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The Weekly Power Rankings: "High on a Mountain"

By Dustin Rowles | Posted Under TV Reviews | Comments (34)



mags-bennett.jpg

10. Breaking In: I thought it was a really promising pilot. Check out the review.

9. Top Chef Masters: I lost interest in the last cycle of “Top Chef Masters,” and now with a new format and a new host, I’m not sure if I won’t lose interest again, particularly after they voted off one of the three chefs (in addition to the two Indian guys) that I had much invested in as personalities. I don’t remember the name of the guy voted off, but he was like the Michael Ian Black of chefs.

8. Archer/Bob’s Burgers: I didn’t love this week’s episode of “Archer,” but it did prompt me to finally check out “Bob’s Burgers,” which I’d mistakenly lumped in among Seth MacFarlane’s crappy shows. I didn’t love “Bob’s Burgers,” either, but after seeing both it and three week’s of “Archer,” I have a high appreciation for H. Jon Benjamin’s voice work. He’s outstanding.

7. Survivor: The weaselly defense attorney said it all after Boston Rob, once again, voted off Matt, who had just returned from Redemption Island. “Genius move.” It was, too. Boston Rob still has the numbers, and you’d think that, after the scare Grant got, he’d cozy up even more with Rob, and now they can just pick off the smaller tribe until, invariably, Phillip throws a wrench into the machine and Rob’s own tribe turns against him in the final weeks.

6. The Borgais: Another strong episode, though not as good as last week’s. Really, what makes the show as good as it is so far is the assassin, who is one of the most sinister, ruthless motherfuckers this year in television. The show also turned a corner this week: The Borgais were fun evil last week, and now they’re just plain evil.

5. Lights Out: A strong finale for the boxing series, triumphant and bittersweet, and a good way to wrap it up, as I don’t know how you come back for another season from what happened at the end of the episode. Fare thee well, “Lights Out.” I won’t miss you, but I’m glad you were around.

4. The Good Wife: Alan Cumming once again demonstrated how terrific he is in this show (and I’ll miss him after the campaign) while Michael J. Fox has been excellent in each of his episodes this season. I hope he becomes a periodic regular. We’re also now on the brink of the district attorney’s election, and I wonder if the Kalinda bombshell will drop before or after the votes have been tallied.

3. The Killing: Almost nothing happened in this week’s episode until the last few minutes, yet it says a lot about how excellent this show is that I was transfixed by the slowly developing, mostly routine police work that took place. Anybody (who hasn’t seen the Danish series) have any grand theories on the murderer yet?

2. Parenthood: I absolutely loved Peter Krause’s character in the first couple of seasons of “Six Feet Under,” and I’m grateful each week that “Parenthood” airs that Krause is able to wipe away the memory of what a selfish, self-destructive prick his character became in the latter seasons of “SFU.” I do admit, however, that I don’t love the Dreyfus/Lauren Graham subplot, but I can’t wait to see if Crosby can finally redeem himself.

1. Justified: Last week’s was an insane episode, from the negotiation over the coal mine to the death of one of this season’s major characters. Did I almost feel a twinkle of remorse for Mags Bennett in the end? Almost. But did I miss it, or was it not properly explained: What exactly is that land going to be used for, if not for coal mining? Anyway, maybe the best episode of “Justified” so far.









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Comments

They're going to use the land to build the roads to get to where they're mining.

Posted by: avocadolime at April 11, 2011 2:07 PM

I love "Bob's Burgers". If you like Jon Benjamin's voice work, you should check out the short-lived but hilarious "Lucy, the Daughter of the Devil".

Posted by: meab at April 11, 2011 2:11 PM

In re: Justified: The coal company did get a deal on the mountaintop removal. They had to pay Mags (and Boyd) an enormous sum to lay enough road to get the coal down. If the company hadn't bargained, nothing would have changed for the denizens of the mountain. Instead, they get screwed and Mags gets rich. Knowing that Mags is that good at seeing the big picture only makes her scarier. Also, the way her eyes went from sorrowful at the loss of Loretta to ice cold when she realized she couldn't get at the girl was just chilling.

Posted by: Reba at April 11, 2011 2:14 PM

Re: The Killing - I'm getting a vibe that it was somehow perpetrated by the seedy mayor. They could have had some toady steal Richmond's car and dump the body in it to ruin his campaign. I haven't figured out how the mayor's office would be involved with Rosie though, so I could be waaaaay off base with that one. I think all the stuff with the basement is a red herring, and that we'll discover the girl on the video is actually Sterling in the pink wig, and not Rosie.

Yeah, what avocadolime said. If Black Pike couldn't get the allotments that Mags owned, they wouldn't be able to build a road to transport all the coal they would be mining, making the mining operation pointless. That was some damn brilliant scheming in an even more damn brilliant episode. I frickin' love Mags, and my respect for the actress who plays her (who I think we most recently saw on Dexter) grows exponentially every time she's on.

Posted by: JustBill at April 11, 2011 2:16 PM

The Killing: Of all the characters introduced so far my money is on the school teacher, but it's still early.

Posted by: John W at April 11, 2011 2:21 PM

Indeed, that look on Mags face was chilling. Easily the best bad guy on TV. Oh, there better be an Emmy awaiting Margo Martindale this year.

Posted by: Sean at April 11, 2011 2:26 PM

I enjoyed Justified, but I don't know about it being the best episode so far. I just didn't like how completely ordinary Coover's death scene felt. I understood his resentment of Loretta, and I think a lot of the episode was done well (i.e. Dickie still worrying about his brother after he just got choked out), but the bad guy falling down a mine shaft wasn't too original.

Still, it's my favorite show on TV... I just hold it to high standards!

Posted by: Mel C. at April 11, 2011 2:29 PM

My favorite episode was when I cleaned the shit off my son's balls for the 90th straight day.

Posted by: Kballs at April 11, 2011 2:29 PM

Sorry for the spoiler if someone hasn't seen it! Just realized that.

Posted by: Mel C. at April 11, 2011 2:31 PM

Let's not forget that Bob's Burgers also stars Eugene Mirman, Kristin Schaal.

Posted by: Mike at April 11, 2011 2:36 PM

H. Jon Benjamin is a national treasure.

Posted by: Allen at April 11, 2011 2:36 PM

On "Archer": tough to top last week's insanity but this week's episode was funny as usual. I do like the towels folded on the shape of swans.

And "Justified" rocked. I was left in doubt whether or Maggs' teary eyes and concern for Loretta were genuine or if it was all a ploy. That's some quality actressin'!

BTW, no mention of last night's "Human Planet" premiere?

Countdown has begun for "Game of Thrones."

Posted by: Fredo at April 11, 2011 2:45 PM

I would love it if, on The Killing, the other cop turned out to be the killer. Because I HATE that guy. What police department would let a detective show up for work looking like that?

Posted by: Todd at April 11, 2011 2:52 PM

Yeah, the last Archer episode was definitely not their funniest one.

The more I think about Justified the more I'm getting confused about some stuff. Black Pike already has been mining up there for a long time. Wasn't there a conversation between Raylan and Boyd about how they both worked in that mine after high school? What the hell were they doing with the coal back then if they supposedly need bigger roads to haul on?

As far as building new roads goes (and I know it's just a show and I love it but I still have to pick on the mining stuff) you'd be amazed at how small of a road you can drive one of these monsters on. http://www.murdoch.edu.au/ciee/pages/Fall2002%20-%20NW%20Trip/HaulPak.JPG

Posted by: Paultera at April 11, 2011 2:59 PM

Stay out of the weed business!


/nuff said

Posted by: BarbadoSlim at April 11, 2011 3:08 PM

The Killing: The female campaign manager feels like the killer. She is banging the candidate, and her jealousy could come into play later. That would explain the car at the crime scene. The skater punks are just red herrings. I hope I'm wrong and they are more clever than just lifting plot from "No Way Out."

Posted by: Dude at April 11, 2011 3:18 PM

I'm with Dude - I've had a funny feeling about that chick since the first show.

Posted by: Cindy at April 11, 2011 3:24 PM

I don't know if I buy the campaign manager as the killer, but I'm pretty sure she was the one who sent the email, using Jamie's account.

Posted by: JustBill at April 11, 2011 3:49 PM

I sat there thinking "wow, I love Alan Cumming" for that entire episode of The Good Wife.

Posted by: DominaNefret at April 11, 2011 3:52 PM

Definitely the best ep of Justified this season. There was finally some tension and build-up, whereas the show normally feels like straight drama.

And I 3rd the notion that Mags went from sorrow to evil in 1 nanosecond, and it was amazing and chilling.

Posted by: Riles at April 11, 2011 4:28 PM

I think the problem with a show like "The Killing" is that, by the time they get to reveal the killer, everyone already has theories going for every single character. So either you're going to be disappointed because your pick wasn't the solution, or disappointed that it WAS.

"Law & Order" bites donkey sack, but at least you're only guessing for an hour before they tell you the killer. I would think stretching something like that out over a whole season would result in "sleuth fatigue" by the end, no?

Posted by: Paul Southworth at April 11, 2011 4:32 PM

@Paul, I think that would be true if they weren't going for such great character development. I think this show is going to be rightly compared to the Wire, where you watch as much to see the arcs of the characters as the actual plot details.

Posted by: Socraz6 at April 11, 2011 4:44 PM

Todd,the scuzzy looking cop was an undercover narcotics officer for years. They tend to look scuzzy. Really scuzzy. So scuzzy in fact, you know they are cops.

Posted by: Sean at April 11, 2011 6:41 PM

I sat there thinking "wow, I love Alan Cumming" for that entire episode of The Good Wife.

Posted by: DominaNefret at April 11, 2011 3:52 PM

I sat there thinking "wow, Alan Cumming is so bangable" for that entire episode. He has aged so well.

Posted by: Lady Lobo at April 11, 2011 6:42 PM

I would not compare The Killing to The Wire because it would not hold up well. It'll have to do a hell of a lot more than it's been doing to deserve being mentioned in the same sentence as The Wire. It's an okay show but let's not get ahead of ourselves.

Posted by: becks at April 11, 2011 7:01 PM

yeah, archer wasn't the best last week but still had plenty of laughs.

and i'm with you on justified. that scene with mags at the end was chilling. we knew she didn't give a shit about her son but still. if that's not emmy award winning, then nothing is.

Posted by: splinter at April 11, 2011 7:48 PM

About The Killing. Was surprised with the last scene with the video, it felt too easy and they're giving a lot away right away...

The thing I loved about the first 2 episodes was the slow stream of information and this was the opposite. I guess that means is definitely not the 2 guys otherwise season's over!

I wonder if the season will end with them finding another body after making an arrest... that would be cool...

Posted by: Sarah J-Town at April 12, 2011 3:47 AM

balls

Posted by: LwoodPDowd at April 12, 2011 5:38 AM

Mags also bartered herself 4% shares in the company that owns the coal company, the big old conglomerate running everything.
With this money she intends to provide for and enrich the lives of the local folks while the coal company uses the land she let them have to build their roads.
The coal execubitch was never told this so had to face Mags cold then slink out all tail between her legs.

I actually hated the sassy, fiery redhead ExecuBitch. She was lazily written, a little bit of a Mary Sue for me, just too awesome and tough and self assured blah freakin' blah.

SPOILER SPOILER
I loved the episode though. The building tension between Coover and Raylan was intense, the way Raylan was just looking to get his ass beat leading to such an intense finale was brilliant. I loved the brutality of both fights, though the first scuffle they had, the week before this ep, was easily the best and most crunchy, Raylan has never had his ass so completely handed to him and the way most everyone did just watch it happen for a while like 'yep' was aces.

The second fight was, I felt, I little rushed, and didn't seem as...devastating, physically. I thought Coover's death was brilliant and such a moment of genius having it happen right on top of the mine, so no one can pretend Coover didn't know what he responsible for the body.
Just...awesome. I loved it. The whole episode.

Posted by: Nadine at April 12, 2011 8:20 AM

Awesome analysis on the execubitch Nadine. I always love it when some "sassy" bitch on wheels gets cuts down to size. I HAAATE those type of folks.

Posted by: BarbadoSlim at April 12, 2011 8:27 AM

I thought him falling down a mine shaft was a bit over the top and cliched, but I loved the rest.

Posted by: elizabeth at April 12, 2011 10:04 AM

That all the whoopin and a hollerin in Harlan County is coming to Loretta is a testament to the damn good job done by Kaitlyn Dever. It's fun to see all of the Bennett's plans undone by this little girl and their inability to act normal around her (p.s. at some point, they have to realize they should have just killed her. I know that's harsh, but just think about it).

And the aforementioned child actress does a good job. She's quite and simple, but you get the feeling she knows before really finding out daddy is at the bottom of a mineshaft, and it's still believable that she'd be so wracked at that age that she didn't realize she's calling Raylan from Dickie's room.

I know I shouldn't be watching the "next episode previews", but I've got a good feeling Boyd bought off Mags to return to running the local criminal element, with help from Raylan's father, who had to agree to sell his land to Boyd in the first place.

Should be fun.

Posted by: D-Day at April 12, 2011 10:06 AM

[SPOILERS]

My only complaint with Justified is, I would have liked one more episode to build the Raylan/Coover tension. It goes from fistfight, to Coover joking about it during the town hall, to Coover's death all to quickly. I would have wanted to see the tension between him and Raylan build up and simmer a bit before coming to a head at the mine. Nitpicking aside, this season is somehow even better than the first.

And I love that this far into the series, I can never be entirely sure what Boyd is up to. Walt Goggins absolutely owns that role.

Posted by: Markus at April 12, 2011 1:31 PM

Good to see love for Justified, its one of the few shows I don't wait for several episodes to download before I watch them, I have to watch it as soon as its downloaded. (Supernatural is another one, anything with Castiel is awesome).

And Walt Goggins is actually topping his work on The Shield, while unfortunately Michael Chiklis chose to do No Ordinary Family, which I only watch in the background while doing laundry or doing the dishes.

Posted by: TrickyHD at April 17, 2011 8:45 PM