Game of Thrones

A key trait to great TV writing is anticipation. It is anticipation that brings back an audience week after week after week. No doubt, the shows you have read about have talented writers. In fact, there is hardly an episode of Dexter that doesn’t leave a viewer cringing for next week. It is viewership that keeps a show running and I have just found the next great.

Game of Thrones is confusing to say the least. Figuring out who is who, where is where and what is what is more than enough thought for one TV series. But if a great writer is present, its writing always comes out of the woods at some point. I have now watched five episodes of this scintillating series. The ending to episodes three through five are nothing short of brilliance. Let’s get into it.

As I said, this is a confusing show to say the least. I will do my best to bring everyone up to speed. The Starks have followed the King back to his kingdom. They are now preparing to live a new life at the hand of the King. Earlier on, Jaime Lannister decided to kill young Stark after seeing him fuck his sister. Boy don’t we see that theme in my shows. Anyways, the boy lives but can’t remember the incident. Another attempt on the boy’s life is made but it falls short again. The blade used was Tyrion Lannister’s. Now the real battle gets on.

Arya Stark, one of my favorite characters thus far, decides she does not want the life of a lady lord. She needs to learn to fight with the rest. After seeing her wolf run away and having the king kill another, she decides it’s time to learn. Her father gives in. At the end of episode three, we see Arya training with her new master. This guy isn’t fooling around. A warrior stands up straight. A warrior uses one arm. A warrior always keeps his eye on the target. A viewer gets the sense that things are about to change. And guess what. They did.

Jumping to episode four, we see Tyrion traveling the empire. We also see a vicious jousting match. Unfortunately, a young knight who may have known the mystery (kind of) behind the former King’s death, is killed during the match. Lord Stark was so close. Jumping ahead to the last scene; the scene which should capture your mind until next week, we see Tyrion at a tavern where Lady Stark happens to be dining. She thinks Tyrion had a hand in killing her son. Since she is close to her sister’s palace, she has certain friends. She demands the imp be taken into custody. All at once, the soldiers draw their swords toward the little Lannister. And there you have it. Your anticipation until next week. I literally gasped with joy when this scene took place.

Clearly, the next episode would revolve around the kidnapping. In addition, Robert finds out that lady Targaryen is pregnant. This baby can not be born. The King demands her head on spikes but Ned won’t have any of it. He leaves the empire. However, not before older brother Jaime could get to him. After a vicious battle, Jaime is bailed by a foolish guard who takes out Ned’s leg. Ned is now captured by the man who killed his son. And there you have it. What could come next? Where is the show going to go? What is going to happen with Tyrion? I can not fucking wait to see what happens? 

Shameless - January 15, 2012

One of the greatest aspects of being a TV enthusiast is that I get to think I know what I am talking about. Mainly, when I mention this, I am talking about educated guesses as to what will happen next or later on in the series. Honestly, Shameless is not going the direction I thought it would. Here are some of the shockers/bad judgments thus far in this series.

Frank is a drunk. Plain and simple. He is nothing more than free-loading alcoholic who goes to the darkest of levels to get what he wants. This would include leaving his youngest alone with strangers who threatened to cut his father’s toes off. This would include getting blowjobs by men in the bathroom. This would include stealing from his family. But when is it going to change? I know this is a major premise of the show, but isn’t there a time when the alcoholic has an epiphany and realize he must do something different? I thought some sign of this would come by season’s end last season, but it never did. After two episodes now, it doesn’t seem he’s having any this season either.

Moving down the list of Gallaghers is Fiona. Throughout season one, a key component of this show was her relationship with Steve or Jim or whatever you want to call him. As time went on, she even started to wonder if she loved him. Now this is perfectly understandable for a 20-year-old raising five kids and not really having time to date. At the end of the season, no surprise she chose to stay with the family. Clearly, if this show had any chance of coming back, it needed the sexy Emmy Rossum. But jumping ahead to this season, Fiona catches a glimpse of the money she could be making if she “dated” like Jasmine. This is on track to becoming a whore. We can’t have the sweet Fiona, who does it all for her family, turning tricks to make the bills. Her sex appeal would certainly drop and I feel many viewers would be turned off. So for all our sakes, let’s hope she doesn’t take this turn for the worse.

Next is Lip. It is the summer so he is not in school, at least I don’t think (I realize he was at U of C talking with the professor in episode one, but I think that was just a visit). He is handsomely raking in some good dough for the winter selling pop, beer, popsicles and weed out of an ice cream truck. This is expected. It is expected for the genius of the family to use his wit to make some needed cash. However, and you knew that was coming; what is he doing falling in love with Karen? This is not the direction the show is supposed to go. A high school girl can’t be ruining this great mind. First off, love is a very questionable emotion in high school. Secondly, a broken heart can’t be getting in the way of his greatness. Lip is destined to invent some machine or smoking device that takes you to the next level. Or maybe he will create the most advanced and technological savvy police scanner. But the chance of these accomplishments would be reduced to slim if the writers decide to make him the broken heart Gallagher. Don’t do it!

As one can see, no matter how many TV shows we watch, we can’t always predict the direction the writers will go. We can only put out “educated guesses” and tell our minds, we know what we are talking about.    

Shameless - January 8, 2012 Season Premier

I’ll be honest. Whenever one of my shows comes back to TV, I get excited. In fact, there are few things in life I get more excited about. Well, season two of Shameless premiered last Sunday. I was looking for that wow factor. I was looking for something to bring me back to the Showtime comedy. Season one did not do it for me. I like the concept of the poor family, living on the South Side, doing whatever they have to do to make end’s meat. Fiona, as sexy as she was last season, wasn’t enough. Frank, clearly the most recognizable character on the show, didn’t really do it for me. But then there was Sunday. The premier brought new twists, plots and excitement to the show. Here’s what they did.

First off, I love Fiona working at a late night bar/club. At first, I am thinking, how can she do all that she does and work every night until 4 A.M? She looks sexy as ever in that tight white tank top. Good to see V working there as well. It’s almost as if they don’t have to worry about money and they just work like the rest of us. Also, as expected, working where she does “brings all the guys to the yard.” Seems like she rebounded from Steve quickly, despite what V says. It was also nice to see Lake Shore Drive, the Drake Hotel and Fiona having sex along on the coastline. Good start.

Lip seems to be figuring it out. He now partakes in his own fight club earning extra cash for the family. In addition, after engineering his own police scanner, Lip and Kev startup their own ice cream/drug shop. This will sure bring new twists to the show. Also, I like seeing him at U of C. I am still unsure if he is taking classes or what, but either way, it seems he is forming a good relationship with the professor that he can one day escape his tiny world.

Frank is his usual self. It only took one episode for him to make a stupid bet that almost cost him a son. But after the family finds out, they all come to the rescue. That is what makes this show addicting. It is seeing what a family will go through to stay together. Last season, Ian had a way out after finding out that Frank wasn’t his father. He chose to stay. Later on, Monica, Liam’s mother, came back for her youngest son. Despite making it easier on the family, Fiona and the gang would only let him go over their dead bodies. This aspect, no matter what kind of TV you like, drives people to this show. Throw in some sex, drugs, Frank, nightclubs, U of C, Chicago, comedy and you’ve got me hooked.

Other aspects of the season two premier that brought me back in…

• Ian is growing up and preparing to enter the marines
• Lip is formed his own pot/drug business
• Kev knows how to grow ample amounts of weed
• Fiona seems to be sleeping around
• Debbie is taking on more responsibility, perhaps becoming the next Fiona
• Lip is learning how to fight, which I am sure will come in handy later on
• Frank is wearing out his welcome at Sheila’s

Dexter - December 11, 2011 "Talk to the Hand"

Just because the season is over, doesn’t mean the blogging stops.

Picking off where we left off, we see this season-long theme of “sin of omission” come back into play. At the end of last episode, Dexter reports that wormwood is in effect. However, he still didn’t know the target. Due to the severe circumstances, he had to report it. At first, no such luck, but, behind the scenes, Dexter saves a life, once again putting his “dark passenger” on the sidelines.

At the crime scene, where Dexter had just killed one of Travis’s “chosen ones,” Deb notices that one detective is missing. Sergeant Bautista went to check the couple’s household and got knocked out by Travis (which later created a scene for the eventual failed attempt of wormwood). Quinn gets a call from Deb and rushes over. Before Travis could kill Bautista, Quinn busts in and saves the day (probably his only heroic act all season). Keep in mind, none of this would have happened if Dexter kept to himself and continued to try to catch Travis by himself. He ignored his “sin of omission.”

Switching gears to Deb. A new look to this season has been her interaction with the psychiatrist. She has helped Deb cope with her new job, her relationships and all else in her life. In the final two episodes, they both determine that Deb cares more for Dexter than we think. This is an idiotic twist to the story. This entire series, Deb has gone after men who are not available, get killed or try to kill her. Now, the writers have her falling in love with her adopted brother, her only true friend and savior on this earth (he has saved her life on multiple occasions throughout the series). What could possibly come of this?

Let’s say Dexter likes her back (which we all know is a near impossibility). They may move out of Miami and start a new life together at another police station. They will have unemotional sex because they will never know if it’s the right thing to do. They will have the same mundane conversations they always have because Dexter truly isn’t interested. There’s just no a way this could work. Unless…

Unless some remarkable ending to this season allows for Deb and Dexter to get closer, her relationship fantasy can’t work.   

Guess we wait for a remarkable ending.