View Logs: Breaking Bad Season 5.2 Finale

9/29/13

View Logs: Breaking Bad Season 5.2 Finale

Episode Title: Felina

It should be obvious by now that these view logs usually contain spoilers.  Sure there's a few that don't actually give away what happens and just talks about the abstract core of the characters and the plot (my Agents of SHIELD Episode 1 was a bit like that).  But it must be said here that there's no way I can avoid blatant spoilers when talking about Breaking Bad because, inevitably, I'll be talking about how Walter White's character came to a full complete arc.

The interesting thing is, the ending isn't as clear cut as it seems.  Vince Gilligan is very careful to craft a return of Walter White that is both a kind of redemption and not at the same time...   Really, Walter's specific redemption seems a little narrow in perspective and because of that it's not a "true" purification of the character.  I'll elaborate.

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View Logs: Agents of SHIELD S1 Episode 1

View Logs: Agents of SHIELD S1 Episode 1

Believe it or not, Agents of SHIELD falls right in line with stereotypical mainstream procedural shows.  Really a lot of TV is more high concept than most people think.  There's been multiple shows of supernatural detectives (Medium, Dresden, Pushing Daisies).  Plenty of paranormal investigation team shows (X-Files and it's copycats Fringe, Warehouse 13, and Sanctuary).  Fairy-tale adaptations are now pretty huge with Once Upon a Time, Grimm, Sleepy Hollow, Teen Wolf, Supernatural, and Wizards versus Aliens (YES THIS IS A REAL THING... LOOK IT UP NOW!).  On top of all that, superheroes shows are actually no strangers to TV either.  Really, they aren't.  Especially the "realistic" non-costumed hero types.

Anyone remember Heroes?  What about Syfy's Alphas?  No?  There's plenty more.  The Batman spinoff Birds of Prey, James Cameron's Dark Angel, Mutant X, The Cape, Smallville, Arrow, Bionic Woman (yes I count that), NightMan, Blade: The Series (yes I count that too), WitchBlade, the Highlander TV spinoffs.  (Most of these suck BTW and yes I've watched almost all of these...)  and there's the British Misfits.  Oh and The CW is premiering The Tomorrow People this coming TV fall season.

Which, as far as I can tell, is basically The CW's (shittier) version of the X-Men.

Anyways I can even go a little further with superhero stuff.  If you'd like to count shows that are practically superhero stories but aren't written specifically with that genre in mind, you can easily count Person of Interest (seriously, this is the TV Dark Knight and it is GLORIOUS!), Painkiller Jane, Le Femme Nikita, and the last season of 24 (LOLJACKBAUERMASK!).  These are not really a huge stretch from certain figures in comic books like The Punisher.

And I didn't even list the Saturday morning cartoons.

 So I hoped I've showed you why I found people saying that everything about Agents of SHIELD is "new" and "unique" to be irritatingly inaccurate.  The only thing unique about Agents of SHIELD is the fact that it's set in the Marvel universe.  So really the flashy skin on top of it.  Sure, Agents of SHIELD isn't generic like The Cape or Alphas.  But under all that gloss and faux-novelty is a show that is a little more standard than most people would like to admit (or allow themselves to see).

So what is it about Agents of SHIELD that I found so standard?  Let's take a quick look at the writing shall we?

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View Logs: Agents of SHIELD, "Pilot"

9/27/13

View Logs: Agents of SHIELD, "Pilot"

Well, it's me, Newt.
Remember me?  I said I'd be doing guest posts on Agents of SHIELD?

Anyway, There's a little phrase that I went back and forth over whether or not I should use it when posting these View Logs.

"In the comics"

I firmly believe that this show must work on its own merits.

...

...but I still think that the over 60 years of publication history is important to at least touch upon.

Besides, we've got the Artsy Core him?/her?/it?self for the non-comic reader's perspective.

Still, I'll keep in mind that not everyone will know everything I know about the comic history.

Yes, there were Agents, and they were of SHIELD.  The title is accurate.

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View Logs: Dads S1 Episode 2

9/26/13

View Logs: Dads S1 Episode 2

Episode Title: Heckuva Job, Brownie

Curse these network premieres.  Almost every major network premiered a few shows this week.  I caught some... like Hostages (which sucked btw), Sleepy Hollow (which SUCKED... btw...), Agents of SHIELD (which... well you'll just have to see).  I missed a whole lot however, like The Blacklist, Masters of Sex (shut up) and Trophy Wife (SHUT UP... I try to watch everything...shut up).  Point is, I got a lot of options... yet I'm here watching another episode of Dads...

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2013 65th Emmy Screen Fiction Winners

9/25/13

2013 65th Emmy Screen Fiction Winners

Comedy

• Modern Family (ABC)
  • 30 Rock (NBC)
  • The Big Bang Theory (CBS)
  • Girls (HBO)
  • Louie (FX)
  • Veep (HBO)

Drama

• Breaking Bad (AMC)
  • Downton Abbey (PBS)
  • Game of Thrones (HBO)
  • Homeland (Showtime)
  • House of Cards (Netflix)
  • Mad Men (AMC)

Miniseries/Movie

• Behind the Candelabra (HBO)
  • American Horror Story: Asylum (FX)
  • The Bible (History)
  • Phil Spector (HBO)
  • Political Animals (USA Network)
  • Top of the Lake (Sundance Channel)

Animation

• South Park (Episode: "Raising the Bar") (Comedy Central)
  • Bob's Burgers (Episode: "O.T.: The Outside Toilet") (Fox)
  • Kung Fu Panda: Legends of Awesomeness (Episode: "Enter the Dragon") (Nickelodeon)
  • Regular Show (Episode: "The Christmas Special") (Cartoon Network)
  • The Simpsons (Episode: "Treehouse of Horror XXIII") (Fox)

Short-Form Animation

• Mickey Mouse (Episode: "Croissant de Triomphe") (Disney Channel)
  • Adventure Time (Episode: "Simon & Marcy") (Cartoon Network)
  • Clarence (Cartoon Network)
  • Regular Show (Episode: "A Bunch of Full Grown Geese") (Cartoon Network)
  • Robot Chicken (Episode: "Robot Chicken's ATM Christmas Special") (Cartoon Network)

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View Logs: Breaking Bad S5.2 Episode 7

9/23/13

View Logs: Breaking Bad S5.2 Episode 7

Episode Title: Granite State

Breaking Bad is something special.  I suppose those reading this (and assuming you've been watching Breaking Bad with me if you are) already know that from four and a half amazing seasons.  But really it almost seems like Breaking Bad's final few episodes are just a collage of many endings.  Watching Ozymandius, I just couldn't help but get a Sopranos vibe.  I know many are getting into TV just now so some might not be familiar with HBO's classic mob show.  I won't spoil exactly what happened.  But let's just say that David Chase ended The Sopranos on an abrupt cut to black.

I don't know how many out there remember how big of a deal this was back in 2007.  People raged, argued, and lampooned The Soprano's ending for quite a bit before Breaking Bad started taking everyone's attention.  In many ways, Breaking Bad had many endings that could have tied up Walt's character arc fairly well without wasting screen time.  It's a mark of a good piece of fiction when the story doesn't take longer than it should.  Breaking Bad has always been great about that.  Yet somehow, I got this superficial feeling that the ending is dragging slightly at first.  Especially with the knowledge that the final two episodes were going to be extended episodes.  I wondered and thought... is this really necessary?  Could Breaking Bad have just ended with that final shot of Ozymandius?  Did Vince Gilligan not exercise as much discipline as David Chase?

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View Logs: Dads S1 Episode 1

9/19/13

View Logs: Dads S1 Episode 1

...FUCK THIS SHOW...ok... ok ok..okokokok... I realize that I might seem a little... what you human thingies call.. whiny?  Maybe?  Yeah... yeah I know.  I mean, I try not to.  I find it way easier to not be overly negative in the good stuff... or... the heady stuff that might not be as good but are atleast trying like Low Winter Sun...

butFUCKTHISSHOW... ok... ok... I can't keep typing that no matter how much I basically just want to fill this log with basically that for ten pages...  I mean what is happening to me?  I'm a machine!  I don't have emotions!  I analyze not consumBUTFUCKTHISGODDAMMSHOW...

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