Tuesday, December 11th, 2007
07:30 The Closer
09:30 Samantha Who?
10:00 Damages
11:00 Carnivàle
12:00 Entourage
The Closer. Season 3, Episode 14/15. The best-dressed cops on TV investigate a more violent crime than is usual for them: two suspects rob an armoured car, killing most of the guards in the prospect. When the surviving guard flees across the country to Atlanta, four of the regular characters follow. And end up staying with Brenda's parents before all of six of them (plus criminal) take a four-day road trip back to LA.
There is much to admire in this show. The performances. Bill Heck is a great guest star. The seemless blending of comedy and drama. While there is much to laugh at, with the slapstick revolving around the criminal, there is a lot of genuinely sad and touching moments along the way, too. And, finally, the nature of the the types of story being told. On one hand you have a very exciting, very grim crime drama. And, on the other hand, you have some quality writing showcasing the sometimes difficult relationship between Brenda and her father/parents.
Samantha Who? Episode 9. The show that America has forgotten continues to produce quality comedy week-after-week. Samantha finally has sex. It might be obvious what lessons she is supposed to be learning this week, but the show takes a wonderful turn at the mid-point. Suddenly, it turns out that the wacky sub-plot (about her secretary) is themeatically the same!! This is a very skilfully written show. And - while this was not the funniest episode so far - it also a laugh-out-loud funny show.
Damages. Episode 12. Finally! Some answers. And, you know what, it all make sense now. How could we not have guessed. Everything that went down on the night that David died could really only have gone down that way. Not that that was obvious to us as the series was in progress. My comparisons to Veronica Mars and 24 still stand. VM gave us a season-long mystery every year with a resolution that (a) made perfect sense to the characters, (b) was perfectly obvious in hindsight. Ditto Damages. 24, meanwhile, has given us a tougher-than-tough protagonist scarred/changed by the death of a loved one and the betrayal of close friends. Ditto Damages. Ellen is now one of my fave TV characters. One episode left. Are they really going to kill Ellen off?
Carnivàle. Season 2, Episode 2. There is a theory that we watch some TV shows every week because they depict a nice place to go. Carnivàle fits the bill. Every week we get taken 1930s Dust Bowl America and we join a travelling carnival as they travel from two to town in poverty-ridden times trying to eek out a living. Sure, we also get to watch two supremely powerful supernatural beings prepare to do battle, but most of the time we are watching the carnival folk. And I love them. And the world that the show brings us into. The stunning Clea DuVall gets a lot to do in this episode, as she comes to terms with her mothers untimely death and tries to find a way to fit into carnival life without her meal ticket. Engrossing, and painful, to watch.
Entourage. Season 2, Episode 11. There is a theory that we watch some TV shows every week because they depict nice people we would like to hang out with. Entourage fits the bill. These four friends, plus Ari are somewhat disfunctional and they have a tendency to bicker a lot. But, at heart, they are decent people, trying very hard to look out for one another in a crazy environment. Well, maybe not Ari (who is still fearful of losing Vince to a rival agent). This is the episode where Johnny Drama plays Brook Shields brother and hugs her in an inappropriate way.
Highlight? Damages.
Carnivàle, Damages, Entourage, Samantha Who?, The Closer
