Today’s Lunch-isode Series: Miami ViceEpisode Title: Heart of DarknessSeason: 1Year: 1984Why we love this episode: White blazers with gold chains as far as the eye can see, coke-filled night clubs, high-speed chases in fancy-schmancy convertibles—it doesn’t get any sexier than that! In this second episode of the series, Crockett and Tubbs pose as undercover porn distributers, and a much younger and skinnier Al Bundy (Ed O’Neill) guests as a fed who may have ‘crossed over.’ But things get sticky when a 16-year-old porn star turns up dead. And if that isn’t bad enough, Crockett’s pet alligator Elvis is wreaking havoc on his houseboat—oh, how we love that gator!Watch this episode now!Your take: What was your favorite moment of Crockett and Tubbs?
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Made sense that in the last moments of HBO's misbegotten John from Cincinnati, Ed O’Neill was finally reunited with his AWOL avian friend Zippy. If ever there was a show that was for the birds, it was this birdbrained mishmash of half-baked, foulmouthed, anti-dramatic allegorical nonsense.Over the last week, I attempted to catch up with last month’s episodes, hoping against hope that I’d at last see what I was supposed to be seeing in this smugly opaque world of cryptic utterances from annoyingly mannered characters. (And I thought, maybe like other HBO series, in particular the superior Wire, this could be one of those shows that plays better if you watch several hours back-to-back.) The result: torture. I made it maybe halfway through each hour before zoning out in a state of utter boredom and contempt. Forget confusion — that part of the equation left the station long ago. I was merely hoping to be entertained a little. In vain, as it turned out.At least the ...
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Well, there goes the first season. And just when I thought that John was Jesus, the writers went ahead and threw in a bunch of hints to make me think he might actually be an alien. "You're all going to be toast," he told Linc. "We're coming 9/11/14." Could it just be a coincidence that their arrival is scheduled take place on the anniversary of the attacks on America? Then again, could those numbers actually represent the bible passage 9:11-14 that describes salvation through the Lord? There are just so many ways this could go!I'm interested in finding out more about this Cincinnati place that John took Shaunie to, and why Shaunie couldn't recall much of his visit other than the fact that they, whoever they are, want to sponsor him. And even if they are aliens or simply the all-powerful celestial beings that occupy heaven, what exactly do they find so useful about the Yost family? If their true goal is to redeem mankind, then perhaps these alien gods are of the mind-set that the Yos...
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Wow! I'm not exactly sure what to say. That was some weird television! So apparently John can be in more than one place at a time, and apparently he can orchestrate events so that others can travel with him (Bill and Vietnam Joe arriving at the hotel, despite being in the van). Oh, and he can also remove dead people from hotel rooms. The Shining would have played out totally differently had John been around! OK, consider my brain officially twisted. I know Milch is supposed to be going somewhere with all of this, but I would like for the road map to be a little clearer. Just a little bit. Is that too much to ask? It certainly seems like the religious angle is the one to focus on, though, what with John continuously mentioning his "father" towards the end of the episode, and his ability to heal/help those around him. I have to ask though, did Cissy really molest Butchie? That's certainly how it sounded to me! Man, these people are even more screwed up than I thought!I have to say, as...
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Question: I have hung in with John from Cincinnati through the first four episodes and will probably stick with it for the first series. After all, I felt that Deadwood took a half-dozen episodes to find its feet, so I'll give John the same chance. Besides, I want to love a show that has both Luis Guzman and Ed O'Neill. Having said that, Episode 4 tested my resolve tremendously. Milch seems to be bringing in characters that serve no purpose. They don't move the plot along or illuminate the other characters — they just make me scratch my head (the motel owner, the associate drug dealer, Shaun's doctor). The porn star runaway mother dropping in out of the blue was close to the last straw. If Episode 5 brings us a memory-impaired surfer who was crippled due to Butchie's drug use, I'm outta there. Also, while some of the characters intrigue me, it all gets undone every time Rebecca De Mornay starts screaming, which is virtually every line of dialogue she utters. Does this show have a ...
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