3. Ray Donovan,
Episode 6, Housewarming. Another solid episode put out to continue this
shows quest to be the best new show of 2013. Liev Schreiber and Jon Voigt
continue to steal scene after scene, as we look deeper and deeper into a dysfunctional
Boston family dropped in the Hollywood hills. The storyline with the stubborn FBI agent trying to bring
down Donovan is well done, because Donovan has done his scare tactic and not
scared him off. Ray is clearly scared of the thought of having to take out an
FBI agent and can’t bring himself to take out his own father, leaving him
caught in a position he is unable to solve. As Ray’s family continues to fall
apart around him, he does not know how to keep them together and keep
everything he has worked for from falling apart. Schreiber’s ability to show
the emotional strain on Ray as he transforms back and forth from Ray Donovan
family man to Ray Donovan problem solver is so well done that he certainly has
him jumping into the Emmy mix next year. Still the show I look forward to the
most week-in and week-out right now.
2. Dexter, Episode 6,
A Little Reflection. Six episodes left in our glimpse at the life of a
Miami police officer serial killer … And they seem to be going out with a bang.
The show has always explored Dexter’s willingness to smudge his rules in order
to satisfy his own emotional needs, so the Zach storyline has been perfect to
give us one more tug-of-war in Dexter’s mind. His — and Dr. Vogel’s — decision
to let Zach live and try to teach him the code could be his and the good doc’s
downfall. It is nice to see the show really getting into the wind down as they
have virtually settled the Deb-Dexter story arc that has dominated the last
season and a half and was getting slightly tedious. Hannah McKay showing up at
the end only makes things more interesting going forward and is evidence of
another mistake by Dexter where he ignored Harry’s Code and tried to be
“human.” By chasing Trinity for himself, it cost him his wife and his son his
mother. But allowing Hannah to live it could cost him his sister. Is allowing
Zach to live going to be his final mistake?
1. The Killing,
Episodes 11 and 12, From Up Here and The Road to Hamelin. At the end of the
previous episode, viewers of The Killing knew two things for sure. Ray Seward
did not kill his wife and Joe Mills was not actually the Piper. Can there be a
few holes pointed to throughout the season that make the eventual revelation of
Lieutenant Skinner as the Pied Piper a little far-fetched? Sure. But a few
slight holes do not change the fact that this payoff was very well done. If you
watch shows like this often you learn there are hints dropped off quite often.
A couple of weeks ago, when Joe Mills was arrested for the murders, all viewers
knew he must not be the actual killer, but what could easily be missed is what
Detectives Linden and Holder latched onto in the final two hours. Mills had
Bullet and all of the trinkets of the dead girls in his car. It meant that if
someone else was the killer — and we knew someone else had to be because why
would The Killing give us the killer in episode 9 — it had to be someone close
to the investigation … a cop most likely. So, while the season and the final
two episodes were a little uneven … the show mostly stayed on course while
keeping its “big reveal” in its back pocket. Not to be overlooked this season was the fantastic exploration of the streetkids in Seattle. The entire story almost seemed forced at first. In the end, it was so fantastic and showed so well the difficulty of kids and families that get lost with dealing with the system. Seeing Twitch throw away his habit while at the same time seeing Lyric get into another car was a great way for the show to end their stories and show how the cycle continues. But ... in the end ... what really makes The Killing
a show we desperately want to see back for season 4 is the acting. This season
could easily bring three acting Emmy nods. Mireille Enos, Joel Kinnaman and
Peter Sarsgaard simply could not have performed better and all deserve
recognition for their fantastic portrayals of Detective Linden, Detective
Holder and inmate Ray Seward, respectively. The final moments of the season
between a broken Linden and her desperate to save her partner Holder were
agonizing and perfect … and left us all holding our breath for a fourth
installment.
Honorable Mention:
The Bridge, Episode 4, “Maria of the Desert”; Burn Notice, Episode 8, “Nature
of the Beast”
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