Turn: In Praise of Anna Strong

Turn spent the majority of this week’s episode continuing to flesh out the relationship between Abe Woodhull and Anna Strong, which was fine by me as it gave the increasingly compelling Heather Lind more opportunities to shine amongst this talented ensemble.

Abe and Anna journeyed to New York together on separate missions – Abe to sell produce and hunt for secrets and Anna to recover her recently paroled husband. While alone, Anna seizes the opportunity to demand that Abe finally explain why he broke off their secret engagement years earlier. It’s a question many have asked as Abe so clearly belongs with Anna and not the colorless Mary once promised to his dead brother. As usual, Abe defers the truth, falling back on claims of family responsibility. No one is satisfied by the answer.

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The Normal Heart: Bursting at the Seams

It is a difficult task to write about something so well intended and earnest as HBO’s The Normal Heart. It’s clear that the filmmakers and cast are wholly invested in this story and its broader social implications, and those intentions should (and will) be showered with rewards. But if I’m being honest, it is an undeniable flaw of the film that director Ryan Murphy, whose power in Hollywood brought this long-gestating property to fruition after many aborted attempts, just isn’t strong enough of a director to give this material the steady guiding hand it requires.

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Penny Dreadful: Of Fog and Blood

Penny Dreadful episode two, Séance, begins with a scene well known to those familiar with Victorian-era horror. Fog rolls in, covering the street and reducing visibility to zero. There’s an overdressed prostitute waiting for a gentleman caller – or the Ripper – to appear. Here comes an old man lighting the gaslights only to quickly disappear, snatched by something hidden in the fog. Shortly, the same fate befalls the prostitute, her severed arm tossed to the ground still clenching the green apple she had been eating.

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Turn: Postlude to a Kiss

In Turn’s Epiphany episode, Abe Woodhull laid out a consenting Anna Strong on his kitchen table. They passionately groped and kissed, giving in to what appeared to be years of repressed lust. Their dalliance was a fleeting moment as the Redcoat soldier stationed in the Woodhull home interrupted their lovemaking.

However brief, their moment was not one without consequences as explored in the latest offering, the awkwardly titled Mercy Moment Murder Measure. The episode had a vastly different structure than the previous offerings, using single tense moments to build to a decently tense conclusion. Continue reading “Turn: Postlude to a Kiss”

Turn Recap: A History of Violence

(Ed. Note: I’m in a different time zone with laptop issues this week so Clarence’s take on the most recent episode of Turn was a bit delayed. My fault, not his)

Turn’s pilot episode had flashes of violence, borrowing the sounds of stabbed corpses from its gorier AMC cousin The Walking Dead. The subsequent offerings, however, have mostly relied on bloodless gunplay and spy intrigue for action. That practice ended as this week’s episode, Mr. Culpeper, provided Turn’s bloodiest hour to date.

We begin with a scene that confused some across the Internet. A man, later to be revealed as civilian strategist Nathanial Sackett (memorably played by character actor Stephen Root), devises “Scenario 37” during which we see our hero, Abe Woodhull, exposed as a spy in a botched intel exchange. He is shot and left to bleed to death. The scene then cuts to Sackett crumpling a piece of paper (the failed “Scenario 37”), revealing the Abe’s death to be the imagined outcome of a failed plan. A clever ruse on the part of the creators, but just an illusion nonetheless.

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Far From Dreadful

Every year near Halloween, I make a pilgrimage to Universal Studios Orlando for their annual Halloween Horror Nights. Much more than your standard haunted house experience, the intoxicating and gory event frightens by using all of the senses to transport you to specific times and places. Well-trained actors jump at you from dark corners and from behind objects in unexpected ways. This past year, I was able to walk through The Walking Dead’s Woodbury, the English moors of An American Werewolf in London, and the titular cabin from Cabin in the Woods. Each experience feels brilliantly authentic… and scary as hell.

That’s what it feels like to watch Showtime’s new series Penny Dreadful.

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Dear Emmy: This Year Don’t Forget Matthew Rhys for The Americans

Ok Emmy, I’m giving you the chance to get on the Matthew Rhys bandwagon before it’s too late and you end up looking like a dumbass as usual. The thing is, you should’ve acknowledged him last year in the debut season of The Americans, but I realize there’s so much great TV now it’s hard to keep up with what’s what… oh, wait… keeping up with what’s what is your job? Oh yeah, it is and you blew it last year. Well, it’s not too late to correct that mistake this year.

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Bates Motel: Mother’s Kiss

Season 2, Episode 10: The Immutable Truth (Season Finale)

Bates Motel wrapped up its uneven second season Monday night with an above-average season finale that focused largely on the Norma/Norman Bates dynamic, delivering at least one brilliantly cringe-inducing moment. It was a significant improvement over the first season finale, which meandered and only really delivered significant thrills in its final moments.

The dynamic duo of Sheriff Romero and Dylan (both saddled with material better suited to a different show) freed Norman from the metal box half-buried in the woods near White Pine Bay. Norma quickly took over by professing her deep love for son/nephew Dylan and by continuing to shelter Norman with the intent of pushing off as long as she could the polygraph test Romero demanded.

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