Fall is my favorite time for season finales. With cable now providing 90% of the quality programs on the tube, this is certainly the most wonderful time of the year. But the two cable shows most driven by men’s desires wrapping up right now, and in my opinion the best, are BOARDWALK EMPIRE and DEXTER.
BOARDWALK EMPIRE wrapped last weekend. Almost any comment I could give would ruin the absolutely unexpected twist at the end but at the least it proved this season’s slogan right: “Look behind you.” The brilliance behind this series, something which few people pay attention to (mostly because the short attention spans of most viewers makes it nearly impossible) is its careful attention to character and plot development. And at the beginning of both seasons I had to listen to a chorus of whiners complaining about how slow it is, how boring, how it doesn’t catch their attention like the procedurals do. And at the end of both seasons I had to gloat about how mindblowing it was, how it’s possibly the best and most unpredictable show on TV. Last season was about Nucky Thompson running his town with an iron fist in the dawn of prohibition, a period that built up the mafia and the Kennedys, amongst others. This season the chips were down for Nucky and we got to see him come back, saw the wheeling and dealing, maneuvering and, in the final episode, the ruthlessness that put him where he is.
He wavers back and forth between put-upon robber baron and soulless criminal and so there isn’t the line of right and wrong we’re used to. He shows the good and the bad of ambition and you leave the series not sure completely how you feel about Nucky. What’s the lesson I take from this season? That power corrupts if only because in gaining and attaining power, one must fight corrupt power-mongers and, as such, be ready to play their game. Power corrupts because the most corrupt will pursue it with a godlike ruthlessness.
Now we have the DEXTER finale this Sunday. Every season Dexter has a theme and none were more obvious than this year’s tone – faith. It’s about Dexter’s questions of whether he believes in a God or not, whether his family is better with faith, whether it leads to true salvation or whether, like most other things in humanity, is just bullshit to mask the darkness that will never die in us. Dexter is another one of these brilliant morally ambiguous characters – he’s a serial killer but he only kills evil people who escaped by weaseling their way through the system. But never has ambiguity been better exemplified by the people around Dexter than this season, where religion is seen to be a blessing and an evil. This season DEXTER has looked into how Religious zeal can lead to the worst behavior imaginable, a direct reflection of the gay-bashing and sexual and civil-rights oppression espoused by conservatives with God as the excuse for their hate. But he also looks at how it can provide true salvation, meeting a former-killer who has overcome his demons through God.
Dexter is confused. He is like a robot for whom human emotions occasionally appear, surprising his frozen exterior with a warm humanity. And this season even more a viewer can’t help but side with him as he deals with the confusions both outside and inside him. What can we learn from watching a serial killer viewing the falseness of everyday relationships, banter, fake smiles and whatnot? How much bullshit plays a part in our lives and how our existence as social organisms is not only requisite, it is often proffered by false emotions and false expressions. A lot of depth for a semi-comical semi-procedural about a man who kills bad guys to satiate a sick hunger inside him. Again, must-see TV.
So this Sunday, get couched and watch the conclusion of an epic season – and if you haven’t seen it, catch up on Sho.com.
As for BOARDWALK, if you’re a fan of Scorcese, gangsters, and or booze-filled good times, I’d suggest making this a must-watch if it isn’t already. If you’re not a fan of all that stuff, then I wonder why you’re reading this blog.
- Ryan
No comments:
Post a Comment