Really creative and unique stories for each women, adds some much needed variety and depth to the show. They always manage to show off just enough in a good amount of time and insert the story where it fits into the overall narrative which is a real achievement. I like how self-contained they keep the stories, it’s never someone pouring their hearts out to a friend, but an internal remembrance of their past.  The people in their crew may know each other well, but they all have their secrets still.

This season ended a few story lines from season 2 while introducing a whole lot for season 4, so there is a lot to look forward to. So far Jenji Kohan has managed to keep the show on the rails better than Weeds.

Orphan Black- A good season, but not a great one, I think. Kept me engaged for all of its 10 episodes but something felt a bit off to me. Maybe because Sara gets out of every situation no matter what? I guess I felt like the stakes never felt that high, like they missed out on producing enough tension and suspense. Still a lot of great characters and moments so I’ll keep watching. They ended it by peeling back another layer to the onion, revealing a player who’s been pulling the strings from the shadows that no one knew about (how many times can you do that?). Here’s to hoping for more greatness with Season 4.

I started watching Mad Men after the second season finished airing. Hearing all the praise it got, I decided to check it out. Working through the first season on DVD I kept wondering what all the fuss was about. I then realized that I was devouring each disc as fast as I could. With each episode, I was subconsciously compelled to follow Don Draper’s path through isolation without realizing it.

The hypnosis comes from two things: the time period/setting and the characters. I can’t think of another show (or movie) that explores the advertisement business. The attention to detail to match the 60’s era in the sets, props and costumes made every episode feel incredibly authentic. Match that with great writing and a fantastic cast that can pull it off and you have a show that will stand up to the test of time.

While Don Draper is the main character, everyone around him shared the spotlight. Roger, Joan, Peggy, Pete, Betty, Ken, Sally, Megan, Bert, Stan…there’s a whole lot of them over seven seasons and everyone has their favorite. The variety and quality of personalities is why this show gets so much love from its fans.

Mad Men has every element of life- the highest of highs and the lowest of lows. Each season brought something new and interesting for every character. I can’t think of a bad addition to the roster and when someone left, it was always meaningful.

The only misstep I think the show made was breaking the last season into two halves with a huge gap in time between airings. It did nothing but slow the momentum, but with such a good ending, I don’t think anyone minds any more. Plus, from here on out it doesn’t matter as anyone can pick up the series and watch it from beginning to end right. That gap doesn’t exist any more.

I’m going to miss not seeing any more new episodes, but I think Mad Men finished on top. The finale gives us open ended closure, which I like. Don completed another self destruction cycle and came out on the otherside accepting who is and what he does. Despite feeling alone even when he’s surrounded by people, he truly enjoys them, strangers and family alike (the phone conversations he has with Sally, Peggy and Betty are very telling. Also highlights the most important people to him). While we’re done visiting these people’s lives, they aren’t over. Don, his family and his friends are continuing on without us in the ways they see fit.  Hope feels really good.

FX’s The Americans doesn’t get the attention it deserves. It flies under the radar despite near unanimous praise from critics and its cultivated legion of fans. Now that Justified is over, maybe The Americans will get some more of the spotlight.

Much like Justified, this show thrives on it’s fantastic writing and amazing cast. Keri Russell and Matthew Rhys brilliantly portray Elizabeth and Philip Jennings, Russian spies living near Washington D.C. during the Cold War (season 3 ends on March 8, 1983).

The espionage is a fantastic and nuanced genre that’s easy to do poorly. The Americans walks the line with equal parts grace and intensity. Each season builds on what comes before it, starting with the obvious secret agents, phone taps and bugged offices. But now, we’re well into the lives of the Jennings, not just Liz and Phil, but their kids. Their oldest, Paige (Holly Taylor, who’s really grown as an actress with the material given to her this year) has always been smart and a bit of a worry for her parents. She took center stage this year in the “domestic lives of spies” story this season. Turns out that Season 2’s major family arc was just the ramp leading to this.

Despite always watching their backs and doing dangerous missions for their home country, the pressure never got to the sustained level that it had this season. The collateral damage got pretty bad from this set of arduous missions. There was a lot of weight being shouldered and shifted around. Their required seductions and the guilt of killing is visibly wearing on them now (Phil the most…maybe).

There a lot of moving parts to Liz and Phil’s working lives and a lot of it came crashing into their home lives. They stuff so many lies into the deepest part of their brains that I don’t know how they can keep anything stable. Those stress fractures made for some of the best moments though. Liz is often used as a seductress for her roles in a mission, but she’s also tough as nails. One of her best scenes in the entire series came this year with handling a woman who came in to work late at night at the worst possible time. While Phil puts a bug on a mail robot that the CIA uses, Liz deftly talks the woman into overdosing to cover their tracks. It’s an amazing scene that puts Liz into an all new light.

Phil lashes out quite a bit too, he loses his cool far more than he ever has. Between Elizabeth, Paige, Martha and Kimmy, he’s being pulled apart in every way imaginable. Gabriel must be passing along unfavorable news about him to his superiors, it’s a real question on much more he can take.

The last scene was a real game changer, secrets are out and there is no turning back! Season 4 should be the best yet!

I’m juggling a lot of TV shows and a lot of come to a close recently, so let’s do some Quick Hits.

NHL Playoffs- Rangers v Penguins! The Pens tied the series last night 1-1, so the prediction of Rangers winning 5-1 is very much alive. Pens proved he aren’t going to take this lying down and after last night it’s up to the coaching staff to come up with some new attacks to diversify the Rangers winning formula. Rangers go soft, they will pay for it. It’d be a catastrophe after the amazing season, so it better not happen.

Face Off- Season 8 is over and it was fantastic. Final 3 was probably the first or second finals ever in the shows history. Darla, Emily and Logan deserved to be on top and I completely agree with Darla winning despite the really incredible work by Emily and Logan. Her “The Spirits of Eden” had that extra bit of camera ready polish that pushed her work to the top (I really loved Logan’s “The Fortress” team as a whole, the armadillo and skunk in particular were super creative and well done). Season 9 starts at the end of July!

Bloodline- A Netflix Original that I really liked. It’s about a family in Florida who’s lives get turned upside down when the oldest son (and black sheep), Danny comes home. Really great actors, but I question some of the editing decisions. Early on and throughout the season, there are flash forwards that show what’s going to happen. While they keep the details locked down until the end, it does rob the story of some impact. It’s also 13 episodes at about 50 minutes each. I think it could have been cut down a bit as the editing pressure of strict time slots with commercials isn’t there so they can over indulge without much worry. I think they could have made this a much tighter 50 minute, 12 episode run. It’s getting a second season, which I’m all in for.

Unbreakable Kimmy Shmidt- I can’t remember if I talked about this Netflix Original before, so I’ll be real quick on this one. Absolutely hilarious. If you liked 30 Rock, this is a much watch.

Daredevil- Debuted last week on Netflix and it’s a massive hit. I just started it last night and I like what I’ve seen. Outstanding fight choreography and direction make it a real stand out in the TV comic book field.

Better Call Saul- Hell of a follow up to Breaking Bad. Bob Odenkirk finally gets to really strut his stuff and carry a show. Great writing and acting, perfect nods to Breaking Bad that don’t rely on the view having watched that show, but greatly appreciated by its fans. 8 episodes perfectly executed.

Mad Men- Down to the last 6 episodes, which feels rather sad! The show is into the 70’s now and it’s still a puzzle as to how this show is going to end. Lots of wacky theories floating around there, but Don’s self destruction seems inescapable. One of the best supporting casts out there (Roger, Ken and Peter in particular), really looking forward to each episode.

Silicon Valley- Season 2 is off to a good start. We join Pied Piper as they are going for a round of investment seed money. A big cast member died so his character has been replaced with a female doppelganger which has worked out well. It’s a funny and intriguing look at tech start ups, I think they’ll be able to keep running with the great momentum from last season while stretching out the scope of the show some more.

Game of Thrones- Still awesome, but it’s slowed down. It’s very politics heavy right now as a lot needs to be built up again. Last season leveled quite a few characters and the repercussions are being sorted out now.

Helix- My guilty pleasure show. Second season was pretty good, the location change kept it fresh and interesting. Even with the weird music cues, it reminds me a lot of how Resident Evil started (and should have continued as). The epidemic continues into season 3!

SERIES FINALE

The Promise

Start to finish, I think Justified is one of the best TV shows ever made. Not a single bad season with the finale  capping it all off in unexpected and beautiful ways. I’m going to be really vague about what happens because I think everyone who watches this should go into it with their own thoughts of how it’s going to end and watch how it plays out.

As you can already tell, I loved it. The obvious was to have a stand-off, shoot ’em all, everyone is dead finale. Writers Graham Yost, Fred Golan, Dave Andron and Benjamin Cavell took the road less traveled and delivered on making a finale that all others should look to for inspiration. There’s quite a few major confrontations and yes, there are shoot outs. All are fantastic scenes, but those are just a tiny portion of this incredible ride. I can’t get over how well thought out and executed this finale was.

There are a lot of call backs to the beginning of the show which bolster phenomenal character growth. Good and bad things happen. Everything doesn’t go to hell, but a lot doesn’t work out too well either. The relationship of Ava, Boyd and Raylan comes to a fantastic conclusion. I hope I can write something in my lifetime that lives up to it. The main story arc of the season finishes with a good 15 minutes of run time left. I wasn’t expecting such an extensive epilogue, but in typical Justified fashion, it was done perfectly.

The finale had it all. The villains got to strut their stuff (Boon! So good), the anti-heroes got to make us question ourselves and the heroes did their damnedest to maintain some kind of order in the chaos. Great action, amazing dialog, fantastic direction and a satisfying ending that’s true to its main characters.

I think I’ve gushed about this every week, but I’ll say it one last time with the utmost confidence: Justified has some of the best writers in any medium. There is just no denying it. Anyone who says otherwise cannot be trusted. Every scene with Raylan and Boyd together is just downright brilliant. I feel like a broken record at this point, but there is no way around it. I’m really sad I have no more dialog of them going at it to look forward to anymore. The last scene completely nails the series.

I cannot say enough good things about Justified. It’s available to watch on Blu-ray/digital now (final season comes out in June on BRD) so please, if you haven’t watched this show, now is a great time. If you have, tell others about it. Spread the word, share this amazing body of work with everyone. Justified never let me down, I’ll come back to it for years to come and use it as the bar to judge all other shows. To everyone involved in the production, cast and crew, thank you so much.

Collateral 

The chase is on to get to Ava first. Everyone knows she dropped Boyd and left him for dead for the cash. She’s appropriately panicked all episode as she’s more or less trapped in the mountains with Zachariah. He wants to take a “hold up and kill” while she thinks that’s just a suicide plan. When she finds out Boyd is alive and out over the police scanner, she did my idea and took off with as much money as she could carry. A lot of people get mixed up inadvertently as Raylan runs rogue to stop this once and for all.

Raylan runs into Cope, a rather rustic man we haven’t seen in quite some time. With his help (and more evidence that Raylan is desperate to end this and get out) Raylan finds the cabin Zachariah and Ava are hiding in. Zachariah has also had enough and let’s Raylan know what he thinks of him after all these years, but Raylan could care less as he wants to find Ava before anyone else.

With Avery down to just himself and Boon now, he swings by to terrorize Loretta himself this time. Her ex gets dropped in cold blood, but she managed to talk herself into a rather good proposition with Avery. Always the shrewd business woman.

Constable Bob to the rescue! He had a string of good luck there, but collateral damage fits him too I’m afraid.

A plan to simply run is not much of a plan as Ava found out. She’s in some serious peril now, should make for a hell of a climax next week.

It goes without saying that Boyd and Rayland’s scene is the best. I can’t describe how good these scenes are, they have to be watched to be appreciated. The prowling around in the woods back and forth is so fitting and well done.

Zachariah and  Boyd meet for the last time! They both have an ax to grind and try to get the drop on each other again. Zachariah’s seething hate and contingency plan make for great TV!

Series Finale next week! All the pieces are about to come crashing together, it’s going to be a doozy.

Love Songs (In the Key of Gallagher)

Here we are, the end of Season 5. My general thoughts are that it was a really good season. A lot of independent stories that broke the Gallagher’s into groups, but it all kept them together in the end.

The theme was love and loss, with equal part sex and heartbreak. Some major changes in all the relationships of this season.

Lip comes to a bit of a crossroads with his Mrs. Robinson love arrangement. He’s put in a rather uncomfortable position in his adult relationship and goes along with it. This drives the final wedge between him and Amanda as she finally comes to the conclusion that they aren’t in a real relationship. Great public breakup, just enough awkwardness to make Lip feel like the tool he really is. Lip goes home.

Ian gets to know Monica a bit better on their hitchhiking trip to her boyfriends trailer. While he felt alienated and uncomfortable at home, there’s simply no place for him with his mother and meth cooking boyfriend who looks to be just a few older than himself. This run, just like the kidnapping one, comes to a halt. Ian goes home and to the shock of everyone, breaks up with Mickey. I see Ian in purgatory, stuck between hating how the medication makes him feel and how dangerous he can be without it. Without meds he’s himself, a person he feels that doesn’t need to be fixed. That feels normal to him, but how will he manage? Out of everyone, Ian is in the worst space of the Gallagher’s at the end of the season. Mickey sent out to drift is not good either.

Fiona is just terrible at relationships and it gets told right to her face. She clipped Jimmy out but is still running back and forth between Gus and Sean. Both of which are nebulous relationships. I guess Ian isn’t the only one in purgatory. She betrayed Gus so he’s really wary of her. Sean has his own intense issues and really can’t tolerate her wishy-washy personality. With things looking on the outs, she hops over to Sean right away with a smile on her face only to get shut down (at one point even getting denied being called a friend). Sean really knows who she is. Fiona just isn’t going to get what she wants out of either of them.  I think Gus will be gone next year, she might still try with Sean. All of this has kept her out of the family drama which leads to Debbie….

…who is just a ball of anger right now. She resents Fiona pretty much entirely now. She uses Fiona’s choices as bases for her own and when Fiona objects, Debbie shuts her down with her hypocrisy. It’d be a good trick if Debbie wasn’t a stupid kid making horrible decisions time and time again. Everything Debbie thinks she understands always blows up in her face because she knows nothing. I wanted to see Fiona really dig in and call her out, but she’s so out of the loop she really can’t. All it took for Debbie to believe her “kid with Derek” plan is a good idea was for him to say “I love you” back. It convinced her of this adult plan when she has no idea what she’s doing. If she is pregnant (which I think she is), it’s going to blindside Derek and she’s going to run crying back to Fiona. She’s got Derek pegged all wrong (she really needs to pay attention to all the times he shows he’s terrified of breaking his dad’s rules). This is going to be major next year.

Frank’s love story with Bianca comes to a close. A person he truly cared for and wanted to help. I’m not sure how he’s going to process this loss. He’s skipped on so many relationships before with little thought, but Bianca was a much different story to anything he’s been through. She was terminal reckless while he always skirts the edge. Her death is him being abandoned. I really liked Bianca, one of the most memorable characters and plot lines of the show. Frank returns home and he can’t talk to anyone about it. He’s really depressed and no one has any clue what he’s been doing for the past few weeks. The dichotomy of his interaction with his sons when he gets back (the screen grab at the top of this post) was really striking. He’s truly bummed out, expresses his feelings rather poetically to Ian and Lip. They laugh (and bond a bit) over Frank being frank with them, but have no context about what he was on about. To them it was just their dad reappearing after weeks of not giving a shit.

I really loved the end. More or less a reunion at the Gallagher home with a final shot of insanity. Having Sammi show up like the Terminator just as Ian and Mickey are breaking up was a stroke of genius. It was such a Shameless moment, perfect way to end it.

Everyone is looking for happiness and it looks like Kev and V’s reconciliation was the only silver lining. Fiona probably has no husband or boyfriend. Ian breaks up Mickey, Lip breaks a girls heart but has blossoming (?) cuckolding relationship to turn to. Frank has been crushed and Debbie may or man not be ruining her life (she will be ruining her relationship with Derek though). Actually, the one bright side is that Chuckie and Carl seem to be doing the most with their detention time.

With this, Shameless is completely primed for another great season. I can’t wait for next year.