Dual Redundancy's 2014 Fall TV Pilot Reviews

Every fall many new shows premiere with a pilot episode. With so many premiering at once we here at Dual Redundancy want to try and help you figure out which show you should try out.

Below are some of the pilots we have already covered on the podcast. As we cover more this page will be updated with their reviews. All of these can be heard on iTunes as well as a special YouTube playlist.

ABC: Black-ish, How to Get Away with Murder & Selfie

CW: Jane the Virgin

FOX: Gracepoint, Mulaney & Red Band Society

NBC: A to Z, Marry Me & State of Affairs

SHOWTIME: The Affair

TV Thoughts: Dexter & Homeland "Hopping the Shark?"

DA- A wise man once said “I'm afraid I prematurely shot my wad on what was supposed to be a dry run if you will, so I'm afraid I have something of a mess on my hands.” If you are not a fan of Arrested Development or the world renowned “analrapist” Tobias Fünke, you may not understand the genius of what he was trying to say. Sometimes people just get too excited and rush into something they are not completely ready for. If only shows like Dexter and Homeland took this into consideration when creating their seasons.

Now before I dive into this, I just want to say Dexter and Homeland are amazing shows and I am really just nitpicking as someone who really loves television. These shows among many others did not necessarily “jump the shark.” They may have just taken a hop into a direction they should have waited a few seasons for.

First up is Dexter. Now our favorite serial killer just wrapped up his seventh season with an arc that had Deb contemplating how to babysit her serial killer brother that she also has a crush on. This season started off well (especially after a lackluster fifth season and a terrible sixth season). However once they got rid of this season’s bad guy Isaak Sirko in episode nine, they gave us a terrible placeholder villain. This guy who lasted an episode or two was an arsonist who as a kid liked to start fires and became an adult who…also likes to start fires. Then we had Quinn dating a stripper who just leaves and dumps him anyways and Batista retiring from a “great” career to open a terrible restaurant.

However the best part of the season involved the least liked character of the series on the heels of Dexter’s dark secret. There were so many flashbacks to season two, which many consider a high point for the series that involved Miami Metro investigating Dexter’s own crimes. Now after a solid first season it seemed like a crazy jump for season two to already find Dexter in hot waters but after this season premiered in 2007, these may be the only hot waters Dexter will ever face. Now every episode once Dexter makes any mistake he can easily get himself out of it. He does not need to worry anymore about murdering a suspect in a busy airport or even tranquilizing the guy that murdered his mother in a sunny park THE SAME DAY HE WAS SUSPECTED TO BE THE BAY HARBOR BUTCHER! 

When James Doakes was framed in season two to be the Bay Harbor Butcher, Miami Metro knew it was some law-enforcement member that was doing these vigilante killings. However now when any evidence may even remotely point to Dexter it is just brushed off as crazy talk. One of my biggest complaints was the blood slide that LaGuerta found at the church in the season seven premiere. This blood slide with Travis Marshall’s blood on it was found years after the Bay Harbor Butcher’s killings. These blood slides was a trait of the killer and was a detail that was never released outside of Miami Metro, thus it is impossible for any copycats outside of Miami Metro. In other words, there is a chance that the BHB is still out there. Sure it is not necessarily Dexter but this means the BHB may not be Doakes. Even though this slide sparked LaGuerta’s doubts, when Matthews finds other possible evidence that the BHB is not Dexter this detail is never brought up again. Is this just a detail the writers decided to gloss over once they realized they had no idea what to do with it?

In the end it does not matter because ever since Dexter explored his own crimes back in season two we will probably never have the blame back on Dexter until the last episode of the series which may be many, many years ahead of us (thanks to last Sunday’s ratings). It is almost like not being able to find out who the mother is on How I Met Your Mother except here we know exactly who Dexter is and we are dying for someone at Miami Metro to open their eyes and realize who he is too.

Immediately following Dexter on Sunday night is Homeland. Now before I dissect this brilliant show I do like how they ended season two. However there were many points this season that I was worried they make have took many leaps in what the audience can believe. Season one was a solid season that climaxed with “Marine One” saying once and for all what side Brody was on. As season two started I loved the first few episodes where Saul and later David Estes figured out that Carrie was not so crazy with her beliefs about Brody. Don’t get me wrong she is still crazy but as Saul said in the season two finale she is the “smartest and the dumbest person” we all know.

However once Carrie breaks her undercover work and they apprehend Brody at the end of “New Car Smell” it was as though somebody took the car from the writers, pressed hard on the gas, turned up Neon Trees’ Everybody Talks, and did not look back to see the people they may hit along the way. Instead of letting the audience stalk Brody for awhile and wonder what side he is on now, the show tried to give us surprises every episode. These include almost killing a U.S. Congressman and possible Vice Presidential candidate in the back of a limo or how the Vice President’s pacemaker can easily be accessed by a serial number which can be found just by sneaking around the VP’s house. (There is not one camera or microphone anywhere in that house?)

While I was still excited to tune in every week it reminded me a lot of the show 24 which actually had Homeland’s creators’ Howard Gordon and Alex Gansa on staff. Now this is not necessarily a bad comparison. I enjoyed the first few seasons of 24 myself and how crazy it was to find a mole inside an intelligence organization (even if it did feel like there was a mole every season). But The A.V. Club's Todd VanDerWerff said it best in his Homeland "Broken Hearts" review. By saying Homeland is acting like 24, people are “not bashing 24, which was a good show, but [it was] a very different kind of show.” Different is right. For me to believe there was a POW that was turned against his country did not take much disbelief for me for a television show, but after the events mid way this season I had to suspend my disbelief even more than I should for this "realistic" universe Gordon and Gansa created.

Though it created interesting television what worries me is it becoming 24, a show that had to rely on crazy tricks and reveals when it got into later seasons. Did we have to cover so much ground in season two that the only thing that seemed possible for the show was for it to “clean house” and kill Brody so they can start working on other terrorist plots? No. We had the time to kill (just ask Dexter) but it is clear sometimes we can just get too excited and rush through storylines like we have barrels full of them (Glee season one I am looking at you next!) Let’s just hope that these next few seasons of Dexter and Homeland (hopefully just one more for the former) don’t leave too much of a mess on any of the show runners or writers' hands. If not, they may just be mumbling how “they blue themselves” too early.

Do you agree/disagree? Leave your thoughts below in the comments or send me a tweet @eastwoodmcfly.

TV Catch-Up: Homeland: How Will Season 2 End?

photo courtesy of screencrush.com

ML- To preface, many apologies for the overall lack of effort on my part in staying up-to-date with reviews. Just returned home from a whirlwind semester in Los Angeles and had barely had time to watch all my TV, let alone organize my thoughts.

A lot has happened since I last blogged about the show. Six episodes, to be exact, have aired, and over the course of that time I've noticed the critical response to the show pull a near-180. A major complaint has been that the manic pacing and plot twists galore have worsened the show, rendering it more familiar to Howard Gordon/Alex Gansa's last hit, 24. From what I've heard 24 is a good show, but not the example of high art the Homeland proved it could be with tight, concise storytelling and well-developed characters last season. Instead, 24 took more liberties with believability and danced with absurdity too often, until it became Kiefer Sutherland running around shooting people and yelling "dammit!"

Right now, I'm afraid Homeland could become Claire Danes running back into places she absolutely should not run into and yelling "fuck!", because this is pay cable, after all. When she went back for the bag containing Brody's confession video in Lebanon, I complained that it stretched my suspension of disbelief. It turns out, that was to set a precedent of Carrie going back when everything otherwise says bail, as she did with Nazir in the mill. I'm frustrated that both times ended up paying off for her, as there was no sense of real accomplishment when she succeeded this time.

I guess that's not true and I can't go that far. Carrie got Nazir, her white whale. I'm disappointed the extent of their scenes together was limited to her emotional torture last week and a poorly-lit battle before his death. Carrie was obsessed with this man -- like enough to construct color-coded timelines and travel the globe hunting for clues to his whereabouts. Seeing her over his dead body didn't feel like a victory because in many ways, to Carrie, it wasn't. What happens to you when you're stripped of the thing you care most passionately about? You have to move on and fill that void with something new.

Which brings us to Brody. Brody loved Nazir like a father, we can assume, and Damian Lewis did a great job of glazing himself over in the subsequent scenes. I loved his mini-breakdown once he found out about Nazir's death. I also loved his near-confession to Jess in the car, and I loved how she stopped him from saying it, because she already knew. I'm worried what implications this has for Jess and the Brody family in the future -- but I'll get to predictions later.

Saul had a great episode too, sticking it to the man by giving the most entertaining polygraph outside of daytime TV. "Do people call you The Bear?" "I sure fucking hope not." Estes realized Saul knows too much and is canning him, but hopefully Saul is about to get all grizzly on some bitches to stay around. I'm glad the writers found a way to include him more in the action this season by adding him to the Quinn story, and Patinkin always nails what he's given.

Speaking of Peter Quinn (not his real name, as we've learned), I like him. I think we're supposed to like him. Sure, he's been plotting to kill off everyone's favorite anti-hero (or is it protaga-villain?) but he's made an impact in only a handful of episodes, a real unpredictable jolt to the storytelling. When he nearly shot Brody in the limo I finally grasped what a badass dude he is.

What is Estes' main goal using Quinn to off Brody? Can't merely be in the name of national security, as Estes has been shown as much more selfish than that. With Walden now dead (in a questionable scene that actually featured the line "I'm killing you!") Estes is going to be trying to find a way to profit off of the late veep's misfortune. Try to parlay this conquest into political credit? Makes the most sense, but there could be something deeper.

Oh, right, Dana. Ugh at the entire hit-and-run story that has taken things NOWHERE, considering Walden is now dead so boyfriend will probably be out of the picture. It was just killing time, wasn't it? I would have rather watched Chris and Brody play Hearts. At least that would have given him something to do!

photo courtesy of IGN.com

So, how does this clusterfuck of a season end? I've got some predictions, formulated by myself and my similarly Homeland-obsessed mother who has a knack for predicting season finales. To me, what we came up with makes perfect sense. Is that what the writers are going for? Sense? Or shock? We'll see:

When Quinn looked in on Carrie and Brody he didn't have the face of a heartless killer. He was torn, finally giving a damn about his cohort and her emotional struggles with a "terrorist". He knows that if he kills Brody, he's killing Carrie, too. Does he really want to ruin her life? No, he doesn't. He won't end up going through with the kill. And maybe, he'll report to a higher-up that Estes ordered a hit on a congressman, ruining his career or at least forcing him to step down. Best man to take Estes' place? The Bear himself!

We'll get a flashback to Brody's mysterious 12 hours with Abu Nazir and discover a shocking revelation: everything is going to plan. Brody knew Carrie would be kidnapped, and he would only kill Walden under the circumstance she knew his alibi. That way, she can attest he did it for her. Nazir himself knew he'd be killed, and sacrificed himself so that everyone's guard would be lowered. Carrie said it herself -- Nazir doesn't care about people dying along the way. The greatest trick Nazir will ever pull is convincing the world he's gone, when really, his disciple is all the more hell-bent on terrorism.

Brody's conflict last season, the reason why he didn't set off the bomb, was his love for Issa conflicting with his love for Dana, Chris and Jess. Now, he doesn't have to worry about them. They're better off without him. He let them go, and now there's nothing holding him back from getting revenge.

But what is his revenge act? This, I don't know. Walden is dead. The only other person we know who collaborated with Walden is Estes. Is he in Brody's crosshairs? Or could it be Carrie? I highly doubt he actually loves her like he claims he does. The man who destroyed his one love, Issa, is gone; is he going after the woman who destroyed his family? So many questions.

The last question: Will Brody die? I think he will. The Brody story has run its course. Everyone and their mother knows what he was planning to do. His political career is dead, as is his mentor. And how many times can he and Carrie break up/get back together before this becomes one of the bad relationships on Glee?

So Brody dies. Jess, Dana and Chris will get a final scene with Mike comforting them, establishing his role as rightful caretaker. Carrie is traumatized, only giving her more verve to hunt down these terrorists. The only downside to Brody's death would be the loss of Damian Lewis from the show (and, I suppose, Morena Baccarin).

Once he dies, the show is free to pick up on a new tangent. Start over, basically, with a new big bad in a new location and return to the pacing of season 1. Maybe establish a pattern, as if every 2 seasons a major story is dealt with and completed? If The Killing had said upfront Rosie's murder would be solved by the end of season 2, I might have stuck around.

Whether he lives or dies, this season of Homeland, for me, will be remembered fondly for the risks the show took. Did it get outlandish, unbelievable and sometimes stupid? Yes, but it was fun, and the acting was amazing, and there were moments of brilliance sprinkled within every episode. I think The Walking Dead is doing almost the same thing this season, except with worse acting and less fun and brilliance but also zombies. As long as the Homeland writers don't turn into zombies and start churning out crap for the sake of cheap thrills and water-cooler WTFs, I'd say the show will continue to find success.

Share your predictions below so you can rub it in my face when you're right and I'm wrong!

Catch-Up Episode Grades:
2x06: B
2x07: B+
2x08: B+
2x09: A-
2x10: B+

Episode Grade: B+
Episode MVP: Damian Lewis
Original Airdate: 12/09/2012

TV Review: Homeland 2x05: "Q&A"

Photo courtesy of tv.com

ML- It's the time of year when I start thinking of "Best Of" lists for the past 12 months. In terms of TV, I've been keeping track of my favorite shows since 2008, inducting the best I watched that year (either live, DVD or Netflix/Hulu) into a "Hall of Fame" which now consists of Six Feet Under, Survivor, Lost, Friday Night Lights and Community.

This year, the drama side has three clear frontrunners, and one of which is Homeland. Season 2 has been a whirlwind ride and is only half over, and perhaps by the finale it will be a runaway choice for HoF placement. While watching this week's episode, however, I spent a lot of time weighing it against the current top pick, Mad Men.

Mad Men aired an episode of its stellar fifth season called "At the Codfish Ball", in which several characters met for an awards banquet and faced differing forms of disillusionment and moral corruption.  Towards the end of the episode, there was a beautiful shot of all the involved characters sitting at the table, digesting their individual discoveries. That image stuck with me, as did the one of the 5 SCDP partners looking out of their new upstairs viewpoint, an endless world of possibilities lying ahead of them. It's instances like this where television stops being mindless entertainment and starts becoming art.

Homeland doesn't take the time to stage such poignant living artwork, but does that make it any less masterful? Obviously, the show is damn good, entertaining and full of uber-talented ladies and gentlemen. It lacks, however, the added flair of planned perfection I'd attribute to Mad Men and Breaking Bad.

Probably the best instance of such directorial depth comes from episode 3, "State of Independence", when Carrie took her pills and silently, submissively succumbed to her suicidal angst -- not before puking them out, of course. It transports the show from being dialogue and blocking and lighting and props to being a work of art. The image of Claire Danes' big bug eyes lying on the bed, waiting to die, is a picture worth a thousand words.

Homeland is a different kind of art. It's a grittier project, devoted to throwing your point of view out of whack and creating layers of doubt into your mind. When Carrie drinks her wine at episode's end, the speculation as to what's going through her head gives us another artistic moment. Is she a woman recklessly declaring her love for a terrorist, or a savvy interrogator just getting the job done? We don't know, and the best part is that the show itself doesn't know, either, or at least isn't ready to tell us yet. The pacing of this show is unlike any other I've seen (though I've heard it described to The Vampire Diaries) and is in itself a high mark for the case of the show as a work of art.

The reason I even brought any of this up was born out of a minor criticism of this fantastic episode. It has nothing to do with Carrie or Brody or newcomer Peter, as I thought every scene set in the interrogation chamber was perfection. (Side note: I read a great article in which a CIA expert fact-checked Homeland at every turn, especially regarding the interrogation. Check it out.)

My issue was with the scene in which the four Brody family members reunite at the end of the episode. Brody, having just gone through an emotional gauntlet; Dana, having just possibly killed someone while riding around with Lil' Veep; Jess, who keeps putting herself out there and accepts Brody's lies in the name of being a good wife (and achieving social status that gives her life some meaning); and Chris, who is STILL ABSOLUTELY USELESS. That's my major gripe, everyone: Chris. Had the writers developed him even one iota this year (or, let's face it, last year) they could have given him a beat that peaked in this scene with the rest of his family, matching the emotional resonance of "At the Codfish Ball"'s over the top, grandiose spectacle.

I guess I just have to come to terms with the fact that Homeland is not Mad Men, and that's not a bad thing. There's no comparing them, just as there's no comparing Breaking Bad or even Downton Abbey, the third front-runner for drama Hall of Fame this year. One man's Animal Practice is another man's Homeland, and there are bits and pieces of art in every show out there. Mad Men is classical music, Homeland is moody jazz with some rock influences.

I suppose we should actually cover Carrie and Brody. In hindsight, it's obviously the story would take them here: Brody will play triple-agent and report to the CIA on Nazir's retaliation plans after the nuclear facility attack. Carrie and Brody are back in each other's lives: his alibi is that they're having an affair. How long until the two start up with getting physical once again? The idea of the CIA operative and the terrorist falling in love is pretty poetic, in a Romeo and Juliet kind of way.

How long can this story be sustained? Let's assume the finale is Brody saving the day and preventing the attack. Does he relocate and get out of government, like Saul said? Does season 3 involve a personal attack on Brody from former Nazir loyalists, forcing Carrie to come to his aid? Or will Brody prevent the attack but pledge a darker loyalty, now out of the government cross-hairs? The show has options, but I'm not sure if they can remain interesting for 5-7 seasons.

By the way, Dana and her storyline are dumb, but hopefully they'll evolve into something more interesting. She now has some leverage against the VP, something Brody may be able to take advantage of, too. Just please, writers, give Chris a purpose, or kill him and send the family into a funk. Just don't keep him on the payroll in his current state of being. Do that, Homeland may be a lock for the Hall of Fame.

Episode Grade: A
Episode MVP: Damian Lewis
Original Airdate: 10/28/2012

TV Review: Dexter 7x04: Run

DA- As Deb entered the bathtub all we could think of was Rita. As the water turned red and wouldn’t stop Deb must have too. This leads to Deb instantly questioning Dexter now about season four and if he even loved Rita. He did and loves Deb too. Aww…

Thankfully they got Raymond Speltzer from last week and just need a confession. After a good cop/bad cop routine from Batista and Deb respectively they somehow got Raymond to come out and say “I should have killed you like I killed the other girls.” Woah that was easy. Unfortunately when they originally arrested him the cops beat him and it is unclear if Raymond was conscious or even able to follow his Miranda rights (he never verbally said yes). Because of this his confession is thrown out. Now I don’t know much about the justice system but this seems pretty darn stupid! Good thing we have someone like Dexter out there!

Meanwhile Sirko and his henchmen visit Alex who is a barkeeper at the club. They convince him to take the blame for Mike’s murder and kill himself in exchange for his family to receive a lot of money. This is literally the opposite of a suicide prevention hotline. Miami Metro finds the scene the next day and what happens next surprises me. Out of nowhere Batista becomes a good cop and doesn’t believe it was a suicide. It’s too neat. Who is this and what happened to Miami Metro?! Then again Quinn represents the department well. He wants to just forget this whole thing because this ordeal is “hard” for the stripper he is sleeping with. Oh pobre Quinn. Suck it up!

Dexter tries to take on Raymond only for him to get knocked out in the RV and wake up in a maze himself. The note next to him tells him to run but he says he doesn’t run but makes people run. He walks down the hall like a BAMF until he sees Raymond as a bull chase him with a giant axe. Even Dexter knows no matter how uncool it looks, this is the time to run!

He narrowly escapes and decides if this happens again he has to make sure he has nothing to lose (like he did in season four when chasing Trinity). He sends Harrison to Orlando to visit Astor and Cody (remember them?). Dexter tries again to get Raymond and leads him into a trap of his own. Raymond lets out a final yell and tells Dexter he is going to kill him, which Dexter wittingly responds, “that would be a twist.” The body goes into the furnace to be burned and perhaps the ashes will go to Fisher and Sons for a funeral service. (See what I did there?) Along with the body, Dexter gets rid of his blood slides. Finally Dexter realizes that it is a bad idea to hang on to the evidence of people you killed!

Deb sees the smoke coming out of the crematory and asks if Dexter did this for her. He says no (now this would be a good opportunity to say yes Dex) and asks her how she feels. She says she is glad and wonders what that makes her. Dexter simply tells her that this makes her human but I think he forgot to include this also makes her a psycho that is in love with your step-brother who is a serial killer. But hey, one step at a time.

Episode Grade: B

Episode MVP: Angel Batista (for finally being good at his job)
Original Airdate: 10/21/2012

TV Review: Dexter 7x03: Buck the System

DA- Dexter came back full of built up rage and excitement with another action-packed episode.

After dream sequence after dream sequence of Dexter losing his dark passenger, he finally lashes out on a criminal in Miami Metro. While I knew Masuka was never going to bite the dust it would have been interesting to see what lie Dexter could come up with it to cover that up!

Dexter’s next target is a cemetery groundskeeper named Raymond Speltzer. Deb of course follows him at every moment to try and stop him. Since he knows he is being followed, Dexter lures Deb to the bar to let her be a part of his stalking process with this kill. Deb tells him to let the legal system take care of this but Dexter zings back that if the legal system worked he wouldn’t be this busy. Oh Dexter you got her!

The destruction of Louis Greene came to a quick and sad ending for me. First Masuka fires him when Dexter mysteriously sends the missing hand back to him for “not being mint.” Next came Jamie. Dexter sets up a video for her to find that involves him with a hooker. Louis tries to pull a Dexter with a crazy lie (it’s not cheating if you pay for it). Louis turns then turns the lie to Dexter (which is actually the truth) but this is absurd to her. Dexter would never do such a thing! What’s next Louis? Are you going to try and tell her that he kills people?! Yeah right!

Somehow the GPS on the bracelet that Viktor had only marked three places (the three of which Dexter was with him for). They trace it to the marina and to the exact boat (don’t ask me how) where they see Louis trying to sink Dexter’s boat. Since he thinks it is security he says it is his boat. After the classic misunderstanding is settled and they learn about Dexter, Louis is shot. Wow! While I was excited for this increased action I was sad to see this character go especially since the show was leading him to be so much more.

After being turned down for a search warrant on Raymond Speltzer, Deb tries to look into Raymond herself. It turns out that Raymond likes to create Saw-like mazes where he chases his victim in a gimp-like costume while wearing a Viking hat (to each his own!) Deb breaks in and begins to be chased herself. Dexter saves the day but unfortunately did not arrive fast enough to save the dead girl.

Will this be the final straw and will Deb give in to Dexter’s unique justice system (since the real system is certainly flawed in this case)? Perhaps we will find out next week in another exciting and fast-paced Dexter.

Episode Grade: A-

Episode MVP: Louis Greene (R.I.P.)
Original Airdate: 10/14/2012

TV Review: Homeland 2x03: "State of Independence"

photo courtesy of npr.org

ML- There is so much good about this season of Homeland, it literally hurts to point out the scattered flaws. This week, I'd say 75% of the episode was near-perfection. Claire Danes, Morena Baccarin and Mandy Patinkin all were flawless and had story lines worthy of their credentials. It was the stuff given to Damian Lewis that made me hesitate to label this episode as highly as TV critics out there.

To recap, Roya called Brody and told him the Gettysburg bomb maker who created "The Vest" would soon be the subject of government focus and needed to be coerced into escaping to a safe house. Brody was the only man applicable for the job because the tailor apparently trusted him more than anyone else.

I call B.S. on this. Brody and the tailor met once, as far as we know, so he could get the vest. Wouldn't the tailor be a little skeptical of Brody not actually following through in blowing himself up? Weren't there other Nazir contacts who could escape to Gettysburg, especially ones who were less high-profile than a Congressman expected at a fundraiser that night? Either this was a terrible stretch of our suspension of disbelief on the part of the writers, or Roya is not to be trusted. If that's the case, bravo, this episode could end up being perfection. Maybe she knew how crazy it was and wanted Brody to take the fall? That's the only way to justify the logic behind sending Brody through a wild goose chase in the woods.

The scene where he killed the tailor was also ridiculous. Did he have to answer his phone? Couldn't he have let Jess go to voicemail while he dealt with the injured man rather than answer it right next to him and force his hand into snapping necks? Just doesn't add up for me.

The tagline for this season of Boardwalk Empire has been "You can't be half a gangster", and I think a similar idea applies to Brody. Brody can't be half a terrorist. He needs to fully submit himself to the will of Nazir and be willing to drop everything at any cost for the man. I'd say he's close, but his problem is his family. Unfortunately, he can't be half a family man, either. Eventually, something has got to give and he will need to choose. Until then, I hope we aren't subjected to more bad writing.

Everything about the episode was top notch. The Saul scenes in the beginning and end were spectacular. Of course Saul was smart enough to hide the chip! It would have been much funnier if he hid it in his beard. When he showed it to Carrie, the acting by the two of them was show-stopping. Danes killed it throughout the whole episode, especially in the long, wordless scene where she took the pills and crawled into bed to die. It proves that even though the dialogue in this show is top-notch and the actors' delivery is equally so, they can convey just as much emotion with the light of their eyes.

Another pleasant surprise was Jess, who salvaged her fundraiser from becoming a career-ending blunder for her husband into a call for better psychological support for families of veterans. It was a call to the masses, but subtextually a cry for help. Baccarin played the moment with grace, even the awkward joke about car trouble in the beginning, and made an extremely unlikable character very endearing. Her scene with Mike was well-placed, I thought. These two were days away from moving in together and Brody's return forced them apart, it's no stretch that residual feelings exist. When she finally told off Brody in the house, I cheered, perhaps because I was so angry at his story line, but more likely because it paints him further into a corner.

I have literally no idea where this show goes from here. We see in the preview Carrie and Saul briefing Estes on the tape. So the CIA knows. There goes Brody's chance at a political career. Do they try turning him into a triple-agent of sorts to take down Nazir? If so, how will Brody be able to fit another personality into his wheelhouse? A Hawthorne quote featured in an episode of The Sopranos speaks to his condition: "No man can wear one face to himself and another to the multitude without finally getting bewildered as to which may be true."

Episode Grade: A-
Episode MVP: Claire Danes & Morena Baccarin
Original Airdate: 10/14/2012

TV Review: Homeland 2x02: "Beirut is Back"

ML- The most heartbreaking moment of "Beirut is Back" was Carrie's panicked breakdown to Saul on the roof of their Lebanese hideout. Despite risking her life and potential for recovery to ship out and help Saul & David Estes extract information from Fatima Ali, Saul admitted to not wanting her there in the first place. All Carrie ever wanted was to do her service to America, so much so that she put her own health on the back burner and focused 100% on Nazir. So when she cries to Saul that she had never been so sure and so wrong about Brody and how much it screwed her up, we, like Saul, gain a greater appreciation for her character.

Yes, she's obsessive and unconventional in her methods, and frankly her handling of her condition was unprofessional and completely deserving of her termination. There would be no issue, and all of us would be on the same side as Saul, if the audience didn't know how right she was. She's struggling to find the answers to a test she already aced, and her quest for someone to believe her is one the audience will be deeply invested in.

Has she found that person already? The episode ended with Saul going through the bag that Carrie foolishly retrieved from Fatima's house, searching for helpful information in the files and documents. Nothing. He notices, though, a stitch in the fabric of the bag itself and tears to reveal a chip. On the chip is the video we saw Brody make in last season's finale, where he stood in the storage unit and explained his forthcoming terrorist actions. The last shot we're treated to is Saul watching this video, aghast, and coupled with Carrie's confession from earlier, the episode packs an unexpected punch into the gut of anyone doubting whether this season would live up to the first.

Nobody expected this season to reach this critical point yet. It surely spells bad things for Saul and especially Brody, but also gives Carrie a new lease on life she may not have expected. Does Saul go to Carrie to begin comparing theories off-the-record? Does he go to Estes without involving Carrie at all? Does he keep it to himself and do some private investigating of his own? Saul is now involved in the scheme as much as Carrie is, and who knows what Brody will do when his back is against the wall. Mandy Patinkin is much more expendable than Claire Danes.

Brody already has plenty of conspiracy theorists in his midst. His old Marine buddies, Mike included, ask him to check the confidential files on the Tom Walker case to see if there's any information on who his real killer was or if any other suspects were involved. Brody lies and explains the files say nothing, which everyone expected him to do. The congressman can not catch a break, as now even his friends are turning their eyes his direction. He's going to have to be much more careful in the coming weeks.

Careful, as in not sending text messages from situation rooms in the Pentagon. He tips off Abu Nazir in one of the tensest moments the series has had so far, but it seemed kind of unrealistic. When the Vice President thinks someone tipped Nazir off, wouldn't it be protocol to search everyone in the room before they exited? Brody is lucky to have gotten away so easily there, but I suppose that's now the least of his worries.

Nazir did survive, despite Carrie and Saul's best efforts. The character truly has transformed into a force of nature; when he stepped out of that car, I gasped as if I saw a ghost, or even a real-life terrorist. I suspect he'll go into hiding for a while, as his trust in many has been compromised.

The second unrealistic thing that kept me from giving this episode a perfect score was Carrie's retrieval of the bag. Sure, it was an exhilarating scene and led to Saul's ultimate discovery of the chip, but the whole thing was too much of a suspension of my disbelief, even with Carrie in her fragile state. Putting everyone's lives in danger of the Lebanese civilians was too risky even on her part, manic or not.

Carrie returns home, considering her mission to have been a failure. The woman in the car with her mentions Carrie must have heard it from everyone and their brother, but thanks her anyway. From what we saw, nobody thanked her. It's always been a thankless job for Carrie, and she's never minded, but this time it wasn't a job, it was a favor. Not to be thanked for a favor that big is going to make her even further re-evaluate her stance on the CIA, which could be trouble once Saul approaches her with his intel.

The only other development this week was Dana with her new non-moronic boy toy, Finn Walden, aka the one she called out during her "Muslim Dad" rant. Could the congressman's daughter coupling with the Vice President's son be a match made in heaven or yet another political complication, especially if things don't end well or she spills some secrets? Time will tell. By the pace that the show is traveling at right now, for all we know that time could be tonight.

Episode Grade: A
Episode MVP: Claire Danes
Original Airdate: 10/07/2012

TV Review: Dexter 7x02: Sunshine and Frosty Swirl

DA- Put yourself in Deb and Dexter’s shoes (one of each I guess). Your sister just found out you were a serial killer so what do you do? Of course chase her at full speed out of your apartment at night. Nothing scary about that! However I can see why Dexter did what he did. He is already running out of options and it is only episode two.

Within minutes Deb gets hit with more bomb shells. Dexter is the Bay Harbor Butcher, Harry taught him everything he knows, and that he has even given his darkness a name. Deb admits that she is the worst detective in the world to not see any of this but Deb you’re not. At least you found out unlike the entire crime team at Miami Metro. With emotions running high Dexter asks what she is going to do now and she does what I believe any woman finding a serial killer may do, punch him and get out of his apartment!

While Deb goes to research why serial killers do what they do (with her information coming from her once fling Frank Lundy), Dexter sees the hand from the Ice Truck Killer murders. Deb dragged it out and he wonders how did it get to him. After looking through the evidence locker Dex is told by Masuka that it was sold online to an unknown buyer. Not even whiz-kid Louis could find the name. Then it hits Dexter…oh yeah Louis.

Cut to Deb leading a meeting about Mike’s shooting. “Remember him?” she asks. Nope. But continue on Deb. Dexter volunteers to go investigate another crime scene only to be told no by his boss sister. It is all part of her master plan to fix Dexter and his “addiction” in her homemade rehab program. Dexter argues that dad tried this and it will never work but Deb reminds him he does not have any choice (because she is a lieutenant and can arrest him remember Dex?)

Meanwhile in other Miami Metro news, LaGuerta has had a private lab analyze the found blood side. It does belong to Travis Marshall. She later requests Bay Harbor Butcher evidence from the FBI only to see what could have been seen from a photograph that yes the slides he used is just like the slide she analyzed. Quinn also puts his great skills to the task and talks with the strippers at the club about the death of the prostitute and Mike. The stripper gives some information and asks Quinn to find the man and put a bullet in his head. He says that they do not technically do that. Well almost everyone…

Inside the Deb rehab program she decides to spend every waking moment with Dexter. Now Deb is this just an excuse for you to get closer to the guy you recently said you had growing feelings for? She probably will not want to after Dexter describes his dark passenger and how the blood trickles behind his eyelids becoming a black flood throughout his body. The pain is so intense that it feels like his head will explode. Oh come on Dexter. That’s just a migraine. Take some Advil. As for the black blood thing yeah you may want to get that checked out.

Unable to sneak out to investigate Louis’ apartment at night, Dexter tries to take over for Masuka in the field. He has to clear it with sister first who says of course but she is coming too. Thankfully tweedledee and tweedledum (Batista and Quinn) arrive to pull Deb away so Dexter can break into Louis house. What Dexter finds on Louis’ computer even scares him and he is a serial killer. Not only does he have a video exclaiming how he wants Dexter to suffer but he also has one where he talks about toys and gets interrupted by a prostitute to give him a blowjob! I have not been this confused by a computer video in Dexter since this from season five.

Louis comes in of course and since this is probably the only time Dex can get out of the house, he decides to push Louis against the wall and scare the crap out of him. It turns out he sent him the hand because Dexter hated his game. Oh go cry me a river. He tells Louis he never wants to see him again and Louis agrees but then again I would too if Michael C. Hall was screaming in to my face.

Back at the crime scene Deb asks where he was but Dexter reassures her that he didn’t kill anyone so she doesn’t need to worry. Hey Dexter word of advice to not get caught you and Deb need to tone it all down. Between talking here and at the station about your serial killer addiction it may raise some red flags. Then again you are at Miami Metro so…

In “killer of the season” news, they think someone in the brotherhood of the Ukrainian mob tried to send a message to them about killing Viktor. They jump to conclusions and think it was an ex-employee. In a game of role-playing, the head of the organization pretends to hold an exit interview which really just involves getting a screwdriver to the eye. Don’t screw around if you want a better severance package I guess.

After Dexter is shocked to see Louis later that night at his apartment telling him he will see him at work tomorrow. He decides to put a sedative in his sister’s steak (like any good brother would do) and sneak out to send another message to Louis. When Dexter sees the blood from the sedative mark in Louis neck, he begins to feel his dark passenger. However perhaps due to Dr. Deb’s program, he calls her for support. She calls this a victory because unlike what their dad said, he does have control. He does leave Louis on a random park bench to send a message once Deb leaves the guy who just snuck out of the house and almost killed another person.

At the end back at the crime scene, Dexter talks with a convict who is helping the police locate bodies he buried many years ago. Dexter wonders if he grew a conscious but he said it was always there and that he just gave up over time. Dexter wonders if he should just give up too. But before he can decide for sure the convict just jumps in front of a truck. He did not have a conscious and he never changed. He never wanted them to find the bodies. He just wanted a few more days in the sun and some ice cream. Who could really blame him? Who doesn’t like ice cream?

As a slow motion Deb hurries back from the ice cream stand we all have to wonder if she thinks Dexter pushed him to help release his dark passenger from the night before. However we should be able to find out quickly next week in another fast paced episode of a show that has stopped fooling around and created some real life stakes for our serial killing friend.

Episode Grade: B+

Episode MVP: Louis Greene (Josh Cooke) Finally some character development for this guy!

Original Airdate: 10/7/12

TV Review: Homeland 2x01: The Smile

ML- When you think about it, both lead characters on Homeland are actually "bi-polar": Carrie, psychologically, and Brody, who serves double duty as a political candidate and a wannabe-terrorist. This week we saw both characters in one "state", then got to watch them swing from pole to pole.

Brody's shift was not voluntary. Thanks to Dana's outburst during her Quaker meeting at her fancy, friendless new private school that outed her father as a terrorist, Brody was forced to bury his Koran when an irrationally livid Jess threw it to the ground. He did it, however, to keep up his appearance as America's favorite ginger-haired congressman. His numbers are high enough that the Vice President is considering bestowing the same title upon Brody come election time. His wife is on her way to joining the cast of D.C. Housewives. And above all else, he's got a new buddy in the form of Roya (Lost's Zuleikha Robinson), who delivers an assignment from Abu Nazir to get a code from Estes' safe. She even lures Estes away while Brody can do the digging. Is it too soon to predict a terrorist tryst between these two?

Brody must continue to wear both the face of the family man and the threat to national security because he simply cannot choose between them. Who does Brody love more, Dana or Isa? I'd like to think his own daughter, but the lengths he has gone to in Isa's honor (and the look on his face when Roya brought up Isa's birthday) leave me with reasonable doubts. He's going to straddle the line between his heart and his faith all season, and there is no actor more capable to convey this struggle than Damian Lewis.

I felt bad for Morena Baccarin's Jess this week. She came off as so totally ignorant and opposed to Brody and his Muslim faith without giving him a chance to explain himself. Has she already latched onto the idea of becoming the next Jackie Kennedy? She better not alienate him too far or else she may see the same tragic end befall her husband. Granted, I'm probably as misinformed about the Muslim religion as the next guy, but my level of tolerance and acceptance is much greater. Between Jess and the obnoxious kid in Dana's class, the writers are being a little too over-the-top with the "ignorant American" card. Yes, it's a good way to add to the gray area and allow us to rationalize Brody's actions, but they could be a bit less on-the-nose.

Carrie, meanwhile, began the episode in the exact opposite place I expected her to be -- adamantly refusing the call back to action. She got a new job teaching English to Middle-Eastern Americans and was even gardening vegetables for a vegetable lasagna. The shots of her in the garden reminded me of last season when she hopped out of her sister's car to examine a plant, and how that plant represented how a plan develops from a tiny, hidden seed. Does this mean Carrie has tons of plans sprouting from her unstable brain? Or is she in the midst of a grand scheme she doesn't even realize the scope of yet?

Her family tried to keep some breaking news from her, but soon Saul and David Estes were beckoning for her to intervene. From what I gathered, there was an attack on 5 Iranian nuclear facilities and the suspected assailant is Israel, who had been threatened repeatedly by Iran. According to a rumor Roya brings up to Estes, however, one of the nuclear sites may still be functional. Regardless of that for now, a source recruited by Carrie years ago named Fatima Ali claimed to have information, but refused to talk to anyone but Carrie. Carrie bellows "how dare you"s at Estes after all the embarrassment he brought upon her, but we all know she'll take the assignment. It's who she is, what makes her tick. Vegetable lasagna can't sustain her forever.

Like Brody, she dons a veil of lies, this one in order to protect American lives. She becomes Kate Morrissey (though her mother was a DeCarlo) from Canada, brown wig and all. She wanders the streets of Beirut and talks to Saul on her cell, but once he notices some shady folks in a car behind her, she abandons the phone and books it. One man follows her, providing the most tense moment of the episode by far.

Carrie weaves through the marketplace but comes upon a dead end. The man approaches behind her. Thinking on her feet, she trades one head scarf for another and blends in to the crowd. This almost works, until she comes face to face with her predator. Again, she out-thinks him, kneeing him in the crotch and kicking his dropped gun away. After calling attention to him so that concerned onlookers crowd around, she escapes, and dons "The Smile" to which the episode title refers.

The Smile marks her shift back to Carrie of old, having crossed the threshold back into the extraordinary world. It marks the tipping point of her swing back to madness, a pendulum that will crush anything in its path. It marks the beginning of a new, sure-to-be-brilliant season of the worthy successor to Mad Men's reign of Emmy king.

Speaking of which- I'd like to take this platform to address a common conversation I've been engaged in- Homeland vs. Breaking Bad. Arguably, these two were the best shows of the last TV season, along with Mad Men. For some reason, tons of people have come out of the woodwork proclaiming that Homeland is better than Breaking Bad. In my opinion, it's too early to call. Comparing Homeland S1 to Breaking Bad S1 definitely favors the former show, but I've never seen a show that improves in literally every way like Breaking Bad has done. Once Homeland hits its inevitable Season 5 (Showtime doesn't like canceling things that are even remotely successful), we can come back and compare. For now, my vote still goes to Breaking Bad.

What say you? Is Carrie ruining her progress by going back to the source of her troubles? If given the chance, would Brody choose Dana or Isa? And which show is definitively better, Homeland or BB? Let your voice be heard in the comment section!

Episode Grade: B+
Episode MVP: Claire Danes
Original Airdate: 09/30/2012

TV Review: Dexter 7x01: Are You...?

DA- Everyone’s favorite serial killer is back and after a painful season six let’s hope we can all have a killer time in lucky season number seven.

The episode begins with a speed round version of season six which I wish was how long season six lasted all together. (Notice how they completely skipped over the Professor Gellar character and the big “reveal” about who he was). In a Breaking Bad flash-forward we see Dexter on the run and off to the airport booking a flight to Budapest in cash since his credit cards are declining. Did Deb actually turn Dexter in?

Nope. Flashback to the church where Deb just witnessed Dexter plunge a knife into Travis Marshall and is at a lost for words. Luckily Dexter has excuses from an excuse roll-a-dex to pull things from including still being torn up from Rita’s death in season four. However it was the idea of Dexter entering a psych ward and losing Harrison that got to her the most. They plan on making it look like a suicide (Travis was disappointed that he failed his mission) before they burn the church down since fire is “biblical.” But guys I think you are forgetting that snakes are too! Why not rent a giant snake from the zoo and have Travis be eaten alive by the devil! No wait let’s just flood Miami and have Deb, Dexter, and Harrison float away in a giant ark. It worked so well for Evan Almighty!

No matter what they do they of course trick the crime fighters at Miami Metro. While Batista is easily convinced, LaGuerta finds a blood slide left behind by Dexter. Uh-oh spaghettio’s! Meanwhile Detective Mike on his way to search for Travis’ absent car tries to help out a roadside bystander. As soon as he opens the trunk and says he is a cop he finds a dead body and is shot down. So much for being a Good Samaritan!

Deb meanwhile is starting to get suspicious and finally seeing through the lies Dexter has been feeding her for all these years. Why did Dexter have all that plastic wrap, knives, and outfit ready when he was defending himself from Travis? Most importantly the crime scene looks exactly the same to the time she was wrapped in plastic to the table in season one! This is only confirmed when Deb finds the files in the evidence storage room. Maybe Dexter should have pulled a Walter White, used some magnets and somehow destroy the evidence in the room as well.

Despite all this Dexter still has Deb slightly wrapped around her finger. He turns the table on her and asks what she was doing there at the church? Sure I killed Travis but why were you there Deb?

After finding out who was driving the car with the dead body in the trunk (thanks to his fingerprint identification iPhone app probably available on iTunes) Dex feels the need to go and kill this guy before Miami Metro finds out about him. WHY? He says he wants to be in control but Dexter take a break. Deb just caught you and you are skating on thin ice here as it is!

But Dexter likes cutting it close. Cue the flash-forward from the opening, which is now just a forward I guess. After Louis canceled Dexter’s credit cards (because he was rude to him) he continues to race to the airport using only large sums of cash. After using a fake passport and getting caught with his “diabetes shots” he makes it in and finds the man who shot Mike. After sedating him in a bathroom and suffocating him with a plastic bag in a side airport room, Dexter succeeds once again and walks out of the airport (and past the cameras) with another trophy for his blood slide collection.

Skipping right past the unnecessary and boring Batista and Quinn storyline, Deb looks around for Dexter only to find Masuka taking the late shift at work so Dex can do the morning one. Determined to find her killer brother Deb calls the apartment and talks with Jamie who says Dexter is working late like usual. Uh oh even more spaghettio’s!

Back at the lab LaGuerta asks Vince if it is common procedure to take blood slides at the crime scenes for evidence. He says there was only one Miami Metro officer who ever did that and he was the Bay Harbor Butcher. As Doakes’ close friend and a believer that he never did those crimes in season two, LaGuerta may now have her evidence to help prove his innocence. But instead of leaving it in the evidence bin she takes it which I am sure creates a legal situation if ever used in a future case.

Dexter arrives home after a crazy day only to see his place ransacked. His knives, blood slides, and Ice Truck Killer hand lies on the table clear as day. Deb on the opposite side of the table simply asks him “are you…are you a serial killer?” He responds without any more options or excuses with a simple “yes.”

Overall I am very optimistic with the upcoming season now that there seems to be an end plan in sight. While this episode was not perfect it certainly raised the stakes for Dexter who usually has everything work out for him in the end. I can not wait to see how this plays out for Dexter and how much Deb and Miami Metro learns this season regarding the Ice Truck Killer, the Bay Harbor Butcher, and maybe even Kyle Butler himself, Dexter Morgan.

Episode Grade: B+

Episode MVP: Jennifer Carpenter

Original Airdate: 9/30/12

TV Catch-Up: Weeds Season 8

ML- I first discovered Weeds in 2007 thanks to a sale ticket at Best Buy advertising the first season DVD for only $14.99. I snatched it up, and promptly bought the later seasons as they came out. I was drawn to Jenji Kohan's style of off-beat humor and the complicated family dynamic of the Botwins, acted superbly through and through by Mary-Louise Parker and Justin Kirk (and, later, Hunter Parrish).  Not only was the show funny, it was fun, with twists and turns that kept the audience guessing and brought out the best in the characters.

I don't feel like that is the same show that ended this week. That show really ended when Nancy burned down Agrestic, before we lost Elizabeth Perkins and travelled to Mexico and New York and all around the country. I stayed with the series because it never required too much of my time or thought. It's not like a Heroes that frustrated due to high expectations. Weeds was my show to go to when nothing else was on, which I could enjoy without taking it too seriously or getting too invested. Perhaps that doesn't make me the best person to be reviewing the finale, but for all of these reasons, I actually didn't mind how the show took its bow.

That's not to say the finale was an exceptional piece of television. The writing was spotty, a shame to Kohan who is obviously quite talented. All the random conversations at the first party didn't do much to move the story forward, and only work in the case of a reunion-style finale. Most annoyingly, Nancy seemingly made the decision to make a big change with her life and move forward, but we never got to see what that was. I'm all for ambiguity in TV show finales and letting the audience predict the characters' fates, but this felt more of a cop-out considering they already jumped ahead ~8 years to show us futures. Would it hurt to satisfy us with a concrete path? Or was Pittsburgh the legitimate destination?

Back in season 6, when things were at their most outrageous creatively, I predicted the series would end with Nancy waking up from a dream, just another suburban housewife stuck in her Stepford life hoping to go on adventures. I'm glad it didn't. The series was about Nancy Botwin and the choices she made as a mother and a woman, and to let her off the hook like that would be a mistake. Earlier this season, when Nancy admitted she wasn't a good mother, I praised the show for finally going there. As the season progressed we saw her fall back into her own ways, one of the reasons I got frustrated and stopped covering it week to week. But here, we were able to see that eight years and another screwed up kid later, Nancy hadn't changed one iota.

I don't know why I was shocked and saddened to see teenage Stevie cursing and talking like the other characters on the show. The transition from 5 year old hispanic looking innocent boy to 13 year old caucasian looking potty mouth was jarring, but was necessary to tell this story. Nancy raised one son who married a woman that resented her, one with an alcohol problem and one that yearned to abandon her for boarding school. That's how she saw it, anyway.

I think the series, while often out of focus, provided wise insight into what it means to be a mother, what it takes to be a mother, and the negative impacts a mother can have on her children. The scene with Josh (a surprising call-back to a character only present in the pilot episode) was perfect and the episode's highlight for me, because Nancy got to see how someone with a different mother turned out. It put into perspective her own reign of motherhood, which would soon come to an abrupt end, as a failure because she failed to take into account what was truly best for her children- not being around her. Were it not for her talk with Josh, she wouldn't have let Stevie go to boarding school, and he would continue to grow in her toxic garden.

Weeds was not just a show about marijuana- Kohan has said that the Botwins themselves were weeds, ruining the places they popped up in. It was bold and unique of her to keep this unlikability factor up throughout the whole series (an unlikability I choose to believe was intentional). As great a character as Nancy Botwin was, she was never a good person and oftentimes was an awful one, but that's what made her the great character. She was flawed, she carries her flaws with her, and in the end, she accepted them. She let her baby go so he could be free from her, she took in her ailing child and vowed to give him the help he needed in the place he always wanted, and shared a moment with her oldest son, the man who had grown up past all the shit they went through and let go of all his baggage. Ironically (or not, given Kohan's obvious political views), the one who dealt with drugs the most turned out the most stable.

All this and I haven't even gotten to Andy. The scene at the end of the 100th episode (which was the season's best, aside from the premiere), where Andy and Nancy had sex at the spot of Judah's heart attack, was perfectly poetic. And when he left her crying, finally free of her hold, she broke down. Obviously, for the eight years following, she kept a longing for him in her heart. She asked about him over and over to the boys, and the scene where Silas filled her in on Andy's personal life was sweet. Nancy heard about his baby, and his girlfriend, and his restaurant, and watched it all play out in her head. It made sense for him to get what he wanted because he achieved it all without her.

When he finally arrived he was distant, and Kirk and Parker did a fantastic job of conveying the awkwardness of 8 years apart. Seriously, I have nothing but good things to say about both of those actors and the performances they put out over the last 8 years, despite the quality of writing. When she got him alone later, he reluctantly let her cry in his arms. She pleaded him to come live with her, she'd give him her business and all of her money to start a new restaurant. He declined. She agreed to move to Ren Mar and sell her house and live with him there. He denied. Andy, who spent the series trying to get in touch with himself, through religion, through women, found it without Nancy. He wasn't going to let her come back into his life.

He advised, instead, she move on. She may have been the world's worst mother, but thats okay, because she no longer has to be a mother. She can be whoever she wants, whatever she wants, wherever she wants. I think this is a tough lesson for mothers everywhere, but an idea that can empower many empty nesters who feel lost when their children leave home. Nancy constantly reinvented herself, changed her name, changed her partners. Maybe without children to take care of she'd be able to be at peace with her selfish nature and just indulge.

Indulge she did. It was rare to see Nancy actually smoke weed during the course of the eight seasons, but in the series' final shot, Nancy sat on the steps pondering her future, and was accompanied by Cult Leader Doug, Silas, Shane and Andy. They passed a weed cigarette amongst each other, sharing in a high that will become the finale's most iconic image. Some say weed lowers your motivation, but I don't think that's the case here, again, given Kohan's political stance. Each of them takes a puff, and they're ready to move on to the next part of their journey. It's time.

I can't say that I'll miss Weeds the show as a whole, at least after the last few seasons of sub-par storytelling. What I will miss will be the theme song, and the random one-scene characters (like the lesbian moms with their Chinese Jewish daughter this week), and Andy's long-winded rants, and the acting styles of Parrish, Kirk and Parker. As bad as things (plot contrivances, all things Doug) got, in the thematic sense, the show went out on a high.

Episode Grade: B
Season Grade: B- (84.15)
Season (& Series) MVP: Mary-Louise Parker & Justin Kirk
Original Airdate: 09/17/2012