MOVIE REVIEW: Even in 2013 Optics Matter: Why 42 is an important film to be seen

Earlier this week I went to see Brian Helgeland's "42" less a biopic of Jackie Robinson than a chronicling of his historic rise in 1946 to become the first African American player in major league baseball in the modern era. The film focuses on the two year period that Robinson entered the professional league first with the Dodgers minor league Montreal Royals and then in 1947 with the Brooklyn Dodgers. At the center of the story is the relationship he shared with Brooklyn Dodgers general manager Branch Rickey. Harrison Ford plays Rickey with great reserve that doesn't sacrifice the spunk of the legendary owner, leaning into the quiet moments rather than sucking the air out of the grander, idealistic dialogue. I appreciated that Rickey is portrayed as a businessman who sees the financial value that integration will mean but is not obtuse about the real hurdle he is seeking to overcome by leading the breakdown of this barrier. Ford is just one piece of a well casted film especially selecting the unknown, talented Chadwick Boseman to play Jackie Robinson. Boseman portrays Robinson with a balance of emotions that felt honest, noble and viscerally pained. His take on this iconic hero was that of a man placed in extraordinary circumstances that he did not deliberately seek out.

I enjoyed this film from opening monologue to closing credits. It is very easy to slide into the world the movie creates and has a pacing very similar to The Natural. Yes, it plays every movie manipulation trick in the book from soaring music to triumphant long angle shots. Yes there are canned moments in the script that fall flat but most are covered up by the warmth generated in the cinematography and color palette and the strength of the actors delivering those lines. The flaws or predictability of the film don't matter because the movie isn't trying to hide the fact that it is manipulative. It is a simplistic look at the goodness that comes when we listen to our better angels. Early on when Dickey recruits Robinson he tells him 'not to fight back'. He lets Robinson know that while he is on his side, the reality is the world is stacked against them. In smaller ways throughout the film Rickey influences all of his players to understand that change comes through action. By letting people see what you do, they will soon learn who you are. Had Robinson and his fellow teammates on the Dodgers tried to justify Robinson's role on the team, it would have fallen on deaf ears. This was one of many ways this film gets to the heart of a trusim that still stands 65 years after he broke the racial barrier in baseball.

The optics matter.

One thing I wish they had spent more time on in the film was how Rickey came to chose Robinson. It wasn't an accident that Robinson was selected to be the first. I think this piece of information is critical especially because I don't believe the average audience member is going to know that Robinson wasn't the best player at the time in the Negro leagues, he was the right player to cross the threshold of history and that meant several factors beyond his athletic abilities weighed in on Dickey's decision-making.

The optics matter.

There are several moments built into the film that were meant to get to me and did.  However the most effective device that Helgeland used was the recurrence of seeing the movie through young boys' eyes at three pivotal moments. These moments in the movie truly tells the power of how Robinson's dignity and ability to remain professional in the face of horrific mistreatment had a ripple effect beyond the dugout and into the lives of people he never met. We see the excited young boy in the colored section at Spring training witness history when Jackie Robinson steps on the field for the first time. It's not lost on the viewer that this young man's life changed when Jackie Robinson changed history. From that moment forward, being black was no longer a barrier to playing in the major leagues. In a later scene we witness a young white boy in the stands eager to see his favorite player sitting beside his equally enthusiastic father. It is an American snapshot, father and son at the ballpark. Only moments later is this slice of Americana shattered by the father joining in shouting racial slurs as Robinson takes the field, we watch as the young boy attempts to process the actions of his father with the sight of his favorite player embracing Robinson on the field in an attempt to quell the crowd. And finally in one of their final scenes Dickey shares a story with Robinson at a particularly difficult moment for him about passing a young boy on a ball field on his way to Ebbets Field. He explains the young boy was up at the plate imitating Jackie Robinson's batting routine. Dickey reveals that the young boy was white going onto to say, "A white child trying to be a black man".

The optics matter. 

Growing up I saw very few images of Hispanics. When they did appear they were often only shown as thugs, drug addicts or pimps. Maria from Sesame Street was the lone beacon on television as someone who looked like me as a young child. That's the reason I think the inner beauty and strength of this movie so loudly resonates in that repeating point of view of the children seen in the movie.

By letting them see what you do they will learn who you are. This has been a truism in my life when I wasn't white enough, Puerto Rican enough, tough enough, whatever - enough. The optics have always mattered and as I look into the innocent face of my 7 year old I realize as much as life has changed, the optics will always somehow matter. It is why I took her to the Mall on that cold January day in 2009 to see Barack Obama inaugurated. It is why I talk to her about Sonia Sotomayor. Seeing the possibilities in life requires optimism and tenacity but no one can deny that fuel is added to the fire when the reflection of your aspirations looks like the person you see in the mirror everyday.

The optics matter.

AUTOPSY REPORT: Why SMASH Failed

 

Two years ago when the buzz began about SMASH I could not have been more thrilled. A TV show that was going to take a look behind the curtain at the interworking of making a Broadway musical. Yes I had grave concerns about casting Katherine McPhee (which proved right). A musical about Marilyn Monroe was also subject matter that left me cold. However, this was a show about Broadway littered with folks from the Great White Way including a personal favorite of mine - Brian D'arcy James.

Then when it premiered there was this:

This closing number to episode one was glorious. It also established an expectation that this show was actually onto something. The core cast (save for McPhee) seemed primed to take us on a ride through the intricacies that go into getting a show to Broadway. Sadly by episode three the show quickly and horrifically squandered its opportunity (and audience) by never living up to its promise. Some have indicated the subject matter centering on Broadway didn't have an audience. I think the popularity of Glee (a grossly erratic show) says otherwise. So then the question is what happened? Here are my thoughts on where it went wrong.

Side Swiped by Side Plots

Almost immediately the show gave far too much weight and screen time to secondary plots that had no connection to the Marilyn musical they were creating. Julia’s character was the major source including an ill-conceived adoption plot, her troubled marriage and her annoying teenage-son. That along with random scenes with Karen's politico boyfriend and any scene that included Ellis the show’s episodes quickly became disjointed.

I believe those of us who tuned in wanted a show that looked at a process your average theater fan doesn’t know about. How does a musical get written, story-boarded and mapped out in a rehearsal studio? What does the casting process look like? How does the creative team come together and what is the power play that happens between the director, writers and producers? All of those aspects were there, but more often than not felt crowded out by the drama happening outside the studio, which was far less interesting.

Wasted Talent

As a long time Broadway junkie nothing about this show made me happier than the parade of talented stage actors who were a part of this show. Yes Bernadette Peters was a fun touch as Ivy's mother, but it was folks like Christian Borle and Brian D'Arcy James that made me most excited. How disappointing to find James in particular relegated to a peripheral role that didn't tap one of his greatest talents - his singing voice. It was criminal to watch. The same can be said for Raza Jaffrey saddled with the pathetic exercise of being Karen's lame boyfriend who’s most memorable action all season is a drunken one night stand with Ivy - yuck! By the time we hit season 2, we moved from wasted talent to stunt casting. There is a long list of Broadway/Theater vets who are immensely talented, all of whom I’ve had the pleasure to see perform elsewhere. All of them were unceremoniously underused and miscast. If it was a drinking game, I’d still be drunk from Sunday’s finale.

Characters that were a waste of time

Much has been written this season about the misguided plot turns, competing musicals and awful character embodied by Jeremy Jordan and the mishandling of Kyle’s character as a would be Jonathan Larson. While all true, I do not believe this is the reason the show failed. It was merely the final nail in a coffin filled with characters that served no purpose.

Season 1 gave us Will Chase, a waste of time that served only as part of Julia’s infidelity plot. Uma Thurman came in as the ‘star power’ when the show within the show sought out a 'stunt casting', which is not uncommon. It didn't work because SMASH built the first half of its season around the premise that the role of Marilyn was going to come down to the newcomer and perennial chorus girl. Regardless of Thurman’s abilities, it torpedoed everything that came before it and felt like a bait and switch to the audience. And then there was Ellis Boyd. Poor Jaime Cepero, the actor who had the great misfortune to play Ellis a unilaterally and immediately despised character who’s plotting and lurking was both absurd and pointless. That he got his comeuppance from the delectable Angelica Houston was little compensation for an entire season of stolen time from a character that added no value to a show that didn't have minutes to waste.

However the worst offense in casting was thinking that Jennifer Hudson’s brief story arc was a good plan this season. Her character was highly promoted and completely disconnected from all other aspects of the plot and purpose of the show. I understand that somewhere in a studio this must have made sense on paper. But it represented everything that SMASH did wrong – a storyline removed from the primary plot, poor casting and terrible writing. The one thing this arc did prove is how limited Hudson's acting ability is.

Season two also ushered in a second musical, “Hit List” and with it a parade of characters no one cared about. Kyle and Jimmy certainly the most prominent of the bunch. Frankly the second show premise might have worked if it wasn’t written so implausibly and with such a disagreeable character at its core.

Plausibility 

Speaking of implausible, that is what I think ultimately killed any hope of SMASH seeing a season 3. I was willing to give SMASH a second season to course correct because the pieces of season one had promise. I thought a new show runner, paring down the cast and resetting the trajectory could have worked. However, instead the show completely derailed when Karen quits Bombshell. The character of Karen was problematic from jump and Katherine McPhee's poor acting did not help her cause.  Karen was vulnerable and naïve but also ambitious. The idea that any actor, especially one who has not established a career would leave a lead role on a Broadway show to do a showcase, black box show at Fringe would NEVER HAPPEN. Period. Not in any way shape or form is this choice plausible. It was a preposterous plot shift to get us to dueling musicals. The shame of it is they could have accomplished this plot shift by simply having Karen fired from Bombshell. Having her quit betrayed the audience’s intelligence and it led to a series of ridiculous moments throughout season 2 that made the character of Karen look pious, delusional and ultimately unlikeable.

It makes me sad that SMASH died an early death. Not because it was a good show that didn’t get a shot at success, but because I love Broadway and live theater in general. I adore musicals and I think it is an art form that deserves exposure to a larger audience. At the end of the day this show became its own worst enemy. It had talent and topic that it didn’t know how to translate to a small screen as a continuing series. After sitting through the final two hours of this series on Sunday and given its chosen plot course this season some might call it a mercy killing.  I would call it a missed opportunity.

Memorial Day:The Best Years of Our Lives

Many films, some epic depict the ravages, sacrifice and history of war. You would be hard pressed to find a Memorial Day weekend that doesn't include airings of Band of Brothers, Saving Private Ryan, Platoon and a host of other war movies. The best among them is William Wyler's The Best Years of Our Lives. This 1946 film tells the tale of three soldiers returning home from World War II to small town America chronicling their reentry into society. It is a story about the reconciliation of how war impacts individuals and the families who love them. At a time when propaganda and glorifying war were the standard bearer this film takes an honest look at the very real struggles that resulted in towns across America for the men coming home from war. Not just the injuries they suffered in battle, but the insults they endured returning to a society that was ill prepared to embrace them.

The film follows Fred Derry (Dana Andrews), Al Stevenson (Fredric March) and Homer Parrish (Harold Russell). Three men who become friends after sharing a plane and cab ride home at the end of the war. Each apprehensive about returning to the families and lives they left behind share an instant bond and immediate loyalty to each other. That loyalty becomes the unbreakable bond that serves as the backbone of this film. We watch Fred who rises to become a decorated Captain is summarily relegated back to the unskilled worker he was prior to going overseas. He returns home to a life that has moved on without him. Al on the other hand left the comforts of an upper middle class life and returns to find little has changed around him except the growth of his children, yet he is far removed from the person who left for war. The juxtaposition of these two men creates bookends for the film played out in unexpected friendship and envy. Fred found purpose in the war he never had only to see it erased by coming home while Al suddenly sees the frivolity of his life and seeks to bury that shame in self destruction. Both men search for the bridge that connects their past to their present in a meaningful way. Where they find it is one of the most humbling aspects of this film.

Perhaps the most poignant of the three men's stories is that of Homer, portrayed by real life WWII vet Harold Russell. When Homer's ship was sunk, his arms were burned off below the elbow and he is given metal hook prostheses in place of his hands. Interestingly, Homer does not take on the dark ravages of war. On the contrary Homer represents the innocence of so many of the young men sent overseas and the ignorant bliss small town life held. Once the star quarterback engaged to his childhood sweetheart his physical war wounds question his core identity. Homer remains noble but is haunted, not just by the physical loss he's endured but the belief that this loss translates to the life he had once hoped and assumed he would live.

We watch as all three men navigate their assimilation back into their families and town, often in fits and starts. Their self-redemptions are hard earned as they recalibrate their perspective on the world post war and rebuild their lives. Wyler's film portrays this struggle realistically and without pretense. He offers a voyeuristic view into the coping and survival mechanisms that are often self-destructive, unlikeable and at moments cringe worthy. The only safe harbor for these men is each other.

This film is a triumph due in no small part to its excellent cast, thoughtful script and innovative cinematography. Complimenting all of this is the film's moving musical score. Lesser known than many of his contemporaries Hugo Friedhofer's music perfectly establishes the mood and melancholy that our lead characters embody. Listening to the sequence when Homer returns home and into the eager arms of his younger sister and fiancé perfectly conveys the innocence and optimism they carry in the relief he is alive. It is a sharp contrast to the pained distance portrayed on Harold Russell's face. There are a dozen or so of these scored moments when you can appreciate the power of music in storytelling. When done right you are able to close your eyes and envision the director's scene. Few scores do this better than Friedhofer's in this movie. It is a movie I could literally love with my eyes closed and never feel I had missed an emotional cue.

The late Roger Ebert once said no good movie is long enough just as no bad movie is short enough. With a running time of nearly 3 hours this film languishes in moments that are unrushed and paced in a manner that reflects the fits and starts of onboarding back into lives that didn't stop while these men were off at war. All of which feels necessary for advancing the story. This film takes great care to tell a story that was often untold, that even in victory there is no glory in war. War changes the very fiber of one's soul and those scars remain long after the flags are retired and the memorials are built. This film makes visible both the external and internal wounds of Fred Derry, Al Stevenson and Homer Parrish and through them lays tribute to the many men and women who have given their lives over for the fabric and ideals of our freedom. It is one of the great films ever made and a resonating tribute to all that Memorial Day symbolizes. This is three hours worthy of any movie fan's time.

The Clone War: Why you should be watching Orphan Black.

Saturday marks the second to last episode in what has been a balls to the wall first season for Orphan Black. This episode promises to pick up moments after where we left off last week. It was a moment that made me scream out loud at the TV in a way I hadn't since Teri Bauer was summarily executed by Nina at the end of 24's first season. 

Any show willing to open up the central aspect of their mystery in episode one has confidence in their storytelling and is bound to take you on an unpredictable ride. The show is sharp tongued, moody and often feels like it is flying by the seat of its pants. A sentiment that could easily describe our central character Sarah, an ex-con punk who finds herself in the middle of a shit storm she never saw coming the night she decided to take on her lookalike Beth Child's persona. This is no mere tale of doppelganger gone wrong. The series outlines several mysteries that have a direct line to the core premise that both Sarah and the audience quickly discover. Sarah is one of several clones who are being targeted for murder. To go into more depth than that would take away the pleasure that it is to watch this high octane and addictive series. 

What grounds Orphan Black's outrageous premise is the revelation of a performance given by Tatiana Maslany. Her seamless work weaving between five complex characters is distinct in the nuances of her body carriage and voice inflections that round out the more obvious make up and costuming differences. She hits emotional notes and finds threads that link the myriad of characters in a manner that is fresh and authentic. Her yeoman efforts could easily skirt the line of melodrama given the sheer amount of screen time she has, but Maslany’s shrewd choices make her quiet moments and reaction shots advance the characters substance and often just a joy to watch. Speaking of joy, the supporting cast led by her brother/confidant Felix  (played with scrumptious, scene stealing precision by Jordan Gavaris) round out the carnival cast of unique characters all of whom are not what they seem. The writing is witty at many junctures and is fluid enough to allow the characters to voice the absurdity some of the plot twists have laid out before them. The direction and editing is a cornucopia of styles that include action paced short cuts and stop motion sequences. Often there are patterns in mood, color palate and pacing that accompanies and now on the back end of the season enhances the different personalities of the clones. As a bonus treat for those of us who are Downton Abbey fans you are treated to a wonderful turn by the sinister Vera Bates (actor Maria Doyle Kennedy) in a role that couldn’t be further removed from that character.

All told, Orphan Black is hands down the most original, darkly funny, well cast, intriguing show to hit the small screen this year. Period. It is equal parts mystery, sci-fi and thriller. The type of show that grabs hold of your attention and stimulates more questions when providing answers. Not nearly as obtuse as the mysteries in LOST Orphan Black deftly walks the fine line of plausibility and suspension of disbelief. What you are left with is a crop of characters, half of whom are played by Tatiana Maslany that you are desperate to know more about and understand how they fit into the mosaic of this overarching story. Yes it is a show centered on who these clones are and how they came to be, but to say that is all there is sells this show short.

It is rare that I have no sense of where a show might be heading. Orphan Black has been a wonderful surprise at many points along the way and I have no clue what these final two episodes will hold for our family of clones (by the way, they don't use the 'c' word). What I do know is we have a second season to look forward to and 2014 feels like it's an eternity away.  

SEASON FINALES: Grey's Anatomy and Nikita the oldies but goodies addition

 
Grey's Anatomy
The perennial ABC drama has shown its age over the 9 seasons it has been holding up post on Thursday nights. Many shows have come and gone around it (including shows its creator Shondra Rhimes has been behind). What makes Grey's Anatomy work is the original core characters. We have watched Meredith and Christina mature from the dark and twisted sisters to complicated, driven  doctors capable of being mentors even Miranda 'The Nazi' Bailey would be proud to call her own. When Meredith tells her intern that she likes her, but she loves Alex we see how far this cocky carefree motley crew has come and how they function as a loyal family. The show has seen its share of missteps over the last decade, primarily letting Izzie’s character overstay her welcome and introducing the merger of another hospital.  Rhimes smartly took care of both problems in season 6. A bloodbath shooting rampage that served as a much needed character housecleaning catapulted the show into a positive trajectory and the last three seasons have been among the show’s best. I don't pretend to understand Shonda Rhimes sick fixation with killing off major characters in her season finales, but Richard's electrocution in the closing scene certainly sets us up for the loss of a great patriarch.

What makes Grey's so utterly watchable, even in the face of some of their most outrageous storylines is that it always manages to touch into the central theme of the struggle to find humanity among these surgeons whose professions beg for them to check it at the door. We leave this season with a great amount of uncertainty, no easy feat for a show that has lasted a decade. All our central characters are facing unchartered territory. Meredith and Derek’s second child, April’s admission to Jackson in the wake of believing he could have died, Christina letting Owen go knowing if they stay together they will never live to be who they really are and Callie discovering not just Arizona’s infidelity, but her lack of forgiveness for the decision to amputate her leg. Richard’s potential death was obvious the moment Jackson emerged from the bus fire. What makes the move interesting is the loss of Richard represents the guardian of this dysfunctional family. While Richard may be the voice in our characters’ heads and Meredith serves as our narrator it is Miranda Bailey who is the show’s soul. Over nine seasons she has remained the moral compass for the many doctors who walk the hallways of Seattle Grace/Grey Sloan. Her story arc in the final four episodes this season reminded us of the strength and fierce acting chops of Chandra Wilson. Bailey’s meticulous nature being called into question when several patients die and her descent into crippling fear around operating was played with heartbreaking truth. Overhearing Richard dress down her professionalism without knowing it was an act only adds to the repercussions of his possible death.

Yes Grey’s Anatomy is over the top. Yes, the show’s storylines can extend well past the realm of reality. However after nine seasons it still manages to tap into a visceral truth in displaying the balancing act that comes with living in a world where life and death is your daily reality. So while Grey’s Anatomy may no longer be ‘must watch TV’ or DVR priority, I look forward to what will likely be its last season next fall. As a show that recovered from a downward spiral it remains an entertaining steadfast drama with solid acting and scripts that in my opinion surpass that of the flashy schizophrenic over marketed sister show Scandal.   

  
Nikita

Everyone has questionable DVR choices. Some people chose bad reality TV, I chose Nikita. Now mind you, I love Nikita and have been a loyal watcher since it premiered. That said I can appreciate why people find the show absurd. However, rather than justify my love I am just going to take a look back at an uneven season that had a great season premiere, a confused and muddled middle and a fantastic season finale setting the table for a final season. 

 

As a fan of the 90s ‘La Femme Nikita’ I have most appreciated the approach this incarnation has taken. We start the series with Nikita on the outside seeking revenge on Division. Slowly over the course of the season she regains the internal connections to what would become the team seeking to unseat Percy and bring an end to underground operation that made her an assassin. We have spent three seasons navigating various layers of revenge and redemption. It’s a high octane, kick ass hour of pure escapism television. When I sit down to watch Nikita I am merely looking to be entertained. Nikita delivers on that promise and has managed to get me to care about the survival of the core six characters. High points of the show included their willingness to kill Percy at the end of season 2. In a nod to the original series I was particularly pleased with the casting the original Madeline as oversight to Division. Lower points have been the rabid, sadistic obsession that Amanda’s character morphed into this season. With six episodes left to wrap up this series, I was glad to see them blow up Division (literally and metaphorically), establish a new enemy that will likely have Amanda caught in the crosshairs and bring us back to where the series began, Nikita on her own. The difference being this time instead of seeking revenge, she is seeking redemption. Redemption, to know she is more than what Division created both during her time inside and since being their pawn. She has something to live and fight for because ultimately Michael, Berkoff, Alex and Ryan are going to be fighting to get her back. It’s been a fun three season ride and I will look for the last 6 episodes to push the accelerator to an explosive conclusion.

SEASON FINALE: Castle - Walls, Watershed and at the end of the day In Marlowe I Trust

Castle is one of my favorite shows on TV right now and has been since season 1. It isn't a perfect show and it isn't breaking new ground in storytelling or plot innovation. What makes Castle a great show is that elusive chemistry. Not just between Nathan Fillion and Stana Katic or the supporting cast, but the chemistry that comes through from the show's creator Andrew Marlowe and the world Castle embodies. This show has built a story arc and characters that we've watched evolve over the last five years, sometimes at an infuriatingly slow pace, but always true to these complicated, deeply flawed people capable of great emotion. This year Andrew Marlowe and co. had the unenviable task of following up what was arguably the show's best season finale and one of their best episodes all time in "Always". 

While I think the episode was uneven, this is the first time since season 2 that the show has not closed its season somehow connected to Joanna Beckett’s murder. Taking the show 'quiet' and making this about emotional and deeply personal nuanced decisions, for both Castle and Beckett was a departure from the larger than life moments of the past. For that reason I found it to be a very satisfying end and jump off point for season 6. And truth be told, I didn’t think Andrew Marlowe would go there and the surprise of the ending was equally satisfying.

Andrew Marlowe’s obsession with the 35 minute mark of an episode

Each of the last three seasons Castle and Beckett have a critical moment of unguarded honesty. Each season it ranks among my favorite scenes. Each season Castle is storming out of Beckett’s apartment. And each time Rick is trying to reason with Kate’s myopic instincts that drive the voice in her head. This time however Rick is the one who has been betrayed. This time it was Kate, not Rick keeping a secret that will have a major impact on his life as well as her own. It was clear that the hurt and retreat Castle does in this scene isn’t about the potential job, it’s about the potential of being shut out and that another wall of Kate’s is going to erect itself. What I love about these moments is the raw willingness to not pull punches. It’s an emotionally heavy fight between two people who have no real compass for considering other people in their life decision-making.

Father/Mother Knows Best

One of this show’s greatest strengths lies in the well-defined families of our two leads. Understanding and knowing where Beckett and Castle come from informs so much of who they are individually and as a couple. Having back to back conversations with their parents gives a ‘viewers’ perspective to the show. What I mean is we see all facets of what makes these characters tick. There is information we have as an audience that the two characters do not. Using their parents as a sound board gets to this knowledge because no one knows you better than your parent. Both Martha and Jim hold a mirror up to their children forcing them to face who they are. Forcing them to consider who they want to be because ultimately that is what will determine the course of their relationship. The scenes serve as great bookends and in my opinion get to the very heart of this episodes title “Watershed”. Watershed moments are about a pivot to a new place, coming through the past to land somewhere different. I don’t believe the true watershed of this episode was Kate’s job offer, but the decision by our leads to own up to their part of this central relationship. Martha forces Rick’s hand. She cuts through his nonsense to the core of what he truly believes, not simply what he feels. Rick can’t write the ending to suit his needs in this relationship. He has to look beyond what he loves and decide if he can accept who she is. In the same token Beckett’s conversation with Jim forces her hand as well. Her pragmatic assessment of her choice and Castle’s reaction is countered by her father in a way that forces her to make a decision that isn’t embedded in fear. Because the fact is, Kate’s decision to be a cop, her hiding in her work and her keeping Castle at arms lengths are fear driven. Our choices have consequences and are rarely without collateral damage.

Me vs. We

Kate talks about the job being about her life and her decision. When Rick comes to the swings he talks about how he has made a decision. These are two people who are cut from the same emotional cloth. One that has built a level of self-reliance within them that makes it nearly impossible to consider what changes they need to make. Castle talks about “seeing things for how they really are.” Being with Kate means accepting the frustrations and moments of keeping things from him and in the episode we are left to wonder, is it too much for a man whose build his life on fiction and bravado.

For Beckett, her realization comes in the place where she is most herself, the interrogation room. The magnitude of the change she is facing and the implications hit her when she delivers the loaded statement, “how many years of your own life are you going to sacrifice for someone else’s future? Or are you ready to deal?” It’s loaded because I believe at that moment she has decided not to take the job. I think it harkens back to Roy’s “We speak for the dead, but we don’t owe them our lives”. For Kate when she got what she thought she wanted, she realized she had all she needed.

Swing Decision

The swings have served as a confessional for this couple. The truth of their emotions has always been on display there. It is the place where hope for this couple is renewed and restored. It is the only place that makes sense for Rick to propose. I realize there are a lot of conflicting opinions about this move by the writers but the more I think about it, the more I like it. Castle comes to that meet up resolved. He knows what he wants and after 5 seasons of watching this couple trip over their hesitations I think Castle’s watershed moment was wrapped up in this proposal. For a man who has built his life on shallow charm, this was a moment of great humility. Proposing before he knows her decision is pivotal. It gives us Rick realizing that he can’t change Kate, being in love doesn’t change who they are; he has to accept who she is in order to love her. That is what makes the moment so vulnerable and somber. This couple isn’t 20, and their lives have contained enough missteps and near misses that the sobriety of the moment felt earned. I appreciated Castle’s insistence on the proposal in advance of anything Beckett had to say. Not because I think he sought to trump her decision, but because he wanted her to know that her decision is hers, he respects it and it isn’t the thing that would undermine them having more. Castle talks a lot about the walls Beckett has, this moment was about Castle removing the one wall he had failed to acknowledge stood in the way of he and Beckett. For me that made the whole finale work.

Where we go next season is anyone’s guess. I would have never called Andrew Marlowe ending the season on a proposal. I know that Andrew Marlowe gave those of us who are invested in the relationships surrounding Castle a treat of a season. He gave us real payoff to the four season dance of will they or won’t they and he did so in a manner that kept the personalities of these two leads in tact while building on the extended cast of supporting actors to round out this love affair. Castle isn’t a favorite show because of its originality (although it has a great deal) It is a favorite because of the ingenuity and commitment to the nuances of these characters who I love spending time with on Monday nights. And really what more can you ask of something that is structured to entertain you.

SEASON FINALE: Once Upon a Time: How many worlds does one town need?

Once Upon a Time there was an interesting show that had a flawed but fascinating first season...

However, for as much as I appreciated the powers that be having the guts to break the curse in season one and bring magic to Storybrooke so quickly, it resulted in a show that lost its way.  Ironic given the storyline of last night's season finale. Season 2 has been filled with missed opportunities, a slew of new characters that save for Hook and Bae/Neal served little purpose in making Storybrooke more interesting and worse left little room and time for stories that mattered around the primary characters viewers spent all of season one investing in getting to know. 

So as season 2 has set us on a course to navigate three separate worlds next season here's my final assessment with my hopes for how the show might pivot back to the show I so easily enjoyed last year.

Characters, characters everywhere, there are so many it's hard to care: OUAT took a page out of their LOST model and established characters and backstories a plenty last year. Then they spent most of season 2 ignoring them (Red, Blue Fairy, Madhatter I am looking at you). August's return was anticlimactic, did Jorge Garcia really need the work so bad that we needed the Giant to grow the magic beans? Cora was introduced and pivotal only to meet a weird, untimely demise once she arrived and festered for a few episodes in Storybrooke. None of those offenses will ever come close to the creators forcing Greg and Tamara upon us for the latter half of this season.

Greg and Tamara are two of the weakest, insipid characters I have come across in recent television. (And that's saying something given the weekend's cancellation blood bath over on NBC.) Their only purpose has been to connect the dots through theories of convenience and bridge plot points that we needed in order to move the action next season back to Neverland and Fairyland. From their genesis to their final move of kidnapping Henry (they just happened to be back in the mines to grab him?) nothing about these two characters possessed logic or story structure. The AWFUL acting only highlighted just how much these two stuck out like a sore thumb and I hope Peter Pan does more than rip away their shadows next season.

To thine ownself be true: I am willing to suspend disbelief with the best of them. LOST and 24 rank among my all time favorite shows. In doing so I expect that the creators will provide a line of plausibility and continuity that supports the frame and context they have built for the show. Far too often this season we watched OUAT go off the rails into a ditch of their own making. Belle's entire Lacey story was pointless. It did not serve Gold, it did not serve Belle's character and her 'dark side' did nothing to advance any of our plotlines. Cora was probably the worst injustice. Her backstory was fascinating but her actions once she got to Storybrooke had no end game that made sense. Suddenly she was obsessed with gaining the Dark One's powers? And don't even get me started on Regina's multiple personality disorder. She's evil, she wants to be good, she wants her mother's approval, she wants revenge, she wants Henry's love. I get dizzy just thinking about it. Look, I am happy to have a villain with a soft spot (see Gold) but poor Lana Parilla had to play her character differently week by week. There was no understanding Regina's drive this season, so when Henry goes to her for sacrificing herself it falls flat because two episodes ago she was talking like a mad woman telling him she was going to kill everyone to save him. And am I alone in not caring that Snow had a black spot on her heart? I mean come on where's the defiant spunky Snow of Fairyland?

Beans beans beans: Finally a moment to bemoan the ridiculous magic beans of convenience. We know nothing about these beans until a full harvest is happening under a cloaking spell. Then everyone in town practically knows about them. Then Regina destroys all but a handful of the beans for herself. Then Greg and Tamara only keep two for good measure? Seriously? The singular most powerful tool in the magic shed and they are undercutting supply? We are suppose to buy that as an audience? Come on. I call bullshit. No I call lazy. Moving on...

Where do we Land?: I don't require my season finales to be gangbuster, jaw dropping cliffhangers. I do want them to be interesting, settle some scores and set me up for the following season. In my opinion OUAT went 1 for 3 last night. I am genuinely interested in what they set up for next season. This concept of a dark Peter Pan intrigued me when they first alluded to it a few episodes back and having the dysfunctional good and evil family set sail for Neverland to work together to save Henry is bound to make for fun dynamics since 90% of the shows best characters are now on Hook's ship. Which leads me to Bae/Neal. I think Bae was the most interesting character to be introduced this season. His connection to the main characters created fertile ground that played out best in the episodes in NYC and last week between Emma and Neal. The second he went into the portal I knew his one way ticket to Fairyland had been punched which made me cranky. It bothered me because it was obvious. It bothered me because it was treated like an afterthought and once again we have isolated a major character from the rest of the action which will require stand alone scenes or yet another subplot. It was less cliffhanger more character dumping and while probably not intended felt as though the creators were saying "Hey, we don't want him dead but we don't know what to do with him yet so lets toss him over in Fairyland and figure it out on the backside." On the upside, with the characters we most care about are in route to Neverland the show efficiently can jettison the mass majority of Storybrooke.

So after what has been a messy season with strokes of real intrigue and fun I have to say Once Upon a Time has a lot of ground to make up to keep me coming back next season. I wholeheartedly agree with the recap over a EW that the biggest difference (and therefore challenge) the show faced was in Season 1 they were focused on a big goal/plot point - break the curse and this season was bogged down with smaller, less pressing (and I would argue less interesting) goals. I think the results have been a muddy mess of a sophomore outing that is going to require discipline and focus to make us invest in not only Henry's fate, but the 'ever after' of the fairytales this show has been built upon.

So my memo to the creators of Once Upon a Time for the summer: 1) Less is More 2) Stay true to what made us love the show and 3) Get rid of Greg and Tamara.

What's your favorite Season Finale of all time? Here's my top 5

It's May, which means we are in the throws of season finales. Will we be given a satisfying closure to our favorite comedy or be left with a nervewracking cliffhanger to ponder all summer long? Some shows have already completed their runs, most will come over the next few days. While I will certainly continue to breakdown all my favorite shows I thought it a good time to look back on some of my personal favorite season finales.

Now for the purpose of equity, none of my top 5 are series finales and all are from broadcast networks. There is no good answer as to why I did that, but it seemed like a reasonable set of parameters for crafting the list. What show made your jaw drop open or scream at the television in their final episode? What show left you completed pissed off that you were going to have to wait a full summer (if not year) before learning the fate of a beloved character? What is your favorite Season Finale?

Just a quick observation on my best season finales - all but one have a common thead - they were game changers.

5. Castle: Always (Season 4) I have been on the Castle bandwagon since Season 1. I bought into the destiny of Richard Castle and Kate Beckett from that first interrogation scene and have never doubted this couple’s eventual coming together. What made this love story work is that it is built on a natural progression, terrific chemistry between the leads and character flaws and strengths that make the culmination of this particular arc feel earned and satisfying. More importantly it felt like a beginning, not an ending. Yes the scene that consummates this transition is fantastic, however it is 33 minutes into the episode that the leads share a confrontation that ticks of all the emotions this series had built towards. It was an exhilarating scene the perfect payoff for the viewer.

4. Designing Women: Reservations for 8 (Season 2) This comedy had so many well written episodes in building out these four women of the south. But crafting a finale that brings the women together with the men they love and pitting them into a Venus vs. Mars showdown gave everyone a turn in the spotlight and fed the qualities we most loved in these women and most wished we had in ourselves. Dixie Carter’s delivery of Julia’s monologue possesses a cadence that is both extraordinary and hilarious. It is a classic moment because even if you never saw an episode of this show this exchange would ring true. It is one of the singular best runs in TV history.

 

 

3. Law and Order: Aftershock (Season 6) This episode marks Jill Hennessey’s last in the series. She wasn’t the first replacement in the show and her departure was far from the last this two decade procedural would endure, it was however the best one. One of the elements that made Law & Order a great procedural that was ‘cast proof’. The creators found a way to form depth and complexity to the series regulars without ever giving us much in their back histories. This episode is a departure from that rule because the entire episode is based on the fallout of an criminal execution. We see for the first time in the show’s history an episode without a new case and wholly based on the personal reflections of our main characters. We get a peek behind the curtain of their lives through how they come to terms with the issue of capital punishment. It is a raw look at the sacrifices and compromises ‘the job’ has caused for all our main characters. It also marks the last time the strongest primary cast was together in an episode. It’s a thoughtful, ponderous and shocking episode that punched the viewer in the gut and left us to ponder all that had transpired for the duration of the summer.

Sorry folks, I couldn't find a clip. But trust me it's worth watching.

2. LOST: Through the Looking Glass (Season 3) Regardless of LOST’s faults and missteps (I could have easily selected the Season 1 or 5 finale for this list). They knew how to close a season. Walt being ripped from the raft as our introduction to the "Others", Juliette falling down the shaft after her devesatating declaration of love for Sawyer or something as simple as the light in the hatch turning on. LOST set a mood for the unknown like no other series and the mysticism while confusing and fascinating did not hold a candle to the emotional connection they built with their character development. So for that reason I chose Through the Looking Glass for best LOST finale. As a viewer we were put through the ringer by the surprise of learning that Penny had found Desmond, that she was not on the boat and that Charlie would not survive. Charlie's death was wrenching because it was heroic, understated and devestating all at the same time. Say what you will about LOST, but this show understood how to draw the viewer into emotionally investing in their characters. This was a great payoff to that investment.

 

 

1. 24: 11:00PM - 12:00AM (Season 1) Nobody, and I mean nobody saw Teri dying. In a show that made a point all season long of giving us unexpected twists and turns so we didn't know who or what to trust the creators put an exclamation point on that fact in the finale. So at the end of season one we end watching Jack cradling Teri who was executed at the hands of Nina. It was a game changer. The producers brilliantly proved to the audience in no uncertain terms that no character was sacred and that this was a show that was changing the rules of storytelling on television not just in its use of the real time device, but in it's willingness to be bold and buck traditional sacred cows of television. Unlike the crass disposibility of people in the Following, 24 went on to use character demise in a way that was both shocking and pivotal. This final act for a season freshman was a stroke of genius. Just look at the clip below and I ask you would 24 have been the same show if Teri had lived?

 

 

Honorable Mentions:

Desperate Housewives: Free (Season 4) Marc Cherry found one of the single best ways to write his show out of a hole and hit the reset button on a show that had failed to recapture the quirky intrigue of Season 1's central mystery around Mary Alice's death. Jumping the show forward 5 years was a bold move and a great surprise twist that nobody saw coming.
 

Murphy Brown: Birth 101 (Season 4) Murphy Brown was a great show for a host of reasons. Independent of the political lightning rod this show became, Candace Bergen’s portrayal of a woman whose life is monumentally shifted as a result of her child’s birth stands the test of time. The last shot in the episode of Bergen singing Natural Woman is both gut-wrenching and poignant. It is 23 minutes that hit all the right notes of comedy, sincerity and believability. It was the best season finale for the series and one of the show’s best episodes ever.

Charmed: Witch Way Now (Season 4) I will not apologize for two things, loving this show and loving it even more after Shannon Doherty left. The show had an uncanny knack for creating really strong season finales with and without cliffhangers throughout its run. I ultimately chose this episode because after a good deal of suffering has happened to these characters the Angel of Destiny provides an opportunity to start fresh and it becomes a surprisingly thoughtful episode about how our identities are intrinsically tied to all the experiences we endure and relish, ultimately concluding that changing course changes who are, regardless of that change. Pretty profound for a show about witches.

The West Wing: Two Cathedrals (Season 2) Mrs. Landingham was the surprising conscience of the show and all the characters who were occupying the West Wing. This episode is also Martin Sheen at his very best and sadly the last time in this series that the show felt clear and focused in its storytelling. I think the first two seasons of West Wing are some of the finest in TV, this episode while being a great season closer also marks the end of its greatness.

If Women Ruled the World or Why I love Game of Thrones

I'll admit it, I love a flawed character. Flawed characters are interesting, they have depth and complexity that the noble and pure do not. They reveal truths in ourselves and reflect the grey most of us live our lives in daily. I have been like this since my early days of TV/Movie going. As a child, before the Disney princesses were an international marketing sensation and social lightening rod Sleeping Beauty was my favorite 'princess film'. Not because Aurora was particularly compelling, but because Merriweather while a 'good fairy' exuded jealousy and a love of convenience that magic provided. She was sarcastic and good, she wanted things to go well but wasn't trying to be a martyr to ensure it. Basically, in my world Maleficent isn't evil, she is simply misunderstood. In modern day terms she's the girl who got picked last for kickball.

Fast forward 30 years.

Game of Thrones is arguably one of the most talked about television phenomena in the last decade. The show is epic in its scale, complex in the chess board of battling houses and it has enough sword play, gratuitous violence and sex to keep the Realm a very interesting place to spend an hour on Sunday nights. Plus, once they beheaded Ned Stark in season 1 all bets were off on who would live or die in a given episode.

With all of that, for me, the most compelling, addictive piece of Game of Thrones lies in the women of this show. From the matriarchs of House Stark and Lannister to the tenacious arrogance of Arya the women are the true engine that makes this show soar. Season 1 establishes this truth in the surface contrast that exists between Cersei Lannister and Catelyn Stark. At face value these women could not be more different - Catelyn loves her husband, her family fiercely and has a sense of pragmatism that makes her partnership with Ned Stark a union to be admired. Yet as soon as that conviction is tested we immediately see the cracks in her armor. Cersei on the other hand is balls to the wall ambitious, calculating and at best manipulative. She navigates Kings Landing like a puppet master, playing all angles to her own purpose. To watch the power of control slip through the fingers of both women is devastating in completely different ways. These two women share a critical common trait - their greatest strength is their greatest weakness - their love for their children. Game of Thrones is hot bed of moral corruption where the meek and the naïve are quickly trampled or used for deviant purpose. What I love is the women are equally culpable of this moral ambiguity. They are not pawns for sacrifice in the quest for the Iron Throne.

Cersei's outward distain and manipulation doesn't hold a candle to the utter mind control Lady Margaery has crafted over the King. As was laid out in this week's episode, Lady Olenna, (played gloriously by Diana Rigg) clearly has taught her granddaughter from her own bag of tricks. Just when I was ready to put money on Daenerys Targaryen's newly formed army and her dragons as frontrunner to reclaim the throne the Tyrell’s, led by Lady Olenna's uncanny ability to call a spade a spade in a landscape of double speak just may be the most formidable of the families. Margaery's chameleon tactics with Joffery have aligned her not only to rise to her true ambitions but to actually pull the strings when she lands there.  
 
Much has been said of Season 1 and 2 focusing in on women's use of sexuality to gain power. We see it in Daenerys early on with Khal Drogo and the strategy of Ros to make her way to a seat of information through prostitution. I think season 3 has expanded their storytelling in a way that provides a broader landscape for these women. Sex, like money is a means to an end when seeking power. For women in the Realm their sexuality provides a pathway to overcome the fact that they have few entitlements and little authority. It is merely a mechanism to use their intelligence and calculate advancing their causes.

That thought leads me to Brienne of Tarth. Brienne is the antitheses of the vast majority of women we have seen navigate this show. Only since coming in contact with the Kingslayer have we seen the true isolation Brienne's fate has carved out for her. Brienne is a soul caught in between a world she doesn't belong to and a world she isn't accepted in. Brienne's isolation is what makes her character's relationship to Jamie so compelling. As we watch the breakdown of the handsome, cocky Kingslayer we are also offered the true strength and humanity of Brienne being born. In an odd way she actually parallels Sansa's plight in Kings Landing. For the record, while some have written Sansa off, I think she is just as much a survivor as her sister Arya and in a structure where she's had no true allies. 

Finally there is Arya Stark whose courage and survival skills have served her extremely well over the last season and a half. She is fearless to the point of careless (an attribute born as much in her youth as it is her circumstance). Yet in spite of that she is hampered and driven by the desire to avenge her father’s death. Ayra’s smarts and natural tendency for defiance are clear from the beginning of the series. The first time we see her she is showing up her brother in archery. This tenacity is rewarded by her father with a fight coach in Kings Landing. Unlike Brienne, Ayra was treasured and respected by her father for who she actually was and that love is what drives her thirst for vengeance. However in the quiet moments like this past week when she genuinely asks if the dark magic can bring her father back we, as the audience are slapped in the face with the reminder that Ayra is truly a young girl completely stripped of her innocence and isolated, yet somehow destined for greatness.

It does not hurt that the show has done well in casting actors to play these roles. All of them in their own rights breathe new life and intrigue to their characters, where I find myself rooting for them in spite of the knowledge that most of the plotting is often to an evil purpose. I for one am vested in the road they are travelling for however long HBO sees fit to let us take a peek.

Which house do you choose?

 

May the 4th Be With You and why Star Wars Matters to me

A plethora of clips can be chosen as the iconic moments of Star Wars.  Particularly when we are discussing the original trilogy. For my money the Sarlacc Battle reigns supreme because we get all our characters in the Rebel Alliance together again. The boys (ahem men) get Princess Leia scantly clad or as I like to think of it the man child fantasy for a generation is born. The elusive Boba Fett is defeated, we are treated to a classic Han/Luke banter and before it is all said and done Luke and Leia once again take a cable flight to escape. Seriously, is there a better 7 1/2 minutes?

In light of the fact that it is May 4th and all the genuine excitement of J.J. Abrams takeover of our beloved space odyssey I thought I would take a moment of reflection as to why this group of films is so embedded in my DNA. Star Wars represents a lot of things for me over the last 30 years. It was the ice breaker for making new friends on the playground in kindergarten. The source of endless imaginary play with homemade lightsabers crafted out of wrapping paper tubes. Meticulous spending at 7-11 for trading cards in the hopes of finally having a complete set. It became the source of identifying kindred spirits in adult friendships and an acknowledgement of geekdom before it was cool to be a geek. It has been priceless for the memories collected over the years including taking off work to see the original trilogy for the last time on a large screen at The Zegfield Theater in Manhattan in the 90s. And now, reliving it as I watch my own 7 year old embrace the innocence and adventure of Luke Skywalker, discover the fearless courage of Princess Leia and laugh at the incorrigible sarcasm of Han Solo. I watch her connect the dots and make nuanced references about the colors of Luke's lightsaber because she watched Empire Strikes Back last. The vast number of memories I connect to this trilogy of films are priceless. That is the magic of movies. They visually take us into worlds unknown and for my money take me back to that first Saturday afternoon sitting in the movie theater with my cousins on either side of me anticipating the blackened sky that will quietly be filled with the words "Long ago in a galaxy far far away..." only to suddenly be flooded with the booming opening notes of John Williams unforgettable score instantly transporting us to a place the likes of which our young eyes had never seen before.

Star Wars clunky dialogue may have gotten hokey over time, the special effects have long been outpaced by more recent films and the prequels were an unmitigated disaster. None of this, not even George Lucas' ego, can tarnish the wonder of what it was to be a kid in the late 70s and to come of age with the Rebel Alliance. Nothing will ever remove the uniform gasp from the audience when Yoda proclaimed to Obi Wan Kanobi "No there is another..." in response to Luke being their last chance for the Jedis. I have loved movies from a very young age, Star Wars is when I fell in love with going to the movies. It's a love affair that stands the test of time.