Brooklyn Nine-Nine is such a well-realized show, one that effectively set up its various character dynamics in season one and continues to develop them with ease and laughter. As we head into season 2, we know where everyone’s at, and all the character beats that are hit are completely in line with what we know about the characters. The comedy derives not from cheap gags, but rather from the little quirks we’re familiar with or from the relationships we’ve seen.
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STATE OF THE UNION: This is a fine start to the season–predictable, of course–especially considering we’ve had a plethora of bland political cold opens before this. Kenan Thompson’s descriptions of the school bus (“it’s yellow”) are definitely the best parts of the sketch, and Jay Pharaoh’s physical comedy makes for some laughs as well. I was expecting Beck Bennett=Roger Goodell, though. GRADE: B-
RIP, Don Pardo.
“I don’t know how it is I raised three people who cannot see beyond themselves.”
The title of the series, Transparent, is a perfect encapsulation of what this show is about. On the one hand, you have the obvious play on words with “trans” and “parent” placed side by side, but on the other, you also have the actual meaning of the word transparent: having thoughts, feelings, or motives easily perceived by others. The show is about perception, about how we see who we see, about how societal and personal values may clash, about whether or not we can still love while looking at someone through a different lens.
ARC 6, Part 1: “The Captain’s Hand” and “Downloaded”
“The Captain’s Hand”–2×17
I’d hate to be commander of the Pegasus, considering I’d probably die within a few days of taking command. In this episode, Commander Garner becomes the third to perish in the span of five episodes, and he goes the “sacrificing yourself for the good of everyone else” route by returning to the engine room he knows so well.
Olivia Pope is the machine that makes everything run, but in reality, many of the problems that pop up around this environment are the result of her actions; she’s a fixer, but as much as she’s the glue that holds everything together, she’s also what will rip it apart. Take “Randy, Red, Superfreak and Julia”, for example, which brings with it a new status quo–Abby as press secretary for Fitz, Huck as Randy the tech guy, Jake and Olivia hanging out on a beach–that is immediately shaken up once again when Olivia returns to D.C.
Final seasons simultaneously bring closure and look toward the future, and that’s exactly what we see throughout “Vegas”, the final premiere of this wonderful little show. The episode is largely framed around Zeek, who collapses while he’s in Vegas for his birthday, and we’re reminded of the mortality that is inherent in life, of the fact that the idea of parenthood is ever evolving through the generations. Simply put, people die. Parents die. We saw Kristina battle cancer in season four–with a near perfect performance by Monica Potter–but here, we’re seeing someone come close to the end by natural means.
“No man can run from his past.”
There’s a sad irony inherent in Linder’s ultimate fate, in the fact that he winds up being shot in the chest by the very man he sets out to kill. In hindsight, we realize that Linder’s the one who can’t run from his past, who can’t break free of the world he lives in, and he’s essentially running toward his past when he breaks into a literal run in that alley. It’s a bit premature to say that he’s a hundred percent dead, but it certainly seems like the writers have reached their ending point with his storyline.
“It’s not just about the numbers, Harold. It’s about survival.”
Oh, how I’ve missed you, Person of Interest. The end of season three brought with it a shift in the status quo, a shakeup that not only forced our beloved characters to obtain new identities, but also scattered them throughout the city and prevented them from moving forward as a team. As we open the fourth season, they’re all in stifling positions, trapped by the need to survive but still hungry to save lives, and “Panopticon” illustrates a group of people who truly only function when they’re working with each other.
“This is war.”
The greatest thing about Sleepy Hollow is the fact that while in every episode, it can let loose and embrace the insanity, it never loses sight of the heart of the show: the central Abbie-Ichabod dynamic. Within the first 5 minutes of “This Is War”, we get a very poignant conversation between the two in which they acknowledge their history, acknowledge what they’ve meant to each other since they’ve met, and acknowledge their future together. Of course, this is all happening while the writers are screwing with us. Continue reading
“They’re gangsters. I’m an advocate for repeal.”
Nope, Nucky’s a gangster as well. He’s in the midst of an attempted reinvention, but the simple truth is that no matter how hard he tries, he’ll always be a gangster; he’ll always be tied to his past, to his desires for power and respect and control. It’s just who he his, and attempts to rebrand himself are the marks of a desperate individual looking to go out on a wave of respect, but finding nothing in return.
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