TV Reviews

The Killing – Orpheus Descending

Many words spring to mind when thinking
about the season finale of The Killing;
few of them are positive. “Frustrating” would likely be at the
forefront, with “completely ridiculous” not far behind. There
were actually a couple of brilliant scenes and performances,
but unfortunately they were overshadowed by a ludicrous twist ending and
an anticlimactic finale. It might have been wrong to expect much
from this episode, even given how much of an improvement the last few
episodes were on the series, but “Orpheus Descending” was far and
away the worst episode of an already tragically misguided season.

Game of Thrones – Baelor

The penultimate episode of Game of Thrones’ first season didn’t have a
lot of Eddard Stark in it, besides the opening and closing scenes,
which did a great job of reminding the audience of who this man is one
last time before his unexpected and pitiable death. I was quite
surprised by this event when reading the book, and I imagine most people
who were new to the story were as well when they saw those last couple
minutes. It just seems like an obvious move to banish Ned to the Wall
with his son and set up some story threads that way, and it does make
sense for Cersei to keep him alive for political reasons, and you just
forget that Joffrey is actually the king at this point, doesn’t really
understand what he’s doing, and would love to see a couple heads roll in
his honor. It’s a gut punch to have a major character put aside his
honor and duty to protect his family and then lose everything anyway,
and establishes once and for all that this isn’t your standard fantasy
plot, and if there are any safe characters, it’s hard to tell who they
are.

The Killing – Beau Soleil

A dozen
days in and with only one left to go, this episode saw things moving
quickly while still allowing time for side plots and backstory.
“Beau Soleil” may not have been as good as the two previous
episodes – “Missing” especially – but it was still at a higher
level than the majority of the series. While it was enjoyable as an
individual episode, as a part of the whole, it served to point out
many of the faults that lie within the series.

The
strained bonds keeping the Larsens together came closer than ever to
snapping in this episode. As Stan sits in jail, Mitch showcases the
only other emotion we’ve seen from her besides grief: anger. Furious
at Stan for emptying their account and then more so when she hears a
message left from Stan’s old mob boss, Janek, she fires Belko when she
feels he’s not being honest with her. Though Forbes has proven she
is a gifted actress, the writing hasn’t lived up to her talent, never
coming up with more for her to do other than weep, and now apparently
sobbingly yell at people. While she did have two good scenes in this
episode, they were more notable for the actors she shared them with.
Mitch’s confrontation with Stan at the prison was one of the better
moments, but that might just be because it felt so good to see Stan
lay out to Mitch how much she is to blame for their current
predicament. Another highpoint also came from Stan when he tells
the psychiatrist about his dream of another man sitting at the head
of his table. Sexton, while not brilliant, has been very consistent
in his role and he has lately delivered a convincing portrayal of
Stan’s struggle to accept what he’s done. Mitch was again put in her
place when Terry questioned her about Stan’s bail. Terry telling
Mitch she didn’t even know her daughter was the kind of thing that
would normally make you hate someone, but Terry was completely
justified in it. Not only for everything she’s been doing for the
family, but because she’s absolutely right, though Mitch is hardly
the only mother to be disconnected from her teenage daughter. Still,
seeing her knocked down a peg was gratifying, which speaks to the
writers’ talent, or lack thereof, given their inability to make even
a grieving mother sympathetic. Not that after this episode Terry is
going to be seen in a much more favorable light either.

Game of Thrones – The Pointy End

This show just keeps getting better, doesn’t it? Things went from bad
to worse in last night’s episode of Game of Thrones, written by George
R.R. Martin, the author of the books himself. Everybody got something to
do, the monologues were less lengthy and preachy, and they never felt
the need to resort to bare breasts to grab the viewer’s attention
(though there is a very different sort of nudity in there). The action
is reaching a fever pitch, and while a lot of it must take place off
screen due to the concerns of TV budgeting, Westeros is definitely
becoming a very unsafe place to be.

The Killing – Missing

The
synopsis for this episode would have made anyone think that “Missing”
was strictly going to be a filler episode; which it was, but that
didn’t stop it from being better than most in the series. Switching
things up by focusing solely on Linden and Holder was a wise choice,
as was the character development and back story the writers finally
gave the audience. It’s just a shame it didn’t come much sooner in
the series.

Day
twelve picked up with Linden investigating the casino the Adela ferry
led her to. The staff was tight lipped, but one confirmed that Rosie
was there on the Friday in question; despite trying to do just the
opposite. Though Linden did give a convincing performance as the
take-no-guff detective, being out of her jurisdiction meant attitude
alone wasn’t enough. In lieu of waiting for a federal warrant,
Linden decides to requisition the footage from the ATM’s around the
casino to see if they can spot Rosie using one. The detectives would
still have to wait most of the day for the D.A. to file the warrant,
which was the perfect opportunity for Linden’s son to run off,
leading her and Holder to spend the day tracking him down. It was
certainly a change of pace to focus an entire episode on Holder and
Linden; with no scenes involving the Larsen’s or the Richmond
campaign. If The Killing had
set out with episodes like this for all three story lines, than
perhaps the audience wouldn’t have been complaining for so long about
not knowing the characters. As such, we’re twelve episodes in and
just now learning about these characters’ motivations, as well as the
demons they deal with. No matter how overdue it is, there is no
denying it’s nice to see.

The Killing – I’ll Let You Know When I Get There

With
their prime suspect beaten to a pulp, not to mention cleared of all
connection to Rosie’s murder, Holder and Linden are back to the
drawing board in this episode. While the Richmond campaign sees a
surge and the Larsens are dealing with the consequences of Stan beating
Bennet half to death, the detectives actually make a little progress
in the case, even while one deals with heavy personal issues and they
both deal with another mislead.

After
Stan all but kills Bennet, he almost immediately turns himself in.
The shots of him being booked were poignant, though they would have
been more so if he’d actually killed Bennet. It also would have been
nice to know that the series is willing to greatly alter the lives of
their characters, as the writers haven’t done much of that since
Rosie’s body was found. Little focus was put on how Stan’s
incarceration is affecting the family, besides Terry having to
explain it to the kids in a scene that once again made the viewer
question if Mitch isn’t the worst mother in the world. Seriously, at
this point Stan could be the killer (he genuinely could be given the
latest developments in the case) and he would still be a better
parent, especially since it was Mitch blaming Stan that led to his
imprisonment. It can be assumed that the lasting impact Stan’s
arrest has will be focused on soon, as will Mitch discovering their
savings account being emptied. It just won’t be easy to keep feeling
sympathetic for the grieving mother when we do see those events play
out.

Game of Thrones – You Win or You Die

This episode of Game of Thrones was so good that I didn’t
even realize until it was nearly over that the best character didn’t appear at
all. The Eyrie still showed up in the opening credits, but none of the
characters in that area showed up, and we barely saw Winterfell either, with
yet another scene reminding us that Theon is the son of the lord of the Iron
Islands and being held in the North, in case we forgot the one from the last
episode and the one before that, and the one before that. But while that scene
dragged a bit, the stuff in King’s Landing and at the Wall and in the east was
really good, and the last ten minutes of the episode were pretty damn dramatic –
things are going very badly for some people, and even though I know what’s
going to happen, I can’t wait to watch the rest of it play out.

The Borgias – Nessuno (Nobody)

While
not stunning in its excellence, the season finale of Showtime’s The
Borgias was entertaining. With
a little sex, a little violence, and plenty of political intrigue and
manipulation, the first season’s final episode epitomized everything
the series has been about so far. Though by no means the best
episode, “Nessuno (Nobody)” was still a fitting close to the first
chapter of this provocative period piece.

The Killing – Undertow

Day nine
saw another big mislead revealed, more bad dialogue, and little
progression in the case of Rosie Larsen’s murder. There hasn’t been
anything outstanding about this series since its pilot episode (and
there wasn’t much then), but as the same tired patterns repeat again
and again, The Killing seems
to slip further from ever being a remarkable series and closer to
being another standard police procedural with its only difference being
focused on one case a season instead of an episode. Though
“Undertow” had progression to part of the plot, it wasn’t in the
right direction, or written well enough for The Killing
to break out of its own current of mediocrity.

Game of Thrones – The Golden Crown

I think last night’s episode of Game of Thrones featured the series’
first real death of a significant character. I mean, the Starks were
pretty upset about Jory taking a knife in the eye from Jaime last week,
but as far as the story goes he mostly just did errands for Ned.  But
Viserys finally getting his golden crown from Khal Drogo, after becoming
more of a well-rounded character recently (he’s still a dirtbag, but we
understand why he’s a dirtbag better), gave viewers the first true
taste of how safe everyone is. Which is to say: not very. And things are
going to get a lot worse soon.