Gareth's Waste of Time Podcast - Episode 5

Episode 5 is now available. I cover two episodes of Lost (The Substitute & Lighthouse) and this time I try my hardest not to get either of the titles wrong! Also discussed are the latest episodes of 24 and Nip/Tuck plus I talk about my early impressions of Glee, which I'm a few episodes into. Finally a new feature makes its debut: the classic movie spot.

Enjoy!

Subscribe through iTunes or use this direct download for Episode 5

Gareth's Waste of Time Podcast Episode 4

In episode 4 of the Waste of Time podcast, I concentrate on the Lost episode "What Katy Does", talking about what I thought let it down. Let's face it - it was a plodder. I also take a good look at a tv show I've watched from the beginning and, after some periods of total boredom with it, now enjoying the final season: Nip/Tuck.

You can grab it from iTunes or click this link.

The Wire season 1 rewatch

Are you a fan of the HBO show The Wire? If not, why not? Believe the hype, it really is one of the best shows ever to grace our television screens. Authentic, brilliant writing, great acting and a wholly rewarding viewing experience, The Wire demands your attention and concentration and pays off in spades.

If you are a fan of the show, I hope you've subscribed to the excellent companion podcast Wirecast, available on iTunes. Presented by Alex Hahn, who also does a very good Lost podcast, It Only Ends Once, Wirecast looks to document the show and act as a viewing companion as each podcast is devoted to a single episode, analysing the key characters, events and plot developments while also looking at the broader themes of this important show.

I have regularly contributed to the podcast, guested on one and will hopefully soon be guesting on another as we look at the season one finale, which I have rewatched this week.

The season followed a special police Detail tasked with making a case against a powerful drug gang in West Baltimore. They get some results but watching the closing minutes of the episode and it is clear that although convictions are forthcoming and the upper echelons of the police department consider the case a success, there is barely a dent made in the Barksdale drug operation. One of the lead detectives, McNulty, knows it and the deflation is evident on his face as he sits outside the courtroom while sentences are handed out inside. He thinks about the hard work relative to the results obtained, the lives affected, the lives lost. He sees nothing to celebrate.

The Detail is disbanded, its constituent officers reassigned to other departments, while the Barksdale gang is still fully functional and drugs are being sold.

Yet the higher ranks in the police department still consider it a success. They are interested in numbers and as far as they're concerned, 20 or so drug gang members, including the figurehead of the Barksdale gang, are now incarcerated. The fact that most will be out in a couple of years is irrelevant.

This highlights a key point of The Wire. It depicts, throughout its five seasons, broken establishments. The police department for example: the commissioners want to see convictions, period. Whatever they may be. Arrests. Successful prosecutions. Numbers. While you have the lower ranking officers on the street who know things haven't changed and are totally frustrated that cases are brought prematurely just for the sake of numbers when a bit of extra time and work, bigger fish could fry, or bigger charges brought.

The estalishments depicted in the show all share one thing: they are all dysfunctional in some fundamental way and you have a core of hardworking people doing the best they can to do a good job despite this.

Season one is a great introduction to the show. If you give it a try, don't be put off by the lack of nice neat episodes with a "case of the week". A case spans a season and the show rewards the long term viewer. The brilliance of the show will only become apparent when you view it as a whole and it could be a few episodes before you start to see this.

But watch it you must!

24 Season 8 - time to call it a day?

Season 8 is here and after a promising start, I'm feeling that this series has slipped back into the old formula. This is a huge pity because season 7 really shook things up a bit, taking the show out of its stale LA setting (stale because they'd used it for 6 seasons) and planting the action in Washington. They'd also excluded our beloved CTU offices from the proceedings, which wasn't a bad thing because it gave the series a fresher feel.

Season 8 and we're in a new setting again which is a big plus point. We're in New York and the CTU offices are back with a new glossy facelift, also in the new location. This is all fine but the plot and action feels like a rehash. I know it's the tried and tested formula that's made 24 such a popular show for the last several years but it really needs to be offering something a little different each year to keep it from becoming stale as a show. That said, the New York setting helps a lot plus we've got the return of Renee Walker, now ex-FBI agent and with huge psychological baggage, and acting a lot like Jack Bauer did, all cavalier and stuff.

Which brings me to another point: Not long has passed in the show timeline since season 7 yet suddenly Renee is like a different person. Much of her emotional state is put down to her spending time undercover in the Russian mob, but that was pre-season 7 so where were all these psychological issues last season? She was upstanding and stable and acted as a good foil to Jack Bauer. This year, she's become pretty crazy, suicidal even, and Jack is the one acting as her conscience. Bit of a leap for the character and it doesn't ring true with me. It seems this change is just for the convenience of the plot. Smacks of lazy writing.

Renee Walker - imagining her fingers are the barrel of a gun?

Jack certainly seems to be a bit more mellow this year and appeared to be in a good place at the beginning of the season. He's repaired his relationship with daughter Kim and has a grand-daughter to live for. He seemed happy for the first time in a long time and good luck to him - if he survives the next 24 hours! Who knows, this could be the final season of 24 (I've not heard any spoilers to this end, nor am I looking for them!) and will the show let him live in peace at the end or not?

I'm going to keep watching though. Like I said in my latest podcast (see post below), I enjoy the 24 ride for the most part but I am a little tired of the old formula.

Gareth's Waste of Time Podcast Episode 3

Episode 3 of the Waste of Time is very Lost-centric with discussion about matters arising from the 2 hour premiere of season 6. To save from becoming totally Lost, I have a quick look at the new season of 24 and cast an eye over recent developments in season 2 of Fringe.

Download here