Television

[rome8180]

How the fuck have you guys kept watching that show? I didn't even make it through the first season. Stupid show that got mistaken as good due to great acting and serious subject matter.

 

[bdotling]

The Affair is really picking up. Not to say I didn't really enjoy the first 4-5 episodes, but now everything is starting to crystallize.

 

[StopThePumpFakesShav]

Homeland has turned the corner. Last week's episode was very good, this week's was great. So all of Seasons 1 and 2 should be watched, Season 3 can be skipped, Season 4 episodes 1-6 can be fast forwarded through mostly, and Season 4 episode 7 onward should be watched.

Yeah, last three episodes have been excellent other than

Spoiler

That Brody bullshit

Credit to writers for suddenly rescuing a show that had been declining steadily for like 16-18 straight episodes. Probably hit rock bottom midway/end of S3. And of course it was their fault for the decline in the first place.

 

[rhfarmer]

So, after a Wire binge with my wife, my feeling is that the seasons are ranked in accordance with the quality of their theme. I'm a huge fan of Tom Waits, who wrote the song, and also performed it for season 2.

So:
1. Season 2 (Tom Waits)
2. Season 4 (DoMaJe)
3. Season 1 (Blind Boys of Alabama)
4. Season 3 (Neville Brothers)
5. Season 5 (Steve Earle)

At the end of the Day, The Wire is a fucking depressing show. My favorite character ends up being Lester (with Bubbles being a close second), but he's still a bit of a D-Bag, what with the whole Serial Killer fraud thing.

I'm not sure what the purpose of the show was, other than to show that everyone has a ton of baggage, and that poverty and despair are nearly universal pairs. Nearly everyone you root for either ends up shot in the head, becomes a murderer or a junky. Depressing. But probably pretty realistic.

Everyone go download some Tom Waits, and then drink something.

 

[rome8180]

I feel like they offered a few rays of hope, but not many. Namond escapes his awful situation at the end of the fourth season. Bubbles rises up as well.

But mostly, if you're trying to turn your life around on that show, you're probably going to end up dead soon. According to David Simon, unlike most writing the show is modeled on a Greek tragedy instead of Shakespeare. In Greek tragedy, man is crushed by the fates. In The Wire, man is crushed by "postmodern institutions" (whether they are the police force, the drug trade, the newsroom, etc.).

The show makes a point of drawing parallels between these institutions, at some points even cutting between two scenes with remarkable similar action in order to show how worlds that seem on the surface totally different are actually structured the same. And the result is the same: the thwarting of any attempts individuals make to break free of or reform the institutions that trap them.

That, to my mind, is the point of the show.

 

[rome8180]

If The Wire has one thing that sets it apart, it's that it's more concerned with depicting how social structures work than it is with charting character arcs. Most shows are character studies. The Wire has many complex characters, but it's made more interesting by its social insight.

 

[dkst0426]

Credit to writers for suddenly rescuing a show that had been declining steadily for like 16-18 straight episodes. Probably hit rock bottom midway/end of S3. And of course it was their fault for the decline in the first place.

There's no Dana Brody this season. Coincidence??? I THINK NOT!

 

[rhfarmer]

I feel like they offered a few rays of hope, but not many. Namond escapes his awful situation at the end of the fourth season. Bubbles rises up as well.

But mostly, if you're trying to turn your life around on that show, you're probably going to end up dead soon. According to David Simon, unlike most writing the show is modeled on a Greek tragedy instead of Shakespeare. In Greek tragedy, man is crushed by the fates. In The Wire, man is crushed by "postmodern institutions" (whether they are the police force, the drug trade, the newsroom, etc.).

The show makes a point of drawing parallels between these institutions, at some points even cutting between two scenes with remarkable similar action in order to show how worlds that seem on the surface totally different are actually structured the same. And the result is the same: the thwarting of any attempts individuals make to break free of or reform the institutions that trap them.

That, to my mind, is the point of the show.

I agree WRT a few rays of hope, and obviously by season 5, I doubt anybody is tuning in for the happy ending. But mostly, people get chewed up and spit out and no good deed goes unpunished.

As for the making of parallels, there was a show in season three, "with all due respect" which smashed it in your face with the phrase "with all due respect" being spoken by several characters to their superiors in rapid succession in three or four scenes. I remember laughing out loud after the third time.

And if it wasn't obvious, my rating of the seasons according to who performed the theme was a joke.

 

[NCCUknow]

Peaky Blinders is fucking awesome

Cilian Murphy ftw

 

[skins]

Everyone who I've tried to introduce Peaky Blinders to has dismissed it because of its name. The second series finale was so, so good. I'm bummed to have to wait another year for the next season.

 

[rome8180]

I feel like they offered a few rays of hope, but not many. Namond escapes his awful situation at the end of the fourth season. Bubbles rises up as well.

But mostly, if you're trying to turn your life around on that show, you're probably going to end up dead soon. According to David Simon, unlike most writing the show is modeled on a Greek tragedy instead of Shakespeare. In Greek tragedy, man is crushed by the fates. In The Wire, man is crushed by "postmodern institutions" (whether they are the police force, the drug trade, the newsroom, etc.).

The show makes a point of drawing parallels between these institutions, at some points even cutting between two scenes with remarkable similar action in order to show how worlds that seem on the surface totally different are actually structured the same. And the result is the same: the thwarting of any attempts individuals make to break free of or reform the institutions that trap them.

That, to my mind, is the point of the show.

I agree WRT a few rays of hope, and obviously by season 5, I doubt anybody is tuning in for the happy ending. But mostly, people get chewed up and spit out and no good deed goes unpunished.

As for the making of parallels, there was a show in season three, "with all due respect" which smashed it in your face with the phrase "with all due respect" being spoken by several characters to their superiors in rapid succession in three or four scenes. I remember laughing out loud after the third time.

And if it wasn't obvious, my rating of the seasons according to who performed the theme was a joke.

Yeah, that one was pretty heavy-handed. As were a few others. But there were tons of much more subtle parallels that you'd only notice after multiple viewings.

 

[deepdarkblue]

Everyone who I've tried to introduce Peaky Blinders to has dismissed it because of its name. The second series finale was so, so good. I'm bummed to have to wait another year for the next season.

Yeah, I love that show but it suffers from Bad Name Syndrome. I thing The Honourable Woman maybe has a bit of the same malady, and it's a good show, too.

 

[rome8180]

Watched the pilot of The Affair. Wow. I hope it stays this good, because it's the only show I've seen recently that really interested me.

 

[bdotling]

Watched the pilot of The Affair. Wow. I hope it stays this good, because it's the only show I've seen recently that really interested me.

the pilot was really enjoyable. I still find it very enjoyable and I'm really interested to see how it goes, the first 5 episodes do a great job setting it all up while maintaining interest, it feels like shit is about to hit the fan now. I think the one criticism is how it isn't readily apparent to everybody the way they act in such a small town that they are having an affair. that last sentence I wrote was terrible.


I also dont know how this sustains more than one season

 

[rome8180]

I had to lol at Rawls talking to McNulty, expect it's neither Rawls nor McNulty. That must have been surreal for those actors.

 

[aiw]

I thought that episode of Homeland was pretty fucking exciting.

 

[ZackM]

Ugh...I stopped watching and now you assholes keep posting about how much better it has gotten.

Guess I'll have to catch up again.

 

[aiw]

Carver gonna get the tetanus

 

[physicsfactor]

Lol

I hate how much of a pussy Cutty is in WD

 

[dkst0426]

Claire Danes is really on point this season. Gripping stuff.