Shameless, you’re wrecking me.
This is one of the best, if not the best, episodes this show has ever produced, and it brings with it a whirlwind of emotions. If you’re looking for an example of a showcase for the cast, it doesn’t get any better than this; absolute perfection.
Is there no ceiling this show can’t reach?
After last week’s thrilling, intense final sequence, I didn’t expect the show to match that quality immediately following it. Well, here I am, impressed by the way this week’s episode manages to completely subvert our expectations and transition into a new phase of the show, with both poise and ease.
Why is Lucas Hood in Banshee?
That’s the question that gets asked repeatedly in tonight’s episode, one filled to the brim with nice action, character moments, and pure entertainment. It’s a basic Banshee episode–pitting Hood against a foe–but it doesn’t lose the character work done in last week’s “The Truth About Unicorns”.
Well, we’re back for another season of political intrigue and backstabbing. It’s House of Cards season 2.
I’ll be honest: I’d be the first person to express my dislike for much of season 1, as I thought it was tedious, a bit pretentious, and full of extraneous characters and plots I just had no interest in. “Chapter 14”, though, seems to hit the ground (literally) running, delivering a more tightly-plotted episode that, even considering the show still has its problems, is genuinely entertaining.
Justified knows how to deliver its cold opens.
“Kill the Messenger” starts off with a wonderful teaser, one which effectively sets up the episode and is brilliantly acted by both Timothy Olyphant and Nick Searcy. The punch is a long time coming, and we can see the inner and external conflicts bubbling at the surface, just ready to boil over once morals trump respect.
Well, we’re back.
Last year left us with a dead Governor, a decapitated Hershel, and a split group, and The Walking Dead‘s midseason premiere is a toned down, contemplative look at three characters: Michonne, Rick, and Carl.
Absolutely devastating.
There’s really no other way to describe this episode, which is the culmination of a group of storylines that portray the dark roads the Gallaghers are going down. It’s hard to watch what was once a happy, carefree family struggling like this, but as I’ve said before, it’s a necessary step for the show.
This right here is the best show on television right now.
My goodness, where to start? The way this episode manages not only to be a transition into the second half of the season, but also an hour of pure, unbridled intensity, is a sight to see. It’s ripe with interesting character development, humor, and one of the best television sequences I have ever seen.
Well, that was different.
Season 2 of Banshee seems to be intent on toning things down a bit, and “The Truth About Unicorns” is an intriguing, ambitious hour of television that serves as the “calm before the storm”. Not everything here works, and while it’ll most likely go down as the most divisive episode of the series thus far, I have to say that I very much enjoyed it.
After two legitimately fantastic episodes, The Vampire Diaries delivers a more by-the-numbers installment this week. It’s extremely entertaining, but there are some questionable character choices that I hope can be resolved after the Olympic break.
Polar Bears Watch TV 