I love those episodes that end a good season of television; episodes where all the disparate plot threads converge, where everything’s at stake and you’re genuinely unsure of the outcome. This week of Justified wasn’t one of those episodes, but it was a damn good launching pad for the three episodes to follow. The great…
Tonight’s episode of Please Like Me was the best so far. The earlier exposition issues have evaporated to leave a solid core of characters, each getting some good moments tonight. Any scene involving Josh was great. The endearing enthusiasm that characterises his live shows came across in the episode tonight; he had been a little…
Reflecting on the tonal shift that characterised “On All Fours,” Girls’ darkest episode yet, it occurred to me that the show has been a generally optimistic show. Its characters haven’t always shared that positive outlook, but the overall feeling has been hopeful, that these crazy kids will sort out their problems. That’s why the relentless…
This week of Justified might not quite reach the highs of last week’s tour de force, but it’s still an entertainingly dense episode of television, bringing the Drew Thompson plotline to a head with the reveal – hinted at in “Outlaw” – that Sheriff Shelby is indeed the elusive Drew. It may not have been…
The premiere of Please Like Me had funny bits, awkward bits, but the rarely the two at once, and suffered from a lack of conflict. “Portugese Custard Tarts” makes an improvement on pretty much all of these issues, with a throughline of Josh’s ambivalence of whether to come out serving as a conflict of sorts…
I’m still not quite sure how to feel about “It’s Back,” an episode that’s equal parts messy and compelling. It reminded me of a later-era Sopranos episode, gently pushing against the boundaries of traditional television storytelling; feeling like no other show on television. It’s full of sharp writing: I loved how the show contrasted Shoshanna’s…
Let’s take a moment to consider how far Spartacus has come. The first episodes are justly maligned, more a cut-rate rip-off of 300 than the complex, thoughtful yet deliciously trashy melodrama we’ve since enjoyed. But even as the first season hit its stride, it remained a small-scale show, filled with scrappy battles and petty political…
“Jesus, I hope I got that right.” You sure did, Justified. After a couple average episodes in the middle there, Season Four excels with a momentous, captivating episode, brilliantly directed, acted and written. So much happens in this episode. Arlo meets his grisly end, a conclusion that seems obvious in retrospect but shocking in the…
I do like you, Josh Thomas. I like your endearingly awkward enthusiasm, your bitterly clever, sincere stand-up. I really did want to like your new show. But, I’m sorry Josh, I really didn’t like it all that much. Oh, it was funny in parts. I definitely laughed a few times over the first two episodes.…
Decimation – the Roman tradition of killing one in every ten men as punishment – is not only a key event in this episode of Spartacus: War of the Damned, it’s an appropriate title for a brutal, violent episode, an hour-long slog through blood that leaves you feeling unclean afterwards. As I discussed after the…
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