The Wire Season 3

Being with the APs to get cured of the flu makes for limited internet access but much dvd time. And thus, two seasons for the price of one, while I'm ages behind answering the replies to the last posts, sorry. Will try to remedy. Onwards with the Baltimore saga!

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Thirty Days of TV: Day Eight

Day 08 - A show everyone should watch

All the shows ever reviewed in this journal, obviously.:) Okay, more seriously now, I don't think you can answer that question without a certain hyperbole, because when you reccommend shows, you are, or at least I am, usually aware that not everything is for everyone. I know people whom I wouldn't reccommend Merlin to, and I know some who really wouldn't enjoy Breaking Bad, to name two widely disperate shows whom I both love a lot. Otoh, I have several friends who were wild about Supernatural for years, and it never did anything for me. Ditto for Stargate. But we share other fandoms. So, with this caveat, here's my choice for this time: aquire the dvds of the first and only season of American Gothic. Then get yourself the correct episode order, because the people releasing the dvds have done something very stupid. Not all of the episodes were shown on American tv (mostly, I take it, for censorship reasons), though all were shown on European tv, and in the correct order, too. However, dvds in every region have the episodes in the American order plus the three which weren't broadcast simply slapped on at the end AFTER the season and show finale, despite the fact that two of them contain crucial character development which really needs to be seen at the right chronological point(s). More about this and the right episode order are here.

Once you've done that, you're in for a treat. American Gothic only got one season, but what a season it was. (And also the show's creator was notified of the cancellation in time to make the season finale a good show finale as well.) It had lots of shades of grey, fantastic performances, complicated relationships, dark humor, character growth, and one of the best subversions of fridging I've ever seen. (A key female character dies at the start of the pilot, which sets a lot of things in motion for her little brother. However, it is also just the start of her own development - the title may have clued you in that there are supernatural goings on here, and the woman in question, as a ghost, acquires over the course of the season enough powers to go toe to toe with may-not-be-the-devil-himself-but-definitely-bad-news-in-a-really-entertaining-way, Sheriff Lucas Buck.) Since it's a one season only show, it doesn't add too much to your undoubtedly large staple of to be watched shows, and like I said: the dvds are out there.

In conclusion:

( The rest of the days )

The Wire, Season 4

Aka the one to rip your emotional guts out.

( The game is rigged )