TV REVIEW: Last night, HBO's superlative drama took a huge leap forward, but left behind its most compelling soldier, who was also one of TV's best characters.
By Kenny Herzog
It actually hurts to look. (Credit: HBO)
Nucky Thompson giveth, and Nucky taketh away. Last night's Boardwalk Empire finale, "To the Lost," was sad and stunning. But when Nucky (Steve Buscemi, who was incredible in "Lost") put two bullets in Jimmy Darmody's (Michael Pitt, playing an irreperably broken soul) head, it was both mercy and sacrifice. Free from the looming threat of jail and ready to clamp back down on Atlantic City, Nucky had to make a heavily witnessed statement to earn back trust and respect. After seeing Jimmy's condition, and knowing him better than anyone, he realized assasinating the man who he raised like a son was the difficult solution to everyone's problems—including Jimmy's.
I think we all felt a bit of that relief for Jimmy, and should have seen it coming sooner. Last week's "Under God's Power She Flourishes" all but spelled out his inescapable tormet. His death was brutal and pragmatic and staged in decidedly un-Hollywood fashion. No inspired speeches or crises of conscience were stopping the inevitable. But as a viewer, it lifted the angst of enduring his ordeal since Angela's death and grasping the enormity of his Shakespearian life tragedy.
Jimmy Darmody was a great character, and Michael Pitt was iconic in the part. Jimmy was also one of the show's few lead roles not largely or entirely rooted in a historical doppleganger. So maybe he had to go. Maybe Season Three goes back to the slightly exaggerated fiction of how the East was won, and how New York's criminal underground grew with the rise of opiate abuse while Atlantic City conformed itself as a mainstream resort town once the fog of Prohibition was lifted.
It will surely be awesome and fascinating to watch, but Jimmy and Michael Pitt were the human heart of Seasons One and Two, and will be missed. And there will no doubt always be a share of the audience pining for a flashback or dream sequence of Jimmy, and anticipating how his death weighs on Nucky's consicence and decision-making. Or that, as Nucky did to Eli during the final stretch of "To the Lost," Jimmy could appear in front of Nucky, a la Shakespeare's Julius Caesar, and ask, "Et tu?"
IN OTHER WORDS: To the lost.
BOARDWALK FINALE RATING: 9.5/10
MICHAEL PITT BETTER BECOME A HUGE STAR NOW RATING: 9/10
TV REVIEW: Sunday nights this season are more robust with quality cable TV than at any time in recent memory. Couldn't DVR it all? Well, neither could we. But we saw most of it, except the new Hell on Wheels (sorry, AMC, you'll survive), and here's a brief cheat sheet to what's worth your time in reruns.
By Kenny Herzog
"Un-friggin'-believable. First, my dead brother bullies me into climbing up a muddy ravine, and now these galoots think I'm a zombie. What a day." (Credit: Gene Page/TWD/AMC)
HOMELAND, "THE WEEKEND"
Ever wonder what Carrie does on her days off? Besides sleep with suspected terrorists in a remote cabin and eventually blow her cover and informally interrogate him with nothing but a loaded pistol and rickety wooden table between them? Homeland is just so, so good, and keeps getting better after a couple spotty early season ebbs. It's hard to imagine any other show juggling this many balls in the air without drumming up numerous implausible contrivances or stretching its premise to shreds. Claire Danes and Mandy Patinkin in particular are just awesome, and make you wonder if this whole acting thing isn't just an excuse to avoid a real job. And for the first time in weeks, Damian Lewis really holds his own and gives Brody new dimension. Riveting television, and a hugely revelatory and ballsy episode that finds the series playing with fire nearly as precariously as its troubled antiheroine.
HOMELAND RATING: 9/10
THE WALKING DEAD, "CHUPACABRA"
It's been a great season and a real coup for the show's character development, but for Christ's sake, let's get on with the zombies and the blood and whatnot. "Chupacabra" was OK enough, and had an incredibly enticing final minute. And Shane's gradual falling apart makes him a genuinely gripping and dangerous presence. But "Chupacabra" leaves you wondering if a 13-episode season was really the best idea for a show that thrives off adrenaline but can only realistically keep up its intensity for certain prolonged spans. And enough of Glenn and the farmer's daughter already. It's silly, teenager-y and out of place. Although if Hershel turns out to be a total Dr. Frankenstein weirdo, then all will be redeemed.
THE WALKING DEAD RATING: 6/10
BOARDWALK EMPIRE, "TWO BOATS AND A LIFEGUARD"
It seems as if Boardwalk's second season continues to fly under the radar for its accomplishments. Yet, showrunners Terrence Winter and Tim Van Patten, and their actors of emply, keep collaborating on one terrific episode after the next. Is there any more unique and unpredictable character in TV than Van Alden? Any matriarch as duplicitous and sexy as Gillian Darmody? Any show that simply looks so amazing and rich in transporting period detail as this? And now, with Jimmy leading Meyer, Lucky and Capone in an insurgency against Nucky, Rothstein and Torrio, Boardwalk is starting to resemble Going in Style: Atlantic City. While Jimmy may have been reticent to supplant the old guard in episodes past, and still seems a bit ill-at-ease in his position as crowned underworld prince, his pole vault of Popeye Doyle over the balcony sent a message that Nucky, and us, are due for a bloody collision.
BOARDWALK EMPIRE RATING: 8/10
HOW TO MAKE IT IN AMERICA, "THE FRICTION"
I've been covering this show all season long for The Onion's A.V. Club, and can't say enough about what an underappreciated, eminently watchable rough-hewn diamond HBO has on their hands. "The Friction" is HTMIIA at its best, offering little in the way of easy triumphs for Ben, Cam and friends (and oh, poor Kapo and snake-bitten Rene, and sianara to awful Tim), but also providing several great belly laughs, particularly via Rachel's psychedelic breakdown on the streets of Brooklyn. There's only eight eps total and one remaining, so there's plenty of time to catch up, so long as you have a single rainy day between now and Sunday. HTMIIA is not high art, but it's far superior to lowest-denominator guilty-pleasure fluff.
HOW TO MAKE IT IN AMERICA RATING: 7.5/10
DEXTER, "NEBRASKA"
Boy, did this season of Dexter lose its mojo when Brother Sam passed away. Dex's ascent toward the light was far more interesting than his abrupt, absurd, dreamlike spiral into dark excess that was out of character even for him. What a waste of the potentially interesting decision to bring Jonah and Brian back, and yet another week in which we learn veritably nothing new about our villains, and they remain mutually exclusive from Dexter's watchful eye. Dexter better tighten the screws quick, because last night was a new low for the series. And for all things holy, don't force-insert throwaway scenes with Quinn and La Guerta but deprive us nearly entirely of Masuka's comic relief and Bautista's oblivious charm. For that matter, we can dispense with the patronizing allusions to Lumen and simply terrible lines like, "You don't turn the other cheek, you slice it"? Oh, and can we just kidnap Travis' sister and get it over with already? Jeesh.
DEXTER RATING: Booooo/10
IN OTHER WORDS: I know, it's annoying that I don't watch The Good Wife.
SOLID, BUT UNSPECTACULAR OVERALL SUNDAY-TV RATING: Mid-Season Blues/10
HOMELAND AND BOARDWALK KEEPING FEET ON THE GAS RATING: 9/10
TV REVIEW: Season 3, Episode 7 of CBS’ The Good Wife brings back a Good Actress.
By Robbie Woliver
Carrie Preston (left) is a truly welcome dose of new blood alongside Julianna Margulies on The Good Wife. (Credit: David M. Russell/CBS)
After a very unsatisfying, anemic arc starring House’s Lisa Edelstein as Will Gardner's scheming old flame, Celeste Serrano (Gardner's now a new flame of the spectacular Julianna Margulies' Alicia Florrick), True Blood’s Carrie Preston has shown up, pumping new blood into The Good Wife. Preston’s (re)turn as Elsbeth Tascioni, the seemingly befuddled but bewitching Colombo-like attorney, has revived the slick procedural after a very disappointing and infuriating couple of episodes featuring an over-acting Edelstein as an obnoxious lawyer in a role that set female TV characters back decades.
The Good Wife could always pride itself in strong acting, across the board, with characters tending toward the unexpected more so than predictable TV types. But as Serrano, Edelstein was an error all around (I blame the writer and director, more than the actress). Edelstein’s character was so annoyingly brash and intrusive that it made me rethink my TV viewing habits for a few seconds. But Good Wife’s strong, twisty plots and convincing characters played by actors with compelling, laser-focused technique kept me faithful.
In this week’s episode, Alicia needed to hire a lawyer outside of Lockhart-Gardner, to protect her interest against a pushy Department of Justice attorney regarding a highly classified terrorism case her firm was handling. She hires Tascioni, who had once handled work for Alicia’s husband, the philandering district attorney. On first appearance, Tascioni seems like she can barely manipulate a phone, let alone a crafty DOJ counsel, but the sly-as-a-fox redhead proves to be brilliant, with Alicia eventually pleading with her, “I want to learn from you.”
Preston, who plays True Blood’s wild, white-trash waitress Arlene, could use a lawyer of her own on The Good Wife to defend her from theft charges—she stole every scene she was in. (Rim shot.) Here was a performance that was over-the-top but still believable, as opposed to Edelstein’s unredeemable Celeste. Preston is a deft comedienne, pulling pathos and believability in every assertive scene, as well as every subtle, understated moment. Funny, likable and with a hint of evil, fans of Wife can only hope Preston will be brought aboard full-time. She should thrive in Chicago, seeing how it has as many bloodsuckers as Bon Temps.
IN OTHER WORDS: The Good Wife has an incredible collection of strong female characters, and while Lisa Edelstein’s Celeste tried too hard, Carrie Preston’s Elsbeth is easily up there with the best.
CUDDY/WIFE RATING: 3/10
ARLENE/WIFE RATING: 9.5/10
CARRIE PRESTON'S RANGE RATING: Wide/10
WOULD JULIANNA MARGULIES EVER CONSIDER MARRYING ME RATING?: Hahahaha, Yeah Right/10
TV REVIEW: FX and Ryan Murphy's hyped-up horror show starts very strong, but does it justify your undying love?
By Kenny Herzog
First rule of creepy houses: Get out of the creepy house. (Credit: Robert Zuckerman)
Ryan Murphy and Brad Falchuk, who together have created Glee and Nip/Tuck (Murphy was also behind teen-dramedy satire Popular), are sick puppies. They're also terrific at working inside established genre formulas and subverting them without disregarding the value of mainstream entertainment. It's an almost Spielberg-ian tightrope, and a challenging one to affect for TV. But in tonight's pilot, even if the series seems unlikely to sustain excellence, American Horror Story mostly gets it right with an equally committed passion to drama and macabre.
As its title implies, the series' premise is the stuff of horror/psychological melodrama 101: Married couple struggling through a miscarriage, infidelity and the changing needs of a teenage daughter move cross country to escape their problems, purchase creepy old mansion, get a lukewarm greeting from various unseemly neighbors and begin wrestling with all manner of undead intrusions. Throughout its scary, stylish, sexy, eerie inaugural hour, American Horror Story lays bare its debt to Rosemary's Baby, Amityville Horror, Poltergeist (which Spielberg, of course, ostensibly ghost-directed for Tobe Hooper)and even Flowers in the Attic, among other classic-contemporary domestic frighteners. Except Murphy and Falchuk raise the stakes by introducing us to the Harmon family after the cracks in their idyl have already begun to show, like meat on a calf that's presently tender.
Within minutes, the Murphy-directed episode creates set pieces for hallucinations, mutilations, self-immolation, masturbation and what Jessica Lange's sinister-bitch-next-door Constance refers to as overall "bad juju." On one level, it's a bit of meta-commentary on haunted houses as metaphors for inter-familial crisis, but it's also viscerally shocking and effective, and the supporting cast---which includes Lange, True Blood/Good Wife's Denis O'Hare and former Six Feet Under matriarch Frances Conroy---is having a ton of fun on the edges of what, for their characters (and perhaps Murphy and Falchuk), is another humdrum nuclear-unit collapse.
But amid all the S&M ghost-rape (yep), excessive flashing of Dylan McDermott's butt (he plays wimpy, overcompensating psychologist/cheating husband Ben) and borderline tastelessly cliched forebodings from Constance's Down Syndrome-afflicted daughter Adelaide (whom Constance refers to openly as a "Mongoloid"), Murphy also imbues the Harmons' unraveling relationships with empathy and desperation. He pulls some especially terrific readings from Connie Britton as Vivien, a mother and wife struggling to reclaim her womanhood who viciously dresses Ben down for burying his grief in a "21-year-old's pussy" and simply cocks her head and drolls "My hero" in response to his indulgent roll call of sacrifices. And when Taissa Farmiga plays their high school-age daughter, Violet, with a bit of clumsy angst, her troubled paramour, Tate (Evan Peters, doing his best Kurt Cobain) instantly counteracts with the grave seriousness of a truly dysfunctional and dangerous kid.
The next week's follow-up fails to move the story along at a similar orgiastic clip or summon the same essential claustrophobia on both the home- and- fright-front, although it does offer some transparency about its key ensemble weirdos that suggests a re-tightening of the screws. But the pilot is by far the most risky and entertaining hour of new TV in an otherwise safe and disappointing premiere season, and worth revisiting more than once for all the ghoulish little details and dramatic intensity.
IN OTHER WORDS: Kudos to Murphy and Falchuk for coming off Glee's success with something so completely different and daring, yet totally vintage.
AMERICAN HORROR STORY PREMIERE RATING: 8.5/10
WHAT I'VE SEEN OF THE ENSUING SEASON RATING: 6/10
WHY WOULD YOU KEEP DVR'ING 2 BROKE GIRLS OVER THIS? RATING: 9.5/10
TV REVIEWS: Debating the Fall 2011 TV season so far.
By Robbie Woliver and Kenny Herzog
Welcome to the brand-new and improved REVIEWniverse.com. (Don't worry, you can still access our archives here.) As you may recall, we'd recently debuted a new feature in which the site's editors, Robbie Woliver and Kenny Herzog, go tit-for-tat about the latest TV shows, movies, albums, true-crime happenings, celebrity blunders and general pop-culture schrapnel. Call it a great debate, call it a he said/he said, call it whatever you like. Just don't call it Shirley.
Today, we take a look at the much-ballyhooed Fall 2011 TV season so far, which has plundered its associated networks with an advertising blitz that would make Norman Schwarzkopf blush. But have even half of the new comedies and dramas touted by NBC et al done anything more than make us feel duped and yearn for more unscripted series? We discuss those issues, in addition to the stifling fall humidity, below.
KENNY HERZOG: I don't know that I've ever seen a TV season with so much lead-in hype and promotion, all to trick us into watching terrible new scripted shows that make me regret ever ruing the success of reality.
ROBBIE WOLIVER: Well, I must part ways with you here. I love the new TV season. It's the Rosh Hoshana of Pop Culture. But you're right about the overhype. X-Factor, for example, started two years ago it seems, and it backfired.
KH: Well, you must truly revere it if you're putting Pop Culture in title case. With a few exceptions, and a few more still to come with less hype, it's all just such predictably generic sitcom or procedural fodder. In particular the glut of new shows marched out by NBC, who should really be ashamed of themselves. More than half of America right now can't even make in a year what they spent on 30 seconds to promote Whitney.
RW: Well, thanks for asking.... Oh, you didn't. This is why I think X-Factor doesn't work: Too long between each audition; we've seen it all before; Simon/Paula reunion=yawn; acts aren't that amazing (the singers on the awful Karaoke Battle USA were a million times better); and it's up against much better shows. And as for Whitney, just absolutely the worst, trite, sophomoric-but-not-in-agood-way crap of the season, along with 2 Broke Girls (also created by Whitney Cummings) which might be even worse. The live laugh track on Whitney makes me want to stuff knives in my sense organs. My vote for worst two shows of the season.
KH: So dare we call them the 2 Worst Shows? I haven't watched much of X-Factor. I saw one guy that was fresh off rehab perform an unremarkable original song and get hosanas that made me Rosh for my gag reflex. And here I thought The Voice was inessential. (I know you disagree with me there.) The only show worth watching the debut or return of this season is Luther. It's probably the first British show I've ever followed without constantly congratulating myself just for watching something British.
RW: No, I agree about The Voice. Although I liked it before it got into the mentoring, which I hated, and which is the key element to X-Factor. I am waiting to find Luther. I know you've been loving it, but I can't access Season 1, and you've already warned me not to jump into Season 2. The last British show I liked was Fawlty Towers (not really, I like Being Human.) By the way, I'm now addicted to Healthy Choice Cafe Steamers "Whiskey Steak." I bought six of them on Saturday and they're all gone.
KH: Don't even say the word "steamers" right now. It's so hot, and I was finally convinced that another horrendous summer of schvitzing and kvetching would be redeemed by a cool, breezy fall. Not so, Woliver. Not so! Speaking of hot, even after an improved second episode with less focus on its cartoonish supporting cast, Amazonian MILF Kathryn Hahn remains the only reason to watch Free Agents, which I hear is getting canceled.
RW: You're kidding? I liked that show, and I thought I read somewhere that it got strong positive audience reaction. I'm enjoying these '60s throwbacks like Playboy Club and Pan Am (which makes me want to be a stewardess, which is funny cause I don't fly). Playboy Club hasn't been getting great reviews but I really liked it, especially the mood it sets, and the threading of the action and music. Pan Am is so bright and slick and '60s-ish, even though it's a bit empty, but that's the problem with all pilots. The music was used very well in Pan Am, as it was in Prime Suspect (the Black Keys). That's funny that I like these two '60s shows, considering I hate Mad Men. (What, do I hear masses booing?) I have to give it up to you though for keeping me on board with Up All Night. As you know, I just coudn't stand its failed attempt at hipness the first episode, but the second ep, which was about them trying to be hip, was quite brilliant. So a point for you on that one. So... what healthy dish did you have for lunch?
KH: I think that's just the inevitability of your contrarianism toward Mad Men. You've found a suitable (no pun intended) replacement. For me, one "mature" throwback show is all I can handle. And as for Prime Suspect, aside from my constant Twitter mockery of its "hard-as-nails lady gumshoe" ad campaign, the usage of Black Keys is hardly original. The lowly Hung licensed one of the band's songs since its opening season, and BK are a band that's very safe and trendy for that sort of thing right now. And clearly for sale. Glad you stayed with Up All Night though. I'm very surprised with how genuinely almost-hip and smart it is, and they're very likeable. But what will keep me going all afternoon and in the old gym was a marvelous tuna melt that I made with a tad too much hot sauce but just enough shredded part-skim mozzarella on a delicious, hearty oat-bran bread.
RW: I didn't say Prime Suspect was hip for using Black Keys, I said I liked the way they integrated the music in. The worst part of Prime Suspect was the over-the-top macho vs. tough-broad environment. I never saw Helen Mirren's version, but I'm sure I would have liked it better. I did not like Prime Suspect, but I did like Person of Interest. A new criterion for me now seems to be if a show has a Lost alumnus/a in it, I'll watch it. POI had some interesting potential, and Lost's Ben, Michael Emerson, is fantastic in it. By the way, the food you eat is way too healthy for me to even hear it described without gagging. I am eating a chocolate chip Entenmann's cake, along with frozen Hershey's kisses and strawberry Milanos as I write this. Fuck your hand-ground oat barley whey bread.
KH: That's an interesting way of looking at it, because for me I've realized that anything involving truly eccentric cops, weird crime-fighting partnerships, gruesome violence and prison in any capacity are my favorite things in the world. Hell, I'm DVR'ing a Vegas Jail marathon as we speak. But it also reminds me that Dexter is once again upon us this week, and in the wake of Luther (which I know you haven't seen), which is basically a leaner, more grounded Dexter with some clever role reversal, I'm very eager to see how I respond to it. And to catch up on last night's Boardwalk Empire, which I inanely thought didn't debut yet. HBO's premiere sked has been totally erratic.
RW: The ads for Boardwalk are actually pretty good, and very close to enticing me to watch. And I can't get enough of the Jail marathons. I am always shocked by how nice some of those cops are to the total assholes who are dragged into their jails. And speaking of which, happy anniversary. You're still married, right?
KH: Yes, thank you. And hope to be for many more years, hence a recent conversion to dietary formula that basically ensures ritualized daily colon cleansing. Are you happy now? Also, I forgot to mention that, as applies to Dexter, any show with alumni from Oz will always lure me in, even if it's accidental. But, in summation, there's still much to be determined about this season. Hell, Beavis and Butt-Head's return (which we, of course, broke news of on REVIEWniverse last July) hasn't landed yet. And you should definitely watch Boardwalk. It will be a fascinatingly go big or bust season, and the actors are terrific. OK, time for me to watch Vegas Jail and eat a Toffuti low-fat, gluten-free fudgscile. God, I'm glad we can say "fuck" on this site now.
RW: Kenny, we haven't discussed Charlie's Angels (sucked), Parks & Rec (my fave), The Office (sorely miss Michael Scott), Sing-Off (Ben Folds; best judge on TV), America's Next Top Model All-Stars (You go, Isis!), Revenge (lots of promise), Ringer (very little promise), The Good Wife (best drama on network TV, best cast, and proud of my wife Julianna's performance), Harry's Law (you know, this is pretty damn good), Gifted Man (could be fun on a Friday night), Secret Circle (yes, I'm a 14-year-old girl) and Glee (awful episode, but it was a kick to see them start to incorporate the Glee Project winners). All shows I watched last week. Yes, I'll get a life. Oh, and fuck.
KH: Hahahaha. Beavis would be proud. Butt-Head, not so much. Oh, and Office sucked, Parks & Rec was mediocre and keeps getting stuck between a really funny show about real people and something broader and more 30 Rock-style slapstick. Haven't seen anything else you mentioned. Too busy with Luther, which I've watched every episode of twice in anticipation of this week's Season 2 kickoff. It should be pretty fuckin' good. Let's catch up with each other's obsessions by next week so we can begin reviewing each of these fine programs individually, to the probable dismay of readers REVIEWniverse-wide.
Monday, December 12, 2011 at 11:38AM 
