Note: This article contains spoilers for Breaking Bad’s “Ozymandias”. It’s been a long time coming and oh so bittersweet, but Walter White has finally reached a point where even his loyal supporters can no longer justify his actions. The series has certainly provided its viewers with poignant examples before of why Walter isn’t a good …
Breaking Bad, Season 5, Episode 14: “Ozymandias” Written by Moira Walley-Beckett Directed by Rian Johnson Airs Sundays at 9pm ET on AMC – Holy bloody damned hell. – First, some (mild) vindication. I mentioned last week that there was absolutely no way this week’s outing would open with Hank dead, just like that. True enough, once …
Hell on Wheels, Season 3, Episode 7, “Cholera” Written by Tom Brady Directed by Deran Sarafin Airs Saturdays at 9pm (ET) on AMC With only three episodes left before the season finale, Hell on Wheels has taken Cullen (Anson Mount) to the point of near death and face to face with the young Mormon boy …
In what has become a Breaking Bad tradition, episode six of season one opens with a great juxtaposition: The pre-credit sequence is a fast forward to the final scene of the episode and audiences are left scrambling for 57 minutes to piece it together. “Crazy Handful of Nothin’” introduces Tuco, a big-time drug dealer who doesn’t quite do business in any professional manner.
This is the episode in which Jesse and Walt clean up the mess caused by Jesse’s chosen method to get rid of Emilio’s body. The episode recalls such films as Very Bad Things and Shallow Grave, in which a group of men are left to find the best way to get rid of a dead body without getting caught.
Breaking Bad, Season 5, Episode 13: “To’hajiilee” Written by George Mastras Directed by Michelle MacLaren Airs Sundays at 9pm ET on AMC – Remember a couple of weeks back, when it seemed like Breaking Bad couldn’t milk its cliffhanger tendencies any more than it already had? Those days seem so quaint now. “To’hajiilee” puts that …
Over the course of the next three weeks, leading up to the series finale of Breaking Bad, I will be posting capsule reviews of my 20 favourite episodes from the series, all listed in chronological order. Click here to see the entire list, posted thus far.The complete list will be published on September 30th. Season …
The episode begins with four masked individuals peering over a fresh batch of meth. As Jack takes off his mask, he asks Todd to check the batch’s purity. Upon discovering that it’s 76%, most of the group reacts with joy, save for Lydia, who expresses concern over the batch’s colour, a light yellow rather than …
Breaking Bad, Season 5, Episode 12: “Rabid Dog” Written by Sam Catlin Directed by Sam Catlin Airs Sundays at 9pm ET on AMC – “He’s smarter than you. He’s luckier than you.” – “Rabid Dog” is more or less all talk, no (explicit) action, but as the Breaking Bad endgame begins in earnest, it does …
With the exception of last week’s episode, Hell on Wheels has been the best it’s ever been and “Searchers” might just be the season’s greatest episode. Directed by Neil LaBute, the highly emotional episode notches up the usual tension, fear, urgency, and sadness to an almost unbearable level.
This past Sunday, AMC released a new clip from the fourth season of The Walking Dead featuring Michonne (Danai Gurira), fighting off zombies, while riding back to the prison on horseback. This would be a good time to remind our readers that Kate and I will return with our Walking Dead podcast come October. In …
Some series offer neat, tidy payoffs week-to-week, making sure to leave viewers satisfied while leaving them with enough plot and/or character movement to satisfy while leaving them eager for the next piece of the bigger picture. Not so with Breaking Bad; it’s impossible to imagine anyone getting to the final moments of “Confessions” and not cursing the television gods for not granting them immediate access to next week’s “Rabid Dog.” This right here is some next-level viewer-directed cruelty of the most effective sort.
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Since the very beginning of Breaking Bad, these actresses have been tasked with the most thankless roles on one of the most celebrated dramas in TV history. In the case of Gunn, it’s a repeat performance in a sense: she had a similarly unglamorous gig as Sheriff Bullock’s beleagured-but-upstanding wife Martha. TV historians and prognosticators will be quick to extol the virtues of Bryan Cranston and Aaron Paul, along with Dean Norris and Bob Odenkirk (and rightfully so) but in a very real sense, Brandt and Gunn have long provided Breaking Bad with a moral dimension that would otherwise be absent.
Hell on Wheels, Season 3, Episode 3: “Range War” Written by Reed Steiner Directed by Dennie Gordon Airs Saturdays at 9 pm (ET) on AMC When a show changes show runners there is usually a difficult transition that causes it to suffer. The arrival of John Wirth caused some concern amongst fans when it was …
It’s important to keep expectations in check at all times, but especially with beloved TV series. There are so many variables at work, so many moving parts operated by so many individuals, that even with the smartest showrunners, the best writers’ room, and the most stellar cast, things can go off the rails when you’re least expecting it, often at the worst possible time. So it’s with a sense of relief that “Blood Money” opens with what might be one of the two or three cold opens the series has ever pulled off (and that’s saying something). And yet it’s the end of the episode that easily slides into the all-time Breaking Bad Holy Shit Canon.
The Killing, Season 3: Episode 8 – “Try” Directed by Lodge Kerrigan Written by Nic Sheff and Aaron Slavik Airs Sunday nights at 9 on AMC For viewers who don’t mind – or even like – how The Killing introduces a new red herring at the end of every episode, there is a lot of rewarding material …
Anyone who stopped watching The Killing after the first two seasons is missing out on seeing the great ideas behind the show being executed well. In a recent podcast discussion about the new FX series The Bridge, Dan Fienberg rightfully pointed out that there was never anything wrong with the structure of The Killing or the choice to not solve the Larsen case at the end of the first season – it’s just that the story that was being told wasn’t good enough. In season three, the story of The Killing is hitting all the right marks as its three parallel stories are all playing off each other well.
The Killing, Season 3: Episode 6 – “Eminent Domain” Directed by Keith Gordon Written by David Wiener Airs Sunday nights at 9 on AMC As much as I found the first two seasons of The Killing interesting if just for how they tweaked with the first season of Forbrydelsen, I probably wouldn’t have found it a …
PRESS RELEASE ANCHOR BAY ENTERTAINMENT CONTINUES THE JOURNEY WITH AMC’S “THE WALKING DEAD: THE COMPLETE THIRD SEASON” EXPERIENCE IT ON BLU-RAY™ AND DVD AUGUST 27, 2013; LIMITED EDITION “ZOMBIE HEAD TANK” DESIGNED BY MCFARLANE TOYS BEVERLY HILLS, CA – It has become a cultural phenomenon. The fans embrace it, the critics adore it. And now …
The third track on one of my favorite rock records of the last decade, Okkervil River’s The Stage Names, is called “A Hand to Take Hold of the Scene.” Without context, its lyric is a bit of a tough nut to crack. Will Sheff sings about events unfolding on a TV screen in the first verse, recaps …
The Killing, Season 3: Episodes 4 and 5 – “Head Shots” and “Scared and Running” Directed by Michael Rymer (4) and Dan Attias (5) Written by Dawn Prestwich and Nicole Yorkin (4) and Coleman Herbert (5) Airs Sunday nights at 9 on AMC Apologies for missing last week due to technical difficulties. As The Killing …
I have a problem. Every year, when it comes time for a large awards show (which in my mind includes only the Emmys, the Golden Globes, and the Oscars. Grammys are a waste of time, energy, and gold plating), I get angry. When nominees are released, I tend to read the first time through with …
AMC’s current original lineup is incredibly diverse in tone. There’s the action-first approach of The Walking Dead and the slow, methodical movement of shows like Mad Men and The Killing (Hell on Wheels and Breaking Bad are somewhere between those two extremes, a little closer to The Walking Dead’s pace). When pace is purposeful and established, it’s hard to criticize it on any grounds other than personal taste. So, when people talk about The Killing being boring, I’m inclined to say they’re reacting based off their personal expectations as TV viewers and are not basing that criticism on anything substantial that has to do with the quality of the show itself. And to reiterate: The Killing is a quality show – one that doesn’t have aspirations higher than what it achieves.