Television Show Review: Justified

Well this new show doesn't waste time. Right from the start we are thrust into a situation that defines the lead, Marshal Raylan Givens. He is a slow-burning all or nothing lawman that is a quickdraw that the old west would have immortalized.

Of course that same ability, penchant really, to take down the bad guy permanently leads our hero into hot water. So hot that he is forced to leave his position in Miami and sent back to the Kentucky backwoods that were his home. Obviously he is no fan of going back to his hometown, but less of a fan of being unemployed (I imagine the Obama Stimulus doesn't help the U.S. Marshals either).



Once back he learns that an old friend took a bad turn, becoming a neo-nazi and more than willing to burn, blow-up, kill or otherwise create havok in his desire to get money. The story at this point becomes somewhat predictable.



Timothy Olyphant plays Marshal Givens. He is not far from his character in Live Free or Die Hard, in that he is determined and smooth in his actions. His character is somewhat of a minimalist, a man of few words and generally low key. Even so he gives off a clear indication of having no remorse for those he kills in the line of duty, and having a very strong sense of honor (giving certain criminals the option of leaving town before he comes after them).

Overall the character is likeable. Olyphant makes him believeable, but also quite predictable. There are no surprises in the character. But that might be the fault of the writers or director. Still the acting is better than average.

For the first episode everyone else is in the background. Obviously there will be the recurring character of his former best friend Boyd (Walton Goggins). Boyd seems to have saved the life of Givens back when the 2 were 19 and working in a coal mine. A guess, but it seems likely.

The co-workers of Marshal Givens are barely seen, though we know that one is a sniper of some skill. There is a Black woman who is competent and very serious. Plus a boss who is a great match for Givens in that he doesn't care much how things get done, as long as they get done. All of these things may change once we get to see more of these characters than the 2 minutes of screentime in the opening episode.

None of that matters really. The key to any television show is how it makes you feel after watching it. Did you enjoy it? Was it worth seeing again? Is there anything that caught your attention?

As for how it makes you feel, Justified hasn't really given the viewer much to go on. You like Marshal Givens. You can see potential in some of the characters around him. But you just aren't sure what you think about it.

What did catch the attention is the attraction of an old friend who once had a crush on Givens. She killed her abusive husband with a shotgun while he was eating dinner. She has made it clear she still likes Givens. And I would not want to be the man that pisses this woman off. Which you know Givens will do at some point.

Watching the show you just get the feeling that like it's rustic surroundings, it has meat but you are wondering where the potatoers are. There just is something missing, and you can't quite place your finger on it. Maybe it was the speed in which Boyd was introduced and then removed - at least for a while. Maybe its the way all the characters have immediate connections to Givens that we never got to see develop. Maybe it's because the defining purpose of this drama has yet to be revealed.

That may be it. Marshal Givens needs something to drive him, and thus the viewer as well. If we get to see that in the next episode or 2 this could become a very intersting show. If we don't, the show will likely not make it another season.

Burn Notice is back for season 4

The latest season of USA Networks hit show Burn Notice starteed last night. All the characters that we love are back, as is the main theme of the show. But somehow there seems to be something off.

The episode was the usual mix of Michael Westen (Jeffrey Donovan) going out to help some innocent from criminals that only care about money and a longer arcing background issue. In the first season that issue was finding out who burned him and ended his career as a spy. In the next season it was Westen trying to get back into the spy biz. Now its some unknown radical mecenary that wants to use Westen for some unknown reason or else all of the friends and family of Westen will go bye bye.

The concept is solid enough. It adds a flavor of danger and imminent need. But maybe its a touch too much like season 2 to feel original.

Let's leave that for the moment. The episode at hand had a woman whose husband was killed in a car insurance scam. He was doing it because the family needed money badly. Now the bad guys are thretening the family that if they don't sue the city, and hand over any restitutions, well you can imagine what will happen.

The team goes to work and with a mix of good timing, bad timing, and a touch of over the top acting (on purpose) the bad guys are outwitted in their own game. The only difference this time is that Westen's mother (Sharon Gless) was drawn into the plan. And in this she ws forced to act like the operatives that everyone else on the team has been. That means that a budding friendship was destroyed, and in terms without question, while placing this innocent's (Tyne Daly) job at risk.

But by the end of the episode all has worked out for the best. Even the relationship between Michael and his mother improves after he arranges things to ensure that his mother's former new asset friend will not lose her job.

And then we learn that the mysterious figure has a plan that Michael Westen and crew must do. The plan, and exactly who this is is still not clear. But it just feels so much like Carla at that arc's start.

In fact the whole episode felt like something I'd seen before. The actors seemed somewhat bored. It was nothing blatant or easily identified, but over the episode you just felt like this was all done before. It wasn't the usual crisp pace and more or less intense acting. It was just there.

Still there have been bad episodes in this series before. The writting has dropped off and an arc has had missteps before it became a interesting foreground storyline. But the question remains if season 4 is just after the peak of the show. Did it jump the shark by saving Fiona (a still too thin Gabrielle Anwar) and killing (literally) Westen's chance at getting back into the official operative world?

As a fan I won't judge the series yet. As a ctitic I have my doubts at what might be next. Either way, the next 2 or 3 episodes at the most will likely reveal what state the show is now in and what future it might have.

Television Show Review: Archer

FX Network is the latest to create an animated adult-oriented anime program for the Thursday night slot. But unlike The Simpsons, this is a show more aking to Cartoon Networks celebrated Adult Swim line-up than the prime time original.

Even before the show came on the month long rollout from FX has made it clear that the college crowd was the target audience. The multiple 30 second spots promoting the show made it clear that this was meant to be a mix of non-PC themed jokes, crude sexual inuendo, and a parody of James Bond style spy movies.



The real question is will the program work in its 30 minute format as well as it did in 30 seconds? The answer was, not really.

It's not the over-used semi-3D blockish art that takes away form the show (which has been used for Frisky Dingo and Assy McGee among others). It's not the style of jokes. It's not the voice acting. It's a combination of all the above.

Obviously the first thing most will notice is the art. Fans of Adult Swim will be bored as this is a style that is quickly becoming overused. It's not overly detailed, eye-catching, or involving. For those that haven't seen it before it might be a change of pace, but it gets old by the end of an episode. Probably because the colors are more of a bland wash-out than bold or striking.

The voice acting is much on the same level. The actors are competent in what they are doing. The lead character, Sterling Archer, is H. Jon Benjamin - best known for being the voice of Assy McGee. His former love interest is Lana Kane, Aisha Tyler who may be most recognized from her role on CSI. Jessica Walter adds experience to the cast in the role of Mallory Archer, the mother of Sterling. Another accomplished actor is George Coe as Woodhouse, the longtime man-servant of Sterling.

They are all good at what they do. But listening to them with 80% of their lines you just don't get a feeling that there is any excitement. That somehow the cast is just not in snyc. Or that they really aren't enjoyig the lines that they have.

Which brings up the writing. It's just par. It hits the mark, but just misses the big laugh. Like the pace is off. It's so close to being very funny, but not quite.

There are many good lines though. Little bits of side comments or quick quips that catch the attention. But it's not consistent.

Watching the first 2 episodes you get a feel for the programs' potential. There is huge potential for the show to get it's legs and take off. You can feel how it could be really good. Or come completely off the wheels and crash and burn.

One thing I liked was Lana and her hyper-sexuality and interracial porn addiction. The almost Clousea-like nature of Sterling Archer is good as well, though his character would definitely be grating at an hour length.

The negatives are far more numerous. I won't even try to list them. But the good news is they are things that the show can work to remove. In fact I would imagine that many of these issues are likely worked out by the end of the season.

Archer is a bold try to grab the attention of college 20-somethings. It makes fun of the Bond types and the serious outlook on the spy thriller. The art is ok, as is the writing. But potential must be realized for the show to make it past the first set of episodes. I'll watch it again, maybe even for the most of the season, as long as this does not compete with Burn Notice. Ultimately, I don't see the show making it past 2 season though. It just doesn't have enough to make it tread water.

Television Review: The Prisoner (2009)

The following television review of The Prisoner (2009) may include some spoilers for some fans or those that have not seen the first episode.

I just finished watching the AMC network premiere of the revisioned The Prisoner, with James Caviezel and Sir Ian McKellen. It is certainly an interesting television program.

The television show starts off in many ways just as the original The Prisoner did in 1967. We are introduced to a man and immediately we are in the middle of questions. Who is he? Why is he there? What is going on?

These are questions the man we learn is called Six yearns to know answers to as much as we do. And there is the basis of the whole thing. What are the answers? Though we are given lots of clues, we are also given more than a bit of misdirection and confusion. But always, in the commercial breaks, we are given the hope that all things will be revealed at some point. Which would be a letdown, I think.

In this first of 3 nights, we get to learn that The Village is all there is. It seems that everyone has no memory of anything else. Well almost. Some do have recollections of other things and facts, like about the universe, but yet there is no connection from one fact to another.

From the onset I was let with a recurring thought. This isn't happening, it's the result of a torture. Some kind of hallucination brought on due to a hypnosis or psychological treatment meant to break Six and reveal something that he has yet to even consider.

But this is not something Six does not consider. At the same time we are given every reason to believe it is really taking place. People die, others disappear. And everyone fears Number Two.

There are things that can be gleaned from watching this first episode. We know that there is a corporation, where Six worked. It was in New York. Six resigned from it suddenly and with a bit of dramatic flair. And they are not willing to let Six walk away, at least not without knowing something they fear he learned. That is, if the corporation are his captors at all.

We know that the Towers are meant to symbolize NYC. Possibly meaning an end to innocence, or the extent of desperation some may fanatically follow. We know that control of thought and action are predicated on medications, likely mixed into wrapped foods that are the only style of meal available. We know that fear is a motivation that keeps the few that have any inkling of separate thought quiet and hidden.

But what does this all mean? Why is all of this being done?

One thing is clear, everyone is being watched all the time. Big Brother exists, just not as a Government entity. And that extends from the Village to your home right now. Perhaps only death is the means of ultimate escape.

I think that many of the people in the Village are familiar to Six. He has watched them and their actions in his work in New York. Thus they exist now, but without clear meaning.

I think that all the numbers are critical. 313, 2, 6, 147, 93, 17, 16, and especially 11-12. They all have a significance I cannot now fathom. It is a clue that Six himself states, though in a flashback to the world. It's a hidden message of some sort.

I also believe that the reference to underground is important. Something is happening under the surface, literally, at the Village. It's something that is happening in the subconscious of Six. It is the answer to our questions, I believe.

I think that this is all happening ala Total Recall. The mind of Six is trying to make sense of torture and information, but so far cannot come to grips with the reality of it all. I could be wrong but the way Six appears at most places, how things change, how they interact with his memories of the world, leads me to believe this.

Stepping away from what has been shown, taking into account several things stated by Sir McKellen and the nature of Hollywood these days, I believe this is all a reaction to the evil of not his corporation but another. Someone else wants to know the secrets he uncovered in his work. This is corporate espionage.

So I conclude with this. This revisioning of The Prisoner is interesting. It has more than enough clues and distractions to cause those who actively watch to be curious as to what happens next. It has enough purposive loopholes to make it unclear of what is a writing mistake and part of the storyline. At this point I doubt anyone can out guess what the writer's intended with assurance.

The acting has been well done. We can sympathize with Six. We too can see reason to fear Two. We can understand the dread that comes from the Clinic and the sense of claustrophobia that permeates the idyllic scenery.

Thus this is a good program. It is the high end of what television can provide, when it tries. This is not The Prisoner of 67, yet it is a worthwhile experience. It is captivating and allows time to roll by without notice. It easily inspires discussion and questions. It easily makes you believe in the experience being given.

Television rarely reaches for such lofty goals as entertaining the mind as much as the eyes. But in this case they have succeeded, and I look forward to Monday nights episodes.