It’s Top 10 list season, so I thought I’d throw my hat into the ring and write a quick list of my favorite shows for the year. They’re in “order”, although if you asked me again tomorrow that order would probably change. I included some other notable shows from the year after the list as well. There’s also a few “dishonorable” mentions – shows I watched regularly that I thought had a particularly bad year (and in a few cases, gave up on them).
On to the list!
The 2012 Primetime Emmys are tonight (7PM EST on ABC), but instead of bringing you my (probably horribly wrong) predictions, I decided to write up my dream Emmy ballot. There is some overlap with the actual nominees, and I’m going to include a footnote of who I think should/will actually win each award as well, but this seems way more fun. 
I’m skipping the miniseries categories, mostly because I don’t feel like I’ve seen enough to really have an opinion. I’ll just say this – I hope Sherlock wins as many as possible. And I hope American Horror Story doesn’t win any (with the exception of Jessica Lange, who was amazing and deserves to win) because the show is using an irritating loophole to be eligible in those categories. It also just wasn’t very good and I don’t get why people seemed to love it so much.
ANYWAY, on with the good stuff!
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Not much on this week, but that will change soon – next week brings the first season premiere of the fall TV season. I’m really looking forward to all my shows starting back up again!
Eight episodes in a “season” is not nearly enough for this show, and I hate that we have to wait nearly a year to see the resolution of the series. What a cliffhanger! The series has been building to this all along – Hank has been on the trail of Heisenberg since pretty much day one, and it was only a matter of time before he figured out it was Walt. But instead of catching him in action, figuring it out because of some slip-up, he finds out in the most random, accidentally way possible, and I think maybe it had to be that way. I’m not sure we knew Gayle had given Walt that book (although we definitely saw it on Walt’s nightstand earlier in the season), but given their relationship, it’s certainly not a surprise. It’s also no surprise Walt, and his ego, would think nothing of leaving it lying around his house. I can’t wait to see what Hank’s next move is.
The irony in Hank figuring it all out now, of course, is that for the first time in ages, Walt appears to have a chance to have a family life again. After running the business perfectly with Lydia and Todd for several months, he’s made more money than he’ll ever know what to do with (as Skyler demonstrates in the storage locker). I’m not sure if it was that revelation, the fact that his cancer may have come back, or the realization that once the empire is running smoothly, life is pretty dull, but Walt finally declares that he’s “out”. It certainly seems likely that it won’t be as easy as that, but here he is, ready to walk away, and now he’ll have the DEA hot on his trail.
Possibly the best, most tension-filled scene in the whole finale was Walt’s visit to Jesse’s house. After seeing his pile of money, it seemed likely he might be bringing Jesse the 5 million he was owed, but now that Walt is basically a mass murderer (he did arrange to have those 10 men brutally killed in the prisons, after all), you can’t help but feel concern for Jesse. It’s pretty clear Jesse isn’t comfortable with the spur-of-the-moment visit, either, as the two uncomfortably reminisce for a few minutes, and then Walt leaves, mentioning he left something outside. After grabbing his money, we see Jesse toss a gun across the room, breathing a huge sigh of relief. That relationship is obviously going to play a huge part in the final eight episodes – Hank knows enough about Jesse’s ties to Heisenberg that they’re both going to be in trouble. Should be really interesting.
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Smaller post this week, as a few shows have ended their seasons. It will be even shorter next week after Breaking Bad ends (Noooooooooooooooo!), but fall TV is right around the corner!
We’ve now had our first major character casualty of the final season, as Walt shot and killed Mike in the final moments of the episode. It’s a shame Mike won’t be around anymore, as I’ve grown rather attached to his character – it was nice having someone around to call Walt on his crap, even if Walt didn’t necessarily listen. That said, Jesse is starting to grow a pair and be willing to stand up to Walt, so the need (and practicality) of having Mike as part of their team had clearly ended, and the likelihood of him riding off into the sunset unscathed was pretty low. I had a feeling most of the season he wouldn’t be making it to the end. I hate when I’m right.
We got to see another show of Walt’s completely out-of-control ego in the open, as he demands Declan say his name, confirming he knows exactly who Walt is and what he’s done – he is the great Heisenberg. Walt is also just assuming he can con Jesse into continuing to cook with him, using the 5 million as bait. Well, joke’s on Walter – Jesse is so fed up with him that he walks away from the business and the money. It seems to me the show is setting up for a Walter vs. Jesse final 8 episodes, especially once Jesse finds out what happened to Mike.
I had my questions about the last moments of the episodes – mainly, why on earth would Mike let Walt bring him his “go bag”? – but I get that he clearly has a soft spot for Jesse, and was also so panicked he probably felt like he didn’t have other options, so it didn’t bother me that much. It was interesting to see Walt truly look upset and apologize for his actions after the shooting – realizing he “didn’t need to do that” and could have gotten the names of Mike’s guys from Lydia. Walt has come off looking completely heartless most of this season, it was a nice change to see him have an actual emotion for once.
Also: anyone care to take bets on just how bad an idea it is to have Todd in on the business? I don’t trust that guy at all.
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A few season finales this week!
This week’s episode was probably my least favorite of the season, but Breaking Bad at it’s worst is still pretty great TV. The opening sequence was truly heartbreaking, as we watched the team break apart the kid from last week’s bike to dissolve in acid (something we’ve now seen so many times all we need to see is the barrels to know what’s up). Then, there was just a quick shot of the kid’s hand in the dump truck to suggest the same was about to happen to him. SO terrible. The pace with which they moved on from dealing with the shooting was one of the problems I had with the episode. While it’s clear the incident was definitely the catalyst for much of what happened (Jesse backing out on the business, etc), we don’t get to see much of the emotional fall out – with the exception of one moment of Jesse crying over a news report. Aaron Paul is SO good at those scenes.
It seems like Jesse is starting to realize that Walter may not be the person he thinks he is, but Jesse being Jesse, he still tries to get him out of the business. Of course, in doing so, Walt plays him again, in the SPECTACULARLY awkward dinner with Skyler. Walt plays the moment perfectly – he knows Jesse will feel bad when he sees that his family doesn’t even care about him any more – and Jesse falls for it completely. At the risk of totally fawning over Aaron Paul this week, he was so so funny in that scene. I’ve never laughed harder at someone drinking water.
The episode ended on quite the cliffhanger, and the look on Walt’s face as he declared “everybody wins”, gun to his head, was downright chilling. No fear at all.
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When the episode started with the cold open of the kid in the desert catching spiders, I was confused. Then, when Walt and friends started planning a train heist in the desert, I was filled with an overwhelming sense of dread – I just KNEW something horrible was going to happen to that kid. And even though I, in theory, knew it was coming, the last moments of the episode, when Jesse Plemon’s Todd (I’m going to refrain from making a Landry-is-a-murderer joke. You’re welcome, internet) shot the kid, I still gasped and then stared in horror at my TV for several minutes. REALLY intense stuff.
That said, the rest of the episode was actually, for this show, kind of a fun one (sense of dread aside). I love the episodes where the guys are planning crazy things to get themselves out of a jam, or in this case back into business. As they were sitting around the table with Lydia, getting the details about the train, all I could think about was Abed from Community – “Elaborate heist? Elaborate heist?”. It was great seeing Jesse be the one that came up with the plan again. He’s pretty much the only character left on the show (besides maybe Hank) that I don’t feel gross about rooting for. The actual train robbery was a blast to watch – completely action-packed, edge-of-your-seat stuff for the last 10 minutes of the episode. And then BANG. The next episode is going to be a doozy.
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Lots of good stuff this week!
This show is, by far, the best thing on TV. Nothing else comes close. I’m already having anxiety about this half-a-season ending and there are still 4 more episodes to go. I’ve written a bunch over the past few weeks about how heartbreaking it’s been to watch Skyler suffer silent as Walt just goes about his business. Well, she finally snapped this week, and let Walt know exactly how she felt about him being around, and it was one of the most intense, brutal scenes I’ve ever watched. Neither character pulled any punches as Skyler tried desperately to plan how to get her kids away from her increasingly dangerous husband, and Walt belittled and shut her down at every turn. So what’s Skyler’s master plan? To wait for the cancer to come back and take Walt out for her. Just…OUCH.
Meanwhile, Lydia seems like someone who is entirely too high-strung to be involved in criminal activity. I don’t know why she thought her little plan was going to fool Mike (and I’m also not surprised it totally fooled Jesse). Should be interesting to see how Walt handles her.
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I was home sick on Monday, so my list is a bit longer than usual this week – extra time for Netflix!
Can we all agree that Walt is pretty much just evil at this point? Between that fatherly talk with Jesse about “honesty”, the way he greeted Brock like he HADN’T just nearly killed the kid, and using Skyler’s affair as an excuse for her breakdown with Marie, Walt was in rare form this week. I will admit, though, that the new plan for cooking was pretty genius. No one will look twice at a house being tented, and since the Vamanos Pest (which, by the way, amazing name for bug guys) employees are all criminals anyway, in theory they’ll look the other way and not give them any trouble. So much fun to see Jesse Plemons pop up on the show, and I’m looking forward to seeing what role he ends up playing in things inevitably going horribly wrong.
Anna Gunn was heartbreaking to watch in the breakdown scene. She hasn’t been on screen much yet this season, but even just the look on her face when she is has said it all.
We finally got a chance to see Bud Hammond look like a human being and not just a doofy asshole this week, which was (to me, anyway) a welcome change. He obviously cares a lot about Elaine, and took the bullet for the event that turned the primaries away from her at the last election. The family doesn’t want his help this time around either, but he’s still doing some dirty work for her, and it clearly kills him to not be able to help. I’m sure that will end up being A Thing before the series ends.
Susan Berg was a major player in this episode plot-wise, as she helped Elaine out by giving her a heads up that Garcetti was trying to appoint her to the Supreme Court. She also has Doug in a tough spot – now that he’s realized his mother has a legitimate shot at winning if she runs, he doesn’t want Berg to run an article and spoil the plan. That’s bound to blow up soon. I’m not entirely sure what Elaine is playing at by getting all buddy-buddy with the reporter (inviting her to go on a jog and what not), but I feel like there must be a plan there.
I was genuinely surprised at how quickly Steve was brought back. I had a feeling given how determined Claudia was that it was going to happen eventually, but I figured it would both take her few episodes, and that she would not have the assistance of a regent to aid the process. As it turns out Pete’s mom was the only regent that was okay with it – clearly feeling guilty over the circumstances surrounding his death in the first place – but it was still a surprise. I’m quite certain there are going to be huge, nasty consequences to him being brought back – possibly tied to Artie’s time reversal voodoo. Speaking of Artie, nervous!Artie is super stressful to watch. I loved seeing Brent Spiner back again, but oh boy, Artie’s stuck in a tough spot right now. Reverse the artifact, the warehouse is gone (and HG, Mrs. Fredericks, Steve, and now presumably Pete go back to being dead). Don’t reverse the artifact and apparently some crazy evil is going to kill everyone anyway. Yikes.
I realized after the episode ended this week that there are only 3 episodes left in what could very well be the only season of this show, and absolutely nothing has happened. There’s no real plot to speak of besides “Michelle moves to Paradise, fights with Fanny a lot, bonds with teens”. It’s such an oddly charming show, though, so the lack of story really hasn’t bothered me.
Lots of comedy to be found with the flood in the studio, not the least of which was Michelle faking a conversation with Fanny on Fanny’s voicemail. I also got a kick out of Michelle and the girls using hair dryers to dry the carpet. Absurd, but a good sight gag. We got another cameo from a former Stars Hollow resident when Todd Lowe showed up as the one-eyed plumber (who apparently is only good at “keeping an eye on things”). Michelle also had to actually discipline the girls (or at least Sasha) for the first time when Sasha not only stole her shirt, but then showed up late to class and didn’t seem to particularly give a crap. She clearly hated it and the girls didn’t seem particular fond of Michelle-as-real-adult, either.
We also got our first mention of Hubbell in several weeks. Not from either Michelle or Fanny, of course, but from Truly. That’s been the one weird thing to me about this show – I get keeping it light, but their husband and son just DIED, and Michelle and Fanny seem to just forget he ever existed.
I enjoyed this episode much more than the last few. I think the series suffers when the main cast isn’t all together and when they attempt to leave the Hamptons, and there’s been a lot of both of those things so far this season. This was also a fairly light episode compared to the last two.
I’m pretty sure we’re supposed to think Dr. VanDyke is a jerk, but I sort of wish he were around more. He made this episode a lot more fun, he’s got a lot of charm (sometimes too much charm), and he’s very funny. The whole thing with his bunny was hilarious. We also got to see Hank back at his usual medical trickery this week – both using an ice cream truck to give a stroke patient some more time to get to a hospital, and using a dog that could sense high blood pressure to help Boris’ cranky diabetic friend/business partner/whatever. I couldn’t figure out why the show was really beating us over the head about the patient-of-the-week’s divorce and marital issues and how much he should let them go – it seemed really over the top. I also don’t particularly like the translator, mostly because I just assume it’s going to end badly, as things that involve Boris in any way have a tendency to do. I think I liked Boris better when he only popped up 2 or 3 times a season and wasn’t a regular being shoehorned into every story.
What have you been watching lately?
Lots of good stuff this week!
Have I mentioned lately how much I love this show? Because I do. The second episode was a great showcase for Jonathan Banks, who is just perfect in the role of Mike. The character is so much more in touch with the reality of the entire situation than Walt or Jesse, but he also knows he’s in wayyy too deep to do anything about it at this point. The poor guy just wants to hang out with his granddaughter! He’s also, might I add, a total bad ass, while still managing to be a human – asking the guy he had to kill if he was ready before blowing his brains out.
Meanwhile, Walt just gets darker and darker. In order to cover for his other lies to Jesse, he had to further manipulate him by faking another ricin cigarette (while keeping the ricin, which I’m sure will come up again later), and then being super fatherly and supportive as Jesse breaks down about trying to kill him. So creepy. He also continues to be so awful with Skyler, as the final scene of them in bed was absolutely bone-chilling. He completely doesn’t realize she’s terrified of him.
Here’s what I’ve been watching this week!
Oh my goodness, the anticipation for the premiere was KILLER all week long. This is the first season I’ll be watching the show as it airs, and I’m already dying having to wait a week between episodes. The premiere totally lived up to the hype. I loved the flash forward in the teaser, and everything it promises (things are clearly going to go very, very wrong for Walt in the next 15 episodes). The dynamic between Walt, Jesse, and Mike is a ton of fun to watch, since Mike can’t stand Walter, but cares at least a small amount for Jesse’s safety (and his own, obviously), and is forced to stick around. Watching Skyler now is almost always heartbreaking – she’s either terrified of Walt, or of the consequences of her own actions (as we see in that amazing scene with Ted in the hospital). Walter’s hug at the end of the episode – “I forgive you, Skyler” – was downright chilling. Just awesome.
Oh, and also? MAGNETS, BITCH, YEAH! 