by Lee Padrick, October 9, 2013
WARNING: This review contains spoilers.
The Bridge has wrapped up its initial season and is poised for 2014. The Big Bad of Season 1 was defeated a few episodes ago, and we've been treated to a few episodes of Season 1.5. A bonus thrown to the audience for tolerating David Tate? Perhaps.
Hank (Ted Levine) and Sonya (Diane Kruger) spend some time at Hank's ranch, where he shows off his rodeo skills while Sonya decompresses. These two characters are fun to watch, and I hope we get more of their backstory next season. Sonya is concerned that Hank is considering retirement, but he assures her (and us) he will be back next season.
by Lee Padrick, September 26, 2013
WARNING - This review contains spoilers
The serial killer arc has wrapped up and The Bridge is dealing with the aftermath. And I must say, I liked this penultimate episode.
We finally got back to the premise of the show that we started watching during the early run of the season. The El Paso/Juarez dynamic is an interesting world and as the show moves past the evil mastermind of David Tate (who has a brief scene where he smirked at Marco as he was perp walked into the courthouse), we get a glimpse of where this show may be headed in the second season.
Hey, The Bridge producers, if you're reading this. More Galvan and Linder, please.
And Sonya's character development is progressing nicely, as we see her lamenting the salvaging of her sister's Bronco and her new-found empathy for her "partner", Marco. Marco's on a month-long bender after the death of his son (he doesn't seem too concerned that his wife is gone), and Sonya's trying to reignite his passion for his work, by stopping in to see him and his Walter White-inspired beard. After a few failed attempts, I think Sonya has rescued Marco from his pity party and when we last see him, he's clean-shaven and at the courthouse (where the previously-mentioned Dr. Evil wannabe smirks at him).
by Lee Padrick, September 20, 2013
WARNING - This review contains spoilers
Our favorite teen slasher show wrapped up its story arc.
I never thought I would write this, but Ray Ray was the best part of the hour. Ray drags Tim's putrid body through the tunnel and finds more dead bodies. He picks up a gold-plated gun (WTF?) and has a shootout with a guy. After killing the guy, Ray decides to make it look as if Tim shot the guy. This may be the first spark of intelligence we've seen from the pride of Tampa. But that spark is extinguished when Ray decides to take a package he finds with a cartel logo on it. I wouldn't have done that, Ray.
The rest of the show is devoted to Tate. You know, the evil ominpresent genius that threatens to blow up The Bridge of the Americas if he doesn't get $1,000,000. Or was that Dr. Evil from Austin Powers? Tate drives Marco to the border line on the bridge, stops in traffic, and shows off his Semtex vest. Then he pulls Frye out of the trunk and tells Marco that he will tell him where Gus is if Marco shoots Frye. So we endure an overly long scene of Marco alternatively pointing his gun at Frye, and yelling "Where is my son?" and "I can't do this." Pretty powerful stuff. If you've been subjected to watching SpongeBob reruns all day. Otherwise, its a big bag of not so much.
Sonya somehow divines that Gus is enduring water torture by following the pipes through the uncle's house. And she finds the Gus-ter, but he's departed this mortal veil. So she finds out about the bridge standoff, and rushes to the scene. Just in time to stop Marco from shooting Tate. Because Dr. EvilTate's plan was suicide-by-cop.
How does she stop Marco? Why, shooting him in the leg, of course. And while she's at it, she caps Tate in the leg also. But she's too late to help Frye, because Marco had given his gun to Tate after he decided he couldn't shoot Frye. So Tate did. And Frye fell off the bridge (a long fall, by the way). A bullet wound, a long fall, and I'm thinking Matthew Lillard's guest starring role is over. But no, Adriana visits the hospital and Frye is alive! Except he has internal injuries and a traumatic brain injury (maybe he can become a source of ACN on The Newsroom?).
So Tate gets arrested and he's flashing us the evil maniacal grin as Hank slaps the cuffs on him. Why he's smiling, I dunno. And Marco throws Sonya out of his hospital room because he's mad at her about something. And he has a touching scene with his dead son in the hospital morgue.
If you find that you are confused after reading this, all I can say is "Me too."
Two episodes to go and we've wrapped up the Tate arc. So let's get back to Fausto and Linder, because their stories interest me.
Random Thoughts:
- For a cop, Marco doesn't handle his gun very well.
- How the hell did Tate get through the border checkpoint? Surely there's a BOLO or some type of alert about him by now?
- Hank Wade works so well with Sonya. When he kneels in front of her and tells her to go see Marco, I see that he understands how best to interact with her.
- When Marco throws Sonya out of his hospital room, was I the only one that immediately thought of Michael Bolton's "How Can We Be Lovers (If We Can't Be Friends)?"
What did you think?
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by Lee Padrick, Friday, September 13, 2013
The mornings and nights are getting cooler, the leaves are turning brown, and football season has started. What does that mean? The fish are feasting for the winter ahead and TV shows are premiering. Its a beautiful time of the year.
Fall, just a few years ago, meant the broadcast and cable networks kick-started stalwarts and unveiled new scripted fare. That "new show/fall" mentality has been upended somewhat over the past ten years, but this is still the time of year that most networks refresh themselves.
Between now and the Christmas break, I'll be reviewing some select shows. Those on my list include:
- Homeland (Season 3)
- Masters of Sex (Season 1, new on Showtime)
- Walking Dead (Season 4)
- Boardwalk Empire (Season 4)
TV shows often are at their peak in seasons three and four. Many theories abound, but I believe that networks, producers, writers, actors, and fans have sufficiently built a world with well developed characters within the show by 24 - 36 episodes, and all are at their creative peak. We'll test this theory over the next 3 months together.
I'll also be talking about shows that are finishing up their seasons, like Dexter, Ray Donovan, The Bridge, and The Newsroom. I have a few Tivos full of stuff I've been trying to find some time to watch, like Hell on Wheels, Low Winter Sun, Broadchurch, and the History Channel's Vikings (which has been sitting in a folder on a Tivo, only gotten through 4 episodes thus far). Plus, I'll be watching random stuff on Netflix and I'm sure I'll feel compelled to write about it.
So keep checking back regularly and enjoy some of the best TV that we may ever see. The Golden Age of TV is here!
Random Thoughts:
- Had to edit Broadchurch because I spelled it "Broadchuck." Did I mention I'm going to miss Yvonne Strahovski when Dexter ends?
- Richard Harrow (Jack Huston) deserves a spin-off.
- Jesse "Todd Landry" Plemons is cast in a potential HBO project called The Missionary.
- Scandal is going to be my guilty pleasure this fall.
What will you be watching?
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by Lee Padrick, September 12, 2013
-This review contains spoilers-
Later, Tim. You were fun while you were here, but you pissed off the wrong widow with hot pants. Charlotte just got shafted (in the un-Charlotte way) by her dead husband in the will and she's coming off her first kill (a pitch-forked Graciela), so it was a bad time for her and Ray "Close the Deal" Ray to find that ATF transmitter. I wonder if she now carries a bag of lime around in her Cadillac SUV? And is she going to make Caesar dig the grave, or will she do it herself? Yes, folks, Jeb Bartlett's daughter has grown up to be a murdering trollop.
So how does Charlotte tie into the main story? Not a clue.
And where was Mutton Chops? C'mon, I need my Linder fix.
OK, I think its safe to say The Bridge has officially turned a corner and given us a plot twist for the ages. I mean, we started out with this show giving us the eye-opening reality of one of the world's most dangerous cities (Juarez) adjacent to one of the world's safest (El Paso), the ignorance of the average American about life south of the border, and political commentary on TexMex relations. And now we're on a ride with a superpowered serial killer, who has impecible timing and luck, on a revenge mission because ... wait for it .... some dude porked his wife. I'll be the first to admit, I didn't see that twist coming.
The show I started watching offered something different than "Scream 8". Speaking of Scream, this was Matthew Dillard's finest episode. As Daniel, he stumbled on his road to sobriety and Adriana ('Epoch from "Friday Night Lights" / Brock's Mom on "Breaking Bad") got him to an AA meeting where he had his Jesse "Problem Dog" Pinkman moment. Great scene! Then, when he steps outside for a smoke, David Tate sticks him in the neck with Dexter's M99.
Say what??
Yes, we're watching a classic slasher film now. What other show started with socio-political commentary, only to turn into Friday the 13th? Was it Season 2 of Homeland when Abu Nazir became Michael Myers? I think its safe to assume that Tate has a Showtime subscription. Maybe Tate has done nothing but watch Showtime for the past 6 years, I dunno. At least he gave a shout out to crazy Childress. Remember Childress? He is the guy that Marco and Sonya arrested a few episodes back that spouted all the political stuff that we thought the show was about.
Alma threw Marco out again. Maybe its me, but I don't think Alma gets to corner the market on righteous indignation, considering how she humped a serial killer. Marco is a serial adulterer, but when Alma tells him that her father and brother are upset with him, my first reaction was, "Did you tell them that you put yourself in danger because you decided to get in on with your co-worker who turned out to be a psychopath?"
On the Marco/Sonya front, no new character development, just a lot of tail chasing until Tate decided to call Marco and meet with him. Sonya did show some empathy for Marco and Gus this week, though, in what I thought was a touching scene. And Gus is in a greenlit barrel slowly filling with water. That's brutal, Tate!
By the way, Gus is at the uncle's house. You could hear the water running, and Tate paused for a moment when Marco said he was at the uncle's house.
We have 3 episodes to go this season, and I'm going to continue along on this wild ride because I keep holding out hope that we'll get back to the original premise that the show offered us. Or that Sonya will discover Tate's kryptonite. Or that Linder finds out that Hank Wade is his biological father. In the meantime, I'll sit through the next few episodes about the archtypal omniscient serial killer mastermind, because you can't find that storyline anywhere else on contemporary television.
Random thoughts:
- So Tate assumed Hastings' identity years ago after he faked his suicide? Where's he getting his money to pull all these shenanigans? Did his gig working next to Alma pay THAT well?
- Hank and Lindner could have their own show. I don't know what it would be about, but I'd tune in.
- I'm surprised Ray is still alive. As soon as he called himself "Ray Ray," I just knew he was to be a redshirt.
- So how did Tate know Daniel was going to be a the AA meeting? Is he following him? If so, when did he put Gus in the barrel? He's quite the multi-tasker. I don't think Tate has slept in weeks, but then again, I guess he doesn't have to with his superpowers and all.
- Bonus points if you picked up on my "Homeland" reference. Meredith Stiehm was a writer on "Homeland" before landing the Executive Producer gig on "The Bridge."
Quote of the Night:
"We used to play kickball together."
What did you think?
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