As BSG's final season (or second half of the first season if you like) will be returning this week I've decided to review the previous/first half on DVD. For the rest of this review I'm going to plump with calling this the fourth season, I predict that the DVD set for the remaining shows will either be called the final season or the fifth season.


Starring:
Edward James Olmos as Admiral William "Husker" Adama
Mary McDonnell as President Laura Roslin
Jamie Bamber as Captain Lee "Apollo" Adama
James Callis as Dr. Giaus Baltar
Tricia Helfer as Six
Grace Park as Lieutenant Sharon "Athena" Agathon
Katee Sackhoff as Captain Kara "Starbuck" Thrace
Michael Hogan as Colonel Saul Tigh
Aaron Douglas as Chief Galen Tyrol
Tahmoh Penikett as Captain Karl "Helo" Agathon


By now you should be aware of Battlestar Galactica in one shape or form, the remake of this 1980s sci-fi fun fest has exceeded all expectations and has revealed itself to be above most sci-fi shows in depth and quality. Having said this, the third season of BSG was not the best one the show had to offer, the extended length of the season resulted in a lot of filler episodes which were frankly awful. Much of the third season can be ignored, events on New Caprica, the Eye of Jupiter, Starbuck's incident and Baltar's trial are the only important parts of the previous season. The engineering accident and boxing match episodes in particular were complete rubbish.

But here's the good news, this season run is back down to ten episodes so there is no sign of human interest/filler episodes at all. As such the season is joy to watch, running from one exciting moment to the next and holding your interest throughout.

Before I go any further it's worth mentioning that this set also contains the standalone movie Razor, which can be annoying for those of you who purchased Razor separately. It's a pretty underhand move by the DVD release company to be honest and the box should have written on it "WARNING: CONTAINS RAZOR".

At the end of the previous season four of the final five Cylons were revealed with one remaining unknown. This season deals with those final four while also constantly teasing you about the fifth. The final five are meant to know the way to earth and as such both the humans and the cylons want to get their hands on them. I shall not be revealing anything further about the identities of the final five at this point to avoid spoilering anything for those who've either not watched the show or not watched the previous season.

As such it's difficult to talk about the season in full, it's filled with monumental events which turn everything upside down and then shake it about. There is nothing but quality writing and acting from the cast and most importantly, Laura Roslin finally stops being a completely petulant, self-centered and unlikable moose and finally does something corrigible. As I've not written about BSG much previously you won't be aware of my deep and unrepentant hatred of Roslin who's become increasingly more corrupt and whingy as time passed. But this season finally redeems her character somewhat.


The Packaging:
All of the BSG sets are packaged in a similar fashion except for the mini-series. Apart from the changes in colour to distinguish seasons they're well tied together. The artwork clearly highlights the religious theme of the show, both on the front cover (as seen above) and the uncomfortably sacrilegious 'last supper' photo shot on the back (pictured below).


These scenes serve to highlight the religious undertones the show holds with the followers of the "Greek" gods and the worshippers of the one god. This theme permate parts of the show and they're more present this season than ever before with "Ladies love Baltar: The Cult" making a heavy appearance.

The major issue with the boxed set is the material that the cardboard sleeve is constructed from, due to it's reflective foil nature it might look good but it picks up fingerprint smudges like it's an FBI file. Even with completely clean and dry hands you're still going to leave marks on the set. Irritating, but not a deal breaker.

The Start Up and Menus:
The start up for BSG is a quick and relatively painless affair for a DVD which has the FACT logo on the back, this is because the anti-Piracy movie is located after the episodes. It's the utterly hilarious "Pirates are out to get you" propaganda.



It's skippable, but so funny that it's worth watching at least once. I'm still waiting for some show to parody this one, but maybe it's already parodied itself.

I almost forgot to mention the menus because, well, they're rather forgetable. There's a loop which plays the same images from BSG on each menu, in short they're all exactly the same. I would have prefered something more interesting and engaging like the later Simpsons menus, or something simple and clean like the Living Planet ones. In the end they don't really offend, but they don't enspire either and as such they don't leave much of an impression.

The Extras:
There are a smattering of extras across the discs of the set. The first disc, which is the Razor disc, includes commentary, deleted scenes and minisodes. The final disc includes deleted scenes and a really short trailer/sneak peek for the final season.

The Details:
Aspect Ratio: 1.18.1 Anamorphic
Sound: 5.1 Surround
Regions: 2, 4 & 5 PAL
Rating: 15
Subtitles: English SDH
Runtime: 8 hours 38 mins

The Price:
HMV have it available for £24.99, but you might also want to check Zavvi - who have it priced in store at £27.99 but with 20% off due to their clear out sales. From HMV it works out at 4.8ppm, which is ok but not amazing.


Season four of Battlestar Galactica is a welcome return to the form of the first two seasons, it's well written, superbly acted and constantly entertains. The season paces well, gradually building up to a great season finale which will leave the viewer hooked in anticipation of the final season. It's all thriller, no filler.
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So the Golden Globes are over and I'm going to take a few moments just to look at who got what.

Best Television Series - Drama
Winner: Mad Men
Nominees: Dexter, House, In Treatment, True Blood

In all honesty Mad Men is the only deserving show out of the ones listed here. Dexter's latest season was highly inconsistent, House is currently in one of the worst storylines it's ever had ("The Thirteen Show"), I can't comment on In Treatment except to say I wasn't impressed when I tried it and True Blood is just not award winning material yet.

I am disappointed The Shield didn't even get a look in here, but the nominations were a while ago so I won't say anything again.

Best Performance by an Actress In A Television Series - Drama
Winner: Anna Paquin - True Blood
Nominees: Sally Field – Brothers & Sisters, Mariska Hargitay – Law & Order, January Jones – Mad Men, Kyra Sedgwick – The Closer

In all honesty this list just shows how weak the television has been this year. Janurary Jones is the best one of the lot, but the rest are really meh nominations and Anna Paquin's win? Seriously? Please someone explain to me how she's put in the best drama performance in this year. Go on.

Best Performance by an Actor In A Television Series - Drama
Winner: Gabriel Byrne – In Treatment
Nominees: Michael C. Hall – Dexter, Jon Hamm – Mad Men, Hugh Laurie – House, Jonathan Rhys Meyers – The Tudors

From this list I would have put either Jon Hamm or Michael C. Hall up there, Jon's performance in Mad Men is nothing short of spectacular while Michael C. Hall remains the most magnetic thing in Dexter with great ease. But both of them paled behind three other male actors who I won't mention here.

Best Television Series - Musical Or Comedy
Winner: 30 Rock
Nominees: Californication, Entourage, The Office, Weeds

No surprises here to be honest, but I really cannot understand why Entourage is on the list at all.

Best Performance by an Actress In A Television Series - Musical Or Comedy
Winner: Tina Fey – 30 Rock
Nominees: Christina Applegate – Samantha Who?, America Ferrera – Ugly Betty, Debra Messing – The Starter Wife, Mary-Louise Parker – Weeds

Best Performance by an Actor In A Television Series - Musical Or Comedy
Winner: Alec Baldwin – 30 Rock
Nominees: Steve Carell – The Office, Kevin Connolly – Entourage, David Duchovny – Californication, Tony Shalhoub – Monk

Again with these two I can't really complain (except for Entourage's continued presence) and I can't really be surprised either. The industry loves 30 Rock

Best Mini-Series Or Motion Picture Made for Television
Winner: John Adams
Nominees: A Raisin In The Sun, Bernard And Doris, Cranford, Recount

Best Performance by an Actress In A Mini-series or Motion Picture Made for Television
Winner: Laura Linney – John Adams
Nominees: Judi Dench – Cranford, Catherine Keener – An American Crime, Shirley MacLaine – Coco Chanel, Susan Sarandon – Bernard And Doris

Best Performance by an Actor in a Mini-Series or Motion Picture Made for Television
Winner: Paul Giamatti – John Adams
Nominees: Ralph Fiennes – Bernard And Doris, Kevin Spacey – Recount, Kiefer Sutherland – 24, Tom Wilkinson – Recount

Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role in a Series, Mini-Series or Motion Picture Made for Television
Winner: Laura Dern – Recount
Nominees: Eileen Atkins – Cranford, Melissa George – In Treatment, Rachel Griffiths – Brothers & Sisters, Dianne Wiest – In Treatment

Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role in a Series, Mini-Series or Motion Picture Made for Television
Winner: Tom Wilkinson – John Adams
Nominees: Neil Patrick Harris – How I Met Your Mother, Denis Leary – Recount, Jeremy Piven – Entourage, Blair Underwood – In Treatment

These five include a big sweep for John Adams and a single win for Recount. I expected Recount to do better, but if I'm honest I haven't watched John Adams so I can't really judge if it's a deserving winner. I'll have to get my hands on it some point. Yay for NPH!

The full list including movie awards is located here.
Direct Link

Starring:
Wendell Pierce (Det. William "Bunk" Moreland), Deirdre Lovejoy (Asst. States Attorney Rhonda Pearlman), Wood Harris (Avon Barksdale), John Doman (Maj. William A. Rawls), Lance Reddick (Lt. Cedric Daniels), Andre Royo (Bubbles), Idris Elba (Russell "Stringer" Bell), Frankie Faison (Deputy Comm. Ervin H. Burrell), Larry Gilliard Jr. (D'Angelo Barksdale), Dominic West (Det. James "Jimmy" McNulty) and Sonja Sohn (Det. Shakima "Kima" Greggs)

With:
Tony D. Head (Maj. Bobby Reed), Seth Gilliam (Det. Ellis Carver), Isiah Whitlock Jr (State Senator R. Clayton "Clay" Davis), Michael Salconi (Det. Michael Santangelo), J.D. Williams (Preston "Bodie" Broadus), Wendy Grantham (Shardene Innes), Corey Parker Robinson (Det. Leander Sydnor), Michael B. Jordan (Wallace), Jim True-Frost (Off. Roland "Prez" Pryzbylewski), Clarke Peters (Det. Lester Freamon), Domenick Lombardozzi (Det. Thomas R. "Herc" Hauk), Tray Chaney (Malik "Poot" Carr), Michael Kostroff (Maurice "Maury" Levy), Michael Hyatt (Brianna Barksdale), LaTonya Borsay (Orlando's Dancer), Giselle Watts (Darcia Wallace), Joe Gerrety (State Trooper), Justin Hinnant (Neighborhood Kid), Doug Roberts (State's Attorney Steven Demper), Jarvis George (Ronnie Mo), Ingrid Cornell (Nakeesha Lyles) and Marcis Turner (Police Officer)

After the Barksdale's supply gets confiscated in another bust, Stringer gives more new rules to the crew. Avon and Stringer meet with Levy to discuss the next steps, which include the elimination of any and all persons that can connect Barksdale to the drugs. Wallace goes back to the pit and asks to be let back in but Stringer has another plan for Wallace. Stringer then asks Bodie to take Wallace's old job.

Read about development, cleaning house and the paper trail beyond the link...

The Recap:

Daniels walks out of the hospital ward and meets with McNulty, he tells McNulty to pay his respect to Kima and then get his head back in the game. McNulty confesses he’s lost enthusiasm with the job and goes on to admit the entire thing was just an exercise in “show(ing) everyone how smart I was and how f**ked up the department was”. This entire thing, the trigger for it was entirely McNulty and he’s finally willing to admit this egotism out loud. Daniels responds in the same direct manner he always uses, he tells McNulty he already knew this and he doesn’t care. The results will happen no matter what caused it. McNulty is willing to give up on this entire case now but in a role reversal it’s now Daniels who’s determined to push the case no matter what. They’ve changed positions and the only thing which has changed is Kima’s situation, McNulty feels guilty because it was his selfish instincts which eventually lead to the shooting. Daniels on the other hand is no longer reluctant about this case and wants to see it to the bitter end.

Cue credits…

Dee and Bodie are talking about their situation, the stash is low and they’re missing a re-up. Stringer arrives and confiscates their pagers, Poot complains and Stringer tells him to clear off. He then hands over cell phones to Bodie and Dee and explains that they’re not to use the mobiles for anything other than arranging a meet. They’re given three numbers to call for the various situations. The Barksdales are switching everything up in response to the hit on their main stash. Before leaving Dee asks for a re-up and Stringer tells him there isn’t going to be one before leaving.

In the basement Freamon is sorting out Shardene with some contacts so she can see clearly when McNulty arrives and notices no-ones watching the pager clones. Freamon joins him and confirms his suspicions; the Barksdales are cutting out all their potential leaks and the Detail has even lost Prez who’s been assigned elsewhere now.
He then introduces McNulty to Shardene and explains how she’s been helping out. Shardene is scared about this but Freamon sooths her, Sydnor offers to get her a cup of coffee but Freamon heads him off at the pass by doing it himself. You have to admire the man’s moves.

Avon is talking with Levy and Stringer about his situation, he’s angry about what’s happened but Levy explains that he needs to cut out the dead wood and clean up anything which might hurt him further. As I said in an earlier episode review when he hit Dee around the head after the lad almost cracked in the interview room, Levy is more heavily involved in this entire thing than surface appearances would seem. While he might not directly get his hands dirty, the Barksdales wouldn’t have operated so cleanly and quietly for as long as they did (until McNulty got a snifter of them) without the Po-lice finding out about them. Stringer and Avon might be smart but Levy is a past master of this game as he reveals throughout this entire scene.

He tells them to walk away from the club, Stringer then (correctly) assumes that this all started when Dee’s court trial over the initial shooting occurred and they talk about Nakeisha Lyles. Levy makes it clear that she needs to “disappear” and leaves. Stringer talk about their men, Bird is already in, Wee-Bey is unbreakable and Savinio is just taking three years, which is nothing for a man like that. Orlando is dead, likewise Little Man.

In Burrell’s office Daniels wants to push for the full ninety days, but Burrell is determined to scale back the operation. He allows Daniels to keep Freamon and Prez, taking back Sydnor and Santangelo; then he tells him that every move has to be briefed. He then goes on to let Daniels know there’s a potential promotion space for him coming up.

Ronnie is meets with Patrick and States Attorney Demper and about the Barksdale case. It seems that people have noticed about the following of the money trail and they are not happy. While the information is in public reports and Ronnie was not aware she is still handed some returned cheques in order to avoid any problems. Ronnie attempts to deflect the blame away from her and she’s told to make sure he’s kept in the clear from any investigations. It’s pretty clear he’s been taking contributions from less than reputable sources and turning a blind eye but he’s now covering his arse from any potential fallout.

Dee is called into Orlando’s office to meet with Stringer and Avon about Wallace. Wallace is the lad who called in Brandon to Dee and stayed look out while the snatch happened. Dee tells them they don’t have to worry because Wallace has left and even if he hadn’t he would be solid. Dee knows nothing good can happen to Wallace if Stringer and Avon get to him, he asks them to leave him be and then leaves the office. Shardene watches as he walks out.

It turns out she’s fiddling with her wire and Freamon is listening at the other end while Sydnor and Herc talk about hot dogs. They’re causing no end of disruption to Freamon’s concentration and he lets them know it clearly.

Back outside the office some more members of the Barksdales have arrived and are mouthing off a little. Avon tells them to clam up and get inside the office.

Meanwhile two uniformed officers have found a body, it’s Nakeisha – she’s been silenced forever.

Shardene leaves the dressing room and Freamon notes that it’s going to be hard to get anything useful because no-one talks about anything major outside of the office and Shardene can’t go in there easily. Shardene arrives as the van a little freaked out, Freamon soothes her again and lets her know she won’t have to wear a wire anymore. She just needs to do one more thing.

The following day in the Pit Wallace has returned. Bodie and Poot are pretty pleased to see them back while Dee is more concerned. Wallace wants to get back in the game, but Bodie tells him he has to start back as lookout. Dee disagrees and tells them both Wallace is back on the money if he wants it. The lads joke a little more and head off, happy.

In the basement, McNulty, Freamon and Daniels are being told about Nakeisha by Bunk. They immediately understand that Avon’s pulling a major bout of house cleaning. Bunk immediately asks about Wallace and Daniels panics, he phones to find out about Wallace, asking the local police to check if Wallace is still there. Daniels also asks about Shardene, asking for protection for her. Freamon is just so slick here, immediately mentioning that he’d have no problem offering her a place around his. Daniels reminds him of his duty and Freamon indicates he understands.

Dee is explaining the situation to Wallace. Wallace wants to come back full time and Dee lays it straight up for him, telling him he needs to keep quiet and play it straight. Dee’s mother arrives with some food for him and after thanking her he returns to Wallace.

Daniels arrives in a meeting room and is greeted with the faces of Burrell and Senator Clay Davies. Clay wanted to have a face to face meeting with Daniels in order to cover his backside. As you can see all of the Baltimore politicians are closing up various sphincters in an attempt to distance themselves from any dirty money. Clay in particular needs to do this because it was one of his aides who was picked up earlier with money direct from the towers. The conversation naturally takes a turn towards Damien Price; Clay claims that Damien had the money before he even went to the towers. Daniels already understands what’s happening here, he’s being snowballed by the two men. He’s unwilling to completely bend towards them, but Burrell and Clay want him to completely shut it down. Clay goes as far as admitting he takes dirty money as he can and at this Daniels leaves. Clay then moves on to tell Burrell he needs to make Daniels see reason.

In the basement Herc is celebrating his pass at the sergeant’s exam and he can’t wait to rub Carver’s face in it (Carver is away for training at the moment). Daniels congratulates him while Freamon muses on this promotion. The phone rings and Daniels is informed that Wallace has been missing from his grandmother’s for two days.

Bodie is down at the towers asking about the chance of a re-up. There’s nothing going on, he sees Stringer pull up and heads over to talk to him. After getting in the car they talk a little about Wallace. Bodie explains Wallace isn’t really cut out for the game, but he is. Stringer asks him if he’s ready to step up and use a gun.

McNulty and Daniels head in with some uniforms into the vacant house Wallace used to use. There’s no sign of life there because Wallace is heading up to a different place where he’s moved with the kids he and Poot look after. They’re having Chinese.

In the Basement the Detail talk about their difficulties locating Wallace, he then tells Santangelo that he’s free to return. McNulty warns him to watch out for Rawls, Santangelo shrugs and asks, what’s the worst he can do? Santangelo provided the clearances he was asked for. He did his job.

After he leaves they talk about switching things up where Orlando’s is concerned, they have access to the building adjacent and plan to put in some fibre optics similar to the ones used by the FBI earlier in the season (remember the scene with the four guys cutting powder around a table on CCTV?) Freamon then asks Herc to get some string and a ruler.

Poot and Bodie are speculating about why Wallace returned, they’re also talking in a vague manner about Stringer’s talk with Bodie.

Ronnie then meets with Daniels to talk about the returned cheques, she also wants to know what they’re doing which has her boss so worried. She wants to know why they didn’t say anything and then leaves. On the way out she passes Shardene who’s pacing about with a piece of string tied around her ankles.

Bodie and Poot meet with Wallace and talk in the diner with him a little. The three of them finish up and head out to have some fun.

Shardene returns from the club to the van later this evening. She provides the distance walked around inside the club so they have exact measurements, the building next door is vacant on the third floor as well, this means they don’t even need a warrant for what they’re planning next.

Wallace, Bodie and Poot arrive in a taxi, refusing to pay as they leave.

Inside the vacant next door to Orlando’s Herc is drilling a hole in the wall for the fibre optics while Freamon and Daniels watch. McNulty arrives with an address for Wallace’s mother and Daniels leaves with him.

Inside the building Wallace is using as a home now he arrives calling out to ask about the kids, they’re not around. It’s just Bodie, Poot and Wallace here, Bodie and Poot exchange glances while heading up the stairs. Wallace continues to search for everyone, heading into the bedroom and picking up a player. As he picks it up and turns around Bodie pulls out his gun and cocks it. Bodie tells him he should have stayed away, Wallace begs. Bodie initially can’t pull the trigger on Wallace, but Poot shouts at him and he fires a round into the boy before taking the gun off him and finishing the job with another two rounds. They then leave.

Daniels and McNulty arrive outside his mother’s and enquire about his whereabouts, Wallace’s mother is a clear user. They hand a card over to her and leave.

Avon and his boys arrive the following morning in Orlando’s, this time they’re being watched by the Detail. Who are forced to sit there while Avon takes everything out and packs up.

Poot gets his girl to call on the payphone and tell the emergency services that there’s a hurt animal in the house where Wallace is.

Avon meets with Dee in the office and talks with him about the situation. Dee is going to be making a pick up for some drugs, but this time the BPD know all about it.

Bunk arrives at the scene of the reported hurt animal and finds Wallace’s body.

While Sydnor sets up a tracking device onto the car Dee will be using Daniels receives a call about Wallace. It only takes a single word from McNulty and they both know the situation.

Next door to Orlando’s Prez finishes eating and dumps the rubbish along with a newspaper into the bin by Freamon, he notices the headline and a major piece of the puzzle falls into place. There’s a huge planned redevelopment scheme that’s going to be occurring around the properties Avon’s been buying up. He stood to make millions in legitimate cash from it.

Daniels and McNulty talk about Wallace while they wait for Dee to head out. Dee arrives and starts up the car.

A short while later Dee is pulled over by a pair of uniforms, they want to know why he was in New York for less than half an hour. As they search him Daniels and McNulty arrive, you can see from the look in his eyes that he realises the situation he’s now in.

And sure enough he’s back in the interview room, he immediately asks for a lawyer. Dee’s considerably tougher than he was the previous time he was here. They let him know exactly where he is, and what situation he is in. Dee refuses to talk until Levy arrives. As McNulty and Daniels leave they drop a bombshell on him, letting him know in an almost off-hand manner about Wallace’s shooting. Dee doesn’t believe them.

Dee’s mother Brianna is less than please with what’s happened to him and she’s letting Avon know. Avon tells her that if she wants to keep what she loves, Dee’s going to have to stand tall and take the hit. Brianna changes her tact at this and tells Avon will have nothing to worry about. She might care about Dee, but not enough to give up her life and luxuries as they stand.

Dee is talking with Levy and Stringer about his arrest. He wants to know who’s going to take the weight of the hit and more importantly he wants to know where’s Wallace. He pushes repeatedly only to get no response. He tells them to leave at this, knowing that clearly now McNulty wasn’t lying, Wallace is dead.

Daniels meanwhile is meeting with Burrell, Burrell is unhappy about the bug being planted in Avon’s office. This is one of the few things he’s been unaware of, so that should be enough information to work out just who the leak in the Detail is. Daniels tries to push and see what he can get, but Burrell wants this shut down. He’d be happy with just the shooters, but Burrell isn’t going to cooperate now the Detail has gone after the money trail. Burrell throws some FBI field reports onto the table and reveals that he knows about the money Daniels came into and he is willing to do him. Daniels stands up to him and calls him on this, he tells him that he isn’t afraid of this, there are plenty of other dirty stories out there and he’ll keep doing his job until the time on the wiretap is up.

A strike team is sent into Orlando’s while Avon and Stringer watch on the CCTV. They failed to get the safe out in time. Avon has Stringer open up the safe in order to avoid the police blowing it open and ruining it.

Outside, McNulty and Daniels are watching the SWAT move into position. They get fed up of waiting and decide to both go in together. They stroll past the SWAT Officer and tell them there’s no need to come in, after knocking they’re let in by the bouncer. Upstairs they meet with Avon and Stringer, McNulty searches through the desk and then checks the now open safe, removing the money while Daniels cuff’s Avon. They don’t pick up Stringer and McNulty tells String “Catch you later” before exiting the office. On the stairs out he hesitates for a moment before leaving the building.

In the basement Freamon connects the final pieces of the puzzle on the board for Prez, Sydnor and himself to look at. Sydnor tells them they have Avon, but no Little Man or Wee-Bey. Sydnor talks about how this is the best case he ever did, but it’s not enough, it feels unfinished. Prez stares at the board before walking out of shot.

In the Pit, the orange couch sits empty…

The Review:

It’s no spoiler to say that The Wire’s first season pay off comes in this episode. This episode is filled with some major events. The most dramatic of which are of course around poor Wallace, if the boy hadn't returned then he'd be still alive at this point. But instead he's been shot, which is a major hit for not just the investigation but for D'Angelo personally. It's hard to say which of the two scenes is stronger, the one where Wallace is killed or the later one where Dee repeatedly shouts "Where's Wallace?" Two words that would sound almost funny in any other context (Where's Waldo/Wally?) are here reduced to their components and made to speak volumes.

So much has brought us up to this point and it seems incredible that there's an episode left. There are such heavy punches pulled throughout this episode that even now, on my third or fourth watching of the episode I'm still left somewhat dumb struck by it and everything that's been building towards this. I genuinely feel sorry for Wallace and Dee, they've both been left out with their arses hanging in the wind by the rest of the Barksdales. The very organisation they trusted betrays them both from the inside one way or another.

The entire episode is epochal, it reveals just how sophisticated a game Avon, Levy and Stringer were playing with the property purchases and political donations. It also shows that the corruption from the streets runs anywhere and everywhere, it even runs all the way up to the senator and as a consequence runs down into the police department itself in the form of influence and political power.

While the Detail have Avon and Dee, they don't have Wee-Bey or Stringer. At this point I'd also like to note just how well done Avon's arrest scene is done. We're given the stereotypical SWAT team line up ready to burst in and kick ass, but the entire thing is thrown aside. There's no big action based confrontation, instead Daniels and McNulty knock on the door, walk in and arrest Avon without any violence or resistance. How many other shows would be able to resist such a moment, abandoning the big explosive pay off for a quieter one that's ultimately far more satisfying in it's nature?

That's the beauty of The Wire, it doesn't give you many of these big exciting moments, it doesn't give you one dimensional villains who are EVIL. It presents you with people, both good and bad, flawed insitutions and half finished cases. Much like real life, there isn't always a solid resolution to a situation , everything isn't always wrapped up in a nice pink bow and parcelled out to the viewer as a 'happy ending'. Just as Sydnor said "it feels unfinished".

Next week will be the final episode of this season, see you then.

Direct Link

The Week That Was returns to it's usual spot at 'Sometime on a Saturday'.

This week is pretty sparse, shows are just starting to return to normality after the Christmas break, so it's going to be pretty light this week.

Scrubs:
There were two episodes of Scrubs this week and it's clear that in both of them that the dedicated decision to scale back the wacky and return to the tone of the first few seasons has been followed. The first episode introduced Courtney Cox as Kelso's replacement and a whole batch of new interns. Cox is very good, but the new interns are all best described as the Rude One, the Annoying One, the Brown Noser and The Rest. I'm not fussed on them.

The second episode guest starred The Wire's Glynn Turman as George (at least I think that was his name) a dying man who's kept company by JD and Turk. It was the better of the two episodes, both for the comedy moments and the more thoughtful ones. Glynn gave the entire thing a real sense of gravitas and dignity, it's been a while since the show has had such a strong actor playing a one-off patient. I have a good feeling about this season of Scrubs, but I do hope it's the last one if Zach is leaving.

My Name is Earl:
Sometimes I find myself wondering why I keep watching 'My Name is Earl' and for some of the latest episode this was one of those times. I guess I'm not the worlds biggest fan of forumlaic shows and My Name is Earl is pretty much the pinnacle of forumlaic alongside House M.D. and CSI. But then I got swept up in the story of Earl's attempt to get a young lad he was responsable for causing the pregnancy of (there must be a better way to write that) to fly straight and grow up. It was fun and the B story of Mr Turtle being lost was entertaining as well.

I just wish that Earl would resist going back to the start every single episode, this is a show that's meant to be about someone growing and making amends for what they've done, but it doesn't seem to go anywhere and the characters don't grow much either. Maybe I'm just expecting too much from this, I've already seen three and a half seasons so I shouldn't be surprised anymore...

30 Rock:
Also returning this week is the businesses favourite comedy 30 Rock. Salma Hayek joins the cast as Eliza, a nurse Jack has hired to look after his mother. Liz on the other hand meets a UN Member (name forgotten and not present on the imdb) played by Peter Dinklage when she mistakes him for a little boy. The show is filled with some excellent comedy, overall a little weak plotwise but there were so many funny moments I didn't really care. 30 Rock continues to be a little up and down with it's quality, but when it's on it's so good that it more than makes up for the lulls.

The Guild:
Rounding up this comedy edition of TWTW is the Web based show 'The Guild', I've written a little about it in the past and I've enjoyed it enough that I wanted to find a way to support it each week. As each episode is just less than ten minutes in length it's hard to write a full review on each episode. So I'm just going to give it a slot in TWTW each week instead.

We're up to episode six at this point and I have to say this second season is a lot sharper and funnier than the first season. Paring up Vork and Zaboo together has been nothing but comedy gold, Zaboo is inappropriately homo-erotic towards Vork constantly and the dysfunction between them constantly has me laughing. Add to this Clara's repeated griefing of Vork, her sleep deprived delusions and the awkward attempts by Codex to get to know her stunt man/martial artist/all round awesome neighbour after she puked on him and it's amazing to think these episodes are so short. They're packed with as much action as an episode of Treehouse of Horror or Harvey Birdman.

You can watch the full episodes for free on msn or via Xbox Live.

Other News:
In other news my copy of BSG Season 2 arrived damaged, I thought about complaining but it turned out I would have to return the product and then wait for a new one, costing me both time and money. I decided to use an iron, glue and good old skill to repair it instead. You'd never know it was broken now.

I also purchased season four of Battlestar Galactica as well because I honestly haven't watched Razor or the fourth season yet -- That's for next week. Amusingly this means that part of my collection looks like this now:


Yes, that's right. I don't own the third season, I just have a gap instead. (I'm also missing the final season of The A-Team still, I keep meaning to get it and then putting it off.) For the curious who don't recognise everything up there on sight, if you click the picture there's an 800 x 600 version. (For the doubly curious, the dragon doesn't have a name, but I like to celebrate my nationality! Call him Welshie after the Futurama character.)

I'm also waiting on deliveries of RescuMe's second season and the first two series of Wire in the Blood. I'll probably write about them at some point. RescuMe in particular has really grown me, despite the fact that I can't write it's name correctly and have given up trying.
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I caught up with the first season of Damages over Christmas after Dan's review brought it to my attention, the short version of my thought could be summed up as 'I really, really enjoyed it'. The longer version will be left for a later review of the rather excellent DVD set.

The first episode of the second season Premiered on Wednesday, unfortunately due to other commitments I'm not able to find the time to watch it until Friday. So this is when my Damages review will be out each week. Before we push into the episode itself I'd just like to mention that I've found myself being followed on Twitter by both Patty and Ellen, which is rather intimidating, but I'll try not to let the fear cloud my judgement.

To avoid major spoilers for those who've not watched the first season or this episode everything else will be kept behind the break.

Read about beards, guns and revenge beyond the link...

The end of the first season handed us the revelation that Patty had arranged an attempt on Ellen's life but failed, Ellen had realised this and was now working with the FBI to bring down Patty from the inside. Arthur was shot out on his land by Larry and Art's attorney Ray Fiske killed himself in Patty's office.

Naturally the second season picks up from this and moves the story forward; at the start of the season Ellen has agreed to work with the FBI by staying on at Hewes & Associates while Patty has decided to take a break from law in order to concentrate on some charitable work.

Now I have to get my one gripe out of the way before we move on. I was secretly hoping that the twin storyline past/present format of the first season was going to be a one off thing and then we'd move into a more present based storyline for the later seasons. Damages is sticking with the split time lines, that's fine, it's not what I wanted to see but I can accept that this is the medium they're using to tell the story with. This is the only time I'm going to complain about it, I'm moving on.

The episode opens with the teaser of a rather femme fatal looking Ellen talking directly to an off camera person. She chats a little to this person and then reveals a gun. The dialog seems to indicate that this person has told a lot of lies and seems to suggest it might be Patty, which of course I don't buy for a second. Unless Damages is going for a two season story (which feels unlikely, the show genuinely feels like it'll finish on an odd numbered season) it's not going to be Patty at the end. Still, I'm intrigued enough already and it's a good hook.

We push onto the past storyline, which is the one we'll spend most episodes following. As I mentioned above, Patty is now looking to start a charitable foundation while Ellen is working with the FBI to expose the truth about Patty. Glenn Close really gives a great performance in this show, my previous experience with Glenn's work is from the fourth season of The Shield, where she's very warm and human. But in Damages time and time again she manages to look completely dead behind her eyes, it's a fantastic performance.

Rose Bryne is also excellent as Ellen, she's already turned her character away from a quiet confused victim type into someone who's developed an edge and a taste for revenge. I did appreciate her not doing anything with Frobisher when she had the chance, it's better for her to not sink to murder. But this act of mercy or forgiveness was hard to accept in full because by the end of the episode we already know she gets herself a gun and starts monologuing at someone before shooting them.

The other big -- well I can't call it a surprise because it was talked about before the show returned -- moment is of course Arthur Frobisher's survival after being shot by Larry. Even when he was shot I wondered if they planned to keep him in the show because the shot was low and in an often non-fatal area. True enough Ted Danson does return, he spends the first episode stuck in bed after multiple surgeries. I can't help but wonder where they're going to go with Frobisher now, are we getting a montage of his gradual recovery? Will 'Eye of the Tiger' play as he learns to walk again?

Joking aside Danson is an exceptional actor and I'm happy he's remaining in some form, even if I'm not sure what he's there for right now. Same applies to Zeljko's guilt 'haunting' of Patty, it's very much in the frame of Six Feet Under and Rescue Me (...still typoing that as Rescume...) but it also fits in with the slightly dream driven nature of the show as well. The first season had quite a few dream sequences and I've liked Zeljko since I started watching Homicide.

In all I found it a gripping and exciting premiere, I'm interested to see where it leads. We have William Hunt's character Daniel and his work related problems leading to tragedy, we've got the superb Timothy Olyphant as Wes. Will he be a red herring, is he the man set to keep an eye on Ellen or is it something else? At this point I don't know where things will go and I'm very interested to find out.

Short Thoughts:
• Ted Danson looks great with a beard, when is he going to do a Santa Claus type movie?

• I enjoyed the little hint at the end of the episode which suggested that Patty set Lily up in order to bring Arsenault back to support her charity. Not only did she stitch up the daughter of a friend without a second thought but she also milked him for more cash and got the name order on the charity flipped from Arsenault/Hewes to Hewes/Arsenault.

• Speaking of which, Arsenault? Oh boy that's going to keep me laughing for ages. I have no idea if it's intentional or not but here in the Queen's Isle that name is pretty hilarious.

• I wonder if Glenn took something away from her time spent with Michael Chiklis on The Shield, because she can really pull a full "Vic" when she wants to.

• Clarke Peters is apparently in episodes ahead. Chalk Damages up as another show who's taken on one of The Wire's allumni. I adore Clarke Peters as cool cat Lester Freamon, he's one of my favourite characters.

• I still love the opening sequence and title track, it's fast becoming one of my favourite opening sequences alongside Mad Men, Dexter and The Wire (season 1 and 5 ftr).

• I'll probably get more detailed in these reviews as time passes with this show, I always struggle to get the names of characters early on in a series. Especially newer ones introduced in with an existing cast, so if things seem a little light on detail here it's because I'm still trying to get a position on everything and organise who's who in my head.

• For an additional take from yours truly check here at Crimespree Cinema.

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As I settle into my new pattern of work and reviewing over this year I'm going to be putting out the DVD review on Wednesdays, leaving Friday for Damages, Sunday for the Wire and Monday plus whenever else for other stuff. The Week That Was will also make a return on Fridays, but it's likely to be lighter in content for a while because I'm honestly not watching that many shows right now. TV is a little... sparse.

This week I'm going to review the latest Simpsons DVD set. I'm unlikely to go back and review the previous seasons because there's little difference between each season. Only the packaging and menus really change, everything else is as formulaic as it ever is.



Starring:
Dan Castellaneta as Homer Simpson
Julie Kavner as Marge Simpson
Nancy Cartwright as Bart Simpson
Yeardley Smith as Lisa Simpson
Harry Shearer as Mr Burns & Various
Hank Azaria as Moe & Various

(Seriously these guys do so many characters each I can't be bothered to list them all, follow the links instead you lazy so and so. Stop expecting me to do all the work!)



I'm not really sure I need to go into much detail about The Simpsons, everyone who's watched TV will most like have watched an episode or two of this and the show doesn't seem likely to stop running until Dan Castellaneta passes away or a terrible tradgedy wipes out the entire cast. We already know the drill, Homer's stupid, Marge is repressed, Lisa is a genius, Bart is a troublemaker and Maggie is cute.

The Eleventh season contains some major events for the show, including a new family for one character and the loss of a loved one for another. The Simpsons lives in this strange state of twilight where people don't age but children can be conceived and born. You've almost certainly seen many of these episodes which were originally aired between September 1999 and May 2000, this is also the season where David X. Cohen and Matt Groening left to focus on (...the greatly superior as far as I'm concerned...) Futurama. But the show is still in it's best period during this season, it doesn't begin to lose it's lustre for a few years yet.

Heck, if you want to know what happens in this season, here's the wikipedia episode list. I'm not sure I have much more to say about The Simpsons which hasn't been said before. But I'm not writing this to talk about the show, onto the DVD set!


The Packaging:
Here's the reason I decided to write about this set. Now the DVD releases of The Simpsons have always included some seriously dubious decisions over the years, the "special edition" utterly useless head shaped DVD sets are one of the more ludicrous ideas that have been used (and are still used to this day). I'm not going to comment heavily on them except to say I always avoid purchasing the special edition version because it's a seriously awful idea. You could offer me one at half the price and I'd still take the non-special version. They don't fit on any kind of DVD shelf at all, they don't stack, they break easily. Ugh, they're utterly useless.

But even the normal editions haven't avoided some of the clearly drug induced decisions that have occurred over the packaging. Every single season includes this thin, flimsy back cover sheet that is sort of hooked over the back of the box. Now it wouldn't be so much of an issue if this was some disposable advert or a duplicate of the back cover on the box. But it isn't, it's actually the full details of the box contents, episode list, special features, details. All of it is on this easily lost and torn piece of paper. On what planet is that actually a good idea? Needless to say the eleventh season continues this particularly wretched piece of clown-****ery and I'm sure the rest of them will as well. I expect it's some big joke on the part of the Simpson DVD department.

But, if that wasn't enough the Eleventh season has even managed to take another cunning step into the world of ass-hatted packaging production. All previous seasons have used a combination of plastic and cardboard to create attractive looking fold out sheets which protect the discs well. Obviously someone looked at this and asked "Can we do this smaller, with less costs and cut out the packaging", then after months of meetings someone else brought in an envelop with a DVD in it and said "How about this?" Lo the season eleven box DVD holder was born.

It's a cardboard strip with admittedly attractive and fun scenes depicting a carnival. There's lots to look at and quite a few jokes. But it's not the appearance that's the problem. It's the system used to store the DVDs, it's based from those cheap newspaper cardboard envelopes. Now this does mean that season eleven takes up half the space any other season does on the shelf. Some props there, but when you're trying to actually take the DVDs out of their snug little cardboard holders all hell breaks loose. It's like a little puzzle designed to make you not want to watch the show.

Worst. Packaging. Ever.

The Menus and Start Up:
In contrast to the terrible packaging the start up and menu options for this set are very trouble free. Even Fox's usual strategy of jamming anti-piracy propaganda down the throats of people who've bought legitimate copies seems to be toned down here.

The menus for each disc are likewise attractive, for many sets the menu creators struggled to get the right set up for The Simpsons. The first season was boring and useless, the second season was gimmicky and irritating, but the third and fourth seasons were nice looking and funny. The eleventh season menus are great, they're filled with gags. There's a set which run once when you open the menu and then a well designed loop of short gags which is completely seamless. As such you could leave the menu on for a fair while and not figure out exactly where it loops.

The Extras:
There are a lot of extras on the discs for you to watch, every episode has commentary (which is often mocked by the Futurama commentary for good reason) and there's more besides.

The full list is as follows:
Special Introduction from Matt Groening
Commentaries on every episode
A Star on Hollywood Boulevard Featurette
The Many Faces of Krusty Featurette
Deleted Scenes with Commentary
Multi-Angle Animation Showcase
Original Sketches
Special Language Feature

There's an extended disc by disc breakdown over here.

The Details:
Aspect Ratio: 4:3
Runtime: 469 mins
Region 2
Rating: 12
Sound: 5.1
Subtitles: Danish, Finnish, Icelandic, Norwegian, Swedish, English HoH.

The Price:
Sendit have it for £29.89 right now, that's 6.4ppm. Not brilliant, not awful. If you're willing (or want) the special edition version you can have it for a pound less.


A must have for fans of The Simpsons or people who purchase the DVD sets so they don't end up watching it on the TV whenever it's on (like myself). The Eleventh Season is a great season wrapped in a really poor package. It's like getting an intelligent and beautiful woman inside a dog crap cake.
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The previous post in Filling the void dealt with the two shows I felt had the most depth and realism to genuinely fill the gap left by the passing of "the two best shows to ever air on television ever".

Today I'm going to be offering a slightly lighter pair. One of which is well established, but I don't hear too much about these days and the other I've honestly had a sort of on again off again relationship with - but I'm definately 'on' with it these days.

Rescue Me:
(Currently 4 seasons have aired, the fifth is due in March 2009 and will be 22 Episodes long)

Rescue Me (Which I keep typoing as Rescume) first aired on FX in 2004, it's been on my radar for quite a while - it stars Denis Leary as Tommy Gavin a New York firefighter still haunted with the repercussions of 9/11 where he lost his best friend and cousin Jimmy Keefe. Tommy is a somewhat haunted character, both figuratively and literally. In a Six Feet Under style twist he often has conversations with the now deceased Jimmy and sometimes even the phantoms of other desceased people.

It's hard to truely suggest that Rescue Me will give you the same level of satisfaction as watching The Shield and The Wire does, but I can honestly say that it's about as entertaining as Weeds, Burn Notice and Six Feet Under, it seems to operate in around that level of depth. Semi-realistic characters, slightly unrealistic situations and a large dollop of somewhat black humour. Kind of semi-light entertainment with an edge.

Now I've only seen the first season so far, but I very much enjoyed watching it and I fully intend to pick up the other three seasons on DVD with the plan of being up to speed by the time the fifth season airs. It's pretty enjoyable overall and will pass the time decently enough while you're waiting for the next dickensian masterpiece to arrive on our small screens.

Plus it has Callie Thorne in it!

Life:
(Second season currently halfway through)

Now Life is something I really have had a somewhat tumulous relationship with, I loved the first season and was very disappointed that the writer's strike cut it short. But the last few episodes of that season were just so amazing I couldn't wait for it to come back.

Then season two arrived and the show was all over the place, Damien Lewis was just as fantastic as always - but one man does not make a show alone. The plots were exceptionally stand alone and apart from the occasionally brilliant macabre image or sharp joke many of them fell flat. A couple of the episodes were so annoying that I just couldn't stand to watch them (especially the one with the rich kid and the motorbike, I hated that one). So I shelved the show and decided to not try watching it until both Dexter and The Shield had finished.

After putting a little distance between myself and the start of the season I then sat down to marathon watch the back six or seven episodes that ran up to the Christmas break. I don't know if the time away helped, but the show had certainly returned to form. The characters were clicking better the plots were interesting and there was a large amount of the very interesting conspiracy moments. The show just began to work and Damien wasn't the only horse carrying the cart anymore.

By the time the mid season mini-finale aired the show had returned to the same level of quality it held this time last year. Life has managed to be fast, fun, clever and witty before now but once Trapdoor arrived everything hit another level beyond anything the show had previously demonstrated. I'm really looking forward to Life returning and I've already forgiven it for it's rocky start this season.

You can also read my Why You Should Watch... feature on the show for an earlier take on things and some additional information about the cast and so forth.

More potentially filling shows soon!
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Starring:
Wendell Pierce (Det. William "Bunk" Moreland), Deirdre Lovejoy (Asst. States Attorney Rhonda Pearlman), Wood Harris (Avon Barksdale), John Doman (Maj. William A. Rawls), Lance Reddick (Lt. Cedric Daniels), Andre Royo (Bubbles), Idris Elba (Russell "Stringer" Bell), Frankie Faison (Deputy Comm. Ervin H. Burrell), Larry Gilliard Jr. (D'Angelo Barksdale), Dominic West (Det. James "Jimmy" McNulty) and Sonja Sohn (Det. Shakima "Kima" Greggs)

With:
Clayton LeBouef (Wendell "Orlando" Blocker), Peter Gerety (Judge Daniel Phelan), Seth Gilliam (Det. Ellis Carver), Domenick Lombardozzi (Off. Thomas R. "Herc" Hauk), Clarke Peters (Det. Lester Freamon), Brian Anthony Wilson (Det. Vernon Holley), Edward T. Norris (Det. Ed Norris), Robert F. Colesberry (Det. Ray Cole), Tray Chaney (Malik "Poot" Carr), Richard DeAngelis (Maj. Ray Foerster), Michael Kostroff (Maurice "Maury" Levy), Tony D. Head (Maj. Bobby Reed), Jim True-Frost (Off. Roland "Prez" Pryzbylewski), Hassan Johnson (Roland "Wee-Bey" Brice), Corey Parker Robinson (Det. Leander Sydnor), Michael Salconi (Det. Michael Santangelo), Melanie Nicholls-King (Cheryl), Delaney Williams (Sgt. Jay Landsman), Michael B. Jordan (Wallace), Julian Salazar (Antonio), Micaiah Jones (Wintell "Little Man" Royce), Dick Stilwell (Poilce Comm. Warren Frazier), Katana Lazet Hall (Savino's Mother), Christopher Glenn Wilson (DEA Agent), Susan Rome (Asst. State's Attorney Ilene Nathan), James E. Ash (Uniform Officer), Christopher J. Clanton (Savino) and Curtis Montez (Sterling)

While Greggs’ life hangs in a delicate balance, the officers deal with the shock in different ways. Herc, Carver and Sydnor get back on the case after Freamon puts the incident into perspective. After seeing McNulty close to the breaking point, Rawls instructs McNulty not to have any guilt over Greggs’ shooting because he’s not ultimately responsible. Daniels is ordered by the Deputy Commissioner to raid all the locations to appease the Commissioner’s desire for “dope on the table.”

Read about publicity spins, signposts and feeding the fishes beyond the link…

The Recap:

So, the previous episode in the series ended on possibly the biggest moment we’ve seen so far, even bigger than Omar's attempt on Avon. This is as close to a traditional style cop show The Wire has been in the season, plenty of cars racing about, a helicopter being called in and an undercover cop being shot. But it’s all be dealt with in a really low key manner, the scene was kept confusing and fast so at the time it was hard to process the impact until that final aerial shot from the helicopter. Really I think that this episode is best watched either immediately after ‘The Cost’ or in a block with the final two episodes following straight one after another.

On with the show!

We return to the scene of Kima’s shooting at the start of this episode, the place is a hive of activity and confusion. Landsman is approached by Rawls who wants to know the primaries for this shooting. It’s Cole and Norris, Rawls asks Landsman what he needs and Landsman admits he needs less people around. The place is becoming a complete mess, caused by too many people trying to help in an undirected manner. There’s a good chance evidence could be damaged or lost in this melee. Rawls takes command of the situation, making it clear that anyone without an allotted task is to leave and then gets Landsman to slow everything down to a crawl. Being careful and methodical with a scene like this is the safest way to ensure a proper investigation.

They walk over to the car and look inside, Bunk is retrieving Kima’s gun from its taped position under the seat. It had been wedged at the back of the seat, while it was taped to the front the poor seating resulted in a loss of contact for the tape and the gun ended up sliding out of reach. Landsman brings Rawls up to speed on her support, revealing that everyone lost her and it was the helicopter which finally located her.

Herc arrives at the scene, having been out of action for the sting while Rawls inspects the street signs and notices that they were turned about (as Kima suspected last week). He turns the sign back to the proper direction, roll credits.

In the hospital Daniels is talking to an investigator about the circumstances surrounding the shooting when Burrell walks up behind him and inquires about Kima’s situation. His arm placed on Daniels’s shoulder is simultaneously comforting, controlling and angry. After being told about the seriousness of her condition he pats Daniels on the back and walks away. They return to talking about the particulars when the Commissioner himself arrives, shaking the hand of the investigator and mistakenly assuming that he is Daniels. It’s a clear indicator of the racial state in the department that the Commissioner still automatically assumes a lieutenant would be the white man. The Commissioner recovers from his mistake momentarily before excusing himself.

Landsman and Bunk have found footprints which will need casts made of them while Rawls is talking with a member of the DEA over the money. Rawls tells them where to go as he notices McNulty sat still in contemplation. McNulty is covered in Kima’s blood and in a state of some shock. Rawls shows another side to himself here, willing to comfort a man who he really cannot stand. McNulty blames himself for what has happened, which is consistent with his egotism.

Freamon arrives at the scene and gets told that Kima’s down in shock trama, he heads over towards Herc, Sydnor and Carver and tells them it’s time to get to work. They’re unwilling, feeling that pushing after the case is not a priority now Kima’s been hurt. Freamon reminds them what they have here; they’ve got a wiretap up on the people who shot Kima, if they’re going to find anything out. That’s the best way it can happen. He puts them in perspective and they move out to their spotting stations. He asks them if anyone has told Kima’s girlfriend Cheryl about the shooting. Carver tells the others that he’ll go do it.

Bunk and Mike are checking down by the railway tracks when Landsman calls them over while Wee-Bey and Little Man make the call “It’s done” before musing about who the girl was. They’ll find out soon enough. Meanwhile Landsman has followed the tracks and found some discarded hoodies plus more footprints which head onto the road and then disappear. Bunk calls up KGA and requests a jackhammer; it’s time to keep a bit of road.

In the hospital Rawls and McNulty have arrived. Daniels lets them both know that Kima is still alive and being operated on right now. Foerester has a machine brought over to play the recording Rawls has brought and they listen to the events leading up to Kima’s shooting. It’s difficult for them all to listen too, but McNulty has the most physical reaction, throwing up into a bin before Rawls takes him aside and sets him straight. Rawls sets McNulty clear on the entire thing, he spells out just how much he dislikes the man before letting him know that Kima’s shooting is not his fault at all. He outlines just how strongly he means this by letting McNulty know that if it was his fault Rawls would nail him for it.

The police toss the city upside down looking for Savino and this activity gets the wire buzzing while Freamon and Prez listen. People are talking about the shooting but this isn’t a clear indication of guilt. The pair look at the pager calls made to Stringer and note one of them happened after the shooting. They look into it.

Wee-Bey arrives at the copy shop and starts talking, Stringer shushes him and starts up the copier to provide some background noise before motioning him to continue. Wee-Bey lays out how it happened, noting that the girl wasn’t an intentional shoot. Stringer lets Wee-Bey know that the girl was a cop; Wee-Bey just doesn’t believe it at first. Which isn’t surprising because shooting a police officer is stepping into a whole new spotlight, the police won’t rest until they have their man. Stringer is also concerned about Little Man, he’s unsure that he’ll handle this right and tells Wee-Bey that Little Man is done and Wee-Bey might have to flee.

Carver arrives outside Kima’s apartment and turns to leave, but the door opens and Cheryl walks out. Carver hesitantly tells her without actually speaking the words, she realises what’s happened quickly.

Freamon is up with a uniform checking out the payphone used to page Stringer, he also notices a can (dropped by Little Man) and has that dusted as well.

In the hospital Carver has arrived and asks Daniels if someone would talk to ‘Kima’s Girl’ Burrell is confused at this and mistakenly assumes that Kima has a daughter. Daniels describes her as ‘a roommate’ and Burrell turns around to talk to the Commissioner who seems reluctant to talk, so Burrell does it himself. Carver comments on this in a derogatory manner.

In the basement McNulty arrives and is greeted with the sight of Kima’s hat, he heads over to clean himself in the washroom and changes clothes before heading over to stare at the Barksdale notice board. Prez watches him and the two exchange glances.

In homicide Landsman, Cole, Norris and Bunk still have no idea where Savino is. While they have some trace evidence that will help tie the suspects to the case they don’t have a clue exactly who performed the shooting. They’ve confirmed that there were two shooters and that’s as far as they’ve got. But then Freamon rolls into the room with a confirmed print hit on Little Man from the soda can. The phone had no useable prints but at least they have one shooter bang to rights when this information is used in combination with the wiretap pager call.

In the Pit Dee, Poot and Bodie are all talking about the shooting. They echo Wee-Bey and Stringer’s conversation here, confirming that contrary to what Hollywood and wannabes would think you don’t go shooting at the police. There’s no profit in it, and all it’s going to do is cause problems for business. They’re interrupted from their orange couch conversation by the arrival of a phone call for Poot, its Wallace who apparently phones Poot twice a day to talk.

Kima’s clothes are being bagged as evidence when her pager goes off. Its Bubs, and moments after he made the call several black and whites arrive. He’s grabbed and hauled off downtown literally moments after paging. This is a prime example of how effective the police force can be if properly funded and motivated. Sadly it’s taken an officer being shot to cause this to happen. You can’t help but wonder what Baltimore would be like if it had a police force that was this effective all the time.

Poot picks up the phone and talks to Wallace, the lad is seriously homesick – he’s just not cut out for the country life. He runs out of money and the conversation is cut off.

Bubbles is still oblivious to his situation while he sits in an interview room. He protests that he isn’t being treated right and is warned by Holley that he has three seconds to explain himself. Tempers are understandably worn and thin on this subject and his confusion isn’t doing himself any favours. He’s still unaware of what’s happened to Kima at this point and that’s why he’s digging himself into a hole.

Bunk is outside talking about what’s happened on the phone when he’s disturbed by the sound of Holley beginning to apply a beating to Bubbs. Landsman and Bunk burst in and Bubbs demands to speak with Kima and when he’s told that he can’t he instead asks for McNulty.

Santangelo and Herc are up on the roof and they spot Bodie use the payphone. Freamon and Prez listen out for the call, but Bodie doesn’t dial out. A window is opened further up the building and a bag is dropped out for Bodie. Santangelo is bemused as to what it could be; Herc (for once) is in the know and explains, they’re up on the tower stash.

McNulty is drinking in the basement office, Daniels tells him to stop drinking and McNulty asks him how much of the case he’d give up to get the case back. Daniels tells him all of it, but that’s not the point. Kima is in a bad way and McNulty feels it wasn’t worth it. Prez comes in and tells them there’s a call from homicide for McNulty, Daniels tells him “Do your job.”

Bunk is on the other end of the line and brings McNulty up to speed on what’s happened in the interview room, McNulty confirms that it’s Bubbs and Bunk asks him to come up and quash the situation.

In Orlando’s Avon and Stringer are both rather… non-plussed about the situation. Avon is unhappy about how it went down, Orlando was not supposed to be shot if there was a witness about, they didn’t want any innocents in the line of fire and they certainly didn’t want a police officer being shot. Stringer confirms that Little Man is looking a little loose and ragged about this, but Wee-Bey has been sent to clean that mess up. Savino on the other hand is going to eat the charge in full and keep his story straight. Avon then goes on to note that the presence of the cash should have been enough to set alarm bells ringing, if he’d been in on this it’s quite possible that the whole deal would have been called off and Orlando would have been left to rot without any bargaining chips. Stringer admits that he’s made a mistake here. They head out and burn the trash, Wee-Bey is to deal with Little Man before he flees.

McNulty has arrived in homicide and Holley tells him what’s happened. He heads in to tell Bubbs what happened and the man is understandably upset. While Bunk watches through the interview window Landsmen tells him that there were no good latent fingerprints on the passenger side door. McNulty talks to Bubbs about his situation, but he misreads the situation and hands him some money instead of talking to him. If McNulty was a little more aware of how things had been going with Bubbs (like Kima was) and a little less self centred then he might have realised just how destructive he’s been here. He thinks he’s helping Bubbs but really he isn’t. This is another catalyst moment for McNulty, so many things cascade away from both large and even seemingly small actions on his part. McNulty heads out of the interview room and talks with Bunk before leaving to go direct to the source.

The source in this case is Maurice Levy, McNulty has arrived with Ronnie and the two of them manoeuvre in order to get Savino to hand himself in. While Ronnie wishes to be delicate about this McNulty is in no mood to mess around, he lays out in full just how much disdain he has for laywers in general and Levy in specific before making it clear that he’ll take it personal if Savino does not come in. Levy doesn’t once skip a beat, turning to Ronnie and asking her if the State Attorney’s office will back McNulty’s threats. She says that they will.

Outside Ronnie is less than impressed with McNulty’s handling method back in the office, Levy is important to Ronnie’s career, she can’t go pissing him off as he could potentially sink it before it has a chance. McNulty lets rip into Ronnie as well at this point, expressing his contempt for people who care more about their careers than justice. This is a fundamental concept for McNulty, he might be a gigantic arsehole squatting over anyone who gets in his way, but he does all of this for justice, because he still believes in the law. To the point that he doesn’t even care about his career, he would sacrifice it all to get the criminal behind bars and he has no time or respect for people who make concessions to further their own career. This belief of his is so strong he doesn’t even make a concession where the women he’s sleeping with is concerned and he isn’t afraid to tell her as much. It’s a strong set of morals, but an unwise head. Ronnie just retorts that he’ll use anyone to get what he wants.

In the basement, Prez has just made a discovery about the 07 code that appears on the pagers occasionally. Dee uses it, Stringer uses it occasionally, but there’s nothing else really to place it. Except Prez has managed to link it a use of it to the day that Stinkum was killed and Wee-Bey shot, which means that the 07 pager code is Wee-Bey. This means that they have the outlines of a conspiracy to commit murder which links all three.

Daniels is talking with Burell, Foerster and Rawls about the shooting, he passes on that the Commissioner wants everything related to the case busted and raided. It’s time, as he says, to get some dope on the table. In part this is a move to make the Barksdales hurt for what they’ve done, to cost them a lot of money and in part it’s a publicity move, designed to make the Balitmore PD look like they’re pro-active and not helpless. But it’s going to cause the wiretap operation to collapse before it’s had a chance to fully blossom.

Savino has arrived with Levy in order to meet with the police, they’ve managed to alter the facts sufficiently to lessen the charge that will be levelled at Savino. Claiming that Savino did not get the money and was planning to sell baking soda to Orlando, the State Attorney offers no charge plus witness protection if he hands over the shooters and testifies. But Levy reiterates that Savino is not going to cooperate and that the best they can do is charge him with a 286B (Distribution of sham CDS) which carries a three year maximum and a $5,000 fine. Because Savino left the money (and the tape confirms this) he’s clear on anything heavier. Savino makes it clear that he’ll eat the charge. Needless to say McNulty, Bunk and Landsman are not happy about this, but McNulty acknowledges Levy’s skill in legal manoeuvring.

Back near the tower Herc watches Poot pick up another re-up while in the Pit Dee and Bodie talk about Orlando’s demise. They’re noticing that a lot of people are getting stung or going missing lately. Bodie comments that people are going to get dropped when a messenger arrives, telling them that Stringer wants to talk with Dee. Bodie comments that Dee’s either ‘moving up in the world’ or getting taken out with the trash. Dee departs and Poot arrives, noting that Little Man has gone missing.

In the basement Daniels brings everyone back up to speed on Kima’s status, she’s in a bad way. Prez wants to know why the homicide department is being so slow and Daniels lets them know that every door is going to get knocked down except for the main stash house. This detail is going to be held back by Daniels as he feels he has more to gain by sitting on it for a while. This is quite a change from the Daniels we met originally; he’s become less concerned about his career and more concerned about getting the job done. Freamon fills them in with a few places that will do for hits and passes over to Herc who tells them about the tower re-up stash. Everything will be hit at eleven am and everyone needs to get cracking.

In the club Dee meets with Stringer who tells him he’s going with Wee-Bey. He throws the keys to Bey and tells him to keep it clean with no mistakes. Dee asks where he’s going and is told to just leave.

In the basement everyone is busy typing up ready for the following day when Burrell arrives to talk with Daniels. The conversation is mostly muffled by the glass until Burrell raises his voice. When McNulty and Freamon go in to talk to Daniels it’s clear that they now realise there’s a leak in the department, he’s known about every major thing they’ve done (except one, but do you know which it is? If you do you’ll realise who the leak is). McNulty leaves and Daniels muses with Freamon about the presence of the rat as a replacement for Daniels’s pipeline to him.

McNulty has headed over to talk with Phelan, McNulty asks for Phelan to help get Burrell to back off over the main stash house. Phelan isn’t willing to do this for him, he’s just got back on the election ticket and he claims it was just a series of half-assed politics attempting to screw with him. Needless to say McNulty doesn’t believe him but it doesn’t matter either way as Phelan no longer has his back.

Dee is driving with Wee-Bey, Bey is talking about the situation as he gets Dee to drive into an alley. Dee hesitates and stops the car at the entrance to the alleyway. Wee-Bey tells him to head down then get out of the car and come along. Dee by this time is seriously unnerved; he’s sweating and clearly hesitant about doing anything. Bodie’s off-hand comments about his potential future combined with Wee-Bey’s words have got him worked up and he breaks down in the middle of a darkened room, convinced that Wee-Bey has been ordered to disappear him like Little Man.

But then the lights come on and Wee-Bey reveals that he needs Dee to feed his fish, it turns out that Wee-Bey’s hobby is tropical fish and in a very light-hearted and frankly funny scene he explains that he’s going to be heading out of state for a while and Dee is going to look after his fish. Dee is left standing surrounded by the tanks, simultaneously embarrassed and relieved.

In Kima’s apartment, Cheryl is sitting on the sofa and as she touches the marker pen stain from Kima (remember that?) She begins to cry.

In the basement Bubbs brings them all back up to speed with the changes that have happened on the street. It’s now clear to them that Wee-Bey and Little Man are the shooters. He thanks Bubbs for the help but he doesn’t have the time to listen to Bubbs the way Kima would. He cuts him short and leaves, telling him that Prez will give him a ride. Bubbs is left alone staring at the twenty.

Outside the police force meets up ready to perform the raids. They hit everywhere they know of at the same time. Knocking over everywhere including the main stash house, Herc and Carver find a huge amount of money while doing so and pocket a little for themselves. Clearly they were inspired by their previous close call.

The police get their big haul and dope on the table and the Commissioner is pleased with this photo/publicity opportunity. The detail watches his speech on a small black and white TV in the basement with less enthusiasm than most. The wiretap is pretty much down, Prez hears a conversation between Wallace and Poot. Wallace is coming back, Prez marks it as non-pertinent.

In the hospital we see Kima unconscious and attached to monitoring equipment…

The Catchphrases:
What the f**k did I do? x 5

The Review:

Has McNulty's catchphrase ever sounded so different and down before? The man is so egotistical that he immediately blames himself for Kima's shooting. But even more than that, the show reveals an extra layer to one of it's characters in the process. Now if the star thread and 'hero' of the series could be thought to be the Detail's wiretap work on the Barksdales then Rawls would be the traditional villain as he's sought to quash it at nearly every turn. Of course, that's not really the case where The Wire is concerned, Rawls isn't a one dimensional villain, he's just a product of the insitution he works for. He might hate McNulty, but it we get to see why he's held his position in this episode. He's not just a company line puller, he does know how to lead his men, the moment where he lays it all out for McNulty and explains that he hates him so much that if anyone could blame McNulty for what happened it would be Rawls. Then goes on to say that he can't because it really isn't McNulty's fault, well it's a great moment that really adds texture to Rawls.

There are also some really great moments for other characters, I very much enjoy Lester Freamon on screen any time, but at the opening of this episode where he talks to Carver, Herc and Prez - explaining just exactly how they can help productively and putting them all in perspective - is great. He's consistently just awesome throughout this season but in this one he really gets to shine, not only then but later when his deductive work pays off and he hands over evidence that points to Little Man.

Speaking of Little Man, he's gone. But did you notice just how cleverly he was offed? There was no big scene between Wee-Bey and him where we saw him shot. He was just passed aside and talked about 'not being around' and 'done'. It really made the moment where Wee-Bey takes D'Angelo to his house a lot bigger. The first time I watched it I was left wondering if Dee was going to get it as well, but then the moment when the lights come on and we learn an amusing little fact about Bey. His collecting and looking after of tropical fish is a great touch for a man who's essentially a mid to high level enforcer. It's also a pretty bad pun, Dee thought he was going to get killed but instead he ended up feeding the fishes. I don't have to explain that one do I.

There's only two episodes left in this season, but already the wiretap has begun to disintergrate due to pressure from the high ups in the department keen to just get something good into the paper to balance out the news of Kima's shooting. The desire to look effective in the short term has begun to sink all the hard work that has been put in. The institution beateth the man.

Have you figured out who the rat in the Detail is yet?

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With 2008 bringing the end of some of my favourite shows - especially my two favourites - I've spent most of the Christmas period sitting about thinking "Are they really over?", but once I got over this I knew it was time to look forward and see what could possibly replace the huge gap in my TV watching. Now right now there's little out there with the same singular vision that Shawn Ryan and David Simon brought to their own respective shows. These two are prime candidates from the rarest breed of show runner, the ones with a singular vision for their show and a determination to see their stories to their natural conclusion and then end them. They don't stretch the show out beyond it's natural length of existence and milk it till it goes sour and likewise they don't wander of to do other major projects and leave their babies in less capable hands. They knew what the stories were they wanted to tell and they were committed to telling them in full

In short the greatest things about The Wire, The Shield, Six Feet Under and The Sopranos were the show runners and their commitment to their production. They are all dedicated and true storytellers in their medium. So finding shows to fill this vacuum left by their respective passing is not easy. Especially when you look at how weak the new shows which arrived in 2008 were. But it's not a total a total disaster, there are still quality shows out there that can fill this gap at least partially and I'm going to propose a few of them over the next week or so.

Damages:
(Second season starts Jan 7th)
Damages is a show creatively descended from The Sopranos. It stars Glenn Close (The Shield) as Patty Hewes, the smart and determined head of a litigation firm. Her number two is Tom Shayes (Tate Donovan - The O.C., Friends) and they both hire Ellen Parsons(Rose Byrne - 28 Weeks Later) to assist them in a class action lawsuit against Arthur Frobisher (Ted Danson - Cheers, Curb Your Enthusiasm) on behalf of his ex-employees who were all heavily affected when some accounting irregularities brought down his company amidst some shady stock sales. Art is defended by Ray Fiske (Zeljko Ivanek - Homicide, 24) a competent defense attorney who's been working for him a long time.

The show uses a complex and intelligent narrative that mixes two story lines, one set in the present and the other which starts six months previously. The two narrative threads are differentiated by a yellow filter placed across the present day scenes while the vast majority of the story is told in the past narrative, gradually bringing the story lines closer together while revealing information and enticing the viewer all the time.

Damages is a smart show, it's filled with realistic people who are genuine and multi-faceted. It's also not afraid to let the viewer make up their own minds about events, it tends to avoid over explaining and spoon feeding exposition to the viewer. It's also constructed in the same way that The Wire is, with a season long narrative which is surprisingly light on court scenes and packs quite a body count to boot. This is a clever, pacey show which will keep you watching from the first moment to the last. Teasing you with tidbits of information until the entire picture comes into focus.

For a second opinion on this you can also look at the review which originally convinced me to give the show a try. It's from Dan at Dan's Media Digest and the direct link is here. I will be reviewing the second season as each episode airs and I will also be reviewing the first season DVD as well.

Mad Men:
(Third Season airs later this year)
I've written about Mad Men previously in a Why You Should Watch... feature located here. At this point I'm not sure I have much more to write without repeating myself, but I can say that the second season is every bit as good as the first one was. Mad Men is another show creatively descended from The Sopranos, this time it's Matthew Weiner's project. Now there has been some hoo-ha over Matthew signing to show run the third season - apparently there is a five season storyline plan - and he's been holding out for more money. A ridiculous amount more considering the current economic and TV climate. But the show is genuine quality. It's not as accessible as Damages in my opinion, but for those people who enjoyed the pacing of The Wire or adore the stylistic beauty of the 1950s it's a rare treat indeed.

These are not the only recommendations I will be putting forward over the next week or two. So there's plenty more to come.
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A most happy New Year to you gentle reader! May it be filled with quality television and very few reality/voting TV shows (unless that's your thing, in which case you're probably in the wrong place).

This year Rev/Views will continue to provide DVD reviews (of stuff in my collection), Why You Should Watch... features for shows both old and new, episode reviews of Damages's second season, Watching The Wire recap/reviews on a Sunday and many other things yet to be revealed (i.e. I haven't thought of them yet).

Updates will be on at least three of the following days: Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Sunday per week. Obviously I might take the odd day off here and there but they shall be the exception. (The other days are reserved for work, recreation time, watching TV and my other writing projects.)

Now, here's your chance. Is there anything you want to see here in the coming year? Any shows you'd like to know more about? Any past features/lists you liked or new ones you would like to see?

Anything at all, here's your chance to speak type up and get them added in!

As Frasier Crane would say "I'm listening".
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