EVA

I do not understand what is going on in this Bama game.

I thought maybe Auburn could give LSU a scare in a sloppy, rain-soaked game, but...no. That does not seem to be the case. I'm not surprised Alabama is putting in a snoozer of an effort against Colorado State the week after Texas A&M, but, man, I get tired of these slouching toward Bethlehem games.

Well, this game got a lot less interesting once Florida got it together.

Yeah, WVU's offensive meltdown this season has been alarming. Sure, they lost key guys in Smith, Austin, and Bailey, but Holgerson is supposed to be an offensive genius AND this is Year 3 for him, which is ample time for him to have developed somebody who can make some plays.It's definitely not a good indicator for a coach's long term success when his team starts sucking on the side of the ball he specializes in. (See also: Pelini, Bo.)

Forget Bama/A&M. GOTY.

Correction: THIS IS THE GREATEST GAME I HAVE EVER SEEN.

This game is going to go down in derp legend.

This is hideous football. Almost makes me wish Jeff Driskel would come back. Except then I'd be back to having to see his WHOLE ASS through his pants again. Thank God for that one double-stitched strip down the middle. The word is "compression shorts," bro.

You know you're a bum when they don't even get the cart for you and make you crutch your own ass all the way to the locker room.

This week in LOL DRISKEL: Pick 6!

Sheesh. There hasn't been a beating this bad at a Florida A&M road game since........ahem *nervously tugs at collar* Hey, all I'm saying is you can't spell "Columbus" with Bus C.

Season 2 was easily the best. By far. That was the one that had people thinking it might go with BREAKING BAD and MAD MEN as the Leaders of the Post-SOPRANOS/WIRE/SHIELD Era. But then they went to Belfast in season 3, and it was...not good. The finale was awesome, though, and that gave people hope that it might recapture the glory in season 4. But then season 4 was about on par with season 3, at which point everyone had to come to terms with the fact that season 2 was an aberration and that the show was, at best, going to be a just-okay show with ocassional great moments interspersed. Which is fine. As Kurt Sutter is so fond of reminding everyone, not every show has to be a major work of art. At that point, I was alright with enjoying the show for what it was: a brainless, testosterone-soaked hour of puply action. But then season 5 came along, and they killed Opie, and it was like, fuck this show. OUT. For me, personally, that was the point when I realized Sutter didn't even know the show he was making anymore. I was tempted to catch up with the premiere when I heard about the school shooting, just to see how wrong-headed and stupid it was, but then I thought better of it.

I watched TRANCE last night and really enjoyed it. I mean, it's basically a MEMENTO knockoff, but it's a MEMENTO knockoff directed by DANNY BOYLE, so it's a blast to watch, regardless. And I'm going to assume there was some fancy digital age body doubling going on for Rosario Dawson, because that was the fullest full frontal nudity I've ever seen.

Heads up: Clemson doing Clemson things.

No it's terrible. Everyone is hateful, everyone is an idiot, everybody does stupid unrealistic illogical things that endanger others. If anything the spin off will be better because they'll have the freedom to not do the same nonsensical gibberish that I guess is in the comics.That nonsensical shit is largely a product of AMC's terrific crew of writers. Stupid people doing stupid stuff more often than not die in the comics.I think Kirkman has to bear a lot of the blame. For one thing, though I don't think he's held the "showrunner" title, he has been the one consistent factor at the top of the writing department due to the Dexterian turnover rate at the showrunner position. Secondly, he has gone on the record multiple times saying that one of the things he likes about doing the show is that he gets to make changes to what he did in the comics.I'd say there are pretty good odds that a lot of the changes that everybody thinks are stupid come straight from Kirkman himself.

Eh, season 3 was an improvement over season 2, but I don't know if I'd say it keeps getting "better and better," because I thought the best parts of season 3 came in the first half and it ended kinda flat. At this point, I'd say it's more of a "disappointing" show than an offensively bad one. The amazing pilot episode seemed to promise a smarter, more lyrical, longform exploration of your typical zombie apolcalypse scenario, which was exciting; but what we've ended up with is just, like, a really long typical zombie movie that is ocassionally poigniant, but mostly silly or kinda boring or some combination thereof. (season 2...ugh). I mean, I still watch it, so it hasn't quite crossed the threshold into being so utterly stupid that I can't be bothered to waste my time with it (where SONS OF ANARCHY is waiting for company).

It's just amazing that they went from having spectacular taste to having absolute dogshit taste. I mean, even with THE WALKING DEAD, though they ultimately squandered it's creative potential and it's become a mostly-bad show, you have to give them a lot of credit for at least recognizing the potential of that property. And the pilot is still fucking fantastic. But ever since, it's been one misstep after another. And judging by LOW WINTER SUN, they haven't regained their footing yet.

Unfortunately, that's not really true. When Gilligan said he wanted to end the show in season 5, AMC only offered him a budget for 6 to 8 episodes TOTAL. Not even the 8-and-8 deal that they settled on. 8 episodes and done. It took Gilligan and Sony shopping the show to other networks for AMC to finally agree to the 8-and-8 split.I sincerely hope somebody at AMC remembers that every time this season sets a new all-time high.I don't know if there was a change at the top of the network, or if they just got lucky with MAD MEN and BREAKING BAD, but they have been doing their best to fuck up ever since. And it must have finally dawned on somebody there just how far up Shit Creek they were going to be after 2014, because they just announced the last season of MAD MEN has been split into a similar 7-and-7 deal. You know, so they can keep milking that teat for every last drop of critical acclaim before they're left with...THE WALKING DEAD...and...HELL ON WHEELS? Lol.Oh, and the just-announced WALKING DEAD SPIN-OFF. They are just grasping at every straw they have left.

So BROOKLYN NINE-NINE was pretty alright. I feel like I probably would've laughed more if I hadn't seen most of the big gags repeated over and over in commercials. Will definitely be back for next week.

Gilligan always planned it to run just 5 seasons. He thought that if it went longer than that it would just get ridiculous. It would just be implausible to have this guy running around for 7 or 8 seasons without getting caught or killed or coming to some kind of end. "Ozymandias" set a new ratings record, btw.

I think one of the main problems with Dexter is that there was never one auteur who had control of the overall vision of the show (like MAD MEN, BREAKING BAD, DEADWOOD, THE WIRE, etc.). I want to say there have been 4, maybe 5, different showrunners over the course of 8 seasons. And mostly they were TV journeymen who were put in charge because they could produce product, not because they had a great take on the story. And, with that in mind, I think Michael Hall himself has to be held culpable to some degree. Like most of the stars of these sorts of shows, he's an executive producer as well, and, without a strong, consistent showrunner, I'd wager he's had as much imput into how latter seasons were developed as anyone.

Well, that's very likely what will happen. There's really no evidence that Jesse wants to die, though.

Wow, I watched the episode twice last night, and somehow I missed the shot of the bullet hole in the reflection of Walt's head both times. Amazing shot. Although you expect that from Rian Johnson. So many great shots last night.My favorite, though, is the one like the one above with Walt on the ground in anguish, but with Uncle Jack's dusty boots standing over him. Such a great homage to the poem that gave the episode it's name.

I think people overstate Walt's monstrousness. He does terrible things, but he's still a human being. And human beings experience this thing called "regret." You saw him going through a bout of it at the end last night regarding what he had done for his family. I doubt it will be long before Walt starts feeling regret that he signed Jesse's death warrant simply because, in his anguish and anger over Hank's death, he wanted to hurt someone and Jesse was the only one he could hurt. And without a doubt, once he finds out that he had, in fact, signed Jesse up for a fate perhaps worse than death, he will try to save him. Again, it's a classic trait of tragic characters that they realize the error of their ways and either try to make things right or, at least, hold back the tide of whatever awful thing they've unleashed. And, of course, just because he sets out to save Jesse, that doesn't mean he'll necessarily succeed, or that Jesse won't kill him after he's been rescued. That's the nature of the tragic character, as well: to fail.

Who doesn't like the Aryans? Uncle Jack has a casual, folksy charm. And he gave Walt $11 million back out of the sheer goodness of his heart. Solid dude.