666 Park Avenue: A Crowd of Demons (1.5)

Is 666 Park Avenue supposed to be campy? There were numerous moments this week in which I wondered if I had been looking at this show all wrong, and that I had been treating a campy horror soap like a dark soapy thriller all along. A Crowd of Demons isn't 'funny ha-ha' campy, of course, but campy in a "I can sort of see what they're trying to do here... if I reeeeally look for it" kind of way. Most of the dialogue is appalling ("That strange ritual was supposed to bring us incredible wealth", somebody actually says with a straight face this week), extreme tonal shifts occur at the drop of a hat, and plot devices drop like heavy anvils all over the place. It sure feels like a show intending to be campy. But while all of that would ordinarily result in a fun way to kill an hour on a Sunday night, 666 masterfully makes all this soapy awfulness actually pretty boring. It's some achievement.

Hunted: LB (1.2)

Cable television is a wonderful medium. Greater importance is placed on artistic vision, numbers aren't so important, series orders are shorter, production is less of a marathon. And the rules and regulations of network TV don't usually interfere with a writer's perspective. But cable television is sometimes a negative platform for writers who have only been previously involved with network TV. Frank Spotnitz is such a man, somebody who worked on shows which pushed as far as they could with the boundaries of horror violence in the 1990's on FOX, and who is presumably relishing less mandates and network notes. Cinemax allows Spotnitz to go all-out, bringing the ugly realities of criminality and spy work to the forefront, never stopping to sanitize any of it. But the problem, at least for me, is that I sometimes prefer the sanitized version.

A thousand of these things...

This is a huge thank you to everybody out there who has stumbled across my stuff, read a little bit of it, hopefully liked it, and an even bigger thanks to those of you who have commented and contributed yourselves. This is work that I am incredibly proud of, and while there's part of me that's unsure how much longer I'll be around, the feedback I've received thus far has been hugely flattering, and has pushed me to actively pursue similar endeavors in the real world.

To you, to television, and to the future!

Dawson's Creek: Mind Games (4.16)

Drue has one of those characteristically Dawson's Creek meta moments this week, in which he explicitly discusses the respective Dawson/Joey, Joey/Pacey couples, and explains which one he finds more interesting as an impartial member of the audience. It's a fun bit, characters literally discussing what everybody at home is talking about. But, watching Mind Games, I realized that it's no longer important which couple you 'side' with, since the most important obstacle right now is Joey's shiftiness. Gretchen describes it perfectly when she demands that Joey stop using the love triangle as some kind of excuse for her own shitty behavior, and that lying to both men in her life will only do damage in the future. It's absolutely true, and exposes where the real issue lies.

Dawson's Creek: Four Stories (4.15)

Two episodes ago I wrote about the way that Dawson's Creek has recently been exploiting dialogue, and how the writers have been using characters and their conversations to sell a story, rather than throwing together a bunch of plot devices. It's a theme exploited even further here, Four Stories essentially being four vignettes of conversation, each story anchored by two characters talking to each other about their feelings and emotions. It's one of the most frustrating episodes in a while in terms of characterization, but there was something here that really absorbed me. Maybe it was the fact that when you completely strip back a script, until it resembles just two people talking about their lives, it almost forces you to listen intently. And you get totally enraptured by it.

American Horror Story: Tricks and Treats (2.2)

It's funny that there isn't so much a singular protagonist this season. As a result, last week's premiere seemed to travel down various tangents as it went along, bouncing from a story about Kit, the incarcerated maybe-murderer, to a story about Lana Winters, snooping reporter locked away to keep her quiet. Then there was Jessica Lange, so dominating the screen but not so focused upon that she instantly became the show's lead. Tricks and Treats introduced Zachary Quinto as a do-gooder doctor disgusted by the regressive treatments at Briarcliff Hospital, and it was yet another ingredient being added to the mix. It's not at all a complaint, but it's been a little hard to entirely latch onto one clear lead so far. Whereas last season saw the Harmons very much at the center of things, Asylum seems far more eager to bounce around between a tight ensemble -- even if it remains at least atypical to not have one character who really anchors it all.

Alias: Trust Me (2.2)

This episode was all about power. You would think that the CIA would have the upper hand with Irina in their custody, but it's quickly made clear that she's still holding all the cards, enforcing her power as quietly as possible. She's already such a strong character, projecting this ownership and strength despite, once again, having barely any lines. But as Trust Me builds, the ever-shifting balance of power is tipped over into Sydney's favor. While Irina is still orchestrating something, Syd makes sure to stand strong and promote herself as a willing ally. Despite their genetic ties, they are not friends, nor will Sydney bow down to her mother's rule. Like Janet Jackson once said, this is about control, and despite the current messy circumstances for the Bristow family, Sydney is standing her ground.

Alias: The Enemy Walks In (2.1)

Let's just picture the scene. Your mom died when you were a child, and you grew up with this fantastical mental image of a woman who loved you unconditionally and gave you the emotional support you always needed, especially in the light of an absent father. Then, years later, you are told that she wasn't at all who she said she was, but in fact a lying, murderous, criminal traitor. A couple of months later, you discover that she isn't dead at all. Then you see her face-to-face for the first time in decades. And then she shoots you in the shoulder, before disappearing. The next time you see her, she shoots her nearest ally dead in cold blood, yet spares your life. She then disappears again, only to hand herself over to the CIA soon after. This lady is not a walk in the park.