Fargo S02 E02: Before the Law

                                                        

I’ve already told you my opinion of Fargo and why I think it’s one of the best dramas on television. I’m going to watch this show and do short reviews for all my friends. Enjoy!

Wives

We pick up where we left off on the end of episode one. Poor Ed Blumquist is so in love with his pretty wife that he’s even willing to go against his own conscience and civic duty: don’t call the cops; don’t let anyone know how the car got damaged; clean up the blood; get rid of the body.        

We don’t know much about their marriage except that Ed wasn’t getting any loving between the sheets and, if he did, it was only when he begged for it. Peggy looks like a girl who is comfortable telling lies. She tells Ed, she hit a deer when he heard movement in the garage. She stole toilet paper from her boss. Those lies are going to trip her up. Peggy may think she has everything under control, but she’s out of her league with Mama Gerhardt.                               

Floyd Gerhardt is a smart woman, certainly smarter than the three boys she gave birth to. She is very involved with her husband’s business and I’m guessing she knows the location of several bodies. She’s tough. With hubby out of commission because of a stroke, Floyd has to keep on top of things and that means speaking to her business associates and the Kansas City Mafia who wants to take over.                                        

Her son, Dodd, has no respect for women. He should move to Iran.  He has a bad temper and even disrespects his 19-year-old daughter, saying she’s too young to learn the family business. Floyd, bless her heart, reminds Dodd that girls grow up to be women who change little boys’ diapers. The meaning is not lost on Dodd.

Kansas City Mafia

Mike Milligan and the Kitchen brothers have to be both one of the funniest and scariest killers I’ve ever seen on the screen. Mike (Bokeem Woodbine) is a smooth talking young man, but his smooth tongue only softens the intended threats.
                                                           

 
Maybe, it’s the way Mike smiles as he’s handing out options that show just how dangerous this man is. His encounter with Sheriff Larson is outright scary, but luckily Larson understands what the smile means. I love Mike’s Afro hairstyle and disco clothing. The Kitchen brothers, who are obviously twins, never speak. They don’t have to. They’re busy scaring you to death with their silence and big guns.

Conclusion

While Ed puts his butchering skills to work making Rye-burger-meat, Lou stops at the Waffle Hut with his cancer-stricken wife, Betsy and little Molly, who is already proving to be a good observer. She finds a balloon that leads to mom finding Rye’s gun; the gun that killed the people at the Waffle Hut.          

The gun has Rye’s prints on it. Now, we have three separate teams looking for Rye. Lou and Hank the story’s protagonists are like sitting ducks in a pond filled with sharks, but they are smart law men who take their time putting the clues together.

This show, even with the gore and horror of dealing with gangsters, is easy on the mind. The scenery is a stunning contrast to the blood that drips on the floor of the butcher shop as Ed, his mind numb and probably regretting his choice of life partner, grinds Rye into the industrial size meat grinder. What I’m especially enjoying about this season is the use of the split-screen that shows what each character is doing at that same moment.

Loving Fargo on FX

                                                        

Unlike the big disappointment I had with HBO's True Detective’s second season, Fargo’s second season  on FX hit the ground, running leaving us breathless and in shock. I had the opportunity to watch the first three episodes on Halloween and I’m so happy that I did. On Fargo, we have our bad guys, the good guys and, a few good people who do dumb-ass stuff that makes them just as scary as the bad guys. The acting and script are superb, which makes it such a pleasure to return to good ole Fargo, North Dakota.
                                              

Waiting for Dutch S02 E01

The show opens with a snippet of film called Massacre at Sioux Falls. There are bodies everywhere; those of soldiers and Native Americans alike. Then we jump to a scene of Jimmy Carter speaking on television. It’s 1979 and there is a gas shortage. The Gerhardt family is North Dakota’s version of the Sopranos led by Otto (Michael Hogan), his wife Floyd (Jean Smart) and their three sons, Dodd (Jeffrey Donavan), Bear (Angus Sampson) and Rye (Kieran Culkin). People are afraid of this family and rightly so. They are cold-blooded killers who control trucking distribution for the entire Northern Midwest and, they fear no one, not even the law.

                                                           

 

We also have our good guys Officers Hank Larsson (Ted Danson) and Lou Solverson (Patrick Wilson) who eventually have to tangle with this crime family when the youngest son gets in trouble. There is one character that carries over from season one and that is Lou Solverson, who in season one played the diner-owning father of Deputy Molly Solverson, originally played by Keith Carradine. In this prequel, Patrick Wilson is playing the younger version of Lou when he was a Minnesota State Trooper who recently returned home from the war in Vietnam.
 

Rye, the youngest of the Gerhardt sons, wants a little more power than he’s given by his brother Dodd but that’s not going to happen anytime soon, especially because Rye owes Dodd money. A trip to Watson’s typewriter store promises some income with a newer self-correcting typewriter, but owner Skip (Mike Bradecich) needs a judge to forgive his case on back taxes in order to get the funding to purchase the stock. If Rye can accomplish changing the judge’s opinion, then he can get the money Skip owes him to pay Dodd. It’s the ultimate shell game.
                                                 

     

When Rye’s plans to talk to the lady judge go very, very wrong (I mean who carry’s bug spray in their purse?) Rye gets into a shootout. Now, this is why Fargo rocks! Once outside the diner, Rye is distracted by a UFO causing him to be hit by a car driven by Peggy Blumquist (Kristin Dunst). Does she stop? Does she call the police or an ambulance? No! She drives home with Rye stuck in her windshield.
                                                         

 

When her husband, Ed (Jesse Plemons) comes home from his job at Bud’s Meat Shop in Luverne, he’s wondering what the racket is in the garage. Peggy lies and says she hit a deer. Surprise! Rye is alive; badly injured, but alive. In an act of self-defense from a knife wielding Rye, Ed is forced to kill Rye.
                                                       

The fact that Peggy calmly drove home and made dinner gives a hint to her character. She’s the most dangerous kind of narcissist and we know from the get go that poor Ed is going to suffer.
 

Conclusion

Fargo did what True Detective didn’t do in their second season. It kept the formula the same. Why change what doesn’t need fixing. With the Coen brothers, Ethan and Joe at the helm and, Noah Hawley as the writer/executive producer/showrunner, Fargo remains an award-winning series.

                                                              

What Peggy doesn’t know is that Otto has had a stroke and the Kansas City Mafia is coming to town to take over the Gerhardt operation by force. The Gerhardt’s are going to be looking for their youngest and so will the police who investigate the diner killings.
                                                     

Her husband has Rye in the freezer for now, but they’ll have to get rid of the body and soon. The ground is frozen solid, so burying the evidence is out of the question. Oh, did I mention that Ed is a butcher?
                                               

The show comes on every Monday at 10 p.m. on FX. Watch it!

Guest Blogger Kathryn Gilbert & Her Introduction to Dr. Who

                                                          

 

 

My granddaughter Kathryn Gilbert has been my guest blogger several times over the past few months, here and here. When she was out to visit us from Wyoming, we discovered we had the same likes and dislikes. Dr. Who is one of our shared “Likes” Kathryn is sort of new to the world of Dr. Who, but it won’t be long before she’s a full-fledged Whovian. I would love to introduce her to Biff Bam Pop’s very own Whovian Expert, Glenn Walker.

 

Take it away, Kathryn!   

 

                                                                 

 

My FIRST Doctor Who post! *Spoilers*

 

I finished David Tennant's last episode less than five minutes ago. I think it's safe to say I'm a wreck. But I could think of no better time to write a blog post about Doctor Who than right now. So here I am!

                                                                

Backstory: I have two Whovian friends that I have been close to for a while. One day a few years ago, Friend #1, Katie, invited me to hang out at her place for a while. After a bit we got bored with the video games, and she said, "Dude, you HAVE to check out this show called Doctor Who. It's really cool."

Thus I watched the first episode of Doctor Who, starring Christopher Eccleston. At the time I was more focused on the fact that mannequins coming to life were totally weird. I didn't pay much attention to what was going on. Things seemed too fast-paced and random for me to keep up. So after that day, I didn't give the show a second thought.

Enter Friend #2, Rachel. I was over at her house after school one day, and Doctor Who was on TV, starring David Tennant. When I asked what the show was and she told me, I was confused. I thought the Doctor was played by someone else. She began explaining things, then proceeded to drag me back to her room where we ended up watching the first three episodes with Christopher Eccleston as the Doctor.

I still didn't get it.

Long story short: over the course of the past four years, I have slowly been watching more of Doctor Who and learning about the regeneration thing and the weird-but-cool relationships with his companions and whatnot. Any time I hung out with Rachel, we watched Doctor Who.

                                                                 

Then the fateful night came. I was at a sleepover with her and she started playing some episodes before she passed out. I was left alone to really watch the show instead of talking and watching at the same time. I got caught up in the story. The episode I was watching happened to be part one of two. I couldn't just leave it hanging like that, so I let the next one play. I was really intrigued. I watched another episode after that...then fell asleep.

The next morning, Rachel, her mom, and I all gathered around to watch the 50th Anniversary episode. It was awesome. I was becoming more and more interested in this show that EVERYONE was talking about. So finally, when I went home that day, I looked up Doctor Who for Dummies on YouTube, which did a much better job of explaining the show than my two friends, who are well-versed Whovians (and I think have forgotten what it was like before they met the Doctor).

Anyway, after watching that video, I decided to give the show another try, and I started back at the first episode. I got a few episodes in before I reverted back to TMNT. (What can I say? I am Mobian and a Shellhead before anything else!)

And then Rachel told me that a new Doctor was coming on Christmas Day. I thought to myself, "Perfect! I can start watching with the new Doctor and just go from there."

                                                                  

Except if there's one thing I've learned in the past few years, it's that Doctor Who is not a show you can skip around in and still understand everything. One must start from the beginning to fully appreciate the plot and characters.

So when BBC released the trailer for the 12th Doctor, I sat down and told myself, "All right. For real. Watch the show from the beginning so you can get to the new Doctor."

Best decision I ever made. (Well, second-best. Well...third-best. First-best was clicking on the video that introduced me to Sonic. Second-best was clicking on the trailer for the TMNT 2012 series.)

July 2014 I began watching the series from the beginning AGAIN. Only this time, I stayed with it. Peter Capaldi seems like he will be an interesting Doctor, and the only way I will be able to understand things when I watch his episodes is if I watch all the episodes leading up to that. No skipping around for me! I finished Series 1 pretty quickly, then started into Series 2 in August. I just finished Series 4.

My thoughts?

I can't believe I never watched this show before! It's really good! No wonder there are so many Whovians.

Considering that Christopher Eccleston was the Doctor for one season, I don't have much to say about him. I liked his darker personality...I mean, he DID just come away from a massive war as the only survivor. I primarily liked watching his relationship with Rose transform him. I can't say that I cried when he left, since I really didn't get to know him that well, but it was still kind of sad because he was the Doctor that started it all for me.

                                                         

 

Then David Tennant came in. I was curious to see what the big deal about this actor was. Any time someone asked, "Who's your favorite Doctor?" the answer I heard 90% of the time was David Tennant. I just didn't know why. But holy crap, watching his character development and seeing his ongoing storyline and different companions was really cool. I bawled like a baby when he lost Rose...TWICE!! Seriously! Can the poor guy never get a break?

                                                                 

                                                    

Then there was Martha. As I explained to my dad, I really liked her exit. She handled it well and left for a good reason. She didn't die or get sent to a parallel world or have her memories erased...she just decided she'd seen enough. Good for her! I can relate.

Donna was really fun. I liked her a lot, mostly because she was never a love interest. She was strictly a friend, and that's exactly what the Doctor wanted/needed. I did feel terrible when she lost all of those memories, but I didn't cry.

David Tennant's exit from the show was one I was dreading...and honestly, I put it off FOREVER. I just didn't want to say goodbye. But alas, I knew I had to do it eventually, so I finally decided to just rip the band-aid off. I finished his last episode less than an hour ago. I have never bawled so much about anything concerning Doctor Who before. "I don't want to go," was the most heartbreaking thing ever. But it was also bittersweet, because in comes Matt Smith, and he's the actor I always considered to be MY Doctor.

                                                                      

So while I was crying saying goodbye to David, I was also fangirling over Matt's entrance. Here we go again! On to Series 5...Geronimo!

I’m happy to find another Dr. Who fan in the family, and thank you for being my guest, granddaughter.

Gracepoint

                                                        Gracepoint                                                   

Steampunk Granny loves good drama and there is a new show on television and it has my full attention. Gracepoint is a ten episode American series based on the popular UK series Broadchurch. This is crime drama at its best following, True Detective and Major Crimes as my to watch show.

                                                                     

Gracepoint was created and written by Chris Chibnall who is also the brains behind the series, Broadchurch. It stars David Tennant as Detective Emmett Carver and Anna Gunn as Detective Ellie Miller.

The first episode has Det. Miller a bit pissed off over losing a promotion to lead detective to Carver while she was away. These two detectives are good at what they do, but they come to the crime scene with their own baggage of backstories and failures. The animosity between them must be put aside when the body of a young boy is found at the base of a cliff overlooking the ocean.

Was it an accidental death? Forensic investigation points to murder. Will they solve the case? That my friends, will be what holds us glued to our television sets, every Thursday night at 9 on Fox.

                                                                  

Watch the show, and if you can, watch the original series this show was based on, Broadchurch.

Come Back!!!

                                                             

I write reviews for Biff Bam Pop! on movies and books, but mostly, I review T.V. shows like “The Walking Dead”  Orphan Black, Bates Motel, and of course, True Blood. I love True Blood and have read most of the books, and although Alan Ball presented the series much differently than the books, I loved what he did for the show.

                                                                         

                                                                      

Then right before season six began, True Blood fans learned that Alan Ball would not be the show runner, and that someone else would take over. I’m the type of person who gives the new guy a chance to prove themselves; someone with a new perspective. I was wrong.

                                                                      

Every Monday, after the review of the show was posted, I would receive calls from tons of friends and relatives who’ve been following True Blood since its premier on HBO. We would chat or squabble about the events of the night before: what’s with Bill; who the hell is Warlow; what’s with Andy’s faerie daughters; and what a bitch Sarah Newlin is; but I'm partial to bad girls.

                                                                        

We liked the show, but there was something off. We couldn’t put our finger on it, but there was a change. Still, troopers that we are, we remained faithful to the show. That is until the Season six Finale.

                                                                    

WTF! Did the writers all get writer’s block at the same moment? Why did they have Sookie’s grandfather save the day? Why didn’t he save her while she was still in faerie land? What was Eric doing sunbathing in Sweden, instead of warning the vampires around the world of the tainted blood? When he flew away, that’s where we all assumed he was doing. Eric is thousands of years old and I’m pretty sure he would have brought a cloak with him; just in case. But, no! The writers did away with him or at least that’s what it looks like.
                                                                               

 And as far as Alcide and Sookie together; I don’t think so. How did Sam become Mayor? Where is the former Mayor? Protection for blood: yeah right! I don’t think the townsfolk of Bon Temps are that naïve. Zombie vampires heading towards the town was laughable. Leave the zombies to people who really know how to use them. I’m talking “The Walking Dead.”

                                                                  

Okay, I’m done my ranting, but I intend to write a letter to Alan Ball. We need you back at the helm, Alan! Now, Alan, before they start shooting scenes for season seven, and while you’re at it, bring Eric back with you!