The Walking Dead review: “Try” (5×15)
Well you guys, I'm frustrated. I'm worked up. I'm anxious. And it's all because of a damn TV show. Good job "Walking Dead". After last week's brutal deaths, I wanted Nicholas to be revealed for the coward he truly is. I wanted Deanna to learn how ill-suited her people are for the world. I wanted…
Shameless Review: “Carl’s First Sentencing” (5×09)
Even the title of “Carl’s First Sentencing” encapsulates perfectly the waggish sense of irreverence that permeates Shameless. That rebel attitude is on full display in the episode, for better or for worse. But hey—for once, it’s not Frank acting as the dead weight dragging the show down, and for that reason alone I’m pretty taken…
The Walking Dead Review: “Spend” (5×14)
If last night’s dynamite episode of “The Walking Dead” taught us anything, it’s that Alexandria is comprised entirely of jackasses and woefully inept survivors. How any of them have survived this long, even taking their big steel walls into account, is beyond comprehension. This episode was the most ambitious hour of the season thus far.…
Shameless Review: “Uncle Carl” (5×08)
Gallaghers, right? Our favorite beleaguered South Side family decides their inherited family name is a diagnosis unto itself, or at least it should be, and they’re not wrong. They come to this conclusion while in the jail waiting room; this time they’re waiting on Carl, who has been caught attempting to smuggle, let’s call it…
Scandal Review: “The Testimony of Diego Munoz” (4×15)
Let me start by saying that while I largely enjoyed this episode, I found it to be sort of all over the place. Take the opening shot, a goofy look at Susan Ross (henceforth Artemis) as she’s prepped to become Vice President. Never mind the outlandish cartoonland politics that are behind this appointment in the…
Scandal Review: “The Lawn Chair” (4×14)
Here we have what might once upon a time have been marketed as a Very Special Episode of Scandal. And yes, “The Lawn Chair” is primarily concerned with delivering a message, but I don’t think that it falls into the same traps that so many message episodes can. For instance the message does not come…
The Walking Dead Review: “Forget” (5×13)
Melissa McBride needs an Emmy nomination for playing Carol. It is no longer an option after last night’s episode. Without a single zombie on screen, she provides the creepiest, most unsettling moment of the whole series. “One morning you'll wake up and you won't be in your bed” she tells the young cookie-loving Sam with…
What the new Emmy rules mean for this year’s race
With the Oscars now over, it's time to shift our attention to the small screen and look ahead to the 2015 Emmy Awards. This year is like no other, with multiple changes to the Emmy rulebook, which will throw a wrench into several shows. The first new rule is probably the most shocking. The Academy…
Shameless Review: “Tell Me You Fucking Need Me” (5×07)
After a much needed kick in the pants, it’s nice to see Shameless mostly keeping up the momentum. “Tell Me You Fucking Need Me” is perhaps more interesting in concept than it ultimately is in execution, but the concept is so strong, and goes so far in uniting the several disparate elements of the season…
The Walking Dead Review: “Remember” (5×12)
It’s a welcoming party at Alexandria for Rick and company. Some suburban style bliss awaits them. Or is it? In an episode that is light on action and big on talking, “The Walking Dead” asks its harried group if this idyllic town is too good to be true. The smartest part of the episode is…