Linda and I have been taping all the big HBO series that we watch -- Boardwalk Empire, Dexter and Homeland, and now have full seasons to watch in sequence during rerun holiday season.
So from least to best, we started with Boardwalk Empire.
SPOILERS!
I've been a little down on this show. None of the characters are particularly likeable, and some are downright creepy.
But watching them over a couple of days was much more interesting experience. For one thing, I started to catch some narrative tricks they keep using.
For instance, they are constantly foreshadowing that some character is going to get killed off -- I mean, for the show to continue it has to happen.
But a neat little trick they play over and over again, is that the character is killed by someone other than the one you expect -- the wrong side, or completely out of the blue. It's a narrative tick on their part, that is starting to become predictable.
They did a nice job of isolating Nuckie at the end -- Godfather style.
I know something of the history of the characters, so I keep expecting things to happen to Lucky Luciano and Joe Masseria and Arnold Rothstein and all the Chicago crowd, that haven't happened yet. So far I think they've left out the other Mustache Pete, Salvatore Maranzano.
They really have lavished production design on this show, and they don't seem to be skimping as the show gets more established, like they usually do.
There are a couple of subplots that seem to be going nowhere, but I'm sure they'll come around. So I will be watching this next year, after almost giving up on it last year.
So from least to best, we started with Boardwalk Empire.
SPOILERS!
I've been a little down on this show. None of the characters are particularly likeable, and some are downright creepy.
But watching them over a couple of days was much more interesting experience. For one thing, I started to catch some narrative tricks they keep using.
For instance, they are constantly foreshadowing that some character is going to get killed off -- I mean, for the show to continue it has to happen.
But a neat little trick they play over and over again, is that the character is killed by someone other than the one you expect -- the wrong side, or completely out of the blue. It's a narrative tick on their part, that is starting to become predictable.
They did a nice job of isolating Nuckie at the end -- Godfather style.
I know something of the history of the characters, so I keep expecting things to happen to Lucky Luciano and Joe Masseria and Arnold Rothstein and all the Chicago crowd, that haven't happened yet. So far I think they've left out the other Mustache Pete, Salvatore Maranzano.
They really have lavished production design on this show, and they don't seem to be skimping as the show gets more established, like they usually do.
There are a couple of subplots that seem to be going nowhere, but I'm sure they'll come around. So I will be watching this next year, after almost giving up on it last year.