Damages

by The TV Guy’s Stepmom

You’ll need to turn to NetFlix for this series, which ended its network run several years ago, with its concluding episodes, 4 and 5, distributed on satellite TV. Glenn Close stars as Patty Hewes, a cutthroat attorney, who chews up and spits out young associates. She hires a young lawyer named Ellen Parsons, and takes her under her wing. Ellen is a quick study, who after a short time, proves that she can match wits with her mentor.  Each season features a stand-alone plot line, but the series should be watched in order to really enjoy and understand it. Lots of flashbacks, so you need to give the show your full attention.

House of Cards Season 2

by The TV Guy

To all the fans of House of Cards season 1, season 2 was made available on Netflix in time for Valentine’s day. The loving, borderline psychopath couple are back, and this time Frank (played by Kevin Spacey) is the Vice President of the United States. They are just as conniving and ruthless as they ever were and are ready to take over the world. That last statement is a little dramatic but it sure has that feel to it when I watch the show.

I could offer up spoilers but I shall not as each and every one of you should have the joy and elation of experiencing all the drama as it comes through the TV. With the many twists and turns, you will be pleasantly surprised by the latest season.

Revenge Gets Its Mojo Back

by the TV Guy’s Stepmom

It was several months into season one when I started watching Revenge.  The TV Guy’s father was already a fan.  This night time soap is engaging, and I found myself caught up in the lives of the uber-rich inhabitants of the Hamptons.

 

The plot: new Hampton resident Emily Thorne quickly becomes a thorn in the side of Victoria Grayson, as she ingratiates herself into the life of Victoria’s son, Daniel. Emily, born Amanda Clarke, returns to the Hamptons to avenge the wrongs inflicted on her father by the Graysons, deeds that destroyed her father’s life, and changed hers, too..

 

The second half of season two muddled along and became confusing, and I was ready to throw in the towel. Kudos to the writers for finding their way in season three, creating a major plot shift. When the Graysons were about to get their due, at Emily/Amanda and Daniel’s wedding, things went awry.

 

Emily and her loyal sidekick, Nolan, were ready.  Emily has now been exposed as a young woman desperate to become a part of the Hampton social scene, rather than one out for blood.

 

The show is on hiatus until early March, so this is the perfect time to binge watch. Can’t wait to see what comes next!

When is Over?

by The TV Guy

Where is the line in the sand that once crossed, you know the series has over stayed its welcome? Recently on Criminal Minds, there was a complete “dream sequence” where Hotch sees his dead wife and the serial killer who haunted him over the years. I felt as if maybe the writers had simply run out of new stories.

I had an emotional reaction to what I was watching. I find this type of filler to be painful and a bit insulting to serious viewers. I could care less about his departed wife and the silly dream like sequence that is supposed to teach a lesson or something? Serious television should not be messed with in a manner that degrades the integrity of the show itself.

So the writers and producers of dramas should all take my pledge!

Repeat after me!

“I will not put sappy trite dream sequences with dead people in ball gowns or tops hats in a serious drama series.”

Thanks for your support!

SHIELD

by The TV Guy

The folks at Marvel comics have brought the world of comics to primetime television. The Marvel comics Agents of Shield is currently on ABC and follows the character of Phil Coulson played by Clark Gregg from the Ironman series. The show picks up him after the alien attack of New York City under the premise that the world is changed and that this band of agents are part of a new defense of the world.

The character Phil Colson was dead at the end of the Ironman series. This was an interesting sort of twist of realities in the bending of one storyline to fit another storyline. If you get beyond that and you have a gap of time in which the show of this caliber can be viewed, then this is definitely something you might want to give a look.

The basic premise of the show is that Phil Coulson puts together a team of Shield agents to handle strange new cases.

The characters are a rather standard.  There is a computer hacker, a military strongman, a woman who knows karate… pretty standard stuff.  Despite the cliché of the team, the stories themselves are quite interesting and actually give the viewer a hour of compelling television.

While I’m not much for this particular genre of movies or television, the show is geared towards a more mainstream viewer. Although each of the members of the team possesses certain skill sets, unlike Ironman or the Hulk, they are not superhuman.

So what it comes down to is if you are a fan of this particular genre, you may find this to be not quite up to your standards. If this is not your genre you may find this to be just watchable enough that you can sit through a few episodes and find to be enjoyable.

Overall I give this show is 7/10.  It’s not great but at the same time, it’s not horrible. So if this interests you in the least give this one look.  Nothing ventured, nothing gained.

Breaking Bad- I’m Out of Sync

Everyone loves Breaking Bad, and everyone is talking about it.  The husband and I started watching it because everyone said we should.  I admit, the storytelling is good and the characters are well-drawn.

That being said, I’m almost indifferent to the show, on the point of not liking it.  However, even though I don’t like it, I feel compelled to continue watching it, and I probably will finish all of it, though at a less frenetic pace than most people seem to.  Not long ago, the TV Guy’s Stepmom blogged about it and mentioned how she went through 40 episodes in 5 weeks.  The husband went from nothing to caught up in about 2 or 3.  I’ve been watching 4-5 episodes per weekend, so I’ll catch up eventually.

It took me awhile to figure out why I’m less “into it” than everyone else seems to be.  Before I go further, let me say that I’m going to start talking about some spoilers.  I’m only into Season 2, and the spoilers I talk about will be broad concept type things.  Just FYI.

The husband watched an episode of Talking Bad with the show’s creator, Vince Gilligan, and he explained that the show isn’t about good guys and bad guys.  There’s no moral lesson.  It’s just about the de-evolution of Walter White.

And right there is the reason I don’t much like it.

Walter starts out as a nice guy.  He’s a pushover, and early on, I cheered him on as he started to gain confidence and some power.  I even cheered him on as he pushed around stoner-loser Jesse.  However, it quickly became apparent that Jesse has moral lines that he won’t cross, even when “ordered” to.  And Walter’s lines are blurring.  If they’ve blurred this much by Season 2, I can’t imagine where they’ll go by the end.

I love stories about dystopian futures, tragedies, difficult circumstances.  But what I like in a story is a redeeming main character.  Sure, we all make mistakes, and I’m fine with a human main characters who makes mistakes, has moral failings, and even acts in ways I don’t approve of.  But in the end, I want them to have grown in a positive direction.  Walter White isn’t doing that.  He’s becoming someone I don’t like, at all.  Is it a “true” story of the human condition?  Maybe.  I could see someone in that circumstance becoming like Walter, but why would I want to watch it?

For the record, I don’t like Skyler either.  Something about her just rubs me the wrong way.  I really think the people I like best are Jesse and Walt Jr.

Anyone else have thoughts on this very polarizing show?  Do you watch it?

Broadchurch

by The TV Guy

The Brits have done it again with this gem. The show takes place in a picturesque seaside town in England where the body of young boy is found on the beach. Dr. Who alumni David Tennant plays hard-nosed investigator Inspector Alec Hardy, who has recently been hired to run the department.

The local paper digs into the pasts of town folk to find the killer, harming some reputations along the way.

Broadchurch is captivating and a little anxiety causing, in a good way. It pulls at the part of our spirit that force us to think about what we might do in the same situation. Week in and week out they peel back the layers of the case to solve this whodunit.

Check this one out Wednesday nights on BBC America.

Cougar Town

by The TV Guy

Every so often a minor TV miracle happens. A chance meeting with a show that you found little or no interest in when you caught it first time around. Some shows seem too corny or cliché and you pass them by on principle alone.  Sometimes it’s an actor or actress for whatever reason you find them awful or simply ridiculous. I am not a fan of Courtney Cox, I am not sure why other than her annoying character on Friends which I watched once or twice and scratched my head as to why it was so popular.

So when Cougar Town came along in 2009 I passed it over quickly with a cursory nod of dismissal. When the show made its migration from prime time ABC to the slightly more adult TBS I gave it look and found the show had some redeeming value and decided to set the DVR to catch the new episodes. I realized quickly that I had set the DVR to record all the episodes and began to amass a significant collection of re-runs from the previously dismissed seasons. I can admit when I am wrong and I was wrong about Cougar Town. The show evolved passed its down right stupid title and began to develop a cohesive set of characters and story lines that made for interesting viewing. If you caught the show in season 1 and hated it, check out the subsequent seasons as the writing improved and the show developed a character of its own.

Star Trek: Into Darkness

This was an awesome movie, even if you’re not a Star Trek fan.  It’s probably going to be going to limited run or leaving theaters altogether soon, so if you have a chance to see it, especially in 3D, go now.

I saw it on Sunday night, and we didn’t have much of a crowd in the theater.  In some of the emotional, quieter scenes, you could have heard a pin drop in the theater.  The writing is phenomenal, and drew me into the story.  It’s an action movie with well developed characters I really care about.  The relationship between Kirk and Spock is really something special.  In the original show, the relationship is much less volatile, but it’s also a paler version of this relationship.  In this universe, the men argue, and this Kirk is much angrier than the original, but it’s also clear that they bring out the best in one another.

I’m not going to give any spoilers about the movie.  I’m sure there are about a million online if you want to know what the story is really about.  Forget the sci-fi aspect if you’re not into the genre.  This is first and foremost an action movie with great characters, not those pale cardboard cut-outs all too common to movie nowadays.

TV Families..22 minute resolutions?

by The TV Guy

The television family has been deified in popular culture as the pinnacle of healthy family dynamics. Even though we know it is fantasy, there is still a part of the human psyche that yearns for Brady family perfection. Alas, this is but a dream that we must awaken from and look at our own real families. They are who they are, and some we see once every 20 years or so and smile awkwardly, feeling a certain level of guilt for not keeping in touch. The reality is that our own families are more disconnected than ever, with little time or ability to get everyone together. We can try and should try but it is often difficult to make up for decades of lost or disconnected time. Everyone has his or her own lives and responsibilities that come with doing what they need to do for their own small circles of family. So this week, when looking at TV families and having that little bit of envy because they have figured something monumental out in 22 minutes, keep in mind that our families are real and do not have the capacity for such magical resolution. We should cut them a break, as they are not working from a well-prepared script or being directed when to do and say the right the thing. They are our families, and although we cannot make up for lost time, we might want to give it higher priority. Maybe try a little harder to make a moment with the people who made you who you are… good, bad or indifferent.