A Rave For Two Shows...

[Lord Jim]

One of the criticisms of Season 5 is that there have been too many great characters that show up for an episode or two and then are gone, giving a disjointed flow to the overall narrative.

I noticed that as well...

A lot of interesting characters seemed to get blown away early...two in particular...(I won't say who because I don't want to spoil it for Joe or anyone else who might be following the show who hasn't seen Season 5)

There's a pretty high body count...(especially in one episode; I counted four important players killed off in the first 30 minutes...)

I thought that was one of the signatures of the show; that aside from Raylan and Boyd, (and perhaps Ava) that anyone may die at any moment was part of the show's construction....

Killing off so many interesting characters creates a lot of work for the writers; having to create new ones...

Perhaps the writers for this series like that challenge...

[Daisy]

Orphan Black is back on in the US tonight, I'll be watching it tomorrow morning ... I hope they've not changed too much from series 1

[Lord Jim]

The second season of Orphan Black starts here tonight...[ETA: cross post, Daze ]

SPOILER ALERT FOR FIRST SEASON FINALE (for those who may not have seen it, but plan to)




















While I really enjoy the show and have been looking forward to the new season, I have to say I was somewhat disappointed by the plot twist introduced at the end of the last episode of season one....

I was scratching my head wondering why they became so paranoid at the idea that they had somehow been "patented", and worried that they, (or Kira ) could be claimed as property...

It's ludicrous; it's clear from earlier episodes that they understand that human cloning is illegal; (and of course owning people is also illegal) if Leaky tried to go into court to claim them or Sarah's daughter as his "property" he'd immediately go to the hoosegow...

The way the characters have been developed they should be bright enough to understand this; I don't get why they don't...

It's inconsistent with the way the characters have been developed over the series that none of the three principle clones has the sense to understand that that whole "patent" thing is complete BS...

I hope that early in Season 2 this incongruity gets resolved and that part of the storyline disappears. My fear is that the opposite may happen, and that this silly fear of being patented may serve as the foundation for the second season. This has been a very fresh, clever, well written and well performed series up till now; it would be a shame if that get's lost with a preposterous story arc...

[Daisy]

Orphan Black series 2 is already awesome.

I highly recommend this show if you haven't already watched it then do, by whatever nefarious means you can.

[Long Run]

Those who caught up on Justified should be happy to know the new (and last) season starts tomorrow on FX.

[Gob]

I cannot wait for series 2 Of Broadchurch to be out on DVD

[Daisy]

Those who caught up on Justified should be happy to know the new (and last) season starts tomorrow on FX.

We've been binge watching Justified for the last couple of weeks. Halfway through S.3 now.

I don't know what took us so long to pick up on this show, it's bloody brilliant.

[Lord Jim]

I don't know what took us so long to pick up on this show

I don't either, given the fact that it was recommended to you by a person with impeccable taste in television shows nine months ago...

[Guinevere]

I've been re-watching The Wire, which HBO just released with newly digitally remastered. It's free on Amazon Prime and so damn good. I could hardly stop watching Season 1. Season 2 equally interesting. I highly recommend it - great acting, great shooting, great storyline, and great scenes of an amazing city (Baltimore).


And let me add -- watching it on my new iPad with retina display screen has been sweet. A great great gift!

[Daisy]

I don't know what took us so long to pick up on this show

I don't either, given the fact that it was recommended to you by a person with impeccable taste in television shows nine months ago...

Hah!!

Fair point Jim

[Gob]

Broadchurch 2 is on the torrents!!!

[BoSoxGal]

I just saw an article in the DM about 'why we hate Broadchurch 2'; didn't read it because I'm still not finished with the first series so didn't want any spoilers. Does series 2 suck or something? I hate when I love a show and then it goes to crap.

[Gob]

I've seen the first two episodes so far, it certainly seems faster paced, and the slowness and pace of development, of series one was attractive.

[Guinevere]

I loved loved loved Broadchurch. Is #2 set in the same town, same characters, or does it start all over again? I can't imagine how you could pick up from where #1 left off.

[Gob]

It's picked up where the first series ended, a few months further down the line.

Same cast and characters, some new faces.

[Lord Jim]

I've been re-watching The Wire

We've been binge watching The Wire since the the holidays, I didn't watch it when it was originally on...(HBO has every episode of every season available on Comcast On Demand...)

After Deadwood and Boardwalk Empire, we were looking for another quality HBO series that we hadn't seen, and I agree the series is absolutely fantastic...the writing, the casting, the direction, all superb; I could go on about it for hours...

That having been said we just started Season 5 last night and I have to say that of the four previous seasons we've watched so far, I thought Season 4 was the weakest...(which still makes it far better than about 90% of whats available on the tube)

There was no over-arching story arc that held the season together like the previous three, and the lead actor (Dominic West,"Jim McNulty") was barely in it...

My favorite season was Season 3, which concluded the Stringer Bell (played brilliantly by the always phenomenal Idris Elba) story arc...

And I loved the whole "Hamsterdam " thing... an idea that just made too much sense...

One thing that was a little difficult to adjust to was the idea of Deidre Lovejoy as a "good guy"...(Asst. State's Attorney Rhonda Pearlman)

I remember her best as the psycho serial killer Heather "The Grave Digger" Taffet on Bones...

Interestingly, she played a government lawyer in both series....

[Guinevere]

The Wire (and other HBO shows are available as part of an Amazon Prime subscription. I'm halfway through Season 3 now, and it still rocks. Idris Elba is my favorite character, besides being so damned hot. I laughed so hard I choked at the end of the scene where the two gangs met in the hotel conference room, and the dude was taking notes. The slow MBAization of his drug business has been fascinating,and the use of Roberts Rules to organize his meetings and how that has all progressed has been nothing short of brilliant. I deal w RROO all the time, so its particularly amusing to me.

They have prettied up and skinnied up Deidre Lovejoiy so that I didn't recognize her (or they uglied her up for Bones).

They got so many little Baltimore details just right, its been a pleasure to watch. Not that I spent much time in the drug dens of West Baltimore, but there are some Baltimorean things that bridge the characters -- eating and drinking being the first. Every where you go in the city, no matter the neighborhood, there is good neighborhood food. Everyone in the series eats well--and drinks an awful lot -- including more local favorites. The voices and the accents are unusually good, too. Plus the tension between white ethnic Baltimore and black african american Baltimore. The one thing they are missing from the mix is the impact of jewish Baltimore. The scum lawyer is the only representative, and that's missing a significant and important segment of the population.

"Hamsterdam" really made me laugh as well - in part because one of the interesting really B'more neighborhoods of the City is "Hamden." It's the center of hon-land. The combination of Hamden and Amsterdam (and the hamster illusion, too) is perfection.

PS - the Stringer storyline ends? dammit -- I want Avon gone, Stringer is so much smarter and more interesting. Omar is also a great character and I'm holding my breath he sticks around.

[Joe Guy]

I started watching 'The Wire' about 3 weeks ago and got to season 5, episode 5 last night. I'll be finished with it soon.

Is 'Ah Ite' (all right) a black thing or a Baltimore (B' Mo) thing ? I noticed a white character pronounce it that way last night.

I could use an interpreter for a lot of the black kid's conversations. I'm bein' a Gump about that.

[Lord Jim]

PS - the Stringer storyline ends? dammit -- I want Avon gone, Stringer is so much smarter and more interesting. Omar is also a great character and I'm holding my breath he sticks around.

I'm sorry Guin, I didn't mean to hit you with a spoiler; I thought you said you were "re-watching" it...

I agree with you about Omar; he may be my favorite character on the show...

[Guinevere]

I did say that - God knows why. I never got past the first few episodes of season 1 before. But no worries, I didn't think he was going to last too long.

Joe - I noticed the same thing the other day. I think there is some Bmore slang where you could hear ah ite from a white person - but it's not common I think it's more black culture penetrating the whole city.