Murder in the First: A Review

Catching up at summer's end with a review of  a series that I watched and liked a lot, but didn't have time to write about, finishing my latest novel, swimming as much as possible, and everything else: Murder in the First.

In a way, all ten episodes were like a top-notch Law and Order story, with a murder, arrest, trial, and then police work again, except presented over ten hours rather than one.   Did it work?  Yes, it did. Murder in the First was always enjoyable, sometimes outstanding, and memorably surprising at times.

My favorite part was the lawyerly action, with superb work by James Cromwell as Defense Attorney Daniels and excellent work by Richard Schiff as Hertzeberg, the defendant's personal attorney. Meanwhile, Tom Felton - best known for his performance as Draco Malfoy in the Harry Potter movies - put in a chillingly effective performance as Erich Blunt, a character who could be described as Mark Zuckerberg, if he were a sociopath.

Taye Diggs and Kathleen Robertson (who was fabulous in the first season of Boss) did a serviceable job as the detective team, Terry and Hildy, investigating the murder.   This creates an interesting issue as far as renewal, with one of the best characters, Blunt, no longer on the show, and Hertzberg not likely to be around, either.

But if Daniels is back as defense attorney with another good murder mystery, a second season of the Murder in the First could be excellent.   Indeed, it could be better than the first, if Terry and Hildy are pushed to take more chances, not only professionally but personally.   Their kiss made some critics uncomfortable, but I would've liked to see them go all out with a continuing liaison nibbling at the edges.

I do hope the series is renewed - I promise to be a more diligent reviewer if it is.


 another kind of crime story

#SFWApro

Vikings Season 2 Finale: Satisfying, Surprising, Superb

A thoroughly satisfying Vikings Season 2 finale tonight, the surprising course of which had me fooled until the truth was revealed.

I admit I fell completely for Floki casting his lot with Horick.   The scenes in which Floki was complaining to his woman about Ragnar were convincing. I guess Floki felt the way he could be completely believable in his betrayal of Ragnar was to go through all the motions of the building betrayal, even in private conversations with the mother of his child.

The first indication that Floki was up to something else was Rollo's reaction to the mushrooms Floki gave him.  I thought we would soon find Rollo poisoned to death.  Instead we see him struggling to get to his feet for the first time.

Still, I was worried for Bjorn with Floki lurking and watching him in the woods.  It soon became apparent that Floki was there to protect Bjorn.

And so the family and friends of Ragnar that Horick sought to destroy all turned the tables and destroyed Horick.   It was good to see him get just what he deserved.  I also glad the fine actor, Donald Logue, who played Horick now has a part on Law and Order: SVU as a much better man.

The second season of Vikings was even better than the first.   It's right up there with Rome and The Tudors as being one of the all-time best historical dramas on television.  On to Season 3 in 2015.

See also Vikings 2.1-2: Upping the Ante of Conquest ... Vikings 2.4: Wise King ... Vikings 2.5: Caught in the Middle ... Vikings 2.6: The Guardians ...Vikings 2.7: Volatile Mix ... Vikings 2.8: Great Post-Apocalyptic Narrative

And see also Vikings ... Vikings 1.2: Lindisfarne ... Vikings 1.3: The Priest ... Vikings 1.4:  Twist and Testudo ... Vikings 1.5: Freud and Family ... Vikings 1.7: Religion and Battle ... Vikings 1.8: Sacrifice
... Vikings Season 1 Finale: Below the Ash

 
historical science fiction - a little further back in time

#SFWApro

The Good Wife 4.20: Anonymous

I haven't had a chance to review as much of The Good Wife as I would have wanted this season, but that doesn't mean I haven't been very much enjoying the show, which I have.  Indeed, I think it's the best season of The Good Wife so far, and episode 4.20 has all the winning ingredients - high tech social media savvy, powerful personal and professional stories, and great courtroom scenes.

Aaron Swartz and Anonymous both figure in the 4.20 story.  Swartz, a real life hacker, hounded by the government, who committed suicide just this past January, and Anonymous, a real organization that offers anonymous trenchant criticism and guerrilla reporting, both intersect with Alicia and Will as they pursue a civil suit against a rapist who has managed to beat the criminal charges.   Anonymous has been criticized in our reality for hacking sites of major corporations - and I agree with this criticism - but Anonymous has also played a legally protected (under the First Amendment) and important role in providing information and critique of the government not readily available elsewhere.

In The Good Wife, a new organization representing Swartz and his legacy come up with evidence not available in the criminal trial which proves the rapist's guilt.  Anonymous members show up in the courtroom donned with Guy Fawk "V" masks - to the judge's consternation - but more importantly get a video out to the world online with the rapist in a position which shows he's lying.   The mistrial that's declared is the first step for the rape victim finally getting some justice.

Aside from this powerful story even more "ripped from the headlines" than Law and Order, this episode of The Good Wife gives us a variety of other excellent threads.  Diane's chance of getting a judgeship turns out to be in jeopardy not because of her libertarian fiance but because of Will's quasi-disbarment.  This sets in a motion a possibility of her turning on Will and leaving the firm, both of which I doubt will happen.  But, meanwhile, Alicia may also be tempted to leave the firm, and she gets the details on Cary's move in precisely that direction.  And all of this is happening against the backdrop of the smoldering passion between Alicia and Will coming closer to the surface.

A great season, as I said, and I'm looking forward to the two concluding episodes.

See also The Good Wife 4.1 Meets Occupy Wall Street ...  The Good Wife 4.2: Reunited ... The Good Wife 4.3: "Template-Based Link Analysis Algorithm" ... The Good Wife 4.5 Meets The Sopranos

And see also The Good Wife 3.1: Recusal and Rosh Hashanah ... The Good Wife: 3.2: Periwigs and Skype ... The Good Wife 3.7: Peter v. Will ...  Dexter's Sister on The Good Wife 3.10  ... The Good Wife 3.12: Two Suits  ... The Good Wife 3.13 Meets Murder on the Orient Express ... The Good Wife 3.15: Will and Baseball

And see also  The Good Wife Starts Second Season on CBS ... The Good Wife 2.2: Lou Dobbs, Joe Trippi, and Obama Girl ... The Good Wife 2.4: Surprise Candidate, Intimate Interpsonal Distance ... The Good Wife 2.9 Takes on Capital Punishment ... The Good Wife 2.16: Information Wars 

   

Unforgettable

Bopping in here with a review of Unforgettable - not the Nat King Cole song, the new CBS series - which I've been watching this Fall, so far, 11 episodes, but haven't had a chance to review.

It's a good set-up - Carrie an NYPD detective has a better than photographic memory - she can recall not only everything she sees, but can pull into focus even tiny details on the periphery of her vision, that she almost didn't see, or wasn't aware of seeing, the first time.  Meanwhile, the one thing she doesn't remember enough of is who killed her sister, long ago, when she was a little girl.  Poppy Montgomery gives an appealingly sassy, sensitive performance.

Dylan Walsh - first seen years ago in Brooklyn South, another cop show - plays Det. Al Burns, Carrie's boss and de facto partner.  The two were also romantic partners years ago.  Carrie still thinks of him in that way, and Al feels the same way, deep down.  The rest of the squad is also a bit more memorable and wise-cracking and well written than the usual the NYPD precinct fare. 

Unforgettable also a colorful, real NYC ambiance, with real universities figuring in the story - NYU, CUNY, and hey, one episode even featured Fordham!  (Not my Communication and Media Studies Department, but the Sociology Department, pretty close.)  The series tries a little too hard, though, for social media currency, with one character talking about receipt of a "pdf," when clearly all that was needed was "text".

But the individual stories are diverting enough - almost as good as Law & Order: SVU's - and the central story, Carrie's hunt for the killer of her sister, receives enough attention in every episode to keep me watching.  I'll have more on Unforgettable in the New Year.

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The Plot to Save Socrates

"challenging fun" - Entertainment Weekly

"a Da Vinci-esque thriller" - New York Daily News

"Sierra Waters is sexy as hell" - curled up with a good book

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Person of Interest 1.9: Evolution of the Series

Well, Detective Carter finally gets more than an incidental, annoying role in Person of Interest 1.9 - she's the target, the number that comes up, and the episode gives us a pretty good story of Carter's background, who would want to kill her, and Reese and Finch's increasingly desperate moves to protect her.

Carter - like so many characters in law enforcement on television these days - has an Iraq back story.  But in a nice feint, this turns out not to be source of her impending intersection with death.

Eias - Enrico Colantoni from Flashpoint - also may have a role, but I won't say anything more about that, other than it's good to see Colantoni again, and that Elias is definitely in for some kind of Keyser Soze continuing role in Person of Interest, as I mentioned in my review of his first appearance in Person of Interest.

Mark Margolis - who had a great role in the past season of Breaking Bad, and also put in an appearance of Law & Order: SVU a few weeks ago - was also on hand in this episode as Moretti, a memorable character.

But by far the most important aspect of Person of Interest 1.9 is how Reese's protection of Carter - of course she doesn't get killed - will change their relationship and thus the dynamics of the series.  Carter gets that Reese was doing his utmost to make sure she wasn't taken out, but will this get her to give Reese and Finch a pass when their paths cross as Reese and Finch attempt to pull another person away from the jaws of death?  Well, she's a cop. so she can't make life easy for a vigilante, or look the other way, completely, but at least the series is now on a much more interesting footing regarding Carter.

PS - A friend over on Facebook - documentary film maker David Sobelman - asked me to say, in my next review (which this is) what I thought of the introductory sequences in Person of Interest - you know, the people walking around with squares over the heads, to signify the Machine's view.   I like Finch's voice-over, and the mosaic effect is ok, if a little obvious.   Better than Dexter's (great show, but the intro is a little boring already), not as good as Boardwalk Empire's (great show, great intro), if that helps.

See also Person of Interest of Interest  ... Person of Interest 1.2:  Reese and Finch ... Person of Interest 1.5: Potentials ... Person of Interest 1.7: Meets Flashpoint and The Usual Suspects ... Person of Interest 1.8:  Widmore and Ben, At It Again

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The Plot to Save Socrates



"challenging fun" - Entertainment Weekly

"a Da Vinci-esque thriller" - New York Daily News

"Sierra Waters is sexy as hell" - curled up with a good book

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The Good Wife 3.1: Recusal and Rosh Hashanah

Rosh Hashanah - the Jewish New Year - is coming up next week, but it played a good role in the Season 3 premiere of The Good Wife, on at a bold new time on Sunday night (bold because it goes head-to-head with top-notch cable dramas).

Alicia tries to get a Jewish judge to recuse himself from a murder case in which her Islamic client is on trial.  The request is likely to succeed, because Alicia knows the judge tends to accede to these kinds of motions (he doesn't like being reversed on appeal).   But Peter - now head Prosecutor, and Alicia's professional as well as personal opponent- sees what Alicia is up to:  since Rosh Hashanah is at hand, no Jewish judge would be able to replace the judge in question, which would guarantee Alicia's client a non-Jewish judge.  Cary lets the judge know this, just as he about to recuse himself, and the judge decides instead to continue on the case.  Score one for Peter.

But Alicia seems to be doing better in the personal realm.  She and Will have apparently spent a great night together, and seem likely to continue, to the point of now pretending in the office that they don't much care for each other anymore.  Even Eli, normally astute, is fooled.

But are Alicia and Will happy?  Not necessarily.  Certainly not completely.   Will tells Kalinda that he doesn't really feel emotions like normal people do, and Alicia, looking at herself in the mirror as Will is about to come over, seems to have misgivings.   The course of tangled love never did run smooth.

But the season seems as good or better than ever, especially with Kelli Giddish back.  She's having a one great Fall season, with a continuing part in the Law and Order: SVU precinct as well.   Chase on NBC served her in good stead, even it was cancelled too soon by NBC.

See also  The Good Wife Starts Second Season on CBS ... The Good Wife 2.2: Lou Dobbs, Joe Trippi, and Obama Girl ... The Good Wife 2.4: Surprise Candidate, Intimate Interpsonal Distance ... The Good Wife 2.9 Takes on Capital Punishment ... The Good Wife 2.16: Information Wars

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The Plot to Save Socrates
"challenging fun" - Entertainment Weekly

"a Da Vinci-esque thriller" - New York Daily News

"Sierra Waters is sexy as hell" - curled up with a good book

The Event 1.11-12: Hardball in Fiction

The Event just finished its 2-hour return on the East Coast - Episode 1.11-12.   It's been a while since the previous episode was aired at the end of November.   I thought the new two hours were the best so far in this series, which still feels like 24 meets Flashforward, high praise in my book.

One point is definitively settled tonight:  The "aliens" are truly from outer space.   They may have come from Earth at some point, and/or time travelled - their DNA is 99% the same as ours - but as Leila's father Michael (himself an alien) explains, his people come from a planet way out in space (with a star number and everything).  In addition, we also get more confirmation that Thomas's plan is to bring a lot more or maybe even the rest of all of his people to this, our, planet, and make it their own.

As a first step, Thomas launches an attack on Inostranka, with a view towards freeing all of the aliens held there, so they can help him prepare the way for the aliens from outer space.  He's a pretty vicious alien guy, that Thomas, slaughtering the aliens who don't want to join him, and torturing Sterling to get a code to help in their escape.   (A nice twist on 24, with bad guys torturing the good guy - though, come to think of it, Jack Bauer was as often a victim as a practitioner of torture.)

Sterling - played by the ubiquitous on television Željko Ivanek (but it's always good to see him) - has a great night, almost saving the day in a torrent of fine action scenes.   Badly wounded, Sterling seemed likely to die before he was forced to give up the code.  But neither happens - Sterling neither dies nor divulges the code.  Alas, a soldier who doesn't want to see Sterling die does give up the code, and Maya is killed, as Thomas escapes with a fair number of his people.

While this is going on, Michael tries to convince Leila to go with him, but not take Sean along.  Leila doesn't want this, but honorable Sean leaves early the next morning, while Leila sleeps, after the two sleep together one last time.  I'd have liked to see Sean do something more dynamic, like insist on going along with Michael.

And the third piece of tonight's story takes place in Washington, DC, as Alaska Senator Catherine Lewis (played by Virginia Madsen) in effect blackmails the President to tell her what's really going in that prison in her state.   Part of this features Sen. Lewis on MSNBC's Hardball, with Chris Matthews playing himself.  He does a pretty good job, but he was not quite as nasty as he is when a guest suddenly starts to snow him on the air.  He should have interrupted more, and started wondering if Sen. Lewis was reading from a script, or in "a trance".   But, hey, it's the second time MSNBC has made it on to NBC drama television - just a few weeks ago, it was Mika Brzezinski, Joe Scarborough, and Tamron Hall on Law and Order: SUV (and last night, Lawrence O'Donnell played a lawyer on Big Love).   Who knows what choice guest gigs Keith Olbermann might have had, had MSNBC not foolishly canned him.

There was also one soft spot in the plot - Sen. Lewis should have not gained such easy access to her husband's office (the office of a former Senator, recently deceased, now sealed on orders from the President).  But The Event has returned with some powerful turns, and I'm looking forward to more.



See also The Event Debuts on NBC ... The Event 1.2: Aliens! ... The Event 1.4: 24 Back in Action! ... The Event 1.6: Not Only Aliens, Immortals! ... The Event 1.7: The Portal and its Implications  ... The Event 1.8: The "Republican" VP and the Anti-24 ... The Event 1.9: "Native Populations, Indigenous People" ... The Event 1.10: Satellite

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The Plot to Save Socrates


"challenging fun" - Entertainment Weekly

"a Da Vinci-esque thriller" - New York Daily News

"Sierra Waters is sexy as hell" - curled up with a good book

NCIS 8.11: "The Sister Went Viral"

That, for me, initiated the best line in tonight's Episode 8.11 of NCIS - "the sister went viral," spoken by McGee, to which Gibbs responds, "what did she have?", demonstrating his delightful lack of knowledge (which I sometimes think is partially feigned) about many things digital.   Ok, I suppose I could believe that Gibbs never heard of FourSquare, and might even be a little unclear about "apps" - but "viral" has been around long enough for Gibbs to know it, right?  Maybe.  And that's part of the fun of this uniquely charactered series.

Gibbs actually had a great night tonight in the memorable phrases department, also getting off a good pun at Ducky's expense when Gibbs leaves the autopsy room and says "duck ... call" (takes a few seconds even for Ducky to get it and I'm not gonna explain it - see the show).

And DiNozzo was in fine form, too, tonight, segueing from Clue to Murder on the Orient Express early in the episode.   Clue, by the way, is a movie as well as the game that inspired it, so we can say DiNozzo got off a double feature analysis.

Diane Neal, late of Law and Order: Special Victims Unit, put in an appearance as CGIS Special Agent Abigail Borin - that is, Coast Guard.  Now you know me, I'm always looking out for Gibbs, and I'm thinking she could be good for him.  There was certainly a little chemistry there, but with the big snow in New York tonight, and the cables blowing in the wind,  the reception was a little off, and I couldn't quite make out the color of Abigail's hair.


But the husky voice was there, and she looked ever better than she did as an ADA in Law and Order: SVU, so I'm hoping Abigail will at least be some kind of regular on the series.


Hey, in other NCIS news, I've caught up with all of NCIS-LA first season on DVD over the holidays, and as soon as I get a chance to see the second season, likely this summer, I'll start reviewing NCIS-LA here, too.   Excellent set of original characters out there, too, with the signature NCIS touches - a funny intro after the opening credits, and good mixture of standalone and more deeply significant stories.


See also NCIS Back in Season 8 Action ... NCIS 8.2: Interns! ... NCIS 8.3: Tiff! ... NCIS 8.4: Gary Cooper not John Wayne ... NCIS 8.5: Dead DJ, DiNozzo Hoarse, and Baseball ... NCIS 8.6: The Written Woman ... NCIS 8.7: "James Bond Movie Directed by Fellini" ... NCIS 8.8: Ziva's Father 
... NCIS 8.9: Leon's Story ... NCIS 8.10: DiNozzo In and Out

And see also NCIS  ... NCIS 7.16: Gibbs' Mother-in-Law Dilemma ... NCIS 7.17: Ducky's Ties ... NCIS 7.18: Bogus Treasure and Real Locker ... NCIS 7.21: NCIS Meets Laura ... NCIS Season 7 Finale: Retribution

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The Plot to Save Socrates


"challenging fun" - Entertainment Weekly

"a Da Vinci-esque thriller" - New York Daily News

"Sierra Waters is sexy as hell" - curled up with a good book

How Californication Ends

Well, I'm not going to tell you exactly or specifically how this season (4) of Californication ends - I don't want to spoil it for you - but continuing my sneak preview review yesterday of the first half of the new season, I thought I should tell you that I've now seen the entire season (courtesy of a Showtime screener) and ... I loved it!  In fact, I think Season 4 is flat out the best season of Californication, including the excellent first.

The ending was so satisfying, that it could work as the conclusion not just of this upcoming season, but the entire series.   But I hope that's not the case.

Along the way, we have real surprises and turns in the plot, and some of the best writing in the series, coming not only from Hank's mouth but the Runkles.  As I said in my preview review yesterday, this season has a kinship with Entourage, and Curb Your Enthusiasm as well.   Although Hank was always a writer and Runkle his agent, the business part of that relationship is well presented in Season 4.   There are also some superb courtroom scenes - funny and serious - like a Law and Order on crack.

I know - you'd like to know if Hank and Karen stay together.   All that I'll tell you is that the ending seemed right, deeply so.  Hank, despite his self-admitted flaw, always had a good heart.

You're in for a treat starting January 9.

See also Californication Season 4: Sneak Preview Review (No Big Spoilers)

See also (Season 2): Sneak Preview of Californication Anew ... Comes ... To an End, Laughing

and reviews of Season One: 1 ... 2 ... 3 ... 4 ... 5 ... 6 ... 7 ... 8 ... 9 ... 10 ... 11: Pivitol Mia ... Californication Comes ... To a Season's End

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The Plot to Save Socrates

"challenging fun" - Entertainment Weekly

"a Da Vinci-esque thriller" - New York Daily News

"Sierra Waters is sexy as hell" - curled up with a good book

NCIS 7.18: Bogus Treasure and Real Locker

NCIS 7.18 spun out a good, picaresque story about treasure in a sunken galleon and various lockers, Davey Jones' and real.   Turned out the coins under water were gold plated, and the real treasure resided in lots of paper money stored in someone's locker.

And the real fun was the alternate team that our NCIS team both tangles and works with.   NCIS has run into a counterpart team in at least one earlier episode, if memory serves, but last night's encounter with the Coast Guard Investigative Services - CGIS - team was longer and better.   The CGIS team is led by Abigail Borin, played by Diane Neal of Law & Order: Special Victims fame, and it was good to see her in action again, especially as an agent not a lawyer.

The pirate motif was tailor made for DiNozzo, who waxes on about pirate movies, and ends the show watching The Black Pirate in the office with Ziva and a big bowl of popcorn.   This has the effect of continuing that spark of more than a business relationship between the two, as well as demonstrating the deepest historical reach of DiNozzo so far.   The Black Pirate starred the original Douglas Fairbanks in 1926.   I can't recall DiNozzi ever talking about any older movie.

Toss in a good scene with Ducky's assistant Jimmy Palmer and DiNozzo talking about the excellent effect of oysters, Gibbs early on telling Abigail that the problem he has with her is not that she got the drop on him in their first encounter, not that she's a woman, but, in Gibbb's words - "I don't know you," a perfect expression of what counts most with Gibbs - and we have an episode of NCIS Jack Sparrow would have enjoyed (he's mentioned in the episode, too).

See also NCIS  ... NCIS 7.16: Gibbs' Mother-in-Law Dilemma ... NCIS 7.17: Ducky's Ties

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The Plot to Save Socrates

"challenging fun" - Entertainment Weekly

"a Da Vinci-esque thriller" - New York Daily News

"Sierra Waters is sexy as hell" - curled up with a good book

Heroes 4.16: The Trial of Hiro

A thoughtful, captivating Heroes 4.16 last night, mostly because of the trial of Hiro.

Actually, he's not really on trial, he's dreaming he's on trial during the dangerous operation to remove his brain tumor and save his life.  This could have been a pretty trite piece, but Heroes served it up nicely with George Takei back as Hiro's father and now judge, David Anders back as Adam Monroe and now prosecutor (a good night for Anders - he was also on 24), and Ando (of course) as defense counsel.  The trial featured some of the best meta-lines of the season, with Hiro mentioning "Law and Order," and Monroe chiding Hiro's defense statement for cribbing from the opening lines of Quantum Leap - "putting things right that once went wrong".  How can you not enjoy that sort of poke-at-itself television?  I certainly did.  And the substance of the trial - the charges against Hiro, that he was wrong to ever try to manipulate the present by changing the past - was pretty good too.  Trials are not uncommon in science fiction, from Star Trek to Dr. Who, but I don't recall ever seeing one quite as focused on the rights and wrongs of time travel as this one.   Could become a YouTube classic.

Meanwhile, Sam and Vanessa almost make it.  But they don't, and this sets Sam on what will likely be his final destructive course.   More interesting and surprising is the strange relationship beginning to develop between Sylar and Claire.   He tells her there are really alike.  She resists, and puts a pencil in his eye.   But he (of course) recovers, and by the end Claire is beginning to realize that the two may have some things in common after all.   Where this will lead is interesting - will Sylar become better (he's already saying he's not his old self), Claire become evil (which would be a significant development indeed), or both...

It looks as if Mohinder might be taking his final leave, when he says goodbye to Noah at the beginning of the show ... but in response to Noah's "I guess this is it,"  Mohinder smiles and replies, "in our lives, when is it ever."

You know, say what you will about Heroes, but I think it still has something very special.  I'd miss it if it was gone, and I hope that doesn't come to be for a long time.



5-min podcast review of Heroes

See also Heroes Season 4 Premiere: Metaphysics, University, Carnival ... Heroes Meets The L Word in 4.5 ... Heroes 4 Mid-Season Finale  ... Heroes Season 4 Resumes ... Heroes 4.15: The Chess Game Continues

See also reviews of Season 3 Heroes Gets Lost ... Heroes 3 Begins: Best Yet, Riddled with Time Travel and Paradox ... Sylar's Redemption and other Heroes and Villains Mergers ... Costa Nuclear ... Hearts of Gold and the Debased ... Seeing the Future Trumps Time Travel ... Superpowered Chess with Shifting Pieces ... Villains and Backstories ... The Redemption of Sylar ... Thoughts on the Eclipse, Part I ... The Lore of the Comic Book Store ... Hiro's Time Traveling Closure ... Augmented ... Shades of Recalibration ... Baby, Rebel, and Last Fantasy ... All that Shape Changes Remains the Same? ... Season 3 Finale: Hopeful Deceptions

Reviews of Season 2 Heroes: Episode 1 ... 2 ... 3 ... 4 ... 7. Heroes Meets 12 Monkeys ... 9. How Immutable Are Fate and Isaac's Futures? ... 10. Penultimate for the Fall ... Heroes 2 Finale: Heroes Who Didn't Survive

And from Season 1: Heroes in Focus ... Heroes Five Years Gone: Triumph of Time Travel and Comics ... Heroes the Hard Part: Only the Pictures Not the Words ... Heroes Landslide: Winnowing and Convergence ... Heroes Volume One Finale

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The Plot to Save Socrates




"challenging fun" - Entertainment Weekly

"a Da Vinci-esque thriller" - New York Daily News

"Sierra Waters is sexy as hell" - curled up with a good book

Jeff Goldblum on Law and Order Criminal Intent

Just caught last week's debut of Jeff Goldblum on Law and Order: Criminal Intent on the USA Network. I thought Goldblum's Det. Zach Nichols was outstanding, and could be one of the best characters ever, in all the Law and Orders across history.

Nichols is a high-energy, happy version of Goren. Both are clearly geniuses - in contrast to Chris Noth's Mike Logan, just a very smart detective, whom Nichols replaced. But whereas Bobby Goren - brilliantly played by Vincent D'Onofrio - is morose, wounded, almost sadly pathological in his quirky, brilliant insights, Nichols brings a winning smirk and a joie-de-vivre to his work.

Genius, whether dark or light, works best in the Criminal Intent format. Much as I liked Chris Noth's Mike Logan, and enjoyed following him from Lennie Briscoe (also one in a million, Jerry Orbach is irreplaceable) in the original Law and Order old days to Criminal Intent, the shows with Goren were usually more memorable. It takes a slightly cracked out of the stratosphere mind to best catch the criminals on this show.

Nichols' partner Det. Megan Wheeler is not on this level at all. She wasn't with Logan, either, but since he was no genius, and wasn't supposed to be, they worked pretty well together. Whether Wheeler's sidekick character will work with Nichols remains to be seen - but, to make matters even more interesting, actress Julianne Nicholson will be off the show for an episode or two (the character and the actress are pregnant), so Goren's partner Alexandra Eames (played by Kathryn Erbe) will step in as Nichols' partner.

Eames has been a more powerful character than Wheeler - Eames had to be, given that she's partners with Goren - and it will be fun to see how she works with Nichols.

I liked Goldblum best in The Fly, and of course the Jurassic Parks, and I'm thinking Criminal Intent has the potential to make him even better known, in the long run, as Zach Nichols.

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The Plot to Save Socrates


"challenging fun" - Entertainment Weekly

"a Da Vinci-esque thriller" - New York Daily News

"Sierra Waters is sexy as hell" - curled up with a good book

more about The Plot to Save Socrates...





Read the first chapter of The Plot to Save Socrates .... FREE!

The New Golden Age of Television Roars Back

Have you seen Heather Havrilesky's dyspeptic The year the small screen fell flat in Salon, subtitled "Lackluster pilots, slumping sophomore shows and the devolution of the serial drama. The golden age of TV suddenly looked tarnished in 2008."

Here's the picture she paints ...

2008 not only marked one of the worst years of TV in the last decade, but all of the momentum and promise of the past few years seemed to vanish in a haze of crappy, unoriginal new programming, lackluster sophomore shows, flaccid sitcoms and pointless cable comedies.

Some bloggers agree with this, at least in part. The Flaming Nose, for example, cites Dexter, Mad Men, and True Blood as exceptions to Havrilesky's screed, but calls it nonetheless "well reasoned".

But I don't know what picture, or screen, Havrilesky or the Flaming Nose have been looking at.

The past year - 2008 - brought us one of the best seasons of Lost, a cut-throat knock-down legal thriller in Damages, the best episodes ever shown of Law and Order: Criminal Intent, outstanding seasons indeed of Dexter and Brotherhood on Showtime, and The Wire, In Treatment, John Adams, and, yes, True Blood on HBO and Mad Men on AMC, to name just a few.

And here's what we have in store this and next month of 2009: the debuts of new seasons of 24 (January 10-11) and Lost (January 21) - among the top shows ever to have been on television - as well as Battlestar Galactica (January 16), Big Love (January 18), and Damages (January 7), plus the resumption of Fringe (January 20), Life on Mars (January 28), Heroes (February 2), and The Sarah Connor Chronicles (February 13). And, come to think of it, of The Unit (January 4), The Closer (January 26), and Bones (January 15) - none of which I've yet reviewed here on Infinite Regress (as I have all the others), because I've not yet thoroughly caught up with the earlier parts of the current season, because they're not yet on DVD, and I prefer watching these great shows on my television not computer screen.

And, while we're at it, there's also The L Word, which is coming back for its final season on January 18, and I reviewed the first four episodes of here last week. Another fine show.

So, is the new golden age of television - as I called it in an op-ed in Newsday in July 2006 - "tarnished"? Only if you're wearing some kind of rust-colored glasses...

A DA (Not Really) and a Democrat (Not Really) Address the Republican Convention

Fred Thompson and Joe Lieberman addressed the Republican National Convention tonight.

Thompson was a Senator a decade ago, but he's best known for more recently playing a New York District Attorney on Law and Order. He did dismally in the Republican presidential primaries earlier this year. He gave a good biographical speech for McCain tonight, but what sticks most in my mind is his swipe at Obama for giving speeches from teleprompters (this comes from an actor) to please America's critics overseas. So much for not attacking an opponent's patriotism, Fred.

Next, we have the strange case of Joe Lieberman. He actually won the popular vote for Vice President, along with Gore for President, as a Democrat in that election of 2000. Had not the Supreme Court unconstitutionally stopped the recount in Florida, Lieberman might well have become Vice President then.

As a science fiction writer, I couldn't have a written a better alternate history than what we saw at the Republican convention tonight. Lieberman, who according to most accounts was McCain's original first choice as VP running mate, addresses the crowd and praises not only McCain, but Sarah Palin, who is indeed the Republican VP candidate. Lieberman says he's doing this as Democrat, based on his long association with McCain - ok, but has Lieberman also had a long association of working with Palin?

Lieberman also lied - saying that he knows of no time that Obama reached across the aisles and worked with Republicans on anything important. Could Lieberman have forgotten about The Federal Funding Accountability and Transparency Act of 2006 (which requires full disclosure of all organization receiving federal funds), of which Obama and McCain were primary sponsors, along with numerous other Senators of both parties, including ... Joe Lieberman?

But politicians often exaggerate to the point of deception. What strikes me most about this evening is the other-worldly quality of Lieberman up there on that Republican stage. I wonder - if he taken office as VP in 2001, and if he was finishing his second term as Democrat in that office now, would he have also addressed the Republican convention tonight as a long time friend of McCain?

Stranger than fiction ... a night of impostors at the Republican convention.

And I'll be make with more tomorrow ...




See also: Republicans Bash Media for Covering Palin, Who Gives Sarcastic Speech at Convention

And Coverage of Democratic Convention:

Infinite Regress Democratic Convention Coverage from Day Four: Obama Deliver's New Kind of Speech: Calls McCain on "Temperament" ... Al Gore: The Two Lines of History Converge

Infinite Regress Democratic Convention Coverage from Day Three: America Moves Up - Obama Nominated! ... Biden Hits McCain on Everything from Afghanistan to Amtrak

Infinite Regress Democratic Convention Coverage from Day Two: Patrick Buchanan on MSNBC: Hillary Will Campaign Hard for Obama, But Won't Shed Tears If He Loses ... Hillary Speaks Powerfully at Democratic Convention, in a Scene for the Ages

Infinite Regress Democratic Convention Coverage from Day One: Olbermann to Scarborough on MSNBC: "Jesus, Joe, Get a Shovel!" ... Ted Kennedy at 2008 Democratic Convention: JFK Would Be Smiling ... Michelle Obama's Speech: Bringing Home America

New Amsterdam 5: Meets Mad Men

Interesting, mixed-bag fifth episode of New Amsterdam tonight...

On the one hand ... It was good to see John telling Omar, a young jazzman in the 1960s, John's whole story of immortality. It's not completely clear why Omar would have believed such a fantastic tale, though he is aware that his father doesn't seem to be aging, but that's ok ... we can find out later, in a subsequent episode, how Omar comes to fully accept his father's true nature. In the meantime, the 1960s ambience was fine ... making tonight a sort of New Amsterdam takes a page from Mad Men, black bow-ties, white shirts, and all.

Meanwhile, in 2008, John's new relationship with Sara is already in danger - she, understandably, doesn't believe much of what John tells her of his past. At the end of the episode, John starts telling her the truth, and she walks away. Unlike Omar, she's not John's flesh and blood, has no memory of John never aging.... And a Google search she performs (it's amazing how quickly Google searches have become part of television drama) tells her there's no record of John more than five years ago.

This is a welcome development of John's story. He lives in one identity until his eternal youth makes him stand out, then suddenly moves on and adopts another. People like Omar are the only ones John takes with him. (It will be fun to learn more about John's many other children in future episodes.)

Now, if that's all there had been to tonight's show, I'd say I was thoroughly happy with it. But the other part of the show - John's police work - is beginning to drag. Although his cases connect in some way to his immortality, the actual crimes he and his partner investigate have all been done before, on Law and Order and its myriad versions.

This season of course has already been produced. If the show's renewed - I hope it is - I'd urge an overhaul of the police part to get more riveting, original stories.

In the meantime, more of John's fascinating back story, and its complex, incredible facets, would be welcome.

See also New Amsterdam, 1,2,3 ... 4. Poetry and Parenthesis ... 6. The DNA of Art ... 7. What Kept John from Dying? ... 8. New Amsterdam Bows: Lessons in Cons and Backsides

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winner of the Locus Award for Best First Science Fiction novel of 1999

"delivers on its promises" - The New York Times




Silk Code trailer

When Will iPhone Make Its Debut In a Major Television Series?

Last night's episode of Californication - the new, hilarious Showtime series - had a scene which, for some reason, rang a real bell with me. Hank is writing a blog post for his new gig at Hell-A Magazine in Los Angeles, and his laptop freezes. He throws it on the floor, then goes out to a local Apple store - from which he writes and posts his story.

Now, actually, I was sort of doing the same thing from a local Starbuck's parking lot in the middle of the night a few weeks ago during a power failure - I was able to log on and buy some wi-fi - but the Apple store in Californication got me thinking: when will an iPhone make its first appearance on a television show - in which series?

Well, it won't be Battlestar Galactica, where digital media are banned - lest the humans be further compromised by Cylons - and the phones are attached to walls with wires. It won't be Lost, either, which is not quite yet in the present (though anything is possible after that mind-blowing Season 3 finale in May).

Otherwise ... well, if we're talking about the first appearance of an iPhone, we'd likely do better to look for shows playing in the Fall with new episodes - which would leave out 24 and its January new season debut. (Otherwise, 24 - suggested by Kabren Levinson, no relation, in response to my posing this question over on Pownce, and by Tenacious MC over on my iphonematters blog - would be a great choice.)

Let's also keep this question focused on major, scripted series. Chris Wolf said over my iphonematters blog that an iPhone was spotted on TLC's Big Medicine, but as Aaron H noted, this game is more fun when we stick with fictional characters. Obviously, iPhones have been on a lot on TV news shows already. But we can give Big Medicine a footnote.

OK - so major, scripted series ... certainly any of the Law and Orders, "ripped from the headlines," could sport an iPhone, and probably will, sooner or later. When that happens, I predict it will mostly likely be in the hands, or at least the view, of John Munch (Richard Belzer's digitally savvy character).

But let me offer a flat-out, unfuzzy prediction. I have no inside information, but I predict the first iPhone we'll see will be in .... Heroes ... on NBC ... on a late-November episode.

Why? Because Heroes is technologically cool and sharp, with characters moving around a lot in need of constant, explicit, multi-dimensional information (that's why 24 is a good bet, too). I bet there already may be an iPhone scripted for an episode (and, if not, who knows, maybe all of this talk might encourage that).

In any case ... let's check back here in the November, and see if I'm right ...




Further reading ...

Californication Continues

Galactica Dylan (spoilers)

Lost: Season 3 Finale (spoilers)

24: Season 6 Finale (spoilers)

Heroes: Season One Finale (spoilers)

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The Plot to Save Socrates

"challenging fun" - Entertainment Weekly

"a Da Vinci-esque thriller" - New York Daily News

"Sierra Waters is sexy as hell" - curled up with a good book

Preparing for the Last Two Sopranos...

This is a season for bitter-sweet endings to extraordinary stories. Harry Potter makes his seventh and final appearance in J. K. Rowling's novels this July. Tony Soprano makes his final two appearances this month on HBO. You don't have to go any further than that.

I'll be writing more about Harry in July.

But now about Tony. The Sopranos changed television in so many ways it's difficult to fathom what it was like before the 1999 debut. There were no startling, original series on cable - just movies, by and large. The cutting-edge shows on network TV back then were NYPD Blue, with an occasional naked backside, and Law and Order, with an innovative formulaic plot structure. The Sopranos gave us not only real language and nudity, but a story that broke every expectation. Only in the Godfather saga, justly recognized as one of the best series of movies ever made, did we come to identify so strongly with patent murderers.

And that's where we are on the doorstep of the final two episodes, to play out this coming Sunday and next, the end of the second part of the Sixth Season, the end of the beginning of the New Golden Age of Television. Who in his or her right mind could want Tony to die, or any of his family and people? On one level, very true and convincing, they are just like most of us - upper middle class people, struggling to make it and stay afloat in a hostile world. On another level, equally true and undeniable, certainly Tony and his associates are brutal and savage - we see them maim and murder just about every week.

Probably because of these conflicting tides, it's not easy to venture predictions about how The Sopranos will end, about who will be left alive in just a little over a week. I'll offer mine here in my review of the next-to-last episode, tomorrow evening...

Useful links:

The Sopranos as a Nuts-and-Bolts Triumph of Non-Network TV

Only Idiots Don't Watch Television