HBO, AMC serve up feast of fresh programs
“Those who don’t own DVRS – and who can no longer rely on their VCRS – may well consider investing.”
What gives? The TV season for the mainstream networks begins in the fall. But the pay/cable people appear to be eschewing that rule, opting for spring for launching many of their big-ticket series.
A clever plan, too, since viewers have long since tired of seeing much of the mainstream fare this time of the year.
Last week, AMC trotted out Season 5 of Mad Men. On Sunday, it airs Season 2 of The Killing. Not to be outdone, HBO Canada releases Season 2 of Game of Thrones on Sunday. And next week, The Movie Network, an HBO Canada cousin, unleashes the latest satirical series, Good God, from the unwell Ken Finkleman. (Read all about the latter series and its creator in Saturday’s Gazette.)
Those who don’t own DVRS – and who can no longer rely on their VCRS – may well consider investing. It is TV feast time on Sunday evening. A two-hour episode of The Killing is on at 8 p.m., followed by Mad Men at 10 p.m. on AMC. Game of Thrones airs at 9 p.m. on HBO Canada. (Of course, if you happen to be a Videotron subscriber, problem is solved, since you don’t get AMC. You can, how- ever, download The Killing and Mad Men on itunes.) If you were hooked by The Killing last year, you will more than likely be captivated by the second season. That said, this has to be one of the most exasperating series ever to hit the tube.
The Killing breaks a lot of the rules, too. Most TV dramas offer resolution of sorts after an hour. Other more daring shows wait until the end of the season to offer fitting conclusion. Not The Killing.
The debut season of The Killing focused entirely on the investigation of the murder of 17-year-old high-school student Rosie Larson and the political ramifications thereof. Viewers expecting to learn who actually killed Larsen during last year’s nail-biter finale were left stunned to discover that they would have to wait until Season 2. And perhaps even longer. Baffling, yes; but also a gutsy move on the part of creator, writer and exec producer Veena Sud, who based this series on the smash Danish TV show, Forbrydelsen.
Season 2 unfolds much in the same manner as Season 1. Ever-sullen homicide detective Sarah Linden (played by the superb Mireille Enos) once again pulls back from leaving Seattle with her teen son and is once again pulled into investigating the Larson case. Joining her on the hunt for the murderer is the ever-dubious Stephen Holder (Joel Kinnaman), a former narc who had been promoted to homicide – ostensibly to take Linden’s place – and who has his own perhaps unsavoury agenda.
Suspects abound in this case, on either side of the law. But the one most were convinced had done the deed appears to be out of the running. That’s because he got shot – though not fatally – in last season’s fi- nale and has a good alibi. The fellow in question, Darren Richmond (Billy Campbell), the dashing president of the Seattle City Council, “Seattle’s JFK” and mayoralty candidate, is back in the picture this season, but in a more sympathetic vein.
On the other hand, his comely campaign adviser Gwen (Kristin Lehman), with whom Richmond had been having an affair, has some explaining to do. As does Richmond’s sketchy campaign manager, Jamie Dempsey (Eric Ladin), a superior strategist who seeks to win at all costs.
Not even Rosie’s parents, a toughtalking, blue-collar couple, and a few of their cronies are out of the woods, either. Seems that Linden can’t trust anyone any more.
The series is played out in real time. Each of last year’s 13 episodes covered a day. And Season 2 picks up on day 14 of the investigation.
There is an all-pervasive grimness to proceedings, enhancing the intrigue. Vancouver does a spot-on job of doubling for fogged-in, ever-rainy Seattle. Folks are so miserably over-caffeinated and twitchy here that it’s a wonder they haven’t all slit their wrists. A mass prescription to Xanax is probably in order, but bliss would ruin the mood.
All the same, manic-depressives, beware.
Season 2 of Game of Thrones also picks up from where it left off. All manner of skulduggery, murder and mayhem again prevail in this epic, based on the bestselling book series, A Song of Ice and Fire, by George R.R. Martin.
Winter is coming in Westeros, the Middle Ages setting for this fictional European land mass. And neither man nor woman nor beast are particularly happy, since winter here can last decades. (So Mont- realers ought to feel grateful.) Once again, it’s near impossible to know who to root for or who should be smote here. Evil lurks everywhere, and everyone pretty much looks the same. A program should be dispensed to viewers to distinguish between the players.
Borrowing perhaps from an old Mel Brooks routine, it seems that a lot of the fellows want to be king and many of the ladies want to be queen. It’s a risky business, though, and many heads get lopped off along the way.
When action commences, the Iron Throne of the Seven Kingdoms of Westeros is being held by the weasel boy-king Joffrey (Jack Gleeson), son of the departed King Robert. Also departed is the latter’s best buddy, Lord Eddard Ned Stark (Sean Bean), who had been falsely accused of being a traitor and was summarily executed. Really running the kingdom for Joffrey is his diabolical mom Cersei (Lena Headey), who has had a most unhealthy relationship with her bro Jaime (Nikolag Coster-waldau), now a prisoner of Robb Stark (Richard Madden), son of the headless Ned. Robb is really steamed, too.
Confused yet? Wait. Joffrey and Cersei best sleep with one eye open. It turns out that no less than five seek to rule the land, and they are even more conniving.
As was the case in Season 1, the sole voice of reason again would appear to be Cersei and Jaime’s sage younger bro, Tyrion (masterfully portrayed by Peter Dinklage), dubbed “the Imp” because of his short stature. Though Tyrion has an insatiable appetite for women and books and he is not big in the beheading department, his droll one-liners, particularly those directed to the sadistic wuss Joffrey, are deadly.
Game of Thrones, while engrossing for many, is not for the squeamish. The non-stop spillage of plasma would once again give even Tony Soprano pause. Season 2 of The Killing debuts with a two-hour episode Sunday at 8 p.m. on AMC. Season 2 of Game
of Thrones debuts Sunday at 9 p.m. on HBO Canada.