909 Watches TV: Peaky Blinders

[909]

BLOOD ON THE SCALES

The Olympics are nearly over, so it's time to get back to my projects. Anyway, I left this on quite the cliffhanger. Gaeta and Zarek are trying to comment their mutiny, and it doesn't work out in the end after all. With Gaius' and the Cylons help, Roslin is able to broadcast to the fleet and that breaks just enough of the traitor's spirits. From there it's just a matter of time. There are things that will play into future episodes though. One is that Zarek had the whole Quorum executed. Zarek also makes the incorrect assumption that Adama has been executed when he has not been. He runs his mouth a little too much, and at the end he and Gaeta pay for it. They are executed. Tyrol also plays a big part in Adama regaining power, and while down in the ship trying to make something happen, he notices that there are huge gouges in the side of the Galactica. Will this be the end of the ship? There's only a few more episodes so my guess is that it will be. This is a good episode, but also quite surprising and develops more story ideas that I didn't see coming. Especially the gouges.

 

[cobainwasmurdered]

IM TAKING MY SHIP BACK!

i love this episode so much. so much shit comes together. The way the crew gathers around Adama as he storms toward the bridge is so great

 

[909]

NO EXIT

Now it's time for us to find out what happened to Ellen all those months she was separated from everyone else. Of course she's not dead. This is hardly shocking. Instead, Cavil resurrected her and this leads to an episode that is the mother of all info dumps. I don't know where to start but we get the full picture of Cylon history here. Dead giveaway that the show was about to end, but I'm cool with that. The important parts are that Ellen and Saul, but mostly Ellen, they created these Cylons. The centurions created the models, they helped the centurions with resurrection. Then at some point Cavil got control of the final five and dumped them out into the fleet. Cavil is a sociopath of course, but he explains how and why he's that way in this episode. The episode ends with Boomer taking Ellen back to Galactica, which isn't that surprising either. An exposition laden episode like this one can either be really fucking bad or it can all come together. There's also more exposition than just Ellen's. Anders has tons to say with the bullet lodged in his brain. It must be in right spot because all kinds of memories came back and he's said all kinds of things. You need to have watched the show for any of this to have relevance though, it's much more intensive than Ellen's exposition. I liked this episode. I felt the questions that needed to be answered now have been. There are some other issues with this season that I will get into detail about below.

DEADLOCK

I fuckin hated this episode. Everything here is way too much like a soap opera for my taste and I'm not a fan of it at all. The characterizations here are also not consistent with what we've come to know about the characters. All of a sudden Tyrol is cool with leaving the fleet even though he's been given his job back and they're repairing the ship. This just doesn't make any sense. Why would he leave? Apparently the Cylons are taking a vote about leaving because they now believe they can reproduce as a result of Saul and the 6's pregnancy. Except it turns out that they can't, rendering most of this episode meaningless. That is, except for further development of Saul's character. Even though his development is intertwined with some of these terrible parts, at least that gives the episode some meaningful material. Gaius also returns during this in a storyline where his cult needs to be given weapons to ensure that people of the fleet are able to get food without being strong armed. Between this and the busted up ship, it seems like everything's falling apart. Did not like this.

 

[909]

SOMEONE TO WATCH OVER ME

This is a much better episode than the previous, but that goes without saying because it would be hard to be worse. The episode is largely focused on Kara, who is having lots of personal issues in addition to those of her husband, who is now comatose. Over the course of the episode, Starbuck makes friends with a piano player who it turns out is not actually real. This shit right here made me think she is also not real. Yes, the characters acknowledged her many times, but this is science-fiction. Of course this opinion is vindicated in the episode following this one. The piano player's role here is to help Kara reconstruct a song she remembers from her childhood, which Hera turns out to have written the notes for. It is also THE song that activated the final four Cylons. This obviously has great significance although we'll have to see what it means in later episodes, of which there are now very few. Tyrol also continues his poor characterization in this episode because now he wants to break Boomer free when he married the girl who shot Boomer 'dead.' I'm really annoyed by this shit, but he takes the real blow at the end as his decision led to Boomer kidnapping Hera. Good little twist there. The Galactica is also now clearly ruined as a result of all this.

ISLANDED IN A STREAM OF STARS

Repairs on the Galactica are attempted, but they do not work. Clearly we have now reached the end. It takes Adama some time to come to grips with this, but it will be time to move all their military resources to the base star, which will be under his command. The days of humans being completely separated from Cylon technology have now passed. Ellen seems to know exactly what Cavil will have planned, clearly he wants to test Hera and use her to find out how they can procreate. And that will be the end of all that. Their big ship has also moved, so even though Helo begs Adama to be allowed to go look for his daughter, he cannot. It seems clear Boomer will also turn on Cavil at some point based on her reaction when she gives Hera to him. Sam is also now like a hybrid, but the most important thing in the episode seems to me to be a speech Gaius gives. Starbuck makes the mistake of confiding in him, Gaius then uses that in stating that his views are correct and that there are angels/ghosts walking amongst them. That is what Starbuck is, that much is clear. How the fuck else would she not be dead? I'm sure this will be shown in the last episode, which is three parts.

 

[909]

DAYBREAK

This was a three part episode, which obviously means that a lot happened. Unfortunately I really disliked the ending of this series. I liked a lot of the things that happened before that, but not the ending. A lot of these things were consistent with the season though. I don't mind that there are subplots left unfinished, that's never really been a problem to me. I don't always mind when the main plot is unfinished especially if it's a case where everyone can tell what happened for themselves (Sopranos). I found that the ending was not consistent with the overall tone of the show either. You know what separates this show from the greats? It's the ending, and mostly the last season in general. What is it I hate about the ending? It's the ghost stuff. It's Starbuck magically finding Earth. None of this really fits with the show, but it's what they came up with. I'm not saying everyone had to die or some shit, I'm saying things happen too quickly here without a scientific or logic based reason.

The flashbacks here are one thing that's really good, but they detract from the episode because they're an unnecessary distraction and take up space that could be used to flesh out the ending. Clearly nobody wanted it to be fleshed out though. I did like some of the things in this episode though, namely Cavil killing himself and Tyrol killing Tory, who absolutely deserved it. I also think I liked the epilogue and felt that Gaius was one of the characters who had his story wrapped up in proper fashion. I really fucking hate the loss of their technology though. I feel like there would never be a group of humans with their advancements that would actually do some shit like that. The idea that there would be strikes me as being completely stupid. Not only that, but they let the centurions go back into space. What if they came back? After all that's happened, the ending of the show doesn't strike me as being cynical enough. That's the real issue here. People who had this kind of shit happen to them would not be like this, and I can't get past all that. They shouldn't have gotten past it either.

 

[cobainwasmurdered]

this is basically how i feel. i love the journey but the finale just didnt do it

 

[909]

Favorite Episodes: Pegasus, Resurrection Ship, Crossroads, The Captain's Hand, Lay Down Your Burdens,
Least Favorites: Hero, Black Market, Daybreak, Taking a Break from All Your Worries

Favorite Characters: This is actually a tough one because the characters evolve so much for the most part. For season 1 I would say Adama. Second season would be Tigh. Third would be Tigh. Fourth would be Gaius.
Least Favorites: Starbuck and Apollo for sure. This is a lot easier than favorites. These two do so much shit that annoys me. I loved when Adama called his son a fat ass. That was the least he could say after all the lack of respect his son showed him. Cally was horrendous too and I was glad she died. Speaking of which...

Favorite Death: When Tory airlocked Cally. Nothing else even comes close. Second place goes to Cavil shooting himself.
Least Favorite Death: It wasn't the right time to kill off Kat. This decision closed too many story avenues for characters and led to a bit of aimlessness with Starbuck especially. At least for a while.
Best Moments: Adama turning on Admiral Cain. Fat Apollo. The reveal of four of the Final Five. All of Gaius' trial. Gaeta being executed. Gaius encountering a real Number Six and not knowing what to do.
Worst Moments: These are pretty easy. Main one is Starbuck coming back to life, killing a great moment and sending us down a spiral that led to what I thought was a bad finale. Cally shooting Boomer was bad, Tyrol marrying her was even worse. Made no sense to me. I also hated the first season plot with Athena and Helo on the run on Caprica. It eventually tied back into the show but that wasn't my favorite thing in the world. Also not a big fan of most of the story decisions they had with Anders.

Alright, so I understand the Iraq War allegory and all that stuff, but I didn't want to talk about it because that aspect doesn't really hold up that well. Almost the whole rest of the show does. The humans enslaved robots and ultimately they paid the cost for that. What I have an issue with is how they forgot what the robots did to them and abandoned all their technology, much of which they still needed in order to remain in contact with one another. They also didn't explain whether or not everyone permanently went their separate ways. What about food? These kinds of things really annoy me.

Season Ranking

3
2
1
4

Show Rating: 8/10. The ending bothers me too much at this moment.

 

[cobainwasmurdered]

fair rating. the ending is really weak. I love the season up through them executing the traitors but the finish just doesn't work. I'd have rather they tried for something a little less "neat" and hopeful. They could have even done something interesting like them finding evidence of other intelligent life which causes them to realize there are other issues. Almost anything would have been better.

 

[909]

Alright, so onto the next show, which will be me catching up on Always Sunny.

SEASON 12

THE GANG TURNS BLACK

I've heard a lot about some of these episodes, particularly this one. Some liked it and some didn't. I remember reading a critic slam them for this episode and how it didn't represent what it is to be black, and I also remember that the critic who wrote that was white. So with that in mind, I dove in. I liked it. They do repeat the song about the rules a few too many times, but everything else hits the right notes. The thing I was hoping for was that Frank would want to say the n-word, wouldn't be able to do it, and then I hoped that the Gang would see what it's like to be treated poorly for doing things less awful than their usual activities. Of course it was all a dream though.

THE GANG GOES TO A WATER PARK

This is more hit and miss, but really sticks the landing at the end. I thought Frank and Charlie were the best parts of this episode. The other three have great moments in spurts, but I don't like Dennis partnering with a child to do bad things. I feel like he would not do that. Dee and Mac are hilarious in bursts here, but I wasn't a big fan of how long they remained stuck in the slide. AIDS blood at the end though. How could anyone not find that funny?

 

[cobainwasmurdered]

didnt like the bulk of either episode a ton but the endings of both were great

 

[Brocklock]

I like the Waterpark episode, but it's a bit overrated, especially on the Always Sunny reddit where it's usually talked up as one of the best episodes of the show. Charlie/Frank and Mac/Dee was classic Sunny, but I wasn't really feeling the storyline with Dennis and the little girl and it got too much focus.

Gang Turns Black was fine. It has grown on me, but I tend to be cold on their more experimental/meta episodes. Especially in the later seasons. The experimental episodes tend to leave some characters feeling underutilized. The best episodes to me are the ones that use all five main characters properly and give them funny material.

 

[909]

The water park was like the ski episode, I thought. I can see why someone would love it or not care for it. I do see the overall problem with the later stages of the show and how the storylines came even further into the realm of the ridiculous.

 

[Brocklock]

Yeah, they seem to have embraced the flanderization of the characters and the overall wackiness with the writing. But, it can get to be a lot at times in some of the newer episodes. I still like the show quite a bit, but it's more because of the cast than the writing.

 

[909]

OLD LADY HOUSE: A SITUATION COMEDY

This episode bombed hard with me. The parts where Mac's Mom and Bonnie start arguing and/or trying to kill each other are funny. Everything else is not, and there's a lot of everything else. I also noticed that we hadn't seen Paddy's Pub in the first two episodes, but we do here. This just doesn't do it for me at all.

WOLF COLA: A PUBLIC RELATIONS NIGHTMARE

On the other hand, we have an episode that's completely different than the other three. The gang gets back to doing shit in groups, and it's good. Cerrone and Felder have some great lines here. FIGHT MILK! Dennis also has some good moments where he loses his shit and the truth starts leaking out of him. Everyone here has good spots actually. My favorite might be Frank snorting out of the baggie after making strange, animalistic type sounds.

MAKING DENNIS REYNOLDS A MURDERER

Bummed out that Maureen Ponderosa is dead. Her spectacular tits are seemingly now departed from the show forever. This is a ridiculous episode, but it's also really funny and it doesn't matter that they've jumped the shark with something like this. The regular episodes are better though. That being said this is one of the only times we've seen Dennis by himself, and we see again how he acts by himself. It's funny. Also, Frank killed kids.

HERO OR HATE CRIME?

This is perfect on every level. There's nowhere to start, but the main premise here is they go to an arbitrator to fight over who owns a lottery ticket. Before that, we have great moments too. Mac also comes all the way out of the closet here and that's that. There is nothing here that isn't funny. Mac came out of the closet for 14 dollars. The Ass Pounder 4000 is an amazing gag. So are the mirrors on Frank's shoes. I was surprised that they dropped every curse word in here, but it was good for a laugh. The scene where Mac comes out (again) is also timed perfectly. It would have been cool if they made him Gay Rich Mac just to see what would happen to the show, but that's okay.

PTSDEE

This episode should have been shit. The concept is shit. I died laughing though. Everything here except for Mac/Frank is extremely funny. The ending is hilarious, Charlie/Dennis are hilarious, and the latter has multiple payoffs that all work. The finger in the asshole is so nasty too, I actually woke someone up because I was laughing so hard. Also, when you think about it, Mac and Frank's storyline is funny for different than expected reasons. Mac and Frank never had a lot of scenes once it became clear but not official that Mac was gay. Then it was kind of official and Frank acted like he hated him. Now that it's really official, the first episode after that they hang out playing video games. I dunno. To me this was funny. Again though, I howled when that chick said her dad's cock was in her face.

 

[909]

THE GANG TENDS BAR

There are customers in the bar. Dennis wants everyone to work. They do not want to work. It is Valentine's Day and it seems Dee is very upset that Charlie is unresponsive to something she gave him. Mac keeps trying to get Dennis to open a crate in the alley, and Frank has a tapeworm that Charlie is very upset about. This is my favorite kind of episode, one where Charlie is angry that Frank (his dad) won't take care of himself. I guess Frank is his dad though, I'm not completely sure. This is the first episode of the series where the concept was that the Gang had to do their job. Obviously they did not.

A CRICKET'S TALE

This episode is already infamous, and the less said the better. It wasn't as bad as I thought it would be, but it was still painful.

DENNIS' DOUBLE LIFE

Hit and miss here. Charlie banging the Waitress and getting tired of her is a huge miss. You just can't send the storyline down that road. That being said I'm cool with them not being together. Yet, they are together. It's funny that Dennis gave Mandy the fake name of Brian Levefre. And now there's a Brian Jr. for a guy that doesn't exist. I guess he has a son though, and he wanted free of his obligations, but at the end of the episode he decides to go off to North Dakota. The way all this ended, I can see why! The dancing scene is really funny though. Of course I'm watching this at a point where everyone knows Dennis returned to the show, so the tension here is gone. Strong episode overall though. Two dads would have been the best conclusion.

 

[909]

SEASON 13

THE GANG MAKES PADDY'S GREAT AGAIN

When I saw this episode title, I'm not gonna lie. It made me nervous. I am still not ready for TV shows that make jokes out of the Trump years. That's one of the reasons I'm watching shows in this order, because for the next few years they were pre-Trump. That is, except for this one. I thought this was hilarious though. The Dennis doll and the jokes about Mac blowing loads in it did not get old. Of course this also leads to a great finish (pun not intended) where the doll seems to come to life and Dennis returns. I popped (pun intended this time) for this. I thought Mindy Kaling was a good addition, but you can't add a sixth member to the Gang. Five is already plenty. The Waitress and Charlie storyline is already played out for me and I don't want to see it, so it's good they broke up.

THE GANG ESCAPES

This is a very good escape room episode. The Gang is very much like themselves here. No additional characters who take up any part of the plot, nothing else that matters. Charlie/Frank and Mac/Dennis break off into groups, they decide to throw Dee into Dennis' room and lock the door. This leads to an amazing scene with Dee that hits a lot of notes. One is the obvious Jurassic Park reference. Another is the episode where Dennis has to be a gigolo. The ending was a bit of a cop out, but it was a very fun ride until we got there. Nothing here is as unrealistic as a lot of the previous season, but then...

THE GANG BEATS BOGGS: LADIES' REBOOT

I understand what they're going for here, it's a riff on remaking every movie with an all female cast and all that. It just doesn't work because too many of these characters suck, and matters are mad worse because this is a story we've already seen before. Kaitlin Olson tries her best, but the rest of the cast is not up to this task. Bonnie is good here, and so is Gail the Snail. That's it. Artemis is awful, the Waitress is worse. Mac's mom has to do more than she should and the character isn't equipped for that, nobody asked for that either. This is bad. I cracked up at some of the things Bonnie said, and at Frank being in the lavatory. That's about it.

 

[Brocklock]

I liked the Ladies Reboot the first time I saw it, but the way they used the characters were weird and it's not a good episode. Dee shouldn't be the straight woman to the side characters. She should be the craziest one in the room. I guess they did that because Kaitlin is the best actress of the female cast and is the only one that can carry things, but still. I did still like the scene where it's revealed Dee is really good at math if alcohol is involved.

Artemis was mostly used for exposition and to explain the reboot joke. She can grate on me, but she has her moments and can be used better than that. I thought The Waitress was okay, but she shouldn't be used as the wackiest character. Bonnie's OCD kind of got old to me in this episode. I found Mac's mom taking her job way too seriously to be sort of funny.

 

[cobainwasmurdered]

the ladies ep yeah it doesn't really work and it also was tough since it was trying to do a take on such a great episode.

I got big laughs out of Dennis's personal escape room and the general trend in the last couple seasons to really building up his "this guy is a serial killer isnt he?" side.

 

[Brocklock]

You're almost at Charlie's Home Alone. I hate that episode as much as A Cricket's Tale. Just brutally unfunny to me.

You're also really close to one of my favorite episodes in recent years as well.

 

[909]

TIME'S UP FOR THE GANG

I think this is one of my favorites. Everything about this is hilarious. There's a seminar about sexual harassment, and of course Dennis paid for it so that he could lecture people. Everyone slides into their natural role here perfectly. None of these jokes got old, and I think this has a lot to do with how limited the run time is for these episodes. Right at the time it could get old, it's over. Nicely done.

THE GANG GETS NEW WHEELS

This is a weird episode in that everyone gets equal screen time even though there are many different storylines going on here. Mac and Charlie are the only duo, they've gotten bikes that some kids stole, so they beat up those kids. Dennis needs to replace his Range Rover, which he eventually does, but before that he actually acts like a human being for once. Frank needs a new driver's license, and Dee gets a new Range Rover that Frank bought. She also bangs a kid. This is funny but there's too much going on here.

 

[Brocklock]

Yeah Times Up For The Gang was the episode I mentioned that is one of my favorites. They nailed everything and it's an episode that shows that while Sunny is past its prime, they can still deliver something as funny as anything on tv once in a while.

I also loved the New Wheels, but I prefer the episodes where everyone has something going on. I thought they did a good job balancing everyone's story line. I really enjoyed Dee and Dennis' the most. And I thought it was clever in how everyone devolved into whatever vehicle they were using. Mac and Charlie acting like kids because of the bikes, Dennis acting like a wuss (Played by Jamie from the Progressive Commercials lol) because of the Prius, Dee acting like Dennis because of The Range Rover. It also has one of my favorite endings in recent years that probably would've worked as a low key series ending with everyone grooving to "Never Gonna Give You Up" in The Range Rover.

 

[909]

THE GANG SOLVES THE BATHROOM PROBLEM

This isn't a great episode, but it's amusing. Particularly in the sense that three of these people love Jimmy Buffett. It would be pretty cool to go see Jimmy Buffett with them though. I think the real key here is also that they address a touchy subject without going overboard at any point, other than when Charlie puts on the dress. I don't get that. It's very difficult to make episodes like these, with this subject matter, and to get people to laugh anyway. This episode does that.

THE GANG DOES A CLIP SHOW

This is a nice twist on a clip show in that all the events aren't shown as they previously happened. They are shown according to the flawed memories of the characters. At least some of them are. This is a nice, very welcome twist. Also, a clip show for this show works because I haven't seen the clips too many times. As such I find the clips to be almost as funny as they were the first time I saw them. The ending here with two Charlie's is too on the nose though.

CHARLIE'S HOME ALONE

Worst episode. The end.

THE GANG WINS THE BIG GAME

I don't like this episode that much either, but I hate the Eagles. I also feel like Dennis is greatly missed here, and with Dee having fucked up eyes, most of the responsibility to carry the episode falls on Mac. Ronald Macdonald does his best, but this is an impossible job for the same reason that the airplane episode sucks. The worst remnants of the cast are all over the episode, and Mac has to corral them and control them. The only thing of great value here is Frank trying to pass a kidney stone.

 

[Mickey Massuco]

this is an impossible job for the same reason that the airplane episode sucks

Wait you’re not hating on the Boggs episode are you?

 

[Hawk 34]

Wait you’re not hating on the Boggs episode are you?

He’s talking about female version.

 

[Brocklock]

Yeah he's shitting on how one note most of the side characters are and how tough it is for one of the main characters to carry them. Dee had to do it in the Female Boggs Reboot.

I don't hate the side characters as much as 909, but the fact that the best ones (Liam and Ryan McPoyle) haven't been on an episode since 2013 is crazy. I know Jimmi Simpson is super busy, but I'd love to see them back.

 

[Mickey Massuco]

Yeah that’s part of why the last few seasons haven’t been up to par IMO.

 

[909]

MAC FINDS HIS PRIDE

This is a great episode for a lot of reasons. Namely because they completely tricked the audience into thinking the episode was about something that it wasn't. They go through the motions of a shitty episode, with the characters being shitty...only to not go that route in the end after all. The dance scene doesn't have any grand meaning to me the way it does with some people, but that's cool. It's still a great episode even without that kind of meaning. Subversion of expectations is the best thing Sunny does. When they try it, it works, and it's always fun.

SEASON 14

THE GANG GETS ROMANTIC

I'm not sure why, but I found these two episodes to be hilarious. More so than the previous ones. Here we have an AirBNB thing where Mac and Dennis go so far beyond the boundaries of normal as to be completely disgusting. It's also very funny. Charlie and Frank have their own thing going on with two Austrians who act like they do, and they really want to be friends with them forever. This shouldn't be as good as it actually turned out. The heroin girls were a good laugh too. Unfortunately Dee is mostly completely wasted here.

THUNDERGUN 4: MAXIMUM COOL

I don't really care about how this ended and don't care about the epilogue. I care about everything before that. It's five people in a room complaining about everything they hate about movies, with hypocrisy included and all that. Charlie is also the dumbest motherfucker to ever be on a television show and the surveyor's reaction to him was priceless. Whoever played that role did an amazing job and deserves plaudits, but I don't want to waste my time looking up her name. I about died when Frank was talking about porn theaters. A+.

 

[909]

DEE DAY

In some ways I can see why this episode was removed even though I don't agree. A lot of the gags here completely stuck the landing. The main one for me was Dennis having to take off all his enhancers. The ending is a little predictable but this is a highly enjoyable episode. Of course the gimmick here is that it's Dee's turn to have her day. Like when Mac had his, etc. Nothing terribly interesting happens in the terms of the events she chose, but they lead to all these other things.

THE GANG CHOKES

It appears that Mac's character direction is divisive, but I found it funny. He needs Dennis so much, he's so into him that he just can't live his life without Dennis and he'll do anything in order to make Dennis more attached to him. Doesn't work. I don't think this episode is great or anything though. Dee wanting to flat line doesn't really hit with me. Frank agitating the waiter kind of does, but I don't care all that much. Not one of their best efforts IMO.

THE GANG TEXTS

This is one of my favorite episodes. The Gang goes to the zoo, they split up because Mac and Charlie are waiting for Frank, which leads to a long text chain. Some of the texts are riotously funny, but I had to pause to read Mac's. That's okay though. The peeing dominance thing, Mac in the bathroom, Dennis getting off when he hears about the goats...all of this is too good. I also loved Frank banging on and spitting all over the gorilla enclosure, but I think on some level the way everyone is trying to avoid Dee is getting to be a little too much. Loved this though.

 

[Brocklock]

They really need to dial back the hating on Dee. It's starting to hold Kaitlin back and she's standing around with her hands in her pockets too much in Season 14. She really doesn't get to yell at people anymore or do any big physical comedy bits. She was still doing all that stuff on her other shows, but they don't use her as much on Sunny and it's one of the things hurting the show imo.

I did find her great in The Gang Chokes though. They actually brought in someone from her other show The Mick to write that episode and it shows tbh since she actually has a plot and scenes written to play to her strengths.

I found Mac pining over Dennis in every episode to be pretty exhausting and it's old hat at this point. Would've been funnier to do something new with his character like give him a boyfriend or have him try to date which makes Dennis jealous or something.

 

[Hawk 34]

Mac dating a younger better looking version of Dennis that naturally Dennis wants to also date is such a layup I’m stunned they didn’t do it yet.