"The Trash and the Snake" - Justified - 6-04

The Homestead Act
The modern day Western is in full effect this season, much like it was in Season Four.  Taking the concept of homesteaders being run off their land and updating it for the 21st century is a perfect way to end the show.  Meanwhile, the "Black Hat" going after the homesteaders is about to get it from the law, ambitious but lower ranked criminals, and the woman he's sleeping with. It's also a good way to get Boyd and Raylan on the same side, not necessarily by having the same goal but by having a common enemy.

Avery Markum
Markum may or may not be aware of Katherine Hale's angle.  He's shown a deep understanding of the landscape in Harlan despite his hiatus to Denver.  He's familiar enough with Mags to make Loretta test the apple pie, not to mention he knows the connection between Mags and Loretta.  He's probably informed Walker of this before he goes to Loretta's house, as he doesn't drink the apple pie.  Markum also intimates unsubtly he's familiar with Raylan's shoot on sight exercise with Tommy Bucks, even after he plays a bit like he doesn't know the Givens name.  Which may of course mean he's playing Katherine Hale as well in a labyrinth of mirrors.

Come Back Shane
Oh, the places you'll go...with Wikipedia. 

Trying to recall a movie, and I know there are several, where homesteaders are intimidated off their land brings me to Shane.  Which brings me to Pale Rider, which borrows from Shane.  Which brings me to Revelations, where the Pale Horse is ridden by Death, which brings to mind the Pale Mare, or the plague in A Dance of Dragons....which brings Death!  Jeez.

Lawman
We already know Raylan will take any excuse to avoid Florida.  There will always be something going on for the marshals.  He is infinitely more lawman than family man.  And if he can use Markum, thorugh pretty solid reasoning, as a way to dig around Kentucky some more, he will absolutely use it.  His rationale is similar to Tom Hanks in Saving Private Ryan when he has his squad assault the German machine guns, rather than go around them.  The argument is they can still locate Ryan without the risk of taking on the guns, but Hanks refuses to leave them for the next guys.

Ditch Story
Katherine Hale tells Ava about the Clintons seeing a gas station attendant in Arkansas.  Jed Bartlet tells a similar story in "Dead Irish Writers" when he's contemplating a toast for Abby's birthday.

Hollers and Hills

• Always good to see Dickie Bennet.  Specifically, him and Raylan spitting hate at each other
• More colorful tertiary characters, RIP Wiz Fieri
• Duffy's from Hawaii?  Explains the tanning bed?
• I appreciate the girl's snake so much more because it went completley unremarked upon.
• Boyd changes his mind again about leaving Harlan.  Ava is struggling being away for one day.  Granted, she has extenuating circumstances, but still.
• After Luther takes the fall for his son, we see Raylan giving fatherly advice to Loretta.  Even though he didn't know her father, which she points out.  But Raylan is speaking as a father, taking an educated guess as to what another father might think.  Despite Raylan stomping on copperheads, he does have a pull to Florida still.
• Many simiilarities between Walker here and Wolcott in Deadwood.  Number twos, advance men for the big boss, acquiring land for the big man's purpose, whether it be gold or weed.

Next week: Constable Bob!

This week's drink: Buffalo Trace Bourbon, in honor of Walker's preference at Boyd's bar

"Noblesse Oblige" - Justified - 6-03

"I'm gonna shoot your dick off."

Season Five saw a lot of death.  Mostly anyone who wasn't Boyd or Raylan bit it and bit it hard.  From Sammy to Johnny to Picker, it was like they were clearing brush to give enough room to the two leads for their final showdown.  But the person stealing the spotlight this season is Ava who is living in limbo between Boyd and Raylan, jail and freedom, Harlan and getting out alive.  All that and she manages to bring the funny in her still drunk/badly hungover state with the marshals and AUSA Vasquez.

This week's episode was a master class in folksy, flowery, roundabout dialouge.  It could have easily been penned by David Milch.  When someone states their business is "none more lofty than to apprise you of the situation you find yourself" as a way of getting straight to business, you have to appreciate their loquaciousness.  The scene in the bar, a bar Boyd and Co badly need to remember to lock the front door to, is the early frontrunner in 2015 for best scene.  Boyd's exasperation at being bothered while the day is so early and while he is so hungover is examplified only in his tone but not his word choice or count.  Walker responds in kind, and suddently Boyd is transported to 1870s Deadwood.

Justified is the funniest drama on television.  Breaking Bad and Mad Men both punctuated their shows with occasional hilarity, but Justified brings it at a high level every week.  This was one of the best, as Boyd's crew retorts to the Buffalo Trace drinking Walker, "You best get walking...Mr.....Walker.  You and your beard."  The delivery, the dialouge and the overall low IQ of Boyd's henchmen all play into the hilarity here, as does Walker's reaction.

Another of the series' strenghts is the ability to play with your expectations.  When the two masked geniuses are going to rob their dynamite depot, it looks like it's going to end it tragedy for a decent guy.  Our expectations of the criminals being stupid and of what television tells us is supposed to happen make us brace for the nice man's unfortunate death.  It takes an immediate left turn when Raylan and Rachel are there waiting for these idiots.  It's hilarious because of course it makes sense. 

This week's drink: Wigle Rye Whiskey from Pittsburgh.  Named for one of the fomentors of the Whiskey Rebellion.  I feel like Boyd would like this.

 

 

"Cash Game" - Justified - 6-02

Boyd is robbing banks at the behest of Katharine Hale.  While I thought the ledgers were actually the draw at the deposit box, it turns out everyone is upset to have that rather than cash, about $3 million.  Katharine does raise a good point that there's little to keep Boyd from holding out on her, especially if he's looking to get out of Harlan.    

The target, Calhoun, is being approached from all angles.  There's the Tigerhawk team trying to buy up land (for whoever they report to) and the attempted robbery by Hale/Boyd/Avery/Duffy.  Meanwhile, Raylan is investigating the guy because he didn't seem too interested in the fact that he was robbed.  Poor guy, there's no way he makes it out of the season alive.

The pizza vault, and Eva's role in it, show us that Eva's not quite as under the thumb of Raylan and the marshals as we may have suspected.  I suppose the deed was being held by Calhoun on behalf of Ty, though it now belongs to Boyd.  The vault can't actually have anything it though at this point, can it? 

Curious to see how this band of thieves makes out from their pizza vault.  You have Rocky and Mugsy (Choo Choo and Seabass) doing most of the heavy lifting it seems.  Choo Choo is another great tertiary character we get to laugh at.  The entire exchange with Raylan "I'm not following you" and then his rationale for not killing the marshal are going to rank right up there with the rest of the dumb criminal exchanges from the series. 

• Raylan sharing his Florida plans with Boyd is unsettling
• Yes, go to Iceland
• Eva got some swagger back.
• Expect Dewey's necklace to come back into play, maybe as a clue to Raylan as to how to ultimately get Boyd
• Tigerhawk strikes me as both extralegal and extremely profitable
• People trying to buy land like that makes me think there's gas under there.
• Walker seemed disproportinally upset at the obstacles he encountered

Tonight's Bourbon: Bullet Bourbon, again.  1 Giant Cube.

Bests of 2014: Characters

No order or ranking.  Just my favorites. 

Gil John - Alpha House
The incredibly likeable but lazy senator from the great state of North Carolina suddenly got some presidential buzz after almost single single handedly passing a bipartisan bill, appearing on a reailty show, shutting down the party's wing nut standard bearer and winning a strong challenge to his seat.  Alpha House has a lot of things going for it, but John Goodman is probably the best among them.

Oberyn Martell - Game of Thrones
Duh.  No one delivered more against higher expectations or a bigger backlash of casting.  Maybe the only person out there who can both politic and fight, besides Tywin.  Again, there are high expectations of certain Storm of Swards scenes,done expertly, as well as scenes created out of whole cloth, like handing it to some Lannister guards in the brothel.

Dufresne - Black Sails
One of the background characters brought to the forefront to pump up the drama on Black Sails, Dufresne became best combination of a well acted, well executed, dynamic character on the biggest surprise show of 2014.  Dufresne becomes the de facto star of the shows best episode ("V.") in a way that brings to mind Band of Brothers' rotating focus on different characters.  Sadly, the actor portraying Dufresne had to bow out of the second season due to his bout with brain cancer.  


Flashback Nucky - Boardwalk Empire
Much more than a Steve Buscemi impression, both actors conveyed with dexterity both Nucky's and Buscemi's mannerisms, as well as the events and motivations that made him the man he is, implicitly brought up again by his interactions with Joe Kennedy. 

Helen - The Affair
The easy way to portray the wife of a cheating husband his to make her a harping shrew.  The other way is basically anything else, and to get Maura Tierney to do it. 
 
Rust Cohle - True Detective
This being easy and obvious doesn't make it wrong.  The laconic detective.  The undercover in too deep.  The drunk.  The redemption seeking.  The conspiracy theorist.  The commando.  The guy who's usually right. 

Hannibal - Hannibal
We KNOW what's going to happen.  Both from the season premiere flash forward and from our own knowledge of the movies and books.  Then Hannibal throws us.  All season long.  He's portrayed as a brilliant man being pursued by other brilliant people, which is also a complement to the show and the full cast.  It's easy to make a character seem like a genius by making everyone else seem stupid, but Hannibal (both the show and the character) are done the right way. 

Honorable Mentions:
Allison - The Affair
Grief stricken and lonely despite being surrounded by people.  There's clearly a lot going on with her in the early episodes and it doesn't feel winky or overdone. 

Louse - Bob's Burgers
Single funniest character on television.


Jamal - Tyrant
Barry thinks he's so smart, doesn't he?


Stephen Colbert - The Colbert Report 
Swan Song for the character, new verse for the man

Sherlock and Watson - Elementary

Watson's growth and Sherlock's non cliched addiction struggles coupled with fun investigating make this one of my most looked forward to shows each week, year round.

Nora Durst - The Leftovers
Like Dufrense, star of a great episode - Band of Brothers style.  Intriguing and dynamic


Roger Sterling - Mad Men
Finally coming into his own as a leader

Abby & Illana - Broad City
Funniest Girls on tv.

"Fate's Right Hand" - Justified - 6-01

      Lots of "holler"ing back to the pilot in the sixth season Justified premiere.  Like a good novel, things are coming back together from how they were laid out at the start.  Justified does this better than anyone on a scene, episode, season and series level.  

Dewey pined for simpler times when he and the gang hung out with Boyd in the abandoned church as part of Crowder's commandos, as they did in the pilot.  Then Raylan came to town and since they everything's gone pear shaped.  

Dewey wasn't the only one rehashing the old times.  Boyd executed a suspected rat, as he did on the bridge in the pilot. And Raylan and Eva walked through her shooting Beaumon, which had taken place just prior to Raylan's homecoming in the pilot, and what she did to deceive him in the days leading up to it.  

But perhaps the most important conversation was between Raylan and Art, which only tacitly brought to mind the pilot.  Raylan can easily see a showdown where he shoots Boyd and heads off to Florida to see his baby girl...even if we know he's probably not going to live up to fatherly responsibilities based on the way he dodged any chance to see his daughter last season (and Winona's doctor appointments before that).

Art offered that Boyd could also shoot Raylan, but that doesn't seem likely to the White Hat.  He almost finds it comical that Boyd could draw faster than him.  So our minds automatically go to that other dinner at the Crowder house that ended in a shooting, when Raylan shot Boyd.  

So I supposed we can expect the story to come back around and culminate in one of the standoffs that Justified has been so good at.  

You'll Never Leave Harlan Alive is the refrain that's ended most seasons, and an idea that many of the characters have tried to attain.  Even in "Fate's Right Hand" we see Boyd try to get Eva to pack up and leave if, part left unsaid, he can rob enough banks to set them up for life in Costa Rica.  Each attempt to get out of Harlan has failed because it is some sort of purgatory and they haven't carried out their sentences yet.  The question remains is if Raylan's shooting of Tommy Bucks in the first scene of the first episode, the sin that placed him there, is cardinal or venial.

Look-see

• Garret Dillahunt played two different characters in Deadwood, sharing the show with TO and many other Justified personalities.  His face was oh so punchable.  And kickable.  And pistol whip-able
• Boyd's tattoo is there to remind us he's a bad guy after all
• "Stupid looking" They nailed it
• I don't even know how to type the phonetic versions of Dewey's "negligence" and "maleficence"  
• Boyd mentions that Harlan was a boomtown.  Boomtown was another Graham Yost creation that featured Quarles, from Detroit, and Limehouse, from Noble's Holler
• "What's in the box?!"  Paperwork.  The best season of Justified started with another seemingly innocuous find.  In a wall no less.  Though there were no drawers in that wall.
• Was Raylan saying the Dewey Crowe was a waterskiing Goofy at Disney World?  Orlando makes sense, but the rest?  Just plain hilarious.
• Miller's Creek is between Lexington and Harlan. 

Tonight's drink: Bulleit Bourbon - Lawrenceburg, KY with one giant ice cube

Bests of 2014: Episodes

"The Children"

Game of Thrones

A show whose episodes are more known for being the episode where one particular scene happened than for the episode as a whole.  In the few cases where an episode is known for the episode as a whole, it's a result of most or all of the episode focusing on a single event.  "The Children" is the best example of Game of Thrones so far where an episode has multiple pieces and is greater than the sum of its parts.  It manages to wrap up storylines and lead them into future seasons in Kings Landing, The Wall, beyond the Wall and with Arya...all while melding them with other heretofore minor storylines (Stannis) or seeds planted in the past (Jaquen H'gar's coin).  Much time is dedicated to the far North, but rightly so as it gives time for Snow to process Ygritte's death as well as establish the new sherriff in town.

"The Secret Fate of All Things"

True Detective

While True Detective is most often praised for its six minute one shot sequence in the previous episode, it's when we see the narrative and the flashbacks completely diverge that the show really stakes its claim.  Functionally and structurally, it answers a load of questions while closing off the first act of the show.  Artistically, the acting from the two leads joined with the editing and directing to tell a story in the best possible way.

"Burdian's Ass"

Fargo

Similar to "The Secret Fate of All Things", "Buridan's Ass" closes off a few storylines from the first part of the season and launched into the second.  Somehow, Fargo allows us to feel sympathy for a fake and bake schmuck like Don or shock at Lester's simultaneously masterful and sickening plan when he escapes the hospital.  The premeditation brings him to a level we haven't seen before and well sets up the second half of the season, all while making us wait a week in agony to learn the outcome of the snowstorm.  Worth it for the drums alone.

"End of Watch"

Elementary

An episode that would have been pulled had it been scheduled to air the following week.  Sherlock and Watson investigate a random police shooting, and then a second random police shooting.  The investigation, like most episodes, has more layers than it initially seems but does enough to distract the viewer from finding it predictable.  The other element that elevates the episode is Sherlock's concern of losing anonymity, and more importantly confidence, at NA and the lengths at which he'll go to retain it.  We've seen a few dark moments from Sherlock ("I am not nice"), so we're set up for it.  And seeing him spell out his rationale for his methods comes of as solid characterization.

Honorable Mentions

"Episode Ten"

"Episode One"

The Affair

"Guest"

"Two Boats and a Helicopter"

"The Garveys at Their Best"

The Leftovers

"Waterloo"

"The Monolith"

Mad Men

"Form and Void"

True Detective

"Grimmy - Series Finale"

The Colbert Report

Newsroom - Episodes 3 & 4

Sorkin says he is "pretty certain" his is leaving television after Newsroom ends and I wonder if there's a bit of senioritis.  While he says it's not as a result of the critical reception of Newsroom, one couldn't blame him.  I know I would grow weary under constant accusations of sexism, technophobia and condescension.  Especially when those accusations are based on perceived traits of fictional characters.  It is like calling Thomas Harris a serial killer.

While episode two featured Will recapping what could have been done in a previously, episode four featured Will explaining the court process he was facing, then the episode took us through that same court process.  Unfortunately it removed any suspense, much like how Homeland Season Three removed the suspense by explaining Saul's plan in its entirety, even though keeping the viewer in the dark benefited the first third of the season greatly.  Sorkin is a good enough writer though that we don't come for the plot, but for the dialogue, and it does not disappoint.  And for his sake, it has the benefit of taking up minutes of screentime as we play out the wire of Newsroom.

Funny enough, as big screen actors, writers, directors take their turns at television in order to employ the storytelling benefits the medium has, Sorkin expects to move full time to the movies.  His recent movies, Moneyball, The Social Network, are unqualified successes.  Charlie Wilson was another entertaining movie.  All are adapted screenplays from books.  Sorkin's plots have never been his strongest point, something he readily acknowledges *.  So please, continue to ply this man with decent source material so he can shape it into his own voice.  The movies are the place for that.


* "My parents took me to see plays when I was very little, and very often times to ones that I was too young to understand, like Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, which I saw when I was 9. But because I couldn't understand the story, what I really focused on was the language. It sounded like music to me, and I wanted to imitate that sound. As a result, I love dialogue, but I'm very weak with story. I consider plot a necessary intrusion on what I really want to do, which is write snappy dialogue. But when I'm writing, the way the words sound is as important to me as what they mean."

This season has taken great pains to explore two or more sides of every issue its faced.  Whistleblowers versus security.  Old media versus new media.  Ratings versus reporting.  And the show is not necessarily better or worse for it, it is merely different. 

At the Newseum there is a map which represents each country's World Press Freedom rating.  Many visitors are surprised that the United States is not the top rated country, or even int he top five.  Or ten.  Or twenty five.  It is in a tie with Micronesia and Austria for 30th place.  Part of that is some of the countries ranked higher are so small and/or isolated that they have little press to speak of (and thus little reason for the government to suppress it).  It does not mean the United States received a bad rating (21/100, where top ranked Sweden Norway and Denmark all rated 10).  It merely means there are issues that Freedom House, the independent watchdog organization that compiles the report, takes issue with.  For example:

Press freedom suffered from heightened restrictions on reporters’ access to officials from the Obama administration and to government information, particularly concerning national security; government eavesdropping on journalists and news outlets; and continued efforts to compel journalists to reveal the sources of leaked information.
 [...]
 Some 39 states have shield laws that give journalists either absolute or limited protection from orders to reveal confidential sources or other information gathered in the course of their work. The federal government, however, offers no such protection, and efforts to adopt a federal shield law have stalled due to opposition from the Obama administration and congressional unwillingness to treat the issue as a priority. After the administration was criticized in 2013 for accessing the telephone and e-mail records of journalists, it reversed course and indicated a favorable attitude toward a revised federal shield bill.  

Will
I know Reece stated Will's motivations as trying to attain Mac's approval.  But I think it has more to do with his establishing journalism cred and becoming more in touch with his staff over the course of the series.  We know will was an legal analyst  on television who fell into his anchor job by chance.  So he didn't make his bones via embedded reporting or even J-school.  He makes a lot of money for reading the news and opening his broadcast with a Special Comment-esque soliloquy.  His income, his background, or lack thereof, and his celebrity put him at a distance from the journalists/producers that work in the lowercase-n-no-italics-newsroom.  He counts himself as a journalist though and makes a point to name himself one in the conversation between him, Neal, Rebecca and Mac.

Since the pilot where he was phoning it in and didn't know who was on his staff and colleagues, he's established relationships with Jim, Don, Sloane, that girl he hired, and also marrying the English one.  We've seen the team build not through trustfalls or rope courses but from Will behaving in a manner that creates loyalty (like the Rudy-esque check donations).  He goes into his own pocked because he has faith in Neil's hunch.  And now he puts himself in the line of fire of a DOJ inquiry which will address both his journalistic creds and his dedication to the staff.  He also has (had) a chance to be the face of a story that blows that restores credibility to the network following Genoa, a story he also was the face of.

Post NewsNight with Will Macavoy
Is it too much to hope he follows through on his proposition to Charlie and they go report sports?  Because Parenthood is ending, freeing up Peter Krause.  Josh Charles has left The Good Wife.   A SportsNight movie?

I'm sure there is zero chance of this actually happening.  We have to settle for guest appearances on KO.
 
BULLETIN

• Besides Will's filibustering, the Sloane/Don/HR storyline was confirmed as benign.  Hopefully in the last two episodes the most interesting couple and characters on the show will get something worthwhile to do.
• Anytime there's day of the week card smash cut like that, it makes me think of The Shining
• Here's to small weddings!
• Dev panel, when getting the scripts, must've been disapointed to not have any screentime these last two episodes.  And only two left.
• Thank you, HBO, for airing something on Thanksgiving weekend.  You joined Elementary and Survivor (both on CBS) as the only new programming I watched this week.