Jul 21, 2013
FAMILIAR FACES
Wow, Ben Zajac and Sister Mary Eunice are seeking help from Nip/Tuck plastic surgeons! And the story is spooky: they are a married couple, and when they were stuck in a snow he fed her his flesh (which now needs to be replaced). It's so strange to see them together.
Jul 18, 2013
GREAT! I DON'T HAVE TO WATCH EMMYS THIS YEAR
Because most of nominations don't excite me at all. American Horror Story did well (I think, they have 17 nominations in total, including best lead/supporting performances by Lange, Paulson Quinto and Cromwell, as well as the best mini-series nomination), which is the only part that I feel somewhat happy about.
Why nominate House of Cards? Bates Motel? Nashville? Why on earth would they choose to nominate Jason Bateman over Will Arnett or David Cross?
Meh, whatever.
Why nominate House of Cards? Bates Motel? Nashville? Why on earth would they choose to nominate Jason Bateman over Will Arnett or David Cross?
Meh, whatever.
Jul 9, 2013
DEXTER S08E02 RECAP
In the second episode of Dexter called Every Silver Lining Dexter learns something about his past, Vogel gets some shape, Debra's breaking bad and Batista is trying to turn Quinn into marriage material.
Dr. Vogel shows Dexter her recordings of Harry describing his step-son's violent traits (by the way, it seems unlikely that Harry gave her permission to videotape those conversations). Long story short, it turns out that Vogel was the one who gave Harry this idea of channeling Dex's urges and helped him create the Code. She now needs Dexter's help, as she believes the murder from last week was committed by one of her patients, since she's received that victim's missing part of the brain.
The new body appears almost instantly, Dexter manages to identify the suspect by a fingerprint on the murder weapon, and although Vogel seems skeptical about the candidate, Dex chooses to ignore her.
Debra, in a meanwhile, is on a treasure hunt. She figured out where Briggs kept the jewelry, and went there, followed by El Sapo, who then beat her up and took the bling-bling. But he did not go far - the next morning Miami Metro was already working on identifying his body. Dexter rushes to Deb, worrying about her, but she seems fine and still not in the mood to see him.
After being kicked out by his damaged sibling, Dex comes to the cabin of his suspect only to find him murdered. He still finds it hard to admit that he was so wrong, which is pinpointed by Vogel.
Debra comes to Miami Metro to answer questions about El Sapo (Quinn remembered her asking him to look that guy up once); by that time Dex has figured out she was the one who shot the bastard (go Deb!). He interrupted her "interrogation" and confronted her with this, only to realize that she's not what she used to be.
Vogel calls Dexter and says that someone's broke into her house. They find a CD with the latest "brain surgeon" murder recorded, from which it is clear that the guy Dexter suspected was just another victim of a psychopath on the loose.
So now I'm quite confident that Vogel is the murderer of the season, because:
a) She clearly knows too much about those killings
b) Like late Travis Marshall, she's the one who shows Dexter all that goodies "the bad guy" sends her: why should we believe that those parts of brain and a murder recording were delivered by someone else? She might have scooped parts of brain herself and pretend there was someone at her house easily
c) There was a perfect motivation for her to have planted that CD with videotaped murder: to prove she was right! You remember how she said that this was important for psychopaths? And undoubtedly, she's one.
But here comes the question - what's her motivation for the actual killings? She, of course, could be eliminating her former patients to avoid career issues, but hardly it was the main reason. So what else?
Well, do you remember this famous brain teaser:
A woman, while at the funeral of her own mother, met a man whom she did not know. She believed him to be her dream partner so much, that she fell in love with him right there, but never asked for his number and could not find him. A few days later she killed her sister.
Question: What was her motive for killing her sister?
I assume she used these murders to get close to Dexter, although, I'm not sure, what for.
Also, Dexter keeps showing how non-psychopathic he is: all this wanting to share his feelings, caring for his sister surprise Vogel. May it be that he was just a damaged kid, who could have never turned into a killer, providing there was a good psychiatrist instead of Vogel?
Dr. Vogel shows Dexter her recordings of Harry describing his step-son's violent traits (by the way, it seems unlikely that Harry gave her permission to videotape those conversations). Long story short, it turns out that Vogel was the one who gave Harry this idea of channeling Dex's urges and helped him create the Code. She now needs Dexter's help, as she believes the murder from last week was committed by one of her patients, since she's received that victim's missing part of the brain.
The new body appears almost instantly, Dexter manages to identify the suspect by a fingerprint on the murder weapon, and although Vogel seems skeptical about the candidate, Dex chooses to ignore her.
Debra, in a meanwhile, is on a treasure hunt. She figured out where Briggs kept the jewelry, and went there, followed by El Sapo, who then beat her up and took the bling-bling. But he did not go far - the next morning Miami Metro was already working on identifying his body. Dexter rushes to Deb, worrying about her, but she seems fine and still not in the mood to see him.
After being kicked out by his damaged sibling, Dex comes to the cabin of his suspect only to find him murdered. He still finds it hard to admit that he was so wrong, which is pinpointed by Vogel.
Debra comes to Miami Metro to answer questions about El Sapo (Quinn remembered her asking him to look that guy up once); by that time Dex has figured out she was the one who shot the bastard (go Deb!). He interrupted her "interrogation" and confronted her with this, only to realize that she's not what she used to be.
Vogel calls Dexter and says that someone's broke into her house. They find a CD with the latest "brain surgeon" murder recorded, from which it is clear that the guy Dexter suspected was just another victim of a psychopath on the loose.
 |
| Tam-tam-tam!!! |
So now I'm quite confident that Vogel is the murderer of the season, because:
a) She clearly knows too much about those killings
b) Like late Travis Marshall, she's the one who shows Dexter all that goodies "the bad guy" sends her: why should we believe that those parts of brain and a murder recording were delivered by someone else? She might have scooped parts of brain herself and pretend there was someone at her house easily
c) There was a perfect motivation for her to have planted that CD with videotaped murder: to prove she was right! You remember how she said that this was important for psychopaths? And undoubtedly, she's one.
But here comes the question - what's her motivation for the actual killings? She, of course, could be eliminating her former patients to avoid career issues, but hardly it was the main reason. So what else?
Well, do you remember this famous brain teaser:
A woman, while at the funeral of her own mother, met a man whom she did not know. She believed him to be her dream partner so much, that she fell in love with him right there, but never asked for his number and could not find him. A few days later she killed her sister.
Question: What was her motive for killing her sister?
I assume she used these murders to get close to Dexter, although, I'm not sure, what for.
Also, Dexter keeps showing how non-psychopathic he is: all this wanting to share his feelings, caring for his sister surprise Vogel. May it be that he was just a damaged kid, who could have never turned into a killer, providing there was a good psychiatrist instead of Vogel?
Jul 5, 2013
HOW MUCH WOULD DEXTER SCORE ON PSYCHOPATH TEST?
After the latest Dexter episode I couldn't stop thinking if the main character can actually qualify for a real psychopath, so I found a Hare's elaborated checklist here and unsurprisingly, Dexter scored almost as many points as I did. And unfortunately, neither of us is a psychopath.
Instructions: for each of the 20 characteristics, give a score of 0 if it does not apply, 1 if it applies partially and 2 if it is a perfect match.
He has to get at least 30 points to be diagnosed of psychopathy.
Let's roll!
1. Glib and Superficial Charm. Psychopathic charm is not in the least shy, self-conscious, or afraid to say anything. A psychopath never gets tongue-tied. They have freed themselves from the social conventions about taking turns in talking, for example.
Well, that's easy. Dexter is everything, but smooth in his social interactions, and often says or does some awkward things. He's far from being charming, so 0 points.
2. Grandiose Self-Worth. A grossly inflated view of one's abilities and self-worth, self-assured, opinionated, cocky, a braggart. Psychopaths are arrogant people who believe they are superior human beings.
Remember what Vogel said about the murderer on the latest Miami Metro case? He would enjoy if he knew they were talking about him; but Dexter wouldn't, besides, he never seems cocky. He feels different from people that surround him, but not in a good way. This only changes when he's around his victims, then he definitely thinks he is superior to them, but that could be his step-father's influence. Since he was brought up in the house where murderers were always treated with contempt, the attitude would grow on him regardless of his personal traits. I call 0.
3. Need for Stimulation or Proneness to Boredom. An excessive need for novel, thrilling, and exciting stimulation; taking chances and doing things that are risky. Psychopaths often have a low self-discipline in carrying tasks through to completion because they get bored easily. They fail to work at the same job for any length of time, for example, or to finish tasks that they consider dull or routine.
This one is tricky, because even though Dexter does work in Miami Metro since like forever and almost never travels or looks for any particular excitement, he does tend to run off from work and his second live gives just enough thrill. I give him 1.
4. Pathological Lying. Can be moderate or high; in moderate form, they will be shrewd, crafty, cunning, sly, and clever; in extreme form, they will be deceptive, deceitful, underhanded, unscrupulous, manipulative, and dishonest.
This one is a 2. He's a liar.
5. Cunning and Manipulative. The use of deceit and deception to cheat, con, or defraud others for personal gain; distinguished from Item #4 in the degree to which exploitation and callous ruthlessness is present, as reflected in a lack of concern for the feelings and suffering of one's victims.
I'd say 1. He does manipulate or deceives others, but sometimes feels guilty about it.
6. Lack of Remorse or Guilt. A lack of feelings or concern for the losses, pain, and suffering of victims; a tendency to be unconcerned, dispassionate, coldhearted, and unemphatic This item is usually demonstrated by a disdain for one's victims.
If we're talking about his victims only, then, 2 points, otherwise he feels guilty pretty often.
7. Shallow Affect. Emotional poverty or a limited range or depth of feelings; interpersonal coldness in spite of signs of open gregariousness.
2 points
8. Callousness and Lack of Empathy. A lack of feelings toward people in general; cold, contemptuous, inconsiderate, and tactless
2 points
9. Parasitic Lifestyle. An intentional, manipulative, selfish, and exploitative financial dependence on others as reflected in a lack of motivation, low self-discipline, and inability to begin or complete responsibilities.
0 points, he works, he doesn't take loans or borrow money.
10. Poor Behavioral Controls. Expressions of irritability, annoyance, impatience, threats, aggression, and verbal abuse; inadequate control of anger and temper; acting hastily.
This only applies to the last episode, really, where he yelled at his son and nearly killed some stupid driver that cut him off. Normally, he stays in control of his behavior. 0.
11. Promiscuous Sexual Behavior. A variety of brief, superficial relations, numerous affairs, and an indiscriminate selection of sexual partners; the maintenance of several relationships at the same time; a history of attempts to sexually coerce others into sexual activity or taking great pride at discussing sexual exploits or conquests.
0. He claimed to be basically asexual before Rita, and besides her there was what, three more women in like seven years? That's not a lot.
12. Early Behavior Problems. A variety of behaviors prior to age 13, including lying, theft, cheating, vandalism, bullying, sexual activity, fire-setting, glue-sniffing, alcohol use, and running away from home.
I recall that he was killing animals as a child. I guess this qualifies for 2 points.
13. Lack of Realistic, Long-Term Goals. An inability or persistent failure to develop and execute long-term plans and goals; a nomadic existence, aimless, lacking direction in life.
On the one hand, he doesn't have long term plans, but at the same time it's not possible to say that his life has no direction. 1?
14. Impulsive. The occurrence of behaviors that are unpremeditated and lack reflection or planning; inability to resist temptation, frustrations, and urges; a lack of deliberation without considering the consequences; foolhardy, rash, unpredictable, erratic, and reckless.
1 point. He's not that good at controlling his urges, but most of the time he thinks his murders through, wraps the place in plastic and such...
15. Irresponsibility. Repeated failure to fulfill or honor obligations and commitments; such as not paying bills, defaulting on loans, performing sloppy work, being absent or late to work, failing to honor contractual agreements.
2 points. It always amazed me how he manages to be present at work so little and make Harrison's babysitters work extra hours.
16. Failure to Accept Responsibility for Own Actions. A failure to accept responsibility for one's actions reflected in low conscientiousness, an absence of dutifulness, antagonistic manipulation, denial of responsibility, and an effort to manipulate others through this denial.
1 point. Though he even invented "the dark passenger" to spare some guilt, when Rita was killed he said "It was me" and felt responsible for her death.
17. Many Short-Term Marital Relationships. A lack of commitment to a long-term relationship reflected in inconsistent, undependable, and unreliable commitments in life, including marital.
0 points. It was not the lack of commitment that made some of his relationships short.
18. Juvenile Delinquency. Behavior problems between the ages of 13-18; mostly behaviors that are crimes or clearly involve aspects of antagonism, exploitation, aggression, manipulation, or a callous, ruthless tough-mindedness.
We know nothing about that period of time, but he probably was well-behaved. 0.
19. Revocation of Condition Release. A revocation of probation or other conditional release due to technical violations, such as carelessness, low deliberation, or failing to appear.
Never happened. 0 points
20. Criminal Versatility. A diversity of types of criminal offenses, regardless if the person has been arrested or convicted for them; taking great pride at getting away with crimes.
Two points. On top of murders he also commits fraud (forging lab results or hiding evidence), theft and invades homes.
So the total result is 20 points, which is higher than a completely normal person would score, but falls short of 10 points to call Dexter a psychopath. Too bad for Dr. Vogel, huh?
Instructions: for each of the 20 characteristics, give a score of 0 if it does not apply, 1 if it applies partially and 2 if it is a perfect match.
He has to get at least 30 points to be diagnosed of psychopathy.
Let's roll!
1. Glib and Superficial Charm. Psychopathic charm is not in the least shy, self-conscious, or afraid to say anything. A psychopath never gets tongue-tied. They have freed themselves from the social conventions about taking turns in talking, for example.
Well, that's easy. Dexter is everything, but smooth in his social interactions, and often says or does some awkward things. He's far from being charming, so 0 points.
2. Grandiose Self-Worth. A grossly inflated view of one's abilities and self-worth, self-assured, opinionated, cocky, a braggart. Psychopaths are arrogant people who believe they are superior human beings.
Remember what Vogel said about the murderer on the latest Miami Metro case? He would enjoy if he knew they were talking about him; but Dexter wouldn't, besides, he never seems cocky. He feels different from people that surround him, but not in a good way. This only changes when he's around his victims, then he definitely thinks he is superior to them, but that could be his step-father's influence. Since he was brought up in the house where murderers were always treated with contempt, the attitude would grow on him regardless of his personal traits. I call 0.
3. Need for Stimulation or Proneness to Boredom. An excessive need for novel, thrilling, and exciting stimulation; taking chances and doing things that are risky. Psychopaths often have a low self-discipline in carrying tasks through to completion because they get bored easily. They fail to work at the same job for any length of time, for example, or to finish tasks that they consider dull or routine.
This one is tricky, because even though Dexter does work in Miami Metro since like forever and almost never travels or looks for any particular excitement, he does tend to run off from work and his second live gives just enough thrill. I give him 1.
4. Pathological Lying. Can be moderate or high; in moderate form, they will be shrewd, crafty, cunning, sly, and clever; in extreme form, they will be deceptive, deceitful, underhanded, unscrupulous, manipulative, and dishonest.
This one is a 2. He's a liar.
5. Cunning and Manipulative. The use of deceit and deception to cheat, con, or defraud others for personal gain; distinguished from Item #4 in the degree to which exploitation and callous ruthlessness is present, as reflected in a lack of concern for the feelings and suffering of one's victims.
I'd say 1. He does manipulate or deceives others, but sometimes feels guilty about it.
6. Lack of Remorse or Guilt. A lack of feelings or concern for the losses, pain, and suffering of victims; a tendency to be unconcerned, dispassionate, coldhearted, and unemphatic This item is usually demonstrated by a disdain for one's victims.
If we're talking about his victims only, then, 2 points, otherwise he feels guilty pretty often.
7. Shallow Affect. Emotional poverty or a limited range or depth of feelings; interpersonal coldness in spite of signs of open gregariousness.
2 points
8. Callousness and Lack of Empathy. A lack of feelings toward people in general; cold, contemptuous, inconsiderate, and tactless
2 points
9. Parasitic Lifestyle. An intentional, manipulative, selfish, and exploitative financial dependence on others as reflected in a lack of motivation, low self-discipline, and inability to begin or complete responsibilities.
0 points, he works, he doesn't take loans or borrow money.
10. Poor Behavioral Controls. Expressions of irritability, annoyance, impatience, threats, aggression, and verbal abuse; inadequate control of anger and temper; acting hastily.
This only applies to the last episode, really, where he yelled at his son and nearly killed some stupid driver that cut him off. Normally, he stays in control of his behavior. 0.
11. Promiscuous Sexual Behavior. A variety of brief, superficial relations, numerous affairs, and an indiscriminate selection of sexual partners; the maintenance of several relationships at the same time; a history of attempts to sexually coerce others into sexual activity or taking great pride at discussing sexual exploits or conquests.
0. He claimed to be basically asexual before Rita, and besides her there was what, three more women in like seven years? That's not a lot.
12. Early Behavior Problems. A variety of behaviors prior to age 13, including lying, theft, cheating, vandalism, bullying, sexual activity, fire-setting, glue-sniffing, alcohol use, and running away from home.
I recall that he was killing animals as a child. I guess this qualifies for 2 points.
13. Lack of Realistic, Long-Term Goals. An inability or persistent failure to develop and execute long-term plans and goals; a nomadic existence, aimless, lacking direction in life.
On the one hand, he doesn't have long term plans, but at the same time it's not possible to say that his life has no direction. 1?
14. Impulsive. The occurrence of behaviors that are unpremeditated and lack reflection or planning; inability to resist temptation, frustrations, and urges; a lack of deliberation without considering the consequences; foolhardy, rash, unpredictable, erratic, and reckless.
1 point. He's not that good at controlling his urges, but most of the time he thinks his murders through, wraps the place in plastic and such...
15. Irresponsibility. Repeated failure to fulfill or honor obligations and commitments; such as not paying bills, defaulting on loans, performing sloppy work, being absent or late to work, failing to honor contractual agreements.
2 points. It always amazed me how he manages to be present at work so little and make Harrison's babysitters work extra hours.
16. Failure to Accept Responsibility for Own Actions. A failure to accept responsibility for one's actions reflected in low conscientiousness, an absence of dutifulness, antagonistic manipulation, denial of responsibility, and an effort to manipulate others through this denial.
1 point. Though he even invented "the dark passenger" to spare some guilt, when Rita was killed he said "It was me" and felt responsible for her death.
17. Many Short-Term Marital Relationships. A lack of commitment to a long-term relationship reflected in inconsistent, undependable, and unreliable commitments in life, including marital.
0 points. It was not the lack of commitment that made some of his relationships short.
18. Juvenile Delinquency. Behavior problems between the ages of 13-18; mostly behaviors that are crimes or clearly involve aspects of antagonism, exploitation, aggression, manipulation, or a callous, ruthless tough-mindedness.
We know nothing about that period of time, but he probably was well-behaved. 0.
19. Revocation of Condition Release. A revocation of probation or other conditional release due to technical violations, such as carelessness, low deliberation, or failing to appear.
Never happened. 0 points
20. Criminal Versatility. A diversity of types of criminal offenses, regardless if the person has been arrested or convicted for them; taking great pride at getting away with crimes.
Two points. On top of murders he also commits fraud (forging lab results or hiding evidence), theft and invades homes.
So the total result is 20 points, which is higher than a completely normal person would score, but falls short of 10 points to call Dexter a psychopath. Too bad for Dr. Vogel, huh?
Jul 3, 2013
DEXTER (S08E01) - READY FOR GOODBYE (sort of recap)
The first episode of Dexter's final season aired last Sunday and in general I share the "meh" feeling expressed by my better half: it wasn't too exciting and frankly, not particularly promising, however, since I'm a big fan of the series, I naively hope for the best.
So Dexter's moved on with his live, like nothing happened, his son has finally reached the age when he can actually comprehend something, Quinn is fucking someone new (like in every other season!) and this time Angel's little sister is his babe, Batista himself returned to Miami Metro (who opens a restaurant in this economy anyway?), LaGuerta is turned into a concrete bench, and only Debra dived into a self-created version of hell, where she does cocaine along with the full range of other illegal substances, screws a criminal she's supposed to give in (oh yeah, she's a bounty hunter of some sort now) and avoids Dexter, who doesn't get why. "Because you made me compromise everything about myself that I care about. And I hate you for it", says she while shooing him away, when he finally tracks her down, concerned about her.
But it looks like deviant step-sister should be the least of Dex's concerns now, even though she said she should have shot him instead of Maria. Evelyn Vogel, a neuropsychiatrist specializing in psychopaths, who looks more like NBC's Hannibal Lector offered her help to Miami Metro in solving a new murder case (potentially, cases) - a body was found with part of the brain responsible for empathy scooped out. She takes particular interest in Dexter, asking him all sorts of uncomfortable questions about the Bay Harbor Butcher and such.
To her disappointment, he doesn't get paranoid enough, as poor Deb occupies his thoughts. A hitman named El Sapo is after her "boyfriend" slash wanted guy Andrew Briggs, and she might get hurt. Together with Harrison Dexter gets to the Pink Motel to warn her, where he picks a fight with Briggs and consequently stabs him in front of his sister, which makes things even more awkward between the two siblings. "What'd you do? I felt OK around him!". Debra gives another speech about how open her eyes are now, sends him away and calls the police to tell them some lies about what happened. El Sapo watched her so I guess we'll see more of him in the upcoming episodes.
And finally, Dr. Vogel finds Dexter sitting on LaGuerta's bench the next day. He tries to avoid the conversation and then she gives hims the pictures he drew as a child (naturally, with loads of blood). When he presses her against the wall, she says he can't kill her "Because I don't fit Harry's code". Oh, God! She knows everything.
What can I say, there was definitely too much of Deb, and although Jennifer Carpenter doesn't have the gorgeous hair she had last season, which leaves jealousy out, it is still hard for me to like her character. She's too messed up. But I'm glad that Carpenter has finally got a chance to yell "I hate you!" at her ex-husband with no repercussions.
The main question of the episode is who the hell Evelyn Vogel really is. Was she the one who spotted Dexter's "dark passenger" when he was a kid and informed Harry about it? Was she the one who suggested to channel Dex's destructive energy?
The problem I have with Dr. Vogel is that she comes off as a more of a psychopath than Dexter (what could make her study psychopaths in the first place, huh?) To be completely frank, Dexter doesn't come as a psychopath at all, despite the fact that he numerously suggests so himself and that's the problem of this series. I understand that it was revolutionary at the time - following the life of a maniac - but the maniac was lost along the way, what was left is a version of hero from the action movies in the nineties, portrayed by Stallone, Swartzeneger or Willis (I wonder if Dexter killed less guys within seven seasons than characters of those guys in a single movie).
So Dexter's moved on with his live, like nothing happened, his son has finally reached the age when he can actually comprehend something, Quinn is fucking someone new (like in every other season!) and this time Angel's little sister is his babe, Batista himself returned to Miami Metro (who opens a restaurant in this economy anyway?), LaGuerta is turned into a concrete bench, and only Debra dived into a self-created version of hell, where she does cocaine along with the full range of other illegal substances, screws a criminal she's supposed to give in (oh yeah, she's a bounty hunter of some sort now) and avoids Dexter, who doesn't get why. "Because you made me compromise everything about myself that I care about. And I hate you for it", says she while shooing him away, when he finally tracks her down, concerned about her.
 |
| Don't they look alike? |
And finally, Dr. Vogel finds Dexter sitting on LaGuerta's bench the next day. He tries to avoid the conversation and then she gives hims the pictures he drew as a child (naturally, with loads of blood). When he presses her against the wall, she says he can't kill her "Because I don't fit Harry's code". Oh, God! She knows everything.
What can I say, there was definitely too much of Deb, and although Jennifer Carpenter doesn't have the gorgeous hair she had last season, which leaves jealousy out, it is still hard for me to like her character. She's too messed up. But I'm glad that Carpenter has finally got a chance to yell "I hate you!" at her ex-husband with no repercussions.
The main question of the episode is who the hell Evelyn Vogel really is. Was she the one who spotted Dexter's "dark passenger" when he was a kid and informed Harry about it? Was she the one who suggested to channel Dex's destructive energy?
The problem I have with Dr. Vogel is that she comes off as a more of a psychopath than Dexter (what could make her study psychopaths in the first place, huh?) To be completely frank, Dexter doesn't come as a psychopath at all, despite the fact that he numerously suggests so himself and that's the problem of this series. I understand that it was revolutionary at the time - following the life of a maniac - but the maniac was lost along the way, what was left is a version of hero from the action movies in the nineties, portrayed by Stallone, Swartzeneger or Willis (I wonder if Dexter killed less guys within seven seasons than characters of those guys in a single movie).
May 14, 2013
BRIEFLY
So the final hours of the second season of Revenge left me as frustrated as every other episode of this show (maybe, with the exception of the first three or so). There was a bunch of chaotic events, completely unrelated to each other, while characters' emotions vanished into thin air just as fast as they peaked, Jack's brother died, although there was hardly any need for it in terms of the story line (frankly, I'd prefer Jack's death, he was a useless, weak and quite unsympathetic character back in the first season, and they made him even less bearable now). And the most annoying part was that there was no resolution whatsoever. However, I'm glad to know that there was no "Initiative" in the first place, that explains why throughout the season it never felt like this group really existed.
The former showrunner, Mike Kelley, parted ways with Revenge, apparently, he had different view on how the series should be from the show's home channel, ABC, so it's rather clear whom to blame on the appalling (even for the soap opera!) quality of this season. The rumor has it that Kelley wanted the series to be a 13-parter (instead of 22), which would help avoid all the bullshit the season contained and all the extra characters that came and went (like Emily's mom and her foster brother, Nolan's ex, Victoria's mom, Conrad's business nemesis). I'm 100% convinced that it doesn't get better, so the wise thing to do is to spare self from the next season.
The same applies to Vegas. They managed to keep the story more or less logical, but it was definitely too long and thus filled to capacity with unnecessary content, and at the same time it was so full of cliches that one could predict the ending after just ten minutes of the episode. All the law guys were disturbingly annoying and it was quite ridiculous, how they almost never killed anyone, while the gangsters went wild.
I didn't even realize that The Americans was over until a week after the finale, so that says a lot. However, overall, the show was not so bad: at times boring, at times a little idiotic (not to the extent of Homeland or Revenge), but at the same time so straight forward, easy to follow and sympathize with the characters.
Despite Laurence Fishburne, who is in my personal top ten of the ugliest actors alive, the annoying character of Will Graham (and a few others), the extremely visual corpses and the weak script, I quite enjoy watching Hannibal. At times, it reminds me of Jamie at Home, only with a much more pleasant host (I mean the magnificent Hannibal Lecter by Mads Mikkelsen, of course). Yes, the creators of the show like to spritz characters' faces with blood as if it's some sort of adult movie, and invent absolutely idiotic, irrational crimes with far-fetched motivation, but most of the time it's a fun watch. And it's surprising to see something like that on NBC.
Orphan Black is not exactly Utopia, but it's one of a few conspiracy series that doesn't annoy me with the irrational plot. There are some iffy turns, but overall, the story is coherent and full of action, even exciting. But we'll see how it ends, that's usually a weak point for this genre.
The former showrunner, Mike Kelley, parted ways with Revenge, apparently, he had different view on how the series should be from the show's home channel, ABC, so it's rather clear whom to blame on the appalling (even for the soap opera!) quality of this season. The rumor has it that Kelley wanted the series to be a 13-parter (instead of 22), which would help avoid all the bullshit the season contained and all the extra characters that came and went (like Emily's mom and her foster brother, Nolan's ex, Victoria's mom, Conrad's business nemesis). I'm 100% convinced that it doesn't get better, so the wise thing to do is to spare self from the next season.
The same applies to Vegas. They managed to keep the story more or less logical, but it was definitely too long and thus filled to capacity with unnecessary content, and at the same time it was so full of cliches that one could predict the ending after just ten minutes of the episode. All the law guys were disturbingly annoying and it was quite ridiculous, how they almost never killed anyone, while the gangsters went wild.
I didn't even realize that The Americans was over until a week after the finale, so that says a lot. However, overall, the show was not so bad: at times boring, at times a little idiotic (not to the extent of Homeland or Revenge), but at the same time so straight forward, easy to follow and sympathize with the characters.
Despite Laurence Fishburne, who is in my personal top ten of the ugliest actors alive, the annoying character of Will Graham (and a few others), the extremely visual corpses and the weak script, I quite enjoy watching Hannibal. At times, it reminds me of Jamie at Home, only with a much more pleasant host (I mean the magnificent Hannibal Lecter by Mads Mikkelsen, of course). Yes, the creators of the show like to spritz characters' faces with blood as if it's some sort of adult movie, and invent absolutely idiotic, irrational crimes with far-fetched motivation, but most of the time it's a fun watch. And it's surprising to see something like that on NBC.
Orphan Black is not exactly Utopia, but it's one of a few conspiracy series that doesn't annoy me with the irrational plot. There are some iffy turns, but overall, the story is coherent and full of action, even exciting. But we'll see how it ends, that's usually a weak point for this genre.
Mar 20, 2013
Feb 19, 2013
NEW IN MARCH & APRIL
Bates Motel (A&E) is a new TV series produced by Carlton Cuse (Lost) and it's supposed to be something like a prequel to Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho (Ed Gein again, huh?). The series features Freddie Highmore (Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, The Spiderwick Chronicles) as Norman Bates and Vera Farmiga (Up in the Air) as Norma Bates. Bates Motel premieres on the 18th of March.
Orphan Black (BBC America) is scheduled to premiere on the 30th of March. It's about an orphan named Sarah (played by Tatiana Maslany) who happens to witness the suicide of her exact double, which later turns out to be her (?) clone. She assumes the dead girl's identity to get her money, but inadvertently becomes involved in some sort of deadly conspiracy.
Da Vinci's Demons (Starz) is a historical fantasy about early life of Da Vinci created by David S. Goyer. The first episode air on the 12th April.
Hemlock Grove (based on the novel of the same title) is another creation of Netflix, a thriller this time. Like with House of Cards, all the episodes are released at once (April 19). Famke Janssen, Bill Skarsgård and Landon Liboiron are featured in this show.
Feb 9, 2013
HOUSE OF CARDS REVIEW or ARE YOU KIDDING ME, NETFLIX?
THE FOLLOWING REVIEW MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS AND A GREAT DEAL OF RAGE.
There are no words to express my anger and frustration caused by this series, so what I'm about to write may be quite emotional and lacking structure.
Plot: The Majority Whip, Francis (Frank) Underwood (D) (Kevin Spacey), doesn't get the position of Secretary of State, which was promised to him during the campaign, so he focuses on getting even a more senior position in the administration anyway. He has a wife, Claire (Robin Wright), as psychopathic as he is, who's running a non-profit "humanitarian" organisation that helps deliver water to the Third World countries, and a nosy reporter Zoe Barnes (Kate Mara), whom Underwood screws and uses to leak some materials (at times fake) about his opponents.
It's a good thing Netflix released the whole season at once, otherwise there'd be no way I'd watch it all. From the beginning I thought of it as of something lame, banal, with poorly written dialogues and unrealistic situations, but because there aren't many ongoing shows about politics at the moment, it still seemed watchable. Around the sixth episode it started to annoy me a lot, but since I've already invested so much time into this I've decided to finish it, which wasn't a good decision, apparently, - I was literally furious when the closing credits appeared at the end of the last episode. Do you know what I wanted to see in the finale? Frank Underwood being brutally murdered. The more blood the merrier. Alas, there was just a crappy cliffhanger instead.
Why did I hate it so much? Well, there is a number of reasons, not the least of which is the annoying, unsympathetic main character. I hated him from the opening scene when he strangled his wounded dog, just like later in the series he killed a useless, broken congressman. What surprised me though, was that it felt like the creators of the series adored Underwood. Otherwise I don't know why he kept winning, even though there were no grounds for that. He kept speaking to the camera (I hated when he did that), saying some pathetic bullshit about his alleged power, but he never felt powerful to me, instead, he felt deluded and thus pathetic. He was capable of dirty tricks, no doubt, but those could have only succeeded if all of his opponents were morons. I mean, seriously, an accusation in writing an anti-Israel editorial in a school newspaper over thirty years ago? A brick in congressman's window? A boy killed at the time of teachers' strike, who "should have been in school"? A leaked education bill? In real life none, ABSOLUTELY NONE of this would have worked the way it did in the series. And every time I desperately wanted Underwood to lose; as I said, I fucking hated that empty, moronic, self-absorbed, cheeky bastard.
The characters in House of Cards are incredibly strange, whatever they do or say (especially say) makes very little to no sense. That is especially true with Claire. Her Louboutin shoes the camera often focuses on explain her character better than her lines or her actions altogether. The relationship between her and Frank is weird, to say the least; I'd understand if they'd never talk to each other when not in public, but instead they seem to have some kind of love while openly cheating on and using each other. She overuses a pronoun "we", she plays with the feelings of a photographer, who's in love with her for some reason, and she acts like a Hitler when at work. Nice.
To emphasize the dirtiness of his character, Frank chooses to eat in a shit hole and spends his free time in a gloomy cellar; worthless Zoe lives like a white trash with rotting food and spiders all around, and the moment she realizes that, her affair with the is doomed. That's when she finally turns into a real reporter, although previously she clearly stood against all the journalistic values heavily promoted in The Newsroom. Sadly, we never get to learn if she buries Underwood before he gets to her. But one thing I know for sure: if there is a season two, I'll stick to reading recaps. I've had enough of watching.
There are no words to express my anger and frustration caused by this series, so what I'm about to write may be quite emotional and lacking structure.
Plot: The Majority Whip, Francis (Frank) Underwood (D) (Kevin Spacey), doesn't get the position of Secretary of State, which was promised to him during the campaign, so he focuses on getting even a more senior position in the administration anyway. He has a wife, Claire (Robin Wright), as psychopathic as he is, who's running a non-profit "humanitarian" organisation that helps deliver water to the Third World countries, and a nosy reporter Zoe Barnes (Kate Mara), whom Underwood screws and uses to leak some materials (at times fake) about his opponents.
It's a good thing Netflix released the whole season at once, otherwise there'd be no way I'd watch it all. From the beginning I thought of it as of something lame, banal, with poorly written dialogues and unrealistic situations, but because there aren't many ongoing shows about politics at the moment, it still seemed watchable. Around the sixth episode it started to annoy me a lot, but since I've already invested so much time into this I've decided to finish it, which wasn't a good decision, apparently, - I was literally furious when the closing credits appeared at the end of the last episode. Do you know what I wanted to see in the finale? Frank Underwood being brutally murdered. The more blood the merrier. Alas, there was just a crappy cliffhanger instead.
Why did I hate it so much? Well, there is a number of reasons, not the least of which is the annoying, unsympathetic main character. I hated him from the opening scene when he strangled his wounded dog, just like later in the series he killed a useless, broken congressman. What surprised me though, was that it felt like the creators of the series adored Underwood. Otherwise I don't know why he kept winning, even though there were no grounds for that. He kept speaking to the camera (I hated when he did that), saying some pathetic bullshit about his alleged power, but he never felt powerful to me, instead, he felt deluded and thus pathetic. He was capable of dirty tricks, no doubt, but those could have only succeeded if all of his opponents were morons. I mean, seriously, an accusation in writing an anti-Israel editorial in a school newspaper over thirty years ago? A brick in congressman's window? A boy killed at the time of teachers' strike, who "should have been in school"? A leaked education bill? In real life none, ABSOLUTELY NONE of this would have worked the way it did in the series. And every time I desperately wanted Underwood to lose; as I said, I fucking hated that empty, moronic, self-absorbed, cheeky bastard.
The characters in House of Cards are incredibly strange, whatever they do or say (especially say) makes very little to no sense. That is especially true with Claire. Her Louboutin shoes the camera often focuses on explain her character better than her lines or her actions altogether. The relationship between her and Frank is weird, to say the least; I'd understand if they'd never talk to each other when not in public, but instead they seem to have some kind of love while openly cheating on and using each other. She overuses a pronoun "we", she plays with the feelings of a photographer, who's in love with her for some reason, and she acts like a Hitler when at work. Nice.
To emphasize the dirtiness of his character, Frank chooses to eat in a shit hole and spends his free time in a gloomy cellar; worthless Zoe lives like a white trash with rotting food and spiders all around, and the moment she realizes that, her affair with the is doomed. That's when she finally turns into a real reporter, although previously she clearly stood against all the journalistic values heavily promoted in The Newsroom. Sadly, we never get to learn if she buries Underwood before he gets to her. But one thing I know for sure: if there is a season two, I'll stick to reading recaps. I've had enough of watching.
Feb 2, 2013
WHAT'S NEW?
As I already said, most of the new series are rather bad, and this affects very negatively on my will to recap. So I'll just write a short summary of what I think of winter premieres.
Utopia. Unexpectedly amazing. I'm not a big fan of long episodes, because of my short attention span (they normally lose me after forty five minutes), but it never feels long with Utopia. It is as exciting and mesmerizing as it is delirious, and its best feature is this incredibly bright, colorful, psychedelic picture, which drags you to the madness and ridiculousness of the story.
The Americans. Talking about long episodes. By the end of the pilot I didn't know what to do with myself. And all this time I kept thinking "Do we really need all these flashbacks?", "Do we really need to hear the entire In the Air Tonight?". The story is about two Russian spies, who "pretend" to be an American family from the suburbs. The guy leans toward betraying his motherland (what can you expect from a person with transvestite-ish eyebrows), while the girl stays firm, although I can't stop thinking that if she was a good spy, she'd get rid of him immediately. They are not allowed to say a single word in Russian (but there seems to be nothing wrong with drinking vodka) to avoid the risk of blowing their cover. The pilot rolls around the traitor they had to catch and deal with while not letting the FBI agent from counterintelligence, who moved into the next house, suspect anything. To sum up: if they manage to cut the crap, this series might actually get watchable, as of now it's a little boring and far-fetched.
Banshee. A masculine version of Revenge. If you like fights and don't care for the story to be in any way realistic, Banshee is the right show for you. Tough guys, sex, crime, torture and a much uglier version of Milla Jovovich as the heroine: that's pretty much what this series is about.
House of Cards. Yesterday Netflix released all the thirteen episodes of its first original series and I watched three of those. I recognize it's a big step for Netflix and I'm glad that they are trying to go in that direction, but objectively it's not particularly good. The essence of the story is fine and it's even shot quite OK, but I can't emphasize enough how poorly it's written. Especially the dialogues. They are not even pretentious, they're simply inhuman, people just don't talk like that! Even if they are politicians. And what's the deal with Kevin Spacey's character talking to the camera all the time? It just diminishes the effect of what's going on; when the character interrupts his supposedly emotional speech, which makes people cry (!), to notify us, the viewers, of his real agenda, I stop being inside the story, I'm suddenly above it. To sum up, this series just made me realize how much I miss Boss.(*bursts into tears*).
The Following. I think there's something fundamentally wrong about making the villain of the show more likable than the main protagonist, especially if your story is about a serial killer, who happens to draw inspiration for his murders from the works of Edgar Allan Poe. There's nothing original about how the story is told, and I fail to imagine a person who would like this series.
Cracked. After suffering from PTSD a police officer is forced to work with a psychiatrist, and together they dedicate their lives to catching literally crazy murderers instead of just shooting them, which apparently is the common practice in Canada. Trivial procedural.
1600 Penn. A "comedy" series about how the president of the United States is also human. His smartest daughter had one night stand and is now pregnant, his oldest son is clearly retarded, his trophy wife is self centered and the other two kids are irrelevant. Neither compelling, nor funny.
Deception. Boring Revenge with black people. Nuff said.
Legit. I'm not a fun of Louie (and stand up comedy for that matter) and Jim Jefferies's Legit is even worse. But I'm sure that people that watch it love it.
Way to Go. A Brittish black comedy about three young guys who are quite successful at wasting their lives. The irony of the series is that they start an assisted suicide business to help those terminally ill. It requires adjustment to the accent and it's not that funny (though I had a few laughs).
On a brighter note, Archer is back and it's hilarious!
Utopia. Unexpectedly amazing. I'm not a big fan of long episodes, because of my short attention span (they normally lose me after forty five minutes), but it never feels long with Utopia. It is as exciting and mesmerizing as it is delirious, and its best feature is this incredibly bright, colorful, psychedelic picture, which drags you to the madness and ridiculousness of the story.
The Americans. Talking about long episodes. By the end of the pilot I didn't know what to do with myself. And all this time I kept thinking "Do we really need all these flashbacks?", "Do we really need to hear the entire In the Air Tonight?". The story is about two Russian spies, who "pretend" to be an American family from the suburbs. The guy leans toward betraying his motherland (what can you expect from a person with transvestite-ish eyebrows), while the girl stays firm, although I can't stop thinking that if she was a good spy, she'd get rid of him immediately. They are not allowed to say a single word in Russian (but there seems to be nothing wrong with drinking vodka) to avoid the risk of blowing their cover. The pilot rolls around the traitor they had to catch and deal with while not letting the FBI agent from counterintelligence, who moved into the next house, suspect anything. To sum up: if they manage to cut the crap, this series might actually get watchable, as of now it's a little boring and far-fetched.
Banshee. A masculine version of Revenge. If you like fights and don't care for the story to be in any way realistic, Banshee is the right show for you. Tough guys, sex, crime, torture and a much uglier version of Milla Jovovich as the heroine: that's pretty much what this series is about.
House of Cards. Yesterday Netflix released all the thirteen episodes of its first original series and I watched three of those. I recognize it's a big step for Netflix and I'm glad that they are trying to go in that direction, but objectively it's not particularly good. The essence of the story is fine and it's even shot quite OK, but I can't emphasize enough how poorly it's written. Especially the dialogues. They are not even pretentious, they're simply inhuman, people just don't talk like that! Even if they are politicians. And what's the deal with Kevin Spacey's character talking to the camera all the time? It just diminishes the effect of what's going on; when the character interrupts his supposedly emotional speech, which makes people cry (!), to notify us, the viewers, of his real agenda, I stop being inside the story, I'm suddenly above it. To sum up, this series just made me realize how much I miss Boss.(*bursts into tears*).
The Following. I think there's something fundamentally wrong about making the villain of the show more likable than the main protagonist, especially if your story is about a serial killer, who happens to draw inspiration for his murders from the works of Edgar Allan Poe. There's nothing original about how the story is told, and I fail to imagine a person who would like this series.
Cracked. After suffering from PTSD a police officer is forced to work with a psychiatrist, and together they dedicate their lives to catching literally crazy murderers instead of just shooting them, which apparently is the common practice in Canada. Trivial procedural.
1600 Penn. A "comedy" series about how the president of the United States is also human. His smartest daughter had one night stand and is now pregnant, his oldest son is clearly retarded, his trophy wife is self centered and the other two kids are irrelevant. Neither compelling, nor funny.
Deception. Boring Revenge with black people. Nuff said.
Legit. I'm not a fun of Louie (and stand up comedy for that matter) and Jim Jefferies's Legit is even worse. But I'm sure that people that watch it love it.
Way to Go. A Brittish black comedy about three young guys who are quite successful at wasting their lives. The irony of the series is that they start an assisted suicide business to help those terminally ill. It requires adjustment to the accent and it's not that funny (though I had a few laughs).
On a brighter note, Archer is back and it's hilarious!
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