Thoughts on Bones

So my girlfriend has been wanting me to watch Bones for a long time, probably about a year. So I started watching the show about a month ago. I'm currently towards the end of Season 2 and having watch this much so far I've got a few thoughts on the show that I've observed.

The first is that Jack Hodgins is the man. If you haven't watched the show then I recommend it solely because of him. Hodgins offers a bit of comic relief for the show, which in dealing with grizzly murders can get a little serious at times. With his sarcastic demeanor, Hodgins lightens the mood in the lab. He counters this sarcasticness with his obsession of bugs and soil, which he specializes in to help solve crimes.

The second is that you just absolutely want Booth and Brennan to get together. (SPOILER) I know they do get together in the series, but already in the first two seasons I keep asking myself why they aren't a couple yet. It drives me nuts seeing them with other people when you just know that the two are perfect for each other. Oh, and theres also the fact that Booth went to Ithaca, so maybe thats why I love Booth so much.

The last thing, and I can't find a picture of it currently, is that every episode ends with a bloom effect that transitions between two shots. Just something I've noticed.

Death in Paradise

I first started watching Death in Paradise after reading the series description on Netflix. I was expecting a kind of crime sitcom show but it actually turned out to be a serious show filled with murder and deception. I watched the entire episode regardless and I was pleasantly surprised to find a well developed twist ending. Before I knew it, I had finished the entire first season and moved onto the next. The characters are likable and deliver strong performances in crucial scenes as the plots of each episode develop very smoothly.

The series begins with British detective Richard Poole as he travels to Sainte Marie in the Caribbean to solve the murder of a fellow policeman. He is introduced to the local police force and investigates the body, interrogates suspects, and discovers clues as he progresses through the first episode. At the climax of the episode, it is revealed that the policewoman who worked alongside Detective Poole was actually the murderer all along. Until this point, I wasn't very impressed with the show so far but I did enjoy how they fooled the audience into thinking one of the characters would continue to be there throughout the series.

After the first episode, I continued to the next episode and then throughout the first season. While some episodes did turn out to be suspenseful duds, others lead to shocking twists that didn't seem out of place or to unreasonable. There are charming consistencies and running jokes throughout the series that make it worth watching through each episode, although anyone trying to get into the show can pretty much start anywhere. The acting is good, the plot delivers most of the time, and the tropical environments and beaches definitely make this show worth trying out.

I would recommend Death in Paradise to long time crime show fans and to people who are interested in getting into the genre. Overall, while it might not be on the same complex level as Criminal Minds or NCIS, but it is entertaining and definitely gripping at some points.             

American Horror Story: Murder House

American Horror Story: Murder House is the first season of the FX television series American Horror Story aired between October 5, 2011 and December 21, 2011. The season was produced by 20th Century Fox Television, and the executive producers were Dante Di Loreto and series creators Brad Falchuk and Ryan Murphy.

The season centers its focus on the Harmon family: Ben, Vivien and their daughter Violet, who move from Boston to Los Angeles after Vivien has a agonizing miscarriage and Ben has an affair with one of this students. They move into a restored mansion, unaware that the home is haunted by its former inhabitants, most of which were murdered in the house.




The first season of American Horror Story was well received and praised by television critics and fans. The cast was generally praised, particularly Jessica Lange and Frances Conroy. The series drew consistently high ratings for the FX network, ending its first season as the biggest new cable series of the year. The first season was nominated for various industry awards, including the Golden Globe Award for Best Television Series- Drama. In addition, Lange won many Golden Globes for Best Supporting Actress, The Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Drama Series, and the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Miniseries or a Movie.  Conroy was also nominated for the Supporting Actress Emmy. The main cast includes Taissa Farmiga, Connie Britton, Dylan McDermott, Evan Peters, Denis O'Hare and Jessica Lange.

*Spoiler Alert* 

The entire series is one thick plot unraveling itself and the Harmon family discovers the horrors and secrets of the house.  They try to get out and move from the house, but they are doomed from the start.  Ben sees patients in an office in the house, most of the patients he treats are spirits of the house trying to cope with their psychological problems.  Vivian is raped, and then carries for most of the season twins, one of which is her husbands, and one of which is her rapists son.  Violet, their daughter, who is the first of the family to die in the house, suffers from depression, and is in love with Tate, a spirit in the house, and little does she know, is her mother's rapist.  The sickening story unfolds with scary scenes and complex character development.

I highly recommend watching all seasons of this show.  I think that it is well made and executed terrifically.  

Dexter: Friend or Foe?

My latest Netflix binge is Showtime’s hit drama series “Dexter.” I don’t typically enjoy shows with blood and gore, but “Dexter” is an exception.  The unique storyline, strong writing, and talented cast make this one of television’s best crime dramas. Protagonist Dexter Morgan is “born in blood” after witnessing his mother’s brutal murder as a toddler.  This traumatic event creates a darkness in Dexter, a thirst for blood only satisfied with murder.  Dexter’s adoptive father Harry teaches him a moral code to protect his secret and survive with the rest of the world.  “Dexter” challenges our own code of ethics and morals as we try to determine the true essence of Dexter’s character.

Dexter is a self-described monster who spends his entire life faking normalcy. He claims to have no emotion or conscience, and tries to fake emotion to seem more human. Dexter finds comfort in Harry’s code and nurtures his evil streak. His killings become ceremonious -- a sacred ritual where he feels alive. Harry’s code forbids killing innocents, so Dexter uses his forensics job with Miami-Metro Homicide to discreetly hunt down murderers to put under his own knife. He twists his darkness into a better evil.

I think most would agree that someone responsible for dozens of murders doesn’t quite fit the bill for a classically ‘good person.’  Anyone finding satisfaction in murder is clearly mentally unstable and a danger to society. But Dexter isn’t killing just anyone. He only targets other killers. The audience recognizes these facts, and chooses to root for Dexter. Sure, he’s a serial killer, but does that make him pure evil? He’s much more than a serial killer -- he’s a loving father, husband, and brother, and he’s doing his best to keep everyone happy and safe. I’m not sure if killing murderers classifies Dexter as good or bad, but he’s not as evil as he believes. Dexter’s blind obedience to the code proves to be one of his biggest weaknesses.  Harry told Dexter he could never change, and would always have to hide his true self. The code restricted Dexter’s individual growth over the years, but he very slowly throughout the show realizes he’s been a slave to the code. In a way, he was forced into this lifestyle. 

Even though he denies having emotion, we know he’s only fooling himself.  Part of Dexter’s kill ritual pays tribute to the victims of his target as he explains to the criminal why he’s going to end his or her life. This proves Dexter has some sense of right and wrong, indicating he does have a conscience after all. Unfortunately, having a conscience doesn’t make you a good person by default. Which begs the questions, is Dexter more good than he is evil? Are his actions justified? Or has Dexter manipulated viewers into thinking he’s more human than he really is?

Dial M for Murder

This week, I watched my first Alfred Hitchcock film, Dial M for Murder.  It's basically about a guy who finds out that his wife is cheating on him and comes up with an extremely elaborate plan to kill her as way of revenge.  I don't want to ruin the movie but the story is absolutely brilliant.  There are so many plot twists and elaborate schemes that you constantly find yourself thinking one thing is going to happen and then something else happens.  I constantly had to remind my self that this film was well over twice as old as I am, yet it was done so, so well.  Hitchcock was way ahead of his time in his storytelling.  From a video shooting/editing/aesthetic aspect, it was pretty bare bones in my opinion.  Everything was what it was supposed to be, and nothing more.  There were plenty of shots that we consider cheesy now, but they were almost necessary back then.  I absolutely was hooked watching this film.  I definitely plan on watching more of his films from now on.

Happy Halloween everyone!

Tyler

Drill Baby, Kill!

I have been wanting to write this post for weeks now, but I simply had such a bad feeling that I kept putting it off, like a brain operation.
But a few moments ago I heard a snippet of news on the local channel about some assassination plot on Obama. Is this a surprise? Not exactly. The barrage of images and video of Paling shooting high power rifles with a telescopic sight, alongside invective abuse of power and misinformation are very suggestive to the inbred, broad redneck base that finds her so appealing under her disguise. After all don't they say it is our right to bear arms as if this was the wild West? And what would they be for but to enforce our ideas? Vietnam, Irak..., a black man, a dog, our teachers, our neighbors?

The majority is not silent anymore, it feels threatened and shouts kill! kill! at the least prompting, and there is plenty of that. Who orchestrates this aspect of the campaign? who is in charge of the not so subliminal massaging of weak, ignorant and impressionable brains? Who is the new Cheney? the new Rumsfeld? have they ever gone away? Will they?

Television is a powerful medium, producing a mild seizure effect that we have grown accustomed to, but which comes very handy when in the hands of advertisers and marketeers of every bent.

Unfortunately at this point in time with inmmeasurable stakes at play there is no need to resort to mafia connections or intelligence operators (although the knowledge of subliminal control is their domain), but simply to seed the minds of halfwits to execute random and irrational acts of violence, hoping that one of those hits the target, never mind the catastrophic global consequences of such power grab by those who think of nothing else but their own glory under their abominable god.

God, Guns and Country: The American Way

Harry S Truman, August 8, 195033rd president of US (1884 - 1972)

After hearing and seeing in the transmission of the Republican Convention the insanity of those who believe that the world was created in 6 days and therefore feel proud of "packing a pistol", killing for fun (or sport!) and sending their naive sons and daughters to war as cannon fodder to defend the black blood of comfort and greed, I think I will share a couple of quotes that coming from minds much bigger than my own are better able to summarize the dangerous situation being manufactured by the political machinery of the "righteous majority".

He who joyfully marches to music in rank and file has already earned my contempt. He has been given a large brain by mistake, since for him, the spinal cord would fully suffice. This disgrace to civilization should be done away with at once. Heroism at command, senseless brutality, deplorable love-of-country stance, how violently I hate all this, how despicable an ignoble war is; I would rather be torn to shreds than be a part of so base an action! It is my conviction that killing under the cloak of war is nothing but an act of murder. - Albert Einstein

Beware of the leader who bangs the drums of war in order to whip the citizenry into patriotic fervor, for patriotism is indeed a double-edged sword. It both emboldens the blood, just as it narrows the mind. And when the drums of war have reached a fever pitch … the citizenry … will offer up all of their rights unto the leader and gladly so. How will I know? For this I have done. And I am Julius Caesar.

Patriotism is the willingness to kill and be killed for trivial reasons. - Bertrand Russell

So I believe