And so it all begins
The dry run has officially started, and today I'll bring you my thoughts on 4 episodes across 3 TV shows. We'll go down the list in alphabetical order, starting with the hilarious sitcom Deadbeat.
(NOTE: All of the episode descriptions preceded by a * are sourced from Wikipedia.)
DEADBEAT - Episode 3x01 "El Caboose"
"After losing his apartment and working/living in a disreputable Chinese massage parlour, Pac takes the job of retrieving heroin from the anus of a recently deceased drug mule. Along the way to making the drop and earning himself $5000, he encounters a necrophiliac morgue assistant and a jailbird stoner who has more in common with him than it first seems."
Two words to describe the Deadbeat s3 premiere: "gross" and "hilarious". Given the episode's subject matter most of the top quotibles are too graphic even for this roundup, but it was a romp to see Pac struggle from one chaotic encounter to the next, all the while hiding the drugs he took from the ghost's human corpse in his own ... backside.
The episode concludes with Pac's new jailbird friend, Clyde, free from prison and finding his way to the massage parlour where Pac lives/works. Clyde takes the opportunity to offer Pac a place at his apartment, which Pac duly accepts.
I was pleasantly surprised by the overall quality of this episode. I had thought the loss of every one of the first two season's side characters would severely impact the quality of season 3, but if "El Caboose" is anything to go by the humour will easily offset the character loss.
VERDICT: Laugh-out-loud moments scattered throughout an outrageously disgusting plot - everything I like in a TV show. A well-written premiere, and the loss of Sue, Camomile and Roofie was not felt at all. 9/10
Update: Deadbeat has been officially cancelled by Hulu (5th June 2016). Arseholes.
HELL ON WHEELS - Episode 5x08 "Two Soldiers"
"The Swede gets a headstart on finding Cullen Bohannon's family, so Cullen is forced to leave behind the building of the Central Pacific Railroad, save them and bring his relentless nemesis to justice."
Rarely does a TV show build four and a half seasons of hatred between two characters, and then put together an episode solely depicting a final clash between them without one of them being killed off, and in "Two Soldiers" it's Thor Gundersen, aka "The Swede", who meets his maker. And even if The Swede's death wasn't already how this storyline was destined to pan out, using flashbacks of one of the characters' past (as they did today with The Swede) is another dead giveaway an actor's getting their P45.
"Two Soldiers" was full of twists and turns, with Cullen and The Swede battling each other furiously across lonely fields and fierce deserts, one seeming to gain the upper hand before suddenly slipping up only to recover and take control again. This back-and-forth carried on until Cullen finally reached his goal, Camp Douglas. Seriously wounded, he nearly gives his life to bring the psychotic Gundersen to a lawful judgement, but in the end, in a scene that lasted nearly four minutes, The Swede was "hanged until dead".
It was a pulsating episode, even if longer than usual at 49 minutes (accounting for the 6 minutes of flashbacks that preempted the opening credits). I'm naturally saddened at The Swede's early death because he was my favourite character, but it was no big surprise and it (hopefully) allows space for a railroad focus now without Gundersen and his hidden agendas derailing (teehee) things.
VERDICT: Concludes the 5A cliffhanger in a well-earned and poetic manner for both characters. Six episodes to go. 8/10
THE NIGHT SHIFT - Episodes 3x01 & 3x02
3x01 "The Times They Are A-Changing"
* "Following Jordan's accident, she and TC have broken up but are still working together. Jordan recruits one of her colleagues, Shannon Rivera, to join the Night Shift, and Shannon makes an unusual first impression with the staff. Meanwhile, Drew is sent overseas to Afghanistan along with colleague Syd Jennings, where they are forced to tend to a 15-year old patient who is pregnant and whose husband is a high-ranking member of the Afghani army. Elsewhere, TC, Topher and Scott tend to a female car accident victim, only to realize when the woman comes-to that they left her toddler son behind at the scene. Also, Gwen updates Kenny on her law school applications, and later learns the closest she got to acceptance was being put on a wait list at Georgetown."
I can quickly comment on the cuteness of Kenny's support for Gwen's law ambitions and say that I love them both individually and as a couple, and it's nice that they're so happy since it offsets the terrible outcome that is Jordan and TC. After they lost a baby in s2's finale, TC knew he had to do something to prove he would support Jordan, and popped the question. In s3's premiere, Jordan has apparently rejected TC's marriage proposal and they're working on opposite shifts (mostly). I'm not happy with this at all: this seems like an unnecessary step back in their relationship after 2 seasons of well-worked growth. It would have made for more watchable TV to see them try and work through their grief together, although I can't argue TC's rather selfish reaction (blaming Jordan for their break-up while ignoring the root cause) is so characteristic of him.
Elsewhere, new recruit Shannon shakes things up: she's technically proficient, she's smart as hell, she doesn't mind appearing like a bitch and she won't take crap from anyone - that last trait depicted in a redo of the prank played on Paul Cummings in the s1 premiere, where instead of taking the joke she reacts by punching Paul in the face. He's understandably displeased, but there's definitely something between those two: they'll get together later on in s3. You watch. I'm not sure I like Shannon's character yet: she's like the young, female TC in her "I know everything and I'll fight everyone here" demeanour, but I'm sure she'll soften up as the series goes on and I'll warm to her.
And finally, Drew has been enlisted by the Army to spend a tour in Afghanistan. This episode ended with an Afghani national holding a gun to his head in the ER, a boring cliffhanger in what has transpired to be the first of a two-parter. I already don't like this arc and I hope Drew returns to San Antonio very soon.
4.81m viewers.
VERDICT: Decent enough medical storylines, but s3 seems to have hit the reset button on some relationships and the character arcs are starting in poor positions. 5.5/10
3x02 "The Thing With Feathers"
* "Following a fight between Drew and the Afghani leader, the leader is shot by Drew putting him in a tough spot. Though Drew and Syd are able to help the young mom, her baby, and her brother get away from the leader, the end result is Drew is sent home while Syd, who was looking forward to her daughter's 13th birthday in two weeks, has to stay on tour an additional three months. TC and Scott deal with the car accident victim from the previous episode while simultaneously trying to save her son. They later determine the boy needs a bone marrow transfusion, but he is adopted and the parents claim they don't know the birth mother, which sounds fishy to TC. Elsewhere, Shannon helps Jordan move on from TC, Topher tries to renew his commitment to get fit again, and Gwen learns she moved off the wait list at Georgetown when another candidate drops out. To Kenny's dismay, she has to leave the next morning."
In "The Thing With Feathers", the conclusion of its two-part premiere, The Night Shift continues to hit the reset button on its characters: TC and Jordan, who has found a new potential love interest in fireman Sam, drift further apart (and are horribly reminded of the child they lost after concluding the night by saving a kidnapped child and reuniting him with his parents); and Gwen and Kenny break-up when Gwen achieves her ambition to go to law school in Maryland. That's two relationships broken, neither of which I'm pleased about. All four of those characters are top draw and their relationships were great to watch unfold before now. Sort it. Quickly.
Elsewhere, after a stumbling start Topher commits to improving his health and fitness (and I hope we see him achieve this in the future); Paul, amid another clash with Shannon set to drive the sexual tension up another notch, tries to be taken more seriously as a surgeon; and his mentor, surgeon Dr Scott Clemens, runs into TC's ticking time bomb of a reformed-drug-addict sister at an AA meeting (that's not going to go well).
And finally, Drew's Afghanistan arc draws to a close in a most enjoyably heart-breaking conclusion. After Drew helps the Afghani leader's wife and new baby escape his clutches, Major Syd Jennings, just 9 days from completing her tour, is forced to stay in Afghanistan to make up the numbers in the medical ranks (meaning she will miss her daughter's birthday) while Drew, taking the heat, is, I presume, dishonourably discharged. A boring cliffhanger was wrapped up in a brilliant but tear-inducing way. Great TV.
Viewers, 4.18m
VERDICT: Much better than the first part. Everyone's storylines are moving along even though I don't prefer the direction of most. Again I haven't been able to mention the patients, but their plots all assisted the characters and were independently captivating. Great humour throughout. 7.5/10
Final words
Every time I go to write these roundups they usually end up longer than I expect! I'm gonna have to check myself come September! Or edit ruthlessly afterwards.
Anyway, there's a lot of backstory that's had to go into describing some of these shows, especially Hell on Wheels and The Night Shift, that accounts for the overblown analyses, and I'm hoping the procedurals starting in September won't require this. But, until then, I hope you've all enjoyed this first proper roundup and I'll see you in the next one - which will be Person of Interest's penultimate episode, ".exe"!
Sam
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