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EVA

By EVA
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Brian Fowler

Brian Fowler

Posted
Posted

It seems like the finales for so cable dramas have been needlessly over the top violent and "shocking." It's like a wrestling match full of high spots.

 

I don't think "needlessly" applies to the Red Wedding.  But that's just me.

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Craig H

Craig H

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No, the Red Wedding wasn't needless, it's all of the other finales that go for something so shocking so as to top the Red Wedding without even understanding why the Red Wedding worked that are needless.

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Craig H

Craig H

Posted
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Point of order, but GoT has its own thread.

 

It's not a comment about Game of Thrones, it's a comment about television dramas going so far over the top, and almost pointlessly and needlessly so. Eh, it's just an observation after watching the SoA finale, but that could just be Sutter be a douchebag.

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Jrag

Jrag

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SOA is like the pinnacle of over the top violence for no good reason.  That's just Sutter being a super douche.

 

 

I had to google Red Wedding :(

 

That sucks.  You might as well just read all the books real quick so you never have to worry about spoilers again!

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Antacular

Antacular

Posted
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I'm clueless as to why the Red Wedding is so talked about. I've never read any of the books, and before that episode I had seen maybe 1 episode from the previous season. But watching that show live (my brother made me),

 

as soon as the King or Emperor or whatever closed the doors, I said "Everyone's about to die."

 

 

The last 3 episodes of Breaking Bad were 10x more over the top.

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Jrag

Jrag

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OK, but don't be a douche maybe?  This isn't a GoT thread.

 

Here is your answer by the way:

 

The guy who said close the doors isn't a king, more of a bit player, while the people killed are set up as the main characters from the beginning of the series.  It's the moment when you realize the story isn't about the Starks and they will never get revenge.  The violence is shocking, but the true shock comes from how far they stray from conventional storytelling.  Breaking Bad is a good counter example.  The shootout in the desert is just as over the top, but it would be way more shocking if it happened early in the show's run and say.. Jesse had also died.

 

Your brother should have made you start from the beginning!

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Reed

Reed

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True story: the naked crotchless robot on this week's Almost Human was more bizarre and disturbing than anything on cable this year. 

Truth.

 

 

 

That was one of my "How the hell the did they get away with that?" moments.

 

Obviously, you weren't, like, seeing anything (kind of the point), but still. So weird.

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Tabe

Tabe

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This post will be all kinds of spoilerific and will also no doubt repeat some thoughts I've expressed previously.  You've been warned!

 

Thanks to being sick all week, I was able to get all the way through Friday Night Lights.  Definitely one of the best series I've ever watched though it never quite reaches the heights of The West Wing, for example.  Without a doubt the best "high school drama" show I've ever seen though.  There's such a high level of authenticity to the dialogue, to the situations, to the characters that you find yourself wondering why more shows can't do it that well, too. 

 

I thought season 1 was the best of the 5 though season 5 is very good, too.  Season 2 wasn't nearly as bad as expected - was still very good, in fact - but definitely did stick out compared to the other four.  I think the show was definitely hurt in the last two seasons by the main characters not being as good as those in the first three.  The last two seasons had too many cliched characters (you've got the "troubled tough girl" in Epic, the "reformed crackhead single mom", the "deadbeat convict dad who reverts back to form", and so on) but they were still generally written and acted very well, so you still accept them.  I liked also that the last few seasons dialed back the "she's sassy and fierce and independent!!!!!" part of Tami Taylor's personality.  It was grating and unnecessary and felt just a tad forced.  I liked the relationship between Eric and Tami - it felt real.  Not perfect, not 100% lovey-dovey but real.  And I liked that both were allowed to be intelligent, real, functional people. 

 

Other thoughts:

 

- Said it before but, man, Minka Kelly is hot.  Can't believe I never noticed her before even as GQ was naming her Sexiest Woman and all that

 

- That said, the producers definitely made the right call in emphasizing the Tyra character over Lyla.  More interesting, more faceted, better actress.  Unfortunately, once they did that, they just sucked all the energy right out of the Lyla character and she became just this lifeless nothing.

 

- I love that all the characters (Joe McCoy excepted) are basically good people trying to do the right thing.  They're flawed - Saracen drinks, Tim's a crook, Julie's a bit easy to get in the sack, Lyla's a goodie-goodie who cheats on her boyfriend, Eric's willing to look the other way on recruiting stuff, Tami's OK with leading on a co-worker, etc - but they're good people.

 

- Too many last-second wins for the football teams.  Yeah, I know, it's a drama but c'mon. 

 

- in general, the football on the show is done really, really well.  The action on the field is pretty realistic and looks good.  But, yeah, that one "Saracen fumbled at the goal line" and the "mud bowl" episode were more than a little tough to take.

 

- mentioned it before but the Matt Saracen character is one of my favorite of all-time.  Whoever said he should have gotten an Emmy is 100% dead-on.  It's a shame that Saracen was basically non-existent in seasons 4 & 5 and that what was shown wasn't very interesting.

 

- someone else mentioned that at least some of the dialogue was improvised and it shows.  It feels real and natural, especially Landry's dialogue.  I love his awkward, hesitant delivery and underlying sarcasm and snarkiness.

 

- lots of plot holes and dropped storylines though - Lyla as a born-again, JD McCoy the superstar, Santiago the rescued thug, and so on

 

- I hated how the ages of the characters kept changing.  Knocking two years off the ages of several major characters was stupid.  Changing Landry & Saracen to being not the same age was stupid - especially since Landry is portrayed as older than Saracen in the first season then suddenly is younger in the fourth.

 

- I'm not sure I've ever heard a broadcast network show with more profanity than FNL.  Yeah, "damn" and "ass" aren't the worst things ever said on TV but, holy cow, they sure said them a LOT. 

 

- I had to laugh when 20-year old Tim Riggins after getting out of prison vows to "never do anything illegal again" - as he's drinking a beer underage.  Yeah, it's hardly a felony but I still found it funny.

 

- Adrianne Palicki is a lot better looking with light/blonde hair than the dark she showed in the finale.  And we won't even discuss what Aimee Teegarden has done to herself since the show ended. 

 

- Back to the plot holes - when Dillon was split into two high schools, they just completely ignored a whole bunch of logic/plot holes.  For example, where the heck were all those East Dillon kids before the split?  They were attending Dillon yet the school was somehow lily white?  Wouldn't at least SOME of the players - like, ya know, Luke - have already been on the Dillon team?  Then there's the whole matter of splitting a not-gigantic school in half and yet somehow both of the halves remain 5A (the largest) class?

 

- I thought the series finale was great.  They tied up almost all of the loose ends in realistic, good ways and it was a very satisfying ending. 

 

All in all, a great show, easily one of the best I've ever seen.

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Craig H

Craig H

Posted
Posted

Yeah, I mentioned that about Saracen. When he broken down, talking about his life and family, holy shit, I was crying for a good long while. He had all of this pent up emotion and frustration throughout the series until that point and then he let it all out. It was beautiful.

 

Some other stuff I fondly remember is the season two premiere, or maybe season three, but Julie works at the pool and has the hots for the guy she doesn't even know while Saracen twists in the wind. I liked that plot because of how realistic it felt. I also loved the Landry/Tyra relationship that ended with Landry getting stood up. Landry would later wind up with the suuuuuper cute girl in his band.

 

And I'm surprised you didn't mention the biggest plot hole, which was Saracen having a massive apartment in Chicago as a student. Downtown, or hell, even in a surrounding neighborhood, that place is at least $3000 a month. Couple that with tuition and one wonders how he's making his money.

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