new mexico-related stories
Posted May 31st 2009 11:22PM by Allison Waldman
Filed under: 24, House, Lost, Episode Reviews, Emmys, Breaking Bad, Reality-Free, Mad Men
(S02E13) Cause and effect, random selection, grief, life and death... "My father is my hero, he's just decent."
Breaking Bad covered all that and more in the season finale, setting up Walter White's life after successful surgery that bought him more time. The question was this when the end credits rolled, what will that life be for the New Mexico science teacher after all that's come before?
Anyone out there who thinks they know is lying because only creator Vince Gilligan has a handle on what's been going on and what's to come. What we do know after watching the season finale is this:
Breaking Bad is as good as any other drama currently on television, and that includes
Lost, Mad Men, House, 24 and the other potential Emmy nominees for Outstanding Drama Series.
Continue reading Breaking Bad: ABQ (season finale)
Posted May 24th 2009 1:31PM by Allison Waldman
Filed under: Other Drama Shows, OpEd, Reality-Free
In Plain Sight has become one of my favorite TV shows. I didn't think that way last year, its rookie season, when the show lurched a bit to try and find balance between Mary's professional life as a U.S. Marshal in the Witness Protection Program and her dysfunctional personal life with an alcoholic mother, a troubled younger sister with a drug-dealing boyfriend, and an on-again/off-again relationship with a hot Latin minor league baseball player.
When it went well, it was very satisfying, but the show seemed to be struggling to find its tone. Well, this season is a whole new thing. Perhaps there were changes behind the scenes, perhaps the first year was about shaking out all those story strands and building a stronger foundation, perhaps it was simply the actors getting more comfortable in their roles. Whatever the case,
In Plain Sight is now hitting on all cylinders.
Continue reading In praise of In Plain Sight
Posted Apr 27th 2009 9:42AM by Allison Waldman
Filed under: Episode Reviews, Reality-Free
(S02E08) I'm starting to wonder if Walter and Jesse have turned into the Abbott and Costello of Albuquerque or the New Mexican Laurel and Hardy or maybe some other bumbling duo that have been attempting to do something so far beyond their ken that the fact that they made it this far is a bloody miracle. This show illustrated yet again how the unexpected situations continue to pile up around Team Heisenberg and by the skin of their teeth; they come out the other side.
Breaking Bad's creator Vince Gilligan should be winning more awards. He's just nabbed a Peabody, but there are Emmys in his future.
Breaking Bad is that good. This level of writing, the complicated storytelling is amazing.
Continue reading Breaking Bad: Better Call Saul
Posted Apr 20th 2009 12:04PM by Allison Waldman
Filed under: Episode Reviews, Reality-Free
(S02E01) After the harrowing
conclusion from last season, Mary Shannon was back and after 30 hours of sleep, she actually seemed ready to return to work. However, as Marshall soon found out, looks can be deceiving. Mary and Jinx and Brandi were still together and coping, but the effects of one of them nearly being raped, killing a man, concealing drugs, having their home turned inside out and suffering the indignity of the FBI invading every corner of your life took a toll. They thought they had come out the other side unscathed, but as the episode unfolded, damage was evident.
For Mary, getting back on a case, even as Marshall's sidekick, was a welcomed relief from administrative leave. Her denial of post-traumatic stress disorder was typical for her. In fact, she was suffering, but it manifested itself as a happy, chipper and congenial Mary. Stan, Marshall and Bobby D. were baffled by this alternate universe Agent Shannon, but for viewers wise to the ways of TV, it was clear that something was amiss.
Continue reading In Plain Sight: Gilted Lily (season premiere)
Posted Mar 30th 2009 9:03AM by Allison Waldman
Filed under: Episode Reviews, Breaking Bad, Reality-Free
(S02E04) The one-eyed stuffed animal was still floating in the pool, but not for long. It was fished out and lined up with a whole bunch of other evidence bags. What this all adds up to will likely be something dreadful. Right now, the tension builds and you just wonder what it all means.
Breaking Bad is like a pressure cooker, and the reference to cooking is probably appropriate. Walter and Jesse are stuck in a pressure cooker of their own design and things are getting more and more intense. Something is ready to blow, but the when and the where and the how keep us coming back for more.
Continue reading Breaking Bad: Down
Posted Aug 4th 2008 9:40AM by Allison Waldman
Filed under: Episode Reviews, Reality-Free, In Plain Sight
(S01E10) What does Mary expect? I mean, really, what does she expect! Okay, before we get to the gory details, let's talk about the case of the week.
Remember the Russian girl from the pilot? Natasha with the new boobs -- thanks to the U.S. government, our tax dollars -- has gotten a job at Headlights (nee Hooters) and has hooked up with a new guy.
Turns out he's Marshall's charge, another program member, Serge. The problem is not just the huge coincidence that they've hooked up, it's that she's a witness and he's a felon, they cannot stay together.
Continue reading In Plain Sight: To Serge with Love
Posted Jul 28th 2008 12:26PM by Allison Waldman
Filed under: Episode Reviews, Reality-Free, In Plain Sight
(S01E09) If you've invested in this show from the start -- as I have -- here was a really welcome episode to fill in the blanks. Finally, we were given a little back story about Mary, the place she's living, her obnoxious family, her frustrations with her life and even Marshall's unrequited (or so he thinks) leering for his partner. There was even some good character stuff for Bobby D -- whom Mary colorfully calls a "little prick" -- which was really nice.
I liked the case of a Chicago cop doing a
"Serpico" -- going undercover to rat out police corruption -- and winding up killing a fellow officer in self-defense and being forced into Witness Protection was on target. And unlike the ridiculous Russian girl in the pilot who was asking WITSEC for new breasts, this was a realistic relocation. He resented being stuck in Albuquerque, and proving that he wasn't a stone, he was attracted to Mary. Of course, Mary did cross a line by sleeping with the guy, but that was all right, too, because it proved that she wasn't a stone, too. And since it was back story, it was pre-Raphael.
Continue reading In Plain Sight: Good Cop, Dead Cop
Posted Jun 30th 2008 11:23AM by Allison Waldman
Filed under: Episode Reviews, Reality-Free, In Plain Sight
(S01E05) It was the best of
In Plain Sight, it was the less than best of
In Plain Sight. For starters, the only carry-over from the previous episode was Marshall's arm in a sling. Hey, what about his nearly dying and Mary's emotional breakdown in the waiting room? The lack of follow-through was stunning.
Granted, this show isn't a serial, but I did expect at least a moment between Mary and Marshall that would connect back beyond her quip in the art gallery. It was too glib. Would it have killed them to have a moment? I can imagine a fight in the writer's room over this point and keeping it light and unemotional won.
Continue reading In Plain Sight: Who Shot Jay Arnstein
Posted Jun 9th 2008 10:22AM by Allison Waldman
Filed under: Episode Reviews, Reality-Free, In Plain Sight
(S01E02) Overall, a very good episode from Mary and Marshall as
In Plain Sight settles into the kind of show it's going to be. Far less frantic than the pilot -- which in retrospect looks like a case of too many cooks spoiling the broth -- this show dealt with one main issue and it was a touching one at that. The story starts 18 months earlier when Mary's assigned to place an 8-year-old boy who's seen drug dealers kill his mother in Witness Protection, which is virtually impossible unless she can find a family in the system who are willing to take on that responsibility.
I was stunned that she pulled it off, and when we were back in the present and we see little Lonny -- now Leo -- enjoying a perfect life with the Billups, I was skeptical. The adoption seemed too good to be true. Leo fit right in, taking care of the baby. Were the Billups for real? I thought there had to be something wrong, but it wasn't. I was just suspicious. It turns out there was a reason to show Lonny/Leo in such a happy family.
Continue reading In Plain Sight: Hoosier Daddy
Posted Dec 12th 2007 11:19PM by Jackie Schnoop
Filed under: Other Reality Shows, OpEd, Episode Reviews
(S01E13) It's been noted in press reports that the alleged charges brought against
Kid Nation have been dropped and the state of New Mexico won't be pursuing them. After watching the entire season, I can see why. For whatever flaws the show might have had (and it had several), it didn't seem to measure up to any sort of child abuse or violation of child labor laws.
The pre-season brouhaha cited the lack of adult supervision as a big problem. Alas, for me, it was all of the adult intervention which became the biggest issue I had with the show. It wasn't the kids -- they were overall a fantastic bunch!
Continue reading Kid Nation: We've All Decided to Go Mad (season finale)
Posted Nov 28th 2007 11:44PM by Jackie Schnoop
Filed under: Other Reality Shows, OpEd, Episode Reviews
(S01E11) I feel manipulated. I feel used. I feel a pawn to a lesson session. I feel all I learned in childhood about doing the right thing is so much better than doing the fun thing was snatched from behind my wall of memories and plopped down in tonight's episode of
Kid Nation.
Why must fun always have consequences? Or, at least choosing fun over a more serious option? It doesn't always play that way in adulthood. Sometimes you can have fun without regret. Yeah, seriously.
But I'll never be a Dance Master, no matter how much fun it might be. There is something called reality which comes to mind.
Continue reading Kid Nation: I Just Like the Recess Part
Posted Nov 14th 2007 10:58PM by Jackie Schnoop
Filed under: Other Reality Shows, OpEd, Episode Reviews
(S01E09) Have children grown more apologetic since my days as a child? The kids of
Kid Nation are often as cruel to each other as I recall but then they go and apologize. What's up with that?
Well, they don't always apologize. Feelings get hurt; tears get shed. Maybe it's cruel, but the kids will eventually find out being an adult isn't all it's cracked up to be at all times, either. I think I've seen adults apologize a lot less often than the kids on the show. Perhaps they have some sort of super-strain of kids there -- intelligent and mature beyond their years.
Some of them, anyway. And some of the solid ones are starting to crack a bit.
Continue reading Kid Nation: Not Even Close to Fair
Posted Nov 7th 2007 11:32PM by Jackie Schnoop
Filed under: Other Reality Shows, OpEd, Episode Reviews
(S01E08) The kids on
Kid Nation are starved for entertainment as we might all be soon. I'm already starved for it during the late night hours.
But tonight was a fun night for the most part on the show. My main little man Jared was featured fairly prominently throughout the episode, the kids had some fun, and I even had a few snickers as I watched.
I'd still like to have been a fly on the wall and witnessed how they get the kids on the topic of the journal entry each week separate from the town council leaders visiting the Shack of the Journal. I guess we might never know.
Continue reading Kid Nation: Starved for Entertainment
Posted Oct 25th 2007 12:20AM by Jackie Schnoop
Filed under: Other Reality Shows, OpEd, Episode Reviews
(S01E06) No, no, no ... not Bonanza with the Ponderosa! Hop Sing could always cook up a fine feast and the Cartwrights never fussed about hard labor. The episode title refers to Bonanza City, New Mexico. You know -- 40 days, 40 kids (well, 38 kids now and almost three weeks less), and no adults. Well, they say no adults, but believe me, it's the adults putting everything in motion.
But it is indeed the kids of
Kid Nation who make this show worth watching. It's the kids who, by being themselves, bring me entertainment each week.
Oh, but Bonanza City is indeed disgusting. Or, it was before the adult push of the week.
Continue reading Kid Nation: Bonanza is Disgusting
Posted Oct 17th 2007 11:42PM by Jackie Schnoop
Filed under: Other Reality Shows, Episode Reviews
(S01E05) Is it me or was there really not much to get up in arms about this week on
Kid Nation? No killed animals, no steer taunting, no religious rivalry, no bullying. What's this show coming to, eh?
Well, there was a smattering of bad behavior, but we're talking kids here. Some of these kids could be teensy adults, y'know. A lot of them certainly are more worldly than I was at their ages. And, the show reminded me that I should really study up on the chronological order of US Presidents. I definitely know the ones in my own lifetime, but I surely would put Taft in the wrong place.
Continue reading Kid Nation: Viva la Revolucion!
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