let's talk about tv shows itt

<i>Good Wife</i> on a tear lately, but a question for you deists. Having grown up in a heathen household, is Alicia's reaction to Grace's religion-seeking a big surprise/over-reaction?

i dunno but, man, wendy scott-carr...

Good Wife is easily the most consistent pleasure on TV for me - rarely transcendent (last example would be "Executive Order 32444" or whatever that was called) but it's always at least a little compelling in some respect.

(although i hope that's the last season since things have already come to a head so much at this point).

Sutter's hoping for 7 seasons, and unless the ratings drop precipitously, it'll happen.

i feel like one of the few people these days who isn't in a rush to see their favorite shows go off the air before they jump the shark, but that is kinda crazy. i don't even know how they could make the current art last for more than one more season, let alone 3. hopefully they'll find new ways to utilize the whole ensemble instead of killing off more and more secondary characters.

anyone watching the slap?

Watched the first couple of episodes. Felt a bit rote

The Killing II finale => Anyone see it?

Buch turned out to be p/gd in this: looked like a man condemmed at the end w/his glance at his secretary/civil servant.

i saw it, enjoyable but there were some huge plot holes imo

I've mainlined the first SoA season, and I'm mostly through the second. My favorite episode in the show so far is the one in which the vote for Jax to go rogue is reversed by his mom's admission. The scene at the kitchen table with Jax, Clay, and Gemma was so goosebumps and lump-in-the-throat good, and earned.

We're all in agreement that 'The Firm' will likely be terrible, right?

unless wilfred brimley reprises his role, yes

Would watch it if that happened.

caught up on this season of it's always sunny, "chardee macdennis" was the peak, the reveal in the finale was pretty obvious but still made me laugh my ass off.

DO WE HAVE A SANDBOX BREAKING BAD THREAD BECAUSE I HAVE CAUGHT UP AND OH MY FUCKING LIFE WHAT THE SHIT I NEED TO TALK ABOUT IT AND WHEN I SAY TALK ABOUT IT I MEAN SAY HOLY SHIT OVER AND OVER AGAIN

i just watched homeland finale. wowww. so pissed i have to wait for a new season now!

I'm not sure how I feel about the finale to be honest, a lot of it felt like a copout.

OK THATS GREAT AND ALL BUT IM COMING MONTHS LATE TO THE BREAKING BAD FINALE AND SHIT WENT DOWWWWWWWWN

I PRESUME IF ILX EVER RETURNS AND I GO BACK TO WHEN THE FINALE FIRST AIRED IT IS HELLA AMOUNTS OF CAPSLOCK IT IS THE ONLY WAY TO TALK ABOUT IT

yeah the homeland finale was kinda sucky i thought, i mean not bad in particular just didnt really live up to my expectations

I think it accomplished the not-inconsiderable task of actually making a second season plausible, while not betraying itself much in the process. Also, the final shot was agreeably messed up.

i dunno but, man, wendy scott-carr...

GANG. STA.

Simon otm, i didn't love the Homeland finale but i don't know what else they could've done that would've been better, all things considered. worst thing about the finale was that the ads Showtime aired for it pretty much gave away 90% of what happened in the episode, which really sucked a lot of the air out of actually watching it.

I think Breaking Bad's reckless tendency towards constantly painting itself into a corner makes me respect Homeland's apparent reluctance to do so a little less. The seams are showing a bit and, acting aside, I can't help but feel like the second season is likely to be relatively disappointing.

second seasons are usually an improvement - given how strong their s1 was, relatively speaking, I think they've earned a bit of trust.

true, but a LOT of shows blow their load the first season, especially if it's a premise like this that has a particular arc and doesn't really lend itself to being an episodic series for years and years. i'll give them the benefit of the doubt but it'll be an uphill road.

Also, I thought this season was a good model for how to blow through way more plot than viewers might be expecting while still managing the pace nicely; hell, when it started, I was pretty sure we'd be spending the whole season with Carrie watching Brody through those hidden cameras. They went down in episode, what, five?

Homeland finale was great, I thought. Such prolonged tension, but really well done. And Carrie not knowing what she did is messed-up but also great.
Ahoy hoy I was kind of communicating totally in caps lock after the BB finale! For some reason I have a lot of friends who just finished season 3 and are like 'wow' and I'm just RELISHING the thought of them finishing s4.

See Breaking Bad had always been a bit of a drag to me, with v. good moments thrown in. I kinda just, not gave up, but not felt the need to go any further from the middle of s4. And then I couldn't sleep, had nothing to do that didn't involve sitting down (wrapping presents etc.) and thought what the hell... AND SHIT YES WAS IT WORTH IT.

Some classic gifs in the Real ILX thread iirc

im with the second mr. stevenson here--see for example damages, which definitely dropped in quality for s2 (but recovered in s3)

the problem is that the SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER nick-brody-is-secretly-a-terrorist is only sustainable as a thing for at best another half season before it starts to feel like the show isnt going anywhere. like not enough has changed about the core character dynamic "crazy carrie, brooding brody" for there to be forward motion--it feels more like the season finale of a network show, where something MIGHT change but you know within a couple weeks itll get back to more or less the same dynamic as before

Bored to Death canceled

name becomes super literal description

Hung, hanged. How To Make It In America, not gonna make it

sad about bored to death

Enlightened renewed. I need to catch up with it.

I'm a little more than halfway through s1 Game of Thrones and liking it. latest ep I watched (#7?) was totally epic

see for example damages, which definitely dropped in quality for s2 (but recovered in s3)

hm I felt like that one just got progressively more ridic as it went along and all their little tricks and quirks started to seem so stupid. not sure if I'm fully caught up to s3 though.

great job hbo!

i thought s3 was pretty good! definitely better than season 2. i doubt very much theyll ever live up to season 1 but thats okay

sad about bored to death getting canceled but i cant believe a show that weird and location-specific ever made it to three seasons in the first place

i doubt very much theyll ever live up to season 1 but thats okay

i kinda think the format of the show makes it impossible for them to top that first season, i dont really think they have anywhere left to go its just variations on a theme or w/e now

i d/l a bunch of homeland episodes btw thread hyh

yeah damages is one of those shows that makes me wish cable networks were more open to the bbc style "just one season"/"miniseries" thing

why do you always hate on damages season 2, max, it hurts my feelings

tim olyphant marcia gay are you made of stone???

plus it's still all about the patty-ellen relaysh which season 3 is kind of less about

which was the season that closed with a wicked cover of leonard cohen's 'everybody knows'? i think thats still my fave damages moment~~

i think the storytelling in s2 is p incoherent, they do a bunch of things that dont make much sense and fuc w/the characters for the sake of ~twists~

yeah it's hard to argue with that but the, i don't know, EMOTIONAL PACING is still compelling

the storytelling is at least a little incoherent in all the seasons

"everybody knows" is season 3, i think

season 2 was still super watchable and gripping, it just wasnt season one which is still one of my favorite tv seasons of all time