Justified 2x08, "The Spoil"

After a filler ep last week, this week's ep wasted no time in getting the avalanche rolling downhill: Art knows Raylan and Winona were up to something (you can tell by his snarkiness combined with his Disappointed Dad face); the Bennetts and Black Pike Coal are not-so-quietly struggling for control of the land surrounding the mountain; and Aunt Helen, knowledgeable of what the meaning is behind the land struggle, gives Raylan the rest of the stolen front money to get him the heck out of the county.

If I didn't know this was based on an Elmore Leonard story, I'd guess Robert B Parker had a hand in it by the way Carol, the Black Pike exec, and Raylan interacted: she's an eloquent, tough, unsubtle single gal, and he's the muscle hired to protect her, though he spends most of his time resisting her verbal advances when he's not drinking with her at the end of a long day. Raylan, like Spenser, is a one-gal guy, but if we were comparing the gals, I think Susan is overall a more together, mature individual. Don't know if she's hotter--Susan is a goddess based on Spenser's descriptions--but Carol's pretty damn hot with her long flame-colored hair and her pretty intense bazooms. I'm not a fan of the way she went about displaying the bazooms--people who feel free to strut about displaying their underthings may be "very comfortable" with their bodies, but mostly I think they are "very comfortable" trying to get people to notice their round, voluptuous "comforts" (ladies) or [eeh-nnnnnnnngh-pointing-at-that-area] (menfolk).

Mags Bennett moments of note: tapping Coover with a shovel to get him to stop pounding on Raylan, of course, and most definitely her friendly neighbor proselytizing at the town hall meeting. What a tremendous performance, and I loved the touch of her singling out the gentleman who sold to Black Pike earlier in the ep. It was a chilling reminder that the show has been very, very good at insulating Mags from the dirty work: you never see her giving the orders to sic Charlie (my guess: some kind of sharp-toothed rodent, like in The Big Lebowski--"Hey, nice marmot") on folks, but knowing her relationship of command-and-control with her boys, you have to infer she's behind it.

I'm afraid for Loretta. Her bravado and resourcefulness seem to almost shrink in comparison to scenes like Coover's violent attack or Mags's grand scheme. She looked like a prop in that town hall meeting, which, you know, basically everyone is between the machinations of the coal company and the Bennetts. But her most of all, since she's smack in the middle of the Bennetts' web.

And finally, Boyd and Ava: who would have thought, back in season 1, that having the opinion "You know, Ava's sexy and feisty, but I think she may be a little too crazy for Raylan" would work itself out this way, with Boyd and Ava moving from antagonists who routinely threatened the other's life to pseudo-domestic partners and partners-in-crime. Frankly, I find Ava exactly the kind of partner that Boyd needs. She talks; he listens. When he needs care or support, she gives it; in return, he has begun speaking of the things "we" need, as though he and Ava are a unit.

And she's still wicked fast with that shotgun. I knew she'd be there to chase off the Bennetts.

I loved the callback to Boyd's sermon from the pulpit in season 1 with his bravura performance at the town hall meeting. And I love that once again, he's the smartest guy in the room. Raylan's no dummy, but I think with his discombobulation over Winona's dumb decisions and Art's obvious awareness of the dumbness, he's not exactly on his game (thus the ass-beating he received from Coover) (well, that and the hangover).

It's going to be interesting to see where all this leads, but it's obvious bodies will fall in the last four episodes.

Netflix Queue Revue

So it's fancy, like a theatrical production, instead of a "review," which is boring and not fancy.

Because let's be honest: my Netflix queue is full of fancy things. Movies, to be specific. Those are the things that are on a Netflix queue. And it's not as though I don't like fancy movies. I have taste in the Finer Things, cinema-wise. But I also:

1. am lazy
2. am slow to watch my Netflix selections if I'm not in one of my crazy phases of watching a TV series or stalking/"appreciating" an actor/actress
3. enjoy cartoons, middling rom coms, and the occasional terrible direct-to-video sequel

I was Twittering with blahmanda last night about some of our commonly shared Netflix afflictions--though, in a bit of irony, I finally deleted Affliction, a That's a Small, Gritty, Character-Driven Indie Film Full of Grizzled Actors I Should Watch Someday, from my queue back in Ought Nine--and in addition to being LOL, it made me really take a look at some of my gobbed-up queue with a critical eye.

Join me, if you will, for an examination of some of my Netflix queue...

Documentaries I Am Totally Going To Watch Because I'm An Involved Citizen of America or The World
The Fog of War (#59)
Into the Arms of Strangers (#89)
The Wild Parrots of Telegraph Hill (#112)
Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room (#121)
Deliver Us from Evil (#159)

I Put Everything About Gay Culture on my Queue Because Netflix Tells Me To (or I Liked Brokeback Mountain, Opposite of Sex, Jeffrey, and Mad Hot Ballroom, So Certain Assumptions Get Made):
 Kinky Boots (#16)
The Dying Gaul (#19 - I hear Peter Sarsgaard and Campbell Scott make out!)
Beautiful Thing (#24)
Trembling Before G-d (#33 - also belongs in aforementioned Documentary subcategory)
Unzipped (#37 - sorta...though a documentary, I don't think it'll make me a better citizen)
Wilde (#53)
Priest (#54)
Normal (#55)
The Cockettes (#56 - boy, I was on a tear at some point) 
Milk (#202)

Not A Girl, Not Yet A Woman (that's a metaphor for how they're not really new releases anymore)
The Departed (#9)
Michael Clayton (#10)
The Prestige (#13)
The Dancer Upstairs (#58)
Syriana (#130)
Notes on a Scandal (#139)
Dreamgirls (#143 - does anyone mind if I just skip this? Sweet!)
The Assassination of Jesse James by the... (#171)
Charlie Wilson's War (#176)
Burn After Reading (#187)
The Hurt Locker (#203)
Inglourious Basterds (#204)

Yep, Still Haven't Seen 'Em
 The Taking of Pelham 1-2-3 the original (#30)
Dog Day Afternoon (#34)
Harold and Maude (#36)
The Manchurian Candidate the original (#47)
My Beautiful Laundrette (#73)
Dark City (#77)
The Exorcist (#87)
Sunset Boulevard (#134)
The Women (#181)
The Spanish Prisoner (#190)

Probably Going to End Up Watching These Some Saturday Afternoon on USA or FX
Salt (#7)
Shoot 'Em Up (#170)
Strange Wilderness (#177)
I Am Legend (#178 - normally blah, but Duse said it was good)
The X-Files: I Want to Believe (#181)
The Blind Side (#208)
Predators (#212 - look, just tell me if Topher Grace is a bad guy; then I'll move it up in the queue accordingly)

There are, of course, other categories: Every Joseph Gordon Leavitt Indie Film From the Early 2000s; Even Though I Heard You Sucked, I'm Still Going To Maybe Watch You, e.g. Time Traveler's Wife; MST3K Eps I Haven't Watched For Some Reason...

Also, I've had the first disc of Lark Rise to Candleford for over a month now with almost no intention of watching it, but I still have yet to send it back. Nevertheless, it'll probably never beat the six month record held by The Lives of Others. Sorry, Germany! I promise to watch the next movie you make that everyone talks about (that should get me five or six years cushion...)

I tell you what I'm really excited about: Street Kings 2 (Release Date Unknown, but Google Machine tells me it'll drop April 19). I plan on doing a full-scale review.

Thursday Night Stories: P&R Edition

While The Office made me weepy, 30 Rock was my favorite kind of 30 Rock (Jack Donaghy is revealed to be as awkward and unprepared and pathetic as the rest of the TGS cast and staff), and Community was okay, but not my favorite, the ep of the night, for me, was Parks and Recreation:

Before

After

I love how he improvised spelling the rest of April's name--I believe by either wilting the grass with fire or spray paint?--after losing many of the rose petals (presumably while fighting a squirrel...)

I know it's the Internet Nerd thing to make statements full of overexaggerated sound and fury, signifying nothing, but Chris Pratt's physical comedy skills are up there with (pick one: John Ritter, if that's your bag; Mr. Bean, if that's your bag; some other comparison, if that's your bag) and I don't understand why he's not a bigger deal and getting nominated for awards. When he took a tumble down the hillside, then spun in circles shouting, "What was that? What was THAT?" I laughed so, so, so, so hard. Genius.

Plus his relationship with April is genuinely cute. He is always so good at Being in Love.

Another person good at that: Adam Scott

I was convinced, when Ben made the mistake of not bringing a tent, that this was the ep where Leslie and Ben would hook up. They had two perfect fanfic opportunities: camping and a (nightmarish) b&b. But why would you make moves on your lady love when you have Tom making you soft-serve ice cream cones...

I loved this episode because it combined the two things I love most about P&R: Leslie Knope as the glue of the department and Leslie and Ann's friendship. Leslie and Ann took turns supporting each other--Leslie by inviting Ann to come camping to get away from Chris, which didn't exactly work; and Ann by telling Leslie how smart and talented and creative Leslie is--and though Ron and Ben had their moments too, I think the Ann-and-Leslie connection is my favorite because it...is.

Other stuff I enjoyed:
1) The spectrum of reactions to Mrs. Krimp's 6:15 AM breakfast announcement

From l to r: Disapproval, Confusion, Delight

2) Jerry's love of all things wholesome

Only Jerry would enjoy German muffins and "Ode to Joy" on the harpsichord

3) Rob Lowe's egoless willingness to look foolish

4) Leslie's super cute pigtails

5) Ron: "We have nothing else to eat; Jerry scared the fish away with his loud, personal stories."

I loved the progression of Ron's whittling too.

So! Parks and Recreation! What did I forgot? Probably loads of stuff (Tom: "If that is a coyote, someone needs to pick me up off the ground immediately;" the headline "Harvest Best-ival" in the background of one of Leslie's talking heads; Donna reading Your Erogenous Zones and drinking Jim Beam at the B&B).

Justified 2x07, "Save the Love"

I guess there was bound to be one episode that wasn't all that great. Beyond Art knowing shenanigans had been up and Boyd getting a new suit for the now-all-too-familiar racket of being pulled into a criminal enterprise, this mini-arc of Winona stealing a bunch of money and her and Raylan Yakety Sax'ing their way through a veritable convenience-of-storytelling gauntlet of near-misses and delays was a-nnoying.

So much so that I'm not going to dl a video file to make a screencap of Boyd in his suit.

Detroit 1-8-7 season (series?) finale

I hope it comes back for another season. They could move it to a different day, even. Like Mondays, when I don't have anything to watch.

For how much of a cliche and a letdown the big reveal of Fitch's dark past was, I thought the finale did a great job of closing one door and opening another (no spoilers, K! no spoilers!) for Fitch.

Also: damn it. They were totally moving in the direction of Mahajan and that sassy-yet-vulnerable ME with the gorgeous red hair, weren't they? DON'T CANCEL IT, ABC!

Justified 2x06, "Blaze of Glory"

Let me get this out of my system first:
Take me now! But know the truth!
I'm going out!
In a blaze of glory!
Lord, I never drew first but I drew first blood
I'm no one's son
Call me Young Guns II!!!

To start off this post,  I have to say I thought all day about ndnickerson's funny Tweet about Boyd's hair. But what bothered me was if the scale was based solely on Boyd's hair, or if it was a more general scale based on wildness and height of hair of film and tv characters. The scale I came up with was:

Note: some objects may be fuzzier than they appear.

I like the feeling that we're in the part of the chess game where the pawns are moving back and forth on the board before the onslaught of rook-to-whatever-I-didn't-really-pay-attention-to-the-chess-in-Chess begins. Boyd and Ava appear in the beginning, the Bennetts don't appear at all, and we're left with Raylan and Winona continuing their personal drama--and am I a dummy, or are they hinting Winona may be pregnant?--and an interesting b-story for Art and the old-timer convict.

I love Art's dialogue for the "chase" (of the convict who was oxygen tank-less, not shown) was basically "Shit," "Ass-hole," and "Was that necessary?" I love spending time with Art. He's a good boss and mentor to Raylan--knows when to respect Raylan's skills and when to call him on his hotheaded, petulant bullshit--and the rest of the team. He's a pragmatic, patient, smart man, and for once, I actually bought the scene where he magically shows up at the right time and the right place to catch the fleeing convict.

Speaking of Mister Raylan Givens and his hotheaded ways, sometimes I forget how good Tim Olypants looks when he's full of barely controlled rage. It was hard to miss while watching Deadwood, because Seth Bullock's default setting was "barely controlled rage." But last night, when that idiot bank robber was talking gross sass about Winona, and Raylan gave him one of these:

And this:

Yeah, that's the stuff.

(The conclusion of that picture story: Raylan socked that guy, then kicked him in the mug while he was down.)

So a good standard, biding-our-time-until-the-Harlan-implosion stuff starts rolling.

Roll credits:

I always forget Alan Ruck is in Young Guns II! And who is Brad Whitford? Surely not Emmy Award-winning Josh Lyman portrayer Bradley Whitford.

Detroit 1-8-7 1x17, "Motor City Blues"

Spoiler alerts (so Miss Low Fat Dressing, you best avoid this post if you are still (a) behind)!

It's strange to think about how nuts I started off my relationship with Detroit 1-8-7. I was loooooooony for it when the season began. But due to events the show could not control--Southland being on the same day and time, and Southland slowly diverting the flow of loony to its reservoir of cuckoo tv feelings--and events the show could control (adding the blonde FBI agent, who has a name I refuse to learn; heading in the direction of Law & Order with its structure and mix-and-match cases), I find myself liking the show, but not looking forward to it like when I first began the season.

Last night's ep had examples of what I continue to enjoy, as well as things I wish they'd knock off.

What I Enjoy:

1. The Longford/Mahajan partnership: I liked Vik's concern about Jesse's back, I continue to like the writing for them and how well it balances bickering and ball-busting with comfortable dude friendship. The end scene made me misty-eyed.
2. Fitch's craaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaazy eyes: Imperioli busted out some choice looks last night.
3. The Lieutenant: even though I thought the opening on Det. Handsome's tribute poster was--okay, I was going to say "lazy," but it really wasn't, and I've been brain-fighting myself all day over whether Southland's similar-yet-very-different arc spoiled me or wore me out or what--something bleh, I think Aisha Hinds does a lot with the fairly static place in the show she is given.
4. The Fitch/Sanchez stuff: it seemed a little too soon, but at the same time, the show has dropped enough hints that Sanchez has always been drawn to Fitch, so...I'm easy, really. Even if the actress playing her isn't always on fire, I like the two of them.
5. The use of music: the opening song, which Google Machine tells me is Gnarls Barkley's "Who's Gonna Save My Soul?" was great; I thought "Falling" was an oddball choice, but I still love the song.

What I Wish They'd Knock Off

1. Acknowledging that Fitch is crazy: they went way over-the-top having Fitch's son Bobby imitate all his quirks, down to his interrogation style, e.g. being right about someone.
2. Setting up love triangles: forget it, Show, you will not make me buy FBI Agent Network Notes as a love interest, so drop it. Drop it right now.
3. The cruddy paint-by-numbers cases: they've gotten more and more retread-y as the season progressed.

Alicia Coppola has done so much in her career, and yet I always recognize her as "that pretty brunette from Another World!"

As far as the Death of Det. Handsome goes, good night, sweet prince. You were handsome and stubbly and said your lines. I was never too invested in you, and it appears the show wasn't either. You die so that Fitch and Sanchez may live (though odds of a second season ain't looking so hot).

But despite all I've said, the pros, the cons, the references to Another World...

This was clearly the very best episode of television ever.

(Yes, I dl'ed a whole video file to make three screencaps; perhaps there is a crick of loony running through me after all.)

Glee 2x16, "Original Song"

I'm going to try to be positive and say positive things. It's an exercise and a test, and let's see if I can do it.

1. There was some follow-through with the Brittany/Santana subplot, which was very unexpected and, of course, both heart-wrenching and funny. I am trying to set reasonable expectations for this arc, but it's hard not to want more of the two of them.
2. Every goofy f'ing face Mark Salling made throughout the episode. He nearly blew his lip-synching of "Big Ass Heart" in order to do some of the dorkiest shit he's ever committed to film (and I'm including last episode's head-jiggle during "Afternoon Delight"). That plus his emoting during Kurt and Blaine's duet made him the true MVP of the episode.
3. The original songs were decent! I was expecting a noise hemorrhage of cliché and cringe-inducing mediocrity, and that didn't happen. I actually enjoyed "Loser Like Me" and believed talented kids may have put the number together.
4. Mercedes and the whole group clearly had fun singing "Hell to the No."

There. I feel like I accomplished something.

But even if cute boys are making out, and one of those cute boys is Kurt Hummel, I still do not understand the appeal of Blaine. If they would let him be not flawless and perfect and immaculate for one moment, maybe. But his cover boy for Nonthreatening Boys bit is so bland. And if someone can explain to me what he saw in Kurt's performance that hasn't already been present and in front of him this whole time (and cram a sock in the "sometimes you are just like, hey, wow, there you are, soulmate" business), I'll...not relent and continue to complain. So really no one wins. Boo. Boo!!!

They really, really should have let Kathy Griffin write her own lines. That shit was weak-ass. Weak-ass. I could write better political satire/fun-poking, and I barely give a shit.

And I wish after Sue "hilariously" punched the lady announcer, they had done an homage to the greatest tv-to-movie adaptation ever filmed and done a Dragnet coda, followed by a MaMo rap.

Break until April! Wheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!

Justified 2x05, "Cottonmouth" (in just a few brief screencaps)

Greater than or equal to...

You decide.

I don't know what it is about his glasses, but nearly every shot of him makes me laugh like I'm a performer in The Mikado.

That did not make me laugh like a G&S schoolgirl. Something about Boyd in this ep made me so sad, even as I admired how very much smarter than everyone else he was. When he sat across from Ava and said, "Because it's what I do. It's who I am... as hard as I've been trying to pretend otherwise. Everybody else seems to know that but me," my heart broke, even though I knew he'd just murdered four men in pretty cold blood (well, they were planning to kill him AND another innocent man played by ELLSWORTH, no less, and if you can save Ellsworth from getting shot twice in this lifetime...).

Hey, speaking of things that did not make me laugh like a G&S schoolgirl:

d

Tough Love: Parenting Via Ball-Peen Hammer Beatings by Mags Bennett.

Eat it, Dr. Spock.

Southland 3x10, "Graduation Day"

John and Ben:
In the interest of disclosing embarrassing stuff up front: I cried during last night's episode, and not, like, cool perfect-double-tears-like-Demi-Moore-in-Ghost crying, but more like making-high-pitched-Stan Laurel-noises crying.*

I wish my usually reliable video source had posted so I could make screencaps--a million millions screencaps of Ben and John, particularly of Ben looking over across the rooftops to John. But I can't...
 ETA Thanks, TNT promotional department:

...so I'll just say that even though I am a seasoned tv veteran and know in my logical "This is how TV shows work" way that Ben and John will be partners again in the fourth season that will totally happen very, very soon, part of my 8th-grade soap-opera watching past self is wringing my hands and worrying while loving the drama, the conflict, and the gentleness of their resolution. I never want them to be split up; as much as I love Sammy, I think we're all supposed to know that his bluster is simply a shadow of John Cooper.

Cudlitz rocked it, especially in that closing scene when the camera mercilessly closed in on John and he listed all the medications he'd been taking, then replied to the narcotics question with "I'm a cop." He's never sounded more unsure of that ever in the history of the show, and it was shattering. What a hard tieback to John's angry disbelief at Dewey's admissions of being on the job bombed out of his mind on liquor. I feel like this storyline couldn't have resolved better or more realistically for the two characters. I believed Ben's fury (I like how much of the dialogue as Ben began shouting down John was repeated from the last episode, like how a lot of people sound when they've rehearsed speeches over and over in their head) and I believed the collapse of John's bravado and his (Stan Laurel Stan Laurel don't be Stan Laurel) "Thank you" to his boot, the man who likely saved his life and his job.

*Said crying started when Ben and John pulled up in front of the hospital, and John matter-of-factly asked Ben to bring him a change of clothes in a few days after the withdrawal had subsided.

Lydia and Josie:
I suppose I should think of it as a sort of reflection of Russell's betrayal of Lydia--how lies of omission can sometimes be the hardest to dig yourself out of and how easy it is to explain away selfish behavior--but it's hard to do since pretty much everyone in the mess is guilty of something: Josie was overreacting as only a mother can (calling Lydia a child molester while they were investigating a child molester case was a nice bit of irony); Roderigo was showing his immaturity by refusing to tell his mother, then being a big ol' boner, horndogging all over Lydia in bed while she was trying to take Josie's phone call (as charming as the character is otherwise, I found that pretty gross); and Lydia, not exactly stepping up and taking control of the situation, which you think she'd know better.

Anyway, I will be interested to see where it all goes in the fourth season (which is totally, totally going to happen REALLY soon). It feels like they're leaving the door open to have Josie remain Lydia's partner With Issues, or potentially partner Lydia off with Sammy (who kept one foot in the detective door, but in Gangs, so maybe I'm wishfully thinking).

Dewey and Chickie:
 I thought the little bit with Dewey and the drug-addicted prostitute was surprisingly touching. C. Thomas Howell is pretty for-real. I love how he can continue to be the obnoxious loudmouth and transition into little moments like the last scene at the park bench and not make it seem like it's out of character.

I hope that Chickie and the thing about Metro isn't the show's way of potentially writing her out. I like Chickie a lot. I'd actually be a little disappointed if the show returned for its fourth season, starting tomorrow, and she and Dewey weren't still partners.

I also liked Chickie's high-five with Ben. Mostly because super, super cute.

Sammy:
Speaking of a million, million screencaps...his expression of trepidation in the delivery room and the way that changed to vulnerable, gentle wonder and love capped by the hesitant kiss on Nathanial's forehead was amazing. Some forum poster over at TWoP--I KNOW I KNOW--said something about being unimpressed by Hatosy, and I had a mild metaphoric nosebleed for a moment or two.

Anyway, I liked how everything wrapped with Nate's (alleged? but really, he did it, right? go back and watch it) killer, how Sammy vacillated between a desire for the guy to stay alive and the uncontrollable fury of wanting him dead. And it was interesting to see him step into John Cooper's shoes; again, I think the show was going for the point that those really aren't Sammy's shoes at all, no matter how much his heart really wants to be back "out there."

And now, if you'll excuse me, I'm going to write a bunch of fictional nonsense about how Sammy and Lydia met up at the hospital and stuff.

In closing: Southland season 4! Get ready, because it's happening in five minutes hooray!

(I will probably post a million screencaps.)

I'd rather say fun things about "Raising Hope" than complain about Blaine...

If you had told me, when I was plotting my HBO Drama Series Insane Character Face-off brackets, that Vern Schillinger and Francis Wolcott would have a smackdown in a mattress store largely comprised of bouncing...well, sir, I would have called you a liar.

This episode of Raising Hope had it all: Richard Marx music, a Josh Groban joke, Paul F. Tompkins, caricatures, Mary Lynn Rajskub, and the universal truth that people doing funny Muppet voices like Yoda or Gollum are only entertaining and awesome to the person doing them (or, if you like someone doing those voices, you are in a cult). I love this show and its many shenanigans.

Its lead-in, Glee, was okay, I suppose. Uneven, as always. The tender love story of Brittany and Santana was surprising in both its depth and honesty. I've always loved Naya as Santana, but this is the ep that made me convinced she's one of the best things about the show. I'm confident she will not be Cordelia Chased (that is, impregnated by a demon, stripped of her bitchy vulnerability, unable to ever truly express her love for Angel...because Angel is a girl who believes that a stork nested in a tree outside her window, and Joss Whedon hardly ever does anything bad to lesbians).

Joss Whedon is the creator and lead writer of Glee, right?

Kurt and Burt were great, as always, but I'm sad that the set-up to that fantastic scene was a teenage boy, who we, the audience, are supposed to like and root for, lecturing a grown-up person on how to raise his child. Look, Show, I'm trying here. The Internet has spoken, and at least 80% of them are bonkers mcgee over both Darren Criss and his Dapper Dan'ed creation, so I know he's sticking around. He's cute enough. Maybe I'm missing something. Maybe he's not the character for me. He was kind enough to show his pelvis hollows in Out magazine (what I usually call "pudding valleys," but I won't, because gross and cover your shame, Darren Criss). But Show, you don't make it easy for me when Blaine is a know-it-all asshole to Kurt about sexy faces (as though the goony, asinine mugging he does is delicious) and then gets Dawson Leery Condescension Syndrome and swans around dispensing world-weary wisdom to Burt Hummel.

I don't want Kurt's first boyfriend to be a prick. Is what I'm saying, I guess. And I don't want him to be a lame-o. So shape up, Show. Stop making Blaine a lame-o prick.

Oh, and by the way, I think baby penguins and Kurt Hummels/Chris Colfers are sultry in their own adoraaaaaaaaable way.

The storyline with Emma, Carl, and Will is excruciating. And they need to figure out something for Jane Lynch to do that is not what she has been doing lately, which is annoying me. I don't want to be annoyed by Jane Lynch.

"Landslide" was my favorite cover, though bonus points to "Afternoon Delight" for its excellent use of Mark Salling's hilariousness.

Justified, 2x04 "For Blood or Money"

"I call this little number 'The Oxy Bus Cleanup Breakdown!'"

Who knew a hoedown could be such a dramatic and tense dance? The opening scene did more table-setting for what will probably be a big ol' mess by season's end: Mags Bennett's idiot boys and their criminal tomfoolery have brought out both curiosity and suspicion in Raylan. Though he enters the scene quietly enough, with his mix of charm and polite manners...

Aww, he brought a pie and a smile (and a bunch of veiled accusations)!

...it ends in a tense exchange between Raylan and Mags, uncovering bad blood, truth, and lies. Before Mags's returns to her former position of hospitality--her offers of food and drink come with equal parts maternal warmth and insidious intention--it's clear that Raylan won't be backing down and Mags has something brewing that she is eager to protect.

It was good to see Loretta, if only briefly, and know she's still safe. I imagine her loyalty to Raylan will be a pivot point as the season progresses.

Boyd and Ava continue their equally tense dance of domesticity and whatever-the-heck-else is going on between the two of them:

Come into my parlor (or my front porch) said the spider to the fly... (though which one is which is up for debate)

I particularly liked the scene on the porch, how it was a combination of comfortable small talk and getting-to-know-you, all with the added bonus of the reminder that Boyd and Ava are both fairly dangerous individuals.

This episode seemed particularly Elmore Leonardy. I'll be really honest: I would have enthusiastically watched a Flex spinoff in a minute. That's really what The Wire was missing: a not-remotely-reformed drug-dealer cum self-taught magician with a muscle car and a flair for marketing (really, why would you want to add a "the Amazing" tag to Flex? Genius).

But the biggest surprise of the night, besides the fact that Chief Art Mullen has a wife we have yet to meet:

I'm pretty sure that next to Mags Bennett, she's likely the most awe-inspiring woman ever (but in a much better, non-poisoning way)

...is that resident sharpshooter and Iraq War veteran Tim has, apparently, the total hots for his Marshal cohort, Rachel.

I suddenly feel compelled to revisit every single episode to look for clues for this. Even during my first viewing of this ep, I missed how vigilant Tim is about looking at Rachel. In the Billy the Kidverse pizza joint, while Raylan's gaze is locked, for the most part, on Clinton, Tim's eyes never stray from Rachel. But seriously, when they cut to that shot in the third panel, it was like getting hit with a ton of bricks imprinted with bluebirds and sparkly hearts. His expression as Rachel talks about her family is like the Southern gun-toting dude version of Mr. Darcy restraining himself from comforting Elizabeth in the '95 P&P.

I feel like a dummy. I always catch stuff like this early. Where was I?

This one is for my pal KF, if she's reading. She loves when a group of individuals become a makeshift family. Chief Art as papa, of course, and his kidlets (I love how Timothy Olyphant characters in these makeshift families are invariably the prodigal son with a temperament problem--Deadwood lives on still).

Southland 3x09, "Failure Drill"

John and Ben:

The saddest, most disappointed apostrophe eyes of them all.

 
"John, you have a problem."









Ben finally says the words, but it takes John riding around an entire day with his throwback Oakleys on, uncharacteristically sluggish, barely stirring from the car (you know, except the one time where he smashes in an elderly man's passenger window) to get it done. I thought Ben McKenzie did a great (and cute, of course) job of showing the teakettle-whistle build-up of Ben's frustration.

The camera work in this scene was boss; I love how between Ben addressing John as "Sir" and the angle of the shot, it made John look like he'd been pulled over for a traffic stop

I read a few commentaries/recaps here and there at the beginning of the series that mentioned that John's addiction to painkillers felt like a go-nowhere storyline. The more I thought about it last night, the more I disagree. I think Southland has succeeded the way a lot of tv dramas don't in showing the seesaw effect of addiction, particularly in an individual like John, who is stubborn and self-reliant and smart and should "know better" but fails and fails and rights himself, then fails again. Sometimes it's a bumpy ride to rock bottom, and after seeing tonight's episode, where John basically ends the day as he would any other--well, this time with silence instead of his standard in-your-face bit of lecture and wisdom--I admire the show for sticking to what other (lazy asses) may see as a mundane or repetitive path. I think this has been a deliberate choice, one that defines itself against Dewey's spectacular flame-out from season 2: sometimes the worst collapse is slow and quiet and agonizing:

I also like how this arc has shown Ben building strength and confidence not just as a police officer, but as a person. He tried speaking to John as a friend and an equal and when that failed, he pulled out that booming command-and-control voice. He worked it too.


Lydia/Ochoa:

So gorgeous, and so funny when she's on the spot and being charmed

I was totally loving the Lydia/Ochoa storyline. I thought it was great how it started with Lydia's flirting with the gun range guy, how the attraction was sort of an everyday exchange with that little spark of something more, and I liked how Lydia and Ochoa went through their day--with the back-biting and snarking about "Tweedledee and Tweedledum"; the fairly straightforward murder case with the heartstring-tugging kids; the gun range guy asking Lydia out; Lydia and Ochoa wrapping up and heading back to follow up on the employment leads and Lydia shyly admitting she has a date to her partner (and Ochoa's hilarious--and iiiiiironic--delight); the "failure drill" coming back around in the workplace massacre...

...and then it turns out handsome, charming guy is Ochoa's son? Boo!  BOO! I wish that hadn't happened. It was promising how Lydia shut it down and how he was still persistently charming but not in a "we're going to be in the sack by the next ep" way. But still: can't Lydia date someone nice and charming without it having a huge TVish complicating factor? I was really looking forward to her having a fun office romance, and now it's all dramatical.

I'll mimic the show and transition from Lydia to...

Sammy:
Not a whole lot on Sammy's end this ep--looks like they're saving that for the finale, what with the reappearance of the hole-digging tattooed guy (who I SWEAR is the guilty party when I did a mini-rewatch)--but I liked what we got to see. Mostly I think his new high-and-tight haircut is super adorable. And I like the way he wears his shield:

It was interesting how the camera floated over to Sammy's temporary partner as the pastor expressed his concern that he hadn't seen Sammy recently. After being so up close and personal with Sammy's process, it was almost like the show was giving Sammy a little breathing room. By the time we rejoined Sammy and the pastor, it was clear that the genuine and straightforward concern was almost a little too much for him (you can see the glint of moisture in his eyes when he looks at the floor):

I have to admit I'm a little amused by how dialed back pregnancy/the writers have made Tammi. Beyond her showing up at the scene when Sammy is about to make an arrest in the church incident, she's not the getting-high, acting-out idiot I grew to hate so much by the end of season 2.*  Nice and promising to see Sammy with the paint and the swingset and the awkward-but-ultimately-uneventful interaction with Tammi's live-in lover. He's trying.

*This does not mean I want them to get back together. Please, please, please no.