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Breaking Bad, Ep. 5.12: “Rabid Dog” ponders the show’s moral universe while setting up the endgame

Breaking Bad, Season 5, Episode 12: “Rabid Dog” Written by Sam Catlin Directed by Sam Catlin Airs Sundays at 9pm ET on AMC – “He’s smarter than you. He’s luckier than you.” – “Rabid Dog” is more or less all talk, no (explicit) action, but as the Breaking Bad endgame begins in earnest, it does …

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Breaking Bad, Ep. 5.11: “Confessions” leaves us in the lurch in the best way possible

Some series offer neat, tidy payoffs week-to-week, making sure to leave viewers satisfied while leaving them with enough plot and/or character movement to satisfy while leaving them eager for the next piece of the bigger picture. Not so with Breaking Bad; it’s impossible to imagine anyone getting to the final moments of “Confessions” and not cursing the television gods for not granting them immediate access to next week’s “Rabid Dog.” This right here is some next-level viewer-directed cruelty of the most effective sort.

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The Bridge, Ep. 1.07: “Destino” continues tonal and stylistic growth, but can’t stem murder-mystery fatigue

There’s no shame in stealing from the greats. So when “Destino” begins to feel like a hyperkinetic Justified/Breaking Bad mashup for a few minutes during a trailer-park raid gone very wrong, it’s just the kick in the pants an hour this scattered needs. Not everything about “Destino” works, but its peaks are very encouraging.

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Breaking Bad, Ep. 5.10: “Buried” highlights the series’ long-undervalued female cast

Since the very beginning of Breaking Bad, these actresses have been tasked with the most thankless roles on one of the most celebrated dramas in TV history. In the case of Gunn, it’s a repeat performance in a sense: she had a similarly unglamorous gig as Sheriff Bullock’s beleagured-but-upstanding wife Martha. TV historians and prognosticators will be quick to extol the virtues of Bryan Cranston and Aaron Paul, along with Dean Norris and Bob Odenkirk (and rightfully so) but in a very real sense, Brandt and Gunn have long provided Breaking Bad with a moral dimension that would otherwise be absent.

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Breaking Bad, Ep. 5.09: “Blood Money” hits the ground running, then opts for a sprint

It’s important to keep expectations in check at all times, but especially with beloved TV series. There are so many variables at work, so many moving parts operated by so many individuals, that even with the smartest showrunners, the best writers’ room, and the most stellar cast, things can go off the rails when you’re least expecting it, often at the worst possible time. So it’s with a sense of relief that “Blood Money” opens with what might be one of the two or three cold opens the series has ever pulled off (and that’s saying something). And yet it’s the end of the episode that easily slides into the all-time Breaking Bad Holy Shit Canon.

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The Bridge Ep. 1.03: “Rio” brings a sense of urgency to the manhunt

It is clear by now that The Bridge wants to be a series that deals with all aspects of life in El Paso and Juárez, a world defined by the precarious relationship of two neighboring countries, one characterized by extreme poverty, the other by prosperity, and the series uses the hunt for a serial killer as a way into this world. Before the show can explore its loftier goals, it first has to address the killer’s dozen (and counting) murders. “Rio” is the first episode in the series to give this manhunt a sense of urgency.

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The Bridge, Ep. 1.01: “Pilot” showcases assets and drawbacks of FX’s latest drama

The Bridge, Season 1, Episode 1: “Pilot” Written by  Meredith Stiehm and Elwood Reid Directed by Gerardo Naranjo Airs Wednesdays at 10pm ET on FX “Pilotitis” is an umbrella term that connotes a wide variety of complaints typically leveled at pilots, from awkward bouts of exposition, to shoddy or simplistic characterization, to overplotting, but one …

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Game of Thrones, Ep. 3.10: “Mhysa” an appropriately sprawling, imperfect end to an ambitious season

Even moreso than before, the third season of Game of Thrones has had to negotiate a very difficult balancing act: more characters in more locales than ever before, a whole lot of doomy portent and foreshadowing of things that may not come to pass for a very long time, and plots that advance at hugely different paces all competing for screentime. With all that considered, and with some more reflection yet needed, I’d say Season Three is roughly on par with Season One (which had issues all its own) and certainly greater than Season Two.

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Game of Thrones, Ep. 3.09: “The Rains of Castamere,” in which absolutely nothing happens

It’s been a strange couple of months for Game of Thrones fans who haven’t read the books, such as myself. Book-series veterans (the spoiler-respectful ones, anyway) have looked on with a sense of both dread and dark glee, referring only to “the RW,” which I’d incorrectly assumed stood for “Royal Wedding,” of which we got one last week with relatively little incident There’s about 45 minutes of content in “The Rains of Castamere” that does not consist of the Red Wedding, but you’d never know it for the furor that erupted on social media moments after the doors to the Freys’ hall closed and the strains of the episode’s titular ballad are audible. It’s here, finally, even more than Season One’s “Baelor,” that Game of Thrones finally earns its “anyone can die” motto. This got downright Satanic.

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Game Of Thrones, Ep. 3.08: “Second Sons” a sterling showcase for Dinklage

Game of Thrones, Season 3, Episode 8: “Second Sons” Written by David Benioff and D.B. Weiss Directed by Michelle MacLaren Airs Sundays at 9pm ET on HBO Credit where credit’s due: in her second go at directing Game of Thrones, Michelle MacLaren once again gets an episode that’s relatively light on actual incident, but still manages …

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Game of Thrones, Ep. 3.07: “The Bear and the Maiden Fair” remarkably low-key despite featuring a bearfight

Game of Thrones, Season 3, Episode 7: “The Bear and the Maiden Fair” Written by George R. R. Martin Directed by Michelle MacLaren Airs Sundays at 9pm ET on HBO You might reasonably expect that an episode penned by series originator George R. R. Martin and featuring the Thrones directorial debut of Breaking Bad veteran Michelle MacLaren will be …

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Game of Thrones, Ep. 3.06: “The Climb” light on incident, heavy on long-term promise

Those who are more privy of HBO’s future plans may correct me on this, but seeing as the events of the third book of A Song of Ice and Fire, A Storm of Swords, are supposedly being spread out over two seasons, we can reasonably expect that Game of Thrones will be at least an eight-season affair.

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Game of Thrones Ep. 3.05: “Kissed By Fire” delivers a series-best sequence while setting up season’s back half

Game of Thrones, Season 3, Episode 5: “Kissed by Fire” Written by Brian Cogman Directed by Alex Graves Airs Sundays at 9pm ET on HBO Remember last week, when Daenerys Targaryen and her dragons unleashed literal hellfire and everyone declared it the greatest thing ever? Though most of its pleasures are far subtler, “Kissed by …

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Game of Thrones, Ep. 3.04: “And Now His Watch Is Ended” kicks up the pace but exposes flaws

Game of Thrones, Season 3, Episode 4: “And Now His Watch Is Ended” Written by David Benioff and D.B. Weiss Directed by Alex Graves Airs Sundays at 9pm ET on HBO The usual drill: I haven’t read the books, so don’t spoil future plot events in the comments. Why does Daenerys Targaryen have it so …

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Game of Thrones, Ep. 3.03: “Walk of Punishment” a shocking, funny study in contrasts

Game of Thrones, Season 3, Episode 3: “Walk of Punishment” Written by David Benioff and D.B. Weiss Directed by David Benioff Airs Sundays at 9pm ET on HBO Apologies for the tardiness; life happened. The usual stuff: I haven’t read the books, please do not spoil future events in the comments. Thank you kindly. Game …

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Game of Thrones, Ep. 3.02: “Dark Wings, Dark Words” highlights the female cast but otherwise boils low

Is there are doubt at this juncture that women are the true rulers of Westeros, at the very least in commanding our attention, if not outright color of law? All through “Dark Wings, Dark Words” (a deeply foreboding title for an episode in which much is discussed but not a whole lot actually happens), Game of Thrones spends most of its time catching us up with the female denizens of the Seven Kingdoms, often making their male counterparts come across a little on the dull or at least undistinguished side in the process.

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Justified, Ep. 4.13: “Ghosts” brings another great season to a satisfying, low-key end

If you were hoping that “Ghosts” might hearken back to the very first Justified season finale, “Bulletville,” just because a gangster threatened to kill Raylan’s wife and unborn child last week, then it may very well have left you wanting. If, on the other hand, you value the thing Justified can dole out even better than gun battles – that is to say, potent character beats – “Ghosts” is more than happy to oblige.

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Game of Thrones, Ep. 3.01: “Valar Dohaeris” welcomes us back to Martin’s peculiar universe

Earlier this year, when Netflix released all of House of Cards’s first season simultaneously, it prompted industry-wide speculation about the implications, and whether or not other series or networks might follow in their footsteps. It’s to our collective detriment that HBO probably won’t be adopting that sort of release strategy for any of its programs for the foreseeable future, because Game of Thrones is an obvious candidate.

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Justified, Ep. 4.11: “Decoy” a riveting Western-in-miniature

Justified, Season 4, Episode 11: “Decoy” Written by Graham Yost and Chris Provenzano Directed by Michael Watkins Airs Tuesdays at 10pm ET on FX Some of you multiplex-frequenters might have checked out Kim Jee-woon’s The Last Stand this past January, in which a seemingly unstoppable cartel badass has to make his way through a sleepy border town …

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Justified, Ep. 4.10: “Get Drew” outlines the stakes of Season 4 in swift, hilarious fashion

Justified, Season 4, Episode 10: “Get Drew” Written by Dave Andron and VJ Boyd Directed by Billy Gierhart Airs Tuesdays at 10pm ET on FX The notion of Justified‘s fourth season as being driven by a central mystery has been a flawed premise all along, as it turns out. For a few episodes now, there’s only been …

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Justified, Ep. 4.09: “The Hatchet Tour” dives into the Givens family myth

Justified, Season 4, Episode 9: “The Hatchet Tour” Written by Taylor Elmore and Leonard Chang Directed by Lesli Linka Glatter Airs Tuesdays at 10pm ET on FX First things first: if, like me, the title of this episode conjured visions of a hatchet-wielding baddie (perhaps in Detroit’s employ) making Raylan or Boyd’s life difficult, shutter …

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Girls, Ep. 2.08: “It’s Back” reframes our understanding of Hannah with a tricky reveal

Girls, Season 2, Episode 8: “It’s Back” Written by Bruce Eric Kaplan Directed by Richard Shepard Airs Sundays at 9pm ET on HBO Too many Freaks, not enough circuses – AA counselor’s t-shirt Introducing a new aspect to an established character is a tricky business. You run the risk of continuity problems with what’s come before, …

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Justified, Ep. 4.08: “Outlaw” course-corrects with a shocking turn of events

Justified, Season 4, Episode 8: “Outlaw” Written by Benjamin Cavell and Keith Schreier Directed by John Dahl Airs Tuesdays at 10pm ET on FX Read any interview with Graham Yost and he’ll mention that, in the grand scheme of things, Justified has been conceived as being about six seasons long. That puts us well over …

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