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?

Direct Link

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.
Direct Link

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".
Direct Link

2008 has been a year where a lot of TV shows have ended, some prematurely, some intentionally and some were cut short but still given a chance to finish.

The first of the shows to end was The Wire of course, it's hard to believe that it's still been less than a year since that final season aired and everything was brought to a close. The Wire was and still is the greatest narrative show to ever air, it had such depth and richness to it's stories and characters alike. The fifth and final season wasn't The Wire at it's finest, it did have a few bumpy moments but it was still head and shoulders above everything else. Some day in the future I might be writing about a show that's 'better than The Wire' but for now this show with it's huge tapestry of events and rich deep characters is most certainly the best thing produced for TV so far. The knock on effects of the show are already being felt, with an increasing number of ex-Wire cast members being pulled into other more popular shows for guest or reccuring roles like House, Heroes, Lost and Prison Break.

Next up to end was The Shield, I think I've pretty much said it all as far as this show was concerned by now. The final season was just phenomenal, with top level performances across the board from the cast but a particularly special shout out for CCH Pounder, Walton Goggins and of course Michael Chiklis. The Shield never had a duff episode and the final episode finished so pitch perfectly with some of the most powerfull silences ever televised. It will be sorely missed.

Then there was Boston Legal, this time last year I was wondering if Boston Legal had watered itself down too far. The constant cast erosions had weakened the synergy in the cast interactions and left the viewer disconnected from making an attachment with quite a lot of the newer characters. But then came the news that Boston Legal was having one last season and things were looking bleak. The show seemed like it would end up going out on a low note.

Fortunately this was not the case at all, Boston Legal kept the cast which worked last season and developed them further. The final result was the show Boston Legal should have always been, silly, clever, self-aware and touching. Boston Legal managed to go out on a serious high and saved it's most ridiculous fun for the final few episodes. Plus it gave me exactly the resolution I was seeking where Katie and Jerry were concerned.

Then came the news that Pushing Daisies, a show which I really worked at to like (and did in the end) was cancelled, most likely a casualty of the writers strike, and while Bryan Fuller will move back to try and save Heroes from the dire mess it's become I don't really find that a silver lining. I could take losing Heroes as it's had all of it's chances now and really should be put down. But Pushing Daisies was just beginning to bloom, I was really beginning to enjoy watching Olive and Emerson in particular and I'm hugely disappointed with the show getting cut down. It's a real victim of the times and we might not even get to see the final few episodes and have to wait for them to come out on DVD. It was a unique and light-hearted show that had a real feel good factor to it. Just the kind of show people need in trying times.

Other lesser casualties/Endings this year included Eli Stone, The Riches, My Own Worst Enemy and Jericho. Some of these are shows I was intending to watch if they ran for longer. There are more shows besides these ones and they can be seen here.

In the new year I'll look at a few shows which might fill the void that the departure of these shows has left. Maybe you'll find something in amongst them to enjoy.
Direct Link

Final DVD Review of the year and it's the final series of Red Dwarf.

For the previous series reviews look here:
Series I
Series II
Series III
Series IV
Series V
Series VI
Series VII


Starring:
Chris Barrie as Arnold Rimmer
Craig Charles as Dave Lister
Danny John-Jules as "The Cat"
Robert Llewellyn as Kryten
Chloë Annett as Kristine Kochanski
And Norman Lovett returning as "Holly"


Series Eight of Red Dwarf was an attempt to get back to the basics of the show while also widening the cast to include more supporting characters. At the end of the previous series the crew located Red Dwarf after it had been shrunk down taken on a joyride by Kryten's nanobots and had the excess material formed into a small moon. Back in the Red is a three part episode which returns the crew to Red Dwarf, and I mean the entire crew, including a reconstituted Rimmer who is very much like his first season persona. The hologramatic Rimmer had grown over the years and mellowed somewhat, this rebuilt Rimmer is every bit as unpleasant and self-centered as he was at the start of the show. After the events of Back in the Red get the crew sentenced to imprisonment for various crimes Lister signs them up to be part of 'The Canaries' in Cassandra, Canaries are named after the bird and have a similar role to the ones used in mining. While on their first mission they encounter a computer who can predict the future, a computer who has forseen that Lister will cause her end and so starts to engineer Lister's own fate.

Krytie TV has Kryten being reprogramed by 'Kill Crazy' in order to get him filming the female prisoners in the showers, Kryten was designated female due to a lack of male genitalia. He then moves onto pranking people and sets Lister up to damage Ackerman's quarters, jepordising Lister's chances in the retrial. Pete is a two parter which has Rimmer and Lister annoying Captain Hollister with an exceptional amount of mistakes and goofs while Kryten and the others discover a time wand with the ability to freeze time and even regress a living creature backwards down the evolutionary ladder. They use it on Pete, a small bird owned by a crazy Welshman. Do you remember what extinct animal birds are descended from? Last of all in Only the Good, an escape pod containing a metal eating virus arrives on Red Dwarf and begins to devour the ship, the guys are forced to create a mirror world where everything is opposite in order to find an antidote in time before Red Dwarf is destroyed...

The Packaging:
I believe you know the drill by now, the only thing I really need to say here is the packaging is perfect and matches everything previously released in this set without a single problem.

The Extras:
"This is the BBC, we are the true voice of extras. All other manufacturers are false profits prophets who will leave you completely unsatisfied."
The set is a little more expensive this time at £9.99 from play.com. That's 4.4ppm.


Unfortunately with the advent of this series Red Dwarf is left feeling unfinished. The final episode ends on a genuine cliffhanger moment and we've still not seen the end of the story told there. Also the series is not good, the humour is off and there's a little too much reliance on really off the wall characters plus multiple part stories. Still it has it's moments and the return of Chris Barrie plus plenty of Chloë Annett so I do enjoy watching it.

It's worth mentioning that the UK Channel Dave has commissioned some Red Dwarf specials in 2009. So there's life in the old space dog yet.

Direct Link

Must finish Red Dwarf before the year ends!

For the previous series reviews look here:
Series I
Series II
Series III
Series IV
Series V
Series VI



Starring:
Chris Barrie as Arnold Rimmer/"Ace" Rimmer
Craig Charles as Dave Lister
Danny John-Jules as "The Cat"
Robert Llewellyn as Kryten
And introducing Chloë Annett as Kristine Kochanski


After my slightly controversial opinion that the sixth series was the best we move onto the series that most Red Dwarf fans will agree is the weakest (tied with the eighth one). The crew are still lost in space tailing after Red Dwarf having just recovered from a bout of temporary deadness. The show is still missing the titular Red Dwarf and this second series on the trot without the ship really does wear the concept thin, a single full series without Red Dwarf was OK but this second one is a bridge too far.

This series is also longer than the previous ones with eight episodes, while I welcome the longer run in concept sadly in practice this was not enough, because combined with various problems resulted in a series that was not so hot. In Tikka to Ride after surviving time paradox where they were all dead for a while Lister decided to abuse the laws of time once more in order to get some more curry. Frankly this is a low point for Lister in the series, but it does result in a few amusing moments (unintentional cannibalism) and the scenes involving JFK were well done. In Stoke Me a Clipper Mr Fan-service himself returns for the third time as Ace Rimmer meets up with the crew and attempts to pass on his legacy to Arnold Rimmer, a man who has more yellow than a streak of custard.

Ouroboros has an alternate universe Kristine Kochanski joins the crew after an accidental breach between them occurs and Lister learns the truth about his existence (hint a certain orange haired individual from another sci-fi series learns a similar truth). I know that some people aren't too keen on Chloë Annett's arrival in the series and her role in the crew as Kochanski. But Chloë is exactly the kind of woman who pushes all my buttons so I for one like her appearance in the series, it's one of the two decent points series seven has. Duct Soup is overall a rather unmemorable episode spiced up with some rather fun Kryten moments, I really can't recall too much more about it at this point mind you. Blue is something of a final goodbye to Arnold Rimmer as when Lister begins to miss the man Kryten puts together "The Rimmer Experience" to remind him just what Rimmer is really like.

It remains one of my favourite moments in Red Dwarf and here it is in full:


Beyond a Joke is a Kryten-centric piece in which Kryten's head explodes, he meets Able (another Series 5000 Mechanoid like himself), he is abducted and then learns a disturbing fact about his creator. In Epideme the crew encounter one of Lister's old crushes, Caroline Carmen (Lister has a thing for alliterative women obviously) who turns out to be already dead and infected with a sentient virus. Sure enough the virus infects Lister and the crew are forced to undertake drastic measures to try and save him. Finally in Nanarchy the crew hunt after Kryten's missing nanobots with the hope of solving Lister's situation and make a dramatic discovery.

As I mentioned at the start, series seven is possibly the weakest of all the series, the show suffers greatly from the loss of Chris Barrie but I do like the addition of Chloë Annett greatly (so much so that'd I'd put her up alongside Tara Summers as one of the women I'd most like to marry when I grow up) and there are still quite a few good moments to be found amongst the wreckage.

The Packaging:
There's nothing to be said here that hasn't been said before, it's a purple variant of the previous covers with a shot of something techy (I suspect part of Starbug) as the backdrop. The Red Dwarf logo continues to be completed on the spine and it's just a nice looking product which is about the right size for what it contains.

The Extras:
As always Red Dwarf leads the way for extras, but series seven is packed even when compared to the other series of the show. There's an incredible amount of material here.
The Details:
Aspect Ratio: 4:3
Soundtrack: Stereo
Runtime: 230 mins
Region: 2 + 4 PAL UK
Subtitles: English SDH
Rating: 12

The Price:
Play.com currently have it at £7.99, that's 3.5ppm which is excellent for a Red Dwarf product but that can be accounted for by the two additional episodes over the normal amount.

Honestly series seven is one for the dedicated fans only, if you're a completionist who must absolutely have everything then it's worth owning. But for everyone else I'd say try before you buy when dealing with this series, either get it in the 'Just the Shows' combined set or just watch it the once then forget about it.
Direct Link

So I'm back online again (yay!) and I'm still not confident that I'll get an episode of WtW (that's Watching the Wire) up in time due to work commitments. I think it'll be best if I knock it on the head this week and leave it until the following Sunday, it's better to delay by a week instead of putting out a half assed piece with more errors than usual.

Before we move onto the British Christmas specials I'm going to write a little about Zavvi going into administration, I have to admit it's a pretty sad thing for me. I've got a few friends who work in my local store and I hope they all find new jobs. It was pretty bewildering and sad wandering around there Christmas Eve before heading out of town, the place looked like a horde of DVD locusts had stripped all the vegetation from the stands. I'm really going to miss the place if/when it closes, the UK will be left with even fewer options for purchasing DVDs. WHSmiths has a really limited in store range, Woolworths is gone, HMV is decent but often overpriced or missing the odd season from a set and there are precious few other independent DVD stores alive any more. It looks like it'll be up to sendit.com and play.com to get the UK through this dark period, but for me that's not quite the same. I like to pick up my DVDs and have them right there and then, I'm an impulse purchaser for discounted stock.

For Christmas I got the first season of Damages and Rescue Me - more on them in the new year, especially Damages as I shall be watching the second season as it airs - and in an attempt to help out Zavvi I picked up the complete set of The 4400, it felt a bit weird purchasing a dead series from a dying shop. Especially as I arrived in the shop two minutes before closing time and ran about panicing while the announcement told me that 1. The shop was closing, 2. I should take my purchase to the nearest counter and 3. I could buy from the Internet. Number 3 was morbidly amusing because Zavvi's Internet sales option has been down for a while now.

I first picked up the second season of Rescue Me, then after being harassed by a member of staff who thought I was too stupid (or assumed I was stupid, goodness knows I look it) to be able to hear the previous announcement (despite the fact that I was laughing at the irony when it was announced) I quickly switched up several times before leaving, discarding Rescue Me (which I keep typoing as RescuMe) first for Cold Feet, then This Life, then Ally McBeal and then finally regaining my manhood when I picked up The 4400 and bought that. Disaster averted!

It seems when I'm under pressure my Y chromosome goes off for a picnic and only returns at the last possible moment to save me. Onto the Christmas specials.

Doctor Who: (The Next Doctor)
It's hard to gush or put down this year's Christmas special, The Next Doctor was decent but not amazing. The Doctor (David Tennant) finds himself in Victorian London and encounters... The Doctor (David Morrissey), but this new Doctor doesn't seem to have all his memories intact, he doesn't even recognise his past incarnation. Add to this the presence of the Cybermen and you have the potential for a really interesting show.

Unfortunately in the end it wasn't as good as I hoped it would be, the emotional moments were decent but the rest of it just wasn't really exciting. Which was a little disappointing because there are only three more specials left before we lose Tennant, and he's become my favourite Doctor.

Wallace and Gromit: (A Matter of Loaf and Death)
The most watched thing on Christmas day across the UK was the newest Wallace and Gromit, every single show of this animated brilliance has been pitch perfect so far and this one was also. Wallace falls in love with Piella Bakewell once star of commercials for Bake-O-Lite slimming bread. But Gromit is somewhat concerned that Piella might have less than wholesome designs for Wallace.

A Matter of Loaf and Death has everything in it you'd expect from Nick Park; it's fast and funny with occasional touching moments. My only complaint is that it was only half an hour long, it felt like the story had been compressed greatly for some reason. I would have prefered an hour long special with a slightly more natural build up of events.

But ultimately I can't complain about a show which has Peter Sallis uttering the line "Gromit, there's a bomb in my pants!"

Gavin & Stacey:
Hot on the heels of the wonderful Barry announcement for a third (and final) series of Gavin and Stacey came the Christmas special. And there's not much I can say about it except that it surpassed expectations on every front. It was easily the best thing I watched over Christmas, James and Ruth once again delivered a superb script and every member of the cast was on top form. I really enjoyed every single moment of it and I can't wait until the next series comes out.

All in all it was an enjoyable if not mind blowing Christmas.

Coming up over the next few days will be the final two DVD reviews of Red Dwarf and a look back on the year's TV. I promise there will be no Top X lists at all, unless someone asks for them.
Direct Link

Just a quick short post to wish you all an enjoyable Christmas break, Rev/Views will return on (most likely) the 27th. I'll be spending the next three days with the familiy but when I get back online I'll probably write about the Christmas Doctor Who, Wallace & Gromit and Gavin & Stacey's Christmas special as those are the highlights of Christmas TV for me this year. I'm not holding my breath about the Doctor Who special mind you, last years 'Voyage of the Damned' was rubbish and I would have stopped watching except I know and like Clive Rowe. Maybe this year will be better, but I've never liked Rusty's 'big' Doctor who scripts.

Watching the Wire will not be interrupted, it will still come out on Sunday but it might be later in the day than usual.

Until then, enjoy yourselves and have a pleasant time.
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:
Edward T. Norris (Det. Ed Norris), Clarke Peters (Det. Lester Freamon), Jim True-Frost (Det. Roland "Prez" Pryzbylewski), Hassan Johnson (Roland "Wee-Bey" Brice), Corey Parker Robinson (Det. Leander Sydnor), Michael Salconi (Det. Michael Santangelo), Michael Kenneth Williams (Omar Little), Clayton LeBouef (Wendell "Orlando" Blocker), Richard DeAngelis (Maj. Ray Foerster), Domenick Lombardozzi (Off. Thomas R. "Herc" Hauk), Seth Gilliam (Det. Ellis Carver), Robert F. Colesberry (Det. Ray Cole), Melanie Nicholls-King (Cheryl), Delaney Williams (Sgt. Jay Landsman), Peter Gerety (Judge Daniel Phelan), Callie Thorne (Elena McNulty), Michael Kostroff (Maurice "Maury" Levy), Robert F. Chew (Joseph "Proposition Joe" Stewart), Wendy Grantham (Shardene Innes), Shamyl Brown (Donette), Isiah Whitlock Jr (State Senator R. Clayton "Clay" Davis), Michael B. Jordan (Wallace), Neko Parham (State Police Undercover), Steve Earle (Walon), Bobby Brown (II) (Off. Bobby Brown), Aaron Michael Lacey (Maryland State Trooper), SiSi Kache (Mother), Kosha Engler (Kima's Friend), Christopher J. Clanton (Savino), Barry Bradford (Stash-House Man), Micaiah Jones (Wintell "Little Man" Royce), Christopher Glenn Wilson (DEA Agent) and Jeorge Watson (Marvin Browning)

The Summary:
After being clean for three days, Bubbles gets strong advice from former addict Walon and a promise of extra help from Detective Greggs. When Omar’s murder attempt on Barksdale fails, Stringer lays down the new law to Barksdale – no phone use, no more money runs, a new pager number and anyone that needs Barksdale talks to Stringer first. They also send word to Omar that a truce will be offered.

Read about the price we pay, getting in the game and taking the bus to New York beyond the link...

The Recap:
An alert and clean looking Bubbles is sat on a bench in the park just watching the world and marvelling in its sights, sounds and details. He’s sat at something of a cross roads, both physically and in his addiction and you can see him contemplate as the opening note of “Way Down in the Hole” builds.

Cue the credits…

In Orlando’s Wee-Bey, Avon and Stringer are talking about Omar’s attempt on Avon. Avon now feels that Stringer’s suggestion of a truce with later retaliation is a good move, they then move on to talking about the Detail’s actions following Avon after the basketball game. Stringer lays down the law for Avon, setting him out of the loop and thus removing him from any direct contact. As Stringer says “We’ve gotta build a wall around you.”

In Phelan’s office patience is clearly running thin everywhere. Phelan is losing his patience as other associates are beginning to treat him like a social leper, this detail and set of wiretaps is fast losing support everywhere. After the meeting Ronnie explains why Phelan is being so short with McNulty, he’s been left off the election fliers for his judgeship election.

Back at Dee’s his girlfriend , is talking about the future while Dee contemplates what his life has become before leaving her.

In the basement McNulty and Cool Lester Freamon are talking to Carver and Sydnor about the pattern of calls that have revealed where the main stash house calls are coming from. The calls indicate that the re-up comes from the same place, near the Mondo Mart. As such, Carver and Sydnor are going to be pulling twelve hour shifts watching the re-up payphone – Herc is away for the week. Kima comes in and McNulty talks to her about Wallace, he intends to go talk to Wallace himself.

Out on the streets Orlando meets up with some dealers to make a connect despite Avon’s warning that he should not do anything that could bring the attention of the police down on him. After he hands over the money they give him a bag and then laugh.

McNulty arrives in Wallace’s place and has a look around, while back in the park Bubbles is talking with Walon about his situation. They’re talking about Bubble’s situation, his life and what to do next. Walon explains how he has ‘the bug’ and lays down a few truths for Bubbles. The key part of his talk is that Bubbles should forgive himself, love himself and come to meetings because he can’t do it alone.

Back outside Wallace’s McNulty is explaining to some uniforms about Wallace, they are to wait for Wallace and then snap him up. McNulty hands them some food and beer to pass the time with before he gets a call from Kima and heads off.

Dee is waiting out on the street outside Orlando’s for Shardene who arrives in a yellow cab and refuses to talk with him before heading inside. Dee is less than impressed with this.

Kima and McNulty meet up with Omar who tells them about the amnesty offering from Avon. Kima suggests he should take the truce but Omar isn’t keen because the Barksdale’s want to meet face to face for a parley. Omar then shows them the wound he suffered from the end of the previous episode and asks if they can help him out because otherwise he’ll probably get ambushed by Avon’s men in or around the hospital.

We find out what was in the bag handed to Orlando next, he’s located in a white room with the dealer from the car looking at him. As the man leaves we get a view from another camera, a black and white long shot from the security camera in the interview room. Orlando has managed to get himself landed exactly where Avon feared he would; the entire ‘connect’ was a sting operation. Outside the officer talks to his superior about the names Orlando gave (Barksdale) and then lets Orlando know he’s going to be cooling his heels in the Eager Street city jail for a while.

Carver is undertaking surveillance on the payphone and Sydnor takes over, Sydnor is less than impressed with Carver’s hygene habits. The following day Santangelo spots Little Man making a phone call to a pager for the re-up. Sydnor just has to wait and see who’s on the payphone when the call comes back.

In homicide McNulty is rudely awoken from his drunken stupor by Bunk and a second detective. He’s been waiting outside the interview room where Wallace is now asleep. Wallace has spilled his guts over the entire Brandon slaying, he’s given up everyone involved, even Stringer. He’s going to have to testify and until then McNulty needs to figure out what to do with the boy.

Santangelo calls the basement to let them know that Little Man is picking up the phone, on the other end Sydnor already has an eyeball for the caller. Prez and Freamon monitor the call and tell Sydnor to follow the caller. Orlando arrives in the City Jail but he’s spotted by an inmate when being processed. He phones out to let someone know of this development. Sydnor meanwhile has managed to follow the caller all the way to the main stash house, a secure building protected by a lot of security cameras and floodlights, clearly a permanent structure.

Wallace is now talking to Daniels and McNulty about slinging drugs, I’d just like to take a moment here to praise Lance Reddick’s range, he’s normally so intense and p***ed off in many first season scenes but here he appears genuine and compassionate. McNulty is asking Wallace about any shootings, specifically a girl out in Eastside and Brandon’s murder. Wallace refuses to put Dee in the frame but puts up all of the rest. This is huge news for the Detail; they’ve got everyone important except for Avon nailed on either the murder charges or conspiracy ones. Dee is the only person who might manage to wriggle his way out as he just called Brandon’s location in. McNulty heads out for a phone call and Daniels attempts to see if it’s possible to get witness protection for Wallace. Ronnie doesn’t think it’s possible and suggests that Wallace should be sent down to the shore. McNulty’s phone call turns out to be less than pleasant and he exclaims how he’s going to need a lawyer.

In the basement Sydnor is talking with Carver and Freamon about the main stash before Freamon walks over to talk with Prez about the properties Avon’s dummy companies own. They can’t see a pattern except for some clusters in the west side of downtown. Freamon praises Prez’s paper trail work and tells him it’s time for a little street work. Prez reminds Freamon that he’s in-office and isn’t allowed his gun until the grand jury for his pistol whipping of the lad back during the tower incident. Freamon tells him he won’t need a gun for his street work.

McNulty’s phone call comes clear in the next scene as we see his wife present with her lawyer. His unwise game of front and follow with Stringer Bell has got back to her and she’s understandably seeking limitations of visitation rights for this. Ronnie is asked to provide a counter point and admits she has nothing; she’s a prosecution lawyer for criminal charges not a civil lawyer. The judge rules that she’s going to lunch and leaves them to sort out their problems together.

Orlando is meeting with a lawyer himself at this time, an impassionate Maurice Levy hands over some backdated forms which transfer the ownership of the club. Orlando is not willing to sign unless he gets a bondsman; Levy suggests that such an action would be unwise before telling him “Now you’re in the game” and leaving him there.

McNulty sits down to talk with Elena, it’s clear that Ronnie was the woman McNulty was cheating with her when their relationship ended. They then move on to talking about McNulty’s ‘front and follow’ and he explains just how safe the kids were. The thing is, logically he’s right, they were perfectly safe (as I observed in the previous episode) but it’s still just not something you do. Elena asks if Ronnie knows about the pictures and asks if they’re still together, he first says no to both and then admits he’s with Ronnie “a little”.

In the basement Wallace is watching Senator Clay Davies make a speech on the TV when Daniels walks in and tells him to get ready. It’s clear that Wallace is suffering from withdrawals and Daniels asks him just how much he’s been using.

Stringer is standing in front of a fountain with Proposition Joe waiting for Omar to turn up. Prop Joe soothes Stringer’s concerns about Omar appearing and then let’s Stringer know he’s not doing this for free when Omar arrives. Prop Joe gives them a short speech and then leaves. Stringer then lays down the terms of the truce, Omar is to stay away from the Barksdale product and money and in turn the Barksdales won’t kill him. Omar asks about how’s he’s supposed to let what happened to Bailey and Brandon just slide. He then goes on to demand that Avon pays him around five or ten thousand, Stringer offers him five without much hesitation. McNulty and Kima were both listening nearby to the conversation on a wire.

Daniels drops off Wallace at his grandmothers while over in Orlando’s Stringer, Wee-Bey and Avon are talking about Omar’s demand when Shardene arrives with drinks, Avon shushes their conversation while she’s present, drinks are handed out and she then leaves. Pausing outside to try and evesdrop before the sound of another door opening disturbs her.

Kima is enjoying a night out with her girlfriends, Kima refuses to drink shots because she has work in the morning and after a little ribbing one of her friends asks her why she decided to become a cop. Kima tells them about how she was feel training and still unsure when a call came out and she ended up separated from her training officer. But she still managed to find and catch the perp. While struggling to hold the guy she looks up and sees Charlie Smook, a legendary Baltimore police officer, who drops his cuffs for her and then walks away.

Outside the main stash house a garbage truck pulls up and two garbage men pick up the trash, Prez and Sydnor. They take the bags back to the basement and after sorting through it all they’ve found a mountain of probable cause, more than enough to get a warrant. But Kima explains why they don’t need to issue one right now, it’s better to follow the deliveries instead of just kicking the door in right now. Observation will allow them to find out even more about Barksdale’s operations. Then the police man from Orlando’s bust arrives, Kima knows him – he’s Troy Wiggins. Tory lays down the line about Orlando tells them why he’s here.

Freamon is enjoying a breakfast with Shardene, she’s explaining how hard it is to identify the people in the room because she needs glasses. She puts on a set of state provided thick rim glasses, Freamon notes that she doesn’t wear them while working and then laughs.

Kima, McNulty, Ronnie and Daniels are talking about Orlando’s (Wendle-O if you prefer) situation. It’s unlikely he can get any product from Avon, but Ronnie is willing to negotiate his sentence if he gives up information about the club, money laundering and the girls. They’re interrupted by a phone call from the deputy commissioner for Daniels. McNulty notices that the deputy doesn’t miss much.

Kima meets up with Bubbs who’s paged her to talk, she’s not happy but changes her mind when she finds out he’s trying to get clean and might be serious about it. She agrees to help him despite the fact that he’ll be less useful as an informant if he’s clean.

Daniels is now meeting with Foerester and Burrel over Orlando, Daniels wants to protect the wire and keep moving with it. Burrel is less than thrilled and wants a Buy-Bust.

McNulty and Omar are up at the bus depot, Omar is leaving because Stringer agreed to the payout, that’s a clear indication that Stringer has no intention to pay up. Omar knows if he hangs around or attempts to collect that money all he’s going to get is a bullet with his name scratched into it. McNulty gives Omar some cash and tells him to keep in touch for the Gant trial while Omar walks.

Daniels is walking everyone through Orlando’s buy-bust. Kima will be making the deal, her firearm kept under the rear seat. The car will be a live wire, Kima won’t have anything on her. Orlando is to try and work Savino in order to get someone further up the food chain. As mentioned previously in this episode Savino isn’t very important, they want Wee-Bey, Avon or Stringer on this. Everyone gets ready and they head on out.

Bubbs sits out on the bench still, dealing with being clean before getting up and walking away. He passes by the dealers without purchasing.

Orlando arrives with Kima to pick up Savino, Kima continues to give status updates but has some difficulty because Savino turns up the volume on the stereo. No-one has an eyeball on the car and things are looking a little tricky. Savino tells Orlando to pull over in an alley and heads out to get the goods for Orlando. Kima is a little worried because the signs may have been turned about, but believes she’s in Warwick. Everyone moves in closer, police and as it turns out gangsters as well. Two men in hoodies open fire at the car and Kima’s report is cut short by gunshots. Everyone scrambles to try and find her but they have no idea where she is.

The police helicopter manages to locate the car and McNulty arrives on scene. Orlando and Kima are down in the car and not moving. Daniels desperately calls for a medic while Carver freaks out and McNulty applies CPR to Kima. We end with an overhead shot of the scene from the helicopter.

The Review:
Well, did you see that one coming at the start of this show? Did you expect Kima to get shot in the line of duty? If you sensed it coming during this episode that’s not quite so impressive because the build up of narrative clearly indicates something’s going to happen and there’s so many scenes focusing around Kima that a good understanding of story build should have tipped it to you. But really, The Cost is such an excellent episode in so many ways, we have three episodes left until the first season ends and this one is such a thunderbolt in so many ways, of all the members in the Detail Kima has proven to be the one who’s most consistently capable and she’s the one with a decent relationship in her life.

I can still remember watching this episode for the first time as the final events remain fresh in my mind, it ends with a very charged sequence and a continuous sinking feeling throughout the car sequence. Even before anything happens you get a feeling something bad is coming. I also found it impossible to wait and immediately shot off to watch the next episode in order to find out what happens next. You may also want to do that, I wouldn't blame you if you did.

It's difficult to talk about other events on the whole because the final few seconds of this episode are just that intense. But the other major events are Omar leaving town; which means the 'war' between Avon and him is effectively on ice, the discovery of the main stash house; which is a huge coup for the detail, but it's also got the potential to result in a premature search and seize (just like this buy-bust was premature) if Burrel hears about it (and remember he has someone in the detail reporting to him directly) and Bubbles getting clean.

The Cost is definately the most intense episode of the season so far and it's incredible to think that there's only three episodes left before the first season ends. But that's the truth of the matter, fortunately there's another four seasons after this one to come.
Direct Link

With 2008 fading fast I am determined to both hit fifty DVD reviews and also complete reviewing the Red Dwarf DVDs. Fortunately I have three reviews left before the five-o mark so it looks quite possible. Here's the sixth series.

For the previous series reviews look here:
Series I
Series II
Series III
Series IV
Series V


I mentioned in my previous review of series five that there was only one other series in the lifetime of Red Dwarf which I considered to be superior to it. This is that series, this is the series of the show which I enjoy more than any other and the series I feel is Red Dwarf at it's best.

The crew of Red Dwarf have lost the ship in between the events of last series and this one. They're stuck in Starbug chasing after the ship's trail but it's growing cold. They're approaching an exceptionally hostile part of space filled with GELFs (Genetically Engineered Life Forms) and rogue simulants when Kryten awakens the crew in the first episode Psirens. Psirens are a type of GELF which can take the appearance of anything they wish with the intent of getting close enough to a living life form and then sucking their brains out with a proboscis. Barely surviving this encounter the crew discover an exceptionally advanced space station inhabited by an individual who introduces himself as Legion, at first he appears to be exceptionally helpful - saving Lister's life with emergency surgery and even installing a hard-light hologramatic bee for Rimmer (allowing Rimmer to touch things and also get touched). But as always, things take a turn for the worse.

In what is possibly the greatest episode of Red Dwarf ever, Gunmen of the Apocalypse has the crew encountering a group of rogue simulants. After narrowly defeating the simulants in combat Starbug is infected with a virus. In order to deal with the virus and create a 'dove program' Kryten infects himself with it but begins to lose the battle quickly. It's up to the rest of the crew to grab their virtual reality game, plug it into Kryten, assume the persona's of Brett Riverboat, "Dangerous" Dan McGrew and "The Riviera Kid" and mosey on into town. The episode manages to combine everything I love in one as a comedy/sci-fi/western all rolled up years before Firefly arrived on our screens and it's brilliant.

In Emohawk - Polymorph II two characters from previous episodes make a reappearance after a familiar looking monster attacks the crew, in Rimmerworld Arnold Rimmer faces hundreds of years alone after an act of great cowardice and in the superb Out of Time the crew face the consequences of time travel in a shocking and exciting finale.

I cannot recommend series six enough, Gunmen of the Apocalypse alone is so brilliant that I wish it had been an extra long special but you, the viewer, also get another five amazing episodes on top of that one. This is Red Dwarf at it's finest.

The Packaging:
I've said it all before, the BBC know how to make sets that look good together while keeping their individual appearances. I especially love the subtle brown image of the 'Last Chance Saloon' on this front of this set. Everything else about this set is spot on where it needs to be.

The Menus and Start Up:
The Red Dwarf menus are always a joy to navigate around and series six is no exception. The start up is fast, there are no annoying adverts for other shows and the BBC anti-piracy/copying message is short simple and inoffensive.

The menu itself opens with a once off series of exterior Starbug shots that chart a simple story of the ship crashing. We're then led on board and to the airlock controls where the menus are located. There's options to see the individual episodes (which takes you to the cockpit for selection), play all and commentaries. The music in the first menu is a little short and loops badly but the music tunes for the individual episode menus are better. It's a good looking set up with only a few minor flaws.

The Extras:
Just like every single set previously released in this line there is a huge wealth of material for the viewer to enjoy. The cast commentaries are the highlight of it for myself and I feel they're amongst the most interesting cast commentaries ever released (behind The Shield and Futurama).

The full list of extras is as follows:

Cast Commentary
Fan Commentary - Gunmen of the Apocalypse
"The Starbuggers" Original Documentary
Deleted Scenes
Smeg Ups (Out-takes)
Howard Goodall: Settling the Score
"Sick" Featurette
"Return to Laredo" Featurette
Behind The Scenes Footage
Interview with Andy de Emmony
Trailers
Raw FX Footage
Isolated Music Cues
"Dave Hollins" Radio Sketch
Photo Gallery
Weblink

The Details:
Runtime: 170 mins
Aspect Ratio: 4:3
Sound: Dolby Stero
Regions: 2 + 4 PAL UK
Number of Discs: 2
Rating: 12

The Price:
The winner for price right now is play.com who have the set at £7.99, but at the time of writing this review they were out of stock. Sendit have it for £8.89 as another option.

The price works out a 4.7 ppm. Good for a UK series.


Series six of Red Dwarf is without a doubt the finest series of the show, it's six episodes of comedy gold dynamite wrapped up in some beautiful SFX with a ribbon of top notch comedy acting. If you were going to watch only one series of this show, this would be the one to watch. It's the pinnacle of the shows comedy prowess, especially 'Gunmen of the Apocalypse' with it's wonderful rendition of the Red Dwarf theme in a western style.
Direct Link

This is sort of TV related, well related enough that I think I can justify including it.

Game Damage is a web based TV Pilot that's being used to promote a potential TV show plus possible web shows reviewing the world of computers. It's starring Ben "Yahtzee" Crossaw of Zero Punctuation, Yug and Matt. The other name for it could well be "Two Australians and a Brit".

It's not bad at all if you enjoy the world of computers with it's mix of news, reviews and short sketches. There could have been more variety in the sketches, they were the same jokes told over and over, but again there's promise. Ben "Yahtzee" is easily the most entertaining part of the show with his trademark deadpan cynicism but Yug and Matt aren't terrible either. With the right level of funding and sponsorship it could become something decent (like The Guild is doing).

The episode is located over at http://gamedamage.net/

Oh and the show also reveals that Yahtzee normally doesn't talk at the same blistering pace he uses on his review videos, but we knew that already because it involved electronic trickery to speed the timing up.

Now I wonder if people would want some web Rev/Views videos or podcasts...
Direct Link

An oldie but a goodie today with one of the BBC's most excellent wildlife documentaries, now if there's something that the BBC still do will to this date it's Wildlife and it's entirely thanks to David's tireless work that this has happened. The Living Planet was originally transmitted between January and April 1984 and still stands as a spectacular portrait of our planet and the wide diversity of creatures that inhabit it.

The Living Planet is a twelve episode series which has each episode looking at a particular environmental type on our planet. It begins it's journey with 'The Furnaces of the Earth' looking at the most primeval force on our planet - the magma that seeps out from beneath the earth's crust - and then moves on across the poles, through the tundra, jungles, deserts, rivers, beaches, islands, the oceans and the sky before ending in the newest of all environments; the urban one.

This series is filled with evocative imagery that brings the majesty of the natural world to the viewer and David Attenborough's trademark narration remains constantly informative and interesting throughout. His presence as a guide across our globe is a constant without ever trying to overshadow the wonders of nature he's showing us. Some of the more modern documentaries forget about this and decide to focus too much on the presenters, who cares if you're going to go stand under a waterfall for a few hours? I want to know about tree frogs and creeping vines.

Some of the highlights of this series include breathtaking shots of lava spouts, a balloon ride to near the top of the Earth's atmosphere (where spiders can be found if you'd believe it), footage from the bottom of the ocean and the wonderful episode about how fragile and unique island dwelling life becomes in their isolation.

The Living Planet also stands as a snapshot of the natural world in 1984, perhaps thirty, fifty or a hundred years from now our children and our grandchildren will only have these documentaries left to mark the beautiful bio-diversity our planet once had. It also stands in wonderful contrast to the more modern documentaries and is especially interesting when watched in conjunction with 'The Planet Earth'.

Now if I had a complaint about this series it would be that the oceanic life is highly short changed, there is a greater variety of life in the oceans than there is on land but the series only dips into the water for three episodes and just one of those is about the oceans themselves. It's also worth noting that the film quality is lower than more modern documentaries, film grain is present throughout and while I didn't find this irritating it may annoy others.


Packaging:
One of the things I most appreciate about the BBC documentaries is their consistency in design. The Living Planet has a simple black scheme marked with a striking picture of lava on the front and just two images on the back. The colour scheme is kept simple as well; Black, White and Yellow with the gloss

Start Up and Menus:
This stark simplicity continues through the start up (which is as simple and inoffensive as all BBC DVDs are) and the menus. You have my favourite option (play all) plus the option to check each episode separately and even pick the scene you start with. This allows you to get straight to the bits you like best (insects, sharks and deep sea fish please!)

The Details:
Aspect Ratio: 4:3
Main Soundtrack: English - Stereo
Runtime: 10 hours 43 mins
Region: 2+4 Colour PAL UK
Subtitles: English HoH
Rating: E (Exempt)


The BBC do one thing better than anything else in the world and that's make wildlife documentaries, The Living Planet is part of that dynasty as one of the earliest that sparked it's rise to the top. Even in this day the series continues to enthrall and capture the imagination of the viewer. It's simultaneously entertaining, humbling, educational and beautiful.
Direct Link

In case you're wondering, the picture is from the Showtime second season advertising stunt where they filled up fountains with dye to make them look like they were filled with blood. Just a little reminder of how cool Dexter was in the first two seasons.

So. Third season of Dexter. I can sum it up in one word and that word is:

Lackluster

There's no need to go into how great the first two seasons were of this show, you should have seen them by now and if you haven't watch out for spoilers. Now the third season, it should and could have been great. The show had come from an incredible high with a second season that was so laden with tension and gut twisting moments it could have been from 'The Shield'. At the time I did mention and write that I thought the loss of both Brian (from the first season) and Doakes (second season) was an incredible move for tension and storytelling but it might hamper them in the long run and honestly, right now I think it has.

Doakes is the element which the show has really been missing, this season attempted to build a credible threat to Dexter's cover life in Prado and to give Jimmy Smits his due he really nailed the part. We saw an incredible descent into madness that really did feel natural within the constraints of the story. But the end of season two promised us so much more than season three could deliver. We were offered a Dexter who was going to evolve and move beyond the scope of Harry's code, we even got that right at the start of the season (admittedly by accident) but things didn't end up going that way in the end.

Honestly the season feels like a transition point, I suspect they've set up Quinn, Anton and Deb for some future pay off in a later season. Likewise Deb's checking of the files is probably going to lead to some "Deb knows what Dexter really is" plot line. [Early bet, she ends up taking him down or shooting him.] Same with Angel's storyline. Dexter is attempting to give us some multi-season plot lines in the vein of (sorry I know I sound like a broken record here) The Shield and The Wire. But I'm just not convinced it's going to pay off yet. Sure Dexter as a family man is pretty interesting, likewise him fathering a child (not that we have time to see what happens here - unless they accelerate the timeline al la Desperate Housewives), but on the whole the show just lacked the substance and tension of the first two seasons.

Next season needs to introduce a credible and untouchable threat for Dexter. Someone or even some organisation/group of people that can provide a lasting danger for him. One he can't just easily off. I mused somewhere about a reporter type noticing a pattern and circling in around Dexter, someone with a hunch but no evidence, someone who's genuinely a good and likable guy. Someone who has no reason to be killed apart from the threat he presents to Dexter's existence. Can Dexter manage to turn this guy away, bring him in some how, set him (or her) up or will he be forced to kill a true innocent to protect his existence? Now that's a dilemma I'd love to see play out over the next two seasons.

Now, onto the actual final few episodes of Dexter. I can draw a direct and obvious parallel here for the show, it's borrowed ithe style of using it's big events in the last but one episode from another show. But instead of providing an interesting final episode/showdown with 'the Skinner' we get a short throwaway confrontation with a "Proceed directly to the wedding, do not pass any tension, collect on obvious metaphor." George King just hasn't been a credible threat this season and there is no doubt that they dealt with Prado and King in the wrong order. If the Skinner had been a more sinister overarching threat to Dexter or say Deb then it would have had more significance. But unfortunately Prado was always the individual who felt more interesting and dangerous. The viewer expected a final confrontation between Dex and Prado in the second half of the final episode. Now there are shows which have managed to throw the big "revelation" moment in a lot earlier than expected with great success - The Shield pulled this move at least twice in it's run and was amazing each time, it blind sided you by giving you 'that big moment' long before you thought it would happen - But this season of Dexter just didn't manage to do it right. So we ended up with a highly unsatisfying final episode that felt more like an epilogue instead of a genuine part of the tale. Tacked on so to speak.

Now this is not to say that the show was terrible, it certainly wasn't. But the big issue I have is the show consistently fails to make it's B rank characters interesting, we've got some great actors in the mix, I adore Vince and Angel. But they're either reduced to one line jokes, seemingly pointless story lines or plain annoyances.

I admire Dexter's writers for their season long story lines, but they need to go back and look at this season to see what didn't work. Right now the only reason to watch it is Michael C. Hall's blistering performance.

But one man can not make a show alone.
Direct Link

Taking the easy way out today* I've decided to bring you the American Film Industry 2008 Awards. Which are cunningly titled as the 2007 Awards.

The AFI TV Programs of the year: Official Selections are:
Breaking Bad
In Treatment
John Adams
Life
Lost
Mad Men
The Office
Recount
The Shield
The Wire

Their selection for films is also up on this page.

Now I'm also going to take this opportunity to issue an apology to the creators, actors and writers of Life as this seems as good a time as any. I was very, very harsh about the show this season because it opened very poorly. So after a few critical words I stopped writing about the show and even stopped watching it. But I did not stop recording it as I had planned to catch up once The Shield and Dexter finished (thus lightening my limited viewing load - I have to pull this kind of triage quite often in the fall season sadly, I wish the American networks would spread things out a little more but what can you do?)

I've started to catch up and I can honestly say, it improves considerably. There will be a full look on the later episodes sometime before Christmas but right now I can say quite happily. You should (once again) be watching Life.

In other shows, watch Breaking Bad. It's exceptionally good stuff.

*Actually, I'll be writing about Dexter either today or tomorrow once I've seen the final episode.
Direct Link