I only just watched episode 2 of this season but it seems like there is a plot this time around, so that's something.
― medium rear (silby), Wednesday, 26 October 2011 06:44 (1 year ago) Permalink
seen up to end of episode 3 i think, prob shouldn't be reading in case of spoilers, but anyway
Think that series 2 has taken off brilliantly, last few episodes of series one were a bit of a mess.
― generation lmbo (darraghmac), Wednesday, 26 October 2011 10:37 (1 year ago) Permalink
Seitz pretty otm there, especially that last week's episode was probably the best the series has produced.
uhhhh, did you read it? He called it pointlessly violent.
― Dr Morbois de Bologne (Dr Morbius), Wednesday, 26 October 2011 11:46 (1 year ago) Permalink
is that necessarily a value judgement
― generation lmbo (darraghmac), Wednesday, 26 October 2011 11:48 (1 year ago) Permalink
i mean, other things that were pointlessly violent- gangsters, bootleggers, the irish
― generation lmbo (darraghmac), Wednesday, 26 October 2011 11:49 (1 year ago) Permalink
from a dramatic standpoint, he argues
― Dr Morbois de Bologne (Dr Morbius), Wednesday, 26 October 2011 11:53 (1 year ago) Permalink
dramatisation of violent events doesn't require them to be softened. He's only arguing from personal preference there, not critical detachment
― generation lmbo (darraghmac), Wednesday, 26 October 2011 11:57 (1 year ago) Permalink
By last week's I mean the episode that aired last week, "What Does the Bee Do?". That's the one he says is one of the best episodes of TV of the year full stop. And it might be.
― encarta it (Gukbe), Wednesday, 26 October 2011 14:49 (1 year ago) Permalink
A show about Prohibition is 'pointlessly violent'?
― Muammar for the road (Michael White), Wednesday, 26 October 2011 15:25 (1 year ago) Permalink
A show about dougyboys coming home from the Great War to Prohibition, I could ask.
The dramatization of 'pointlessly' violent events can/should have a dramatic point. In theory.
― Dr Morbois de Bologne (Dr Morbius), Wednesday, 26 October 2011 15:26 (1 year ago) Permalink
They have a point, but a.) sometimes that point isn't that great and b.) they are excessive in their execution
― encarta it (Gukbe), Wednesday, 26 October 2011 15:29 (1 year ago) Permalink
It might be a lazy comparison because two of the writers from the Sopranos created them, but it seems like Mad Men inherited the adherence to larger thematic interests, the deep characterisation, and the more elegantly executed standalone episodes while Boardwalk got all the double-crossing plot machinations and the more base, violent streak.
Seitz seems as annoyed with the fans as much as the show itself. The mob stuff made The Sopranos a big crossover hit, but the viewership dropped (and those mob genre fans - i.e. the average male viewer) tuned out when it started with the episode-long dream sequences or Tony in a coma.
Boardwalk is in an odd position in that it wants to appeal to that mainstream fan base so it's reluctant to really wade into deeper territory, but it also has too many pretensions towards 'prestige' and 'legitimacy' to embrace the schlocky violent thrills that say, Spartacus could do. Of course, Game of Thrones is probably more violent than Boardwalk, and it is also a better show so what are ya gonna do.
― encarta it (Gukbe), Wednesday, 26 October 2011 15:45 (1 year ago) Permalink
boardwalk can't even seem to decide what to make of some of its own lead characters from one episode to the next, tbh, so asking for overarching themes might be a reach
― generation lmbo (darraghmac), Wednesday, 26 October 2011 15:51 (1 year ago) Permalink
that's otm. it's too obsessed with plot and has way too many characters to move around the board because of it.
― encarta it (Gukbe), Wednesday, 26 October 2011 15:53 (1 year ago) Permalink
i do think they appear to have spotted and worked on that so far this season, tbf.
First season really seemed to suffer from a sense of 'we're making this up as we go along', even if they weren't.
― generation lmbo (darraghmac), Wednesday, 26 October 2011 15:58 (1 year ago) Permalink
― Aerosol, Wednesday, 26 October 2011 16:00 (1 year ago) Permalink
I'd also take issue with Seitz' claim that the man mentioning his time fighting native americans only serves the purpose of allowing a scalping to take place later on. That scene and that relationship is as much about generational disrespect as anything else. The man talks about massacring indians with glee, as though it was the manly thing to do, and all these kids today coming back traumatized from laying in the and killing white folk just wasn't legitimate. I don't think it was very elegantly done, but it wasn't done just for the violence.
― encarta it (Gukbe), Wednesday, 26 October 2011 16:00 (1 year ago) Permalink
Seitz may also be missing the fact that one of the commonly tossed about modern takes on Prohibition is as a kind of latter-day Know-nothing nativist response to all these Catholics and Jews and foreigners living in cities, a kind of reassertion of WASP dominance.
― Muammar for the road (Michael White), Wednesday, 26 October 2011 16:09 (1 year ago) Permalink
I still think that WWI plus liquor-or-no-liquor plus corruption leads precisely to violence.
― Muammar for the road (Michael White), Wednesday, 26 October 2011 16:11 (1 year ago) Permalink
The show lacks a point, or a larger theme, which is probably why it will never be amazing. Still, watch it after The Walking Dead and it's grade-A brilliant.
― encarta it (Gukbe), Wednesday, October 26, 2011 12:47 AM (11 hours ago) Bookmark
yeah, i agree with this. it's not really pushing the envelope thematically - though sometimes it gives you glimpses of the kind of show it COULD be - but it's coming into its own as really good entertainment.
tim van patten is probably the best 'in-house' HBO director
― The sham nation of Israel should be destroyed. (Princess TamTam), Wednesday, 26 October 2011 16:11 (1 year ago) Permalink
just caught up on this, holy hell, gruesome stuff. agree with most of what's been said, plotwise i have no idea what's going on with nucky anymore but there's enough characters around to entertain me. nice little pine barrens touch on the last ep too.
― sonderangerbot, Monday, 31 October 2011 00:06 (1 year ago) Permalink
^^ "Pine Barrens" jumped to mind for me too!
― jon /via/ chi 2.0, Monday, 31 October 2011 03:29 (1 year ago) Permalink
Love that Eddie Cantor is a character on this show, going on about Ida and the girls. It's spooky.
― whoop, up the butt it goes (silby), Wednesday, 2 November 2011 03:46 (1 year ago) Permalink
boring episode
― sean gramophone, Wednesday, 2 November 2011 16:00 (1 year ago) Permalink
wasn't boring, was just a comedown after the insane-o previous ep
― The sham nation of Israel should be destroyed. (Princess TamTam), Wednesday, 2 November 2011 16:14 (1 year ago) Permalink
can someone explain to me where the women are hiding their long hair when it is "up", I have no idea how that works at all
― whoop, up the butt it goes (silby), Friday, 4 November 2011 20:27 (1 year ago) Permalink
YES! I was trying to get my wife to explain to me where all of Katie's hair went when she's in uniform.
― jon /via/ chi 2.0, Friday, 4 November 2011 22:12 (1 year ago) Permalink
i'm enjoying season 2 a lot.
― the 500 gats of bartholomew thuggins (upper mississippi sh@kedown), Friday, 4 November 2011 23:11 (1 year ago) Permalink
I did not want to be reminded of Esther Rantzen every 10 minutes in this episode(nor did I want to see those fingers)
― kinder, Monday, 7 November 2011 06:02 (1 year ago) Permalink
ugh, those fingers, yea
― johnny crunch, Monday, 7 November 2011 12:07 (1 year ago) Permalink
ugh... the sound they made!
― Porto for Pyros (The Cursed Return of the Dastardly Thermo Thinwall), Monday, 7 November 2011 15:04 (1 year ago) Permalink
fell asleep during this episode.
― akm, Monday, 7 November 2011 15:37 (1 year ago) Permalink
Haha, yeah, the sound of those fingers was the first time this show has ever actually made me flinch. I'm still loving this season, even though I thought the ending was a bit rushed and anticlimactic. I mean, you'd think it would have unfolded a little more interestingly, considering how many storylines were tied up in it (trying my hardest to avoid spoilers here).
― jon /via/ chi 2.0, Monday, 7 November 2011 19:29 (1 year ago) Permalink
those fingers coming off so obvious
― conrad, Monday, 7 November 2011 20:35 (1 year ago) Permalink
wasn't for me - i had a half a second of "the fuck was that soun.... OH GOD!" in my head.
― Porto for Pyros (The Cursed Return of the Dastardly Thermo Thinwall), Monday, 7 November 2011 21:51 (1 year ago) Permalink
rewatched this, glad I did, fuck. not sure I followed exactly why he did that to that guy, some irish shit I guess.
― akm, Wednesday, 9 November 2011 07:34 (1 year ago) Permalink
didn't get that at all either. thought he was going after nucky's hitman at first or something. kinda slow episode.
watching goodfellas right now i realize paz and lorraine bracco sound EXACTLY the same
― sonderangerbot, Thursday, 10 November 2011 20:49 (1 year ago) Permalink
i assumed that was the actual reason he was left behind there - to execute irish dude's enemies on the east coast.
― Porto for Pyros (The Cursed Return of the Dastardly Thermo Thinwall), Thursday, 10 November 2011 20:53 (1 year ago) Permalink
this was episode was amazing
― encarta it (Gukbe), Monday, 14 November 2011 05:37 (1 year ago) Permalink
loving the peaches.
― s.clover, Monday, 14 November 2011 06:25 (1 year ago) Permalink
ya - good ep. loved the "the only winning move is not to play" part.
― Porto for Pyros (The Cursed Return of the Dastardly Thermo Thinwall), Monday, 14 November 2011 17:33 (1 year ago) Permalink
Yeah, this show has been on such a good run this season, not sure why the reception seems to be so muted.
― jon /via/ chi 2.0, Monday, 14 November 2011 17:33 (1 year ago) Permalink
A combination of backlash against/not living up to the hype of the first season probably.
I thought the beach scene between Jimmy and his wife was spectacular. Also like that her lesbian dalliance from last season wasn't a one-off "Marissa on The O.C." deal.
― encarta it (Gukbe), Monday, 14 November 2011 17:37 (1 year ago) Permalink
also: it has to compete with zombies.
― Porto for Pyros (The Cursed Return of the Dastardly Thermo Thinwall), Monday, 14 November 2011 17:38 (1 year ago) Permalink
Yeah, but the zombie show is terrible now. Its easy to tell which one of those Sunday night shows wins out for us, we always watch Empire as it airs and now have two eps of Walking Dead just sitting on the DVR.
― jon /via/ chi 2.0, Monday, 14 November 2011 17:42 (1 year ago) Permalink
I DVR Walking Dead, Hell on Wheels, and the 11pm Boardwalk Empire and watch the NFL-delayed Amazing Race live. I find that leaving Boardwalk for the end of the night gives me the most satisfaction. I am also aware that I watch way too much television on Sunday nights.
― encarta it (Gukbe), Monday, 14 November 2011 17:43 (1 year ago) Permalink
How is Hell on Wheels? Thought about giving that a shot, but we would up getting way too caught up in the first three seasons of Breaking Bad on Netflix.
― jon /via/ chi 2.0, Monday, 14 November 2011 17:45 (1 year ago) Permalink
i agree. but *zombies* seems to automatically grab certain numbers no matter how awful the writing may be.
xpost
― Porto for Pyros (The Cursed Return of the Dastardly Thermo Thinwall), Monday, 14 November 2011 17:46 (1 year ago) Permalink
Thats true, just so disappointing to me how badly they've fumbled a show with such great promise.
― jon /via/ chi 2.0, Monday, 14 November 2011 17:47 (1 year ago) Permalink