TV Reviews

True Blood – Burning Down the House

For weeks now bashing True Blood has been just about the easiest thing in the world, with its laundry list of problems the show has been nowhere near the level that it’s capable of, with some of it actually being laughably bad. After nine weeks, the fourth season was in a state beyond repair, or, so I thought. Ten weeks in however, “Burning Down the House” may just have given the season a chance to prove what this show is capable of again. Admittedly it wasn’t perfect, but now that an awful lot of the insanity that has come before has been sorted through, the show seems to have found something similar to a leg to stand upon. What strikes me the most however is that the drop off and subsequent return to form of the show coincide with one thing: the state of mind of Mr. Eric Northman. 

At the very beginning of the season, despite some fairly strange occurrences, True Blood was looking almost as good as ever. Sadly, it all went downhill very quickly, right around the time that Eric had his mind stolen from him by Marnie. After weeks of having a not quite version of the vampire Sheriff, things came to a head at the end of last week when Antonia instructed Eric to kill Bill – a plan that failed when Sookie faeried her and Bill out of trouble by moon-beaming Eric. The use of her faerie powers not only stopped Eric from killing his King, but also, thankfully, gave him back his memories. What then followed was the first good episode in over a month. Coincidence? maybe, but regardless, it feels awfully good to have the real Eric Northman back on TV. 

Entourage – The Big Bang

In trying to think of ways to articulate exactly what has been happening with Entourage of late, steady decline is a phrase that springs to mind repeatedly. The eighth season of the show hasn’t hit a level at which I am prepared to call it bad, in fact, there are still moments mixed into episodes that make me want to see more, but it has simply lost its way. The season premiere had serious promise, laying out the groundwork for the eight episode run that made me think that it was perhaps not going to be too short to get anything done, but now, with just two episodes left following this week’s “The Big Bang,” that hope is all but gone. The things that I thought were going to be focal points of the season have taken a back burner, the movie that Vince wrote still hasn’t even come close to being made and Ari Gold isn’t even funny anymore. 

The serious problems with “The Big Bang” came essentially due to the entire episode being devoted to things that are ultimately trivial as far as the grander scale of the show is concerned. Namely, Vince’s interview for Vanity Fair. Last week I somewhat appreciated the attempt to at least throw a glimmer of reality into the show when Vince had the interview, given that we have seen him give about five interviews in the entire course of the show and anyone with internet access knows that, that isn’t an accurate portrayal of Hollywood. Sadly however, it continued to dominate this episode for no real reason that I can see. Vince is obviously extremely attracted to Alice Eve’s Sophia, but with just three episodes remaining, starting a “love” story is a ridiculous idea. Given that Eve is set to appear in the remaining two episodes of the show it is obviously where this is headed, but it just doesn’t make sense for the show. 

Louie – Duckling

We got an hour-long installment of
Louie this week, and C.K. came up with just the story to fill
it. Afghanistan served as the setting in what turned out to be a
humorous and moving episode following Louie on the first leg of a USO
tour. “Duckling” showed that sometimes the good intentions of
children can be enough to overcome any differences, and scored plenty
of laughs while doing it.

Even before Louie headed off,
“Duckling” was making me glad the episode had a whole hour to
play with. It kicked off with the usual stand up segment, but Louie
seemed more open and relaxed than he normally does; just riffing with
the audience instead of doing a set. And the very child friendly
joke about the lion and the giraffe was a fitting opening to an
episode that was actually inspired by an idea from one of C.K.’s
real-life daughters. The classic over-explanation of the joke
actually got a bigger laugh though. Dolores(from “Blueberries”)
showing up again to give Louie the evil eye in the first scene also
didn’t go unappreciated. Louie’s last night before heading out can’t
just be a quiet evening with his girls though. So after a few more
shots of him wrangling ducklings and putting the girls to sleep,
while having to emphatically deny Jane’s request to keep one of
them(“Dude, no!”), you can’t knock Louie for needing a
smoke break. He’s just a 43 year-old man, with a secret stash of
cigarettes and a bathtub full of baby ducks. Who better to entertain
the troops?

Wilfred – Doubt

Wilfred has given us some
hilarious moments, some tragically unfunny moments, and a few
perplexing ones, but with “Doubt” it said to hell with logic all
together(you know, more than it has with a talking dog) and for the
most part, humor. Not without a few bright spots -and I stress a
few- this episode suffered from setting itself up to answer the
series most troubling question, and instead brought the issue front
and center only to leave it worse off than before.

As someone who has been wondering for
awhile now why Ryan is such a glutton for punishment and refuses to
at least try to oust Wilfred from his life, “Doubt” seemed like
the episode I had been waiting for. With the arrival of the
enigmatic, Bruce, and Ryan finally putting some thought into ridding
himself of the demonic dog, things were looking up. Though Ryan
actually needing someone to point out that Wilfred is ruining his
life was beyond belief, even for his wide-eyed naivete. Dwight
Yoakam(Crank) was certainly memorable, making an appearance as
the disturbed shell of a man left behind from Wilfred’s handiwork(Who
wouldn’t be a little unstable after making out with their dad?).
Yoakam has that face that’s hard to forget anyway, so his roles
always make an impression. Though not even his performance was
enough to save an episode doomed from the start.

Haven – Audrey Parker’s Day Off

With “Audrey Parker’s Day Off,” Haven
has finally reached its potential. In one episode, the series has
displayed the skills that made me laud “Fear & Loathing” and has
made the viewers care more than usual for the outcome because Audrey —
the cornerstone of the story — cared more than usual. By weaving
together good storytelling and a compelling lead character drama, the
show has delivered an episode that will really please the regular
viewers, and possibly win over new ones.

Breaking Bad – Cornered

We are almost halfway through this
season of Breaking Bad, and while it hasn’t been an
adrenaline-filled ride, the series is still putting out highly
entertaining episodes. “Cornered” may not have seen much plot
progression, but the characters’ personal journeys made for
compelling drama.

In recreating the opening from “Bullet
Points” the episode set us up to think we already knew the outcome.
If Mike handled two cartel thugs with a single pistol, than surely
these two guys packing assault rifles won’t have any problem dealing
with a few more hijackers. But that lull was intentionally designed
to impart more impact on what actually happened; which already had
plenty of its own. Seeing the two guards die clawing and scratching
for air as they gasp on exhaust fumes didn’t quite match the level of
brutality in watching Victor meet his end at the hands of Gustavo;
but it wasn’t far behind either. Contrasting it with the three
cartel agents casually sharing the dead driver’s lunch was a black
humor cherry on top.

True Blood – Let’s Get Out of Here

The road to redemption for True Blood this season is going to be a long one. After a strange but somewhat promising start, the show fell victim to indecision and was plagued by the fact that the source material for the show, at least in the case of “Dead to the World,” absolutely sucks. I haven’t read it, and I know that artistic license has obviously been taken, but Charlaine Harris simply bit off more than she could chew when it came to introducing witches into the story. The Antonia plot is not terrible, in fact it has the potential to be far from it, but trying have it be so stupidly “authentic” (if it could even really be called that) is just making it ridiculous. Based on a very quick Google search, Fiona Shaw is a good actress, but if you’re going to have the main antagonist of the show speak in a Spanish accent for most of the season, don’t cast an Irish woman! Try as she might she just sounds stupid and it sucks any sliver of seriousness or gravitas out of her character. 

Furthermore her revenge plot is nonsensical. If she really has the power to make the vampires walk into the sun (which she does), just cast the spell forever until eventually she wins. She is a spirit possessing a woman, she doesn’t need to sleep and isn’t really under any threat given her power, so why bother even trying to form a coven if you’re just going to stop using them anyway? Why on Earth she needs to specifically stay in a tiny town in Louisiana is also beyond me. She has no personal connection to the place at all, save for the fact that Marnie was attacked by Erik (which was entirely her own fault) and she could very easily succeed with her plan by going absolutely anywhere else in the world! No one besides the people already involved actually knows that she exists or has the power that she has, so why she hasn’t just hopped a red eye to the middle of New York City and killed thousands of vampires is just an unanswerable question due to sheer lack of common sense in the writing.

Entourage – MotherF**ker

After an exemplary start to the eighth and final season of Entourage, it was inevitable that things were going to slow down and return to the Entourage of old. Last week it seemed as if we had hit that slump, when “Whiz Kid” chronicled Vince urinating in a cup for its extremely limited twenty minutes of screen time, but as much as one would have liked them to be, things weren’t quite done with yet. Whilst outshining its predecessor in terms of content, “Motherf**ker” did little in the way of plot progression to the extent that it is now becoming frustrating. With only three episodes left in its run, Entourage has managed to waste two consecutive episodes on very, very little, and of the few things that did actually happen, you’d require a season nine to truly give them the resolution that they deserve. Nevertheless, what’s done is and forever will be done and Entourage will have to live with that.

Of the few things that the show did get right this week, its title amazingly wasn’t just profanity for profanity’s sake, rather, for perhaps the first time ever when the word has been used, a mother was truly f**ked. Still broken up over his break-up with Sloan, Eric has been keeping a calm exterior in front of his friends despite absolutely no one believing his positive outlook. When Melinda Clarke (played by the actual Melinda Clarke but not really as herself), Sloan’s ex-stepmother, set up a meeting with Eric he was warned off on more than one occasion, but feeling mildly down as he is, he went ahead with it anyway. With Melinda looking for new representation Eric was thrown a little off his game, expecting the conversation to be of a more personal nature, but wising up afterwards, he went to meet her at a bar to accept her as a client. As the alcohol flowed and the two bitched about the McQuewicks, the inevitable side effect of loneliness took place and they ended up in bed together. Unbeknownst to E however, that was Melinda’s plan all along, just to make her ex jealous. 

Alphas – Bill and Gary’s Excellent Adventure

“Bill and Gary’s Excellent Adventure” was a break from what we’ve been accustomed to from Alphas.
There was no Alpha-of-the-week and not even a passing reference to Red
Flag. Over the five preceding weeks, the series managed to let us know a
lot about its many leads, but here character development really took
center stage. It worked reasonably well even though the choice of
characters made it hard for the writers to draw us all in, or lead us
smoothly to the predictable ending.

The
title is actually misleading as this was Bill’s adventure, with Gary
coming along for the ride. It was Bill’s because the (writers’) goal was
to get him to commit to the team. Gary was the perfect companion for
the ride because he embodied better than the others the difficulties
Bill had with the team — frictions between the two being more open and
more frequent.

Louie – Halloween/Ellie

Louie had been on course to have
a perfect season, but with “Halloween/Ellie” the series saw its
first bad episode of the year. Even then it was only half bad, and
in fact “Halloween” was one of the more memorable segments.
“Ellie” didn’t generate enough humor or have any poignant message
behind it, just taking us back to somewhere the series has already
been.

Whenever C.K. is railing on kids in the
opening standup segment, you know he is going to be spending some
time with the girls during the episode. And since Jane and Lilly are
always comedic gold, the anticipation for the episode was high while
listening to his diatribe on how coddled American children are.
Whether it was bubblegum flavor or not, we all vocalized our disgust
for cough syrup growing up – some of us probably still do. Just as
with the series itself, C.K.’s strength as a comedian has always come
from how easy his material is to relate to, and how effectively it
cuts to the bone. Anyone reading this, and me writing it, are all
spoiled when compared with most of the world, and have been all of
our lives. So has C.K., which some may say makes him a hypocrite,
but he is more of an impartial observer of all things negative.
Which is why he can speak so well to the truth of our over pampered
society, while directing it at his daughter, and it still be
hilarious; “You’re wearing clothes made by children your age
professionally.”