Sneaky Pete

This Amazon original starring Giovanni Ribisi is a prime example of how not only has the way we watch television has changed, but so has the way it's made. "Sneaky Pete" has Ribisi doing his best Aaron Paul as a con man in a small town of seeming innocents, and feels like more of a long episodic movie than a series. 

Those who follow my reviews of "The Flash," "Arrow," "Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.," and even the last few seasons of "Doctor Who" know that these days the subplot and overarching story are far more important than any individual episode's A plot. In an age when David Lynch says that "Twin Peaks: The Return" is an eighteen-hour movie and not a TV series, this is pretty much standard operation. 

I found "Sneaky Pete" to be much the same.  The episodes, stories, and performances are compelling, but it was the subplots, the character bits, and the long game where the real meat was.  This was a single day's binge, ten roughly one hour episodes, that's how good this show was. 

The premise revolves around con man Marius, played by Ribisi, who is getting out of prison long before his oversharing and talkative cellmate Pete.  This Pete descriptively paints a warm and receptive picture of a loving family and home he hasn't seen in decades, with a jackpot to be had as well.  So when Marius gets out, needing a place to hide, he steals Pete's identity. 

The reason Marius is on the run? He got himself arrested to escape the wrath of gangster Vince, who wants his money back or he'll kill Marius' brother.  Vince is chillingly played by executive producer Bryan Cranston, using every bit of evil he never fully showed in "Breaking Bad."  If you ever wanted full-on hardcore Heisenberg, here he is. 

The series has been renewed for a second season on Amazon, so catch up while you can, it's well worth it, recommended.

BoJack Horseman

Most Netflix TV series get a lot of publicity like "House of Cards," "Orange Is the New Black," or the recent tragic but wonderful conclusion to AMC's aborted "The Killing," but sometimes there are shows that just slide under the radar that are just as good. "BoJack Horseman" is one of them.

"BoJack Horseman" is an animated Netflix original from some of the same folks who do the Adult Swim programming on the Cartoon Network. It's about a washed up actor, who happens to be a horse, in a world full of both humans and anthropomorphic animals. The title character used to be in a wildly successful 1990s sitcom and is trying to make a comeback while having his memoirs ghost written by a rival's girlfriend.

Speaking of comebacks, it actually does remind me of HBO's brilliant "The Comeback," which is ironically coming back later this year. Aaron Paul of "Breaking Bad" is an executive producer and voices Todd, BoJack's friend/roommate/slacker/squatter. Will Arnett is in the title role, with other characters voiced by Alison Brie, Paul F. Tomkins, and Amy Sedaris.

I know the critics haven't been kind to it so far, but I love it. It's clever and fun, and hates Hollywood. And it does something that most network sitcoms don't do, it makes me laugh out loud. Give "BoJack Horseman" a shot, you might dig it too.

All Bad Things Must Come to an End…

I suppose I would be remiss if I didn't write at least something about the end of "Breaking Bad" last night. I had tried to watch the opening episode when it first aired, and just couldn't get into it. A man running around the desert in his tighty whities? Come on. A couple years later, at the urging of friends and other folks online whose opinions I respect, I tried again. Once I got through that first episode, I was hooked, and from there I stripped the rest of the series, watching the final two seasons as they aired.

The show ended last night, and mighty props go to creator Vince Gilligan and his staff of writers for molding an ending that was precise and complete in tying up loose ends and completing the story begun five seasons ago. Justice is served in an anti-hero kinda way, good and evil balanced, and in a way, the good guys win and the bad guys pay. Brilliance.

Comparatively, it doesn't let the viewers decide as "The Sopranos" did, and it didn't do what "Dexter" did much to the sour reprisal of fans. It's ironic that when "Dexter" ended last week, it was almost at the same point as "Breaking Bad" was last week. Maybe "Dexter" just needed one more episode? In my opinion however, if that last scene with Dexter alive had been cut, that ending would have pleased me. Dexter alive ruins the symmetry. And getting back on subject, symmetry is what "Breaking Bad" was all about.

I was really pleased with the ending. If you want to hear more about the show, my friend and podcast partner Ray Cornwall did a pre-finale episode about "Breaking Bad" last week. You can hear it here.