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2014 RANDOM TV THOUGHTS


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Last nights episode of the Daily Show was great. Jon went all in on the Ferguson/Michael Brown situation.

 

Also Michael Che has been amazing addition to the crew.

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http://www.hitfix.com/whats-alan-watching/david-chase-finally-answers-the-is-tony-soprano-dead-question-sort-of

 

I'm a bit surprised at this, since I always thought going by David Chase interviews, he pretty clearly was dead. Chase just didn't want to come out and say it. Matthew Weiner hinted at the same, basically saying in real life mob bosses usually don't get away with it, so why would Tony?

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Chase really brought this on himself. To end one of the most critically acclaimed and popular shows like that...did he expect people not to ask him about it for the rest of his life?

 

Anyway, I always figured member's-only guy was one of multiple cops in the diner and Tony would be arrested in front of his family

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That Frank Grimes guy should lighten up

I know he's not everyone's favorite, yet I still think the whole idea behind a "normal", realistic person getting completely fed up with the Simpsons' reality and characters was quite clever.  It's dark but I was into it.

 

 

One of the writers on the episode mentioned on Twitter that the theme is basically "Being right doesn't always make you happy." Like, essentially, Grimes is 100% right about Homer and his way of life, but he's also a pretty miserable person. Even before he met Homer, his life didn't wasn't exactly a barrel of laughs.

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Chase really brought this on himself. To end one of the most critically acclaimed and popular shows like that...did he expect people not to ask him about it for the rest of his life?

 

Anyway, I always figured member's-only guy was one of multiple cops in the diner and Tony would be arrested in front of his family

 

Apparently, one version that was filmed was Meadow actually going into the diner and sitting down with Tony and the family. Then the Members Only guy approaches them, looking very scary...then it goes to black.

 

IMO, they should have went with that. It's ambigious but also tells you everything you need to know: One day, if it's not that night it will be another, Tony's actions will come back to haunt him and his life will be over (either through death or jail). The cut to black was maybe just too post-modern and out there for people.

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I still prefer that online essay guy's explanation of how the shot sequence shows that he's clearly dead.  Kind of weird to think that either it's totally unintentional/coincidental or that Chase is now pretending that sequence of shots never meant that even if they did.

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I do. The party ep was pretty good

 

Everybody hated everybody and it kept getting worse.  Then when you thought it was over, there's Darryl destroying the Lincoln. 

 

The show's doing an amazing job turning the "supremely competent, badass alpha male" trope on its head.  It's good that the character is changing; if this was big 4 network TV, he'd still be the same guy he was in episode 1.  Ray has zero control over his life, everything's going to shit, and he can't even keep some lame ass stalker away.  This season is great.

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I do. The party ep was pretty good

 

Everybody hated everybody and it kept getting worse.  Then when you thought it was over, there's Darryl destroying the Lincoln. 

 

The show's doing an amazing job turning the "supremely competent, badass alpha male" trope on its head.  It's good that the character is changing; if this was big 4 network TV, he'd still be the same guy he was in episode 1.  Ray has zero control over his life, everything's going to shit, and he can't even keep some lame ass stalker away.  This season is great.

 

 

Ray getting down with his son to "Walk This Way" at the end was a pretty good underline to all of that. Dancing in the ruins, basically. Plus it was hilarious and actually kind of touching.

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I dig the Pie Man episode where Homer tries to be a superhero who gets blackmailed by Burns, I saw it earlier today.  This is all the way in season 15.  It's still a fun show.

I don't the wheels really fall off until the HD era, maybe season 22 or 23. . . .

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I do. The party ep was pretty good

Everybody hated everybody and it kept getting worse. Then when you thought it was over, there's Darryl destroying the Lincoln.

The show's doing an amazing job turning the "supremely competent, badass alpha male" trope on its head. It's good that the character is changing; if this was big 4 network TV, he'd still be the same guy he was in episode 1. Ray has zero control over his life, everything's going to shit, and he can't even keep some lame ass stalker away. This season is great.

Ray getting down with his son to "Walk This Way" at the end was a pretty good underline to all of that. Dancing in the ruins, basically. Plus it was hilarious and actually kind of touching.

Maybe it's because they chose to focus on one thing instead a scene every 2 minutes, but I think Liev had the best directed episode of the entire season. It felt like an integral scene in a movie rather than some of the soap operaish, Scandal-For-Dudes stuff that plagued the first season and traces in season 2. Avi (wacky foreign tough guy) and Lena (typecast actress that fits the mold of every generic lesbian role) really don't add much to the show, and I felt they added to why the show sometimes comes off as cliche. Focusing on the Donovan family (including Sheryl Lee Ralph's character and Mickey's bum roommate) is legitimately what holds this show together. The only other thing close to being that interesting is Frank and Ed's interplay with Ray. I am so over the Ezra character and the rap kid. The romance storylines are also tired. It feels like the writers think you need to have love triangles just because every other top TV show has them. They are so fucking boring now.

Brian Geraghty is a decent actor (IMDB lists him as simply Jim the Cop on the show lol), but he has the charisma of an old popsicle stick. He was okay as Agent Knox but I think every Boardwalk Empire fan was glad as shit when Eli did him in (SPOILER!). He doesn't bring enough energy to warrant being more than an under five. They gave this fucker a bunch of lines on Boardwalk Empire in a couple episodes that made me think he has the best representation in Hollywood. Michael Shannon and Stephen Graham* were going whole episodes without being seen while this drab motherfucker got valuable screentime. Therefore, I don't want to see Jim THE COP trying to run game on Abby at the gun range. Give me more Wendell Pierce. Give me more Jon Voight doing crazy shit while Wendell Pierce has to rein him in. Those dudes are established as being good at....you know...acting.

*I think the whole Chicago crew was/is money as evidenced by my signature. Even the guy who played Dean O'Bannon was great for what he was. I am a bit biased.

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I love the phrase "Scandal for dudes" and am really glad this show has avoided turning into that.  I watched one episode of Scandal and hated the sheer slickness of it.  I got the impression the whole show would be this hyper competent team of pretty people solving shit with witty quips and high fives along the way.  This show could have easily been that, with Ray and his wacky sidekicks being badasses and fixing things and, handled by a network like ABC, definitely would have been.

 

I think Ray Donovan the show has gone out of its way this season to be the exact opposite.  It's no accident that one of the first cases we saw him go on in season 1 has resurfaced (the stalker) and has shown Ray as a failure.  This whole season is about making sure we see that Ray is in control of absolutely nothing and it's awesome.

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It is quite dark how the citizens of Springfield seem to turn on the family at the drop of a hat time and time again. 

 

OK, so they are troublemakers, but this is a town populated by drunken clowns, laughably inept cops, mentally ill bar owners, evil billionaires and even the odd murderer. Come on, you guys shouldn't be judging anyone else.

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Also, when have Homer and Marge and the kids never not been there when someone in Springfield needed their help? Off the top of my head they've: saved Apu's marriage, saved Moe from suicide too many times to count, reunited Krusty with his dad, gotten Selma a kid and helped Reverend Lovejoy regain his faith.

 

And after all that, they turn around and tried to kill all of them?

 

Homer was perfectly justified in not wanting to go back and help.

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