bongoz Reviews

The Americans: March 8, 1983 (2015) Season 3, Episode 13

This show needs a longer season

[23 April 2015]

I love this show, and I really loved this episode - writing, acting, direction, production all on point. On its own it would have been a magnificent episode, up there with "...Electric Sheep" and "Stingers".

My only problem (and reading many external reviews, not just mine) was that it felt "abbreviated" for a season finale. Seasons one and two of this show ended with tensions, but they felt self-contained and complete, so that we could pick up the stories a little down the road when the next season started. In contrast this season ends with some genuine (dare I say "standard") dramatic cliffhangers, so we just have to hold our breaths for nine months to find out what happens next.

Which is why this finale just seems out of tune with the other seasons this way. Also (and again, reviews show I'm not the only one), I really felt gypped that Martha wasn't in the episode, especially after the last scene of the previous episode!

So I wonder (just idle speculation now), what if this was meant to be a finale for the series, not the season? If there had originally been a scene where Martha, guilty about Clark/Philip, committed suicide (as so many victims of "Romeo spies" did in WWII and the Cold War), it could have been a reasonably complete (though unsatisfactory) series finale, knowing that the spies would be caught. Without such a scene, there's enough (though still unsatisfactory) to bridge over into a another season.

The announcement that this show would get a fourth season came rather late in the production cycle. Are we seeing a last-minute edit job to turn a series closure into a season cliffhanger?

I only knocked one star off for the finale issue. All in all, fantastic show, fantastic season, and really, really can't wait until season four!

The Americans: Do Mail Robots Dream of Electric Sheep? (2015) Season 3, Episode 9

The power of one word

[28 March 2015]

And that word is "Russia".

Chatting with her captor, almost cheerily, Betty asks Elizabeth about her mother. "Where does she live?"

Elizabeth can't answer immediately. She hesitates, because she knows that as soon as she answers, then Betty will know she's about to die. Her head is downcast, but you can see her struggle. She's loved this chance to be honest, especially with a woman who so reminds her of her own mother. But if she answers this question honestly, then the... well, you can't even call it "friendship", maybe "respect" or "intimacy"... will end. But it's there for the moment, so she has to answer.

"Russia."

Betty's face falls and her lip quivers. You know that conversation is over, as a new one begins.

I haven't reviewed this show for a long time because there are so many other people out there saying all the right things about this great show. But I just wanted to thank Russell, Smith, and all the shows writers and producers. In those few seconds, watching Elizabeth pause before answering, I knew I was in the presence of greatness. Whether it's for the writing, or Russell, or Smith, this show had damn well better get an Emmy this year, or there is no justice.

More Scenes from a Gay Marriage (2014)

Living out, loud.

[5 December 2014]

Apparently I'm not the only one who saw the similarity between the massage scene in this movie and and the one in Living Out Loud. Not that I'm complaining. I was actually impressed with how well Jared Allman channeled Holly Hunter here, expressing vulnerability while losing none of his raw masculinity. Let's call it an "homage", not the only one in the movie, and quite well done.

Overall this is a very entertaining movie. It satirizes Hollywood, but respects it as well. On the surface it can appear disjointed with its storytelling, but not much more disjointed than real life can be sometimes. Riddlehoover continues an impressive run of fun yet thoughtful films, and comparing him to W.A. seems less of a stretch as time goes on.

Yes, it's a short film, but a sweet one, with great familiar characters and fun new ones. Be sure not to miss Thashana McQuiston's expression in the mid-credits scene.

The Americans: ARPANET (2014) Season 2, Episode 7

Geekgasm

[10 April 2014]

Spy stuff aside, what a geeky flashback episode this was! PDP-10, TOPS-20, IBM 3270 block transfer terminals. And RS-232-C, the port Phillip plugged into. Let's see, at that time the max RS-232 speed was about 2 KBps, so in thirty seconds Phillip would have swept up... about sixty kilobytes, probably a small fraction of the size of the web page you're reading this review on. Ah, but which 60KB, which is about thirty typed pages? Maybe some MILNET encryption data? Early DES keys were only seven bytes long, and the DES S-Box substitution lists were only 32 bytes. Like they said in the episode, this was before the split between military MILNET and scientific ARPANET in 1983, so maybe Phillip got some very valuable kilobytes.

So Stan knows that Nina knows that Stan killed Vlad. Interesting that the question came up in the lie detector interview. But was Nina lying and... clenching? Quite the game the characters (and writers) are playing. Good stuff, as always.

The Americans: Cardinal (2014) Season 2, Episode 2

I am familiar with the works of John Le Carré

[11 March 2014]

So Fred the spy reads spy novels, but can he fly like JL Seagull?

No great reveals in this episode, just moving the plot forward. Martha gets a gun - Chekov (the author, not the spaceman) would be pleased. Elizabeth is justifiably paranoid about her children, but can still mentor a spy-in-training. Stan shows he really is an FBI agent, and Nina resists Oleg's "charms".

One thing I'm not sure of. Do the Russians know that Stan shot Vlad? Arkady answered the phone back when Stan bargained Vlad for Amador last season. Arkady pleaded for Vlad's release, so I'd be surprised if he would forget Stan's voice. Yet in this episode he listens to Stan on the recording, and it's not clear if he and Nina are reacting to Stan's nonchalance or his guilt.

Of course, the last scene is the best, Russell and Rhys brilliantly demonstrating their characters' realisation of their situation and future. When they speak of Emmett and Leanne's son's outlook, Elizabeth asks "Taken care of how?", and we and they know the answer. Loose ends aren't allowed in what they do, and that's all the son is now.

This really is the best show on television right now, bar none.

The Americans: Comrades (2014) Season 2, Episode 1

The future's so bright...

[27 February 2014]

Well, it is for us now that season two is here! But for the Jennings family? They might as well be deer in the headlights.

The writer's are very clever the way they use Emmett and Leanne in this episode. It's clear from their demeanor, as well as the age of their children, that they're even older hand Directorate S agents than Phillip and Elizabeth. No sense of worry, no hesitation, no problem using the kids - they get the job done. It's clear that the Jennings hold them in high regard. They're the Jennings' future, and now we (and the Jennings) know just how horrific that future may be. That's what I call foreshadowing!

(The Lockheed Skunkworks? Man, that takes me back, full page ads featuring the SR-71 in the LA Times employment section. And Leo Buscaglia? The French Lieutenant's Woman? Document robots? WKRP? God, the eighties were awesome.)

Prince is dead, the Colonel is "safe", but Stan's instincts are still hardworking and unsatisfied. Vlad is mentioned (in passing), will that complicate Stan's life more than falling in love with his wife again? Claudia is mentioned as well, still around, that "old war horse". Bright future, indeed. Gotta wear shades. (Timbuk 3 4-eva!)

Just one thing. "Droogie" Mahendru? Anthony Burgess is rolling in his grave!

Castle: Deep Cover (2014) Season 6, Episode 12

It was great, but...

[18 January 2014]

... I find it hard to believe that, in all this time, Castle never told Beckett that the man suspected in the original kidnapping of Alexis in "Hunt" was in fact his father, who had saved Castle and Alexis. I mean, at the end of "Hunt", after he got the first edition of "Casino Royale", Castle was all ready to tell his mother about him, and given the dialog in this episode, at some point he must have done just that. And Kate was in the room, as was Alexis, at that post-kidnapping reunion. So did Castle tell his mother then or not, and if so, how could Kate not have heard the story? And if Castle didn't tell the story, why didn't Alexis?

The only way the events in this episode would make sense, with Castle's father's ID drawings from the farm and apartment in "Hunt" still unidentified by Beckett, would be if: 1) Castle never told Alexis about her grandfather, not even as a reason for her kidnapping (although Volkov certainly mentioned the father-son-granddaughter relationship), 2) Castle did not tell his mother about his father while Kate and Alexis were there, but did another time, 3) Martha didn't tell Alexis either, and 4) Castle subsequently never told Beckett.

Given Castle's talents, it's entirely feasible that he made up some plausible story regarding the kidnapping and rescue that didn't involve his father (who may well have told Castle to do so), and may even have taken a "family-only" attitude regarding the truth, but now that he and Beckett are engaged, he (and the writers) got some 'splainin' to do.

The Americans: The Colonel (2013) Season 1, Episode 13

"That's why, darling, it's incredible"

[2 May 2013]

It *is* incredible. The writers, producers, actors - they pulled it off. Bravo, kudos, and applause!

What a magnificent way to end the first season. The edge-of-your-seat tension. Paterson's sad, dramatic death at the hand of Claudia. (I verified on Wikipedia that they had tasers in the eighties - so that's what "taser" stands for.) The Colonel was the real deal, saying all the things we used to say about SDI at the time, how impossible the technology was. ("Research physicists need Porsches, too!") Nina now has Stan right where she wants him, and we have Phillip and Elizabeth right where we want them.

But there's Prince and his testimony, Paige and her hereditary "inquisitiveness", and dumb-dumb Martha and her loose cannon. Our antiheroes will be on their guard after the Weinberger sting (I would hate to be that maid right now), but will it be enough?

Bring on season 2!

The Americans: The Oath (2013) Season 1, Episode 12

"For your recommended daily allowance of SDI"

[25 April 2013]

(Look up "Brilliant Pebbles" on Wikipedia.)

I can't be the only viewer who screamed in frustration at the end of that episode. Nina is smart, Martha is dumb, and Caspar Weinberger's maid doesn't want to burn in hell. Stan demonstrates how he is too close to the trees to see the forest of Elizabeths on the projector screen.

Will Nina be sent home to be executed, or will she get a chance to take revenge on Stan for Vlad? Will Martha see the sketch of Phillip and recognise her new husband? Is another agency, maybe defense intelligence, behind the SDI microfilm?

The dominos are falling, and our antiheroes the Jennings are at the end of the row. Now that they're finally looking in the same relationship direction, just like we always wanted, they're lined up as targets of circumstance and coincidence.

One episode left. How can the writers tie up all the plot lines and still leave enough for another season?

I can't wait to find out!

The Americans: Covert War (2013) Season 1, Episode 11

It makes the world go round

[17 April 2013]

Elizabeth wanted to kill Paterson, the "architect" of Zhukov's killing, because she loved Zhukov. Claudia wanted her to do it for the same reason, I think that's true. Phillip helped Elizabeth in her crazy pursuit because he loved her. This is the way the world works sometimes.

I'm sure that many other viewers were like me, expecting that Elizabeth would change her mind about killing Paterson in the end. In fact, I'm pretty sure the writers set us up to feel just that, which speaks to their and Keri Russell's abilities. What Russell and the writers also did, though, was carry us through Elizabeth's moment of self-realisation, coming not from her own conscience, but from the mouth of a womanising CIA middleman. "Do you love anyone?" She didn't want to hear that, especially from someone like him. Zhukov's role in showing Elizabeth what true love is only made the question more biting.

Good writers give all their characters backstories. I'm sure that Paterson's backstory includes true love, somehow lost, and that his own behaviour is an unconscious form a self-punishment. "No more true love for you, not when you screwed it up so royally that other time!" Stan's destruction of both his marriage and his affair just seems like more context. Clearly he doesn't love himself anymore.

At least Elizabeth seems aware now how much she still loves Phillip, though neither can admit it yet. Admitting love makes you vulnerable, and Phillip and Elizabeth's lives are all about avoiding such risks.

I'll be sorry to see this season end, but am glad a second season is on its way.

The Americans: Duty and Honor (2013) Season 1, Episode 7

"... and it ain't potpourri!"

[13 March 2013]

This episode was about humans, fragile fallible humans, prone to emotion, even while in thrall to duty and honor. Elizabeth and Claudia want to kill each other, but they have their duty. The political priest has a duty to God and Poland, but his honor is so fragile even he thinks he must have broken it. Stan and his wife know their duties to each other, but Stan's duty to Nina mixes him up. Also mixed up is Phillip, due his old duty to Irina (and her possible son), and his current duty to Elizabeth and their kids.

In the end, when Phillip tells Elizabeth nothing happened, even he's not sure whether or not he's lying. I don't think he lied, but I'm not the writer.

Powerful stuff, as usual.

The Americans: In Control (2013) Season 1, Episode 4

Bang! You're dead!

[22 February 2013]

I know lots and lots of things happened in this episode, important things, but Elizabeth shooting dead that security guard was a real eye-opening experience. Sure, she had poisoned that maid's son, Phillip had even smothered him in front of his mother, but you could see the relief on Elizabeth's face when she gave the son the antidote. She doesn't want to be a killer, no matter how well trained she is.

(I doubt that Phillip is a natural killer, either. "Please stay out of my blind spot.")

But when she had to do it, when the guard was going to ruin everything, she was quick and unhesitating, like Phillip with the defector. No nonsense, slip into the driver's seat, and head off.

In the pilot, the FBI boss guy said they were in a secret war with the Russian spies. Now we know - both sides are at war.

This series is serious about espionage. This is no James Bond or Jason Bourne flash-fest. It reminds me of the adaptations of Len Deighton's Bernard Samson stories ("Game, Set, and Match"). Well, maybe a bit faster paced then those.

I wonder if Elizabeth will feel remorse. Right now, it seems like the guard died for nothing. I doubt this is the last we hear about him.

The Americans: Gregory (2013) Season 1, Episode 3

Skylab was an X-ray laser platform? No way!

[14 February 2013]

Thank you producers for that great in-joke. Of course, by the time this series is set, Skylab was scattered over Western Australia. Still, it was an interesting bit of (hidden) levity in an otherwise powerfully dramatic episode.

I'm beginning to understand the tagline "All's fair in love and Cold War". "The Americans" is a genuine boy-meets-girl love story, even if the boy and girl have been married with kids for fifteen years. You want Phillip and Elizabeth to really get together, even though it's genuinely dangerous for them to do so. I defy anyone to not watch that final hand-holding scene to the fade-out to see how it ended.

In this episode, we're reminded how dangerous and ruthless their situation is. Gregory knows about them now, but they're his only contact. Will that be enough to keep the secret? Their new handler "Grandma" has been shown to be totally heartless. If she found out they were falling in love, that would be it for Phillip and Elizabeth. They know the business they're in. I'm sure they knew the eventual fate of the baby's mother during the handover to Grandma. I felt it myself.

Man, this series is good. I'm telling all my friends.

The Americans (2013–2018)

This show swings both ways

[31 January 2013]

I don't know who to root for in this show. Awesome!

Phillip and Elizabeth have been sleeper Russian agents in DC from the early 1960s to the early 80s, the show's setting. Reagan is the new President and is heating up the Cold War. Our two spies have been playing the role of typical American husband and wife, keeping their secret life even from their pre-teen daughter and son. Then an opportunity arises where Phillip, who has been tiring of his double life, is given a chance to take his family, whom he's grown to love, out of the game and into riches and safety. Elizabeth, also of two minds but for different reasons, is suddenly shown just how much Phillip loves her through his unhesitating sacrifice of this ticket to freedom. In the end it looks like it will be the two of them against the rest of the world. What will happen?

I have a few problems with the production, particularly the flashback sequences of the characters twenty years younger in Russia. They really should have used different actors. It is just the pilot, though, so we'll see how that goes.

On the plus side, there's good acting, good writing, and good character development. I'll be watching!

Xanadu (1980)

The right movie for the wrong era

[28 December 2012]

The movie musical era was from the late 1940's into the 1950's for a reason. The USA had survived World War Two, which had followed the Great Depression, and people were celebrating still being alive in the best possible way, by singing and dancing. The majority of musicals from that era had weak plots, mediocre acting, and cut-rate direction, but that was because people were seeing the movie for the musical, not the story. These things were produced by the boatload back then because people wanted them, needed them even.

Fast forward to 1980 when Xanadu was released, and what did we have? The Reagan-Carter election, hostages in Iran, defeat in Vietnam, and Russians in Afghanistan - not to forget Three Mile Island. This was not a time for singing and dancing. Xanadu very accurately re-created the feel of a 40's musical, but it was released at a time when most felt that life was not something to celebrate. No wonder it was so universally panned and made fun of at the time, at near-Ishtar levels.

Only a few at the time felt differently. I must have seen Xanadu over six times during its first release at a theatre in Hollywood CA. (Was it Mann's Chinese?) There were perhaps a few dozen of us hardcore fans at those sessions, whooping and hollering at the "Dancin'" number, the world's first "mash-up". We knew how special this movie was, even if nobody else did. After all, it was before music videos and MTV.

It took a long time before the rest of the world could see Xanadu in that reverse-telescope way we also look at history - everything seemingly equally far away - and see how Xanadu fit in with the best of the post-WWII musicals, not at the top, but very solidly at the high end.

I recently took a new look at Xanadu after getting acquainted with "Glee", which often also ties together musical genres decades apart. I got goosebumps during "Dancin'" again, thirty-two years later.

What more proof do I need? Xanadu is a great 40's musical, born out of time, finally back in it again.

The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey (2012)

Worth learning to watch movies again

[26 December 2012]

I saw the digital HFR 3D version, not sure what to expect. I liked "Avatar", but there were times when the 3D in that movie was simply distracting, and to be honest I can't even recall now what it looked like, which goes to show how much of an impact it made on me.

Peter Jackson's HFR 3D technology, though, is another thing entirely. For the first time the movie screen is an actual window into another world. In fact, I think that's the part of my visual brain that was activated by this film: the "window" part, not the "movie" part.

They say your brain has to learn how to interpret pictures, and it's different from interpreting the real world through your eyes. That's why "tilt-shift" miniaturisation works, by activating a part of your brain that has learned how to associate camera focus with distance.

HFR 3D is the opposite of tilt-shift. It makes the world in the film full size. You "know" you're looking at a real world because that's the part of your brain that Jackson has managed to reach.

To fully enjoy this movie, you have to learn how to watch movies all over again, and this movie makes it worth doing so. It really is a masterpiece. I'm looking forward to my future visits to Jackson's world in 2013 and 2014.

Almost Heroes: Terry and Peter vs. Episode One (2011) Season 1, Episode 1

I miss Men With Brooms

[3 June 2011]

Ten lines? I have to type ten lines about this stupid show? I couldn't even make it through the pilot episode. I had to turn it off after the "how the father died" flashback. I feel like pulling a Stewie Griffin, traveling to the writers' house, and knocking them out yelling "it's not funny". Really, when I think of the scale of acting and writing I know Canadians are capable of, watching this "phone it in" level of production almost makes me weep. Man, the premise had such promise, but the first spoken geek joke went straight for the Klingon. Hey, I'm a comic book geek, too, and let me tell you, a lot of us like our humor a bit more sophisticated. Why do you think Neil Gaiman and Alan Moore were so successful? There, ten lines, I'm done.

Antony and Cleopatra (1974 TV Movie)

Defined Shakespeare

[31 March 2000]

I was in high school when I saw this version of "Antony and Cleopatra" on the short-lived, occasional "ABC Theatre" on the US ABC television network. I had read Shakespeare in English Literature class, of course, and had even attended some local productions of Shakespeare plays, but seeing this production totally changed my view of the Bard, even theatre in general. This was the first time I ever watched a play and felt as if I was watching something real, viewing snippets of life in progress. The actors weren't mouthing lines and feigning emotions - they were real and they believed, and that made me believe as well.

Perhaps the intervening years have affected my memory, dimming the details, but I cannot forget the awe I felt watching Patrick Stewart's Enobarbus. When I had read the play in school, Enobarbus was a minor character, and his speeches weren't important. Stewart's performance changed that. Now the role was central, and his descent from cheer to madness was a mirror of his world. Cleopatra's knowing chuckle as she spoke of her "salad days" was a lament as well a whimsey.

At that age, I may have been ripe for a change in my world view, but I cannot deny that it was "Antony and Cleopatra" that provided it. Ever since I have compared my response to a performance to that I felt from this production. Patrick Stewart has certainly gone on to "bigger and better" things in the last quarter century, but for me he'll always be Enobarbus, the man who defined Shakespeare for me.