Clear Eyes, Full Hearts, Last Season

Clear Eyes, Full Hearts, Last Season

So last Wednesday was the premiere of the final season of Friday Night Lights on DirecTV. In it Landry and Julie got their show send off.. Which while they'll still be season regulars, does mean that their time in Dillon Texas has come to an end and we'll probably only see them while coming back home on vacation or if there's some family drama I'd imagine.

But as it was, it was Landry's last night and Julie promised him an epic night.. which just ended up leading to the Landing Strip. So I guess it was a regular night for a Texas high school football player. A new surprise to the season was a desperate attempt to keep the Riggins boys in the picture by putting Billy Riggins as a new coach of East Dillon.




Now, for those who need a little reminder, here's who we are following in this little slice of West Texas:

Coach Eric Taylor - Former coach of the Dillon Panthers, now coach of the East Dillon Lions. Was fired from his position at the Panthers as the end of Season 3, and took the job at East Dillon to begin Season 4. Ended Season 4 by managing to pull the Lions together into a unit and manage to spoil the Panthers winning streak.

Counseler Tami Taylor - Eric's wife. Eric's rock. was principal of Dillon High during Seasons 3 and 4, only to be eventually forced from her position after advising a girl of her options following an unplanned pregnancy. Will begin Season 5 as a guidance counselor at East Dillon High.

Julie Taylor - Eric and Tami's precocious and whip-smart daughter. Had one of the great loves of her life with Matt Saracen, and through that love, found she had managed to place her heart in Dillon. Ended up turning down college for the time being because of it, as well.

Matt Saracen - The shy boy who became the heart of the Dillon Panthers and helped lead the team to a State Championship. Refused to leave Dillon upon graduation in order to take care of his grandmother and be with Julie. Following the death of his father, took off to Chicago to chase his love of drawing and painting.

Landry Clarke - FNL's comic relief, a boy who joined the football team to impress his father, and maybe the smartest character on the entire show. Lost his virginity to Tyra Collette in Season 2, was the glue that barely kept the Panthers together in Season 3, and was shifted to East Dillon High in Season 4, only to find love with Jess Merriweather and a simmering rivalry with Vince Howard. Ended Season 4 by kicking the game-winning field goal against the Panthers and was last seen heading towards Chicago, on a plane, with Saracen.

Tim Riggins - the heart and soul of Friday Night Lights as a series. Perhaps the primest example of the overgrown boy kings that much of the Dillon Panthers could be, Riggins has had an entire multi-season arc bringing us moment to moment through his emotional and moral growth. In Season 1, he was a drunk and an angry, angsty type. Through a series of collapses and restructures in his whole entire life - from his best friend being paralyzed to his brother getting married to dropping out of college and ending up as Coach Taylor's assistant on the Lions. When we last saw him, he had - in order to pay for the growing medical bills over his sister-in-law's medical bills (his brother, Billy, had - of course - knocked up his girlfriend, a stripper) and to take care of his future niece or nephew - starting running a chop shop out of Riggins' Rigs, his brother's barely-afloat garage. And that itself had collapsed, as he was arrested and opted to carry the burden of prison time himself, rather than destroy his brother's new life by admitting the truth. Was that was the last we will see of Tim Riggins? Likely not, but nobody is sure.



Luke Cafferty - The Great White Hope of Dillon, The Excelsior of Farmboys, The Lone Star King, got transferred to East Dillon (because that's where he was SUPPOSED TO BE <>), butted heads with the rest of the team - in particular, Vince - and knocked up a girl. Plus he bruised/broke his hip something awful taking care of some cattle with his dad, lied about the injury to Coach (yes, lie to your coach - a man who watched as a kid's life nearly got obliterated in one bad moment, smart move there Luke), and eventually hurt himself so bad he was taken out for the rest of the season. What's staring him in the face: a scholarship to St. Pat's, a life free from cattle rustling and farming. He's coming back a little wiser, a little more humble, and without a bum hip.

Vince Howard - QB 1. Trepidatious gangbanger. A kid torn between two worlds. Vince Howard is FNL's replacement for Matt Saracen, and his storyline is primarily responsible for the turn towards a more Wire-like view of Dillon (ironic, since we all know where the actor who plays him came from). Last we saw of him, his best friend had been shot up, and wanting revenge, he found himself riding around with some baaaaad people, all while his mother remained in rehab. In the end, though, he appealed to his better angels, despite it meaning he might be a marked man off the field as much as he is on it. But he gained the love of Jess. Equal tradeoff between revenge and acceptance? Or will this all end in tears for the man who definitely makes JD McCoy look like the whiny prat whitebread dickwad he is?

Jess Merriweather - If I didn't know better, I'd say Jess is the baby that Julie got switched with. Knows football, loves football, and is - with Julie disappearing - now the angel of Friday Night Lights. First, she guided Landry to a place of self-acceptance and confidence. Then she pulled Vince out of his own ill-thought vengeance, and is cobbling his life back together. She even - with the help of Coach - has bit by bit managed to pull her father, a man who, in the intervening years as a player to his place now as owner of East Dillon's best BBQ joint, lost all love for the game, back into the mystifying world that is high school football. Plus, she's got a sweet-ass bike to roll around on.

Buddy Garrity - the jester of Friday Night Lights, since sending his baby girl Lyla off to college, watched the sinking of something beautiful, his beloved Panthers, into the muck of greed and classism. So he told them off and went Lions on their ass, and brought together a booster club that, slowly but surely, is reinvigorating East Dillon into rallying around their team.



Becky Sproles - Despite nine billion different attempts to sleep with Tim Riggins, she got nowhere. With one meeting with Luke Cafferty, she got knocked up. That little problem got Tami forced out of her job as principal of Dillon High. Becky was the spotlight of drama on Friday Night Lights in Season 4. Last seen giving Tim Riggins one final kiss and one final talk before he shipped himself off to prison. There's still a spark between her and Luke, perhaps? Who knows where FNL's Freida-haired beauty queen will go in this final run.

Billy Riggins - Billy's still Billy. He will remain Billy until the end of time. Unless maybe Tim being a jailbird knocks some real sense into him, like a permanent version of his epiphany at the end of season 3. But then he wouldn't be Billy.

J.D. McCoy - Asshole. Talent. The Makeshift Demon of Friday Night Lights. His dad got Coach fired, Coach seeing Daddy Dearest push him around got his parents divorced, and slowly but surely he's acting out more and more. His future on the series is entirely dependent on where they go with East Dillon vs. Dillon this year, but I can't help but imagine that, after getting beaten on the field at the end of Season 4, he will grow only more into the dickwad he was born to be.



East Dillon and Dillon proper are beginning to collide - the haves and the have nots are now finding that they're pressing up against one another in ways that could lead to an explosion, emotional, physical, and social. The stakes have been raised; the general that Dillon tossed aside in an instant has managed to make a ramshackle team into possible future contenders for State.

So we're left with this final season.. and the fact that we got this far is amazing into itself. Fans of the show faced potential cancellation on so many occasions, the miracle of DirecTV's deal with NBC is probably the only good to come out of NBC's Zuckerburg rule.

Out of all of the original cast it seems like we only have 3 or so that are showing up on any regular rotation this year. We went from Matt Saracen being the main protagonist to Vince Howard in 13 episodes last season. It's only a question of what else changes within the 13 episodes this season before the end. Who we will see from the original cast. The only thing we know for certain is that we'll see it before NBC viewers ever do.

Massive Changes For Massive Dynamics

Massive Changes For Massive Dynamics
October 7 | Staff Writer Javier J.

New York - Only one week since the death, reading and executing of Massive Dynamics creator William Bell's last will, the New York News has learned that Dr. Walter Bishop has been left sole shareholder of the company stock and already questions are arising as to his ability to lead a 50 billion dollar company.

They started circulating when he revealed the new direction that the company will be heading in the days to come. The first sign was when employees of the Chemistry department were given the task by Dr. Bishop of tackling improved LSD development and research.



The Agricultural Sciences division will soon begin a crash-course in development of a new and more potent cannabis product, project "Brown Betty", as it is called. Many have stated that this is Dr. Bishop personal mission and has had a hands on approach in teaching Massive Dynamic workers through the entire steps.

Another of Dr. Bishop's ideas is to get rid of the giant floating letters outside of the building. "There is no need to waste anti-gravity force fields on such self promotion of the buildings name and location." Bishop stated in a press release. "We already know it's in New York, what do you think? You woke up in Manhatan all of sudden?"



Employee and Department head Brandon McDonald was fine with the changes already made at the company commissary, where we he was eating one of Bishop's latest menu changes - Bacon Pudding. "I'm not all that shocked by the changes" McDonald stated, "But this bacon flavored pudding, now that's a surprise."

A bigger surprise is the rumors that have been circulating that CEO Nina Sharp was being replaced with a Mr. Papaya. When attempting to look into who this Papaya person was and find any work history or previous business experience, no files were found other than a note suggesting that he is the friendliest of all fruits.



Even though Massive Dynamic is a weapons testing, robotics, medical equipment, aeronautics, genetics and pharmaceuticals company, Walter Bishop has added one more item to the that list - diary farm. An entire floor has been devoted to the advancement of bovine studies. Specifically in the creation of a chocolate cow.

"I want Gene to be taken care of. How else is she going to start making chocolate milk?" Bishop told the NYNews. Along with that an on-site panda express expected to be added to provide constant satisfaction to Dr. Bishop's personal pet's food cravings.

"I would just like to say now that I would turn down any notion of being the Secretary, so just don't ask me." Bishop joked with reporters at the press conference.

"In his last message to me Belle told me not to be afraid to cross the line. And so that's why I say with certainly today that we're pushing the limits and seeing if Gene will be able to produce Strawberry milk as well."

Bishop finished by telling the press "Now if you'll excuse me, I have Ginger Ale to make."


More news:

Obama moves into new White house
Senate calls for hearings about federal departments
Copy of strange Back to the Future circulating Youtube
(October 7, 2010)

Talking About A Dry County - Boardwalk Empire

Talking About A Dry County - Boardwalk Empire

For the past couple of weeks whenever True Blood started, they showed a preview for the next HBO series Boardwalk Empire and each week I got more and more excited. In fact, if you haven't been getting excited for this series then I'm not sure what your major problem is. You should probably go get that checked out though.

But what exactly is Boardwalk Empire, the series that starts on September 19th?

America in 1920: The Great War was over, Wall Street was about to boom and everything was for sale, even the World Series. It was a time of change when women got the vote, broadcast radio began and young people ruled the world.

On the beach in southern New Jersey sat Atlantic City, a spectacular resort known as “The World’s Playground,” a place where the rules didn’t apply. Massive hotels lined its famous Boardwalk, which featured nightclubs, amusement piers and entertainment that rivaled Broadway. For a few dollars, a working man could get away and live like a king – legally or illegally.

From the previews you should expect a generous helping of shooting, beatings, sex, swearing, snazzy old fashion clothing, 20's era-music, bootlegging, political corruption and other prohibition-era situations delivered as only pay cable can.



This is HBO's next critically acclaimed show, so much so that they spent $20 million on the pilot episode alone. You can't do better in making an opening than by getting Martin Scorsese to direct the pilot and oversee the show.

So I guess the next question is, who's in it?

- Steve Buscemi (Reservoir Dogs, The Sopranos, The Big Lebowski, a hundred other things)
- Michael Pitt (Bully, Funny Games)
- Kelly Macdonald (Trainspotting, No Country For Old Men)
- Michael K. Williams (Omar from The Wire)
- Michael Shannon (Shotgun Stories, Revolutionary Road, The Runaways)



- Stephen Graham (Public Enemies, This is England, Gangs of New York)
- Michael Stuhlbarg (A Serious Man)
- Vincent Piazza (Rescue Me, The Sopranos)
- Dabney Coleman (hey screw you if you don't know who Dabney Coleman is)



- Paz de le Heurta (The Limits of Control, Choke, Enter the Void) - Lucy, a woman very, very close to Nucky.
- Gretchen Mol (The Notorious Bettie Page, Rounders, Life on Mars [the shitty US version]) - Gillian, another woman with unique ties to Nucky.
- Shea Whigam(Tigerland, All the Real Girls) - Eli Thompson, Nucky's brother; coincidentally, he's also Sheriff of Atlantic City.
- Anthony Laciura (actually a well-known opera singer making his acting debut) - Eddie Kessler, Nucky's longtime assistant.
- Aleska Palladino (Before the Devil Knows You're Dead) - Angela Darmody, Jimmy's estranged wife.



If those names didn't attract your attention, then what the hell is wrong with you? I mean, Kelly Macdonald is in this. I could listen to her talk all day. I've had a crush on her since I first saw trainspotting. But hey, don't you girls just love declarations of adornment via public blogspots?
*clues up Atomic by Sleeper*



Besides, you can trust me on this one, this show will make you look like you read books. As you should know, they already made a book about this. Nelson Johnson's book is actually the basis for the show.

How can you not want to see this now? The pilot of this show cost $20 million alone. Given that they had to spend a lot of that on rebuilding the classic Atlantic City in exactly how it looked back then, it does say something about the show. The only way this could get any better is if they tied it together with the Sopranos and ended this show by having an aged Enoch Nucky Johnson walking into a Jersey diner with the intent of killing a certain titty bar owner..

I'll leave your interest peaked with this little making of feature..

Wait, There's NO Twilight Zone Marathon?!?

Wait, There's NO Twilight Zone Marathon?!?

It's the 4th of July and the one single thing that is embedded in my mind besides the searing pain from my leg catching on fire is that today is the day we all gathered around and watched the Twilight Zone non stop.

We're talking Rod Serling, boys and girls. The big cigar himself. The Fourth of July Twilight Zone marathon was something you just didn't fuck with. it was the shit! First it was on KTLA Channel 5. It was like clockwork to have it on and viewing episodes my family has seen a million times. Then they lost the rights and SciFi picked it up. So we all moved to that. But this year.. this year it's different...

Well, with the change from Sci-Fi to "SyFy", the hipper and more youth accessible moniker, they've also decided to drop the annual marathon in lieu of a new yearly tradition: twenty-four spine-tingling hours of The Greatest American Hero, a superhero "dramedy" running from 1981 to 1983.

I'll let you digest that for a minute.



Now look at this and pray your stomach is empty from digestion. Gross

To be honest with you, I never even cared for this show and I'm a pretty devout comic book reader and after looking into it further, holy shit I would have preferred twenty-four hour blocks of sweaty wrestling if they were just going to put whatever the fuck on on Rod's holy fucking day.

Well you see, it's Independence Day and he's the Greatest American Hero, maybe you just aren't edgy enough for SyFy? They rebrand the station and want to show less Sci Fi so it can be more accessible and "hip" and then show a 24 hour marathon that literally no one in their alleged target demo would give one shit about.



Nothing says "hip and "accessible" like a show that was canceled nearly thirty years ago and is remembered mostly for its theme song. Remove the SyFy channel completely and replace it with a twilight zone only channel. That's the only way to bring back credibility to that shitheap of a channel.

I still miss the Mystery Science Theater 3000 Turkey Day marathon. When I was a kid I had a two or three VHS tapes set up to record it.

Some young bravado made a Facebook group pleading SyFy to change their minds and I'm assuming that's going to be about as successful as an online petition to eek three more rough draft script remnant Firefly episodes out of the ether. Here's an article that explains it more eloquently than I can, because I can't think straight. It was going to be so great again.



But all hope is not lost, my friends. You see, CBS has a total of 49 full episodes on their website with pretty good picture quality. You can find them by clicking this sentence.

While it may not be a marathon, I guess it'll do. But on this day of celebrating the birth of the nation, I somehow feel like it's the death of one...

Vincent A-Go Go ; Doctor Who Chat

Vincent Van Go-Go ; Doctor Who Chat

Yesterdays Doctor Who episode was... in a word, amazing. And no, I'm not just saying this because Vincent Van Gogh has a firm place as my favorite impressionist. Considering the last two parter was beyond boring, it was a welcome change. To their credit, it was still not as bad as most of RTD's lame two parters.

Speaking of the devil. If this had been an RTD episode, Rose would have probably kept asking about Vincent's ear and then it would get cut off by the monster and they'd make up a prostitute story about it because Timey-Wimey and all that bullshit. Can you tell that I don't miss ol' Rusty one bit? I applaud Moffat and Curtis for not even mentioning it at all.

I suppose we should get the big question out of the way.. Why the fuck where they saying his name like that? We should turn to the experts on how you exactly say Van Gogh



Now that we got that out of the way, what was up with the BBC running an ad at the end suggesting that if the episode was too much for you, you should call their counseling hot lines? What do you mean 'If I've been effected by this episode, call your BBC counseling help line'? To me, I guess I took the meaning to be a little different;

If any of you have been stalked by invisible alien reptiles, please call the BBC for counselling.

Though somehow I think calling a mental illness helpline and mentioning something like this may only expedite your inevitable sectioning. Why else would you need counsel? Oooh, I know.

If any of you are ginger, please call the BBC for counseling.

No wait. I like gingers. Red heads are my favorite kind of women. Then what could the helpline be open and waiting for calls from?

If you've been kissed by a man with a scraggly beard and it hurt, our operators are standing by to take your call.

In short, it made me laugh really loud the moment the commentator talked about it. I guess it was a good way to 'end' a sad-ish episode, with a laugh.

I'm still curious about one thing.. did I miss the part where it's explained why only Van Gogh could see the monster? I assumed it was because "he saw the world differently than everyone else" or something, but maybe I missed the real explanation. Oh yes, that's right - Low CGI budget.



Then again, there's a theory that Vincent Van Gogh had a form of synesthesia, which caused him to perceive sounds and colors as basically the same thing. In the episode, Vincent even makes mention of it himself when he's talking about the sounds of colors early in the episode. I kept expecting this was going to come up as the explanation in some round-about way, letting him see a creature that could only be heard. But again, it never actually came up. So either I was completely wrong or they decided not to be heavy handed about the explanation.

I mean, it was really clever that they made the monster invisible. At least from a production standpoint. Less budget spent on CGI, less time the audience has to think about how fake it may look, and an additional element of terror besides the initial savings from production cost. The episode wasn't really about the monster any way. Which is one of the reason why I liked it, because it almost seemed like we were heading for another misunderstood creature episode and we just had the Silurians in the boring ass two parter last week.

Then my favorite part was when the Doctor had to wait around for the monster.

"Is this how time passes for everyone else? Really slowly? In the right order?"

I loved how disgusted he sounded at the idea of doing things in the right order as well. This isn't new to Doctor Who. The second doctor also kept mentioning life as a time traveler;

"Think about me when you're living your life one day after another, all in a neat pattern. Think about the homeless traveller in his old police box, his days like crazy paving..."

Okay, so maybe Matt Smith isn't quite so eloquent about it, but the gravitas is still there. Not to mention meeting Gogh. That was some classy stuff. I'm actually not annoyed that they visited a historic character unlike how they handled it in the past. At the very least, this was one of the warranted jerk offs who deserve the praise, like Shakespeare.

I'm no English major and I didn't really focus all that much on English lit, but enthusiasm for Dickens and Agatha Christie in past Doctor Who was extremely comical... and sad. I have to say, I always thought the Doctor meeting Shakespeare should've gone a little more like this;


I leave you with yet another reason why this Doctor Who was extremely entertaining and tugged at my heart strings.

"The way I see it, life is a pile of good things and bad things. The good things don't always soften the badness, but vice versa the bad things don't always spoil the good things and make them unimportant."

Parenthood Under Friday Night Lights Part 2

Parenthood Under Friday Night Lights Part 2

I talked a great deal in the past about Friday Night Lights, a show that I should not give a shit about given the facts that I neither care about Football or High school. Well, the show runner of that masterpiece of underrated television had his hand in reviving something else. Parenthood

Parenthood is now a show.. again. Yes, this is a show based on the 1989 movie, that had a short run TV series on NBC in 1990. I'm sure if this one fails, in 2040 there will be another Parenthood series. It's just the way that the world works. If you recall during the Olympics, two shows got heavy advertising on NBC. One of them was The Marriage Ref, which apparently is the kind of smug, elitist, "let's all laugh at the know-nothing schmucks" entertainment that midwesterners with a Nelson ratings box tend to accuse Hollywood folks like myself of priding themselves on. It started out strong but may not last the test of time.

The other is Parenthood.



Which as I addressed, is a show based off an old movie.. a 20 year old movie. The act of bringing this show to air was troubled, to put it nicely. Soon after the pilot was shot and the show was ordered, original star Maura Tierney was diagnosed with breast cancer and had to drop out. She was replaced by her friend Lauren Graham and the show had to be reshot and pushed off the fall schedule.

And if that wasn't enough, during these re-shoots, an NBC executive dropped dead of a brain aneurysm while visiting the set. I'm sure I'll let snoops start and debunk any rumors of this production being haunted. So even though it has all this history behind it, I'm sure that you're wondering what this show is all about.

Well...it's about...parenthood, I guess?

Seriously, though, it's based on the excellent movie from Ron Howard. It follows three generations of The Braverman Family as they deal with, well, each other. It's a family drama, guys; it doesn't lend itself well to synopsis and it's sold on the strength of the cast.

And look at this fucking cast:

• Peter Krause
  
• Lauren Graham
  
• Erika Christensen
  
• Dax Shepard
  
• Craig T. Nelson
  
• Bonnie Bedelia
  

And the lead writer is none other than Jason Katims.. The whole reason why Friday Night Lights is an amazing show in itself. That should have grabbed your attention and told you exactly what to expect, didn't it?

Yeah, you do. You've just told me that NBC's going to repeatedly fuck it over on scheduling and advertising.

NBC's putting it on after one of their best performers, The Biggest Loser.

But NBC doesn't GET good television! Surely the show must suck!

I thought there was a chance of that too, but lo and behold, people seem to be digging it. Granted, there are others who dismiss the show as too schmaltzy. They might have a point, but I'm a huge sap and I have enjoyed it so far on a weekly basis. I have to say that I firmly believe this is one of the best casts I've seen in a long time. There isn't a time where I'm bored about who is on the screen, each of the characters have something going on that I care about and all of the stories are compelling in themselves.

Even better news is that NBC has renewed it for a second season

NBC president: "It's gratifying that 'Parenthood' continues to garner critical acclaim and is generating highly positive reaction from viewers, thanks to the fearless creativity of its producers"

While I think it may be a little much to call it fearless or even very creative. It's sort of like they're serving me good chocolate chip cookies at exactly the right temperature. It's throughly satisfying and makes me very happy, but it's not like the idea of a warm chocolate chip cookie is breaking new ground. Part of the reason this show is so enjoyable is because it's familiar and they do what they know we will like good.

I can't say I have been surprised by the way the stories have been going. All of them seem to be telegraphed a good two or three episodes down the line. But again, that's not a bad thing. I work in the film industry and I just have read so many scripts and worked on so many shows already that I just have a gut feeling on how things go. As for her next clause, though, "and the extraordinary performances delivered by its ensemble cast." is definitely true.

I suppose there's always hope that if it doesn't get picked up for season 3 and on, DirecTV will be happy to pick it up.

Breaking Bad

Breaking Bad

If you think of AMC as the network to turn to in order to see some censored copies of movies when there's nothing else on and all the other networks have gone to infomercials and haven't realized the greatness that is both Mad Men and Breaking Bad, then perhaps you should open your eyes and see that they're producing some top quality shows now.

So what is Break Bad? It's a show about a high school chemistry teacher who is diagnosed with lung cancer and so he uses his chemistry knowledge to cook meth as a means to leave his family with enough cash. It's about the moral downward spiral of a man into a world of shady practices. When he finds out his cancer is in remission does he realize that realities of what he's been doing. Though he can't seem to get back into his normal life and is urged back into the life of cooking meth as seen in this single most awesome scene that should convert anyone..



It's really one of the best shows on Television. Funny that AMC is two for two on their original programing, and really how great this and Mad Men is. And if you are a regular viewer who forgot what is going one, here's where we left off.

• Walter had surgery to remove the cancer from his body. Shortly after given a good prognosis, Skylar left Walter for being secretive and untrustworthy.
  
• Jesse hooked up with a very hot recovering addict named Jane, and they spiraled back into the abyss together, attempting to blackmail Walter out of the money he earned selling his meth to Gus.
  
• Walter gives in, but returns to Jesse's house later while they're sleeping in time to watch Jane choke to death on her own vomit. He chooses not to save her, believing Jesse will ultimately be better off.
  
• Whether or not that's true remains to be seen, but in the short term Jesse freaks out and checks into a rehab center, falling into a deep depression.
  
• Jane's father works for Air Traffic Control, and his grief over his daughter's death causes him to space out on the job, resulting in a horrific mid-air collision - which just so happens to be over Walter's house after Skylar grabs Walter Jr. and bails.
  

As for the billboard, no Walter will not be going to China this season to make Meth for Mao. It's a spoof on the controversial Barack Obama billboard in Times Square. But if I do say so myself, he deserves to stand and mock the President. I really liked Bryan Cranston from his role on Malcolm in the middle, but he has shown a range and ability I never would have guessed. I have no doubt that he will have a lot of work in the coming years after this show is long past its run.

I met him once on the studio lot while he was filming episodes of How I Met Your Mother as Ted's Boss. He's a really nice person and would have a pretty easy going conversation with you about the little things like the weather and other inane subjects with anyone standing there talking to him. Very easy going.



And even though the show is about him Breaking Bad, I can't help but feel for Walter. He has definitely gone off the rails morally, but he started with his heart in the right place; and it's hard not to be glad for his new found fortune. Developing determination and grit, not to mention his genius not only with chemistry, but his growing savvy as a man doing business in the underworld... even though he is still pretty bad with it.

You can't discard Hank. He's a very sympathetic character on the show. A guy, doing what he knows is right and yet there are parts of his job that frighten and disgust him. I could almost believe a real DEA agent might have a problem with killing a dealer. Even though he sees the criminals as thugs and punks, he still sees them, and all the other maddening people in his life, as human beings.



But Skylar.. oh man, how everyone seems to hate here. To be perfectly honest, I'm Okay with being called a misogynistic ass if it means I can hate Skylar. Yes, she has every reason to be suspicious of Walter but it seems like she has walked that very same line and just was too afraid to cross it while still maintaining the attitude that she's higher than thou all the while.

I'm much less sympathetic to her. Maybe it's just that she's acting like someone who had always been a priority for someone else, and had naturally expected that to continue regardless of what life and death situation and all these unknown stresses are going on in Walter's world. Yet she never discusses them and keeps them bottled up. I guess Walter could be more honest with her, but again, would she even be open to the win fall of the situation considering she does seem to have this attitude of not wanting to know how sausage is made.

Then there's Saul.... Oh Saul. Saul is a cheap town lawyer that all the loser criminals who can't afford real lawyers get. He has television ads that would normally show up at 1am in between your typical Adult Swim airing of Aqua Teen or Squidbillies. Want to see an example?



Saul's played by Bob Odenkirk and it's like he called up Tim and Eric and said "Hey, wanna help out on a show I'm acting in?" Even his website shows that AMC has gone to great detail for this show. So if you're in need of legal assistance, CALL SAUL.

So maybe now you're willing to give this little AMC show a chance, you wont regret it. Now who's ready to cook?