Emmy Voter 2012: Supporting Actress in a Drama Series

ML- In all the acting categories at the Emmys, nominees submit one episode (or "tape") they feel showcases their best work that season. I've been watching all the submitted "tapes" and reviewing them critically to help determine which actor/actress is most deserving come Emmy night.

Today, I'll focus on Drama Supporting Actress.

Christine Baranski as Diane Lockhart in The Good Wife
Submission Tape: "Alienation of Affection"
A.K.A. The One Where... Diane is courted by a process server who brings bad news: a husband and wife that Lockhart/Gardner helped divorce are suing, saying the company forced them into splitting up.
Notes: Baranski didn't have as much chemistry with this guy as she had with Gary Cole's character, who has frequented her past tapes. Obviously, she likes to submit episodes with a mix of professional and romantic, which is a good choice, because Diane can often be bland. This was a good showing that gave her a decent amount of screentime, but not enough oomph to leave a lasting impression.
Verdict: Baranski is a great talent who gives consistently good performances, but this wasn't a winning tape.
Grade: 6.5/10

Joanne Frogatt as Anna Smith (Bates) in Downton Abbey
Submission Tape: "Episode 7 (Christmas)"
A.K.A. The One Where... Bates is convicted of murdering his wife and sentenced to death, which shakes Anna to the core. She pleads to the Crawleys to help fight it, and Bates is awarded life in prison foe the time being.
Notes: Frogatt is strong and likable as a woman who stands by her man, but like Baranski, there is so much else going on in the episode that her presence gets overshadowed by other plots and actors.
Verdict: It was an honor for her to be nominated, and I see a great possibility of her building her character more and getting in again next year. For now, Anna will have to settle for the victory of getting Bates' life saved.
Grade: 6.5/10

Anna Gunn as Skyler White in Breaking Bad
Submission Tape: "Cornered"
A.K.A. The One Where...  Skyler worries to Walt about the frantic phone calls and thought he was in danger, to which Walt famously replies "I AM THE DANGER!" Now more aware of the scope of his power, she drives to the four corners to seek out a new life, but can't bring herself to move away. She returns, and vows she has to save the family from the man trying to save the family.
Notes: Love her or hate her, Skyler is brilliantly acted by Anna Gunn, who captures all the emotions needed for a woman in Skyler's position. She is limited to few scenes, but the ones she is in feel important and resonate with the audience.
Verdict: Gunn may benefit from Season 5 airing during the voting period. I don't think she has enough support to take the top prize, but she's going to give them one hell of a fight.
Grade: 7.5/10.

Christina Hendricks as Joan Harris in Mad Men
Submission Tape: "The Other Woman"
A.K.A. The One Where... Joan sleeps with the Jaguar executive to land the account for the company in exchange for being promoted to partner.
Notes: This one had everyone talking, and really showcased Hendricks. The look she gives Don when he comes to the house to talk her out of it (after she's already done it) and her look at the end to Peggy conveyed more emotion and emphasis than some of the other nominees in their entire tapes. She took us on the journey of Joan's decision and made what could have been an eye-roll worthy piece of contrived melodrama into a game-changing moment.
Verdict: Mad Men has never had an actor win an Emmy, and this year their best bet is this Mad woman.
Grade: 8.5/10

Archie Panjabi as Kalinda Sharma in The Good Wife
Submission Tape: "The Dream Team"
A.K.A. The One Where... Alicia finds a check that should have been in Kalinda's personal belongings, and when she calls the number a mysterious man answers. When Kalinda finds out she freaks, buys a hammer and tears apart her wall to get a bunch of hidden money that she packs into a bag. Later, she reveals the man is her crazy husband she escaped Canada from, and waits with a loaded gun as he approaches the apartment after stealing the money, Yowza.
Notes: Panjabi, who won this award two years ago, had to battle against the regular cast plus the "Dream Team" of Michael J. Fox and Emmy-winner Martha Plimpton for screen time. Did she hold her own? Unfortunately, not as much as she needed to. Kalinda is never the most compelling character, but she is the most mysterious, so the hook outshines the acting.
Verdict: Panjabi will probably not repeat for this role, and she shouldn't. Basically a Lisbeth Salander copycat with less intensity, Kalinda the character doesn't get the meaty stories needed to break to the top of the pack, or even the middle.
Grade: 6/10 

Maggie Smith as Violet Crawley, Dowager Countess of Grantham in Downton Abbey
Submission Tape: "Episode One"
A.K.A. The One Where... Violet snarks at everyone and fusses over the flowers.
Notes: This character is fun and funny, but is Maggie Smith really reaching to portray her? My grandma can be just as funny as the Dowager Countess. Yes, she is beloved, and will probably win another Emmy for the role (she won while Downton competed in miniseries last year) but as far as tapes go, this was not incredily strong, a shame for a character I do like so much.
Verdict: She's a safe bet to win, but I would hate to see it for this particular tape.
Grade: 7/10

How My Ballot Would Look:

Winner: Christina Hendricks
Runner-Up: Anna Gunn
3. Maggie Smith
4. Joanne Frogatt
5. Christine Baranski
6. Archie Panjabi

TV Review: Breaking Bad 5x08: "Gliding Over All"

Walt's downfall isn't going to be attributed to his ego spilling over, or his wife's immense fear, or any of his cronies buckling under pressure and calling the cops. It's because of some light bathroom reading Hank perused through while going #2 in the White bathroom.


Holy crap.

This episode was a stunning achievement of storytelling. Gilligan and co. disposed of the 10 potential whistleblowers in cinematic fashion, calling back to Walt's new watch in a scene that felt straight out of The Godfather or Goodfellas. We got a three month time jump, which felt honest to the story and relieving to get fresh takes on everyone. Plus, the new baby they got for Holly was freaking adorable.

None of my "bold predictions" I made came true tonight, which isn't too disappointing because they were more geared towards the next season. In fact, Breaking Bad is the type of show where it feels good to be wrong. Spoilers must be avoided like the plague, as any clue to where the show heads next feels like you're taking the TV equivalent of performance enhancing drugs. Being on the West Coast, staying off of Twitter and Facebook while the East enjoys and comments on the twists and turns gives a satisfaction similar to pledging celibacy until marriage or not eating all day before Thanksgiving dinner: you know you're in for something beyond words when the moment finally comes.

I wish I had put more weight into the Whitman book, especially given that the title of the episode, "Gliding Over All", is the title of one of Whitman's poems. It goes:

GLIDING o'er all, through all

Through Nature, Time and Space

As a ship on the waters advancing,

The voyage of the soul--not life alone

Death, many deaths I'll sing.

Walter sang many deaths tonight during the simultaneous killing of the imprisoned Fring associates. There are many more deaths awaiting him, including, I suspect, his own. 

At first I was surprised to see Walt retire so quickly, but it all made sense in a way that was true to the character. Walt said he was in the empire business, making a product as American as Coca Cola. He started off as a small business owner struggling to peddle his product, but he found success and achieved the American dream of having what he wanted, more money than he could spend in 10 lifetimes. But, like so many Americans before him, everything he wanted didn't bring him any happiness. In his mind he had a vision for what his life would be like as a rich meth lord, but by becoming the best, he destroyed any competition and things became boring. 

So he chose between the American ideals: Live Free or Die. He picked to live free, because it no longer seemed like he would die as a meth cook. This is because, I suspect, his killer has returned- the cancer. As he exited the rest room, he saw the paper towel dispenser he punched back when he was told his cancer had decreased and he was getting better. After this visit, he smiled and moved along. Was he merely reminiscing on how far he had come and what a fool he had been back then? Or did he finally have some relief to his conscience, knowing death was slowly creeping back into his body?

His visit with Jesse was nice, but it also reminded me how little Aaron Paul had to do this season. There's no great Emmy tape for him here, while Cranston has a few possibilities, Anna Gunn has the pool/fight episode and even Jonathan Banks could compete with a couple episodes. But Paul was severely underutilized, aside from getting to yell "Yeah, Bitch- Magnets!". 

Their back-and-forth was awkward. The men had been through so much together, but in the end, they're just like any coworkers who can't find common ground when they leave the office. Remember that RV? And that time we got stuck in the desert? Walt misses the craziness of those times, as does Jesse, who is falling asleep on his couch with nothing to do. Before Walt goes he mentions "I left you something", referring to bags of money on the front porch. Jesse takes them in and has an emotional breakdown, most likely due to the fact he was prepared to shoot Mr. White with a gun he grabbed when he saw him at the door. Jesse is still living in fear, because he can't not. Mike knew he couldn't just get out of the drug game. His mind is in it.

So where do we go from here? We still have 9 months to go before we see Walt's 52nd birthday from the teaser of this season. How will Hank handle knowing his geeky brother in law is really the biggest, baddest drug lord in history? Will the loose ends from previous seasons, like Jane's death or the ricin in the outlet, come back into play? I hope so. I should probably stop speculating about this show, one because it will drive me crazy while I wait for the next year, but two because I'm sure my predictions will be wrong, and it may be more fun to strap in while Vince Gilligan does Walter White-style donuts with out emotions and expectations. 

Episode Grade: A-

Season 5 Grade: 90.00 (A-)

Episode MVP: Vince Gilligan

Original Airdate: 09/02/2012

TV Review: Breaking Bad 5x04: "51"

ML- I think its time we addressed the "Skyler Problem".

In seasons 1 and 2 I hated Skyler White. She was annoying, intrusive and ruining all the fun we wanted Walter to have as he got deeper and deeper into the drug game.

Then S.F.T.

Since then, I've seen Skyler in a whole new light, and I think that's because I've grown to love and respect Anna Gunn as an actress. The scene last season where she discussed her "bullet points" with Walt on his fake gambling addiction is one of my favorites the show has ever done. She's knocking it out of the park acting-wise, playing a character who just sucks all of the fun out of the room.

But I don't hate her. I see tweets from people who can't stand her, and try to respond in ways that will help change their minds. She made some bad decisions to follow Walt down this path, sure: remember when she went to the four corners and flipped her coin to decide her fate, then kept flipping when she didn't get what she wanted? She has nobody to blame but herself.

That being said, look at what she's living with. Walter is a jerk to her and a genuine monster of a person. The fight scene, which I think could sell-out theaters as a one-act play, showed just how scared she is and the lengths she will go to protect her children, something Walt vowed to do as well. Yes, she can be annoying and boring and bitchy and hypocritical. But she may be the only hope of bringing down Walter White.

Then again, she may not have to do anything at all. Hank and the DEA made progress sniffing out more Madrigal employees, causing Lydia to panic and call Mike requesting help. Her guy, Ron, is no longer available to drive the trucks. Mike says he'll send a new guy.

The guy was Jesse, who she skeptically lets into the warehouse to grab the methylamine. There's a problem, though- they spot a substance on the bottom of the barrel that Lydia recognizes as a GPS tracker. Jesse reports back to Mike and Walt, empty-handed, but Mike is suspicious that no other barrels were checked and suspects Lydia is pulling the wool over their eyes and trying to dissociate from Mike and their deal. Mike vows to take her out, Jesse votes against it, and Walter refuses to let anything stop them from cooking.

Walt didn't have a very good pre-birthday. It started off fine- he and his son went to get the Pontiac fixed up and decided to lease some hot new sports cars. He and Walter, Jr. pulled up into the driveway in style, but Walter, Jr. wasn't too keen on his car choice. So in a brilliant, wordless scene, the father and son pulled up again, this time Jr. in a different car. It seemed like a dream sequence, which was the perfect feel to give a sense of Walter's reckless, idealistic mindset.

After dinner, Walter explains to Skyler that he only leased the cars in an attempt to cover his tracks. SHe asks if he's back at cooking, and he mentions he has to make up for the $600,000 she gave Ted. She then suggests boarding school for Walter, Jr. The kids, she feels, need a new environment.

Walter disagrees. And that's that. And he wants a big birthday party. With chocolate cake and chocolate frosting.

And life is good. Because he says it is.

The next morning he gets his bacon on his eggs, a White family tradition that confirms the 1-year gap between current events and the flash-forward we saw as the season's teaser. With all of the crap that occurred over these 4.5 seasons fitting into 1 year, it's hard to imagine how much can change within another year.

Hank has been spot on about Gus and his crew every step of the way, and he is offered a promotion to give up his day-to-days (Fring case included) for a better-paying, more political job. he takes it, but I don't think he's done with the Fring case just yet.

Walt leaves Jesse early at work because he expects a big birthday party. He opens the door to the house and his face drops- it's just his son on the couch, not a room full of people praising the ground he walks on. Skyler invited Hank and Marie, cooked some meat and potatoes, and even ordered the chocolate cake. It's hard to believe Walt really expected her to throw anything major together, but again, he is blinded by his idealism and own ego.

The second best scene of the night goes to Marie and Hank in the car as she pulls a classic example of refusing to tell someone a secret while promptly giving everything away. It is a great, funny moment for her character and its nice to see she and Hank bond after all of their animosity last season. It involved infidelity, that's all she was going to say. But not Walt.

As Walt reminisced on his journey and how things have fallen into pace for him, Skyler lingers by the edge of the pool, staring into the water. He asks her to remember his first week of chemo, and she does, painfully. Instead of doing so, she'd rather wade into the cold water and nearly drown herself.

The pool has been a major force in Breaking Bad, after the events of the plane crash in season 2 and the cartel member's death last year (different pool, but still). For our characters, the pools may represent drowning, being enclosed and trapped. It's from the pool that the one-eyed bear is plucked, a symbol of Walt's descent to breaking bad.

Here, Skyler uses the badness as an empowerment opportunity. She has Marie ask Walt if she can take the kids, as it may be better for them than to be around their suicidal mom. Skyler descends and puts herself into danger to protect the kids, just like Walt. And when Walt confronts her, in the best scene of the season thus far, it's clear that the danger she's putting herself through is being with him. He tries claiming there is no danger, Gus was the danger, and she quickly retorts that at one point he proclaimed "I am the danger." To whom is he dangerous to now with Gus gone?

He grills her on her grand scheme here to pick it apart with his own honed skill of finding flaws in plans. She wants the kids away so they don't have to be around the family business of making meth and lying to everyone. She can't have them around while he makes rationalizations and shrugs off dealing drugs and killing people as "shit happens".

She says she'll hurt herself again if she has to so the kids can stay away longer. He counters that he'll put her in a facility where she'll need inpatient care. She says she'll bruise her neck and eye and blame it on Walt beating her after discovering her affair. But does she want to drag Ted deeper into things and paint Walt as a wife beater to their children? Walt is quick to see all of the negative paths her actions take and doesn't give her an ounce of room to think or even breathe.

Unable to handle his interrogation anymore she cracks. She has no brilliant plan. She can't go to the cops and she can't keep him out of the house or even out of her bed. She does have one failsafe, though: wait until his cancer comes back to kill him. Let him self-destruct, as a result of both the cancerous tumors and his darkened soul and bad decisions.

This time metaphor pops up again when Jesse gives Walt a present- a new watch. In the very next scene, a loud ticking can be heard from Skyler's room. Walt's time is running out, and everyone knows it. He tells her that the watch was a gift from someone who just weeks ago wanted him dead, and he can turn Skyler back to his corner. Not seeing Gunn's face for this scene worked well, because we got everything we needed to by her body language. Just lights up a cigarette, as if perhaps some smoke will make its way into his lungs and, if she's lucky, knock the first domino.

Now we're halfway through with the season. It's hard to believe, but 8 episodes goes a lot quicker than 13. Where do you think the show is going in its final episodes? Will Hank make the connections to Walt? Will Mike kill Lydia, and if so will he get caught? Will Skyler go to the cops and report what she knows? And will Jesse finally get an episode where he has a lot to do? Please, writers, give him something to work with! Leave your predictions in the comments.

Episode Grade: A- (4 in a row! I nearly went with an A but there wasn't enough "oomph", aside from the fight.)
Episode MVP: Anna Gunn
Original Airdate: 08/05/2012

TV Review: Breaking Bad 5x03: "Hazard Pay"

ML- I watched and took notes on this week's Breaking Bad as it aired on Sunday, but due to technical difficulties and sheer exhaustion I was unable to get to this review until Tuesday night. Unfortunately for everyone, I'm now pretty removed from the episode to give my clearest insights, so I'll be adding in the usual plot recap with some musings on television in general.

It's been said that it it possible to make a perfect film, but not a perfect TV series. Look at Lost- season one was damn near perfect, but the show stalled and faltered much over the next five years until reaching a polarizing finale (which I happened to love). A film can be shot in a matter of a few weeks, while TV series take years, which leaves plenty of time for bad stuff to happen likes kids getting older, actors getting into legal trouble or audiences getting bored.

For my money, Breaking Bad is a perfect television show. Since the beginning, it hasn't seemed to quiver at the reaction of the audience, or the Nielsen ratings, or the conventions of dramatic storytelling.  It truly feels like one long, thrilling movie (can it be that this whole series has only taken place over one year so far? Bonkers). While I haven't seen The Wire or The Sopranos or The West Wing, so those critically lauded shows may in fact be perfect as well, but Breaking Bad is the only one I've seen to stick to its guns and offer an uncompromising, high-quality view throughout every episode of every season.

Mad Men is a close second, because, for better or worse, the tone has shifted drastically since the beginning of the show. Yes, it's because the time the show is set in has changed, but comparing season 1 episodes to season 5 is like comparing Walt's meth to Gale's: quality is high, but the small differences are influential.

Other high-quality shows like Six Feet Under and Friday Night Lights suffered some shaky plot lines and seasons, and comedies like Arrested Development, Community and even Seinfeld all had some episodes that missed the mark. I, too, feel that creating consistent comedy is harder than creating consistent drama, because it's hard to find humor that appeals to the full spectrum of audiences. But that's for another completely unrelated TV Review.

Hold on, Skyler White has something to say:

Well I guess I'll keep my thoughts about TV to myself then....

... yeah right no way. I can't stay away from talking about this show, and if you're reading this, I bet you can't either. So let's cut the chit-chat and dive into the episode:

We started with Mike posing as a paralegal to get one-on-one time with the men on Lydia's list. So far, everyone has proved loyal, but since the feds have seized their hazard pay, rats could begin to emerge. These people have families they need to protect, just like Walt, Jesse and Mike.

Walt moves his things back into the apartment and lingers on a copy of what appeared to be "Leaves of Grass" by Walt Whitman, who has come up many times in the past on this show, most memorably when Hank sniffed out Gale's "W.W." obsession in the journal and Walt pinned it on Whitman. From what I saw on "Leaves of Grass", Whitman was writing it up until he died. Is this a foreboding sign for our Walt? Can we even call him "our" Walt anymore?

Saul isn't too keen on turning the three amigos into four with Mike's addition, but they hit the road to find a new place to cook. After a few less-than-stellar locales, they come across the old laser tag place, where Walt finds his inspiration. He doesn't want to cook there, but rather sees something that gives him the idea: They'll take over houses being fumigated and set up temporary labs that will be broken down by the time the house is finished. Brilliance.

Jesse gets Skinny Pete and Badger in on it, as they buy cases for hauling musical equipment that really will carry the lab parts. Saul has an in with people who can get into the houses, one of them being Jesse Plemons (Landry Clarke of Friday Night Lights). The plan comes together, and their new venture, Vamonos Pests, works like a charm.

That is, until payday arrives. Mike divides up the fat stacks of cash, and Walt is pissed to see his hard-earned share be depleted into the hazard pay accounts. This isn't how he wants to run things, but Mike doesn't care. Just because he shot Jesse James, he lectures, doesn't make Walt the next Jesse James. Walt is constantly trying to stop being the nerdy physics professor with cancer (which he didn't actually deny having to Marie), so the comparisons to the late Gus Fring still irk him. He feels he is entitled to all the power and intimidation that Gus earned over many years of dominance in the drug game. It's been less than a year for Walter.

They're making less than they did with Fring, Walt complains. Jesse shows him the bright side, though: they put out much less product to get proportionally more money. A "bigger piece of the pie". Walt wants the whole pie, and reminds Jesse about what happened to Gus' peon Victor when he "flew too close to the sun". Was this directed towards Mike, Jesse or both? Walt is wild with power right now- power he doesn't really even have.

Jesse broke things off with Andrea this week after a talk with Mr. White about secrets. He planned on sticking with her for the long haul until Walter reminded him how he'd have to live with the secrets of what he does and did (like killing Gale) forever. Secrets, Walt explains, create barriers between people, and soon everything you've done is a part of you. By this definition, Walt and Jesse are becoming some bad dudes, and only one of them seems happy about it.

Walt's interaction with Brock at Jesse's house was just perfect. There was a tangible barrier in that room- we got to see Walt bond with Jr. and Holly like a normal middle-aged man (over Scarface, not planned to coincide with AMC mob week or anything) but with this boy he was shut down, or rather, shut in on himself with all of the horrible things he'd done.

The one horrible thing he did this week that I absolutely loved was his handling of Marie. Skyler gets the MVP award this week for saying what the audience has been dying to shout for years now: SHUT UP!  BOLD BREAKING BAD PREDICTION: Someone will strangle Marie, killing her, shutting her up and turning her face purple. You heard it here first!

Marie goes to Walt to meddle some more and find out what got Skyler all upset about him. He uses her break of character as a punishment and tells Marie about the I.F.T. affair, one again making himself look like the good guy and Skyler the villain. Skyler knows the truth, however, if her shell-shocked face during the shooting scene in Scarface was any indication. My confidence in my prediction about her going to the police is strengthened this week. And Walt, like Tony Montana, is going to go down guns blazing.

Episode Grade: A-
Episode MVP: Anna Gunn
Original Airdate: 7/29/2012