As with “Milk of the Gods,” this week’s episode of Shameless is something of a mixed bag. There’s quite a bit of good material here, but the show is doling it out very slowly, and as a result much of “I’m the Liver” repeats the beats of the premiere, without adding any depth or creating…
As Parenthood draws to a close, its aims of a work of fiction haven’t really changed, but they have come into sharper focus. There is a scene late in this week’s episode, the aptly titled “Let’s Go Home,” where Zeek and Camille return to the old house to retrieve an old souvenir baseball. (First, just…
If nothing else, “Show Stoppers” is proof positive that Freak Show, if not the whole concept of American Horror Story altogether, is far beyond the point of course correction. Because on its face this is a pretty solid penultimate episode, just in terms of stuff that happens and what it sets up. The problem is…
Welcome to Smash Cut’s reviews of Shameless season five! This is one of my favorite shows on the air right now, and I am beyond excited to spend some time with the Gallaghers alongside you all. This is a big premiere, touching on all of the main characters at least briefly, both recapping where…
Parenthood’s hundredth episode is something of a miracle. The series, much like Jason Katims’s previous show Friday Night Lights, has never been a ratings success. It has held steady in its Thursday at 10 time slot, ostensibly a slot for prestige dramas, but renewal has never been a sure thing for the show. After an…
And we’re back! I barely remember where we left off, so thankfully the episode begins on a narrative curlicue to “two days ago”, when Stanley convinced Jimmy to give him his left hand by way of an ipecac-fueled fake emergency. (He takes both hands because duh.) I’ve already expressed my annoyance at Freak Show’s continued…
I am, as always, of two minds regarding Freak Show. On the one hand “Orphans” is a simple, touching episode, one that uses a familiar but minor character to highlight the emotional journey the season, and the series, has taken on us on so far. On the other hand it plays as an overlong, lost…
Perhaps I’ve just been worn down. Perhaps we’ve passed through the quality looking glass and everything has gone topsy-turvy. Who knows. But “Tupperware Party Massacre” is a dementedly fun, twisted episode of Freak Show. It’s a sign of vitality at a relatively late stage of the season, and thank goodness for it. The episode…
Depending on how you look at it, Sons of Anarchy leaves on one of two notes. The primary note, the one that I ultimately think the series intends, is one of tragic regret, the weight of the characters’ history coming down to bear upon those left alive. But there is a secondary note here,…
I think that we’re far enough into American Horror Story as a television series now that we can diagnose the show’s chief problem, especially because it’s a problem that plagues Ryan Murphy’s entire oeuvre, more or less. It’s a problem best presented as a question: what is American Horror Story meant to be about? With…
