Paul Levinson's Infinite Regress

reviewing Black Doves; Dark Matter; Dept. Q; Detective Hole; Dexter: Resurrection; Fauda; For All Mankind; Foundation; Hijack; Memory of a Killer; MobLand; Outlander; Paradise; Presumed Innocent; Severance; Silo; Slow Horses; Smoke; Star City; Star Trek: Strange New Worlds; Tehran;The: Day of the Jackal, Diplomat, Night Agent; Your Friends & Neighbors +books, films, music, podcasts, politics

George Santayana had irrational faith in reason - I have irrational faith in TV.

Showing posts with label Monica Raymund. Show all posts

Friday, July 18, 2025

Dexter: Resurrection 1.3: Killers and Prey

Whew, a powerhouse Dexter: Resurrection 1.3, with at least three things that I really loved:

[Spoilers ahead]

1. Harrison getting out of that murder rap (for now) with that clever Detective Wallace boxing him in with that no sign of him leaving the hotel. He had the perfect answer to her -- that he's sleeping in the hotel, not paying for a room, and he didn't tell Wallace that sooner because he was protecting Elsa, the woman who is letting him stay in the hotel. Nice piece of work, Harrison! Your father (and grandfather) would be proud of you.

2. Dexter not falling prey to his prey -- the other Dark Passenger -- by wearing that metal collar around his neck. Dexter hasn't lost his edge. He always knew how to protect himself even when he was first starting out -- well, not always, but in Dexter: Original Sin he was quickly learning how -- and getting the jump on Red as Red was trying to do the same to him was also a fine piece of work in the Dexter corpus.

3. But of course my favorite was Batista retiring and Masuka and Quinn saying goodbye to him. The last two were in great shape, and so is Batista, as I mentioned in my review of the first two episodes of Resurrection last week.

So, Harrison is free (for now), Dexter has taken care of Red, but he's set to get involved with the serial killers club, because how could he not, it's a perfect hunting ground for him. But Batista is no doubt on his way to New York to nab Dexter as the Bay Harbor Butcher, so in that important way Dexter is still someone's prey.

And let me also say: excellent directing by Monica Raymund, whom we know from her acting in Chicago Fire and Hightown! See you back here next week.

Reviews of Season 2: Dexter's Back: A Preview and Dexter Meets Heroes and 6. Dexter and De-Lila-h and 7. Best Line About Dexter - from Lila and 8. How Will Dexter Get Out of This? and The Plot Gets Tighter and Sharper and Dex, Doakes, and Harry and Deb's Belief Saves Dex and All's ... Well

See also about Season 1: First Place to Dexter

Saturday, March 9, 2024

Hightown Season 3: A Satisfying Wrap-Up that Calls Out for More

Hightown ended its third and final season on Friday. I thought the season and series finale was the best episode of the season, and the season in turn was the best of the three seasons.

First, as someone who spends several months or more a year on Cape Cod with my family, I'll admit that I was very likely to like the series. But it exceeded all my expectations, beginning with the theme song, "Vacation," the 1980's Textones's rendition of the 1980's Go-Go's song. It's plain and simply my favorite punk rock song, and most of the time the only punk rock I really like.

But let's get to the storyline of the final season.

[Spoilers ahead ... ]

In a phrase, the final episode of the final season wrapped everything up in a way that left a path wide open for a fourth season or a movie somewhere down the line.

I was glad to see Frankie killed. I was glad to see Jackie finally get in a sobre groove -- but I didn't like her siding with Alan against Ray. Hey, maybe that's just me, but I love the relationship Ray and Renee have, and I approve of him doing whatever is needed to protect her.

I'm also glad Osito is surviving and is thriving. Atkins Estimond did a great job in the role, and this is a good time to mention that the acting across the board was outstanding. Just think about the difference between Monica Raymund in Chicago Fire and what she did as Jackie in Hightown, where she delivered an Emmy-worthy performance. James Badge Dale as Ray was memorable, as was Riley Voelkel as Renee. Garret Dillahunt has been memorable on the screen for many years, and came through again as Shane in Hightown.

Let's talk about Hightown picking up the story some time in the future. As I said, there's more than enough room for that. Ray now being in Osito's pocket is more than enough for a season right there. It's the price he had to pay for protecting Renee., and it's a ticket for a future in the series. Jackie as a clean cop is a good story, made all the more powerful that she turned on Ray. In a new season or movie, I'd expect her to revisit that wrong decision.

Big thanks to everyone for putting together this unique and uniquely satisfying series, which I look forward to seeing some more of, someday.

Sunday, December 26, 2021

Hightown Season 2 Finale: Brilliant End-Up, Looking for 3

You know, I've been noticing over the years that the penultimate, aka next to last, episode in a television season is often better than the finale. Last week's episode of Hightown was superb, powerful, hard to surpass. And I've just seen the finale. And, you know what? It's even better than last week's episode. There may be a pattern of finales not being as good as the penultimates, but in Hightown Season 2, this ain't it.

So ... where to start. My wife who watched the whole season said right away that Charmayne should've been given more of an armed escort on her trip to Boston. I had a feeling that she wouldn't get there as soon as I saw her in the car with Jackie and Leslie. It's not because they are women. It's because Charmayne needed more coverage, given her importance. And as soon as Leslie told Charmayne the car wasn't stopping for anything, I had feeling she would escape.

Jackie is brilliant in her instincts, but unseasoned. Her emotions, including empathy, are always close to the surface. So her response to Leslie was predictable -- as was Leslie turning on her the day after.

On to Frankie and Osito. It was good to see what happened to Frankie in prison. He deserved it. But is he dead? I'll once again cite one of my principles in reviewing: if you don't see someone's head cut off or riddled with bullets there's always a chance that the recipient survived. We'll just have to wait for Season 3, and at this point, Hightown has yet to be renewed. I think Starz would be crazy not to renew this superb series, which got better and better, from Season 1 to 2, and as Season 2 progressed.

In a third season, we'd get to see Osito in charge. I've been saying through both seasons that Atkins Estimond's character is one of the most memorable in this series, in which there are many. Monica Raymond as Jackie was also outstanding, a lot more vivid than she was in Chicago Fire. James Badge Dale as Ray and Riley Voelkel as Renee were also especially excellent.

Speaking of which -- I'm glad to see them together. But, given that Renee's shooting of Jorge was accidental, I'm wondering why she can't just tell Ray exactly what happened? I guess that reluctance, and several other things, shows there's still not 100% trust just between them.

Dohn Norwood as Alan also deserves a shout-out for that incandescent scene in which he lets Ray know exactly how he feels about that "lateral" move to "bodies" aka homicide. That call from Boston will give him some strong material to get his spot back in Season 3.

So bring it on, and I'll be back here with weekly reviews.

Sunday, October 17, 2021

Hightown 2.1: Switching Ups and Downs

Last year, Hightown was especially welcome, because, with the lockdown where we live, Hightown was the most we saw of the Cape. This year, we were back on the Cape a whole bunch of times, and Hightown is off to such a good start it's looking to be more welcome than ever.

Jackie is back and before the episode is over she's working full time for the real police. Ray remains out of the police, bartending, because some cop from his past testified against Ray at the hearing that could have put him back on the force. Frankie's out of prison, and Renee may be pregnant (not a hundred percent clear if Frankie is the father -- could be Ray, maybe?)

The most interesting new character is Jorge, Frankie's cousin, played by Luis Guzman (great to see him again). Osito (Atkins Estimond) is in prison, and always interesting. And here's the nub of the plot: three kids on Nauset Beach die of an overdose. The "Great White" drug they took was laced with something that killed them.

By the way, I don't get why these drugs are so often laced with something that kills their consumers. Don't the people who sell drugs want to keep their sources of money alive? As the characters in Hightown realize, it's clearly bad for business when the people who buy drugs die.

But it makes for excellent drama. It's good to see Monica Raymund and James Badge Dale back in their primary roles, and their screen personas in effect switching places. Jackie's up and Ray is down. But one of the charms of Hightown is that neither character is ever down and out. Welcome back Hightown -- see you again next week.

Sunday, July 12, 2020

Hightown 1.8: Up and Down and Up

Hightown's season one wrapped up tonight (episode 1.8). A short but powerful season, all set to fire on all kind of cylinders in season two.

[Spoilers follow]

The gist of the plot is that Jackie's up, Ray's down, but the real kicker is Frankie's up, too. The man responsible in one way or another for all the killings is not only unscathed but of prison. Not only that, he's back with Renee. Not that she loves him. But she's accepted that she has to be with him.

Why? Because she didn't like being listed as an "expense" by Ray? She still loves Ray, or close to that, deep inside. Her reaction when Ray tells her he loves her says it all. But with Frankie back in bed with her, literally, there's not much she can do about it. Not now.

It was good to she Jackie, finally, on top of things, and riding into a new life. It will fall to her to do what she can to stop Frankie next season, at least at the beginning of the season. There won't be much that Ray can do in his position as bouncer or muscle at some bar. All because he had sex with Renee. We and he and she know it was not just lust, but because he loved her. But the police and DA above him don't know about that, and wouldn't care about it even if they did.

I thought Osito went down a little too easily tonight. I still like him as the best bad character in this series. But I guess Osito down was necessary for Jackie's fortunes to rise, and I'm certainly glad about that. (Those two girls on that bus to the Cape at the end, taking over that part of the business, will make good villains next season.) And I'll say one more time that Monica Raymund was really outstanding as Jackie. She came into her own an actress, vastly better than the emotionally handcuffed part she was given as Dawson in Chicago Fire.

So ... the wife and I still didn't get up to the Cape this year. Maybe in the Fall. Definitely next summer. But at least we had Hightown.

Sunday, May 17, 2020

Hightown 1.1: Top Notch Saltwater and Characters

We were supposed to go up to Cape Cod later this week, but that's on hold, because of you know what. Fortunately, the first episode of Hightown has just been put up on Starz. Very fortunately. This is best debut of a series on network or cable I've seen in I don't know when. My wife feels the same way.

The story - the murder of a witness in an upcoming drug trial - is something we've a lot of before. The set of characters, headed by Monica Raymund (Chicago Fire) as Jackie Quiñones a fish cop and James Badge Dale (The Black Donnellys and much more) as Detective Ray Abruzzo a "statie" from drugs assigned to homicide, most assuredly is not. Jackie is more than a bit of a druggie herself, and Ray is willing to let a prostitute unzip his fly and more to put her at ease so he can get the drop on her to truthfully answer his questions. And the back-up characters including police, druggies, and fishermen of all persuasions are no slouches, either.

They're all tied together by a Cape Cod environment so vivid and real you can easily smell the fishy saltwater. Not to mention taste the seafood as the characters walk by all kinds of eateries in Provincetown. There's something truly magical about P-town in real life, and Hightown conveys this to a tee and the tee-shirts. I recall a couple of years ago, my wife and I drove our son and his wife from our cottage in Brewster to Provincetown where they were a catching a fast boat to Boston. The boat was delayed. It soon became freezing, and all I had on were shorts and a thin tee-shirt with holes in it. I stepped into a shop. They had all kinds of expensive sweatshirts. But I picked up one that for some reason was on steep sale, and for just a few bucks bought the warmest, most comfortable sweatshirt I ever had in my life. That's the kind of place Provincetown is.

I don't know if Hightown will be the best cop show I've ever seen in my life - it has lots of very steep competition, ranging from The Wire to Dragnet - but it's off to a very promising start, and I'll be back here with more after I see the next episode in two weeks.

Monday, January 16, 2012

The Good Wife 3.13 meets Murder on the Orient Express

A good Good Wife 3.13 last night, in which the standalone part of the story concerns the Feds - in the person of Bob Balaban's well-played taxman - go after the creator of Bitcoin, on account of its being an allegedly illegal currency.

Bitcoin, in our real world (i.e., off the television drama), is a real online currency - much like the Linden dollar in Second Life, except that people can use Bitcoin money to buy real things anywhere online (not just in-world with the Linden dollar in Second Life), if the seller is willing to accept that kind of payment. Still in our real reality, we think we know who created Bitcoin, but there may be some pseudonymity involved.

Back on The Good Wife, Alicia and the firm are defending Bitcoin's lawyer, who may or may not be the creator about whom he the lawyer is prevented from discussing, owing to attorney-client privilege. There are two other suspects for creator, and some typically brilliant investigation by Kalinda uncovers the truth: all three have in fact created/marketed Bitcoin. Reminded me of Agatha Christie's Murder on the Orient Express, where the murderer turns out to be everyone of the train with a motive.

Moving over to the continuing story, it turns out that Will may be a little vulnerable - though not really guilty of any wrongdoing - after all. He lets Kalinda take charge of the touchy paperwork, to do what - destroy it? All we know if she hands something that looks like those files over to Assistant DA Dana Lodge (played by Lie to Me's Monica Raymund), who's in possession of the document unknowingly signed by Alicia last week, when she was set up by David Lee in the alienation of affection case. It could be enough to get Alicia disbarred. Dana's happy to use this to blackmail Kalinda.

It's certainly enough for me to look more forward than ever to the next episode.

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

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

Special Discount Coupons for Angie's List, Avis, Budget Car, Garden.com, eMusic

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

Monday, November 7, 2011

The Good Wife 3.7: Peter vs. Will

A good Good Wife on CBS last night, at last featuring a confrontation between Peter and Will.

Peter's office has evidence of an alleged bribe that Will took, years ago when he was an attorney in Baltimore. Actually, new character Dana - played by Lie to Me's sassy Monica Raymund - brings the issue to Cary (recently promoted), who questions Will with Dana, and brings this to Peter's attention.

Interestingly, Peter isn't exactly gung ho to get Will, but he wouldn't be averse to destroying or at least damaging Will either. Will, for his part, is furious, and confronts Peter on the steps of his office building, for one of the best scenes in the series. Why don't you grow a pair and punch me, Will goads Peter, who pretty easily keeps his cool, even when Will jibes Peter with the observation that, of the two of them, it's Peter who's been on the inside of a prison cell.

Will of course is sure that Peter is doing this out of jealously over Alicia, but that may not quite be the reason. Clearly Dana has some animus against Peter, who, at the close of the episode, wisely decides to put the investigation and the possible case in the hands of a independent prosecutor to be appointed by Peter's office. I'd say that this round goes to Peter.

Meanwhile, Alicia learns what it's like to almost be thrown under the bus by Diane, who now all but knows for sure that Alicia and Will are in bed together. Alicia is caught in bind when she's obliged to answer questions from a Federal investigator - assigned to this task by Diane - but doesn't want to compromise her attorney-client privilege. Cue the wacky, brilliant Elsbeth - whom Alicia has the savvy to retain rather going with the firm's recommendation - to get Alicia out of this jam.

The show continues to be brilliant, funny, and cutting edge, replete with references to Rahm and Blogo thrown in whenever possible.

See also The Good Wife 3.1: Recusal and Rosh Hashanah ... The Good Wife: 3.2: Periwigs and Skype

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

Special Discount Coupons for Angie's List, Avis, Budget Car, Garden.com, eMusic

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

Tuesday, July 20, 2010

Lie to Me 2.16: Ria's Sister

Lie to Me 2.16 last night continued the good run of summer LTMs, with a show about Ria and her younger sister, Ava. The two actresses (Monica Raymond as Ria, Alyssa Diaz as Ava) look so much alike (and fine on the screen) that they could be sisters in real life. Before the episode is over, Ria is "drunk of her ass" and "sticks her tongue" in Lightman's mouth (quotes from Lightman) as she tries desperately to get some control over her out-of-control situation.

It's out of control because Ava may be involved in a murder - she's already in prison - or may be a potential victim of the killer. She's punched out, under Gillian's protection, when some bad people break into Gillian's house. Gillian winds up with a bruise on her cheek, and is clearly shaken. Lightman holds her and tells her how much she means to him. But it's already clear, I think, that he's falling under Clara's romantic sway, and the coming attractions for next week show more of that. (Fine by me - though I'd like still like to see Gillian and Lightman together.)

Max Martini - Mac on The Unit - also puts in an appearance as Dave Burns the prison shrink, who may or may not be involved in the murder. Dave reminded me so such much of Mac that it seemed to me that the prison shrink was just a mission for Mac (I half expected Dennis Haysbert to walk in) - a testament to his memorable role on The Unit. In Lie to Me, he turns out to be innocent, and may have continuing role, since there's clearly a spark or two between him and Gillian (and other reason she and Lightman may going different erotic ways).

Loker continues to have almost no role, but I'm thinking we'll see him in something major on Lie to Me before the summer is over.

See also my reviews of Lie to Me and Bill O'Reilly, Saddam Hussein, and Ben Reynolds in Lie to Me 2.6 and Lie to Me 2.7: The Redeeming of Loker and Lie to Me 2.8 in Afghanistan and Viva Lightman and Las Vegas in Lie to Me 2.9 ... Lie to Me 2.11: Double Feature ... Lie to Me 2.12: The One Prevarication ... Lie to Me 2.13: The Whole Truth and Rep Joe Wilson ... Lie to Me 2.14: Paranoids Can Have Real Enemies ... Lie to Me 2.15: Melissa George and Shawn Ryan

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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

Tuesday, October 27, 2009

Lie to Me

I thought it was long since time that I checked in with a review of Lie to Me, which last night aired episode 5 of its second season on Fox.

It's one of my and my wife's favorite shows, and along with 24, Bones, House, and (formerly) The Shield, makes Fox easily the network with the greatest number of cutting edge, entertaining series on television.

Lie to Me serves up a riveting variety of stories - including politics, police work, and all manner of business and personal relationships - all tied together by Dr. Cal Lightman's genius is reading facial expressions and body language for truth and falsity of communication. The science is sound - Paul Ekman, whose work I examined in my own PhD studies, is the source of the science and an adviser to the show. Tim Roth's acting is brilliant and volatile as Lightman, and the supporting case is stellar, too.

My favorites are Kelli Williams as Lightman's partner Dr. Gillian Foster - I've enjoyed her work since she was Lindsay on The Practice - and Monica Raymund as Ria Torres, one of the hottest women on television. Unlike Lightman and Foster, who studied their way to facial expression mastery, Ria is a natural, which gives her an intriguing packet of advantages and flaws in comparison to her bosses.

Lightman is divorced from Zoe Landau, played by Jennifer Beals, whom I'm glad to see continuing on television after a fine run in The L Word. Foster is divorced, too, and is certainly in some kind of love with Lightman, who feels the same way about her. But their attraction so far is less erotic than Bones and Booth, if equally under the surface.

And even the more minor characters are unusual, including Brendan Hines as Loker, who veers between going by the book and taking matters into his own hands, and Mekhi Phifer as FBI Agent Ben Reynolds, not quite willing to do whatever Lightman asks, but coming through in the end in one way or another.

The series engagingly grapples with the ethics of colleagues who can easily know more about each other than any of them would want, and the pros and cons of reading the lies of their clients. Mix into that some great photos of real politicians and other public people with lying eyes and faces, and you have a series that is at once more realistic and out of left field than just about anything else on television.

I'll be reviewing episodes more regularly from now on. You can't see my face, but I can assure you that's true...

7-min podcast review of Lie to Me

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!

"challenging fun"
- Entertainment Weekly

e-mail received from a reader:
Dear Paul, I just dreamed of airships flying between raindrops. I just returned from 2042 CE, where I sold my hardcover copy of The Plot to Save Socrates for seventy million Neo-Euros, because it had your response to this e-mail from way back in 2007 scotch-taped onto the inside of the cover. A Paul Levinson collector paid top Neo-Euro, because of the authentic archaic e-mail printout from you. It turns out that not many of your e-mails from before your tenure as CEO of HBO/Cinemax and terms as United Nations Secretary General will survive that far into the future. So, please respond to this e-mail, to help found my great-grandchildren's fortune. My Will will stipulate that they must share with your great grandchildren. Thanks! Tom

I of course happily replied...

42 reviews of The Plot to Save Socrates!