As far as television is concerned, the last few weeks of my life have been consumed with Netflix’s Making a Murderer. I’ll get into this much more on the upcoming return of the BingeCast. When it was over I was left with a void unlike anything I’ve ever experienced. I was convinced all I had to do was sit in a dark corner and wait until Banshee or Game of Thrones started up. I’ve recently started to consider the Golden Age of television is trailing off. The majority of the greats have ended (most badly) and even with the emergence of things such as Mr. Robot, Jessica Jones, and Fargo the last couple years, it seems the superiority of the small screen is getting slightly less noticeable. HBO doesn’t even have a drama on right now – what the fuck is that? And then somebody released the pilot episode of Billions early and some of my faith was restored. Welcome to my new shit.
There was no doubt I was watching this show regardless of it’s hype. I love Paul Giamatti with a passion. Whether he’s playing Pig Vomit in PRIVATE PARTS or voicing a fat snail in TURBO, I will watch. What I didn’t realize was how familiar the rest of the cast will be. To put it plainly, they’ve seemed to recruit an all star cast of People Who Have Died Horribly on Other Shows I Watched. It’s brilliant. Let me break it down for you.
Brody, himself, Damien Lewis is the main rival for Giamatti and their back and forth is going to be legendary. This is a charismatic Brody. A cock-sucking douchebag Brody with more than enough money to be the world’s biggest asshole. Lets face it, he’s always going to be Brody so just deal with it.
“Fucking Tara is in this?” My exact words when she showed up. And she’s pretty un-Tara, if that’s a thing. It is, shut up. Maggie Siff drops the glum mystery she brought to SOA and fits perfectly as a go-between voice of reason here. She’s banging one (maybe both), is a successful and strong personality, and actually says more than 1-2 sentences in a row. Who knew?
By the time Gale (David Costabile) shows up I was starting to giggle. Did everyone have their characters killed off to be a part of this show? Does this show take place in TV Heaven? Am I drunk again? Yes, to all of this.
Okay, my gathering of other TV characters theory is gone to shit. Dale (Jeffery DeMunn) was eaten by a zombie on The Walking Dead. So, even if this was weird TV Heaven, Dale would be a zombie. Imagine if he’s actually a zombie on this show? Here he is giving procedural law advice while secretly waiting to eat your face. I just made this show even better than it is.
Now they’re going deep and getting personal. Tim (Terry Kinney), from Oz is in this fucking show too? Has someone been watching over my shoulder for the past 15 years and just picking random awesome characters from shows that I obsessed with at one point or another? Yes, they have. This is a fact I’ve convinced myself of over a couple shots of chocolate vodka and eleven beers.
The creepy glasses guy from Daredevil too? C’mon, man. There’s nobody on this show I can’t link to some other great show I once watched religiously. Call it Six Degrees of Law’s Work Playlist. Call it that!
Anyway, before I burst a head vein, you put all these throwbacks together and add people like Malin Ackerman and I’m more than interested. Like I said before…. Welcome to my new shit. It’s the same as the old shits.
After a week away, Working the Weekend with Luke is back! While I do apologize for leaving you in the dark last weekend, it was for a very good reason as my kitchen has been completely overhauled and looks spectacular if I do say so myself. But you certainly don’t care about my home remodeling, so what exactly do I have in store for you this week? Well, I’ve actually been waiting six days to write this and you’ve probably already seen a ton of coverage on it, but I refuse to not write about last week’s episode of Better Call Saul. I will warn you once right now and that’s it. THIS WILL CONTAIN SPOILERS! Continue at your own risk.
“I broke my boy.”
Damn, I knew I was going to get ahead of myself. Okay, before I get to that, let’s just get this out of the way. I have a problem and the first step is admitting that you have a problem. But it’s an issue that I will never fix and I’m completely okay with it. Whew, here it goes….Hi. My name is Luke and I’m addicted to all things related to Breaking Bad. I’m not even sure anymore how many times I’ve been through the series. In all reality, I just finished binge watching all five (or what Gilligan calls five) seasons yet again and yes, I took some more new things out of it…yet again. But before I write 100,000 words on a series that’s been over for a year and a half (and that may be low-balling it), let me move on to the best prequel, sequel, and spin-off that will ever be. (Sorry, I didn’t watch that much Frasier).
When the announcement was made that Better Call Saul was actually going to be a show, I will admit that I was nervous. Breaking Bad was so absolutely perfect in my eyes that I thought tinkering with anything at all could be disastrous. The fact that Saul Goodman and Mike Ehrmantraut were my favorite supporting characters only heightened my fear that the show could fail and I’d be left with a bad taste in my mouth. But that’s what I get for doubting Vince Gilligan. Better Call Saul is absolutely phenomenal and I will literally (using my best Rob Lowe voice here) fight anyone who thinks otherwise.
Okay, that may be a bit much, but let’s get serious. The early storytelling of this show has been perfect. While the reviews have been pretty solid, I have heard rumblings that “it’s too slow” or “it’s certainly not Breaking Bad”, but here’s the thing. It’s not supposed to be. Is it cool to see some of the old faces from time to time? Sure. I mean, seriously, who didn’t gasp at least a little bit when we saw this at the end of the first episode?
Tuco? Are you kidding me? And how hilarious was it in the next episode when he looked at No-Doze as they had Saul in the middle of nowhere and told him to “stop helping”? Any Breaking Bad fan worth anything had to get a good chuckle out of that. But let’s all remember that for the time being, this is an origin story. Sure, later on, I see things moving in a direction where we maybe get Saul’s side of what’s going on during the Breaking Bad timeline, or what happens to Saul after he ends up in Nebraska (we already know that his best-case scenario of working at a Cinnabon in Omaha has happened). And yes, it would always be great to get another taste of Walter White or Jesse Pinkman or who seems to be everyone else’s favorite secondary character, Gus Fring. But for now, as I said, it’s an origin story for Saul Goodman and will continue to be. But in all the greatness that the first five episodes gave us, last week’s episode (Five-O) finally let viewers in to the origin story that we’ve all been waiting anxiously for, that of Mike Ehrmantraut.
We open Season 1, Episode 6 in a flashback as Mike is fresh off the train in the ABQ. He’s met by a woman named Stacy and they exchange quick pleasantries but before they can leave, Mike heads towards the restroom.
But instead of entering the men’s room, he instead walks into the women’s room to get himself a maxi-pad. Wait, what? This is stone cold hard-ass Mike we’re talking about here. Oh, now I get it. He needs it to cover up a bullet wound to the shoulder. That’s more like it, Mike. But when and where did Mike get shot?
We’re now back at Stacy’s and as a familiar little girl (well of course it’s Kaylee) plays in the background, we learn that the husband and father of this family, Matt, has recently died. Stacy asks Mike if Matt seemed different in the weeks leading up to his death, but in true Mike fashion, he plays the whole conversation very nonchalantly, responding merely with “he seemed okay to me.” Obviously not satisfied with Mike’s answer, Stacy continues to press about a phone call she overheard between Matt and a mystery man on the other end, who she is pretty sure was Mike, mainly due to the fact that Matt wasn’t an angry person unless it had to do with Mike. Shockingly enough, Mike denies it, gets in a cab and leaves.
Okay, by this time, we’ve obviously figured out that Matt is Mike’s son. To be honest with you, that answered a ton of questions that I had during the Breaking Bad days. Seriously, how many times did you sit and watch as Mike would drop off Kaylee but not really talk with her mother? Initially, I thought maybe he had some kind of falling out with his daughter, but it’s actually quite nice to know that this woman isn’t his daughter at all, but instead his son’s wife. So even if nothing else came out of this episode, I at least had an answer to that.
After a very quick yet awesome scene where Mike gets his wound stitched up by a veterinarian…….
…….we’re back in the present, at least what we’re calling the present for this show. Mike is now being questioned by the two detectives that showed up at the end of the previous episode.
As these two attempt to get Mike to talk, he only responds with one word: “Lawyer.” But who by chance would Mike know to represent him?
Why yes, it’s Saul Goodman…..I mean, Jimmy McGill. Sorry, it takes some getting used to. Make note of that cup of coffee in his hand, by the way. At this point, Jimmy is absolutely clueless to why he’s been called in, but he’s about to find out that Mike has a plan. Shocking, I know. That cup of coffee I mentioned is actually an integral part of how he’d like things to go down once the four of them are in the interrogation room together. Mike wants Jimmy to spill the coffee on the shorter detective to the right in the picture above, Detective Abbasi, so Mike can grab the notepad that he’s been writing notes in. Trying to play it straight from here on out, Jimmy’s not happy with the plan and initially refuses, until he hears what comes next.
This is where we really start to dig deep. Matt Ehrmantraut was a Philly cop just like his old man. After answering a call about shots being fired with his partner and a third officer, we learn that Matt didn’t make it out alive. There were no suspects and only two months ago, the other two cops (Hoffman and Fenske) were found murdered. And here we go.
At this point, I must ask that if you watch the episode again, please take a look at Bob Odenkirk during this scene. This is the kind of stuff that makes a great actor. His subtle reactions and facial expressions as he listens to the struggles of a man he barely knows and has had some recent sticker run-ins with are perfect. Sorry, but I just had to get that in there. But things are now starting to take shape. Have I mentioned that we’re not even close to this being the best part of the episode?
As the conversation nears its close, Mike explains that he doesn’t know anything about the murders and didn’t even hear about it until he was past Kansas City, which happens to be the day after the killings occurred. He tells the detectives that he had seen the two out drinking that night. And as we knew he would, Jimmy changes his mind and spills the coffee, allowing Mike to retrieve what he was after.
With everything that comes later, it’s easy to overlook a very key part of the timeline here. In my mind, this is really where Jimmy takes a big turn towards becoming Saul Goodman and it’s definitely the real start of the relationship with Mike. There’s now some emotion that doesn’t involve parking stickers, but more importantly we now have something to bond the two together: a little bit of trust.
We all know why the detectives are there. Obviously, Jimmy knows why as well. “In case you missed it, your friends from Philly back there think you killed two cops.” And it’s here that we get a classic Mike Ehrmantraut answer: “Yup!” Awesome.
So now Mike is on a mission. He calls Stacy with a demand of “we need to talk” and things get even better from here. He asks if she’s the one who called the cops and it turns out that she had after finding thousands of dollars in one of Matt’s old suitcases. Stacy thinks her husband was a cop on the take.
“My son wasn’t dirty!” Chills.
We’re now back in Philly on the night in question. We see Mike breaking into a cop car outside of the aforementioned bar. Soon after, we’re inside as a very drunken Mike (apparently a problem back in the day) sits at the bar and spots Hoffman and Fenske across the room. He staggers over, puts his arm around them, and gives them a quick “I know it was you”, as only the legendary Michael Corleone could have done it.
Mike, now fully inebriated, is attempting to walk home as Hoffman and Fenske pull up in their police cruiser and offer a ride home. After a search and retrieval of Mike’s gun, they buckle him up in the backseat and head out.
“You killed him, you killed Matty. You killed him for nothing. You killed him because you were scared of what he might do. You made it look like it was a junkie with a gun, but it was you. I know it was you and I’m gonna prove it.” Silence.
With the plan to simply drive Mike home now derailed, the officers instead take him to an abandoned part of the city to figure out where to go from here. Damn, I’m getting excited just getting to it. We now see that this is going exactly the way Mike wanted it to. Mike isn’t drunk. He’s in complete control of the situation. Why had he broken into the cop car? Oh, you mean the backseat of the cop car he was just in? It might be a good place to hide an extra piece. He takes a bullet to the shoulder (okay, we’ve got that cleared up), but he does indeed kill Hoffman and Fenske.
So that just happened. Damn, Mike, you weren’t kidding. That’s certainly not a half-measure now, is it? Did I mention that we’re STILL not to the best part of the episode?
I can only describe the next scene as what I believe to be the best part of this series thus far, but arguably one of the best scenes in the entirety of this fictional world as a whole, meaning that yes, I’m including Breaking Bad as well. I’m not even going to attempt a description. Just read this and then watch the episode if you haven’t already. And then watch it again.
Mike: You let some things slide and you look the other way. You bust a drug dealer that has more cash than you’ll ever earn in a lifetime. Some of it doesn’t make it back into evidence, so what? You took a taste. So did everyone else. That’s how you knew you were safe. It’s like killing Caesar – everyone’s guilty. Matt wasn’t dirty. I was. Everyone was in that precinct. That’s how it worked. You turn in your buddy, you’re screwing yourself. You go along to get along.
Stacey: And you went along.
Mike: I did. Yeah. I did.
Stacey: Okay. But you said Matt didn’t.
Mike: No. Not Matt. Fenske got to Hoffman early – kickbacks from some gang or another – protection, basically. And Hoffman went to Matty and offered to cut him in. Only fair, right? They were partners. And Matt did what you would think – He agonized. And then he came to me, wanted to go to the I.A., do the right thing, shut ’em down.
Stacey: Oh, my God. And you let him? That’s why he got killed… ‘Cause he was gonna turn on those guys?
Mike: No. No. I told him… You know what a cop fears most? More than getting shot, more than anything? Prison – Getting locked up with everybody you put away. You threaten a cop with that, you make him dangerous, and that’s what I told him. I talked sense. No one was getting hurt. But if you go to the I.A., if you even look like you’re going… He had a wife, a kid, responsibilities. Take the money. Do something good with it. Well… I tried. I tried. But he wouldn’t listen. My boy was stubborn. My boy was strong. And he was gonna get himself killed. So I told him… I told him I did it, too, That I was like Hoffman, getting by, and that’s what you heard that night – me talking him down, him kicking and screaming until the fight went out of him. He put me up on a pedestal… And I had to show him that I was down in the gutter with the rest of them. Broke my boy. I broke my boy.
He went to Hoffman, he took the money, but he hesitated. Even looking like you’re doing the right thing to those two meant that he wasn’t solid, that he couldn’t be trusted. I got Matty to take the money. And they killed him two days later. He was the strongest person that I ever knew. He’d have never done it, not even to save himself. I was the only one – I was the only one that could get him to debase himself like that. And it was for nothing. I made him lesser. I made him like me. And the bastards killed him anyway.
Stacey: Hoffman and Fensky… If they killed Matty… Who killed them? Pop… What happened?
Mike: You know what happened. The question is… can you live with it?
Holy hell, are you freaking kidding me? We saw very little emotion from Mike in Breaking Bad, outside of the constant anger outbursts. So to see something like this really speaks not just to the writing of the episode, but to Jonathan Banks himself. If you don’t know anything about him, just check him out and you’ll see that he’s been around forever, but this one episode really brings his most well-known character to an entirely new level. You start thinking about how this one episode of Better Call Saul can completely change the way you look at him in Breaking Bad. But now, it’s more important to think about where we go from here in this series. Saul Goodman is coming. And now we know where Mike Ehrmantraut came from. And I’m damn happy that I found out.
Thoughts? Comments? Leave them below or follow me @THElukenorris and don’t forget to listen to the brand new Bingecast right here at Binge Media.
Welcome to the March 1st edition of Working the Weekend with Luke here at the home of the best podcast in the business, Binge Media. This week, I put an end to my Oscar talk, pay tribute to an iconic character, and finally discuss the best prequel, sequel, and spin-off show on television. So let’s get to it.
If you’re familiar to the site, then you’ve seen how much I’ve written about the Oscars over the past six weeks. There were reviews and criticisms and a fan vote and last Sunday, it was finally showtime. And I’d have to say, all in all, most of the winners were who they were supposed to be. But just so I can finally put my Oscar talk to bed, let’s take a quick recap of what happened last Sunday night.
For the most part, I thought Neil Patrick Harris did a good job hosting. We all knew the opener was going to be a musical number, and I thought it was pretty solid. The Anna Kendrick bonus certainly didn’t hurt either (an excuse to put this picture up again).
I think the only hiccup that NPH really had was the “it takes a lot of balls to wear that dress” joke. I’ve got no problem with the joke itself, but the timing was a little poor after Dana Perry had mentioned her son’s suicide, but I’m actually wondering if he even heard her say that. For one, the music was playing her off of the stage, and he may have been waiting for his cue with the joke already on his mind. But other than that, I thought he was pretty solid.
And let’s get this out of the way. Stop whining people. The right movie won. No, Birdman didn’t have the real-life content of Selma or American Sniper, but it was a better movie. It doesn’t mean that the Academy is racist (do we remember the guilt vote for 12 Years A Slave last year) or that they don’t respect Chris Kyle. The movies just weren’t as good. And I know that there’s still a ton of people that think Boyhood should have won. Seriously, why? I said it before and I’ll say it again. The movie was average. I respect the process, but I just needed more than what was given to me. I know the focus is supposed to be on the boy, but I wanted more of the parents. Maybe that’s the father in me talking, but I thought Ethan Hawke was pretty solid and Patricia Arquette certainly did deserve the statuette she walked away with. The relationship between divorced parents is not an easy one, and I thought this was the only really good part of the movie. Otherwise, I was a little bored.
But not as bored as I was with The Theory of Everything. I think they really missed the boat with this movie. The story of Stephen Hawking is truly a remarkable one, but this was just off. They also didn’t include some very key details about the divorce and his second marriage. Oh, you didn’t know that he married one of his nurses and then divorced her as well? If you’re going to make a biopic, then make it. But don’t tell me that this is a great love story. What was given to me was a movie that was trying to be as good as A Beautiful Mind and failed. With that being said, I do think that Eddie Redmayne did a fantastic job in his portrayal of Hawking. But I must say that I was truly surprised when his name was called for Best Actor. I really thought it was Michael Keaton’s turn and I’m quite certain I’m not alone in that thought. But as usual, he took it like a pro when given the chance to speak when Birdman won Best Picture. “I’m just happy to be here.” Once again, one of Hollywood’s most underrated actors showed why he’s one of the most respected people in Tinseltown. I hope this Keaton resurgence continues. And just make a second Beetlejuice already.
So what was my favorite acceptance speech, you ask? I like the political one. Oh, that could be nearly all of them. But seriously, it was actually a tie for me.
J.K. Simmons is simply amazing and he’s cooler than you. Don’t believe me? Well, Law does. If you missed his article a few weeks ago, check it out HERE. I, too, have been a fan of this guy for a long time and it’s nice to finally see him getting some real recognition. This was easily the biggest lock of Oscar night and as an avid watcher of the Academy Awards, I know that they always start with this category, so I knew he’d be leading things off and he didn’t disappoint. Well done sir.
This was absolutely beautiful. There’s not much more I can say than that.
So to sum up, I’d say that it was a decent Oscar night. I thought every single musical performance was great and they were all so different, but in a good way. Hell, we got to see The Lonely Island perform live and it was awesome (yep, pun intended). Tim McGraw’s performance of the saddest damn song ever written was fantastic, but the right song won. The performance of “Glory” was so moving and powerful. Just ask Chris Pine.
It’s okay Chris. Blockbuster season is right around the corner, so we can finally put the Oscar talk on hold for a while. I’m sure I’ll be back with another series next year.
BETTER CALL SAUL
At some point, this will need its very own article. But with all of my Oscar talk, I haven’t had a free moment to mention Better Call Saul in this column yet. As you can obviously see by my weekly intro, I’m a huge fan of Breaking Bad, so when word got out that there was going to be a Saul Goodman spin-off, I was ecstatic. While most people look to Gus Fring as their favorite secondary character, I was a Saul guy and a Mike guy. So what do I get more of?
I won’t get into spoilers just yet, as I’ll probably do a season one wrap-up once everything has aired, but I’m digging the show thus far. Some people are wanting it to be Breaking Bad, but it’s not, and it’s not supposed to be. Sure, it’s awesome to see some old faces pop up here and there (tell me you didn’t have an “OHHHHHH” moment at the end of the first episode), but this show has to stand on its own two legs and they’re succeeding. It’s great to watch Bob Odenkirk get the chance to do different things with this character. I’m all in with Better Call Saul. I can’t wait to see where this goes. I mean, besides knowing that we’re going here.
RIP LEONARD NIMOY
I’m not going to pretend to be a Star Trek expert. Honestly, I really didn’t even really get into it until the reboot a few years ago. But nobody can deny that Leonard Nimoy is an American icon. Even people that have never watched a single second of any of the movies or series know who Spock is. And from everything I’ve ever read about Nimoy, he seems like a class act. Rest in peace, Leonard Nimoy. You certainly lived long and prospered.
Thoughts or comments on the Oscars, Better Call Saul, or Leonard Nimoy? You can leave them below or follow me on Twitter and tweet @THElukenorris. And don’t forget to check in tomorrow morning for the Bingecast. The guys have been “giggling for 2 days” so I’m sure we’re all in for a treat.
Apparently the Prime Time Emmy’s were on this past Monday night. I had no idea until I was tagged in a Facebook post regarding the wonderful Weird Al Yankovic. To be honest, had I been aware I still would not have given a fuck. At this point in time there are so many award shows for entertainment it’s ridiculous. Not only do we have the traditional ones like the Emmy, Oscar, and Grammy but now it seems like every other network has their own as well. My problems with them are as follows, too long, too cliche, and not always the best people win or in some cases the right people win but for the wrong thing. I get especially upset with the last one. As of late I feel it has been far too frequent that someone or something has won just because it won the year(s) before. My most recent complaint (and the catalyst for this article) was Brian Cranston winning over Matthew McConaughey for Best Actor in A Drama. Don’t get me wrong, Cranston was amazing as Walter White but I don’t think the character went any further then he did the past few years. McConaughey on the other hand, was B-R-I-L-L-I-A-N-T. Now if history repeats itself, which it most certainly does, he will win for another roll a few years down the road which will no doubt be great but not as great as his roll as Detective Cohle. I don’t know about you but that just feels like a hollow victory. Another thing are the categories. How the fuck is American Horror Story a miniseries? This was the third season. Season=Series? I’m fucking confused. So I say enough and instead of dealing with all that nonsense I’ll just watch something more entertaining, catch the winners as they hit my twitter feed and watch the highlights the next day on YouTube.
Fantasy Hockey
Okay folks, if you listened to this Monday’s Binge Cast (or saw my tweet or post yesterday) you knew this was coming. Here is a link to the League page where you can sign up. Right now we have 11 spots open and most settings are set to defaults. This is my first time playing as well as managing so I’ll be happy to listen to any input from those that join. This is something I would like to become a yearly thing so hopefully we get enough people to sign up and we have some fun. If we get more interest than spots open I will figure something out. Maybe expand amount of teams and do a Division thing. Hit me up if you have any suggestions or questions.
That’ll do it for this week. Any comments, questions, or concerns? Leave ’em below. You can also follow me on twitter @jekupka Until next week I leave you with this…
As of this writing both of my fantasy drafts this year are in the books. This, being year 2 of my fantasy football life, was a much stronger draft than last year. For instance, I took my boy Tom Brady in the first round last year. Yep, I know. As such, I had a format this year, stuck to it and was rewarded because of it. I lucked out and got first pick of the draft, had to take my boy LeSean. He was my go-to horse last year and the fact that I lucked out and grabbed him in both of my teams this year is fantastic. I am flirting with the idea of dropping Brandon LaFell and picking up Josh Gordon, just in case that suspension gets lifted at some point, but we’ll have to see what happens. Fellow Bingers, whaddayathink (looking at you, Norris)?
So this fantastic thing is happening where I want a few years for a show to blossom, then pick it up once it’s hit its stride and fall in love with it. Such is the case with Parks and Rec. I was a big fan of The Office when it was airing, up until about Season 5 where things really dipped off. I tuned in for Michael Scott’s last episode and then came back again for the series finale, but felt ultimately that show just went on too long. Having said that, Parks and Rec just looked like an unoriginal ripoff of a show that was a remake of another show.
I’m glad to say that while this show is most definitely trying to capitalize on that format it does have its own identity and style. In fact, I would say that if one were to stop watching The Office around Season 5 and then pick up Parks and Rec, you’d have a better time than hanging around to the end of The Office. Ron Swanson is a solid Dwight Schrute stand-in with some fantastic comedic timing, Aziz Ansari is perfect as a doucebag and any time Louis CK shows up in anything, no matter how terrible, it gets some respect. I’m almost finished with Season 2 and will continue watching in between episodes of another show I’m currently hooked on…
Yes, if you listened to the Binge Cast this week you know I’ve jumped back into The Wire for viewing #3. How am I feeling about this? Well, The Wire is such a dense story that I often forget how amazing it is. I fully admit I’ve never been able to get through The Sopranos. I think I tapped out somewhere at the start of Season 3 and never went back, a lot of which has to do with the fact that it couldn’t compare to The Wire. Still criminally underrated by comparison, it is really impressive how well the tone and theme of this show holds up today. To see someone tackle the failure of the American dream in such a logical, concise and unforgiving way makes this, in my estimation, the greatest TV drama ever made, even though I still would probably call Breaking Bad my favorite. Without going into details, Season 1, once again, delivered at every turn. I’ve always loved the way the series opens on the story about Snot Boogie with McNulty, and how that story compares to the rest of the season. It’s a great conversation that doesn’t wait to let you in on what’s going on, but rather challenges you as an audience member to pay attention and invest in this story. Moreno and I will have some commentaries for you soon, so keep an ear out for those, as well as our daily blogs and this week’s Strain commentary. Check out the video below for some footage of Kupka when he was younger and, as always, Binge On!
Welcome to your normal Sunday edition of Working the Weekend with Luke. Just a few things on the agenda today as I’ll take a look at a couple of new shows coming to FOX this fall and I continue my trilogy countdown with #9.
One of the nice things about working at a TV station is that the network sends down a disc with all of the nice, long trailers for their upcoming programming and even put a few episodes on there just so we know exactly what we’re dealing with when talking to our advertisers. I recently took a look at the upcoming shows for FOX and it’s clear that the big show coming this fall for them is Gotham, which takes a look at Jim Gordon as the new guy on the force in Gotham as he encounters young Bruce Wayne. The trailer looks pretty cool and they’ve got a nice cast, a nice touch with Donal Logue being Gordon’s partner. But there’s two others that I think are going to be pretty nice and I was able to preview some full episodes, so I just want to chat about those for a minute.
GRACEPOINT
This is billed as a 10-part mystery event. It’s based off of the UK show Broadchurch and its star, David Tennant, is the star here too as the new and brooding detective on the force. He’s joined by the woman whose job he basically stole, who is played by Anna Gunn in her return to television after all the success of Breaking Bad. The story is all based around the death of a 12 year old boy whose body is found on the beach. They get to that shit quickly too. I don’t think it was more than fifteen or twenty minutes in before I saw the body, so they get right after it. Since nothing like this has ever happened in this small community, it’s almost as if everyone in town is now a suspect, from the boy’s dad, played by the awesome Michael Pena, to the creepy old lady in town, played by Jacki Weaver, who you might recognize from Silver Linings Playbook. Then there’s the minister who used to date the mother and my personal favorite, the guy who runs the boat rental service, played by Mr. Nick Nolte.
I watched the first two episodes and I’m almost pissed at myself for doing it, because now I have to wait a little while before I get to a new episode. Even watching those first two, you think you may have it figured out, but then something else happens that changes your way of thinking and then you think it’s somebody else. I’m really digging the writing, the acting, and really just the whole thing in general. I’m jacked for this one.
RED BAND SOCIETY
The next show I watched was Red Band Society, quite the switch from Gracepoint. Here, we’re based at Ocean Park Hospital in LA. The big name here is Octavia Spencer, who won an Oscar for her role in The Help, and she plays the role of a nurse at this specialty hospital. Basically, what this show is going to be is The Breakfast Club for sick kids. The narrator is a 12 year old boy who is in a coma, which is interesting enough in itself. You’ve got the bitchy cheerleader who needs a new heart (no symbolism there), but is low on the donor list due to her problems with drugs. Then you’ve got the kid that’s missing a leg, a fate that his new roommate will soon share due to his cancer. Throw in the token black kid and the weird girl with the eating disorder and all that’s missing is Principal Vernon. All joking aside, the pilot was pretty solid. It’s billed as a drama, but it’s certainly got the comedic elements in there as well, and I can tell you that the emotional moments that I’ve seen and the ones that are sure to come really do get at you a little bit. If this is done correctly, it could be really good.
TRILOGY COUNTDOWN
#10-THE INFERNAL AFFAIRS TRILOGY-If you missed this one, click HERE.
#9-THE NAKED GUN TRILOGY
The Naked Gun, The Naked Gun 2 1/2: The Smell of Fear, The Naked Gun 33 1/3: The Final Insult
Straight from the files of Police Squad, number 9 on my list of favorite trilogies belongs to The Naked Gun. Back before O.J. rode the white Bronco to hell, he starred beside the late great Leslie Nielsen in three unbelievably hilarious flicks. I remember watching the first one when I was about ten and I don’t know if I’d ever laughed so hard. It’s hard to believe that as a younger man, Leslie Nielsen made his living as a dramatic actor. Go ahead, Google it. I’ve been thinking all day about what to write for this, but nothing I could ever say would be as great at what’s in the video below. So just go ahead and click and we’ll leave it at that. Love this shit!
Check back next weekend for #8. Any thoughts or memories of The Naked Gun? Comment below or follow me on Twitter and tweet @THElukenorris. But before I go, here’s your Beverly Hills, 90210 clip of the week. Yesterday, I gave you the meeting of Brandon and Dylan. Now witness the intro to the crazy that becomes Brenda and Dylan.
I know you’re used to seeing Working the Weekend with Luke on Sundays, but due to some technical difficulties last weekend, I was unable to produce. Therefore, you will get two columns this weekend, one today and one tomorrow. I said I would bring five editions in August and dammit, I’m a man of my word. So for today, I’ll touch on the inspiration for my name title above, and I’ll start my Top 10 Trilogy Countdown.
BREAKING BAD BINGE
I don’t really buy too many DVD’s or Blu-Ray’s anymore, and I’m not the biggest streamer either, so a few weeks ago, when I came across the news that AMC was going to start Breaking Bad from the beginning, I was freaking jacked. Starting last weekend and going to October 5th, they’ll be running episodes from 4 to midnight every Sunday, while including bonus never before seen interviews with the cast and crew. But Luke, I can watch them whenever I feel like it. Why don’t you just buy the box set? You know what, I’m divorced with a mortgage and other bills and twin 3 year old daughters. If you want to buy it and send it my way, hit me up and I’ll give you the mailing address for you to send it my way. It’s actually pretty cool having to wait again to see more episodes. It’s almost like watching it again for the first time. But this time around, I’ll be able to watch it knowing that I spent a day in the ABQ a few months back just touring the sites. I’ll give you a few pics, but if you want to read about that day, hit up The Luke Norris Experience HERE. Have an A1 day!
THE TRILOGY COUNTDOWN
A few weeks ago, I wrote how excited I was for the release of The Expendables 3 as I really dug the first two. Come on, it’s all the guys I grew up watching. Now, I’ve heard that the newest one doesn’t make the cut, but I’ll decide for myself soon. But it also got me to thinking about my favorite trilogies of all time, so starting today, I’ll be counting down from 10 (one each edition) of my favorites. If you’re new here, make a note to save the hate mail when I’m done because your precious (yes, I meant to do that) Lord of the Rings saga will not be included. I think they’re awful and I don’t like Peter Jackson. Deal with it. But without further delay, here is number 10 on my list of all-time favorite trilogies.
#10-THE INFERNAL AFFAIRS TRILOGY
Infernal Affairs, Infernal Affairs II, Infernal Affairs III
If you’re not familiar with this trilogy, it’s because it came from Hong Kong. If it does sound familiar to you, it’s more than likely because you know that it was remade here in the US by Martin Scorsese as a little movie called The Departed.
These movies were directed by Alan Mak and Andrew Lau, who is actually a completely different person than Andy Lau, who stars as Lau Kin-Ming (think Matt Damon), a member of the triad run by Hon (think Jack Nicholson). Lau has infiltrated the Hong Kong Police and he squares off with Chan Wing-Yan, played by Tony Leung (and not Leo). Chan is an undercover officer who has gotten in with the triad. The movie actually starts with a scene in a hi-fi shop with Lau and Chan and they have no idea who the other is. And that theme continues over the next ten years. Many of the scenes are very similar, if not close to the exact same as those from Scorsese, but this movie got there first. And if you can get a guy like Martin Scorsese to want to Americanize your movie, then you’re doing something right. And this movie did, if you’re able to deal with subtitles, which I really don’t have a problem with. The ending is nearly identical to The Departed, but the beauty is that the story continues, just not right away.
Infernal Affairs II takes the prequel route, explaining how each character got to where he is in the original. Through murders and kidnappings, the stage is set as Hon becomes the leader of the triad, Lau becomes a police inspector, and Chan has to remain undercover.
Infernal Affairs III tends to get a little tricky and confusing at times, as they jump back and forth between past and present events. It goes from about six months before Chan dies to nearly a year after, as the investigation of his death continues. Lau has been transferred to IA and without getting into all the crazy details, Lau ends up in a catatonic state by the end after he is wounded in a shootout and then tries to kill himself by shooting himself in the neck. The end is pretty nice though as Lau uses Morse code to tap out “HELL” as the screen fades, followed only by a final flashback (one of many in the trilogy) to the very first scene from the original as Lau and Chan meet in the shop.
The original is easily the best of the three. I tend to go back and forth between the second and third as I like both aspects. Like I said, the jumping around in the third, while necessary, does tend to get a little strange. But the original itself makes the entire trilogy worthy of cracking my top ten.
As I said, I’m double dipping this weekend, so check back tomorrow for another installment of Working the Weekend with Luke as I continue my countdown with #9 and it’s pretty awesome and even features an alleged killer. Any thoughts on Infernal Affairs? Comment below or follow me and tweet @THElukenorris. Catch you tomorrow, but first, another awesome clip from Beverly Hills, 90210, where the two icons, Brandon Walsh and Dylan McKay, meet for the first time.
That’s right. Until I can figure out something else to lead with, you’re going to keep getting the BREAKING BAD version of my name, so just learn to live with that. Welcome to the second installment of “Working the Weekend with Luke”. If your weekend is going well, great. If not, then get better friends. Luckily, I have some good ones and spent the first part of my weekend playing golf, drinking beer, camping, and drinking more beer. I suppose I can spend the rest of it here.
SEINFELD: 25TH ANNIVERSARY
Okay, I should have covered this last week to be closer to the actual date, but I was busy with the intro and all that, so sue me. But we’ll go ahead and celebrate the fact that this month 25 years ago, SEINFELD premiered on NBC, which was actually called THE SEINFELD CHRONICLES at the start. Now, there are two kinds of people in this world. There are people who like SEINFELD and people who don’t. I, for one, have always loved it. Whether you like it or not, you know you’ve seen it. For you young folks, just turn on TBS in the evening. I still catch it from time to time and I still think it’s funny as hell. Okay, Michael Richards turned out to be a racist and Jason Alexander tried 48 more sitcoms after this one, but Julia Louis-Dreyfus (who is still hot) is doing some great shit with her life. And honestly, I still think Elaine is the best female character in the history of the sitcom. Okay, the finale was fucking awful, I’ll give you that one. But this show was actually ahead of its time. They pulled off an entire episode about jerking off….in the 90’s before TV threw all their rules out the window. I know what some of you say…it’s just a group of selfish, sociopathic people that don’t give a damn about what happens to anybody outside of their circle. Sound familiar?
Exactly. And if you took nothing else from SEINFELD, take this. Among the numerous guest stars throughout the nine seasons, you may notice one that used this show as a springboard to a decent career.
Happy 25th Anniversary SEINFELD!
HONEST TRAILERS
Okay, I know I’m late to the party on this one, but for the first time this week, I discovered HONEST TRAILERS on Youtube. Holy shit, are these fucking great or what? I’m not one to spend countless time on the Internet just watching clips and reading memes, but I couldn’t stop. I came across it while reading a quick article about the 20th Anniversary of FORREST GUMP, which I was going to write about, but I’m not going to cover two anniversaries in one column. So I started with that one and just kept going. There is a ton of them on there. From the DARK KNIGHT to FROZEN and so many others, just check it out. If you haven’t seen them, here’s the one I started with and you can just take it from there.
GONE GIRL
Speaking of trailers (kick-ass segue), the new trailer for David Fincher’s GONE GIRL hit this week. I’m a huge fan of Fincher’s work. Obviously, FIGHT CLUB is awesome, but even the dramatic stuff like THE SOCIAL NETWORK or THE CURIOUS CASE OF BENJAMIN BUTTON is really solid. Hell, I’m still pissed that they don’t seem to be moving forward with the sequels to THE GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO. I just like the way the guy tells a story. I’m sure this one will be great as well. And yes, Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross are back with the music.
JAMES FRANCO
Seriously, I can’t be the only one that thinks this guy is just a pretentious douchebag. Now when I first saw him as James Dean back in the day, I thought he was awesome.
But now? I can’t fucking stand him. Sure, 127 HOURS was good and I will admit that THIS IS THE END was awesome, but not because of him. And the latest news from Franco this week is that he has now released a collection of poetry. I have nothing against poetry. I’ve actually been published in a couple of poetry collections myself (okay, now maybe I sound like the pretentious douchebag), but have you read any of his shit? It’s really, really awful, especially the one concerning Heath Ledger. It’s just the latest awful thing to come from this guy. I don’t tell people who to like and who not to like, but if you think this guy is talented, then I’ll tell you the same thing I would tell to James Franco himself: OPEN YOUR FUCKING EYES!
And now, a big reveal. If you know me, you know I’ve got a few guilty pleasures in life. I will share with you the most embarrassing one. The 90’s are by far my favorite decade in pop culture since I’ve been alive, so I will admit that I watched all ten seasons of BEVERLY HILLS 90210 and I know for a fact I’m not the only one here at Binge Media that digs it. So to close each week, I’ll give you the “90210 Clip of the Week”. We’ll start with the opening credits from Season 1. Don’t fucking judge me.
Look for new stuff at Binge Media Sports this week as I cover the MLB All-Star Game and I’ll be back again next weekend with more of whatever this is. Comments? Questions? Judgments? Leave them below or follow me and tweet @THElukenorris.
Synopsis: A rootless, manipulative man meets a small town insurance salesman and sets him on a path of destruction.
SPOILERS ABOUND
At a time when shows like Game of Thrones are thriving, True Detective is ready to launch a second season off of a solid foundation and Mad Men is winding down, it is great to see a show like Fargo come along and, in one episode,strive for the greatness of those previously mentioned programs. Without question, Fargo enters the arena of cable TV with a bang, delivering something wholly satisfying while also being comfortably familiar. After this first episode, I couldn’t tell you what the connective tissue between this show and the film, but there are so many lines, situations and character types echoed in this show that make any fan of the film feel right at home.
Stylistically, the show follows the exact formula that gave the film its style. From wide, scenic shots of Minnesota covered in snow to that signature accent, the filmmakers are clearly studying at the school of Coen, and succeeding in expanding on the style. One thing the Coens are great at is making their films, from one to another, completely independent of one another, and it’s nice to see a strong creative team really expand on the type of filmmaking the brothers used for the film. They even go so far as to have the same scene-to-scene fade transitions. If I were a betting man, it seems they are really trying to make us remember the film at every turn, not that there’s anything wrong with that.
Not that I was surprised by this, but the show already features stellar performances from the two leads. While extremely reminiscent of Anton Chigurh, Billy Bob Thornton’s Lorne Malvo is, to put it lightly, fucking fantastic. In a show populated with witty lines and comedic performances abound, Thornton stands out significantly. His demeanor screams creepy, but he somehow transcends that and turns it into malevolent and in-control. I can’t wait to find out what he’s all about over the course of this show. Concurrently, Martin Freeman is right at home as Lester Nygaard. While the character feels like an extension of his roles on The Office or even The Hobbit, by the end of this episode especially he really starts to make you feel a range of emotions that you might not have expected at the start of the episode. This type of bumbling, dim-witted character can sometimes come across as a pathetic cliche, but Freeman’s earnestness really makes up for any shortcomings the character himself has.
As far as the story goes, it’s already strong. Moreso than any other show I’ve seen on cable (aside from his holiness, Breaking Bad), this pilot genuinely feels like a big-budget film. Lester’s actions and, ultimately, his choice to murder his wife, as well as the immediate aftermath, feel like the type of character arc we see on the big screen regularly. And Malvo, the wildcard at play, meanders through the story thus far, causing moderate-to-extreme chaos wherever he goes. It’s clear he’s an outsider in this world, and the catalyst for a lot of bad around him. The window dressing is quality as well. Keith Carradine as a diner owner, and the father of the woman who’s shaping up to be the main police presence in the story, are both great in their respective roles. I’ve never seen Allison Tolman in anything I can remember before this, but she’s got a purity and sincerity not unlike Marge Gunderson herself. As I said, the “membranes” of the film are all over the show, it’s just unclear to see the how and why right now.
Fargo’s first episode is a solid beginning to something that could be great. I wouldn’t be surprised if this becomes THE show that follows in Breaking Bad’s footsteps as the kind of non-HBO programming. However, I’ve gotta say that even when putting this right up next to HBO’s best stuff, Fargo doesn’t feel like it has been compromised due to network constraints. I really hope this show continues to entertain, but either way, check back to Binge Media every week for our writeup!