The Hour Season Two is Superb

Over the last six weeks I have been watching what might be the best television show I have seen in years. In it's second season the BBC America show The Hour is simply amazing. Cramming more storyline into six weeks than most full length series this years story arc centered around the coming of the nuclear age in the late fifties. Contrasted against a crime wave both issues provide the backdrop for the shows characters to move through.

What characters they are. Aggressive young journalist in training returns to the news team from a sojourn in America and France with a young French wife. His long simmering relationship with his producer and friend Belle Rowley must be set aside but by the end of this season we are left to wonder if these two will ever find their way.

Outside of that the character of Hector Madden played by Dominic West goes through a long journey this season. Having been caught in a scandal he sees his relationship with his wife suffer a death blow, is courted by another news network, and in the end suffers a humiliation few men could stand with grace, perhaps in a belief that is the product of his own behavior and something deserved.

Backstories abound. A new news director has joined the show and he too has a secret. Combining these complex characters with a nuanced, fast moving storyline rife with historical connections this show can be challenging.

One must dedicate themselves to paying attention. The first couple of episodes leave you wondering where the show is going, by the time you realize where that is, and how tangled the web is, you are hooked.

Loving Mad Men, enjoying Boardwalk Empire and Game of Thrones, there is no doubt in my mind that this show is far and away the winner for Best Drama of the year.

Boardwalk Empire Season One

A few years ago, before I got sick, some friends of mine at work and I would have lunch each day. One of the subjects that would often come up, especially on Mondays, would be rehash of whatever show we might be watching. Sunday nights being the night for Mad Men, and earlier The Sopranos, there was often much to talk about.

In the interim since becoming sick, I have missed those daily conversations. Recently my wife and I finished Season One of Boardwalk Empire and it is safe to say that were we all still working and having lunch together this show would top our Monday lunchtime conversations.

It is quite frequent that when watching a great new show we think it might be the best thing we have seen. Certainly for those of us that watch a few of the Cable Series that have become such an omnipresent part of television our first love will always be The Sopranos. I myself have become a little more discerning, recently rebuffing The Wire, never embracing True Blood, ditching HBO for the summer to the chagrin of The Newsroom but we have embraced Game of Thrones, and now might be ready to call Boardwalk Empire the best of the lot.

As a history buff there is a lot to love in this show. Historical figures met in season one include Al Capone, Meyer Lansky, Lucky Luciano, and at least on the outskirts of the plot, Presidential candidate Warren G Harding. His young mistress and baby's mother has a much more prominent role. The show belongs however to Steve Buscemi. Buscemi has had some memorable rolls, from being shot by his Cousin Tony on the porch of the hideout in The Sopranos, to the classic movie Fargo but in Boardwalk Empire he has landed his role.

Buscemi's Nucky Thompson runs Atlantic City in 1920 just as prohibition becomes law. There are too many great performances in this show to mention. For me perhaps one of the most unique characters is a relatively small role played Jack Huston as Richard Harrow. Harrow is a badly disfigured World War One Veteran, half his face and an eye are gone, this is covered up by a set of glasses that feature a fake eye as well as a piece of skin that sets over the hole. He was a marksman and soon finds a home on the payroll.

As the season progresses Nucky finds himself squeezed by New York and then by the rising chance of " his mayor" and his sheriff ( his brother) might be ousted by reform minded Democrats.

The plots are multi faceted as well. The show is shot beautifully, feels authentic, and the cast is superb.

As Season One ends we see that the betrayals to Nucky and the threats to his power base are just beginning. Season Two is set to be available on Netflix on August 28 and we are anxiously awaiting it's arrival in hopes of finishing Season Two before we shut of Netflix during the school year.

If you have not seen this show you are missing the best show on television. It is time to catch up.

Game of Thrones Season Two

We currently have the last two episodes of Game of Thrones on our Tivo. This is not a good sign for the show. I must admit that I have found Season Two thus far to be a bit of a slog. The problem for me is that it is just about impossible to follow.

I like to think of myself as pretty intelligent, able to follow detailed plots and nuances and such. This show now as it has moved to it's seven kings for one throne phase needs to do something to make it more understandable. With brothers of kings, and bastards of kings, fathers, brothers, sisters and wives it is not easy to follow.

At this point I probably if I sat down with a piece of paper could tell you who the seven or more parties are vying for the crown. During the show however I often cannot tell who is who amongst the lesser combatants, it is just too much.

We will watch the episodes we have on tape and hopefully things will become more clear. I very much enjoyed the show last season and know how good this can be. Killing Lord Stark at the end of Season One was risky, it is not easy to give definition to a show when the main character that viewers identify with is suddenly gone.

Another controversy is the sex which is everywhere and often times gratuitous. Saturday Night Live had an excellent parody of this in a skit which told that the producers used a thirteen year old adviser to tell them when to insert sex scenes. At this point it is probably over the top, and certainly does little to advance the plot in most cases.

The show is strong, beautifully shot, and has some great story lines. Dragons are very exciting. It does however have challenges that are unique which will have to be solved if it is going to retain viewers beyond it's extreme fan-boy base.

Game of Thrones Season One Conclusion

Of course this series was on last spring and ended long ago, in fact Season Two begins in just a couple of months in April later this spring.

My wife and I have just caught up, just having watched the series over the last month. I must say that this is a Fantastic series. With the exception of needing a diagram in the first few episodes to try to figure out all of the characters and their relationship this is one of the most engrossing shows one would find.

We were rivited. As the season drew to a close each episode ended with something that was not just eventful but shocking and for those of us who had not read the books, surprising.

We saw the Kaleesi's brother given a liquid crown of molten gold, we saw the Lord Ned Stark betrayed and decapitated and in the final episode the biggest shock of all. When Khalesi walked into the burial fire that was a surprise. When we see her sitting naked in the embers of the fire that was a surprise. When we see that the dragons eggs she had placed in her husbands burial pyre have hatched three baby dragons who are clinging to her I was floored.

I cannot wait for Season Two