TV: Gotham SE1 EP1

Gotham
Crime, Drama, Thriller

I haven't blogged in while I know... but I just had to blog about this one, didn't I? I've been waiting for it for months now and they kept releasing teasers and prequels and finally it's here!

It pretty much jumps straight into the death of the Waynes'....and is it terrible or what?! Poor little Batman (David Mazouz) It's goddamn devastating. I wonder how much we will see him in this considering it's meant to be more an origin story of Commissioner Gordon (Ben McKenzie). Imagine copping the Wayne's as a first case in Gotham? Worst luck ever. Gordon's partnered up with Harvey Bullock (Donal Logue) who is this hard-ass gristled old detective who's been jaded by the job... and what a job Gotham looks like!

We see some classic characters like the opening scene with Cat Woman (Camren Bicondova) that we've seen a million times now, and a young Poison Ivy, plus of course, Alfred! I love the choice of actor, Sean Pertwee who you might know as Lestrade from Elementary. Fish Mooney (Jada Pinkett Smith) is not in the comics but I like the character. I'd probably like her better if Oswald (Robin Taylor) wasn't standing next to her when we first saw her. I have a feeling his performance will be very similar to Andrew Scott's (Moriarty) in Sherlock: Amazing.

It'd probably be better if they hadn't tried so hard to get those artsy shots. I mean it looks good but it also looks a little pretentious. I'm also a little annoyed that they showed us most of the first episode with all the little teasers and prequel things. I think the thing I mostly liked about this show is the idea of this being Batman's town but I always give shows a few episodes before I decide whether I enjoy them or not, sooo:

3 out of 5 baby bats...

TV: Fargo SE1 EP10 - Finale

Fargo

Crime, Drama

This show....just wow. I first heard about it from some of the bookclub girls who had been watching it, then I looked up the promo above and started it purely on the basis that it had Billy Bob Thornton (the guy who was married to Angelina Jolie years ago. You remember the blood in the vial around the neck debacle? Oh, and he starred in Bad Santa, Pushing Tin and a heap of others) and Martin Freeman (The Hobbit, Sherlock).

The show is based off the 1994 movie of the same name, which is apparently based off real life. There are those disclaimers at the beginning of each episode but I had a hard time trying to find anything factual...  and that's because it's not real... The writers/directors of the film insisted it was based on a true story when doing promotional tours and the myth persisted... But it's entirely fictional, just in case you were wondering. I haven't actually watched the film (yet) so I can't tell you how close it is. I do know it was a hit and lots of people I know love it...

Well, now we can all love the show too because it is bloody brilliant. There is not a single episode that was dull, I was biting my nails in the finale. I recognised Colin Hanks from his short time on Dexter and Bob Odenkirk who plays Saul in Breaking Bad but the stand out performance (other than Billy Bob) was definitely Allison Tolman who I have never seen in anything before. Billy Bob is such a bad ass! Freaking fantastic performance!

Brilliant show! It's not been confirmed for second season yet but I've heard that there is a plan for season two already and I will be very surprised if it's not picked up... I've also heard that second season will be very different from what we've seen so far but the guy who wrote season one is also writing season two so what's the bet it will be just as awesome?

5 out of 5 maple leaves...

TV: True Detective SE1 EP3

True Detective
Crime, Drama

I'd seen this on my list of new shows but I didn't even bother with it at first thinking it was just another detective show and I have enough of those at the moment. Then my sister linked me the above trailer and I realized that I absolutely had to give it a go. For a start, it's HBO who have been responsible for True Blood, Game of Thrones and The Newsroom. Then of course there's Woody Harrelson (Zombieland, Natural Born Killers) and Matthew McConaughey (The Lincoln Lawyer, Magic Mike) together! It's like they were made for each other.

McConaughey plays smart and strange Rust Cohle. He's cold and calculating but he's a fantastic detective. His monologues alone are worth watching this show. His partner Martin Hart (Harrelson) is the more stable, typical detective. He spends most of his time trying to figure his partner out, poor fella. The show revolves around these two detectives, their partnership and an old murder case. The timeline flicks back and forth between telling the story of the case in the present and the past where the case occurred.

I like that it's set in the past (I think it's mid-90's) and the use of computers and mobile phones is not apparent - it's a real detective story. The two leads are insanely good of course, they hold the focus of the viewer even if you can't always understand what they (Cohle) are saying. The tension between the two detectives is obvious, as are the personal problems of each and the fact that somewhere along the line, something happened in the investigation. I also think I remember a snippet in the first episode where the present time detectives interviewing Cohle and Hart admit that the murderer is back. I have a feeling they think Cohle is responsible. I guess we'll see.

I'm intrigued to continue because of McConaughey and Harrelson. I've heard the second season has been picked up already, unsurprisingly, and HBO expect big things. So far it's a bit slow but I'm enjoying the way its shot and the characters. I'll give it more time before it gets a better rating from me.

2 out of 5 LSD flashbacks...

TV: Sherlock SE3 EP1

Sherlock
Crime, Drama, Mystery

Merry Christmas and Happy New Sherlock! I am beyond excited about this show and the return of everyone's favourite neurotic detective, so this will probably be an exceedingly long, swoony post. I - along with everyone else who's seen it - love this show. The cast is amazing and the 1.5hr long episodes are like mini movies which makes the 3 episode seasons not too bad. I know I go on and on about short seasons but if any show can get away with it, it's this one; English shows somehow manage to pull it off.

The opening was amazing, making us think that was how Sherlock (Benedict Cumberbatch - Star Trek Into Darkness) had managed to make everyone believe he was dead... except that's not how it actually happened is it? Will they ever tell us? How do you think he did it? The way Sherlock explained it to the journalist is probably the most liable. Though the jumping through the window and kissing Molly (Louise Brealey)... that scene alone would have made me happy with this episode.

We all knew that Sherlock wasn't dead and even though Watson (Martin Freeman - The Hobbit, The World's End) wished it wasn't so, he had no idea...poor Watson. I was absolutely horrified at that meeting scene... it was everything I could have wanted it to be. I knew he would punch Sherlock... in fact the hubs and I were egging him on the entire time! Sherlock is such an ass! What do we think about Watson's fiance, Mary (Amanda Abbington)? I had a momentary thought that maybe she was a plant... but Sherlock would have picked it up, right?

Mycroft (Mark Gatiss - Doctor Who) knew the whole time then hey? I love the banter between these two; they are each other's bouncing boards. Is Mycroft the smarter one? I wonder if they could do a spin-off for him... spending a day with him would be interesting. And how ordinary are their parents?! Hilarious! How did that happen? Mrs Hudson (Una Stubbs) is brilliant, just giggling away. Lestrade's (Rupert Graves) reaction was surprising.. I thought he would have smacked Sherlock one as well. I loved the fan-fiction Moriarty (Andrew Scott) slash Sherlock scene if only to see the amazing Moriarty again.

Speaking of Moriarty, who is this new nemesis? The one who kidnapped John and put him in the pyre? I wonder if these episodes are at all close to the books. I recently picked up a copy of the classic collection by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and mean to read some of them this year. I'll let you know.

I love the way this is shot; so much black, white and grey... very London! The observations coming up on screen in words, slow motion pan ins and over-layer photographs...great! It's like they show us all the pieces of the puzzle and give us just enough time to almost figure it out ourselves before Sherlock shows us. So well done! I like this show so much better than Elementary, I will probably post about each episode as they come... stay tuned!

5 out of 5 Happy New Sherlock...

Extras

They actually have "I don't shave for Sherlock Holmes shirts" here.

Did anyone else catch some of the #SherlockLives promo tweets? They had an empty hearse drive through London to some of the places Sherlock is filmed and used Twitter to spread the news of the new episode.

TV: Sons of Anarchy SE6 EP13

Sons of Anarchy
Crime, Drama, Thriller

Firstly, HOLY SHIT!!!!! I literally screamed and burst into tears twice in the space of three minutes. Wow, just....wow! I was thinking that the beginning of this episode was a bit slow and normal for an SOA finale... and then BAM! I am in shock...

What a season for Tara! I applaud Maggie Siff for an amazing performance, especially in the last few episodes. She will be missed and I really did feel for Tara's plight this season with being jailed and stalked, trying to get the boys out of the never ending shitsplosion that is the club, and then to finally have the solution right there, ready to go, only to be stabbed by a carving fork over a misunderstanding. Shit eh?

I knew as soon as Gemma (Katey Sagal) took Unser's (Dayton Callie) truck that she was off to find Tara... I actually thought she would have a gun ready to shoot her with but I have to say the kitchen cat fight was better. What I want to know is, did Juice (Theo Rossi) just clean up all the mess or is he planning to take the fall for this after Jax (Charlie Hunnam) just confronted him with the betrayal to Nero (Jimmy Smits) about that Dominique woman? He might take the fall just to get away from the clubs justice and to protect Gemma who saved his life when he took all those oxy last ep.

Was the DA (CCH Pounder) looking at Jax's gun as the murder weapon then? What happens now to the musical game of deals? Tara doesn't need to be cleared of that murder now so all the DA needs is someone to take the fall for the guns, right? Jax can't turn himself in and leave the boys with no one now, especially with Gemma all screwy and Wendy (Drea de Matteo) in rehab. How long will Gemma be able to hide this one?

I was so happy when Tara and Jax worked things out. That scene at the park was brilliantly shot and portrayed. Tara was so scared and the look on Jax's face was definitely something to be afraid of... and then he said something like "Be a good mother. You don't have to run anymore." Cue swoons.

I find it really hard not to blog about this show every episode - I like to keep it fresh for ya'll - but it has to be one of my favourite shows. Kurt Sutter does an amazing job writing, keeping us constantly guessing and his season long plot lines never fail to impress me. I can't wait to see what he has planned for us for the final season of this fantastic show and what he will come up with next.

If you need me I'll be the one in the corner sobbing into my pillow until next season..

5 out of 5 carving forks...

Gemma to the DA: Suck my white crack.

TV: Nikita SE4 EP1

Nikita
Action , Crime, Drama

I always forget that this show can be really damn good sometimes. It tends to have mid season lulls where they just do the regular spy thing but premiers and finales are something this show does really well.

Last we left off, Amanda (Melinda Clarke - The OC, Entourage) set Nikita (Maggie Q - Divergent) up to kill the president or she would blow Michael's (Shane West - ER) brains out with the nano-toxins that she'd infected him with when The Shop gave him the new hand. Niki was going to do it too until Michael told her they'd killed the nanos...which they hadn't (yet). So she refused to kill the president, only to have the president shoot herself in the head! Bloody Amanda! I have to say that I kinda like her style of evil better than Percy's (Xander Berkeley - 24, Being Human).

So Niki ran and has been hunting for a way to prove she didn't kill the president. The team never stopped looking for her, of course! Amanda is one step ahead of them, as per usual, recruiting the FBI agent who is in charge of the hunt for Niki, making this entire episode pretty redundant - except that Niki and the team are back together... sort of.

Alex (Lyndsy Fonesca - How I Met Your Mother, Desperate Housewives) is trying to track down The Shop and from there Amanda's hideout. She's run smack bang into Owen (Devon Sawa - Casper, he also played Stan in Eminem's music video!), or Sam, or whoever he is now. I kinda miss Owen but I have to say that Sawa plays a fantastic bad guy... if that's what Sam really is. I think they will convert him, again, eventually. He wouldn't go back to Amanda would he? I hope not.

Where the hell did Ryan (Noah Bean - Damages) and Birkhoff (Aaron Stanford - Pyro in X-Men: The Last Stand) get the plane? Is Niki going to be ok? Will Michael make it to her before the cops or Amanda do? What is Owen/Sam planning on doing with Alex and why was he at the drop? It's a new season and it looks to be a good one with Amanda being the Big Bad. Pretty exciting stuff!

4 out of 5 scary ass nanobots...

TV: Sons of Anarchy SE6 EP11

Sons of Anarchy
Crime, Drama, Thriller

Well, Kurt Sutter has done it again! His writing and filming style constantly grabs me; the way he can build the story up and then shock us is just brilliant. I think I love him...

Now, I know me and the hubs weren't the only ones screaming for Clay's (Ron Perlman - Hellboy!) death last season, and I remember posting this quote from Sutter saying that as long as people tune in to watch Clay die, he will never be getting killed off. Then this season he goes to prison and he gets a little softer around the edges and just when you start to feel a little bit sorry for the bastard - BAM - Sutter kills him off! You ass Sutter!

It was done so well though, Clay knew what was happening the moment Jax (Charlie Hunnam - Green Street Hooligans!) killed Galen (Timothy V. Murphy). I have to say I didn't see that one coming at all... well, not right that second anyway. I thought Jax was going to go through with the plan to hand Galen over to the DA (played by CCH Pounder from Warehouse 13!). I think I even screamed out loud when Jax shot him and my immediate thought was; Well there goes those deals with the DA. Maybe when Jax found out about what Tara (Maggie Siff) was up to, his plans with the deals changed?

Speaking of Tara... wow, hasn't she turned into Gemma (Katey Sagal) this season? Faking a pregnancy and miscarriage so Gemma can't have custody of the boys. I think she was on the right track, after Gemma had the car accident stoned with the boys in the car and the Tara's trial with a possibility of prison... I would be worrying about who was looking after the boys too. But I think Gemma has gotten a bit better from being with Nero (Jimmy Smits), who I absolutely love! I mean, look at how she's looking after Wendy (Drea de Matteo - The Sopranos) right now. Can I just mention the Nero and Unser (Dayton Callie - Deadwood) banter from the last episode? Those two... poor Unser, so in love with Gemma but can't stop himself from actually liking Nero. He's a good guy Unser, and unless you (and Sutter) have forgotten, you are terminal...

Galen and Clay are dead but the DA isn't going to keep Jax's deals on the table. Tara and Jax look like they might be able to mend something unless Tara takes the DA's new deal... will she? What will that mean for the club? Just when the idea of getting out of guns looks like it might actually work... Well, we know there will be at least one more season after this... so what's going to happen? Will next season be all about the Sons in prison and the trial? Who knows with Sutter at the helm.

5 out of 5 WTFSutters....