Wow, a ninety minute finale and never a chance to catch our breath. Sadly, I would have preferred some breath-catching time. Last night’s lose-end-wrapping marathon was fun to watch, but came off as little more than an exercise in writing plot. The problem is The Shield has always been such a visceral experience, actually seeing the cogs in motion comes off as misguided if not boring. More after the jump…
Easy kids, it’s just red paint
I LOVE THIS SHOW. The Riches is hands down one of the biggest surprises of the TV season, and while I know plenty of people who watch it, it seems to have built little buzz — the ultimate currency in television programming. I blame this on the time of year the series premiered. It’s hard for a new show to carve out its place at the water cooler so close to the end of the broadcast season (especially when the cable competition is The Shield and The Sopranos). I hope when The Riches comes back, its in the summer. It is the perfect summer show.
But that’s neither here nor there as the first season has just wrapped and demands to be discussed… which we’ll do right after the break…
I think it’s safe to say that I was completely lost for about 16% of that episode. It was expectedly great, but a few minutes in I realized that I clearly haven’t been paying as close attention as I probably should have. This isn’t to say that I couldn’t follow the action, but for the first two thirds I thought that “Edwardo” was “Guardo” and was obviously full of questions when the latter turned up alive and armless.
Equally confusing was Shane making the rounds. I understand that he’s trying to seal himself off from Mackey — I get the packed of incriminating information — but what was up at the bakery and the gas station? Did he kill that guy by shoving a gas nozzle down his throat or was that the Armenians — who I thought we were done with three seasons back? Since when did The Shield turn into Lost?
Maybe I’m just not doing my share of the lifting.
Elsewhere, did anyone else get the impression that Claudette’s iron rule is starting to give way to compromise and deal-making?
I have to admit, it took me a while to get back in the swing of things this season, but now the show is really firing on all cylinders.
Wow. That was really, really great. It was great because every element in the episode had to do with the climax in one way or another.
Let’s start at the start, shall we? You knew this episode (directed by Frank “Shawshank” Darabont) was going in the right direction when Anthony Anderson kicked things off by reprising his role as Antwon Mitchell. Why is this guy making all of these god awful comedies when he’s so fiercely intense in drama? It was a quick appearance, but an important one as it gave Vic the first whiff that something was wrong with his impression of how Lem died.
The meat of the episode dealt with the strike team solving the murder of the city comptroller’s daughter. This was interesting because it showed the political force behind the strike team’s questionable ethics. The murdered girl turned out to be a junkie whore. The well-to-do parents didn’t want this information to leak, and so Mackey again bends protocol to appease all sides, even if justice isn’t necessarily served. In this case the stakes were low, but we saw the slope sufficiently greased and suddenly understood how one could start justifying murders.
This of course leads us to the big confrontation. The performances were some of the best on television in years. Despite the threats, both of these men know they are quickly approaching the gates of hell. Both are cold blooded killers who feel they have been operating within the dark ethics they set for themselves years ago. The bitter irony is that each feels the other crossed the line and will forever resent them for this.
I absolutely can not wait to see where all of this leads.
Apparently people really liked Dirt. That’s strange. Haven’t we, as a culture, tired of the celebrity worship game? No? We haven’t? Oh, I guess I didn’t get the memo. In any case, Dirt and The Riches have been rewarded for their strong viewership (over 5 million viewers each week, comperable to that of Rescue Me and The Shield) and given second seasons. Good news for fans of drama, I suppose, even though I question whether The Riches can pull off what they’ve done this season a second time. Either way I’m glad that Eddie Izzard gets to keep his job. As for Courtney Cox, I have no plans on starting to watch the show now.
In other FX news, Rescue Me is moving from Tuesdays to Wednesdays, apparently to make room for the new legal drama Damages. Leary and co. start their fourth season on June 14th. Damages doesn’t premiere until July 24th. It’s Always Sunny In Philadelphia isn’t coming back until September… which sucks because Ricky needs some summer comedy!
Michael Chiklis is no longer the star of The Shield. That distinction now belongs to Walton Goggins, who has completely eclipsed our bald-anti-hero as the series primary draw. This is saying something given that Tuesday’s episode had Shane spending most of the hour battered and lifeless in a hospital bed. Still, that last scene with Maura was emotionally devastating.
It was obvious that Shane wasn’t going to be able to keep his secret for the duration of the season. All it took was a slip-up to get the truth to spill, though I’m sure most would argue that the “slip-up” was far more intentional. The added intensity comes from the fact that Maura was the one to which he opened up. Of all the wives and girlfriends in this series she the one that actually knows the most about what’s actually happening “at work,” and is hardly clean herself (she was the one who crushed Tavon’s skull with that iron, right?).
Also great was Vic’s crazy pot-bust side-project with Carl “got a stew goin’ on” Weathers. It was one of those scenes where a character looks at a situation as if he’s looking at a future version of himself and has to take a step back. It was all so depressing. The strike wasn’t even suspenseful. The guys they busted in on weren’t hard core gangsters, they were pot dealers whose only weapon was a five-wood. If this is the direction his life is taking, it might be time for Mr. Mackey to start playing by the rules.
Elsewhere: The longer David Aceveda has been out of the barn, the less moralizing he seems to be doing (not that he was ever all that clean). Now, he’s as snakelike as they come.
I never got around to posting about last week’s episode of The Riches, which is a shame since the Malloys left the reservation to return for a “Travelor Funeral” which kinda-sorta wrapped things up on that front (the big cliffhanger from last week was completely absent in yesterday’s episode). It was also, dramatically, quite good if light on laughs. MagneticMediaFed does not dwell, (yeah, right) and will take this time to reflect on this most recent entry from Mr. Izzard and company.
A few weeks back I predicted that the Malloys/Riches were on the downfall. There are only so many cards you can play before the deck runs out, and with a premise as shaky is The Riches, we have to wonder about second season renewals. At this stage in the game, the writers are basically floating checks. Last week Wayne stole money from Hugh to pay off the money he stole from the family. This week they conned an ex-ballplayer out of a cool quarter-million in order to pay back Hugh (and get him off their back a bit). I suspect this trend will continue, but for how long?
Not that I’m not enjoying the ride. Izzard is still fantastic in the role and Minnie Driver’s performance is simultaneously manic and mannered. Dahlia is undoubtedly crazy, but when she’s required to “play the part” (whatever part that may be) she does so as well as anyone. I can only imagine that playing a character who is in turn playing a character and doing so well must be something of a challenge. It isn’t an Edie Falco tour-de-force, but it is clearly something we aren’t use to seeing on television.
Elsewhere, I absolutely love the kids. Each one is completely distinct and seems to have their own motivations for continuing this suburbia act — a position that has changed over these eight episodes. Right now, the Malloys have embraced the Riches entirely. It can only be a matter of time before it all falls apart.
Not so subtle imagery.
Tuesday’s episode of The Shield was as intense as the show gets. Unfortunately, I’m still working myself into the season and the whole thing kind of just washed over me. I’m not entirely sure what my deal is, but The Shield has yet to really grab me by the throat. It did manage to grab Guardo by the throat, however, and then proceeded to torture and kill him.
Thanks to 24’s complete overuse of Jack’s torture-lust, the technique has lost a little something as riveting television (though as you can see from the above picture, The Shield seems to be trying to at least apply some level of contemporary relevance).
What I find myself being drawn to this season is Walton Goggin’s portrayal of Shane. Since the show’s inception, the character has always been a live wire, and seems to always be the one who causes the most headaches for the strike team. After killing Lem last season, however, we’re clearly seeing a difference Shane Vendrell. He’s endlessly conflicted and his decisions are for the first time being weighed internally instead of just in an explosion of rage.
Maybe that’s the difference. Vic, as we saw in this last episode is still lashing out, but after five seasons I’ve all ready seen plenty of that. I’m ready for the fall, or for the moments when all of them have to start battling their consciences. It’s happening with Shane and its making a better show. Now that Mackey thinks he’s gotten his revenge, it’ll be interesting to see how he acts.
Eventually the tower will collapse. It has to.
I think The Riches peaked last night. The episode was great, but it also signaled the show’s inevitable demise. In short, they simply can’t keep up the con for much longer and still make it believable. Eventually Wayne/Doug is going to have to do some lawyering that requires a bit more work than a para and great interpersonal skills. Eventually Dahlia’s drug problem and/or not-so-great interpersonal skills when not hustling. Eventually the creepy traveler gang is going to find them and rat them out.
Still, we can enjoy the ride before it comes to brilliant collision in what I hope to be this single-season run.
What’s funny about the Malloy’s situation is that the kids are arguably the best con artists in the family. Of course, they simply have to play the part and don’t need to worry about working or paying the bills and such.
Izzard was brilliant again, and I think he’s finally nailed the accent — he’s created something of a British, Southern American, Martian sort of drawl that at this stage in the game works. Though the character that might be the secret weapon is Greg Henry’s Hugh. Hugh, as Wayne says, is an asshole, and he plays it brilliantly. He’s twisted and sadistic and is generally careless about most things, but not in a cold-hearted killer sort of way. He’s careless in an eight-year-old way where he doesn’t have the slightest insight into the effects of his actions. It’s brilliantly fun to watch.
We’re half way through the series. I don’t expect the next seven to be nearly as good as this first six, but like any good tragedy the downfall makes for the best drama.
Before we get down to brass tacks, let’s start with a little history. I started watching The Shield during the winter of 2005 on DVD. I blasted through the first two season in a matter of weeks. Needless to say I found the show compelling, and still find its pilot episode to be one of the greatest ever filmed (any series that kicks things off with the main character murdering his new partner screams, “I want to see another!”). Still, as fun as The Shield was to watch, it rarely crossed over into greatness.
Well before I ever tuned in, I heard about The Shield on some morning zoo-crew radio show where one of the DJs said “It’s The Sopranos but with cops.” Later that year Michael Chiklis won the Emmy. The problem is the series, in those first few seasons, never really elevated itself above exploitation. Not that that is a bad thing. The Shield has shocked me regularly. It created a Los Angeles police district that seems to house the most vicious criminals ever conjured up by mere mortals. In fact Farmington was so ruthless, our anti-hero frequently came off as a saint. One plotline that was especially troubling involved a gang leader who prayed on young girls and tattooed their faces so that they wouldn’t forget. Unless you’re Eli Roth, those are the type of images that stick with you (and this is on basic cable no less). And for those of you keeping score, Vic Mackey eventually presses the guy’s face to a stove. It’s rough. There’s more after the jump…
Alpacas are the new puppies… apparently.
Another rock solid episode with the faux-Riches. I’ve made it known how much I like this show, though four episodes in, I’m starting to see the intrinsic problems with the premise. The series hinges on the fact that the Malloys continue to live as the Riches without being found out, but with each passing episode the lie becomes harder to pull off and the fact that they are pulling it off, makes it the harder to buy into. Again, thank god for Izzard and Driver who are absolutely phenomenal. This episode in particular I think I finally saw Driver’s brilliance. Previously, her character was far too crazy to come off as anything but a cartoon. Now that her heroin problem has turned into a more manageable (and fun!) prescription meds problem, we’re able to see the finesse in her performance.
All in all, I’m just hoping for one solid season — or some type of crazy shift in the show’s focus (a trick that seems like it should be used all the time in television, but is unfortunately used rarely, if ever).
While watching The Riches this week I noticed something. The episode had started and I was excited to be watching it because the past two weeks had convinced me it was one of the better things to be watching on television. Though during those first few minutes of the episodes I just couldn’t get into it. The show seemed off. It felt different. It was like I was watching it again for the first time, feeling my way around and trying to see if it was going to fit. I suspected the problem was Eddie Izzard’s horrendous “southern” accent. I quote “southern” because I’m not even entirely sure that’s what he’s going for. It could be Australian for all I know. Either way it’s bad.
Then about ten minutes into the show Izzard’s character “Doug” (which technically isn’t his real name) has to lie his way through an introductory speech at his new job. He fumbles around, looking for the right way to sell his falsity, and eventually finds his groove. Obviously by the end of his presentation the whole office is with him. That’s his game and he does it well. What was interesting was the speech seemed to win me over just as it had the officemates. From this moment forward, I was back in love with the show. The accent didn’t bother me because his performance selling himself in that early scene sold me.
I’m curious if this pattern will continue each week where Izzard has to personally win me over each and every time? I suspect watching it week to week might make this the case as just as I start to buy that damn accent, the show ends and I have to get reaquainted all over again the next week.
We’ll see how this all plays out. All in all, it’s still a great series.
Listen to “Something In The Air” by Thunderclap Newman which played during the last scene.
A lot of things can change over the course of the season. Last spring Rescue Me started its run with three fantastic episodes before ultimately spiraling out of control. Still, right now The Riches is without a doubt the best thing on television. I suspect that won’t last as both The Shield and The Sopranos return early next month, but at this moment Monday nights on FX is the ultimate destination for fans of medium.
Last night’s episode also highlighted the importance of giving a drama a couple episodes to let it show you what its all about. A good drama won’t reveal all of its cards in the pilot. It’s an organism and needs room to grow. This can, of course, work two ways. The Black Donnellys started strong, but by the third week I realized that the show just didn’t have any juice. Last night’s episode is on my DVR and likely won’t be watched. The Riches was good in last week’s premiere but it was last night’s episode that knocked it out of the park.
My only real complaint with the show (and lets get this out of the way early) is that the title sequence is absolutely horrible. It’s too vivid and bright and fluffy for this show, which is as dark emotionally as it is visually. It’s a shame because we’ve had a pretty good run recently with televised dramas having really kick ass titles sequences. Luckily, that’s why the good lord gave us the option of fast-forward.
Accent aside, Eddie Izzard is absolutely sublime in this role. He owns the frame when he’s in it, which is fitting since his character is a natural charmer and a natural lier. Really, we’re watching a great actor playing someone who is also a great actor, but living the role.
Perhaps it’s early to make a statement like this but The Riches seems to be the first suburban satire that really understands what suburbia means. It isn’t a depressing wasteland with “little boxes made of ticky-tacky” or a place where people have depressing existential actualizations about their life or lack of life. Suburbia is gated paradise where everyone, to some extent, is lying.
There’s a lot of copy-catting in popular entertainment, though rarely is it the case that the doppelgänger is better than the original. Monday night, FX is premiering a new drama called The Riches, which basically takes the drive of HBO’s Big Love (a family trying to live the life of people they are not) and strips it of the creepiness (the bigamy, the cults, Bill Pullman’s Paxton’s ass). This isn’t to say that creepiness isn’t great on television (it is!), but it seemed to drag Big Love through all kinds of obstacles until it ultimately collapsed under its own pressure when the first season came to an end.
This may happen with The Riches too, but (at least initially) this show has a whole lot more going for it. Specifically the amazing Eddie Izzard, whose sole weakness in the show is his difficulty in maintaining the American accent. Not having trouble with the words is Minnie Driver playing his wife who was recently released from prison. Her work on the show is significantly more believable than her work as a singer/song-writer.
The basic premise revolves around a family of con-artists who assume the lives of a suburban couple. On paper it doesn’t sound anything like Big Love, but when you actually start watching the similarities are hard to ignore. Luckily for us it seems to be doing the job much better (at least after one episode). Also nice: I’ll finally have a reason to watch FX again. If you’re looking for a decent series to tide you over until The Shield starts back up, The Riches is a good place to start.
March 12, 10:00pm, FX
Watch the entire premiere episode via Television.AOL.com
Last Tuesday FX premiered their new Courteney Cox vehicle, Dirt. That the series began promptly at its scheduled time of 10pm is about the best thing I can say about it. In the series, Cox plays the editor of a tabloid magazine called “Drrt” which is curiously void of an i. She is a cut throat executive who has no qualms about orchestrating elaborate ways to get “the dirt” on their celebrity targets — anything that will sell magazines.
The notion of a show about a tabloid is only initially appealing. Sure, it sounds like an industry ripe for satire, until you really start to think about it and remember that celebrity journalism became a parody of itself long before we started referring to people like Christopher Knight as “a celebrity.” The whole medium has gone so far beyond rational comprehension, there not only isn’t a reason to dramatize it, but efforts to do so seem naive and painfully boring. Dirt is one of the few television experiences I’ve had recently where I was legitimately disappointed in discovering the episode was being aired commercial free. Additionally, why did FX decide to slate a brand new show about greed, sex, fame and vice immediately after their established series about greed, sex, fame and vice? Whatever happened to programming diversity*.
If it isn’t enough that Dirt is wholly unentertaining, it also managed to dip into the grab-bag of modern, overused, cinematic trickery. Case in point: the speed-up/slow-down of film as the camera moves through a crowd (or over a urban center) is so far beyond the tipping point a ban should be instituted by the IATSE. Sure, we liked it in Charlie’s Angels, thought it was cute on Wonderfalls but enough is enough. We get it, you’re editing digitally. Just because you can doesn’t mean you should. Dirt is such a film-school dumpster we’re even greeted with the oh-so-popular shot of “shirtless guy carrying a girl while walking away from an explosion.” So powerful. So shirtless.
How did FX manage to stumble so greatly? Even Starved, their eating disorder comedy from 2005, had enough bright spots to get me through all seven episodes. And while Over Theremay have bombed, it isn’t due to lack of ambition. It makes one wonder if Kevin Reilly’s move to NBC might have had a bit more of an impact on the network than we would have originally thought (though It’s Always Sunny In Philadelphia did make it past its first season). Where’s the creativity? Why is it so hard for people to create shows that aren’t about Hollywood, Cops and Lawyers? Where’s The Friendlys? Show me something crazy. Really, really crazy. I’ve got the time. Just try to do so without having a shirtless guy walk away from a fireball.
