Year's End

I don't watch every show, but I watch a lot of shows.  Certainly more than your average Emmy or Golden Globe voter.  Here are my 2013 made up winners for my made up categories.

Biggest laugh
"I have decided to do a puzzle." - Winston
"All In"
New Girl
It took me longer to recover from this line than anything else on television.  I probably laughed for 5-10 minutes.  Out of context, it doesn't make much sense.  In context, I'm not sure it makes any more sense.

Favorite single episode
"Decoy"
Justified
The best western made since the Magnificent Seven.  Paired with "Get Drew" you have 90 minutes of a movie. 

Biggest and best single episode
"The Rains of Castamere"
Game of Thrones
So much is already said about this episode.  The only other contenders are probably a few episodes from Breaking Bad

Most important episode
"World War Zimmerman"
South Park
If you have 22 minutes and only 22 minutes to watch television from 2013, watch this episode.  And if you can only watch one scene, watch Mr. Garrison mediate between Token and Cartman.

Best insult
Both of these come from Veep, whose insult-laden, incompetent, self-interested Washington is a much more accurate representation than what we see on The West Wing

Furlong: What is it you move slower than?
Will: I move as slowly as a Mississippi detective investigating the murder of a young black man.
Veep "D.C"

Honorable mention:
"What are you laughing at, jolly green jizzface?" - Selena, Veep "The Vic Allen Dinner"

Best overall season (tie)
Justified
Season Four
This one's here as my favorite season.  Rather than introduce a new villain or big bad to take us from 1 to 13, we explore new avenues of marshalling with Raylan where he tries to solve a mystery, operating largely in the already established universe of Harlan, KY.  Other strengths include a side plot featured in the premiere then revisited mid-season, and Boyd's, largely separate until it wasn't anymore, storyline.

Breaking Bad
Season Five-B
This one's here as the, objectively, best season in television in 2013.  Barney Stinson says a good mix should be "all rise" (rather than rise and fall) and that's what this season did.  Gilligan put his foot on the gas, immediately bringing Walt and Hank to a head and then keeping it there through Walt literally slamming his foot on the gas and confessing in "To'hajiilee" until he regroups in "Granite State" and redeems himself to the extent possible in "Felina"

Worst overall season
Community
Season Four
Often when a show undergoes big creative changes, complaints can still be tempered with "it's not what it was but it's still better than most other shows."  That was not the case here, as Community, at best, attempted an impersonation of the real Community.  The darkest timeline was the one where we had to watch these episodes.

I'm cautiously optimistic though about the return of Harmon-helmed shows in January.

Best death
Catelyn Stark
Game of Thrones

Tara Knowles  
Sons of Anarchy
(runner up)

Best new character to an existing show
Bob Benson
Mad Men
Did anyone provoke as much thought and discussion as this guy?

Honorable Mention:
Oleanna Redwyne, the Queen of Thorns
Game of Thrones

Best new show
I'd say House of Cards narrowly edges Ray Donovan, but living in DC, I'm biased.

Worst returning character
Carrie - Homeland
Started so well.  Then fell so far jeopardizing missions and assaulting expired ponies

Worst returning ensemble
Modern Family 
The Dunphy branch is largely excluded, but the Pritchard branches are nearly unwatchable.  "She's hot!  He's gay!  HAHAHA!"  Despite being a single camera quasi-mockumentary, this show most resembles one written with a laugh track in mind.

Best prop
Ben's Jumbo Mug
Veep

Best short term storyline
Carrie in the nuthous
Homeland

Worst short term storyline
Rehabbing Brody
Homeland
But it was necessary to do so to achieve the end result

Best season long storyline
A bag of money in a wall
Justified

Worst season long storyline
Phillip and Elizabeth's marital up and down
The Americans

Best character scene
Small council
"The Walk of Punishment"
Game of Thrones 

Honorable mention:
Constable Bob and Yolo
Justified

Best reality moment
Hayden throws down at Tribal Council on Survivor
They draw rocks for only the second time in nearly thirty seasons

Most surprising revelation (tie)
Carrie and Saul's nuthouse plan 
Homeland

Irene Adler is Moriarty
Elementary

Least surprising revelation
Ray was molested too
Ray Donovan

Redeemable moment in an unpleasant character
Pete giving Harry what for following the MLK assassination
"The Flood"
Mad Men

MVP
The character who kills every scene and single handedly brings up the overall quality of the show.  The nominees are...

Raylan Givens
Justified
You run into an asshole in the morning, you ran into an asshole.  You run into assholes all day, you're the asshole"

“You run into an asshole in the morning: you ran into an asshole. You run into assholes all day: you’re the asshole.” – Raylan Givens. - See more at: http://brandnewcool.com/2013/01/08/hole-in-the-wall-favorite-moments-and-more-from-justified/#sthash.MSIoGZBj.dpuf

Always good for a quote about assholes.  For how he dealt with his father dying and his baby being on the way.  He showed ambition for the first time as well as considerable depth and incredible acting (think scene in front of the elevators).  Raylan doesn't fall into the anti-hero lead category that is on the verge of being cliche if more poorly formed versions pop up. He is a more traditional 'hero' albeit with deep flaws, yet still intensely likeable.  And tied together the best plot of 2013. 

Ygritte
Game of Thrones 
"You know nothing, Jon Snow"  
The refrain of the year.  She's hilarious and badass and incredibly astute.  Ygritte elevates the entire North of the Wall storyline in a way Tyrion did in Kings' Landing in Season Two.  Picking an MVP from the cast of Game of Thrones could prove an exercise in futility, but Ygritte made it surprisingly easy.


Saul Berenzen
Homeland
"When it's over it's over. Pull down the shades and go home."
The above quote could well be advice to Homeland as a series.  "The Maestro" had the opportunity and resources to implement his grand vision for moving forward United States foreign relations with a certain country, and it just so happened to settle an old score of his.  Audacious in his vision, yet till hardened enough to do what it took to accomplish the end game.  If Saul's not back next season, we can take comfort in the fact that he did get to play his opus on the grandest stage.

And the winner....

Jesse Pinkman
Breaking Bad 
"Can you just, uh, stop working me for, like, ten seconds straight? Stop jerking me around?

For being the soul and conscience of a show that turned the protagonist into Scarface and gave us a rooting interest we could all agree upon.  Put through the wringer and beat up worse than Ben was in Lost, we can all hope and pretend that he just sped out those gates and kept driving all the way to Alaska.

And so, we close with HBO's annual year-end trailer.  No one does it better than them.

In Excelsis Deo

JED: If we start pulling strings like this, you don't think every homeless veteran will come out of the wood work?

TOBY: I can only hope, sir.




Merry Christmas everyone!

The Book was Better! - Part 2

Part two of my 2013 reading list of television-adjacent books.  Part one is posted here.

Top of the Morning: Inside the Cutthroat World of Morning TV
by Brian Stelter
Never having watched morning television before, or even been aware of much of the drama at the Today Show, I started from zero on this.  In the way The War for Late Night integrates the stories of all the late night hosts, including cable, Top of the Morning tells the stories of different mornign shows including the history of Today, Good Morning American, CBS This Morning, and Morning Joe. 

The Revolution was Televised: The Cops, Crooks, Slingers and Slayers Who Changed TV Drama Forever
by Alan Sepinwall
Full disclosure: I skipped chapters on Buffy and Battlestar Gallactica.  Having never seen those shows, I wanted to remain spoiler free in case I ever want to enjoy them.

Sepinwall is the dean of television bloggers.  He practically invented the sport.  From the timing and title of the book, you can probably guess it covers the original obvious greats of the current era, The Sopranos, Deadwood, The Wire and The Shield.  But it also pays homage to their forerunners, NYPD Blue, Hill Street Blues, Homicide, Cheers, The X-Files, and Twin Peaks.

Combining the background of the showrunners, the development history of the shows, and the creative reasoning behind the shows, Sepinwall provides insight that is incredibly interesting for fans of these shows, and that should be required reading for critics of Lost*.

* Even the most loyal Lost fans like myself acknowledge the show lost its way mid second season and into the third until the ramp up to the third season finale "Through the Looking Glass".  Earlier that year, ABC announced and end date (several years down the line) for Lost.  The re-discovery of how good Lost could be and the end date announcement have a positive correlation and the chapter on Lost here confirms why*.

* Carlton Cuse and Damon Lindelof were a hot second from walking unless they could focus their creative efforts.  And they couldn't focus their creative direction without an end date.

Raylan
by Elmore Leonard
Raylan is one of the last books by Elmore Leonard and picks up with Deputy U.S. Marshall Raylan Givens after the events of Pronto and Riding the Rap.   Shorter than a novel but longer than short stories, the book is divided into three sections about 100 pages each.

It takes an interesting approach of original material and material inspired by or taken directly from the show.  Some was drawn from episodes of Justified, and some of the material showed up in Justified after the book was published, so it does not exactly align with a canon timeline of the show, but exists in some parallel universe with a version of Raylan who is about ten years older than Timothy Olyphant.  There's not much more that can be said about the great Elmore Leonard, except to say if you like Out of Sight or Justified or any of his books, Raylan is written directly in that vein.

UPDATE - 1/13
52 Pickup 
by Elmore Leonard
Leonard is the opposite of GRRM, he's able to tell a story using a very small main cast.  Nonetheless, he's still able to give color and life to the one off characters throughout the novel.  52 Pickup is about a factory owner who is blackmailed for having an affair.  Rather than pay off the (not too smart) blackmailers, he fights back by being honest with his wife and indignant towards the blackmailers.  Everything about it screams Leonard, but it in no way seems repetitive from other novels.  I read Swag the year before and plan on reading another this year. 


Live from New York: An Uncensored History of Saturday Night Live
by Tom Shales and James Andrew Miller
 One of the things I like about the oral histories is you learn just as much from the tone and storytelling of a subject when they speak as you do when others are speaking about that particular person.

A few years ago I read the history of ESPN, also by James Andrew Miller.  That book was a bit disorganized, but the nature of this, focusing on a single show, allowed it to tell a better and more easily followed story.

I think the book is sold on the basis of talking about drugs and drinking and death from those, but I enjoy it more because it talks about the workplace dynamic of SNL.  I'm less concerned with the fact that Garret Morris freebased in his office* so much that the cleaning staff at 30 Rock were afraid to enter, and more with the fact that Lorne Michaels is incredibly conflict averse and the effects that has on decisions, personnel, and the relationships between people at SNL.

* Not to say the drug parts aren't funny/interesting.  Particularly about how Dan Akroyd came up with "Coneheads"

Dick Ebersol, the third* executive producer of SNL is one of the most interesting characters.  There's a lot of respect paid to him from nearly everyone involved and a lot of color added in those descriptions.  He's a television professional who produced an acceptable if not good show (pulling it up from arguable its worst time in history) but without having a comedy background had a lower ceiling on how "great" the show could be.

* Between a woman referred to as "Ayatollah" Doumanian which should tell you all you need to know, and the second Lorne Michaels run

Anyways, if you're taking a holiday break and looking for something to read, try one of these. 

The Book was Better! - Part 1

Believe it or not, I don't spend ALL my time watching television.  I read about it too.  Here is part one of a two part post covering a few television-adjacent books I read in 2013.


A Song of Ice and Fire: Books 1-5
A Game of Thrones
A Clash of Kings
A Storm of Swords
A Feast for Crows
A Dance with Dragons
by George R.R. Martin

I started reading these almost by accident.  Having watched the first two seasons, I awaited the third.  In January I was on an excruciating bus commute home when I finished the hard copy book I had with me.  Desperate for distraction, I bought and downloaded A Game of Thrones to my Kindle app.  Within 60 seconds I had the book on my phone because we live in the future.  Originally, I planned to read one, maybe two books, and catch the rest on television.  But I found I didn't want to stop.  While reading Storm of Swords, I was watching Season Three and was shocked at the episode when Jamie gets his hand cut off.  The next day I realized the next chapter that awaited me was the first one where Jaime is short his sword hand.  From then on I was ahead on the books, but it didn't diminish the show for me.

I finished A Dance with Dragons around the time Season Three concluded.  The best element was that I no longer had to worry about spoilers.  I avoided most commentary on the show for fear of being spoiled.  Comments gave away key plot points.  Writers who read the books loved to (not as slyly as they thought) imply things, almost as if they were bragging they new something the Unsullied television viewers didn't.*  Even the titles of Youtube videos were dangerous.  It opened a door to read a lot more analysis out there without fear of spoilerdom.**

* I know something you don't know!  Congratulations, you're literate.

** The Meereneese Blot is an excellent blog and shed a lot of light on the events of Dragons for me.  Looking at all of Dany's chapters a different way, viewing characters as having different intentions enhances the series a great deal.  The author raises that the characters are purposefully misguided, but that GRRM withholds confirmation of that.  It is basically a much better execution of the Brody-Carrie dynamic in that Brody and Carrie are purposefully made to look like idiots while Dany in Dragons is (we think) purposefully made to look to be working against her own ideals.    

I do not understand the complaints about adapting the story from one medium to a differerent one.  Of course there will be concessions.  Plots will be cut, characters will be composited. * Two things Benioff and Weiss have state are important.  First, they are creating their interpretation of the story, not merely transcribing the books to video.  Second, they are adapting ASOIAF to multiple seasons of television, rather than strictly adapting Book One to Season One, etc.  **

* Game of Thrones still has the largest cast in television.

** How they plot this will be most interesting in Season Four, where they have about 300-400 pages remaining of Swords before they run into the simultaneous events of Crows and Dragons.  Mostly, I'm excited about the casting of Oberyn Martell.

Obviously the difference in medium allow for different strengths and weaknesses between the books and movies.  The most Stark* examples are the explanations of the geopolitical makeup of Westeros via background and history.  Also, nakedtime! **

 * Gahhhhhhhhhhhhhh

** Link takes you to standup comedy, not nudity.

The Late Shift
by Bill Carter
Last fall I read The War for Late Night which recounted the Conan-Leno saga.  This is the forerunner to that, by the same author, recounting the Leno-Letterman fiasco.  It includes the infamous Leno-closet-spy-session and an East Coast/West Coast war at NBC. As someone who grew up only knowing Letterman on CBS and Leno as host of The Tonight Show, it was interesting to read the prequel.

Similar to The War for Late Night, Late Shift sheds light on the executive decisions that led to the current state of late night television.  Carter tells the behind the scenes story as well as the back story of the main characters. 


The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes
The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes
The Return of Sherlock Holmes
by Arthur Conan Doyle
Between watching Sherlock last fall and then becoming invested as I am in Elementary, this was a logical step.  Added bonus for preparing for the upcoming Sherlock episodes in January and spotting Conan canon Easter Eggs. Each of these include about a dozen short stories. As someone who devoured Encyclopedia Brown books to the point where I opened my own detective agency at seven years old, I find is somewhat shameful it took me nearly 30 years to read these. 

I Remember Me
by Carl Reiner
Our generation knows Carl Reiner as Saul from the Ocean's 11, 12, 13 movies where he plays an respected, old school con man who invented the game they're all playing.  In real life, Carl Reiner went from WWII veteran to a writer and director for television, stage and film, setting precedents and breaking new ground in those industries.  The memoir tells his personal stories about his time in the army, courting his wife, and his friendship with Mel Brooks, as well as his professional life including Your Show of Shows (Sid Caesar) where he was a writer and performer, and his creation of The Dick Van Dyke Show (including the discovery of Mary Tyler Moore). 

Maybe the most interesting chapter is where Reiner discusses the Red Scare and being investigated by the feds.  Two g-men came to his house, questioning him about known and possible Communists .  It's a heavy story relative to the rest of the book but still Reiner is able to inject humor in a way that shows how he's been in his business for seven decades.


Part two manana..........

The Star - HL - Part 3

Homeland episode 3-12 "The Star" - Season Three Finale - Part Three
Aired Sunday December 15, 2013

This is Part 3 of 3, picking up loose strands that didn't fit into there others.  Part 1 discusses the Season Finale and the road there.  Part 2 looks at the season as a whole and what can happen with Season Four. 

• This season sure had its share of moments of characters reflecting upon their reflection in the mirror.  Brody does it once more at the safe house
• A surprisingly easy escape to the safe house, no? All so Carrie can tell Brody about the baby.  
• A show I once loved for plotting has moved away from that by leaps and bounds in order to get the characters they want together so they can have the conversations they want them to have and make the decisions they want them to make.
• Saul ending his tenure and heading to Ramstein brings to mind President Carter heading from the Reagan inauguration to Ramstein to meet the hostages.  They were released a few minutes after noon on January 21, 1980 just to spite Carter
• If he had Robert Redford plan the extraction on his last day it may have gone better for Brody
• No opening or on-screen credits, unless my DVR missed them.  We jumped right into the tension that Homeland does well even when it's at its worst.  
• The lack of Showtime promos or other sound cutting into the credits makes a huge difference.  When you watch shows like these on DVD you can sit and contemplate a few minutes at the end, like the Sopranos did.  AMC and Showtime tend to jump right in and Harrison Bergeron your mind just when it's coming to grips with some heavy stuff.  It's part of the reason Matthew Weiner makes his promos so incongruous...he's required to make them but hates them so much, preferring instead to simply play the music they picked out so carefully and shelled out money for.  It's ketchup on a nice steak when some Masters of Sex promo blares out immediately following an assassination on Homeland.
• In the same vein as the tension that we feel when Brody is trying to cross the border or escape post-assassination, a strength of the show is holding back a clear explanation of the character's feelings, motives and plans.  But when Saul laid out his plan to us for reasons unknown, it detracted a great deal from the remaining episodes.  Ultimately everything went as planned with little detour.  Next season, tell us "spoiler alert!"
• With that said, it speaks to the quality of the acting and direction when Brody's border crossing or his escape is as exciting as it is
• As annoying as Carrie and Brody have been, there's still an investment watching them
• That said, after all this time, I still do not really understand the connection between them
• Even in the safe house, Carrie is working Brody like she would any other asset, convincing him he did the right thing because of the atrocities committed by his victim

The Star - HL - Part 2

Homeland episode 3-12 "The Star" - Season Three Finale - Part Two

Aired Sunday December 15, 2013

This is part 2 of the raw data for this post.  Read part 1 from yesterday and Part 3 on Thursday.

So there it is.  A frustrating character's story ends, which also ends the most frustrating relationship on the show.  If the show made a major mistake it was revealing its hand too early and forgoing the suspense that comes with them knowing more than us.  Look at how well it worked in Season One and in the first four episodes of Season Three.  

Brody's death is the only outcome from the season I could have accepted and still taken the show as high quality drama.   With the Brody family relegated from the main cast and a change of scenery for Carrie, the show can get a major reboot next season.  Ideally, the show will be populated by new, strong characters in Istanbul rather than simply giving new titles to existing characters, like Alias did every year.  Carrie being in a leadership role presents new opportunities as well, especially if she employs Saul as a contractor which would bring a whole new dynamic to their relationship.
Not only does Brody's death end his story*, but it will hopefully free Carrie from what causes her most obnoxious behavior.  That can only fully happen if Carrie gives Brody's Terror Baby ** up for adoption.  If TB is with her dad or another relative, then there's the chance she'll still be in contact.  Otherwise, TB is a daily reminder of Terror Dad and I don't think we can take Carrie raising Brody's offspring. I've mostly pretended this story didn't exist because pregnancy is one of those things a show will do if they don't have any other ideas.

* I look at it more as putting an end to this nonsense.

** There appears to be some debate about whether TB really is a TB, or belongs to that Cycle Bro.  I believe TB is TB.  It's the whole reason Carrie kept it, because she's still hung up on Brody and wanted a piece of him.  In the safe house, she's hesitant to tell him about it, and I don't think she's using it as a ploy to keep his spirits up.  Rather, the spy in her justifies the assassination by listing the atrocities their target committees.  Only later does she shift into Carrie's personal life mode and tell him about the baby.

Homeland still has all the elements that compose high quality drama.  The acting and direction is still it's strongest point.  The season had a story and focus with a beginning, middle and end.  It has individual episodes that stick out both for the good ("Good Night") and for worse ("One Last Time").  It contrasts with Boardwalk Empire, which ran concurrently each week a few channels over.  Boardwalk is always good but rarely great, while Homeland has a lower floor, but arguably a higher ceiling.

With cases like Javadi and Lockhart, Homeland brings the characters along, allowing your opinion of them to change over the course of the season.  I always knew barring something terrible that I'd return to watching Homeland in 2014, but it was a question of if I'd do so grudgingly or eagerly.  With Istanbul on the horizon and no Brody, I'd say cautiously eager.  Depends how much Quinn is around.

 

The Star - HL - Part 1

Homeland episode 3-12 "The Star" - Season Three Finale
Aired Sunday December 15, 2013

Written by Gansa and Meredith Stiehm who also penned last season's finale

This is part 1 of 3.  Part 2 will discuss the season as a whole and what's down the pike.  Part 3 will pick up the loose strands.  

Brody's swan song bluntly states the case for redemption.  In a Walter White-esque farewell, Brody redeems himself to the maximum extent possible * (however much that is), dying as a tool of the country he once served and betrayed (and murdered the vice president of).

* Cases like these almost always rely on the now despised character dying in a heroic act.  Because of how far they've done gone, it's the only path back.

I say "as a tool of" rather than "in service of" because Brody's motivations never appeared to be of a rediscovered patriotism or desire serve his country, but as an opportunity to for him to repair his own image in the eyes of a small group of people, and to himself.

With all the pieces laid out, I'd say there were two main stories this year.  One was to accomplish a mission of opening Iran via a highly placed asset.  The other was to tell the end of Brody's story via his participation in that mission, allowing him an iota of redemption should he successfully complete it.


The Operation
While everyone at Langley thinks all is lost with Brody's assassination mission, Brody is nonchalantly murdering the head of the Revolutionary Guard*.  He's apparently entered the cheat code for unlimited time to complete the mission and soon after walks out and escapes one step ahead of the law.  Immediately, his escape and the accomplishment of the overall mission are in conflict with each other to the extent where they are nearly mutually exclusive.  Javadi  needs Brody to solidify his position with the Iranian government, the penultimate step in this cavalcade of whatever.  All while the clock ticks (and what would this show be without a ticking clock) on Saul's CIA administration.

In what has to stem more from his support of Carrie than his rational thought about the mission, Saul commences with Brody's extraction until Dar and CIA-Gene Kranz run it up the flag pole and get Lockhart installed as director a few hours ahead of time.  They scrap the mission and give Javadi what he needs to look like a hero in Iran.

The original inner line segment of this mission seem intent on jeopardizing it (until a literal or figurative bullet is put through them) while Lockhart, the critic, does what's necessary in the end.  While Carrie and Saul didn't give a second thought to covering up Javadi's murder-icious encounter with his ex-wife, they doesn't want to help him do exactly what he's there to do. 

So, they aren't at the CIA safe house even long enough to check the chore chart and see who was supposed to stock the fridge and clean up before Javadi's there taking Brody into custody.

Unfortunately for Brody, someone ripped out everything in their copy of the Sixth Amendment after the part about a speedy and public trial....which he technically gets.  Definitely the speedy part.  No waiting for Monday morning arraignments for your drunken Friday night fight here.  The rest of it, about a jury and laws, not so much.  He's executed in gruesome fashion.  I guess he technically is hanging there, by a noose, but it's all just a really roundabout way of strangling him.  There's no Seth Bullock to help him with the drop. Brutal. 


Saul
Saul is on his way out the door and does the token packing up of his desk, but not without placing Javadi where he can accomplish what Saul intended all along, opening Iran.  I imagine he gets a pension bump for his time as acting director, so it's off to consulting land where you get paid a lot more for doing less.  Saul's earned it after all.  I don't believe Dar's correct when he states that Saul misses it.  I imagine after living that life for decades it is impossible to banish it from your mind, but enough's enough.  Saul goes so far as to echo last year's MVPeter Quinn* wondering what in the ever loving fuck are they even doing?

* And what happened with that storyline?  Is he quitting or not?

He's either living or spending time in what I will say is Cuba because Saul is wearing the official "Americans in Cuba in a movie" hat.  Having eaten shit and been forced to play the political game not as a result of his normal career advancement but as a result of the worst act of terrorism since forever* I imagine he's had his fill.  Saul acted like a director who was mid-level CIA management with unlimited resources while rebuilding from the inside.  It wasn't a stop on his political tour or a resume line as he pondered national office.  It was the culmination of a lifer who got to put into practice his wildest dreams because there was finally no one there to hassle him.


* Because when counting acts of terrorism against the United States it's always "acts of terror since (but not including) 9/11

Saul Berensen Vaccuum Repair Co. or whatever he is calling his intelligence consulting bit is primed to contract for Carrie in Turkey or Lockhart at Langley, lending his Old School expertise. Maybe he can hire Max and Virgil.


Carrie
The lady who didn't connect being pregnant with having a kid is the youngest station chief in CIA history.  Luckily, she is not teaching biology or health or common sense.  She's off to Turkey where among other things she'll keep an eye on Javadi.  Which is kind of hilarious considering the nature of their first encounter.

Carrie wants the titular star for Brody, which makes no sense because Brody was an agent/asset.  Lockhart states, correctly, Brody was not an employee which is one of the biggest criteria for getting a star.  I imagine there are lots of assets who don't make it out alive.  They're recruited, often via blackmail, for unsavory reasons.  Look at Javadi.  If he bites it, does he get a star?  Obviously not.

Lockhart is the voice of reason here.  Maybe that's how we're supposed to view it, discounting the justness of giving Brody a star and focus on Carrie's perspective of the question.  In her mind, memorializing is justified, Brody is to mourned, and she's sad her guy is gone.  And as corny as it was to Sharpie in a star, the stillness of it with the end credits was moving.  So for this moment I'll without my typical Carrie judging and look at it from her point of view*.  

Lockhart
The guy on the side of progress and technology can be the good guy or the bad guy, depending on how they change throughout the story and what "old ways" they are up against.  If they go against ignorance, group think and tradition for the sake of tradition (Moneyball) they're the good guys.  If they are cold and want to blow up the game without first learning where things stand (Up in the Air) it's a bad thing. Lockhart wanted to largely do away with the old ways of HUMINT, replacing much of their work with drones and putting him at odds with Saul's assessment of what was needed.  He opposed or would have opposed nearly every aspect of Saul's plan.  Rather than flesh him out at the start and have him present a credible alternative though, he was simply an opposing force to Saul who sandbagged him on the hunting trip about who was going to be director.

For a guy who started out as a cartoonish mean girl of a source of conflict, he deserves credit.  He became a grudging but willing supporter of the Iran mission and allowed whatever needed to happen to happen.  One could argue he was selfishly motivated and came around only because he was powerless to stop it and would inherit it regardless, thereby attaching his reputation to the mission's fate.  But at least he is a competent and rational actor who can recognize what's needed and adapt. 

Read part 2 manana and part 3 on Jueves.

Big Man in Tehran - HE

Homeland episode 3-11 "Big Man in Tehran"
Aired Sunday December 8, 2013

Written by Gansa and Gordon

Directed by Daniel Minahan.  Of Game of Thrones "A Golden Crown" which is when I realized it was a different kind of show

Brody, a man we know to be of dubious loyalty, is hailed as a hero and determined by governmental high ups to be a piece in their grand plans.  Unbeknown to said government officials, Brody has been put through the rigmarole by the other side and given a secret mission to complete once he is close enough to the government officials trying to exploit him for their personal and national interests.  The mission culminates when Brody, alone with the target, watches the light go out of his eyes.

Essentially, the second go-round of Brody as CIA agent is the exact process and mission that terrorist and frequent Skyper Abu Nazir put him through.  Second verse, same as the first.

You could even argue this plot has been done 2 1/2 to three times counting the events of "Q&A" through the capture of Nazir.

We continue playing out Saul's master plan, laid out several episodes ago.  While there are several hiccups along the way, the result is ultimately the original stated goal.  Still holding off judgement until we see the end result next week, but why would the show take such care to set us up for 3 and 99/100s episodes, with the big reveal at the end of episode four, while at the end of the season lay out the plan ahead of time and simply watch it play out.

In contrast, think about The Wire Season Four.  They don't tell us that Namond is going to wind up fostering with Bunny.  In fact, Colvin doesn't appear until episode three, when he's working as hotel security.  His first change in jobs doesn't put him in contact with Namon either.  He goes from the hotel to the UMD study.  Initially study focuses on 18 year olds, but changes to 14 year olds which is Namon's age (and telling us a story about juveniles in the meantime).  It's a lot more reward to have it slowly connect and revealed to us like a puzzle than to have the ingredient and result told to us in advance, like reading a recipe before baking a cake.

The first four episodes were expertly done.  Like one of those pictures where you see an old or young lady depending on if your eye goes to the white or dark space, the first four can be viewed differently depending on if it's the first or second viewing.  Maybe this is one of those times where television is particularly unsuited to episode by episode write ups.  I hope so.

• Bite it hard, Carrie!
• Carrie tries to wreck another mission.  Keep at it, you idiot.  
• We have Mira's paramour in play still.  Did not check back in with him after Saul touched base.  Doop be do.

State of the Blog

I've been thinking a lot about the shows I'm going to follow on here in the winter and spring, as well as the format to use.  Episode by episode write-ups* may be a product of convenience rather than actually being the best way to view a show.  Cable dramas more closely resemble novels than they do anything else.  Novels are reviewed after reading the entire book, rather than parsed out in a series after each chapter.  For example, House of Cards even titles its episodes "Chapter 1" or "Chapter 2" etc.


* I've said before, episode recaps take a polo mallet to a fallen mount.  Without analysis or varying approaches to discussing shows, restating what happened in a just-viewed episode is a waste of everyone's time.  The only utility stems from being a contingency if you failed to DVR or your cable went out.

This is something I think about uniquely with serialized dramas.  Elementary with its episodic and procedural nature is well suited to episode by episode write ups.  Community varies formats week to week, tackling comedy with different vehicles like animation, stop motion, parodies, spins on classic formats, or other high concept episode structures, so write ups discussing those specific episodes may be helpful. 

But shows that play the long game, where supporting characters may go on a several week hiatus, where action is happening off screen, and where we spend two full episodes at the top introducing or re-introducing characters may be better off with a different format.

Maybe that means writing up the show in chunks (first, second, third act).  Or taking notes throughout and writing one or several long pieces after the finale.  Or separating it by character thread.  Or making an annotated chart tracking storylines with analysis notes expanding on things like characters' development.

I've tried things in the past like focusing largely on one scene or one character, but those still stem from whatever struck me in the weekly episode and lack the perspective of the whole novel...except for the cumulative affect in later seasons.  Maybe this experiment would be better suited on a show already out on DVD?

Winter is coming, which means Justified in January.  While I do not believe there is a "best" show on television, there is clearly a top tier (Mad Men, Game of Thrones, Breaking Bad, Justified) and Justified is my favorite.  I need a separate post to wholly explain why, but I will say it is the funniest of all the serial dramas on television.

Also considering doing a comedy (Community returns January 2, Veep likely in the spring).  I'm managing my expectations on the re-Harmonized Community, as well Veep.  But only because these shows, at the best are funny enough to make you cry and miss half the jokes. 

Finally, look for some end of year "bests".

Hodor!

Conan does commercials

I feel the need to share one of the funniest things I've seen on television since the most recent season of Veep ended.

Good Night - HL

Homeland episode 3-10 "Good Night"

Written by Alexander Cary
According to IMDB and Wikipedia, this guy is Scottish nobility and carries the name Plantaganet (holy crap!). He was also a member of the Scots Guard (not Scotchgard, that is something else).  One of the most interesting writer bios I can remember.

Directed by Keith Gordon
Directed A Midnight Clear, which is a great WWII movie that is uber sad but still a great Christmas watch.  I will gladly lend you the DVD.


If last week's purpose was to build a bridge, this episode was also building a bridge, but from the other side of the river.

The entire episode is dedicated to inserting Brody into Iran under the guise of him seeking political asylum.  At first, all is well as Brody bonds with his special forces sherpas, but then it all goes pear shaped.

While last week left a bad taste in my mouth, the high point was certainly the introduction of the special forces guys who are tasked with drying Brody out and then being his running buddies through the forest.  Between their weird camaraderie* with Brody, their humor, stoicism under fire, as well as their general courage, competence and way of doing things, they a team I'd like to see deployed on several other shows.  Despite the short time they've had onscreen the last two episodes, you really root for them to get out of this mission alive.

*At least it's written believably, and not in that fake way where it's obviously written with the intent of creating rapport, via lame jokes, name calling, laughing too hard and punching each other on the arm

Bite it hard, Carrie!

Carrie's shrillness and grossness continue on in this episode.  For someone who sure complained a lot to Saul about how she was treated while they executed the plan they agreed upon, she doesn't have much concern for the other military personnel involved.  Sure, the point of the op is to get Brody across from the safe lands of Iraq* into hostile Iran, so reporting on Brody's status is essentially the same as reporting on the mission's success/failure...but when she reports the outcome to Saul, she does not mention the fact that one of the Americans is taken prisoner.  Obviously Saul is going to find this out so I don't see any strategy in Carrie withholding this information...the only explanation is that she is still so hung up on Brody she has tunnel vision when it comes to him.

* When Iraq is the friendliest of the two territories, you are in some stuff

 The equine cruelty I find in this show's treatment of Brody-Carrie far exceeds any complaints people had about Luck.

With two episodes remaining it feels more like less is giong to happen this season than I originally thought.  Two episodes dedicated to bridgebuilding can sure fill up some time.  Saul outlined the plan with Brody and we've spent close to the last two hours seeing that plan in effect.  There are conflicts and starts and stops along the road there, but essentially things are exactly as Saul laid them out.  There are no turns or detours.  Being that Saul told us everything that's going to happen, seeing all they play out near exact as he planned is not the most exciting thing in the world.

For example if you tell us you're going to have your army attack Casterly Rock, you can instead subvert expectations by killing everyone.   

One possibility of what's to come next is a half cocked redemption of Brody who went from too scared to complete the mission to completing the mission despite orders to abort.  After extended bonding, he helped saved one of our special forces friends make it out injured, but alive.  He digs deep and finds his way across the border to complete the mission* all while working in concert with his military brethren.  After his buddy gets his head blowed off by Javadi, I wonder how close he'll stay to the original mission parameters.  Brody could do an entirely different kind of damage to the United States by unseating or killing Javadi. 
 
* Note that Carrie is all about the mission in this episode when Brody and the mission are intertwined , but nearly blew the whole operation on the off chance she could clear (the completely irrelevant) Brody as the CIA bomber question.

Maybe it's a Walter White-esque level of redemption * before he eats it, or maybe Gansa and Gordon are simply drawing out Brody's life so Showtime has a flagship. 

* Redemption to the extent possible, relative to how deep of a hole he's dug himself

Escher Paints Abed

I have an itch in my brain now, thanks to Community. 

For a show that does a lot of the "meta" even this is a lot.  It's an old episode and I just got it now, a few years after it aired.

 "Custody Law and Eastern Diplomacy"

The situation:
Britta wants to sabotage Abed and Troy's friendship with Luca, just because he happens to be an ethnic cleanser.  But she doesn't want to tell them he is an ethnic cleanser.  Troy and Abed tell her if anyone were to take their Kickpuncher dvd they would stop being friends with them.  So Britta plans to frame Luca for it.  Unfortunately for Britta, she's caught stealing it. 

The brain itcher:
By Abed.  Who has a security camera in his room.  For a very detailed documentary about his life.  But...

"most of it is just him watching dailies"

Which means that the camera is filming Abed watching film on the tv of whatever the camera had filmed previously.  Which is him watching dailies of him watching dailies......and it just goes on and on and on....however deep you can see into those two mirrors.

This is a lot, even for Community.  And now my brain hurts.  Thanks guys.




The Game

One Last Time - HL

Homeland episode 3-09 "One Last Time"

Written by Barbara Hall

Directed by Jeremy Reiner

I suppose there are two options after having Saul retrieve Brody (and I'm not sure if Saul knew where he was the entire time, if those are "his" people in Caracas, or if he found out some other way).  Option 1 is gloss over Brody's rehab via time jump in order to get on with the next steps of the story.  Option 2, which they took, is to dedicate an episode to Brody's rehab in the vein of Rocky.  Perhaps it was the execution, but this episode fell the flattest of perhaps the entire series.  It made me a temporary Homeland nihilist, thinking there is no purpose to anything that happens on the show.

For example, the story about Saul's home being bugged is going to be infuriating if that's all there is to it.  The show put an end date to Saul's tenure as acting director.  I understand inserting a ticking clock can be necessary and is often used to create drama.  These are the people who brought you -24- after all, which literally had a ticking clock at every commercial break.  But to seemingly arbitrarily move that deadline makes us question why it was there in the first place?  To create meaningless conflict between Saul and Lockhart?

Saul knows all apparently, and as I mentioned, it's not clear to me how he knew about Brody.  Perhaps Saul is being set up to have an enormous Carrie-CIA bomber level failure at the end of the season?  Will the show be re-booted again for Season Three, and will that re-boot stick?  Or will it be more like the re-boots on Alias where they kept changing the name of the organization but essentially kept all the other parts the same?

Carrie, infuriatingly, is still stuck on Brody and proving Brody's innocence.  I thought the show had moved past the Carrie-Brody dynamic and onto other things like a new villain and the re-building of the CIA, along with Saul becoming a part of This Town,  and Mira and Quinn's respective doubting of their own actions.  And maybe Carrie finally quits yo-yoing between insanity and whatever one level removed from insanity is, becoming competent for a longer stretch of time (like Tommy Gavin or Andy Sipowicz and their alcoholism).

But no, let's get a few more whacks at Seabiscuit's corpse.

Bullet time:

• Max and Virgil's PKE Meter made me chuckle.  But pretty much everything they do makes me chuckle.  And I shouldn't knock it consider an anonymizer turned out to be a real thing
• No coincidence this weak episode featured little of Peter Quinn, MVP
• Whoa, how about Brody ripping the chair apart to stab his arm?  Not the cry for help like Dana, that guy was going for it.
• This show works let a network show a lot of the time.  One is the on-screen credits during the opening minutes.  It always gives something away with guest stars.  When they flash that Chris Chalk (Tom Walker) is returning, it takes away from Brody's hallucinations.  Run them at the end.
• Oh!  Now that I look at his IMDB page, I am realizing that he is both Gary Cooper on Newsroom and played the fugitive Jody Adair for two episodes on the recent season of Justified.  Awesome!
• Justified, Justified, Justified.