The Small Screen: TV

[Kieran]

Hey Darth,

Homeland is back soon. Gonna give it another chance?

Also, any fans here of the French cop show, Engrenages? Known in English as Spiral? Best danged cop show I seen in years!

 

[DarthFed]

It seems a lot of people didn't like Dexter's ending but I thought it was OK. Part of the problem was that there were not many possible ways to end it given how it was set up. Definitely not a great season. I'd rank the seasons as follows: 4,1,2,3,7,6,8,5 It was a hell of a show and it sucks to see it end.

Breaking Bad was surprisingly slow this week but it is the calm before the storm. And a hell of a storm it will be.

 

[Kieran]

One episode left for Breaking Bad?

 

[DarthFed]

One episode left for Breaking Bad?

Yep, you have 5 days to get caught up! I went through the first 4 seasons in 12 days, very hard show to stop watching

 

[Moxie]

Everyone I know loves Breaking Bad. I'm so behind. I also heard Homeland is good. I'm finally into Season 4 of Mad Men.

 

[DarthFed]

Where are you on Breaking Bad Moxie? What season? The whole show is great but seasons 3-5 might be the best I've seen of any show. It is way up there at the very least.

 

[Moxie]

Where are you on Breaking Bad Moxie? What season? The whole show is great but seasons 3-5 might be the best I've seen of any show. It is way up there at the very least.

I only just started the first and then got way-laid. I'll try to catch up. Everyone I know thinks it is the best show.

 

[DarthFed]

First 2 seasons are way below the rest but they are still very good.

 

[brokenshoelace]

It seems a lot of people didn't like Dexter's ending but I thought it was OK. Part of the problem was that there were not many possible ways to end it given how it was set up. Definitely not a great season. I'd rank the seasons as follows: 4,1,2,3,7,6,8,5 It was a hell of a show and it sucks to see it end.

Breaking Bad was surprisingly slow this week but it is the calm before the storm. And a hell of a storm it will be.

I thought the finale was awful. Sure, you can give it a pass if you give them a pass for the awful writing leading up to it (within that context, it was OK), but if you look at the show from the very first season, and all the build up to this moment, it was an awful, awful ending.

The real problem though, as you mentioned, is the way they went about this season. BIG SPOILER ALERTS:

They set it up with a HUGE cliff-hanger, with Deb shooting Laguerta, yet instead of taking risks, and making this entire season about the investigation of the chief of police's death, they went with the copout BS explanation, and moved on. This entire season should have been about the police FINALLY starting to ask questions about Dexter, Debra being conflicted between protecting him (which she did by shooting Laguerta) and her overwhelming guilt, the complicated relationship between the two, leading up to the finale where Deb must make some dramatic choice as the police is tightening up and Dexter thinking about taking responsibility for "bringing pain to the people he loves," which he mentioned in the actual finale.

Instead, they played it way to safe and stuck to the formula, but executed it poorly. After initial tension between him and Deb, all was right in the world after super shrink, who came out of nowhere and knew all about Dexter's history, made them patch things up. Suddenly, all the build up in season 7 about Deb struggling to accept who her brother really is was for nothing, and Deb is so fine with it that she also houses his serial killer girlfriend, and asks him not to apologize for all the misery he's brought upon her as she lied in her hospital bed... Never mind the boring and pointless sub-plots that went nowhere (Masuka's daughter, Quinn potentially becoming Sargent), introducing new characters only to kill them off the next episode, nobody caring about Dexter's love for Hannah due to their awful chemistry, Harrisson falling in love with Hannah and wanting her to be his mother despite seeing her twice when he was 2, etc... Even Debra's death, something that is supposed to be more dramatic than anything in the show's history given who she is and how much people like her, felt really "meh" to me.

The problem is this season had a huge lack of direction. It was supposed to be all about Dexter and Deb, then suddenly Hannah shows up and Dexter doesn't care about Deb anymore, selfishly choosing to leave her behind AND using her again, but OH WAIT, it is about Deb after all, because he loves her...

Anyway, rant over. It was one hell of a show. The first 4 seasons were some of the best TV I've ever seen. "Seeing Red" (from Season 1) and "Hungry Man" (Season 4) are true television masterpieces (actually both those seasons are, in general), but the show deserved a far better send-off than that.

 

[DarthFed]

It seems a lot of people didn't like Dexter's ending but I thought it was OK. Part of the problem was that there were not many possible ways to end it given how it was set up. Definitely not a great season. I'd rank the seasons as follows: 4,1,2,3,7,6,8,5 It was a hell of a show and it sucks to see it end.

Breaking Bad was surprisingly slow this week but it is the calm before the storm. And a hell of a storm it will be.

I thought the finale was awful. Sure, you can give it a pass if you give them a pass for the awful writing leading up to it (within that context, it was OK), but if you look at the show from the very first season, and all the build up to this moment, it was an awful, awful ending.

The real problem though, as you mentioned, is the way they went about this season. BIG SPOILER ALERTS:

They set it up with a HUGE cliff-hanger, with Deb shooting Laguerta, yet instead of taking risks, and making this entire season about the investigation of the chief of police's death, they went with the copout BS explanation, and moved on. This entire season should have been about the police FINALLY starting to ask questions about Dexter, Debra being conflicted between protecting him (which she did by shooting Laguerta) and her overwhelming guilt, the complicated relationship between the two, leading up to the finale where Deb must make some dramatic choice as the police is tightening up and Dexter thinking about taking responsibility for "bringing pain to the people he loves," which he mentioned in the actual finale.

Instead, they played it way to safe and stuck to the formula, but executed it poorly. After initial tension between him and Deb, all was right in the world after super shrink, who came out of nowhere and new all about Dexter's history, made them patch things up. Suddenly, all the build up in season 7 about Deb struggling to accept who her brother really is was for nothing, and Deb is so fine with it that she also houses his serial killer girlfriend, and asks him not to apologize for all the misery he's brought upon her as she lied in her hospital bed... Never mind the boring and pointless sub-plots that went nowhere (Masuka's daughter, Quinn potentially becoming Sargent), introducing new characters only to kill them off the next episode, nobody caring about Dexter's love for Hannah due to their awful chemistry, Harrisson falling in love with Hannah and wanting her to be his mother despite seeing her twice when he was 2, etc... Even Debra's death, something that is supposed to be more dramatic than anything in the show's history given who she is and how much people like her, felt really "meh" to me.

The problem is this season had a huge lack of direction. It was supposed to be all about Dexter and Deb, then suddenly Hannah shows up and Dexter doesn't care about Deb anymore, selfishly choosing to leave her behind AND using her again, but OH WAIT, it is about Deb after all, because he loves her...

Anyway, rant over. It was one hell of a show. The first 4 seasons were some of the best TV I've ever seen. "Seeing Red" (from Season 1) and "Hungry Man" (Season 4) are true television masterpieces (actually both those seasons are, in general), but the show deserved a far better send-off than that.

There were a lot of holes in the writing this last season that just defy reason and then there's the fact that the direction they went in was just stupid. ADDITIONAL SPOILER ALERT


My main beef was that they should not have reconciled Deb and Dexter so easily. That was the main cliffhanger at the end of season 7 especially with the knowledge that season 8 would be the end. Somehow Deb's guilt, and perhaps the growing suspicions around Dexter should have played a role in the end.

The way it was set up though I got the sense that Deb would die the last episode so the only question was whether Dexter would kill himself or start a new life on his own (no way in hell he was ever getting to Argentina). Just the fact that he let Deb take Oliver instead of killing him was beyond unrealistic and showed how desperate they were to 1. show that Dexter has become more human and 2. set up a scenario where Deb gets killed and Dexter blames himself.

 

[Johnsteinbeck]

Where are you on Breaking Bad Moxie? What season? The whole show is great but seasons 3-5 might be the best I've seen of any show. It is way up there at the very least.

I only just started the first and then got way-laid. I'll try to catch up. Everyone I know thinks it is the best show.

yup, so do I. enjoy your time catching up

reading all the frustration about Dexter, i'm so glad as to how BrBa is moving. all of the final season so far has been pretty brilliant. to be honest, while they won't be a able to please everyone, i don't think i'll be complaining, no matter how they finish, because it sure has been a great ride for more than 40 hours.

yes, the latest episode, as Darth said, was a bit slow (still had some incredibly intense bits, of course). but that was really needed after the last weeks. gotta catch a breath before the final comes along.

First 2 seasons are way below the rest but they are still very good.

there were some aspects of season two (plane) that i wasn't a fan of, that seemed a little too far-fetched. but even then, i enjoyed the show, a lot. first season was great enough to get me hooked, which hasn't really happened before on a TV show.

 

[DarthFed]

Where are you on Breaking Bad Moxie? What season? The whole show is great but seasons 3-5 might be the best I've seen of any show. It is way up there at the very least.

I only just started the first and then got way-laid. I'll try to catch up. Everyone I know thinks it is the best show.

yup, so do I. enjoy your time catching up

reading all the frustration about Dexter, i'm so glad as to how BrBa is moving. all of the final season so far has been pretty brilliant. to be honest, while they won't be a able to please everyone, i don't think i'll be complaining, no matter how they finish, because it sure has been a great ride for more than 40 hours.

yes, the latest episode, as Darth said, was a bit slow (still had some incredibly intense bits, of course). but that was really needed after the last weeks. gotta catch a breath before the final comes along.

First 2 seasons are way below the rest but they are still very good.

there were some aspects of season two (plane) that i wasn't a fan of, that seemed a little too far-fetched. but even then, i enjoyed the show, a lot. first season was great enough to get me hooked, which hasn't really happened before on a TV show.

Yeah maybe I shouldn't say way below the rest as it makes it sound as though they were poor. It's just that seasons 3-5 have been off the charts good. Can't wait for Sunday to roll around!

 

[Kieran]

I won't get to Breaking Bad before it ends, but it sounds like a boxset waiting to happen. Mind you, so was The Wire: I got the boxset, but it still hasn't happened yet! uzzled

 

[DarthFed]

I won't get to Breaking Bad before it ends, but it sounds like a boxset waiting to happen. Mind you, so was The Wire: I got the boxset, but it still hasn't happened yet! uzzled

2 of the best shows ever bar none. Breaking Bad, Game of Thrones, and the Wire are all at 9.4 on IMDB which is the highest rating for shows that I know of. Pretty accurate for shows I've watched.

Sopranos is 9.1, Dexter is 9.0 and Homeland is at 8.6.

 

[Kieran]

Homeland was probably 9.8 for series 1 and then 6 or 2.0 for series 2. Rarely seen a show shoot itself in the foot so rapidly. Twas a collapse!

 

[DarthFed]

Homeland was probably 9.8 for series 1 and then 6 or 2.0 for series 2. Rarely seen a show shoot itself in the foot so rapidly. Twas a collapse!

Collapsed as quickly as a certain someone's pacemaker

 

[Kieran]

Homeland was probably 9.8 for series 1 and then 6 or 2.0 for series 2. Rarely seen a show shoot itself in the foot so rapidly. Twas a collapse!

Collapsed as quickly as a certain someone's pacemaker

I think series 3 is starting this week. As you know, the Big Selling Point is Mrs Brody, so I'm sworn to watch, especially when old alien head is in it, which I hope is every bleedin' minute...

 

[DarthFed]

One hell of a selling point if I may say so. And yes it starts this Sunday, same time as Breaking Bad unfortunately.

 

[brokenshoelace]

There were a lot of holes in the writing this last season that just defy reason and then there's the fact that the direction they went in was just stupid. ADDITIONAL SPOILER ALERT


My main beef was that they should not have reconciled Deb and Dexter so easily. That was the main cliffhanger at the end of season 7 especially with the knowledge that season 8 would be the end. Somehow Deb's guilt, and perhaps the growing suspicions around Dexter should have played a role in the end.

The way it was set up though I got the sense that Deb would die the last episode so the only question was whether Dexter would kill himself or start a new life on his own (no way in hell he was ever getting to Argentina). Just the fact that he let Deb take Oliver instead of killing him was beyond unrealistic and showed how desperate they were to 1. show that Dexter has become more human and 2. set up a scenario where Deb gets killed and Dexter blames himself.

More spoilers, obviously:

Yeah, that's exactly what I meant when I said that after struggling to accept who Dexter was, suddenly Deb was willing to house his serial killer girlfriend (who had previously tried to kill her), and even told Dexter he doesn't have to apologize for anything later in the season. I mean come on, she was so fed up with Dexter earlier in the season that she turned his speeding car into a lake...

I too, saw Debra's death coming, but the execution was pretty poor, and butchered what was supposed to be a chilling moment in the show.

Again, I don't think anything will take away from the brilliance of the first four seasons, but I do think the show would have been even more fondly remembered if they had finished strong.

 

[Kieran]

Okay, I've never seen Dexter, so I need advice from those who have: is it a good thing to have a serial killer as the hero of a TV show?

Does it glorify or trivialise murder in any way?

I'm serious! From a moral aspect and from the point of view of how nasty and explicit most films are, did the show Dexter pull a fast one and slip a germ into a system that's jaded and not keeping watch on what it feeds itself?