Channel Zero: Butcher’s Block has finished its run and I think I liked No End House more. The hook for Butcher’s Block was cannibalism but I never thought the show ever got scary. Something always felt missing and by the end, I wasn’t surprised to come away with little more than a shrug and thinking “I guess so.” Maybe I had no connection to the mental illness action, or I missed the important subtext, but very little stuck with me. Some wild imagery brought up the creep factor (the representation(s) of Alice’s fears being the standout) which is what I’ll remember most. I didn’t get attached to the sisters like I needed to and outside of Rutger Hauer, none of the characters stood out to me. I’m having a hard time articulating my disappointment for this. I guess I just wanted more and maybe it wasn’t developed in ways I thought it should.

McMafia is….alright. Feels rather paint by numbers and nothing really special. This week’s episode with getting into the dock was well done, but I’m having a hard time finding good reasons to stick around. And why did they name this show McMafia? McMansion is the obvious wordplay but I don’t understand what kind of possible relation they’re going for. AMC doesn’t even seem to believe in the show as it’s being replaced for a week by the premiere of The Terror.

This week’s episode of The Walking Dead was the best I can remember in some time. Angry and impulsive Rick is the best. We finally we got to see him go after with Negan and get to him. They charge right in without wasting time and the fight turned out to be one of the series most unique action scenes (could have used less dialog though). Maggie is getting more screen time and I like seeing her throw he weight around. The more executive decisions, the better. I thought Michonne was going to pistol whip Enid, so there’s another successful scene. And Simon being fed up with the status quo is great! That power dynamic needs to be thrown in a blender because Negan is beyond boring. Keep hitting the same notes and everyone is going to start demanding to hear a new song.

Now the challenge is if I can remember it all.

Arrow is finally going through a story arc that is bringing something new to the table, not just whatever bad guy is the biggest problem. Internal strife has pulled the team apart and it feels like something of long-term consequence is happening.

Gotham is on its third Poison Ivy but it looks like we have hit the comic book version with this one. And if I’m not mistaken that was The Toymaker! It said Krank on the storefront window so that’s a rather recent pull from a modern animated Batman show. Rebel without a cause Bruce cracks me up and Selina finally sees him and calls him out. I look forward to this every week and I’m happy it’s back.

The Walking Dead had a powerful episode. Funny how that happens when it’s about a character you care about. Interesting set up for the last half of the season, I’m not much of a believer that they’ll make it work and keep up the quality.

Atlanta is back! It feels like it’s been forever. Guest appearance by Katt Williams and he was fantastic! Earn is trying to keep his space next to Paper Boi and the plot used for Katt created a revealing look at how Earn feels and what his fears are. Strong character study right out of the gate.

The mini-series Waco finished but I haven’t watched the final episode yet. Really good, Taylor Kitsch is fantastic.

Baskets remains awesome, I have an odd love for this show.

McMafia is a new show on FX. I usually dig the shows this network picks up so I gave it a shot. The show is about Alex Godman, the son of a Russian mob boss who was kicked out of the country. Alex grew up in England and lived a luxurious childhood, an Ivy league school education and now heads his own business on Wall Street. His uncle still works on the less legal side of business and a bad deal brings Alex directly into a world he’s tried to keep clear of. An interesting pilot episode with the hook of the show coming in the last 10 minutes of the show. I’m intrigued by the setup and I really like the lead actor, James Norton, who I first saw on the fantastic Happy Valley.

And that’s just the start. Once April kicks in, we’re looking at Silicon Valley, Westworld, Archer, Krypton, The Terror, and The Americans. My backlog of series is growing, there’s not enough time in the day.

The Detour is back on TBS. I hated the season 2 finale but two episodes in and the show is back on track.

Baskets is back on FX. More people should be watching this.

Happy! has finished it’s first season run. Wild show that was smartly 8 episodes long to tell its story. That left no time to waste so it moved along and had no chance to get stuck in a rut or overstay its welcome. I think enough background to the characters were given and satisfying resolution at the end made for a complete story. A good start with a perfect set up for more, I look forward to the next run.

Sleepwalking

The best way to talk about a season finale is to look back at the arc of the entire season.

We’ll start with Kevin, V, and Svetlana. After duking it out all season, Svet becoming depressed over her rival beating her to ultimate gold digger status opened the door for our favorite next door neighbors to get her to move on clean and clear. Lining up an old wealthy man is a challenge though and Svet got desperate last week with her replacement bride scheme. A risk, to say the least, Kevin and V go along with it, working to cover all the angles to get Svet hitched in a wedding most people seemingly already saw as a sham. They do find success in getting the bride to the altar with a near-death groom but this story isn’t over yet. Coming into this I thought two things could happen: it would blow up on the wedding day or Svet would get away with it and her time on the show would come to an end. The writers have a different idea. Svet gets married but there is a prenup. There is no info on the actual clauses but it’s definitely going to be The Next Problem for this trio (and Svet currently doesn’t know it exists). Not sure how I feel about this as it felt like this story for Kevin and V had been heading for closure. Kevin’s family that came around this year seems to be forgotten and his domination angle disappeared without a word (strange that they never gave V her scene to shut it down). While this group will always be the third string in the story department, I’d like to see them get mixed back into the Gallagher whirlwinds.

Deb has been a soldier all season long. Doing her best to be independent and provide for Frannie, she doesn’t take grief from anyone. Sure she’s made some bad decisions but she took a horrible injury like a champ and continued on her way. Derek made one last appearance to give her one more life hurdle to navigate. He’s getting married to the woman he found after ditching her and Frannie and wants joint custody of his daughter. He left because he was a scared kid with nothing going on and now that he’s made his own moves in life he wants to get involved and be responsible. This, of course, makes Deb furious that all this time later he now wants to be a decent person. She ends up talking to Carl of all people (in a rather odd scenario) about it and it sounds like she could be warming up to the idea that getting help from Derek would make her and Frannie’s life better. Child support would be huge but I don’t know how well Deb would deal with Derek’s wife being around her daughter all the time. It’s a grown-up decision, that’s for sure. Not sure if Debbie has grown up much in that department though.

Speaking of Carl, he takes the male Gallagher route in decision making by running from his problems. Sure he loves Kassidi (as much as a trapped teenager can be) and wants to be with her but his obligations to his Army brothers is just as strong. Since Kassidi can’t be reasoned with, running is the easiest option. She catches him though and chains him to the bed which makes you wonder how much of this she’s actually thought out. Lucky for her, Debbie is no help to him (everyone did tell him not to marry the crazy girls so he’s gotta learn). Unfortunately, Liam is a help to him. With a midnight assist, Carl makes it to the Greyhound bus out of town.

Liam’s been bobbing around this season like a cork. He pops up in everyone’s lives (usually in the kitchen) but he’s been closest to Frank. I must say this has probably been Frank’s best behaved season. He hasn’t truly done anything horrific to his family and managed to do a lot of good. Even for Liam. Sure he got him involved in some scams, but nothing that would pull him down the drain. Until the last con, to rob the father of Liam’s friend. Everything else has been a pretty easy explanation for Frank to get Liam on his side. But this one involves a friend, a person Liam cares about (and is a reprieve from his Southside Chicago life). He stakes out the mansion for Frank (quite smoothly might I add, he’s picked up on quite a few grifting tricks from Frank) and it looks like it could be quite the heist. But Liam is different from Frank, he has a much louder conscience that points him in the right direction. He gives Frank the wrong code to disarm the alarm system and leaves him to fend for himself. Rather poetic and a smart way to keep himself clear of getting the Frank Gallagher reputation of “Do Not Trust.” What doesn’t kill Frank… lets him live to scam another day. At this point it’s for the best, he doesn’t know any other way to live.

Ian has been looking for a reason to live for awhile. A sense of purpose is the better way of putting it. This “Gay Jesus” title seems to fill that void. Being an EMT he’s recognized that he enjoys helping people. This social movement that is growing behind him gives him the attention that I think he ultimately craves. Blowing up a van is rather extreme and has consequences that take Trevor to remind him of. Blowing up that van did get him tens of thousands of internet views so his time in the spotlight is far from over, as witnessed by his grand display when he gets arrested.

Lip is another Gallagher who has been searching for himself. He’s lived through others, taking on their problems, to avoid is own. It’s easier to ruminate on problems that aren’t your own. While everyone rises and falls around him, he’s been diligent about keeping sober. That’s really the only tangible goal he’s had in some time. That and the project motorcycle Brad handed over to him. Idle hands are the devil’s playground and building something has served Lip well when he has nothing else concrete to turn to. So through Charlie screwing up and Lip doing his best to stay out of it, pushed Sierra back to him. With all the relationship drama it’s made him think about himself. How he met Sierra and what their relationship was like. In a major milestone, he realizes that them being together isn’t good for either of them. He’s still in murky waters. He wasn’t sober for any part of the time they were together. He doesn’t know what will make him happy and what he wants so he can’t be a reliable partner for her. It’s pretty stunning idea coming from him. Lip doing the breakup is something I didn’t foresee. She’s shattered and he’s not too happy about it either but he’s finally putting himself first. He tells Brad (whose on an upswing) who agrees he made the right call. Eddie meanwhile, has taken off leaving her niece in the lurch. She’s around the shop all the time so Lip has become friends with her and seeing a kid in need of help brings out the nurturer in him. Unlike his role with Sierra, he can do a better job at giving this kid some stability until she finds out what’s next for her.

This season Fiona has been making professional moves. Wheeling and dealing trying to climb up that economic ladder. She’s done well (with a side of luck) until this lawsuit threatens the rest of her life. And then there is Ford, the looming question mark in her personal life. She has a lot to figure out and she works things out with Ford first. After being run over by Sean she turned to Tinder to cope. No dating, no commitments, no attachments. Just hookups. So when she met Ford, she had enough of the hookup world. Maybe she wants a relationship after all. Ford’s a mystery though. A world traveler with relationships all over the world (and even when they’ve broken up, they’re still friendly? Who does that? That’s the real head-scratcher for Fiona who’s known and seen only dysfunctional couples aside from Kev and V). So they’ve hooked up and gotten close over the summer but there’s…ambiguity to it. So she flat out asks him: what are we? What are we doing? Is this future worthy? Considering what he’s gone through with (and for) her and he hasn’t run for the hills, I’ve been thinking he’s ready to commit. He’s seen and known her enough to know what’s up. And he tells her as much. With this revelation, she’s ready to tackle her lawsuit problem. She gets advice from the developer that bought the laundromat after getting some rather unnerving options from her lawyer. The tip: give them an ultimatum that won’t kill you and will seem like a good last-ditch deal for them.  And who gives Fiona the tip-off to start the bargaining? Frank. Seek out Pyro Pete. He makes a smoke bomb that successfully forces the squatters out of her building and then the final press: lean on the greed of the husband.  She offers them a few thousand bucks in cash to drop the lawsuit and take off. Plus, a promise to send them monthly payments for the next year wherever they land. She wisely puts the crunch of the decision process, telling them a lawsuit can take years to play out and bluffs that her lawyer is sure Fiona is going to win and they’d get nothing. Burning cash in front of them starts the timer for the rash decision. Fiona’s gamble pays off when the husband folds. She is free of a major problem and things are looking up.

While not the best season of the show, it was another solid one to add to the series. The absurdity was reigned in, keeping it from falling off the rails. While that made for fewer high stakes situations and dark humor, I liked the balance. Especially because the journey of a lot of the characters (I’d put Lip as my favorite) was really good. A good sense of movement and I’m still all in to see what happens to the Gallagher family next.

A Gallagher Pedicure

A Super Shameless episode! Finally, the crazy gets cranked up.

Sierra drops in on Lip, her lunatic father has been released from jail on probation. She’s terrified he’s going to look for her so Lip takes her in. With such a threat out there, Lip figures it’s best to get this guy off the streets again. He finds out what halfway house this guy is staying in and instigates a fight. He gets Eddie’s niece to record it and lo and behold, who strikes first? Later in the day, Sierra is overjoyed to hear her dad got locked up again and Lip pretends to not know anything about it. Points to Lip.

Deb has got a serious problem on her hands. Or foot. The pipe that smashed her foot crushed two of her toes and it’s going to cost a fortune and a long time to get them fixed. So Deb goes the Gallagher route and shoulders this herself and takes the cheap DIY approach. She sterilizes pruning sheers (Deb, those look super rusty) and inlists Liam to cut off her three toes. She takes some painkillers with some alcohol and gives the final instructions to Liam. He passes out, she gets mad and passes out too. And who comes into the house? Frank. Taking in the scene, he knows exactly what’s going on and does Liam’s job with no hesitation. If she doesn’t get an infection I’d say this is a win for Debbie.

Since we’re talking about Liam and Frank, we’ll stick with them. Liam’s rich friend has invited him to go on vacation with his family. They’re going yachting and it looks/sounds amazing. This kid’s dad is crazy loaded. At this time Frank is annoyed he can’t retire. Turns out working a legitimate job for 6 weeks in your entire 50+ year life means you have no savings. Even trying to steal the identity of three people is less lucrative than you may think. So Liam asks Frank again if he can go with his friend and Frank comes to realize that he could be an arm’s length away from a rich guy opportunity. He meets the father and when the scope of this guy’s wealth come apparent, the scam gears in Frank’s head start spinning.

Gay Jesus Ian is really hitting his stride. When a young kid comes to him trying to hide from his family, those that are there to advise Ian warn him to back off. The kid is a minor and that complicates things. After a failed kidnapping attempt the father comes to Ian to reason with him. Ian hears a lot that mimics his own life and that makes him turn to the kid to suss out what’s true. He doubles down on protecting the kid when he hears the answers.

Carl and Kassidi are stuck in a loop that needs to be broken just for the simple fact that something interesting between them needs to happen. It’s the same thing on repeat. They have lots of sex, they’re both happy, they go do something, Carl says he’s leaving for military school, she wigs out, he apologizes and bends over backward for her to make her happy again. This time he tells her he won’t go back to school, something that everyone around him knows is a death sentence for him. Is it going to take some kind of intervention to jettison this spoiled brat? I hope it’s dramatic and loud to make this storyline interesting again.

Fiona heads into battle. After getting terrible news from her lawyer (she could very well be on the hook to pay the family off for the rest of her/their lives) she tries to reason with the squatters in her apartment. Fiona has made a few bad choices by being a good and understanding person. The barricaded themselves in the apartment and are essentially holding her dog for ransom. When she hears the dog in distress, Fiona snaps and digs into the Gallagher bag of tricks. Ford helps her block off their door so they can’t get out, stops the running water, and bumps Fog Hat at full blast into the walls. Then the rescue mission. Ford cuts a hole into the wall for Fiona to crawl through and Fiona finds the dog tied up in the hallway. Dog in hand, one of the kids sees her and sounds the alarm. The mother chases Fiona and tackles her down the hallway. With a hasty dog pass to Ford, Fiona delivers a few well-placed kicks to break free so she can crawl back out. Hole sealed up and some celebratory love making ensures. Now, what kind of fallout comes from this could go either way. They double down on the lawsuit or they come to an agreement to a much lower price (best case scenario: they take the max 500k payout from her insurance).

Gold digger Svetlana gives up. She can’t figure out how to get it done like Freelania managed to do, so she eats crow and goes to her for advice. It doesn’t go well. Freelania would rather step on Svet’s throat than help her out. Freelania cackles away to organize her wedding leaving Svet exasperated. She doesn’t know what to do and then her future hobbles up to her. Freelania’s fiance is senile. He thinks she’s Freelania and a plan is born! Cut to Svet dragging a rather large and heavy  bag into The Alibi.

Next week is the season finale!

Church of Gay Jesus

With Frank out of lucrative hustle, he hooks himself to Ian’s rising star. His advocacy work interrupting gay conversion meeting is gaining more and more steam. Crowds of people wait for him at work and more local pastors are asking him to do speaking engagements. What started out as talking to a dozen kids quickly turns into a hundred. Frank knows an opportunity to make cash when he sees one and starts making Gay Jesus t-shirts to sell when Ian is speaking, He agrees to give most of the money to Trevor’s organization but you better believe Frank will work around that.

All of this has gotten Ian off of Fiona’s back. It’s an overwhelming experience for him and when Fiona says he shouldn’t do it if he hates it, he replies that he doesn’t hate it. It just doesn’t know what to make of it. This is new territory for him and scores of people are coming to see him speak. He’s no longer a middle child, but a growing star. The fame is pushing Trevor to the side so Ian has some work to do to balance his life.

Fiona spends more time with Ford and it seems like they are actually in a relationship. After one of the workers who was fixing her apartment building roof fell off the building last week, she offers him and his struggling (homeless) family a helping hand. She asks Trevor if he knows a temp place for them to stay while the man heals from his busted leg and Trevor sets it up. Then, she offers them to crash at her new apartment (that she’s fixing up and moving into) for two days until they can move into the shelter. Her good graces quickly get whipped around into her face. They squat in her apartment (they invited like 8 people to stay in the apartment) and then sue Fiona for the accident. Six million dollars!

A shock to the system comes to Lip: Professor Youens had a seizure in jail from alcohol withdrawal, hit his head and died. Lip is flippantly told the news, like the guy barely existed. His next of kin was notified and the body was claimed. Lip goes to Youens’ house and he meets Tabitha, Youens’ daughter. In no big surprise, Professor wasn’t much a father. But he was a mentor. Lip hears from many people Youens helped at the memorial services and he ends up mourning with Tabitha.

Deb picks up scab welding work to make good money and while she feels conflicted about snaking work from a welding union she will soon want to join, the pay is really good. Working off books at night has its drawbacks…she gets seriously injured when a pipe she’s working on lands on her foot.

Everyone says Kassidi is crazy. They say it to each other and they say it to Carl’s face. He’s desperate to keep her around and he goes along with the engagement. When he gets cold feet and asks Kassidi to slow down, she comes up with a suicide trap to force his hand in marriage. Carl is doomed.

Seeing Svetlana so miserable, Kevin and V work to get her hooked up with an old rich dude. That’ll get her what she wants (money) and get her out of their hair. Svet might know what she wants, but she doesn’t want to debase herself to get it. It’s going to be an uphill climb for this one and I doubt a happy ending is going to result from their efforts.