Season 2 of Friday Night Lights begins with a fractured family, with Coach Taylor at TMU and with Mrs. Coach and Julie remaining in Dillon. In a way, this is reflective of the entire show this season: the pieces of the puzzle are present, but they never quite fit into place, never gelling in the way that the brilliant first season does. There’s a hell of a lot of potential, but much of it is squandered in favor of melodrama or storylines that have no place in this show.
Hannibal is full of death, but the way the show handles it is so artful.
The various crime scenes dreamed up by the writers showcase a wide variety of imaginative, unique, and truly unsettling imagery, and that’s no different with the bee (BEES?! Sorry, I had to make that reference) corpse this week. However, what I want to expand upon is the idea of death from a psychological and emotional perspective.
“Advanced Dungeons and Dragons” was one of the all-time greatest Community episodes, showcasing the best the show had to offer and beautifully summing up what Community is about; there’s just no use trying to rehash greatest hits, and thankfully, “Advanced Advanced Dungeons and Dragons” is able to maintain a sense of uniqueness as it delivers a flawed, yet entertaining, 21 minutes.
When you play a part, it’s only natural that you relate to it and get caught up in the words and the actions and the beliefs, perhaps actually taking on some of those traits you’ve been asked to act out. Oftentimes, the person you play is merely an extension of yourself, the other side to a curtain you attempt to open and shut.
What an incredible hour of television.
It’s always great to see Root back in the picture, doing what she does best. However, this episode takes the character and improves on it, adding layers and revealing truths and exploring further. By episode’s end, we’re presented with a fully fleshed out, incredibly compelling character who I only want to see more of.
Harlan’s never really contained a hierarchy of criminals so much as a jumbled mess of ’em.
Sure, you have the smart, calculating Boyd Crowders and the not-so-smart, not-so-calculating Dewey Crowes of the world, but in this type of environment, who’s to say who wins? Unpredictability is dangerous, and it’s questionable whether someone like Boyd Crowder is any better off than Dewey Crowe when it comes to handling rapid-fire decisions and outpourings of emotion.
Well, that was brutal, wasn’t it?
After a series of meandering episodes ranging from average to bad, The Walking Dead delivers a gut punch with “The Grove”, an emotionally resonant hour of television with some truly unsettling moments.
I’m scared for Fiona Gallagher.
Just when you thought you saw her hit rock bottom already, this episode happens. Every single moment in this episode is heartbreaking, especially the subtle ones like Fiona joking with Veronica about flipping burgers or trying to make light of her felony charge.
“When Jason Street went down in the first game of the season, everybody wrote us off. Everybody. And here we are at the championship game. 40,000 people have also written us off. But there are some who do still believe in you, a few who’d never give up on you. When you go back out on that field, those are the people I want in your minds. Those are the people I want in your hearts. Every man at some point in his life is gonna lose a battle. He’s gonna fight and he’s gonna lose. But what makes him a man, is that in the midst of that battle, he does not lose himself. This game is not over; this battle is not over. So let’s hear it one more time, together. Clear eyes, full hearts, CAN’T LOSE!”
Will Graham is on trial.
Interestingly, the trial isn’t necessarily about Will; rather, it’s about how those around him view the situation, view the topic of his innocence, view him as a person. Although the episode veers into a courtroom setting, and although it stumbles a bit due to its place-setting nature, we still are privy to some very interesting character explorations.
Polar Bears Watch TV 