Justified, Season 5, Episode 5: “Shot All To Hell” Written by Chris Provenzano Directed by Adam Arkin Airs Tuesdays at 10pm ET on FX – Ask and ye shall receive. The first four episodes of Justified‘s penultimate season were mostly fine, but felt a little compromised and slight compared to past seasons, which tended to …
Justified, Season 5, Episode 4: “Over the Mountain” Written by Taylor Elmore Directed by Gwyneth Horder-Payton Airs Tuesdays at 10pm ET on FX – In case the theme of Season 5 of Justified wasn’t already abundantly clear, “Over the Mountain,” the latest in a too-long string of set-up episodes, underlines it in felt-tip. If the …
Justified, Season 5, Episode 3: “Good Intentions” Written by Benjamin Cavell Directed by Dean Parisol Airs Tuesdays at 10pm ET on FX As a general rule, the longer a heavily serialized series goes on, the more laborious the early episodes of seasons become, as they strain to incorporate new elements while servicing long-simmering plotlines …
Justified, Season 5, Episode 2: “The Kids Aren’t All Right” Written by Dave Andron Directed by Bill Johnson Airs Tuesdays at 10pm ET on FX – In case you missed the news, FX’s John Landgraf announced that Justified will end next year with its sixth season. This lines up with what Graham Yost and Timothy …
Justified, Season 5, Episode 1: “A Murder of Crowes” Written by Fred Golan and Graham Yost Directed by Michael Dinner Airs Tuesdays at 10pm ET on FX – When we last saw Raylan Givens, he was kicking back – sort of. Having just brushed Nicky Augustine off his shoulder by serving him up to his …
10. The Good Wife (CBS) This year, The Good Wife did the unthinkable. Five seasons (and almost 100 episodes) in, it blew up the show. The original premise, that the publically shamed wife of a crooked politician begins her life anew at a former flame’s law firm, is gone, replaced by a baroque melodrama of …
2013 was an incredible year for standout episodes – even, in some cases, for series that didn’t necessarily have a great year overall. Prompted by this wealth of televised riches, TV editor Kate Kulzick, Televerse cohost Simon Howell, general editor Ricky D, and managing editor for TV Randy Dankievitch brainstormed and compiled their personal favorites, with only those deemed worthy by a majority making the cut. The resulting list of survivors (organized by airdate) is a wonderfully diverse picture of the medium at work in 2013, in 15-to-60 minute chunks.
The life sacrificed for your fellow man is at the heart of Short Term 12, a new film focusing on a foster-care facility run by a group of passionate young people, many of whom come from broken homes of their own and are trying to offer safety and shelter where once there was none.
The Spectacular Now Directed by James Ponsoldt Written by Scott Neustadter and Michael H. Weber USA, 2013 The teenage genre is an infinite well Hollywood enjoys returning to, even if such repetition can frequently wind up creating some of the most inherently false-seeming films. We like watching movies about teenagers so we can be nostalgic …
2013 is only halfway done, but there’s a fair chance that, in a television context, it might well be looked back upon as the year any and all accepted rules of “quality television” became utterly meaningless and the promise of great things arrived in all shapes and sizes, from all directions. Consider Netflix’s House of …
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 …
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 …
The FX show Justified has come to be regarded as one of the best dramas on television today, if not of all time. One staple of the show has been the song “You’ll Never Leave Harlan Alive” starting up over the closing moments of the season, with the ending of Season 3 being a notable …
If you were hoping that “Ghosts” might hearken back to the very first Justified season finale, “Bulletville,” just because a gangster threatened to kill Raylan’s wife and unborn child last week, then it may very well have left you wanting. If, on the other hand, you value the thing Justified can dole out even better than gun battles – that is to say, potent character beats – “Ghosts” is more than happy to oblige.
Justified, Season 4, Episode 11: “Decoy” Written by Graham Yost and Chris Provenzano Directed by Michael Watkins Airs Tuesdays at 10pm ET on FX Some of you multiplex-frequenters might have checked out Kim Jee-woon’s The Last Stand this past January, in which a seemingly unstoppable cartel badass has to make his way through a sleepy border town …
Justified, Season 4, Episode 10: “Get Drew” Written by Dave Andron and VJ Boyd Directed by Billy Gierhart Airs Tuesdays at 10pm ET on FX The notion of Justified‘s fourth season as being driven by a central mystery has been a flawed premise all along, as it turns out. For a few episodes now, there’s only been …
Justified, Season 4, Episode 9: “The Hatchet Tour” Written by Taylor Elmore and Leonard Chang Directed by Lesli Linka Glatter Airs Tuesdays at 10pm ET on FX First things first: if, like me, the title of this episode conjured visions of a hatchet-wielding baddie (perhaps in Detroit’s employ) making Raylan or Boyd’s life difficult, shutter …
Justified, Season 4, Episode 8: “Outlaw” Written by Benjamin Cavell and Keith Schreier Directed by John Dahl Airs Tuesdays at 10pm ET on FX Read any interview with Graham Yost and he’ll mention that, in the grand scheme of things, Justified has been conceived as being about six seasons long. That puts us well over …
Justified, Season 4, Episode 7: “Money Trap” Written by Chris Provenzano Directed by Don Kurt Airs Tuesdays at 10pm ET on FX With its colorful-but-inept villlainry, reams of gunplay, and swift pacing, “Money Trap” surprises by feeling more like a throwback to Justified‘s first season than perhaps any since Mags Bennett cast an ominous cloud over …
Justified, Season 4, Episode 6: “Foot Chase” Written by Dave Andron and Ingrid Escajeda Directed by Peter Werner Airs Tuesdays at 10pm ET on FX Justified is generally wonderful at balancing a ludicrous array of plots and characters, but “Foot Chase” demonstrates that the show can;t function properly without Raylan at its center. With too much …
Justified, Season 4, Episode 5: “Kin” Written by Fred Golan and VJ Boyd Directed by Peter Werner Airs Tuesdays at 10pm ET on FX As a preface, can we just…? Along with the outstanding regular cast (and an appearance by underrated ex-regular Natalie Zea), “Kin” finds time for past guests Stephen Tobolowsky, Patton Oswalt, Jim …
Justified, Season 4, Episode 4: “This Bird Has Flown” Written by Taylor Elmore Directed by Bill Johnson Airs Tuesdays at 9pm ET on FX Justified is about a lot of things, but one aspect of the show that often gets overlooked is its nuanced take on masculinity, and its subtle rewriting of the Lone Gunman ethos. …
Justified, Season 4, Episode 3: “Truth and Consequences” Written by Benjamin Cavell Directed by Jon Avnet Airs Tuesdays at 9pm ET on FX – In case you hadn’t gotten the memo that Justified‘s fourth season is going to be a vastly different beast from those that came before, “Truth and Consequences” might give us a better …