Wednesday, December 8, 2010

The TV Report

A few words on finales, since this past week saw several of them.

The Walking Dead
Now that you're over, Walking Dead, truth is, you were not very good, and I completely understand why Frank Darabont is canning the entire writing staff. It's just not enough to have a great concept for a show, and brilliant zombie make-up, you actually have to have interesting characters. Nothing exemplified this flaw more than the final moments of the finale when we were supposed to care about the death of a character who had about as much personality as a cardboard cut-out.

I will say this: when our rag-tag group of survivors got to spend one night in the luxury of the CDC, I loved how they all got fall-down drunk. It was such a truthful, character-revealing moment on a show thats had too few of them.

Boardwalk Empire
I'm admittedly a little letdown, but only because I expected fireworks. It was a great episode, and a nice ending to a series that got better and better. If Steve Buscemi wins an Emmy it will be for the speech about his wife and child he delivered to Kelly MacDonald. And if it wins for cinematography (sorry, when it wins) it will be for that gorgeous final shot of Atlantic City in the dawn light.

Here's why I was really disappointed: I wanted Van Alden to go out in blaze of glory, coming after Nucky to save Margaret Schroeder from her sinful state as kept woman. Instead, Van Alden is still alive, plus a potential father. I don't really want to see more of him next season now that he's gone full-psycho.

In Treatment
I know it's not official but it sure felt like the series finale, and not just the season finale. I liked the Jesse storyline this year but didn't love it. I didn't care about Frances (Debra Winger's character) in the first episode and I didn't care about her in the final episode. I loved Amy Ryan as Adele, and I'm sad that, just like Paul, we will never know her secrets. But the homerun of this series was Sunil (the great Irrfan Khan), and it actually ended with a twist that was both a surprise and felt completely earned. Is it too much to ask for one more season, and maybe a return of Amy Ryan?

No comments:

Post a Comment