Saturday, September 19th, 2009
05.30 Scrubs
06.00 Breaking Bad
07.00 Royal Pains
08.00 The Office
Scrubs. Season 8, Episode 8. "My Lawyer's In Love"
Cox is still learning the same lesson from last week? (That he can't do everything that he used to do.) Hmm. That's a bit lame. I hope they aren't going to hammer that idea to death for the rest of the season. Having said that, the scene where he arrived home too late to read a bedtime story to his child was superb. Sad and affecting. Made all the better by his wife's understanding.
Sam Lloyd, meanwhile, gets some of the biggest laughs in the episode as Ted falls in love (with Kate Micucci). Even better, JD and The Janitor call a truce to help Ted. Best bit? Janitor declares the truce over (for 5 seconds) so he can throw JD's papers out the window... He then says the truce is back on. Wonderful.
Breaking Bad. Episode 3. "...and the Bag's in the River" Contemplating murder.
When Walter/Bryan Cranston is on-screen the show is fantastic, when he is off-screen it is considerably less interesting. In this episode his son and brother-in-law get screentime (as do his wife and her sister) and the show is much more ordinary for those scenes.
But... in every other respect this is the best episode so far. Walter must execute the guy that he and Jesse have been holding hostage. The script (by Vince Gilligan) gives Walter an easy-out at the very end, when the guy attacks Walter, but the journey up to that point is gruelling and riveting.
Royal Pains. Episode 5. "No Man is an Island" Island episode.
Carol Flint creates an extreme situation to allow Hank to do his 'thing' (and be creative like MacGyver or Michael Weston). She sends Hank and his brother to a remote island with no phone coverage and no medical supplies.
It works. Basically. But you have to worry a little bit if the show has to bend over backwards to create stories to serve one of it's basic selling points (Hank will be a doctor using whatever is to hand). The show could just ditch that idea and work just fine, tbh.
That, however, is the only thing that bugs me about this episode. It's a good story, peopled by interesting and likable guest characters. The show doesn't create false conflict by using guest characters that are idiots or needlessly aggressive. Instead all of the guest characters are... nice. Everyone is nice in this show. And it works. Because the conflict comes from other places.
The Office. Season 6, Episode 1. Michael starts some "Gossip"
A wonderful season premier. It tells you all you would ever need to know about Michael Scott: he's needy (upset by being left out of the loop), he's dumb (he gleefully spreads the gossip about Stanley), but he's kind-hearted (he tries hard to stop the rumour when he understands the harm it is doing) and he's sometimes very, very clever (his abundance of rumours successfully does the job.)
Highlight? Breaking Bad (gruelling and riveting)
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Scrubs, Breaking Bad, Royal Pains, The Office
