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Breaking Bad

HBO’s True Detective – Series Premiere Review

by Peter Foy

True_Detective_2014_Intertitle

The TV dry season is officially over! The holidays are behind us, the new year has begun, and once again TV networks are giving us high-quality shows at a weekly rate (please watch Community!). Therefore, it’s also time for people to begin anticipation for the year’s new television debuts, especially in light of the current transitional period TV is going through with several high-profile series winding down to a conclusion this year or next (Mad Men, Boardwalk Empire, Sons of Anarchy, How I Met Your Mother, etc.). People are all eager to see what the next Breaking Bad could be, which frankly is saying a lot, but fortunately viewers might very well be getting another taste of a brilliant crime series, and quicker than they might of thought. HBO’s new series, True Detective, premiered last night, and if the quality of this pilot is any indication of what’s too continue, then TV’s most prestigious channel may just have another masterpiece on their hands.

Telling the series in a non-linear but concise fashion, the storyline flips between 2012 and flashbacks pertaining to a police investigation regarding a seemingly ritualistic murder back in 1995. The storyline revolves around two Louisiana detectives, one being the relatively straight-laced and humble Martin Hart (Woody Harrelson), and the other the more hard-edged and potentially tortured Rust Cohl (Matthew McConaughey). In 2012, both of these detectives are being questioned regarding the 1995 case, with a pair of younger detectives hoping they can shed some light on updating the case file. We see that Martin hasn’t changed too much in the 17 years since the case (besides Harrelson’s loss of a toupee), but Rust has become a sloven alcoholic. It’s clear that there’s more to this case then what’s in the police books, and it’s also clear that we as viewers are going to see all of the details over this season’s eight-episode run.

Created and written by novelist Nic Pizzolatto and directed by Cary Joji Fukunaga, the show immediately lets us know what kind of a story this is. True Detective certainly isn’t averse to using some rudimentary crime-fiction/noir tropes for the pilot, but one can’t shake off the notion that any familiarity in the show is only there to get the ball rolling. There are two aspects of this pilot episode that really stick out as being outstanding, and that’s the acting and the mood, with the latter possibly being the most important card in the whole deck. The show is suitably eerie and grim throughout, and it’s definitely the most potent sense of rural noir that I’ve seen on the small screen in a long while. Expect plenty of consistency in this area too, as all eight of this season’s episodes are written by Pizzolatto and directed by Fukunaga, which makes True Detective another example of how the television medium is becoming more and more like film. I’ll reserve final judgement until watching all of this season, but I have a strong feeling that True Detective is going to feel like an eight hour movie.

It’s no doubt that the show’s star power will call in an immediate fanbase, but in this case that’s another good reason to watch the show. Matthew McCouaughey continues to prove he’s not only one of Hollywood’s best actors, but one of the hardest working as it’s almost impossible to envision how he can appear in a healthy string of movies each year, yet still finds time to star in a TV series. Yet once again he delivers a complex and highly entertaining performance here as detective Rust, who is in some nature a character we’ve seen before, yet also something much deeper. Rust is different from the rest of his police team as he’s distinct in his investigative methods and potentially a better detective, yet through little snippets of the show’s dialogue we find that he has had divorce and violence in his past. His musings on why humanity is doomed and inherently evil are chilling to hear, and provide a great contrast to his partner Martin’s more lenient views. Woody Harrelson once again delivers a sturdy performance here, and it’s enticing to see where this character goes as he uncovers more of the darkness that he seems foreign too, yet Rust seems to be a first hand witness towards. The dynamic of these cops is certainly something that’s been done before, but rich acting, writing and dialogue keep viewers fully immersed in the “chemistry” between McConaughey and Harrelson.

So yes, True Detective has a very strong premiere episode, and word says that the series is only going to get better in the subsequent ones. Pizzolatto has described True Detective as being an anthology series, and he says that if they do get another season that it will involve new characters and a different case. Therefore, we as viewers can rest assured in receiving a complete story in this season, rather then being left with an unsatisfying cliffhanger, a method which other crime shows like The Killing (which Pizzolatto did write for) have been criticized for. At first glance True Detective appears to be a gritty, character-driven, and well executed piece of neo-noir, and here’s hoping that that first impression lasts.

Filed Under: ENTERTAINMENT, TELEVISION Tagged With: Breaking Bad, hbo, Matthew McConaughey, New Show, Nic Pizzolatto, True Detective, Woody Harrelson

2013 In Review: Shows that Dominated the Pop Culture Landscape

by Michael Tyminski

Source: Wikipedia

With no new premieres between now and the end of the year, I’m taking this opportunity to look back on 2013. 2013 in many ways felt like a transitional year on television with old standbys leaving the air (30 Rock, Breaking Bad, How I Met Your Mother), surprise returns (Arrested Development)and new shows looking to fill those spots in the public consciousness (The Bridge, The Americans).

Speaking of that public consciousness, it always seems like a handful of shows have a tendency to get the most ink spilled about them, the most mentions on people’s twitters and Facebook walls, and the most water cooler talk. Needless to say, the shows below are the ones I think tended to come up in conversations the most this year.

 

Honorable Mentions: The Walking Dead (AMC), Dexter (Showtime), Under the Dome (CBS)

 

The Walking Dead and Dexter seem to always generate a lot of chatter, but it seems like both really lacked the visceral punch that episodes of many of the shows above it seemed to possess. Under the Dome conversely, was the most hyped new summer premiere for the major networks, but seemed to lose a lot of it’s steam over the course of the season for reasons both internally and externally.

 

5 – Game of Thrones (HBO)

 

Game of Thrones is the sort of show that I feel typically gets lumped in with the honorable mention category with the other genre shows I mentioned above. The key difference is, while it was an overall slow season for GoT, the Red Wedding episode generated an unbelievable amount of buzz. Toss in the usual string of Emmy buzz, and you have a genre show that managed to garner a lot of attention over the course of the year.

 

4 – The Following (Fox)

 

The Following makes the list this year solely on the hype it received prior to it’s January debut. During the 2012-13 Winter lull, there were a surprisingly high amount of people who were excited because Kevin. Bacon. Is Doing. TV. While the show itself ended up tapering off over time due to ludicrous plot twists and the fact that the show’s main allure came from it’s star, the initial hype was staggering during what was a relatively quiet winter season.

 

3 – Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (ABC)

 

While Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. has taken a fairly sizable hit in the ratings since it’s debut, it also happens to be the single most hyped show of the fall. This is in part because it hit all of the hype check marks: fits with the movie universe (check), super showrunner Joss Whedon had a heavy hand in it (check), and ABC burned it’s entire Tuesday to the ground to rebuild around it (check). While the show itself is dangerously close to flopping, I can think of a decent number of my close friends who had this date circled on their calendar since may.

 

2 – Arrested Development (Netflix)

 

2013 was a truly brutal year for the sitcom, and one of the few bright spots on the year was the return of Arrested Development. While House of Cards may have been Netflix’s first show, it was pretty clear from minute one that the streaming giant’s future (and credibility) was built around betting big on something the show’s cult following has demanded for years: new Arrested Development. The show itself delivered fairly well even if it’s new structure felt uneven at times and Netflix ended up receiving a lot of new subscribers.

 

1 – Cult (CW)

 

No series had it’s fans going as far to protect it in the ratings as Cult. The CW had a massive hit on their …just kidding.

 

 

The show that dominated pop culture the most in 2013 was very clearly:

1 – Breaking Bad (AMC)

 

This was truly Breaking Bad’s year. Vince Gilligan and crew managed to do a difficult task that numerous other pantheon shows failed to do: stick the landing. This season was so well executed and so strongly hyped that Facebook would essentially go dark on Sunday nights and spoilers would often draw the ire of most (if not all) of your friends, neighbors, and family. The execution and hype were so strong that it single-handedly killed Dexter’s mojo (numerous articles were posted about how Dexter so thoroughly blew it’s last season compared to Breaking Bad) and the comparison even leeched out to broadcast TV, where the only peep heard about Under the Dome after it’s mid season run was the fact that Dean Norris had two characters die within a week. It won Best Drama at the Emmys, it drew the most attention online (three months later and Peter Foy’s reviews here still trickle into our top posts), and it generated the most buzz at the viewer level. The pop culture landscape has a huge hole to fill in 2014 without it.

Next Time: Later this week we look at the new shows this year that made my stomach turn the most as we look back at the worst of 2013.

Filed Under: ENTERTAINMENT, OPINION, TELEVISION Tagged With: Agents of Shield, Arrested Development, Best of 2013, Breaking Bad, game of thrones, opinion, The Following, TV

2013: Top 10 TV Shows for the Year

by Peter Foy

December is pretty much the most satisfying month of the year for me, but not for the usual holiday cheer or what have you. As a cultural critic, I get incredibly giddy and anxious about composing a best of the year list, and will often spend so much of December’s 31 days going over and over in my head about what titles deserve what place in my self-coveted spot. Some friends of mine will verify that last year I blew off a post-Christmas party so that I could catch a screening of D’Jango Unchained so that I could write my 2012’s best films list ASAP (Please help if you think I might have a problem. D’Jango Unchained did not even make my top 10 for that year.).

So it comes with great pleasure that I was able to formulate a top 10 list for television shows relatively early in the month. I was a bit hesitant about writing is just now, but as my fellow Manhattan Digest contributor Michael Tyminski just elaborated on (here), we’re currently in a stand-still for weekly quality television at the moment, and we should consider that the best of the year has already happened. Therefore, I feel now is the perfect time to unleash my take on what were my favorite shows of the past year, right before unleashing my gargantuan best-films list at the month’s end(I’m currently aiming for it to be a top-25). Keep in mind I haven’t seen everything that aired this past year, with The Americans, The Bridge, Justified, American Horror Story, and Hannibal being a few of the critically acclaimed shows I missed. You could say I’m unqualified to write this list, but believe it or not, I do have a social life.

10. Masters of Sex

Gallery

Those that read my review for the Masters of Sex pilot know that I basically saw it as Mad Men-lite, so I’m both glad and surprised to say how strongly the quality of the show shifted during the rest of the season. It really is an intelligent break down on sexual relations of all shapes and forms, without being overtly raunchy or obvious. It certainly isn’t without melodrama (like Nip/Tuck, it’s essentially a sexed-up soap opera), but the acting often surpasses the occasionally hokey writing, with all the cast fully understanding how to find quality tv drama here, and who would have thought Michael Sheen and Liz Caplan would have such chemistry? I even take back what I said about how I felt the film making seemed anachronistic, as the production values do allow the show to look both modern, and a part of the time period it’s depicting. Here’s hoping it doesn’t follow the same pattern of other Showtime series like Dexter and Homeland, which followed up their strong debut seasons with subsequent ones that were more a mixed bag.

9. Parks and Recreation

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It’s just so re-assuring to see that this show has remained so strong into it’s 6th year. Maybe it’s the consistently witty writing, or the unique subject matter to fit the now tired faux-documentary format, but I think that it’s more or less because of the cast. They really did pick a dream-team of comics for this show, and I’m hoping my holy trinity (Aubrey Plaza, Chris Pratt, and Nick Offerman) will be getting a very special collaborative episode in the near future. My pick for the best show on network television right now…at least until we see Dan Harmon’s return as showrunner for Community next year.

8. House of Cards

house of cards

2013 will probably go down as the year web-based-television really took off, and what’s a better show to ring it in than House of Cards. An intimidating political thriller featuring an all-star cast of film actors, the show really demonstrates that Netflix is interested in garnering some of the prestige that HBO has hogged up since The Sopranos. Executive producers David Fincher and Eric Roth, and show runner Beau Willimon clearly wanted to do more than just adapt the British mini-series, and they’ve created a very modern take on Shakespearean drama, in a very seedy and all too present backdrop. Stylish and chilly (albeit a little soulless at times), I for one am really hoping the show doesn’t suffer a sophomore slump next season…but I don’t think that will be a problem.

7. Enlightened

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It seems like every year there’s a great show that’s taking off the air way too early, and this year’s was definitely Enlightened. After a rough but entertaining first season, the show really found it’s voice in these final eight episodes, which saw main character Amy try and take down the corporate world that had employed her. Carefully plotted from start to end, the season was thoughtful, angry, cautious, and sweet in a way that’s hardly seen on television, even on HBO. It’s a shame that it didn’t find it’s audience in time to avoid a cancellation, but it can rest peacefully with the likes of Terriers and Party Down with this mantra lain upon it: “We just needed a little bit of time to be brilliant”.

6. Mad Men

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I’ll admit the show had a bit of a rough start this season. Seeing Don reading Dante’s Inferno, or hearing Betty make bizarre comments about rape made me think that Matthew Weiner and his writers had finally lost a grip on subtlety. Fortunately though, the show got back to it’s usually excellent standards quickly enough, with episodes that ranged from thematically rich like A Tale of Two Cities, to the deliciously surreal The Crash. A really unexpected ending too, and also one that makes one think that the real face of Don Draper has yet too be uncovered.

5. Orange is the New Black

orange-is-the-new-black-poster

Jenji Kohan’s fictionalized take on Piper Kerman’s memoir is the best new show of the year by a long shot. While Kohan’s past experience as the creator of Weeds is visible in the show’s sense of humor and strong female characters, it will surprise many how this one season of Orange is the New Black is already so much more complex and subversive than Weeds was throughout its entire eight season run. It’s an examination on ethnicity and gender, as well as a suspenseful serial with no aversion to using cliffhangers, as well as a cheer inducing drama about the power of the human spirit. There’s been much talk over the past few months about how a lot of signature television series are ending soon, but we should rest assured that if Orange is the New Black is the designated torch holder for the likes of Breaking Bad and Mad Men, then there’s absolutely nothing to worry about. This is the reason you got a Netflix account!

4. Game of Thrones

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I have to admit that I haven’t been as in love with Game of Thrones as some of you other people. Sure, it’s a show that possibly has the most impressive production values in TV history, and the nerd in me is just so elated to see a beloved series of fantasy novels turned into an exceedingly popular and adult television serial for a premium station. Still though, I have to say that I had found the previous two seasons too removed from reality for me to care too much about the characters. This season, however, changed everything and I did find myself completely immersed in George R.R. Martin’s characters, and the horrible ordeals he puts them through. There were just so many great scenes this season, from Jaime and Brehn’s tear-soaked bath, to Jon Snow’s coupling with Ygritte, and of course there was that little scene in the penultimate episode that made us go straight to our twitter feeds and express how incredible this fucking show is! No need to exaggerate here, Game of Thrones is the best high fantasy epic ever put to screen.

3. Girls

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Did Lena Dunham silence the haters for the sophomore season of her rather divisive HBO dramedy…hell no! What we can be thankful for, however, is that Ms. Dunham did indeed step up her game as a writer and director this season, making it even more raw and dirty than the first year, but with far greater pay-off. We witnessed the characters explore issues of sexuality and over-privilege, while also dropping great hints about how unhappy they are underneath their seeming self-regard. People will continue to think Girls is a shallow and niche take on contemporary 20-something life from a jaded and shallow 20-something, but these people seriously needs to see the episode One’s Man Trash, as I feel it’s the most indepth and intrinsic work that Dunham has done to date.  Feel free to continue calling the show a pretentious piece of shit, but just don’t call it the new Sex and the City, as it’s a lot closer to being the new Sopranos.

2. Eastbound and Down

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I was wary at first about Eastbound and Down returning for another season, as the creators had previous stated that season 3 would be their last. Fortunately though, it didn’t take long into this season to realize there was still more story to be told about Kenny Powers, and in the end this season proved to be an even better ending for this series. Seeing the character regress from a family man back into a debaucherous dick-head just seemed so genuine for the show, but it was also surprising to see the merits this character would achieve as the season went on. It all led up to a finale that was even more grandiose and satisfying than the conclusion for that other brilliant show that ended this year (see below), and really makes me hopeful that Eastbound and Down will be looked at as an influential American comedy in future years, and find a larger audience. It’s a sit-com that re-invented itself each year, told a fluid and progressive story, and managed to be consistently funny, yet a sad and weighty tale as well. If you haven’t already, now’s the time to watch all 29 episodes of the best comedy that HBO has ever aired (with all respect to Curb Your Enthusiasm).

1. Breaking Bad

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No surprise, right? Those of you that read my Breaking Bad: The Legend Ends column already know my thought concerning this show’s final batch of episodes, but I would like to make one final comment: The episode Ozymandias, is what I feel really made this series shine. It was just such a devastating and no holds barred episode that used the serialized and organic nature of the show’s entire run to bring it to an all time dramatic high. It really was the episode we had been waiting for since we witnessed Walt make that unfortunate decision to become a meth cook back in the pilot, and the result was the show’s true transgression from brilliant pulp into great tragedy. It was one of the very best episodes a TV show has ever had…and the next two weren’t too shabby either. There, that’s all that remained to be said.

Filed Under: ENTERTAINMENT, TELEVISION Tagged With: 2013, Breaking Bad, Cancelled shows, Eastbound and Down, Enlightened, game of thrones, Girls, hbo, house of cards, Liz Caplan, mad men, Masters of Sex, Michael Sheen, netflix, Orange is the New Black, television, Top ten list

Chatty Talk with Elise

by Elise Pentz

aaron paul

Happy Tuesday, ya’ll!  Let’s get started with the romantic news I’m dying to share with everyone!

 

Breaking Bad’s Aaron Paul wed longtime love Lauren Parsekian at Alimigo’s Ranch in Malibu on Sunday and goodness, could they look more romantic??  Just look at this picture, swoon!

aaron paul
Credit: people.com
Cobra Starship’s Gabe Saporta married designer beauty Erin Fetherson at the St. Nicholas Abbey plantation in Barbados, where he also popped the question New Years Eve.  What a lovely way to begin the rest of your lives together?  I can’t wait for the first pictures of their wedding to be released!  Though if you can’t wait, here’s a picture of the gorgeous duo.. Looking remarkable, per usual!

gabe saporta
credit: glamour.com

Filed Under: ENTERTAINMENT, OPINION, uncategorized Tagged With: Aaron Paul, Breaking Bad, Cobra Starship, Erin Fetherson, Fashion Designer, Gabe Saporta, Lauren Parsekian, love, marriage

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