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Post by Blanket Party on Jan 12, 2006 20:07:42 GMT -5
Inside Straight, I believe the term you're looking for is "corporate yes-man jellyfish." And so forth.
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Post by Inside Man on Jan 13, 2006 7:32:49 GMT -5
Inside Straight, I believe the term you're looking for is "corporate yes-man jellyfish." And so forth. Yessir, that's it. Claudette was still the best person for the job, I think. That's why I love this show so much--irony is a big part of the overall arcs. Claudette is a great Detective, could handle the Captain's chair, and wants it. But she's passed over because of a single mistake. Vic has the take-charge attitude, but his jacket is 'damaged.' Billings is a coward...who deserves the Captainship less? No one. I love that. Jesus, I've never looked forward to an entire week of television lovin as much as these 7 days: Jan 11, New Episode of The ShieldJan 12, LOST finally returns Jan 13, another new episode of Masters of Horror (God, I hope it's better than last week) Jan 15-16, 4 hours of 24's new season.
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Post by zakkwylde on Jan 13, 2006 15:42:25 GMT -5
I finally got to watch the episode on my Tivo Thursday evening before my wife took over the TV to watch that Dancing show.
I thought it was a great way to start off the new season. I think it set the ground work for everything else that is going to be laid out for us over the season.
I thought old Dutch was going to choke the life out of that kid. I think we saw two sides to Vic last night...in the beginning we saw the guy that was trying to stay on the straight and narrow from S4, but then the mood changed after he was told he was supposed to be off the job within four months..then the take no prisoners Vic was back and I think that is why we saw him lay the Strike Team card on that guy they kicked the crap out of. Shane stealing the dudes Ipod was a great touch also.
The other thing that I thought I was going to fall out of me seat laughing at, yes I know at times I am quite disturbed, but when they were talking to the guy with the taser and Vic kept shooting the current down the metal railing and into the dude...outstanding!!
I don't remember if it was on this thread or not but someone was asking about where in the world this investigation of Vic and the Strike team came from...the only connection I can think of is the cop that was checking out Vic during S4 was the one that turned the info over to IAD, since at the end of S4 when he gave that info to Glenn Close's character she replied that she was out of a job and Vic was their problem now. Storyline wise we were told that they had been watching Vic for about six months but they couldn't come up with anything but the drugs that was never logged in for evidence. They keep watching hoping that they will be able to trip Vic or someone else up.
I wasn't expecting too much out of the Forest Whitker character so soon but I already hate him, which is a compliment to his work as an actor. He also came off as quite creepy and it seems the six months he has been waiting to bust Vic has made him very sneaky and he showed he will go to any length to get to his desired outcome.
By the time I got done watching this episode I was already counting the time until next Tuesday. Can't wait to see how they follow this up.
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Post by jwc53531 on Jan 13, 2006 18:09:05 GMT -5
that show has been so up and down - I had great expectations but some of the eps have been truly lame considering the talent involved - the best one was the Stuart Gordon one with the talking rat - I actually a nightmare about that one
here's my rankings for all Episode 1s
1. Pilot - no question about it 2. Playing Tight - if only because it clearly links back to the end of S2 thus continuing a major story arc 3. tie Extraction and The Cure - they both did what they had to do - introduce new characters and new stories and get the ball rolling 5. The Quick Fix - still a very good opener which sets the tone for the whole Armadillo story
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Post by Inside Man on Jan 13, 2006 22:54:02 GMT -5
jwc, yeah, Masters of Horror has been extremely up an down. While I liked the Stuart Gordon episode ('Dreams in the Witch-House') a lot, my personal favorite has been Don Coscarelli's 'Incident (On and Off a Mountain Road).' I thought the killer Moonface was a little over the top in the Creature Design department, but in all, it was a good piece of storytelling. And even though Angus Scrimm was more than a little wacky, it's always good to see him still working. (Maybe I subconsciously liked it because it was structured like an episode of LOST)
I haven't watched Tobe Hooper's or John Landis' episodes yet (Landis' just looks stupid), but I've got 'em recorded. And the new one is on right now...I missed the beginning because I've been busy. So I'm gonna have to On-Demand it later this weekend (Before the Bears game and 24).
Rating Premiere episodes of The Shield? Ouch. They've all been very strong.
1. Pilot, absolutely.
2. Extraction...Like I said earlier: MAYHEM! I loved it. Classic Shield
3. The Quick Fix...good set-up with Armadillo. Season 2 really didn't electrify me until Dead Soldiers, but the premiere was vital in making that happen.
4. Playing Tight...Man, something has gotta be next-to-last. Still a great episode.
5. The Cure...I was still very on the fence about Rawling. This so-so episode was redeemed by that creepy Vic-Shane scene at the end. Filled with too many lines that just seemed forced for the sake of being funny. (I never really grooved on that "Separate the blood from the whites" line)
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Post by Teri on Jan 13, 2006 23:18:48 GMT -5
Oh good gods, that was better than sex. OK, not really, but it was damn close. That was a purty long dry spell since the last new ep of TS and I just got done watching it. (Yeah, I know it's Friday, but hey, I work long hours....) First, let me agree with Queen E. Two words.... Lem. Towel. Holy mother of pearl. I nearly wore out the DVD in that spot. I'd lick that all over for a dime or three times for a quarter. *ahem* Sorry guys. ANYWAY! I thought the ep was excellent and definitely had the roughness and edginess that I remember from Season 1. There's a hint of desperation in Vic's actions... from the violence in the interrogation room to the convenience store to the Strike Team card to visiting his kids unannounced. I think he senses the trap closing... Danny, pregnant? WTF? I was totally thrown by that. If the baby isn't Vic's, then I don't understand the point to that plotline. Babies are BORING. Tina - oh, she is so IAD, maybe even Federal. I mean really. 1 - All the (straight) guys are falling over their tongues and therefore think of her as a thing to be conquered rather than a threat. 2 - She makes nice with the girls (ref: the bathroom scene) to be pals with them and therefore the girls think she is not a threat. 3 - She acts stupid on a scene (ref: tracking the blood) so that the senior people don't see her as being too smart and ..blah blah blah not a threat. Oh no, I don't trust her at all. Forest - Loved him. What a phenomenal actor he is. I completely believed him in this role and at the same time, I was wary of him. He certainly doesn't have all his cards out on the table and we definitely are going to see some surprises. Oh, the big lie to to Corrine at the school for the autistic children!!! Sweet googly moogly, that man is going to do what it takes to get the case solved. Interestingly enough, I don't think he'll do any of it illegally. Not even a little bit. I think he'll stick to the rules and snatch Vic right out of the air. I would be surprised (and not a small bit disappointed) if the writers try to make him actually interested in Corrine versus it just being a cover story. That seems too forced. And PS, if anyone cares but me, gun shot residue cannot come back in a matter of hours. It's more like actual work 20 hours (according to our state lab). Damn CSI!
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Post by qb on Jan 13, 2006 23:51:30 GMT -5
<passes Teri a cigarette> Yeah, hon, I know exactly how ya feel...
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Post by qb on Jan 14, 2006 1:49:49 GMT -5
Teri wrote:Tina - oh, she is so IAD, maybe even Federal. I mean really. 1 - All the (straight) guys are falling over their tongues and therefore think of her as a thing to be conquered rather than a threat. 2 - She makes nice with the girls (ref: the bathroom scene) to be pals with them and therefore the girls think she is not a threat. 3 - She acts stupid on a scene (ref: tracking the blood) so that the senior people don't see her as being too smart and ..blah blah blah not a threat. Oh no, I don't trust her at all. Woo, I hadn't even thought of Tina that way...no wonder she is such a lapdog, hoochy-smoochy, JLo-runt ho! It's a total ruse! Hmmm...did you just spoil me?? <click> Good thing I love ya! Oh, the big lie to to Corrine at the school for the autistic children!!! Sweet googly moogly, that man is going to do what it takes to get the case solved. Interestingly enough, I don't think he'll do any of it illegally. Not even a little bit. I think he'll stick to the rules and snatch Vic right out of the air. FW standing next to Corrine was the creepiest thing I've ever seen on The Shield...no joke! A shiver went down my spine. And I love the way you put that: "snatch Vic right out of the air." Like a giant black Mantis. He looks slow and clumsy, then suddenly strikes with unbelievable and deadly grace... Poor Vic is a meaty little moth moving in and out of the light, never expecting it
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Post by Cletus Van Damme on Jan 14, 2006 9:50:13 GMT -5
I think he'll stick to the rules and snatch Vic right out of the air. C'mon, give Vic some credit... I dont think Forest is just going to have him for breakfast. In fact, its not even certain if Kanavaugh is going to get Vic at all. Tina being IAD is interesting, but its not like Vic and co. are ever going to tell her anything sensitive. It also seems like a soap opera thing to do, and I hope the Shield doesnt start moving that way.
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Post by acc on Mar 22, 2007 16:33:41 GMT -5
5x01 Extraction in my estimation sets up everything that is to follow in Season 5, but primarily saves the major foreshadowing until the final moments. The biggest moment, I think, is when Jon Kavanaugh walks into Lem's house. Lem is completely vulnerable; if clothes are an extension of protection against the elements, all Lem has against Kavanaugh is a towel. When Kavanaugh picks up Lem's shield, it demonstrates everything about the two characters in one action: Kavanaugh is ambitious, ruthless, excessively animated (he loves imagery, whether it's his own physical imagery or his verbal imagery, like in the following episode where he tells Lem in a distinct, perfectly pitched cadence: "... You will... be... behind... bars..." The iciness of Kavanaugh's delivery is key.
His holding of Lem's shield, telling Lem to get dressed in a very natural manner, as if Kavanaugh and his minions belong in Lem's house along with the furniture, tells the viewer both everything and nothing. What it refuses to tell us is--wisely--is whether Lem can hold up against Jon in the IAD lieutenant's quest to take Vic Mackey down. What it tells us emphatically is that both men are what Saul Bellow would call dangling men, like Jimmy Stewart at the start of Vertigo. They can't get out of their own respective tasks--Jon on offense, Lem on defense--and their respective fates are intertwined and enmeshed with one another. It's a frightening image.
Extraction as an episode title in my opinion refers primarily to the extraction of Lem. Jon sees himself as something of a hunter and he thinks by netting Lem he can get the bigger game.
Of course, I have the hindsight of the entire season whereas everyone else here did not. But I do find that the sequences in question--Vic's dropping of his Strike Team card, for instance, which I read as a clear act of defiance against his superiors who want to sweep him out of the Barn like trash--reverberate later on throughout the season, and, like all things Shield will return, at some future point to avenge the participants.
I give the episode an A-. Kurt Sutter pits the characters against each other just as well as you could hope. We understand David's motivations in his "on the fence" approach to the whole Jon-Vic showdown that is simply inevitable. I find the episode almost too breezy for its own good, though, although not so much as to be a considerably damaging element. Billings seems almost too comical a captain, something out of Lethal Weapon or something. This is fortunately corrected two episodes later. (The most intelligent aspect of this is that the writers demonstrate that Billings is practically oblivious to his clown-like status at the Barn. He even compares himself to Julius Caesar!)
Of course, we all know what happens to Lem. The foreshadowing really kicks off in earnest in 5x03 Jailbait. The Shane-Mara conversation is perfect. It doesn't say too much. What it leaves for the audience to piece together is that Shane will do anything he possibly can to save his family. Of course he cares about his friends at the Barn but he's a family man now and that comes first.
The Dutch-Claudette interaction is key. I completely agree with various comments from other posters (please excuse me for forgetting your names, as I'm now fully into my own rant) who point out Dutch and Claudette's respective weariness. Claudette's is tied to her lupus while Dutch's is tied to... what, exactly? The man looks beat in this episode, and he seems to bounce back and forth from being just infuriated (his strangling of the suspect who vomits on Billings) to being pitifully tired (his lack of interest in whether Everyday is, you know, actually guilty or not says a lot about what it means to be a law enforcement officer in a city like LA these days...) It makes a good, rather subtle point about the hideous "race/gang war" in LA, like in the Harbor Gateway area that is getting more and more nationwide attention these days--if the races fit, then the pieces can fall correctly.
The Julien-Tina arc is more about establishing how far Julien has come in my estimation. He's now the training officer, as others have pointed out, and although the arc never reaches any kind of gratifying conclusion, it does set up a good parallel to the past, something Season 5 was in spades.
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Post by possumman on Dec 21, 2009 14:41:01 GMT -5
Having just rewatched this episode, I love it! My favourite moment has to be the final line, where Kavanaugh is talking to Lem: "Who do you think I want, Curtis? Who do you think I want?" [silence for a few seconds]
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