Perhaps unavoidably, “Red Rose” is a step down from the preceding episode. Not only is there still one more episode through which to stretch the series’ denouement, but it’s also just plain impossible to maintain the emotional highs that we’ve just reached for what would amount to nearly three hours of television. Season arcs come…
Parenthood really could have gone out for the year on a better note. “Lean In” is a middling episode at best, with stories that are repetitive, grating, and frustrating. As much as I love Sarah and Hank, it’s a rough week indeed when their portion of the show is the sole highlight of the episode.…
"There is but one rule. Hunt or be hunted. Welcome back." Welcome back indeed. House of Cards revealed the release date of season 3 with a special message from the White House. The entirety of the season will be released on February 27th of next year. https://twitter.com/HouseofCards/status/539450008634802176
Let’s get this out of the way up front: this should be the antepenultimate episode of a seven or eight episode season, tops. For all the plot that this season has had to this point, every new twist and knot in Jax’s elaborate vengeance scheme, there really has not been enough story to justify the…
As “Where the Sun Don’t Shine” begins, Rowan has gone off the grid following Olivia and company’s failed attempt on his life. Our intrepid heroes spare no effort in their attempts to find him; as Olivia so marvelously puts it, “As for my father, hunt him, find him and kill him.” But then Olivia is…
Lo, my friends: John Landgraf giveth, and John Landgraf taketh away. In the very same week where Sons of Anarchy reinvigorates a flagging season with a stunning, emotional episode, American Horror Story comes completely off the rails, on the heels of a pretty good outing. After all my ballyhooing about how “Bullseye” brought focus…
“Aaron Brownstein Must Be Stopped” is just a great episode title, and happily, it accompanies a pretty great episode. Any time spent on Max is generally time worth spent, and this week is no exception. But the episode also achieves the remarkable feat of taking Crosby’s story, which has oscillated of late between boring and incessantly petulant,…
The worst thing about the current structure of television dramas, which emphasize winter finales that require series plots to simultaneously escalate to a climax, while also forestalling any real progress until that climax happens. Such is “The Last Supper”, which makes much ado about the Winslow conspiracy, further complicates it by adding both Elizabeth North…
It’s amazing what one good episode can do. Freak Show is as insane as ever, but “Bullseye” continues on from “Pink Cupcakes” and gives most, if not all, of its insanity some context. Finally the characters begin to feel like they inhabit the same space, and the show overall is more of a piece with…
"The future is weird." That quote has defined The Good Wife since its creative resurgence last year. There was a period of time during 3rd and 4th seasons that the show fell into a pattern of stagnant stories and the case of the week format. While that worked for the series for a while, it became clear…
