The following were on my mind between Thursday, December 8th and Monday, December 12th:
- It's been 24 hours since the Bears' crushing loss to the Broncos in overtime, and while I have well moved on from my anger at Marion Barber and Lovie Smith's atrocious playcalling (THANKS FOR ENABLING THE TEBOW BANDWAGON AND GETTING ONE GAME BEHIND THE WILDCARD RACE, ASSHOLES!), I still find it remarkable how the whole thing happened the way it did. For everything to fall into place the way it did, you needed everything to go wrong. And "everything to go wrong" is exactly what happened. There was the conservative play calling by the offense, the defense suddenly shifting to the "prevent" method after successfully stopping Tebow and the offense the first three quarters, Marion Barber stepping out of bounds, the game being played in an altitude where a kicker can make a field goal over fifty five yards, an inconvenient turnover after the Bears won the coin toss...and it all happened! I swear, this Denver Broncos team just may be getting closer to renouncing my growing atheism. Only a higher power could give them all of these breaks...right?
- AMC has turned a USA Network with slightly more prestige so gradually, I hardly even noticed: (http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/live-feed/amc-lands-rights-csi-miami-271969)
- If the story of Ryan Braun testing positive for some performance-enhancing substance is true, then Braun should do the right thing and straight up apologize for his actions, admit that he did something wrong, and then subsequently give up his 2011 NL MVP trophy, and give it to second place finisher Mat Kemp. Lord knows he never deserved it, even before this rather shocking announcement.
- Well, if Thursday's episode of "Community" was the last new one before the hiatus, then at least they went out on top. While "Regional Holiday Music" didn't match the greatness of last season's "Abed's Uncontrollable Christmas" (one of the most accurate portrayals of the holidays in recent memory and one that gets better and better in my mind upon re-watching), or the hilarity of "Comparative Religion" (featuring one of the show's greatest gags in the "Forest Whitacker eye"), it was still a very enjoyable episode in so many areas. The original songs were very enjoyable and fit each character well ("Baby Boomer Santa" was my favorite, with "Jehovah's Secret Witness"), the "Glee" spoofing was well-done (and very accurate, according to people I know that watch "Glee"), Taram Killam was one of the shows greatest guest stars as Mr. Rad, and a very enjoyable sendoff into a break that will last for who knows how long. According to the show, it's "after regionals," whatever the hell "regionals" is.
-Another great comedy that aired on Thursday that also featured a terrific midseason finale was "Parks and Recreations." Not since "Fancy Party" have I seen an episode mix pure humor with genuine heartfelt moments. That Jean-Ralphio final tag alone was one of the show's best moments of the season.
- I love the website TVbytheNumbers.com, but I hate the comments section to their ratings articles. For some reason, the majority of people that comment on it seem to operate under Worthington's Law where better ratings = more successful in bringing network money = better quality, meaning that shows like "Community" and "Parks and Recreations" might be awful while shows like "Modern Family" and "The Big Bang Theory" are fantastic. It occasionally gets my blood to boil, and while most of them are pretty smart and TV-business savvy, they still give the trolls over at YouTube a run for their money at times.
- Here are a few of my thoughts on the season 2 finale of "Boardwalk Empire." If you are a fan of the show, or just are interested in it, and haven't watched it yet, I recommend that you just skip this:
Alright, so I'm just going to get into the big development of the episode, which was Jimmy Darmody getting killed by his former father figure, Nucky Thompson. Overall, this was a very ballsy move by the show and I applaud creator Terrence Winter and the rest of the writing staff for going through with it. We live in an era where dramas like "Dexter" and "The Walking Dead" are too afraid to kill off their main characters because they don't feel like changing the status quo, and for the show to take such a bold step is something worthy of respect. Besides, it wasn't like this was an out-of-nowhere plot development that see too illogical to have happened. Jimmy Darmody was a man who had his Atlantic City empire destroyed, who burned enough bridges and made a ton of bad decisions, including the ill-fated move to help in the execution of Nucky Thompson. By helping in the assassination attempt (and being by Nucky seconds before the bullets were shot), he did something unforgivable in the mind of Nucky, and (in Nucky's mind), he needed to pay. That move also theoretically fits into Nucky following Jimmy's advice of moving away from being "half a gangster" from back in season one.
However (and this is a pretty big however), this move is also just as risky. "Boardwalk Empire" is not the type of show that "The Wire" and "Game of Thrones" were at the time that they had one of their own main characters murdered rather early. That's because "The Wire" and "Game of Thrones" had a bunch of compelling and well-written characters that even if one of the original main characters got killed, there would be a few others to take its place very easily. As great of a show as "Boardwalk Empire" is, it lacks that same amount of compelling characters that aren't James Darmofy (who became the best part of the show this season) outside of maybe Richard Harrow, Chalky White, and maybe Arnold Rothstein. Nucky and Van Alden get mixed-reviews, Margaret has grown unlikeable (especially since her daughter got polio and see turned into a self-loathing religious zealot for a few episodes), Eli has no redeeming qualities, Gillian is one of the most hated characters on TV, and the rest of the characters are too under developed and too one-note at this point. In other words, removing Jimmy from the picture might negatively affect the show more than the loss of Stringer Bell ever did and the loss of Ned Stark ever would. Besides, it's not like the show could've done the vice-versa and have Jimmy kill Nucky. I'm sure that less people would have cared about Nucky's death and they do now about Jimmy's death.
Now, here's my thought on other aspects of the episode:
a. Boy, it sure felt like Jimmy knew about his impending death about a mile away, didn't he? Not only did he manage to fix the Commodore's will so that his son Tommy gets the mistake in case he dies, he atones for his sins by apologizing to Nucky (while helping him win his trial) and by giving Chalky the opportunity to bring vengeance upon the KKK members that attempted to shoot him, he tells Richard to stay at home as he's about to go to his death sentence, and he goes to the place unarmed and ready for his punishment (even though he stated himself that he "died in the trenches a few years ago"). The acting by Michael Pitt in this episode made watching the whole thing even more heartbreaking.
b. And to think, none of this would've happened had Jimmy just paid Manny Horowitz the damn $5,000. (sighs).
c. Alright, let's forget about Jimmy for a moment. How great was the episode as whole? Great writing, great acting, great directing- easily one of the finest episodes the show has ever made. Plus, it had a lot of great moments, too, from that beautifully shot opening scene, Margaret's conversation with Esther Randolph, and, of course, the big "Godfather"-style montage with Esther preparing her opening statement as we were seeing her entire case being destroyed before our very eyes.
d. Looks like Nelson Van Alden is apparently here to stay, with him escaping his jailing last episode and moving along with his bastard child and Scandinavian nanny to Capone-country down in Cicero, Illinois.
e. Poor Deputy Halloran! Even after being severly hurt by a bunch of mob protesters he has to now spend the most time behind bars in some Kansas jail. This man is like the show's Eugene from "Hey Arnold."
f. If you are interested, Alan Sepinwall posted an interview with Winter hours after the season finale aired. It's a great interview, and I would suggest that you would take a look if you feel like learning about the creative process that went into making this episode (and some hints as to what season three will be like).
g. Emmys prediction time! For season two, I expect this season of the show to be pretty well-received by the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences. They're pretty much a lock for "Outstanding Drama" and they definitely will get a nominee in both the writing and directing category. Steve Buscemi has a decent chance of getting a second acting nomination (although he's going to be in tough competition with guys like Bryan Cranston, Damien Lewis, Dustin Hoffman, Jon Hamm, Michael C. Hall, Hugh Laurie, and Timothy Olyphant set to fight him for a nomination), andt I think that he probably represents the show's most likely Emmy nominee. Pitt was great this season, but he didn't get nominated last year, and with Aaron Paul and Giancarlo Esposito being elligible in 2012, I don't see him getting an recognition this time around either.
Season three is set to premiere next September. With what I saw last night, I will be very interesting in seeing how this show follows up with such a daring (and stupid if they mess it up) game-changer.
More random thoughts to come this Thursday. Enjoy the start of your week!
Sincerely,
Your pal: mj15
If you have any opinions on today's post, or if you just have any suggestions or tips for my next blog entry, e-mail me at: mj1599@aol.com. Your e-mails are greatly appreciated.
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