TV 10: Blacklisted Sons: The Musical

[ExileOnDaytonStreet]

Re: TV 10: Blacklisted Sons: The Musical

I think you have to have a little bit of suspension of disbelief when it comes to evading law enforcement in these shows. Of course it can be a little clean and distracting sometimes, but at a certain point you just have to give them some leeway for being a show about career criminals. Just be glad that they ditched the "hacker" aspect of Juice's character as early as they did.

 

[The Rube]

Re: TV 10: Blacklisted Sons: The Musical

I think you have to have a little bit of suspension of disbelief when it comes to evading law enforcement in these shows. Of course it can be a little clean and distracting sometimes, but at a certain point you just have to give them some leeway for being a show about career criminals. Just be glad that they ditched the "hacker" aspect of Juice's character as early as they did.

I actually didn't mind that, given that they really didn't overdo it. If they kept it and had him hacking bigger stuff, then that would have been bad.

 

[bigblue_dl]

Re: TV 10: Blacklisted Sons: The Musical

Yes... and no.

How many times can they really be expected to pull the wool over everyone's eyes (including law enforcement) and get away with it without even a scratch?

A lot of Jax's plans go a little too well for it to be realistic time after time after time.


It's certainly fun to watch the plans revealed, but after the 5th or 6th perfectly executed ruse that eliminates the enemies and keeps everyone whole, it loses impact.

I agree with this. Also, it seems like the show has had the same storyline happen 3 or 4 times. "New Sheriff/DA/Investigator comes to town and tries to crack down on the club, **** happens, and eventually the club finds a way to get out of trouble."

 

[ExileOnDaytonStreet]

Re: TV 10: Blacklisted Sons: The Musical

I agree with this. Also, it seems like the show has had the same storyline happen 3 or 4 times. "New Sheriff/DA/Investigator comes to town and tries to crack down on the club, **** happens, and eventually the club finds a way to get out of trouble."

I'll give Sutter credit on this one: from a 50,000 foot level, the whole "cartel deal leading to a change in power leading to an attempt to get out of guns leading to unintended consequences" arc of the last 3+ seasons is a fairly logical sequence of events that I think has worked fairly well as a way to portray Jax's inner struggles.

But, in much the same way that the whole Ireland storyline would've played better if they didn't twiddle their thumbs for most of a season before getting there, the real trick is figuring out how to get there without making it seem like you're just filling time until you can get to the endgame. IMO, one of the biggest things Sutter could've used to make a really good show into a great show was a sense of direction and a need to tie things up in 5-6 seasons.

 

[ScoobyDoo]

Re: TV 10: Blacklisted Sons: The Musical

I plan on checking out Gotham...

Me too.

The other new ones I'm checking out are;

Mysteriers of Laura: Pilot wasn't great so this one may get dropped quick.
Stalker: Heard some bad things about it but still want to check it out.
How to get away with Murder: Haven't heard much so we'll see.

Good Wife season premiere was fantastic. Show just keeps getting better.

Black List premiere tonight. Can't wait.

 

[Shirtless Guy]

Re: TV 10: Blacklisted Sons: The Musical

Me too.

The other new ones I'm checking out are;

Mysteriers of Laura: Pilot wasn't great so this one may get dropped quick.
Stalker: Heard some bad things about it but still want to check it out.
How to get away with Murder: Haven't heard much so we'll see.

Good Wife season premiere was fantastic. Show just keeps getting better.

Black List premiere tonight. Can't wait.

last night was the first time I had ever watched the Good Wife and it was really good...

 

[bigblue_dl]

Re: TV 10: Blacklisted Sons: The Musical

I'll give Sutter credit on this one: from a 50,000 foot level, the whole "cartel deal leading to a change in power leading to an attempt to get out of guns leading to unintended consequences" arc of the last 3+ seasons is a fairly logical sequence of events that I think has worked fairly well as a way to portray Jax's inner struggles.

But, in much the same way that the whole Ireland storyline would've played better if they didn't twiddle their thumbs for most of a season before getting there, the real trick is figuring out how to get there without making it seem like you're just filling time until you can get to the endgame. IMO, one of the biggest things Sutter could've used to make a really good show into a great show was a sense of direction and a need to tie things up in 5-6 seasons.

See, I don't have a problem with the current story arc, with the cartel, it was some in the middle that got too repetitive, like they kept going to same well. If they could have advanced the story without introducing yet another law enforcement official trying to get the club, that would have worked much better, IMO. The law enforcement side was great, through the end of season 3 (and anyone who watched the show knows what happened at the end of Season 3) From that point on, I think they needed to have a more focused plot from the side of law enforcement, because it just got muddy.

The transition to Roosevelt as the local Sheriff was OK, IMO, it was the introduction of the special US attorney guy, and then his only lasting a season, followed by another fed, etc, that got tiresome. If that federal investigation side of things was better put together, and one season was cut out among the final 4 seasons (same story, condensed into 3 seasons), I think this TV show is elevated to a higher level. Also, what is with so many people doing illogical, stupid things in this series. Not just the criminals either, we have had several law enforcement characters that have flat out murdered people. It would have made the show a little better if they had some kind of redeeming good character, the Hank Schrader of Breaking Bad.

 

[bigblue_dl]

Re: TV 10: Blacklisted Sons: The Musical

Just to show the progression of Law Enforcement on SOA: (spoilers for anyone that wants to watch this from the start)

Season 1:
Chief Unser (Charming PD) - In SAMCRO's Pocket
Deputy Hale (Charming PD) - Seems to actually be a "good guy"
Agent Kohn (ATF) - Violent Stalker, killed by Jax
Agent Stahl (ATF) - Seems to be a "good guy"
Season 2:
Chief Unser (Charming PD) - Still in SAMCRO's pocket
Deputy Hale (Charming PD) - Surprisingly, still seems like a "good guy"
Agent Stahl (ATF) - Becoming less of "good guy", commits murder, frames Gemma
FBI gets involved, seemingly out of nowhere
Season 3:
Chief Unser (Charming PD) - Becoming more like one of SAMCRO instead of doing his job
Deputy Hale (Charming PD) - Still the only "good guy" in the show, is killed early in the season
Agent Stahl (ATF) - Now, full-on POS, kills her partner, and frames her dead partner for the previous season's murder, eventually is killed by Opie
San Joaquin Sheriff Dept. now looking to take over for inept Charming PD

(Up until this point, everything was fine, IMO. It was all logical, and made sense, except that so many of the law enforcement people were just as big of pieces of **** as the criminals they were investigating)

Season 4:
Unser - No longer in law enforcement, becomes a glorified errand boy for SAMCRO, completely ignores crimes including murder
Deputy Roosevelt (SJCS) - Seems to be a "good guy"
Lincoln Potter (US Attorney) - Appears to be crooked, but doesn't do anything too bad, like murder his partner, eventually just disappears?
Now the CIA is also involved, and they are backing the SAMCRO business with the cartel
Season 5:
Unser - He's only getting deeper into the ****
Deputy Roosevelt (SJCS) - Tries to keep the Sons under control, but is starting to get drug down
Lee Toric (US Marshall) - Enters the picture under the guise of investigating the death of the nurse at prison (killed by Otto)
Season 6:
Unser - Don't know why I keep including him
Deputy Roosevelt (SJCS) - Loosing control of the situation, his wife gets killed, and he starts to not give a ****, looking for revenge, and is killed by Juice at the end of the season.
Weller (Oakland PD?) - Crooked as all hell, running drugs and whores
Lee Toric (US Marshall) - Ends up being a crooked bastard, hell bent on revenge, murders a hooker, and is eventually killed by Otto.
Patterson (DA) - Another person hell bent on "getting the bad biker club!" does anything she can to nail the club with gun running charges (might actually be the only somewhat "good guy" left at this point
Season 7:
Unser - Hey! He's working with the Sheriff again! The new hard-*** lady sheriff!
New Hard-*** Lady Sheriff (SJCS) - Looks like a female carbon copy of Roosevelt
Patterson (DA) - Isn't really doing much at this point, except trying to find out who killed Tara and Roosevelt. Still, might be the only "good guy" going right now.

 

[Gurtholfin]

Re: TV 10: Blacklisted Sons: The Musical

It would have made the show a little better if they had some kind of redeeming good character, the Hank Schrader of Breaking Bad.

They did. Gemma killed her.

My issue isn't as much with the lack of a good character - although I agree with that argument - it's that none of the characters seem to struggle internally with anything that they do. A deep character would at some point think twice about the people he's killing and the lives that the killing will be affecting.

On a related note, no one grieves for more than a few minutes. Seriously - Jax should still be in the fetal position only 10 days out from the "love of his life's" murder.

Do scenes of grieving make for good television? Maybe not, but those scenes would humanize the characters.


As my wife has said more than once... "These people..." and then shakes her head.

There's literally no one left to root for.

 

[rufus]

Re: TV 10: Blacklisted Sons: The Musical

There's literally no one left to root for.

That's how I felt about Nip/Tuck. All the characters were just so nasty or complete eff-ups that there was no one worth caring about, and so no interest in where the show was going. that, and the plot lines just became so freakingly outlandish that the show lost any sense of believability.

 

[Scarlet]

Re: TV 10: Blacklisted Sons: The Musical

That's how I felt about Nip/Tuck. All the characters were just so nasty or complete eff-ups that there was no one worth caring about, and so no interest in where the show was going. that, and the plot lines just became so freakingly outlandish that the show lost any sense of believability.

Which was a shame because it was a pretty cool show. Mmmmm, Julian MacMahon.

Anyway......it took me a good 15 minutes or so to set my dvr for last night and this week as I am traveling and I want to make sure I catch everything. There's a lot of shows I'm going to try out. Stupid football last night screwed up my viewing on CBS so I watched Ray Donovan, then Madam Secretary. Which was not bad. Thankfully I also recorded the repeat viewing of Madam Secretary that was supposed to start after The Good Wife otherwise I would have missed most of that show. I heard it was great so I'm looking forward to watching it tonight.

I watched Red Band Society on FOX last week and I do want to catch The Mysteries of Laura or whatever that Debra Messing show is since I really like her. Red Band was pretty good. Will keep watching for now.

 

[MattS]

Re: TV 10: Blacklisted Sons: The Musical

Stupid football last night screwed up my viewing on CBS so I watched Ray Donovan, then Madam Secretary. Which was not bad. Thankfully I also recorded the repeat viewing of Madam Secretary that was supposed to start after The Good Wife otherwise I would have missed most of that show. I heard it was great so I'm looking forward to watching it tonight.

I wanted to watch Madam Secretary also but I stupidly did not extend the recording on my DVR. I thought that since it didn't start until 8:30 that CBS already had accounted for the **** length of the NFL games but I guess that either NFL games have become even longer or they start later now? God I hate everything about that sport.

 

[ScoobyDoo]

Re: TV 10: Blacklisted Sons: The Musical

I wanted to watch Madam Secretary also but I stupidly did not extend the recording on my DVR. I thought that since it didn't start until 8:30 that CBS already had accounted for the **** length of the NFL games but I guess that either NFL games have become even longer or they start later now? God I hate everything about that sport.

The extra half an hour would've worked if the game hadn't gone into OT.

Basically you should always anticipate CBS Sunday Night to be screwed up by Football and what I do is record an hour to two hours after the show I want is over just to make sure I got it all.

 

[bigblue_dl]

Re: TV 10: Blacklisted Sons: The Musical

The late game on CBS (Denver at Seattle) went to OT.

 

[Slap Shot]

Re: TV 10: Blacklisted Sons: The Musical

CBS went over the 30 minute delayed start of all their Sunday night programming before the game went to OT. Going over 3.5 hours in regulation is ridiculous.

 

[Kepler]

Re: TV 10: Blacklisted Sons: The Musical

The late game on CBS (Denver at Seattle) went to OT.

It also started at 4:30 instead of 4. The "Amazing Race Rule," adopted after several football-related mishaps, is to allow 2 extra hours just to make sure.

 

[Kepler]

Re: TV 10: Blacklisted Sons: The Musical

I wanted to watch Madam Secretary also but I stupidly did not extend the recording on my DVR

Based on the teasers you scored a net win. That show looks dreadful.

 

[The Rube]

Re: TV 10: Blacklisted Sons: The Musical

....

Weller is an ex-cop (dirty cop) who still has connections in the department. IIRC, he was booted from the force for being dirty.

 

[Gurtholfin]

Re: TV 10: Blacklisted Sons: The Musical

Decided to check out The Shield as many have cited it as being good.

Three eps in and liking it a bunch.

 

[dxmnkd316]

Re: TV 10: Blacklisted Sons: The Musical

One of my favorite shows of all time.

Also, Gotham has easily made it into my rotation. Very good.