'The Rager' - The Vampire Diaries

The Vampire Diaries

Season Four

Episode Three

'The Rager' - 4.5

This could be the start of something wonderful

In an episode devoted to an exploration of rage and emotional control, there was little to be passionate about in 'the Rager'. There were moments here and there that show this series is attempting to take Elena's transformation with the upmost seriousness and with a degree of realism, but the quick-fly scenes and almost pestering tone of this episode detract from the relatability.

Stuff always happens in Mystic Falls, it's not like Sunnydale. Yeah, if you put it out on paper I bet more bad stuff has gone down in Buffy's Californian small town, but it just feels like the writers have this need to fill every episode to breaking point with action and shocks, thinking that we don't have to attention span to last out the 'boring bits'. To make my point, my favourite scene tonight was the first conversation between Matt and Elena, in which he offered his wrist to her as some sort of loving, nurturing symbol of his undying devotion to her, but all she can talk about is herself. She doesn't even seem to register that her ex-boyfriend is feeding himself to her. Nonetheless, the more held back and subtle direction here was a nice, toned-down change from the in-your-face obviousness that often tarnishes this show.

I'm definitely not calling the director good though; his filming of Elena's two instances of showing-off were just awful. First, when she does a handstand on a beer keg and drinks is absolutely atrocious, it was clear when it was a stunt double or when she was being held up by wires. Later, the green-screen motorcycle ride was reminiscent of the boat scene from the Pilot of Ringer. That is definitely not a good thing when the moment was supposed to be an emotional high for the character, when all it looked like was Nina Dobrev having an acid-trip in front of a box fan.

We finally get to see Phoebe Tonkin's character strut onto the set and I have to say; I was a little disappointed. So far, Tonkin is once again playing Faye, just a sassy werewolf this time instead of a sassy witch. Granted she seems much less selfish, I thought they'd have a bigger focus than sticking her in for two scenes, establishing her as a potential hurdle for Tyler and Caroline then having Klaus say 'she's left'. Right. Of course, she hasn't left the town or anything, but she didn't even get a witty one-liner as a send off. Last I saw of her, she was bad mouthing Klaus in her stereotypical, anti-authoritarian tone-of-voice. 

I was much more appreciative of Rebekah's return to form, once again playing the role of a thousand-year old teenager, perpetually pining for the love and affection of her peers but always failing to get it because she FUCKING KILLS THEM. She dwells on this tonight as she comes under a seedy attack from the town's current vampire-hater, Connor, who poisons some beer with Tyler's werewolf venom. I was worried for a second that the writers had completely forgotten that werewolf bites don't kill Originals, but luckily Rebekah's temporary sickness ends with her simply sliding out of her bed. While she's sick she has a vision in which her high school crush, Matt, scolds her for failing to mature during her thousand years, causing her to freak the shit out and rip his heart from his chest. I knew they wouldn't kill off a main character so unceremoniously, so it was completely obvious that it was a fantasy, but it was still pretty impressive.

In other news, Rebekah's brother is starting to irritate me. I was generally a fan of Klaus, but as of tonight he seems... shorter. That's nothing against him, but Joseph Morgan lacked his normal intimidating stance and position as he strolled about doing jack all - except helping Elena survive her werewolf venom incident and saving Connor's life. What? I guess we'll get to that later this season?

Damon and Elena are still in deep desperate love with each other, but I still can't take the writers seriously for even considering this a possibility, and I sure as hell will never take Ian Somerhalder seriously as an actor. Just no.

There's nothing much that would entice me to tune in next week had this been my first viewing, but I will invariably return. If I were to be asked a reason, it would be that I am intrigued by the prospect of April and Rebekah alliance, which was hinted at towards the end as a repentant Rebekah offers her expertise to help the orphan out with the investigation into her father's death. I guess that will tide me over until next week. 

'Friday Night Bites' - The Vampire Diaries, Season One

The Vampire Diaries

Season One

Episode Three

'Friday Night Bites' - 7.0

And Stefan's brief stint on the football team is never mentioned again

I know all you Damon or Stefan Salvatore fans out there must hate me, and I understand. Both of my prior reviews for uber-teen sensation 'The Vampire Diaries' have been a little negative - well, I've ripped into the show like one of the bloodsuckers rips into a nice throbbing neck - but I should get around to telling you why. Not only have I heard wonderful things about the series, but I have watched it before I decided to start again for the blog. I know at some point it does become watchable, heck, enjoyable; it's just that those first two episodes verged on unbearably atrocious. They were largely poorly acted, and the plot went absolutely nowhere and the characters were not given an ounce of depth or real history. Luckily, the first season's third episode 'Friday Night Bites' changed that. Yes, though it will by no means be perfect, I am giving The Vampire Diaries it's first of hopefully many positive reviews. Shall we proceed?

Our first glimpse tonight was of Caroline, who awoke half-nekkid in bed with none other than the world's most irritating evil doer - Damon freaking Salvatore. I like Caroline, I admit, though that is probably from my prior knowledge of the show, and how awesome she ends up becoming later on. At the moment though, she's a bit of a dud. She whines and brags and has the tack of a poster pin someone left in the ocean five decades ago. It's pretty tough to watch her at this point. Regardless, for those who didn’t know everything was gonna be fine, the first few moments were pretty suspenseful. I remember when I first watched it a couple of years ago I thought she'd die for sure - she was a bitch and we were only three episodes in. It made sense, and would definitely cause conflict.

When she did turn up alive and as perky as usual later on, I was probably a bit disappointed. Luckily for the viewer though, Caroline wasn't the only character who could be shoved off to create a bit of tension - towards the end of the episode we lost Mr. Tanner, the teacher who acts like he forged a education degree so he can torment teenagers. The writers could have chosen to off a character with a bigger emotional draw, but I'm told Tanner died in a similar manner in the novel, so I guess I can pass it. I was pleased anyway, cause it confirmed the powers of Bonnie, which I don't think really needed confirming at all, but it is appreciated nonetheless. It also completely tore apart Damon and Stefan's already floundering family ties - at the conclusion, Stefan makes a decision (into his journal of course) that Damon needs to go, and he needs to go quickly. Oooh! I can't remember where this goes, but it sounds suspenseful.

Outside of faculty fatalities, Elena also noted a clue to Stefan's true nature - she noticed a cut, only for it to disappear because of vampire regenerative capabilities. Elena didn't really take it any further than a few confused questions, but the groundwork for the big reveal I know is coming was laid down, and she clearly hasn't brushed it off as a misreading.

On the note of Stefan's little hand injury, can I again mention the utter waste of space that is Jeremy Gilbert? I know Tyler started the fight, but it was Jeremy who tried to slash someone's flesh - that has to count for something. Tyler never attempted to kill the kid, in fact I remember Jeremy threatening to murder Vicki's ex only the last episode. It's clear Elena needs to send her brother for some help, I'm thinking more like a psychiatric institution than rehab. Or why don't we save everyone some trouble and just get him the lethal injection?

I still have issues with the overall patronising writing that prevails the show - Bonnie repeats her psychic numbers a couple of times during the episode. We would have got it once, and if we didn't it wouldn't have mattered. The viewers all know that you are a witch, Bonnie, cause it would be boring as shit if it turned out you were a normal girl with a penchant for coincidences. We don't have learning disabilities, you can be vague or subtle. In fact, please do. Half of the human population has less than average IQ, but half of us are above average. Which half do you care about more?

One last positive and negative point. I'll admit Damon was less infuriating tonight than he was in the first two episodes. He was less of a one-note bad guy, and more of a deeply affected man who is putting up a front. I will comment that it was a bit of staging, not acting, that led me to this conclusion, and I still think Ian Somerhalder kinda sucks right now (my theory is that he didn't think the show would last so he hammed it up), but I know he slowly improves over time. That wasn't the negative, no, the negative was a general issue with the characters of the show - I continue to wish a slow death on most of them, most notably Jeremy, Damon, Matt, Tyler and Vicki - only one of whom actually dies in the future episodes I've seen. This is more an issue of writing-failures and abuse of stereotypes than acting ability, but this again will improve as the show goes on - at least from my memory it does.

So, it may not be that momentous an occasion, but that was a positive review. So if you've been sending me hate mail, you can stop now. I don't have a bias against the show or the genre, no, it is awful television I have a bias towards, and I'm sorry, but the first two episodes were pretty awful. Get over it, I think we are past the worst of it for now.

'Walk With Me' - The Walking Dead, Season Three

The Walking Dead

Season Three

Episode Three

'Walk With Me' - 7.0

Slow, yes, but also a bit of an info dump. 

The third season's x-episode presented a whole new world for two of our heroes to play around with, as well as a possible new human villain with a thirst for... guns, or something. 

Anyone who reads about this show online has been eagerly awaiting the arrival of 'The Governor', a human antagonist who rules his little safe haven known as 'Woodbury' with a seemingly kind hand, only to be working a seedy agenda underneath it all. I'm not overly familiar with the comics, so I can't say how accurately David Morrissey plays the literary version, but the character we see tonight has a very admirable and threatening level of both sincerity (even if it is insincere) and malice. 

I don't think any viewer can be expected to see the Governor as a good guy when we meet; his method of bringing in Michonne (who is finally named tonight) and Andrea was less than comforting, even if he didn't actually choose how they were handled. Turns out it was actually a downed helicopter that saved the ailing Andrea, as it allowed the two girls converge with the Woodbury gang and be apprehended by the Governor's troops.

It would be remiss of me not to mention one particular plot point from 'Walk With Me': Merle's back. Yes, Daryl's brother who was handcuffed to a pipe on an Atlanta rooftop and forced to saw off his own hand comes across his old co-survivor hanging out in the wilderness. Turns out the redneck had been swept up the Governor's group and given shelter and medical care, much like what Andrea receives when she arrives in Woodbury. We learn that it may have come at a cost though; Merle appears entirely subordinate to, even frightened of, his new leader, even though this isn't really explored. He just does everything that is asked of him, which doesn't fit too well with the Merle we remember from season one. It has been like eight months of hell though.

Michonne didn't leave that big an impression on me, however her treatment of her two walkers was shocking. When they started making too much noise when the Governor's troops roll up at the crash, she grabs her katana and decapitates the two of them with no hesitation, though we see later that they aren't actually killed. They're just two heads now though, and that's just disturbing. Who is this Michonne though? She refuses to reveal who the walkers once were, she has absolute trust issues and she doesn't even seem to like Andrea that much. Hopefully she transcends the troubled, quiet and tough girl persona that the show has already carved out for her and becomes a real and relatable adaption of her illustrated counterpart.

The downed helicopter leaves an injured pilot in the hands of the Governor, and from his word they are able to locate a small military convoy, which our new villain approaches while waving a white flag. Once he's close enough and has their attention, he and his men storm the troops with a shower of machine gun bullets, taking the ammo and vehicles all for themselves, then informing the normal people back at Woodbury that the men had been dead by the time they arrived. 

He also has a scientist, for some reason. It's known that he is trying to rebuild 'civilisation', though what the implications of this are is beyond me. Why does that involve regressing to the basic instincts of everyone-for-themselves? Surely a group of cooperative soldiers would be highly useful in defending Woodbury from an inevitable zombie ambush. There is something else going on here and I can't quite discern what it is yet. Does it have something to do with his room full of re-animated heads in aquariums? What was that?

So many questions! But that's good! I love to be intrigued by television, it is one of the most useful emotions to evoke, as it forces us to return to the show to work out the truth. Think Lost, though we rarely tune into a show just for a mystery. Again, think Lost, which could count on a stellar ensemble cast playing beautifully realised characters, and then think ‘the Event’, which attempted to depend on its mystery without granting us any worthwhile players in the plot. The Walking Dead didn't have any great mysteries, and it still doesn't. All we have are the questions; Who is the Governor? What is his plan, and how does it involve Woodbury? Why does he have a scientist? Of course, this lucky show also has amazing characters to question with us, though I noted that the absences of all but two of the main characters was barely felt. I guess these people are wonderfully realistic, but so much so that they aren't entirely likeable. Doesn't matter though, as long as we want to know what happens to them we don't actually need to like them! That, in a nut shell, is why the Walking Dead is such a success. 

'Tell it to the Frogs' - The Walking Dead, Season One

The Walking Dead 

Season One

Episode Three

'Tell it to the Frogs' - 8.0

Along with zombies, there's also a serious sentimentality epidemic here. 

Despite sounding to the uninitiated like a dumb, shoot-'em-up zombie flick, but made a couple times longer and with commercial breaks, The Walking Dead continues to establish itself as something much more complicated; a character drama.

What is important to note about the premise here is that any single character can die at any point, because they effectively live in a world largely populated by danger. Unlike the universes of almost any other show there needs to be no motive or opportunity, rather death can happen whenever the writers want it to. Oddly that isn't that important in 'Tell it to the Frogs' since no one dies, but the constant threat does open the stage to an intriguing character study.

The cast of this post-apocalyptic tale is surprising extensive. Aside from Rick, his wife and son, Shane and the few Rick met in Atlanta, there are whole mess of people we meet at the survivor's camp outside the city, which our protagonist arrives at in the early scenes of the episode.

It is impressive how moving Rick, Lori and Carl's meeting was, considering we hadn't actually seen these people as a family yet, but it managed to be incredibly touching. I can't really give credit to the writers because the scene was largely dialogue-free, but the composers and actors clearly worked hard to make it relevant and realistic. Obviously Andrew Lincoln is especially good; his bewilderment and happiness are palpable and stirring, while Sarah Wayne Callies manages to appear conflicted in one of the few times I've seen an actor actually accomplish conflicted.

Laurie Holden is also a significant player as Andrea, who oozes the much needed feminine strength amidst an environment inhabited by male leaders and soldiers. I'm no feminist, but when a cast only has well developed male characters, people will notice; like me. It is something that is clear in the first few seasons of Lost as well, and you can often tell the target demographic through the number of strong women on the series. Before you ask though, Lori doesn't count. Anyhow, Andrea comes through the best during the clothes washing scene, which ironically deals explicitly with the role of women in this new society. She challenges misogyny itself when she gets between the prick Ed and his wife Carol, and even earlier breaks feminine convention by explicitly talking about her love for her long-lost vibrator. I like this woman, which undoubtedly means she won't last much longer - not a spoiler, FYI, I don't actually know if she survives.

Jon Bernthal does a terrific job playing a character who effectively falls from grace. In his first scene of the episode he is almost joyous to be inducted into his believed-to-be-dead best friend's family, a status that changes only a few minutes later when Rick arrives in his rescue vehicle. Just one moment destroys everything he had gained, and you can see it in his face then, but he really shines in the scenes at the quarry, first with Lori and then with Ed. Lori reveals that Shane had said her husband had died - an obvious move by the writer's to ensure that we don't dislike Lori for her actions - and makes it clear and plain that he can have nothing to do with her family. Bernthal is near silent during Lori's confrontation but his acting is effective enough to not need him to speak; we know how he feels about all this. Only a short while later, a frustrated Shane takes out his agitation on Ed in an incredibly brutal beat down that says to me that Shane probably won't live very long. It was a good scene, yeah, and very affecting, but in most television shows characters who severely assault anyone for no terrific reason, not a long time after doing the protagonist's wife aren’t particularly popular among audiences. It doesn't help that he isn't the most original creation, nor does he add anything to the group now that Rick can fill the role of former-policeman current-leader.

It might not make sense to you, but I watch way too much television and I'll be surprised if Shane makes it through too many more episodes. I won't really miss him if he dies, but I know my tropes and it isn't looking good.

'Tell it to the Frogs' only features a handful of zombies over the course of the episode, and none of them do anything except die and eat deer. Oddly enough however, it doesn't feel like it matters too much, and the characters of the show manage to hold it up without blood and guts with the help of terrific acting and a fine script.

'State of Independence' - Homeland, Season Two

Homeland

Season Two

Episode Three

'State of Independence' - 6.0

'Hey Friend. Remember that vest you gave me? About that: prepare to be chased through the woods, thrown down onto a star picket and then have your neck snapped. Ready?'

Normally when I write my reviews I do them immediately after I watch whatever the hell it is that I'm watching, give my brain a night's rest then post them at some point the day after. That's fine, I guess, but I saw 'State of Independence' last night, wrote half a review, got pissed and went bed. Instead of continuing on from where I left off I have opted to start it anew, but this time writing it with the intention of posting it straight up to the blog.

Therefore, the time and date that it says this was posted at is the point that I actually finished. This allows me to something I haven't had a good opportunity to do so far; actually comment on how the blog is coming along.

As I've said before, I'm not actually a professional reviewer, I've had no training outside school, nothing like that. You could probably discern that pretty damn quick, and no one out there would be the first to tell me I sucked at it. I kind of do. It doesn't bother me, but if you find it grating then feel free to find someone else.

I've only been posting reviews here for two weeks, so I wouldn't be hanging out for some sort of sudden improvement. I'm sure it will happen eventually, but it may take many a review. In fact, since I posted my first review to this blog I've only actually written eleven new posts, with the others all being written up to four months ago.

'State of Independence' is my first - and possibly only - review posted somewhat 'live'. There is nearly no better drama to choose to write about, as Homeland is regarded as one of the last few years greatest gifts to the world of television. Yet, this episode was... sub-par.

I can't shout at it for being not-too-bad, but these average episodes are always the hardest to discuss, simply because all you can say was that '[insert aspect here] was alright' or 'fine' or 'average'. Even though I despise any episode that scores below about a 3.0, anything above that and below 7.0 are difficult to talk to talk about. I mean, why did 'State of Independence' not sit right with me?

How much backlash can I get if I say I didn't like the performances? Yeah, yeah, yeah, I can see that this is Homeland, possibly the greatest showcase of acting talent this side of Mystic River, but that prevailing notion of untouchable actors leaves room for terrific failings. What I'm saying is that when we come to expect nothing but the best, if we get just a little less it seems like a lot.

The two best moments belonged to Claire Danes and Morena Baccarin, with the former playing her character's suicide attempt with supreme subtlety and completely dialogue free. Baccarin has the honour of being ushered up on stage before a room filled with extras and forced to act like she's shy. She stammers and fumbles, pauses and gesticulates wildly. Yes, absolutely stereotypical idea of stage fright, but she did incredibly well and I was swept up in her awkward but beautiful impromptu speech.

I appreciated that Saul managed to get the SD card back into America and within an arm's reach of the CIA, as at the very start there was a horrid moment that looked as if we'd have the proof of Brody's defection taken by the Lebanese government. Lucky for us Saul kept the real one hidden in a safer location, as I would've been immeasurably aggravated by the nullifying of this fantastic twist. By the end of the episode, Saul's appeared at Carrie's door and given her the emotional realisation that she was right all along. She's still nuts though, because she had tried to kill herself only about an hour before hand.

I'm not sure how I felt about Brody's subplot tonight, as it was fundamentally flawed from the beginning. Why would Abu Nazir threaten one of his most important operative's position like that? It was insane, and I didn't believe, even though the eventual pay off was satisfying. Brody killed the tailor from 'The Vest'! Because, you know, we had to mention him again, I guess. I do like that I think the show is trying to make his actions less and less justifiable, as he could have tried harder to save the poor guy's life, instead of just snapping his neck. There is this sense that Brody will end up being in enemy territory by the end of this season, with the entire force of the American government after him while he tries to evade the most powerful organisation on the planet, in a country where everyone knows who he is.

That, or the mole will destroy the evidence. That would irritate me less than had some random event caused Brody to be let off the hook, but I'm thinking that it would still be highly disappointing. Though I'm not saying that it couldn't be done well, we have built up the mole quite considerably.

Theories are theories, here in Australia Homeland airs nearly three weeks after the same episode airs in the States, so I'm sure I could sort out fact from hypothesis by checking my sources. Maybe, depends how slow the storyline moves from here on out, I'm assuming they don't slow the entire thing to a crawl to push back Brody's approaching destruction further and further.

'State of Independence' is an almost unfortunate choice to be my first review written on the blog, as for the most part I was actually dissatisfied by the week's offering. Considering how many views I get a day (it's around about thirty, on average. Some days I have none) it's not like that many will read this anyhow. If you are one of the lucky ones, feel free to give your opinion below.

'Clean Skin' - Homeland, Season One

Homeland

Season One

Episode Three

‘Clean Skin’ - 8.0

'Did you die a little inside too?' 'Yeah, twice!'

I find the opening title sequence of Homeland to be really boring. There’s nothing overly wrong with it, I just think it’s a bit long and pointless, a cut-together mess that’s like playing word association starting with ‘terrorism’. It didn’t feature in the first episode, but it started the second in a lame way. Tonight I was already sick to death of it.

Luckily immediately after the boring we got to the boning, with Prince Farid and a consort of his harem Lynne Reed together in the Prince’s suite. People love a good sex scene – the PTC don’t count as people – so it was a pretty effective and gripping start to the real action, especially when it continues into a tense spy game. Last episode established Lynne as an asset for the CIA, someone who can infiltrate high places to find information for the government, so when she came forward with news that Farid had met with Abu Nazir, she was convinced into copying his phone data. After their session, Farid leaves the room to talk to some generic member of his entourage and Lynne seizes her chance to do what she was asked. In typical spy drama fashion, whether she was seen doing the deed is ambiguous, with Farid re-entering the room just as she finishes up. In one of the most suspenseful moments of the episode, he takes Lynne over to the mirror, standing behind her as he subtly asserts his dominance. Instead of sticking something sharp somewhere she wouldn’t like, he reveals a beautiful and expensive-looking diamond necklace, tenderly placing it around her neck as the two exchange pleasantries, and she says thanks the way a consort always should.

That was only the first scene, and it didn’t feature any of the main characters of the show. For our two protagonists, it isn’t the most eventful hour. Brody spends the whole episode preparing and taking part in interviews for various personalities and programs, including a family interview at the house. The main conflict came from a sex scene far more awkward than the Prince and Lynne; Jess, tired of waiting for her husband to come around and get back into the habit of schtooping her on a regular basis, tries to arouse him again after the horrific failure of a reunion bump in the Pilot. It kind of works, but Brody seems to have little interest in actual penetrative sex, choosing instead to masturbate while Jess just sits there with her boobs hanging out. From the look on Morena Baccarin’s face, I don’t think she was having much fun being porn. She even offered to do the physical labour for her husband, but he preferred doing it himself. Carrie, who was watching on her monitors, found the entire thing particularly unpleasant and pushed the screen away. Considering she watched the original sex, you can tell how weird that was.

Dana, Brody’s wayward offspring, is having issues with her family’s sudden fame. I find Dana irritating, but I can tell that was the entire point of her character. She’s a teenager who likes drugs, swearing, ruining family moments and probably kinky sex, and in terms of rebel children she’s nowhere near the worst on television. Hello, Jeremy Gilbert and Josh Shannon. Anyway, at one of her drug-parties with her other unruly cohorts she decides that she wants to speak the truth at the family interview, rather than lie and pretend to be happy. Thankfully, a heartfelt admission from her father brings her around, as he tells her that he isn’t overly satisfied by his life back in the real world either, and the interview goes off so problem-free that it was a bit dull. Happily there was a little more drama for Dana, as she reveals that she’s entirely aware of her mother and Mike’s affair while her father was gone.

Carrie, in an oddly Brody-less storyline, takes the information gathered from Farid’s mobile phone only to discover it is practically useless. When she receives a call from Lynne detailing that she’s been called to please a new business partner of the Prince’s, she jumps at the chance to follow her and actually find a lead. Unfortunately, and not shockingly, the plan is a rouse and Lynne is pulled out into the alley only to get a pair of bullets to the chest, point-blank. Carrie is shattered, but since she took Virgil’s van to the scene they have to leave without calling it in, leaving the dead girl in the alley.

It does guide them to a realisation though, with Saul helping Carrie see that jewellery is a terrific way of transferring funds safely (not for those wearing it though) and under-the-radar. There are minor implications that the Prince himself is not fully aware of the plot with Abu Nazir, and this is corroborated by his noticeable grief at the death of Lynne. While Carrie has this epiphany with Saul, we are treated to cutaways that prove the story, showing the necklace being valued at $400,000 by an Arabic looking man, with another showing a couple buying a house – in cash – within spitting distance of the airport.

So what does it all mean? Where is this going? Is Brody evil? Who knows? We are now three episodes down and we still don’t know the rhyme or reason for one of the two protagonists of the show. Hell, even the other one has some flimsy intentions, but I think this mystery and intrigue makes the entire piece more... mysterious and intriguing? Anyway, I enjoyed it, though I would appreciate more answers that aren’t just watered-down brush-off explanations that appear to need expanding.

'The Recordist' - Fringe, Season Five

Fringe

Season Five

Episode Three

'The Recordist' - 2.5

Pointless facial disfigurements should always be scorned. Peter clearly gets it. 

Can anyone say 'snore'? God that episode was like nothing. I feel like we learnt nothing, established nothing, advanced nothing. Why couldn't we have just found the mineral and gotten that over and done with? Did we have to have that stupid moral tale of a father wanting to prove himself to his son? God, this show is pretty much about that with Walter and Peter and all. Hell, now ever Olivia is trying to make herself more of a worthy role model for her daughter, did we need this fucking side plot?

Also, was there anything at all relevant or interesting about the fact that some guy recorded history? Did that signify or change ANYTHING? 

'The Recordist', if you can't already tell, was awful. Perhaps it just hit me with the fact that it was nothing more than filler, since in a thirteen episode season I hadn't actually expected any. Other than give the team a dose of some mineral at the bottom of a mine shaft, we didn't get anything. Nothing. Nada. Zilcho. Fuck.

Fringe is an amazing show, and it was always happy to change things up a little and do it all just a bit differently, yet tonight the episode was so typical that I could have been watching Revolution or something. What turned out to be Walter's third tape took them all to a strange compound in the middle of nowhere which just happened to be run by a group of people covered in gross-looking growths. These had been caused by some sort of emanating something-or-other that came from the very mine in which the rocks our team had arrived for lay. Great for them. 

There's a father and son, the latter of which has a very unhealthy fixation on the Fringe team and their heroics. In a brilliantly original plot line the son's desire to have a similar hero as a father leads his daddy to going into the fatal mine himself, dying but still being able to retrieve the rocks.

Whatever. 

The biggest issue for me was that this season had this strong sense of impending doom and just the right amount of action, but 'The Recordist' totally stopped the momentum and suspense. A bit of calm reflection is OK with me, but at least make it worth something more than Olivia coming to a few realisations about how sucky she is as a parent.

Well, she isn't that sucky, but she should be. Olivia Dunham really doesn't seem like much of a family woman, even though she did fairly well with her young niece when she was around - What happened to Ella anyway? We've seen a future version of her character in ‘Back to Where You’ve Never Been’, so obviously something horrible has happened to her or we would've mentioned her. Or maybe I'm just pessimistic. Back to the point, Olivia was the fun aunt for young Ella, so surely that doesn't transpose that well to actually caring for her own offspring? She didn't have to be there through Ella's worst times. Why do main characters in network drama have to be good parents? 

Although, I did like the moments where Peter and Olivia discussed their search for Etta so many years prior, as she reveals that she had already concluded that their daughter was dead, and that she didn't want to definitively discover that. It makes a lot of sense, and Jackson and Torv performed a relatively complex scene very ably, as normal. 

I also enjoyed the few scenes spent fussing about the approaching loyalists, who had found signs of their van driving in the general direction, and managed to track them down to the area. Once Etta discovers this from her colleagues in the resistance, she warns everyone and sets off a few tentative interchanges and general worry that only amounts to getting our protagonists out of the dead zone and back on the road. 

Once again, whatever. 

To be conclusive, baring a few interesting moments of capable acting or temporary suspense, there was little to lift 'the Recordist' above horribly boring levels. Without a doubt, this was one of the worse episodes we've seen from this generally stellar series in its five glorious years. 

'The Ghost Network' - Fringe, Season One

Fringe

Season One

Episode Three

'The Ghost Network' - 6.0

It's awesome that this amber shit comes up again later down the line. It really is.

I'm feeling pretty sick right now - just the flu - so I'll try a give a relatively brief review of Fringe's third outing, 'the Ghost Network'. The episode concerns telepaths and psychics, which are always a risky avenue for sci-fi shows, however by the episode's end the focus has shifted to a broader and ultimately more interesting idea.

I didn't like Roy, the unfortunately mind reader. He seemed whiney and jittery, utterly ineffectual and weak. Sure, he's a one-off character, but we are supposed to care for his plight and want the best for him. I didn't. Am I a horrible person? Regardless, I thought the actor was crap and Roy's lines were unbelievable and unremarkable. However his storyline does become more and more enthralling as it goes on - from the moment Walter starts the brain surgery the episode kicks into high gear, and the sequence at the train station was exemplary.

It was action-packed and as quick as they come. From start to finish would have only been five minutes, at most, but it was the best part of the entire episode. The random death of both villains was well done, though I effectively predicted both, especially the one who threw himself in front of the bus. That's so cliché.

I guessed that the partner was evil from the get-go, I mean why else dedicate a scene to him giving an emotional farewell to one of the victims when we don't even know who he is? It was a bit lazy in my mind, I thought they could have hidden the truth better, or maybe even not have the bad guy be someone we've met; the real bad guy wasn't, and it didn't negatively impact the plot or quality.

There is a lot in this episode I found a little confusing, for example the little discs removed from the victim's and John Scott's hands, when do we discover what is said on them? Do we ever? Anyway, I was more confused by the Broyles - Nina Sharp connection, are they evil, or just good friends? They didn't sound like they were planning something or anything, so if we were supposed to be put on edge by this revelation it kinda failed. I can't make any real assumptions though, so I can't complain too much.

On the topic of John Scott, where did the funeral scene end up? It had little relevance to the story and Olivia didn't really mention it again afterwards. Will Scott's mother reappear later, or was there a deleted scene? In the end, I believe this was unnecessary, and could have been simply referred to rather than shown. Also, John looks great for someone who's been dead a couple weeks, as seen at the episode's end.

I'm gonna stop now, my head is spinning and keeps colliding with the table. If anything here doesn't make sense, tough titties for you.

'The Dead Don't Stay Dead' - 666 Park Avenue, Season One

666 Park Avenue

Season One

Episode Three

'The Dead Don't Stay Dead' - 2.5

Has anyone noticed that squash is by far the scariest sport ever? No, me neither. 

There was only one scene tonight that even came close to giving me the heebie-jeebies, with the vast majority of this so-so horror drama leaving me a little... well, bored. As shows like The Walking Dead tell us, horror is a genre oddly fit for character exploration, but so far 666 Park Avenue has presented uninteresting or run-of-the-mill pawns in its winding tale; that will clearly devolve into some morality thing.

I'm not quite hating it yet, there is something about it that hints that the writers are both going somewhere and actually trying, but there is this deadness to it all that I can't avoid. There's no irony, no humour, no real emotion. The actors are asked to walk around and be normal, yet I want to see them screaming and, well, torn apart. Yeah, secondary characters die, but so far no one who's been here more than one episode has bitten the dust; and yes I'm aware this is the third episode. 

Once again we are given something what resembles a monster-of-the-week, but rather it is a victim-of-the-week. Tonight it's young Annie, a down-and-out obituary writer who wants to see her star rising. However after a talk with Gavin in the lift she is suddenly blessed with the power to make whatever she writes the truth, i.e. write fake obituaries that suddenly aren't bullshit. Hooray! You could like end wars and stuff, but no, she makes some dead guy a spy for the CIA. Whatever. 

In a slightly ironic (are there varying degrees of irony?) twist, her powers of anti-bullshitting create the ultimate villain, when the man that she claimed her fake CIA spy tracked turns up in her apartment, violently pulling her away from a window she'd broken in a futile attempt to escape, dragging her over the bathroom floor and leaving a bloody trail on the tiles. In her last scene, we see her bound to a chair while the man she created gets to work with the torturing and junk. Good for her. 

Has anyone ever done a scary little girl before? Other than of course The Shining, Children of the Corn, The Ring, Orphan, Buffy, [REC], a whole host more. Ok, she isn't that scary, but it is still a tired trope that was cool the first few times but is getting more and more irritating with every passing evil infant. Tonight this girl seems to have escaped from the weird room that Jane uncovered - at the cost of an unfortunate exterminator's life. She never tries to like kill anyone, but only our heroine can see her and she revels in providing cryptic warnings that lead Jane to a briefcase with some sort of demonic force inside it. 

It is the ten-year anniversary of Gavin and Olivia's daughter's death after she killed herself by driving full speed into a cement embankment. Obviously only Olivia is aware it was a suicide, with Gavin assured that it was purely accidental. In the end we learn that Sasha had done the deed to escape from the shadow of her 'evil' - in her words, hence the quotation marks - father, though we learn this through a note that Olivia burns during the conclusion. Vanessa Williams tried her upmost to portray a mother's remaining grief, but really it came off as very staged and unbelievable. It didn't help that Rachel Taylor's Jane spends the whole episode going 'Awww' and 'I'm so sorry'. Grow some balls, woman. I know you think this woman is your friend, but you are unbelievably dull. And stupid, FYI. Who continues to venture into places you believe to be haunted, unless you have some sort of death wish - which would actually be an interesting and enjoyable twist. Anyway, how can you have friends?

Henry, what the fuck are you doing? All he does is talk about work. Who cares? And you're so happy. I hope you die slowly and painfully, perhaps with Gavin - the only good character on the show - wrapping his paranormal fingers around your throat and giving a tight squeeze. He's already initiated then thwarted a near promotion, what's he got in store next anyway?

My least favourite storyline involves Brian and Louise, with Brian being the surely ill-fated adulterous husband who is infatuated with his wife's assistant. I honestly hope he doesn't make it past the next episode, all he does is look like a hipster and lust. That's not a character, that's barely even a sentence. He shows the kind of depth and provides the kind of story that you can get from an arty teenager's sketch of his inner feelings. Overwrought, yet deeply shallow. Go to hell, Robert Buckley, you haven't acted shit but you haven't proven yourself either. 

Let's be honest for a second; I don't hate anyone yet. Yeah, Brian, Henry, Olivia and Jane all irritate me to some level, but Gavin is awesome thanks to Terry O'Quinn, and the secondary characters like Louise and Alexis haven't made me bang my head against the wall. There is potential there. Still, the show better be heading towards some sort of big event that sets the rest of the series in motion, like the death of a major player. That always kick-starts an ailing drama. Kill Henry! Better yet, Brian! Though I don't know how big an effect that would have on anyone really; 'Oh the hunk's dead. The women will be sad.'. That's probably about it, really.

So, 'The Dead Don't Stay Dead', did you have any other tricks up your sleeve? Not really. The only remotely scary scene occurred as Jane ventures into the basement - again - after hearing bells ringing from all the way up in her bedroom. It's dark and soft, creepy music heightens the feeling of impending jump-scare, only it never arrives. Instead, she discovers a torch, showing that someone else was there. Or something. She finds the bells attached to a suitcase, the very one she brings back up to her apartment to deal with the next morning. As she goes back to sleep, a monstrous being presses itself against the leather from beneath the suitcase, and we fade to black.

I'm probably going to fade to black as well. I'm never bored, but what we get is pretty standard for this calibre of network television, with its only aim being to keep us interested, but not gripped. Often gripping us would entail doing something a little risqué, which threatens the wholesome nature of a FUCKING HORROR SHOW. Fuck the PTC, kill the children and deck the halls with their intestines. Drown fucking Jane and her boring-as-shit boyfriend in a pool of Brian's blood, and then we'll have a show. 

Well that escalated quickly. 

'No Quarter' - Revolution, Season One

Revolution

Season One

Episode Three

‘No Quarter’ – 5.5

The majority of these men die pointlessly because Mark Pellegrino can't spell 'tactic'

I don’t actually know what ‘No Quarter’ refers to, other than it being the title of tonight’s instalment, all I know is that this show has yet to dig itself out of its disturbing rut of predictability and absolutely god-awful characterisation. Miles, I still hate you. I do not understand why the general consensus is that you’re cool, you’re just kind of pathetic.

Actually, while it still hasn’t fixed any of its major issues, something about ‘No Quarter’ brought a higher level of quality to the nearly failing drama. Perhaps it was because the cringe-worthy performances were overshadowed by the amount of action, even if the action involved some very dodgy CGI smoke. Seriously, the acting is deplorable: Charlie and Miles (Tracy Spiridakos and Billy Burke, respectively) are the apparent protagonists, and yet neither would ever receive a call back from me – assuming this were some extended audition tape or something. I’d look at it, shake my head then move on. If I were a producer, I probably wouldn’t get rid of Miles (he’s too damn popular) – not yet anyway – but Charlie would certainly be on the chopping block.

For this niece/uncle pair, most of their storyline takes place in the base of Nora’s rebel alliance. Am I getting too Star Wars-y? God I hope not, because I honestly didn’t enjoy at least half of those movies. Though now that I think of it, there really are a lot of similarities between these two universes, with their weird mix of the modern and the archaic, as well as the anti-establishment ideology and oppressive enforcement of unjust rules and such. All they need is a Darth Vader and they are cool. Anyway, some of the rebels are wounded after attempting a raid on a militia group which resulted in a dozen fatalities and one of them captured. If anyone on this show was remotely intelligent or prepared for war, they would know that you run now. Yeah, Miles makes that point, but Nora, who is supposed to be some powerful revolutionary, decides to stay. I hope you die, Nora. Not because I don’t like you, but because realistically, you would. War is not idealistic, you can’t hope that carrying a puppy will save you a bullet to the brain, you have to work your hardest to ensure your group’s survival, and remaining exactly where they know you are (to help the injured soldiers, no less) is largely counter-intuitive. Sorry Nora, but realism just issued a death warrant with your name on it.

I don’t think realism has much to do with this show at all though, as sure enough a whole swarm of Monroe’s militia turn up at the base, guns blazing and taking out a boy that Charlie had shown an interest in. Mark Pellegrino plays the commanding officer of this little brigade, and I was happy to see a pretty good performance amongst this mess, even if the character himself isn’t much more than a bad guy. Anyway, the rebels are outnumbered, but they have the sniper rifle, sending a guy up onto the roof to take out any of the soldiers that get too close. The militia’s tactic was bizarre; sacrifice soldiers until the bullets run out. You’re kidding right? You aren’t even going to try and shoot the sniper? Every time he fires he gives away his position, and he’s not even ducking or anything. I like your character, Pellegrino, but he isn’t much of a battle strategist. Sure, your guns kind of suck, and need to have the gun powder patted down before they work, but that doesn’t mean you can’t at least TRY and hit the guy who’s taking you down. And they send one at a time as well, despite the fact there are like fifty of them! The tree line is like ten metres from the base, no sniper can take out that many soldiers before they run ten metres. THINK, PELLEGRINO. God.

Eventually the rebels do run out of ammo, and the militia quickly storms the base, but somehow (I don’t understand exactly how) Miles is able to disable Pellegrino’s character and restrain him, while the rest of the soldiers... stand around? I have no idea what they were doing. I don’t think that they wanted to see their commanding officer’s throat sliced, but he honestly seemed to care less. You were so willing to sacrifice one another to the pointless sniper death, yet you won’t let your head honcho die? Whatever.

Miles actually knows Pellegrino, and through a couple running flashbacks we learn that the two had met under unfortunate circumstances. Seems that six months following the blackout, Miles and Monroe had set off on a bonding mission to track down Ben Matheson, only for Miles to become struck by the total anarchy they encountered along the way. In a moment of vigilantism, Miles rescues a man from a daring highway robbery, killing his two attackers. Surprisingly (not), the man he saved was Pellegrino (Ok, I’m sure he had an actual name, but I don’t remember what it was). Back in the now (well, the important time), Pellegrino explains that Miles is actually the cofounder of the Monroe Militia, and had both commanded and trained the soldiers for years before going rogue. In his own words, Miles explains that the soldiers are ‘brutal and smart and vicious because of me’, which totally fits the description of the thirty-or-so men who just died pointlessly outside your door.

Heroically, Miles offers to turn himself into the Militia in return for the freedom of the rebels, a proposition that Pellegrino jumps on, and our annoying protagonist is led off to certain doom while Charlie and Nora and all the rest get to remain behind. It’s not that simple though, since this show refuses to lose a ‘good’ character, having Charlie and the others instigating an ambush of the militia as they transport their prisoner, using powerful (but CGI) explosives to take out a bridge and put some distance between Miles and Pellegrino, rescuing him from a plotline that could have been somewhat interesting. Oh well.

For the other militia prisoner, Danny Matheson, the trapped life is pretty rudimentary. He gets mistreated by his guard, who throws his water at his feet, then later beats him with a sack of potatoes or something. Either way, the soft spoken little shit deserved it, and I was unsatisfied when he regained the upper hand over one of these ‘brutal and smart and vicious’ soldiers. Isn’t he supposed to be a sheltered sixteen year old? Again, realism has a death warrant. Get Ned Stark on this dickwad’s arse!

'Broadway Limited' - Boardwalk Empire, Season One

Boardwalk Empire

Season One

Episode Three

'Broadway Limited' - 8.5 

Steve Buscemi's had some work done

What is striking about 'Broadway Limited' is the violence and the sex. Ok, well there is only one instance of either, and the sex isn't actual intercourse or anything, it's just nudity, but there are still quite extreme cases of both. I have no issues at all with either, though I did loudly exclaim when the gruesome act occurs, but we will get to that later.

In the first scene of the episode, the surviving victim from the Pilot's massacre is brought in, his insides just visible through the large hole in his fat belly. I should definitely not eat dinner while watching TV. Anyway, it's been three days he's been out in the environment, and he is infected and dying, but he isn't completely gone yet. Before too long, the wonderfully deranged Prohibition Agent Nelson Van Alden struts into the hospital and orders the man placed into his custody, but when getting a warrant apparently fails he winds up forging one and kidnapping the witness. With the man surely bleeding all over the back seat - Van Alden is attempting to take him to New York or something, closer to Rothstein - they end up stopping at a dentist to try and get something out of him before he dies.

The dentist scene quickly went from farcical to disgusting. At first the man, who has been awakened with a dose of cocaine to the mouth, only gives a few angry Yiddish words that seriously offend the dentist's current patient and his mother. According to the poor classy lady his sentence roughly comes to 'you should fuck your grandmother with your little faggot penis'. It was pretty funny, but then everything turns to horror when a quietly furious Van Alden jams his hand deep into the man's gunshot wound, giving us a full view of his arm sticking out of his belly. His screams are not understated, but they are perfectly understandable - I ended up making a very weird sound myself. Sure enough the tactic is fairly effective, and Van Alden gets one name before the poor lad carks it; Jimmy.

I don't know how necessary such violence is, but it definitely left its mark, and I sure won't forget it anytime soon. Such acts are unrealistic, but I am not complaining, simply because it was a truly surprising moment. It is also hard to deny Michael Shannon's abilities as the twisted prohi, and he actually affords a degree of sympathy, if not from any of the characters around him.

For Jimmy, the news that he's been fingered is both unwanted and surprising. Nucky is intelligent enough to force him to flee Atlantic City, but he lacks any regard for Angela and Tommy, though he actually sounds forlorn as he describes the younger, more idealistic Jimmy that never returned from the war. Like Shannon, Steve Buscemi is able to evoke sympathy for a character who would be largely hated in real life, who allows people to fall at his side as long as he gets to keep standing. The very next scene, as Jimmy packs his bags for Chicago, it's Michael Pitt and Aleksa Palladino's time to act, with both performing as well as each other while their quasi-relationship crumbles under Jimmy's rashness, both in the shooting and in his assumption that Angela had an affair with the guy at the photo store. I was honestly bewildered by how well Palladino did, but that was mostly due to her clear lack of use over the last few episodes and I hope we still get to see her often, despite Jimmy's leaving.

Things get rough for Chalky White, who is employed by Nucky as the new distiller after Mickey Doyle got caught by the FBI in the pilot. Chalky's business seems to be going fine at first, but when he driver is lynched and the words 'Liquor Kills' scratched into his car door, it looks like his story is about to take off. Chalky is more intelligent than his grammar makes him seem, and he demands a higher cut of the takings from Nucky, who in turn is allowed to do as he wishes to hide that crime from the media; in this case he makes it look like a revenge killing for a supposedly false adultery. Later as Nucky makes his way to the lift at the Ritz-Carlton, he glances back and looks at the muddy footprints he's traipsed over a very expensive looking rug. Exactly what this represents is seemingly up for interpretation - I think it shows that he does consider the consequences of his actions and the trail he leaves behind him, he just chooses to ignore it when he can. Don't know though, never been particularly good at that stuff. I find symbolism a bit trite most of the time, but it wasn't too stupid in this case, not like butterflies representing condemnation or some shit. You know what I mean.

Anyway, there were a couple of other scenes I'm sure will become important later; for one, Rothstein sends Luciano to track down and possibly kill Jimmy in retaliation for the massacre, and for another Doyle gets himself in some hot water with his business associates, who he can no longer pay due to the loss of his business to Chalky. The latter scene could have been a little precursor to the lynching of Chalky's driver, especially if he's making liquor at the same place Doyle was. There was even a good conversation between Margaret Schroeder and Nucky's mistress Lucy Danziger. Margaret was given a job at a clothing store on the boardwalk, one that is frequented by the slutty princess, who saunters in expecting to be pampered by the Irish lass who doesn't really know what she's doing. It was funny and kind of sad, for both of them. Lucy seems like a character who's only role is to crash and burn, while Margaret is clearly going to suffer heartbreak after heartbreak until her heart... breaks.

All in all it was very similar to the previous episode, with possibly the tiniest bit more plot development added for good measure. Unfortunately none of the characters get the proper fleshing out that they received in 'the Ivory Tower', and the plot was more continued than changed, but I'm not too worried, it was still a top episode and the show isn't showing signs of slowing down yet. On a weirder note, I appreciate the nudity and the violence, as almost any other channel shies too far away from these grotesque displays of human realism, and I just adore them. I love to shocked, and I'll admit I'm loving this show right now.

'Bone For Tuna' - Boardwalk Empire, Season Three

Boardwalk Empire

Season Three

Episode Three

'Bone for Tuna' -7.0

Those are the kind of deals we made in the high-stakes fish-mongering business

In a rather strange twist, the most interesting storyline tonight belonged to the ever more corrupted - and corrupting - Margaret Schroeder Thompson, who used her manipulative wiles to get the ball rolling on the women's health clinic. It doesn't sound very interesting, sure, but her slow turn to the dark side is absolutely captivating to me, and I'm not sure why. 

In her first manipulation, Margie convinces a Catholic father to grant her a meeting with the Bishop presenting Nucky with his award, by pretty much threatening her donation to the church. Maybe? I wasn't sure, it was definitely a power play, and the religious man was shaken by the implication. Who knows? Either way, he gives it to her, which leads her to setting the second aspect of her plan in motion; convincing Dr. Landau, the chief doctor of the hospital or something, to come witness Nucky receive his award. 

This is fairly simple, though it does involve her pretending to be a dumb, subordinate housewife for a brief time ('the flowers make people cheery!'). The real con of Landau happens once the award ceremony is underway, and Margaret is able to bring him over to meet the Bishop. In a brilliant move on her part, she opens the conversation by mentioning the doctor’s plans to build the clinic, before detailing these plans without letting Landau get a word in edgewise. It was fast and clever, and hopefully only a taste of the sort of person that Margaret will become; an intelligent, witty and somewhat conniving woman, who is able to verbally spar with the best of them.

For other characters they are receiving less luck. Nucky is clearly being haunted by his murder of young Jimmy, and keeps seeing a vision of his protégé in his childhood, except with a bullet hole in his sinus, which is a good look for him. The new craze; deadly facial injuries! Poor old Nuck sees Jimmy at the church and in his office, with the latter occurring during a rather shoddy dream sequence. Why was there a frying pan? I think it was foreshadowing, but I don't like foreshadowing in this sort of drama. We don't tell the future in real life people! 

Nucky decides to try and reason with this season's best new addition; Gyp Rosetti; after last episode's debacle at Tabor Heights. Rosetti is happy to accept a thousand bottles of liquor in a one-off deal to get him through the month, but things turn sour when Nucky doesn't come to send him off (he was at the church), and when he instead receives Owen Sleater reciting a farewell message; 'Bone for Tuna’ - Bon fortuna, FYI. Rosetti is pissed beyond words, but leaves Atlantic City without causing a big kafuffle. It's not that easy when he gets back to Tabor Heights though, as he is met by the sheriff who expects the gangster to be heading off. Rosetti admits he is leaving, but the poor sheriff has the misfortune to send the guy off with a 'Good luck', resulting in him being saturated in petrol and set alight. Pleasant. 

I enjoyed the tenseness during a scene featuring Rosetti going to visit Gillian's whore house, as it looked like he was going to kill her for a while, before he realised that she was being somewhat stiffed over by Mr. Thompson as well. The two get to talking, and it seems that together they form an unlikely and potentially devastating duo. Also, was Gillian being coy or does she legitimately not know that Jimmy is dead? She mentions to her business partner, Charlie Luciano, that Jimmy will sign the deed to the mansion over to him once he's returned from wherever, but was she just making sure Luciano was happy? I don't know. 

For Richard Harrow and the salesman-formerly-known-as-Van Alden, I honestly had no clue what was going on. Why? I'm not sure, neither was a complex tale or anything, it just felt like... well in Van Alden's case, it felt like we were seeing a normal-day-in-the-life-of featurette, involving a practical joke by his coworkers, a nice romp with the new wife, a visit to a local speakeasy and getting caught in a prohi-raid. Instead of being taken in, the nice head prohi chooses to let Van Alden off with a cash-in-hand fine, letting the wanted criminal walk out the door without a second glance. Point being?

For Harrow... Well, it started with Mickey Doyle, who was pretending that he had killed Manny Horvitz in order to keep one of his customers in line, threatening the poor guy with a similar fate. Some lad over hears this failed attempt at salesmanship, and later lets slip to Harrow that Doyle is claiming the assassination as his own doing. Harrow chooses to sort this out with violence, lying in wait within Doyle's apartment, then stealing him away and bringing him before Nucky. I really enjoyed their conversation with one another, as Nucky realises that Harrow murdered Horvitz to avenge Angela Darmody, and he wonders aloud whether he is in any danger. In a very truthful admission - very characteristic of Richard Harrow - the burnt man tells Nucky that he is safe, and that Jimmy was a soldier who had fought and had lost. 

In other news, Masseria - who is? I mean I remember the name, but how is he important again? - is still on the outs with Meyer Lansky and Charlie Luciano, who have both gone into heroin together. They have some kid, Benny, who's cap they lace with the stuff before sending him off to exchange it for moolah. During one of his trips, Benny is assaulted right off the bat by a whole crew of Masseria's men, but he is rescued by Lansky, who ends up having to physically pull Benny away from engaging in an all-out gun battle with the men. Why did we see this? Well it was some action, and Masseria's clearly going somewhere. I thought it was worth it.

I honestly didn't see the need for the brief flashback to the pilot, which showed Jimmy being introduced to Nucky's crew. Yeah, it was the same room that he met Rosetti in, but it was a bit annoying. So far, Boardwalk Empire has only used this device sparingly, and I'd much rather it remained that way. 

The cultural reference to Nosferatu was fun, as it is one of the first horror films I've seen. It is legitimately scary, though only if you get the one that is scored with the interesting music, and not the droning repetitive crap you sometimes get on it. A little off topic, yeah, but the little things matter in television. Look at Fringe, there are websites devoted to discovering all the differences between the two universes. 

In my opinion 'Bone For Tuna' was a bit of a step up from the last episode, and provided us with a bit more action and intrigue than we normally get this early in the season. Hopefully the writers have learnt from past mistakes, and are opting to present a much more thrilling first half than we normally get. I do appreciate the constant threat of violence, though I also wish they came through on it more often, and didn't just let the characters breeze from place to place and scenario to scenario so easily, but I will note that there isn't a single character whom I especially dislike. The new guy on the block, Rosetti, is especially interesting, though from the looks of it, he'll likely die in the not-too-far-distant-future. Oh well, as long as the story works I'll be happy.