Annual TV Commentary: 2010-2011 (Part 3)

Here's part three of my annual TV commentary, this time for the 2010-2011 season. Each review is pretty spoiler-ific for each show's respective season. So unless you've seen every episode of, say, Glee's second season, don't read it. Enjoy!

Rubicon AMC
One word that I hate to use is 'boring', since I always think it's a term which reflects more on the person saying it, than it does on what the person is describing. That being said, Rubicon's pace unfortunately pulled me into stages of boredom, and probably contributed to it being swiftly canceled after its first and only season. Rubicon is set in the world of a Manhattan intelligence agency, and is presumably the most realistic depiction of sexy government work that's ever been put on television. Realistic because so much of the season was painfully mundane. This is a show where agents agonize for an entire episode over executing a terror suspect, and decisions aren't made casually and swiftly to fit around the commercial breaks. It's that realism that made Rubicon so distinctive, as well as what it made it such a chore to watch.

The show worked far better in retrospect than it did on first viewing, since it's one of those series which seemed to create an event for the season finale and then backtrack little hints at it throughout the earlier episodes. This can sometimes work, evidenced by Tanya's subtle breakdown over the course of the season and her eventual departure from the team, but can also occasionally fail on a spectacular level, notably with Miranda Richardson's ultimately unnecessary Katherine character, who got interesting right before she was killed off.

There were obviously some major pluses to the show, notably Arliss Howard's absorbing Kale Ingram, the one truly fascinating and intriguingly multi-faceted character on the show. Christopher Evan Welch was reliably sleazy in his role, while I enjoyed Jessica Collins as out-of-her-depth secretary Maggie, even if her character got thinner and more one-note as the year went on. And, as the season drew to its end, there were several moments which actually got to me. The casual brutality of Will's near-execution, the horror of spotting strangers snooping around inside your apartment. Rubicon successfully explored fear and conspiracy in the most genuine and believable way possible, depicting situations that are so terrible because they could just be true. A secret group responsible for all the major events in the world? It's not too far-fetched.

I admired the ambition of Rubicon, and its sometimes unbearable need to be as slow-burning as possible. There were elements that I really liked, but too much of it was just too slow. I'm all for subtlety and taking time and care over stories and characters, but what I'll most remember about the show was its pace. Maybe it would be different if AMC had renewed the show, but right now that's pretty much my memory of it. C

Favorite Character Kale Ingram
Favorite Episode Due to its furious uptick in pace, and its horribly believable depiction of a terrorist's last day right before he blows himself up, Wayward Sons was probably the strongest episode of the series.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Undercovers NBC
I don't think anybody knows what the hell went wrong with this show. You can understand what JJ Abrams wanted, however. After years of creating TV shows with insanely convoluted mythologies and increasingly absurd storylines, Abrams wanted something easy, accessible and straight-forward. The ingredients were there, from the sexy spy couple at its center to the exotic international scenery to the comedy sidekicks. The pilot was fine. But what he ended up with was an uninspiring, poorly written spy series that discovered new meanings of the word "blah".

Boris Kodjoe and Gugu Mbatha-Raw were fine as the Agents Bloom, but lacked the 'sparkle' of, say, Jennifer Garner or Anna Torv. They had chemistry, but not the kind that makes you want to tune in every week. I loved that we had two black leads in a show that wasn't a lame sitcom (and I hope the failure of Undercovers isn't used as a ridiculous reason for not casting black actors in lead roles), and Carter Macintyre and Ben Schwartz were fun as the Bloom's CIA helpers. But Sam's ill-conceived drunk of a sister and the one-note gruffness of their CIA handler took up way too much time.

In terms of story, a lot of the missions were underwhelming. Equally bland were the frequent hints to something a little bigger and a lot more intriguing than what we were treated to each week. But when we actually found out Sam and Steven's 'dark secrets', they turned out to be pretty lame. Maybe if the show had taken a note from Mr. & Mrs. Smith and had the two leads working missions separately (and secretly), the show could have had more of a sense of urgency and sparkle.

What can be learned from Undercovers is that, while tricky, you need to create interesting characters and at least some form of mythology to hook an audience. Merely depicting run-of-the-mill spy escapades just isn't enough to keep a series alive in a TV climate where Burn Notice, Chuck and Covert Affairs cover all bases with fun characters, high-budget action and well-written comedy. Meh. This show won't be missed. D

Favorite Character Leo Nash
Favorite Episode The Pilot, since it was the only episode that wasn't a crushing disappointment.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The Walking Dead AMC
I'm still not sure if The Walking Dead deserves the ridiculous levels of kudos it has received for its first season, but it is without a doubt one of the most affecting series I've seen in a while. The true strength of the show is in its depiction of the realistic consequences of a zombie apocalypse... or as realistic as that could ever be. There was a brutality to the show that was pretty painful to watch as a viewer, with sympathetic characters getting horrifically killed, hospital patients being gunned down by gun-ho military soldiers, and the devastated faces of humans seeing their zombified loved ones for the first time. It was that realism that hooked me from the beginning.

There are obvious Lost parallels to a lot of the show, from the ensemble trapped in a strange new world to the 'blah' love triangle between Kate, uh, I mean Lori, Rick and Shane, but I don't think that has necessarily hurt the series so far. The characters so far haven't been hugely well developed beyond their basic 'personalities' (Glenn is funny, Daryl is a redneck, etc.) but I appreciated the small pieces of development in the season finale, from Dale and Andrea's heart-to-heart, to Shane's slow breakdown over his ultimately understandable actions with Rick in the hospital. I also loved Noah Emmerich's haunted performance in the final two episodes, perfectly capturing a man at the end of his tether and having already given up.

The Walking Dead's abridged first season was pretty humorless and tonally all over the place (which will doubtlessly get worse with the lack of a writing staff next season), but the sheer power of some of the more emotionally-driven moments were mesmerizing. And then there's the gorgeous visuals of barren city-scapes to salivate over. This is a show that has a vision and it'll be fun to see it unfold in all its grotesque, depressing glory. B

Favorite Character Andrea
Favorite Episode For capturing the mood of an indie drama with extra doses of zombies and intestines, Days Gone By.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Thanks for reading!