Arrow S05 E01: Legacy

At the end of the last season of "Arrow," it was truly an ending. Oliver and Felicity were no longer a couple. The Black Canary was dead. Thea had given up her semi-heroic life. John too needed a break from Team Arrow, effectively leaving there no Team Arrow. And Oliver had taken on the duties of mayor of Star City.

We open on the mayor being late to a function, and Thea making excuses for her brother's tardiness. He out on the street in Green Arrow gear fighting the still free Anarky from detonating a bomb. He's also got a puppy dog tag along in a hockey mask trying to help. Green Arrow doesn't want his help, and nails him in the leg with an arrow.

The helper is Wild Dog, or at least the prototype television version of Wild Dog. Back in the 1980s when comics were changing (I won't say for better or worse), and things like Watchmen and Dark Knight Returns were hot, people were experimenting with new types of comics and heroes, and Wild Dog, created by Max Allan Collins and Terry Beatty, was one of them.

Wild Dog was really Jack Wheeler, whose rich girlfriend was killed by the mob. Inheriting her fortune, this former Marie went all Batman/Punisher to get back at the mob wearing a hockey mask and sporting automatic weapons. He was extremely violent and the stories, in his own limited series and the much-missed Action Comics Weekly, were grounded in reality.

As the episode gets rolling, Felicity is reviewing potential recruits for Team Arrow seeing as they are so short handed. Wild Dog is among them, as is Evelyn Sharp (who masqueraded as Black Canary last season), and 'Mr. Ski-Goggles' (Felicity is no Cisco Ramon when it comes to codenames). That last one's police sketch bears a striking resemblance to the 1980s version of the Vigilante.

Oliver doesn't want to train a new team. That's s shame, because there's a new big bad in town, Tobias Church, someone new, without a name or background in the source material comics. He makes the gangs and the corrupt police department look like amateurs. On the episode, police mention that Church and his crew tore through Hub City and Bludhaven, respectively the home bases of the Question and Nightwing.

Church is played with grace and menace by Chad L. Coleman, Tyreese from "The Walking Dead," but a far cry from that character. His real acting chops come from his role as Cutty on HBO's "The Wire." This dude is as good as his character is evil. Church has earned the name Charon in, pardon the pun, underworld circles because of the gold coins he leaves on his victim's eyes.

Star City dedicates a statue, on the waterfront of all places, to Laurel Lance the Black Canary. Not only does this lure alcoholic and Donna-less Quentin Lance out into the open, but also Church and his crew trying to bait a trap for Green Arrow... with a rather feisty mayor who can defend himself too well. As Oliver puts up his hands and surrenders, I had a flashback of the 1966 "Batman" when Bruce Wayne is kidnapped and the villains wonder aloud, "No millionaire playboy fights that well."

Also, who caught the license plate of the faux S.W.A.T. getaway truck? What state is the "Land of Mist"? Most fictional cities' locations in the DC Universe are set in stone but Star City has always been a point of contention. Most reports put it on the Pacific coast in Northern California, but there is some argument for a Great Lakes location. Depictions in this series alone have placed it both on the west coast and Iowa. So what state is the Land of Mist?

Flashback Island this season will apparently be Russia, cataloging Oliver's time with Bratva, and his quest for revenge against Kovar, the warlord who terrorized Taiana's people, and may or not be Starfire/Red Star. After a misunderstanding in a Russian fight club, we are reintroduced to Anatoly Knyazev, AKA the KGBeast, who was Oliver's cell mate on Ivo's Amazo ship.

Explaining his mission to the Russian, Anatoly warns Oliver off, as Kovar has an army. To fight Kovar, Oliver must become Bratva. Anatoly has advice however, relevant in flashback and present day - "The shark that does not swim, drowns." Forget promises to the dead and move forward.

When Thea dons the Speedy costume one last time to save Oliver, we got that same bugaboo that I think all of us thought was finally in the past. It's been four seasons, sheesh. To kill or not kill. Do it or not, Oliver makes it pretty easy in the flashbacks, why is he so bugged now? Either way, Thea is out, and Felicity is back to her push for a new Team Arrow. With Anatoly's advice in his head, Oliver gets his head right.

There's a confrontation with Church's forces that include Coleman doing a Nagan imitation with a baseball bat, and later Heath Ledger as the Joker by uniting the gangs against our hero. Notably, Church takes out yet another member of the Bertinelli crime family.

We had a couple last minute stingers but first there was a ham-fisted attempt to give Curtis (finally) a reason to want to join the new team. First, it looks like it might be possible that Felicity's new love interest could be either Wild Dog or Vigilante. And then there's the costumed killer that attacks one of Star City's few good cops. Looks a little like the Dark Archer, but my bet's on Ragman. Or could this be Prometheus? Time will tell...

For my other reviews of the entire "Arrow" series, click here. And if you'd like to discuss this episode and anything else in the Arrowverse, please join the Arrow Discussion Group on Facebook.

Next: The Recruits!

Jessica Jones S01 E02: AKA Crush Syndrome

If you're a listener to The GAR! Podcast, you know we talk about "Breaking Bad" a lot, and in the past when it has come up in conjunction with the then-upcoming "Jessica Jones" Netflix series, I have always had one roadblock. Who the hell was/is Krysten Ritter? I get beaten up every time, most recently right here.

I'm sorry, but some folks may have thought Ms. Ritter was amazing as Jesse Pinkman's girlfriend Jane Margolis in her nine episodes of "Breaking Bad," but she never left an impression on me. It's only when I have to be reminded of her role that I remember her, that I recall her, in my opinion, lackluster performance. Ritter in "Breaking Bad," to me, was very similar to her scenes with Mike Colter in the first episode of "Jessica Jones" - a cold fish hardly trying but surrounded by otherwise brilliance.

Don't get me wrong. Krysten Ritter's voiceover and solo bits as Jessica are brilliance, the same with her interacting with the other actors and characters. But. The one relationship that is the single most important to the character of Jessica Jones, the one with Mike Colter's Luke Cage, is the one that last episode I just did not believe. Sorry. It doesn't get much better this time around.

I hope this changes with this series. It should be noted that I am reviewing this Netflix series the same way I did with "Daredevil" - one episode at a time, as I watch it. So all you folks who consumed this entire thing in a mad binge watch, chill with the spoilers, because if I get something wrong or am misguided - I probably just haven't gotten there yet. Be patient.

We open on Jessica doing the right thing. Last time she had fallen into The Purple Man's trap for her, and allowed his will to make Midwest girl Hope kill her own parents. Instead of running, Jessica's first instinct, she takes the heroic turn - inspired by her friend Trish - and stays to deal with the authorities. Here at the police station, in mock interrogation, Ritter continues her cool modern day noir character.

The cop asking the questions, Oscar 'Ozzy' Clemons (Punisher supporter cast if memory serves), is played by one of my all time favorite actors - Clarke Peters, who was probably one of the single best things about both "Treme" and "The Wire," not just two of best shows HBO has ever produced, but also on television, period. Clemons is very close to his character on "The Wire." It's a small part, but Peters' inclusion here is a gigantic plus.

If "AKA Ladies Night" was meant as a tour through a day in the life of Jessica Jones, this episode continues that trend, further exploring the people and tactics in her life. We learn more about her relationship with Trish, we see her check in with Jeri, with Hope, and with Luke. We even meet her upstairs neighbors, bizarre fraternal twins who would make great 21st century additions to the tenants of 1970s horrors Rosemary's Baby and The Sentinel.

We also see what makes Jessica a great detective. We see her at work, we see her methods. The show is still pumping that film noir vibe hard, but I can't but imagine a watered down version of Jessica fitting in well with folks like Jim Rockford, Sam McCloud, and Columbo, just as much as Philip Marlowe and Sam Spade. I like this, she's not just physical, but a thinking detective.

Speaking of physical however, one of the highlights of the episode has Jessica 'saving' Luke from a rugby team, not that Power Man needs saving. There is a certain harmony that she calls "teamwork" while they're fighting the jealous husbands club. Perhaps the chemistry works better when they don't talk. Important about the scene is that he sees that she's stronger than a normal woman, and she sees his effortless strength and unexplainably tough skin. They're peas in a super power pod, kindred souls.

There is also the horror that is Kilgrave. In Jessica's investigation we learn that he did not die by getting hit by a bus a year ago. In some medical stuff just a bit too close to home for me, we learn where this episode got its title and how Kilgrave lost the function of both kidneys, and then mind-controlled his way into two new kidneys. As one who knows the path, it is indeed gruesome.

David Tennant also makes his presence known by appropriating a stranger's home for his own. We still haven't seen him face the camera, but he is intimidating and powerful just off screen. Like the neon purple flashes that send Jessica into PTSD, it's more what we don't see than what we do. Speaking of what we don't see, is Trish already Hellcat, or just possibly training for it? Patsy fans want to know!

The episode was written by Micah Schraft who worked for the CW on shows like "Jane the Virgin" and "The Tomorrow People," notably neither of their hit superhero shows, "Arrow" and "The Flash." He might think of making that jump based on this episode.

More, please.

Daredevil S01 E08: Shadows in the Glass

After a brief interlude with Stick and the seeming world of powers last time, episode eight welcomes us back to reality with the Kingpin. In a beautifully crafted sequence written by executive producer Steven S. DeKnight and directed by Stephen Surjik, the latter known for his work on "Burn Notice" and "Person of Interest," we watch Vincent D'Onofrio's Wilson Fisk in his morning routine. He awakens to the painting purchased in "Rabbit in a Snowstorm," makes breakfast, gets dressed, but still sees himself as an abused child in the mirror. No dialogue, but wonderfully shot, and so telling of his character, without a word spoken. I'll say it again. Beautiful.

We are introduced to young Wilson Fisk's New York via a wonderful sound-sculpture by the Rolling Stones' "Brown Sugar." I felt the time and the place. We meet the boy's family and see how he lived. Fisk's father, a failed politician, is played by "The Wire" veteran Domenick Lombardozzi, and there is another mention of Don Rigoletto, the Mafia boss who was replaced as a power broker by the Kingpin. In the comics, young Fisk was his bodyguard and eventually killed him. At some point in this series, someone, I forget who, remarks that Rigoletto retired, in pieces. The flashbacks to Fisk's past are a rich tapestry of old New York, and a tribute to DeKnight's filmmaking skills.

In the present as Matt is brought into Foggy and Karen fight against Union, Fisk is having difficulty controlling Nobu and The Hand. If we're all being honest here, since he started romancing Vanessa, Fisk has been having trouble keeping all of his legion of doom under control. This is a weak alliance at best, only held together by a strong leader. James Wesley wonders why Fisk even needs the Japanese after last episode. The casualness between Fisk and Wesley here is warm, unexpected, and disconcerting. What is their real relationship? Is it more than business?

The villains are on the move in this secret origin of the Kingpin episode. Madame Gao comes to Fisk with a warning about keeping control. The villains are restless, but who is she? Just a guess, but could she be some Iron Fist adversary that will carry to his series later next year? As long as we're speculating about the villains, I'm going to throw this out there. Perhaps Bob Gunton's Leland Owlsley is not the Owl as I have suggested. He keeps talking about his son, also named Leland. If he keeps acting the way he's acting, perhaps old Leland won't make it out of this alive, and young Leland returns for revenge, as The Owl.

Speaking of villains, we run across one (or one and a half) classic Daredevil foes from the hero's rogues gallery. Henching for Fisk, Melvin Potter has also created body armor for his boss, but as he fights Daredevil we get to see his wonderful workshop that includes not only the Gladiator armor, but the Stilt-Man suit as well. Comics fans know that Potter is the villain called Gladiator, a particularly nasty baddie with circular saw blades on his wrists, but in his civilian identity, a mild and special soul. I am psyched, hoping to see both of these villains before the series is out.

Like Skylar Gaertner as young Matt in the last episode, Cole Jenson as young Wilson Fisk is an amazing actor. He is the embodiment and verbalization of everything Vincent D'Onofrio demonstrates with gesture, facial expression, and silence. Truly a case of an inner child, and that is what the actor's portrayal has been all about. And now we know what the painting is all about. The wall of punishment, and we see what happened to Daddy Fisk. It's not pretty, it's not happy, but maybe, it's just. Now we'll have to see the rest of the story, how momma's boy became violent man-child.

There is an interesting parallel struck between the childhoods of Matt Murdock and Wilson Fisk. Both men have violent fathers who have lasting effects on them as adults, but it's the way the violence is channeled and the lessons taught and learned that separate them. Still, in many ways, at least on the surface and in the big picture, they are the same. They both think they want to save the city, they both think they have to do it to redeem something their fathers failed at, and they are both very violent men.

Back in the present, Vanessa comes and is his support, his inspiration and his motivation. She becomes the mother to D'Onofrio's childlike Kingpin, and guides him to do what he needs to do - reveal himself, and go public... before Daredevil does. Our hero goes to Ben Urich too late. Yes, he's made an ally, but he's far too late. Daredevil has hit his own wall.

So many folks, following along with me as I review these episodes one at a time as I watch them, have pointed out "Stick" as their favorite of the bunch. I am going to have to buck the majority. "Shadows in the Glass," more the Kingpin's secret origin, is my favorite so far.

Cooley High

On the surface, Cooley High is chiefly remembered as the 'black American Graffiti' or the loose basis for the TV series "What's Happening!!," but it was far more than that. Set in 1964 in Chicago's infamous Cabrini-Green, Cooley High was a realistic, sometimes brutal, slice of life about growing up in those projects, but through all that it was also funny, poignant, and hopeful.

The film was written by Eric Monte who had grown up in Cabrini-Green and like Preach's character, had always wanted to be a writer. He moved to LA and hooked up with Mike Evans, then playing Lionel Jefferson on "All in the Family." Evans encouraged Monte to write leading to scripting jobs. Together, Evans and Monte would go on to develop both "The Jeffersons" and "Good Times," with the latter TV family actually living in Cabrini-Green.

Television proved too controlled and sanitized for Eric Monte however, so after recording hours of his growing up experiences in Chicago on tape, he wrote the screenplay to Cooley High. Glynn Turman, the fantastic actor from "The Wire," and currently "House of Lies," played the sixteen year old Preach at twenty-seven, and his best friend Cochise was portrayed by Lawrence Hilton-Jacobs, best known as Washington on "Welcome Back Kotter." Pre-SNL Garrett Morris played a teacher, but predominantly the rest of the cast was residents of Cabrini-Green where Cooley High was filmed.

That boost of reality from the people and locations of Chicago brought the childhood of Eric Monte alive. The cast was having fun, and living the story on screen. Nothing beats the zoo scene with the gorilla throwing feces, mostly because it was unscripted and really happened. And as a kaiju eiga fan, I absolutely love the sequence in the movie theater where Godzilla Vs. The Thing is playing. It is a perfect blending of action in the theater and on the screen.

Cooley High with its comedy, tragedy, good times and bad was set to a sixties Motown soundtrack, some of the best music ever made. Unlike the somewhat comparable American Graffiti, these songs are still relevant and have meaning, resonance. Amazing soundtrack. It's real, and that's what sets Cooley High apart, this isn't just a coming of age story - this is Eric Monte's coming of age story, his life, his real world.

ABC adapted the film to a pilot that audiences did not love, so later they retooled it with new characters to become "What's Happening!!" with lead character Raj bearing only the slightest resemblance to Preach. Later Eric Monte would sue for more money

regarding his various contributions to television, after which he was pretty much blacklisted from the industry. Bouts with drugs, bankruptcy, and homelessness have not made his life easy since.

Cooley High remains a classic, not just of black cinema, but cinema period. Definitely worth watching, must see, if you haven't already.

Daredevil S01 E03: Rabbit in a Snowstorm

Turk Barrett, or just plain Turk, is not just a fixture in the Daredevil mythos, but also in Marvel Comics New York. He is the underworld everyman, every bad guy default henchman, the street tough with connections - but who ultimately posed no threat. He's worked for the Kingpin, the original Fixer, and Mister Fear among others, stolen and worn super-villain armors, and fought the likes of Iron Man, the Punisher, the Black Panther, Night Thrasher, and Daredevil.

My first exposure to the character was in the first Marvel Super Heroes role-playing game from TSR back in the eighties. The game did not have metal figures to place on combat maps like many RPGs of the time, instead there were cardboard fold-ups. There were well over one hundred of them, depicting the major super heroes and super-villains of the Marvel Universe, and Turk was one of them. Yeah, apparently he was that important.

The first time we see Daredevil in action in episode one, "Into the Ring," Turk is there, as a matter of fact, he's the guy taking the biggest beating. Here, as in the comics, 'crime does not pay' is a saying that Turk never remembers. At the end of that episode, we see him getting a second chance selling guns, and that's where we find him here, selling his guns. One of them falls into the hands of an assassin set to throw the Russians into chaos.

There are lots of connections in this episode, and Turk is really the least of them. Matt takes a moment to talk to the priest from the first episode outside the St. Agnes church. His name is Father Lantom, who has appeared in the Runaways comic, and the church is the same one where Skye was found as a child in "Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D." It is all connected.

Also more important than Turk, or Lantom or St. Agnes, is the first appearance of reporter Ben Urich. The character has switched races, much like Heimdall in Thor, and also switched allegiances of his profession. Because of the whole Marvel/Sony/Spider-Man thing, Urich can't actually work for the Daily Bugle here on "Daredevil," but has to write for the New York Bulletin instead. That's okay though, that's easier to deal with than Ant-Man and the Wasp not being in the Avengers at least…

Vondie Curtis-Hall is no Joe Pantliano (from the Dardevil movie) in the role of Urich, but he is a pro, a great character actor that folks most likely know from "Chicago Hope." His wife is the brilliant Kasi Lemmons, the director of The Caveman's Valentine, Talk to Me, and one of my absolute favorite films, Eve's Bayou. His portrayal lends a very cool and very real vibe to the show that reminded me in a good way to "The Wire." Yes, I said it, "The Wire."

In the comics, Ben Urich works frequently with Daredevil, Spider-Man, and the Punisher, and his investigations have exposed the identities of several heroes and villains, Daredevil and The Kingpin among them. Vondie Curtis-Hall kicks up the quality of this character, and I'm looking forward to more of him in this series. I feel for him, and his ailing wife. My heart breaks as a writer knowing that his wife's hospital care are definitely aiding his decision between his passion for journalism and keeping his job. Writers need to follow their bliss, to quote Joseph Campbell, but Urich is chained by his hard reality.

Much of the episode revolves around Wesley hiring Nelson and Murdock after an assassin murders Prohaska in a bowling alley with one of Turk's guns. It's a test. Let's see what they're made of, what they can do, if they are dangerous - it's what the big bad is thinking. Maybe we'll need a lawyer sooner or later. Karen is shuffled off to a subplot where she's asked to sign off on not talking about what Union Allied tried to do but can't. There's more to this, and her, than meets the eye.

There is a very nice juicy scene between Wesley and Leland Owsley. I can see the beginnings of The Owl here, his mannerisms, etc. This could be very very good if they go in that direction. With a second season just announced, would they use The Owl as a baddie, or go right to Elektra? I suppose it's sadly unlikely. The Owl became a forgotten character, as opposed to daredevil arch-foe when Frank Miller, Kingpin, Elektra, and Bullseye all took center stage. We Silver Age Marvel Comics readers can dream though, can't we?

There is great use of Matt's powers while trailing Wesley and in the courtroom later. There's precious little fighting or even Daredevil in this episode, but everything else is so good one doesn't notice. That said, I hope that what we have seen the past two episodes - the "Kung Fu" move of only having action in the last five minutes - will not become the pattern.

Speaking of endings, we not only finally get a name for our big bad, Wilson Fisk, but we see Vincent D'Onofrio's Kingpin as well. We see him admiring a stark white painting, where we get the title of this episode, and beginning his romance with a woman, who in the comics will become his wife. D'Onofrio's Fisk is childlike, with a sense of menace, frightening indeed. I think I am going to dig him very much...

Bosch

I never would have believed it when I first got my Kindle Fire, but it's true. Amazon Prime has been a wonderful source of quality entertainment. Amazon, like Netflix, is producing some amazing television. One of these is "Bosch."

Based on the Harry Bosch book series by Michael Connelly about a homicide detective in Los Angeles, this Amazon TV series is overseen by both Connelly and one of the folks behind one of the best shows ever done for television - "The Wire" - Eric Overmyer. I've never read any of the Bosch novels (but now I will), but with just Overmyer's name I was sold on this.

The story is pulled from several of Connelly's Bosch books and is very rough and slick at once, a police procedural that doesn't feel like a police procedural. It has qualities of both the aforementioned "Wire" and HBO's "True Detective." Yeah, it's that good, and folks who know me know that I do not heap praise like that lightly.

Titus Welliver, a character actor perhaps best known for playing the Man in Black on "Lost," brings Harry Bosch to life in the first season, which pulls storylines from three different novels. Welliver is surrounded by an excellent ensemble cast in this series more focused on storytelling than the characters. I dug this a lot, and cannot wait for the second season. Check it out.

Boardwalk Empire

HBO does it again. Do they ever make programming that is not the best out there? No, and how can someone not like a television series that film god Martin Scorsese has his hands in? He actually directed the pilot episode, the one that got this series renewed after only one airing, if that tells you anything about its quality. It was fabulous. For me, Scorsese working on the small screen is the equivalent of Leonardo da Vinci doing a comic book - lower rent yes, but the hand of a genius on a format smaller than their mind - a spectacular effect.

"Boardwalk Empire" takes place in 1920 Atlantic City and follows the exploits of Nucky Thompson as played by Steve Buscemi. Again, Buscemi is someone suited for the big screen and therefore rules the small one. It is good to see him finally in a role that matches his abilities. His character is based loosely (or closely, depending on your perspective) of Nucky Johnson who was treasurer of Atlantic City of the time, a famously generous and equally infamously corrupt personage whose work behind the scenes has become legend.

While Nucky's name is altered to protect both the innocent and the guilty, there are other real life folks floating around "Boardwalk Empire." Stephen Graham's Al Capone and certainly Vincent Piazza as Lucky Luciano are notable for their appearances here, but the real real life tour de force is Michael K. Williams as African-American gangster Chalky White. You might remember him from his role as Omar in "The Wire."

And speaking of fantastic performances, serious props go to Kelly MacDonald, Gretchen Mol and especially to Michael Pitt as Jimmy. The latter is the real star here in my opinion, and will walk from here to much bigger and better things, if that's possible. And Michael Shannon is particularly scary as the IRS agent pursuing Thompson.

Final word, this is damn good television, right up there with other HBO alum like "The Sopranos" and the aforementioned "The Wire" as well as stuff like "Mad Men" and "Dexter." "Boardwalk Empire" is do-not-miss television.

Best of 2008: Television

Yep, it's that time of year again, time for everyone and their mother to pick what they thought was the best of the past year. I'm no different, so yes, I'm going to make you suffer through my thoughts. This time, it's television.

For me the top ten TV series of 2008 were:

"Pushing Daisies" - While canceled, and unlikely to return as anything but reruns or DVD, this was a bright spot for me on the TV schedule. It was thoughtful, innovative and brilliant, and that's not even going into the unique cinematic or storytelling techniques it used.

"Eli Stone" - Another unique show and cancellation victim. ABC canned both of them after giving them a second chance this season. I guess ABC has not only a bone to pick with fantasy, but also television that makes you think.

"True Blood" - Unique marketing set this HBO series apart from any other vampire series before it even hit the air with the "BloodCopy" viral marketing ploy. This TV adaptation of Charlaine Harris' Sookie Stackhouse series is the surprise hit of the year.

"Dexter" - In its third season this Showtime series about a serial killer who hunts other serial killers continues to amaze. Even when it's weak, it is better than 90% of everything else out ther on the tube.

"ER" - This old favorite, now in its supposedly final season, has bounced back and become its best season in years with guest stars galore and maintaining its balance of believable characters and intense situations. I don't want it to go.

"The Wire" - And I didn't want this one to go either, but what's done is done. I came late to the party here and caught up on DVD, but I have to say that "The Wire" is probably one of the best series that has beeen made for television, period.
"Parking Wars" - This reality series from A&E follows the employees of the dreaded Philadelphia Parking Authority around during their workday. It's the only reality show of its type that even comes close to the entertainment value of "Cops."

The bottom five of my top ten are rounded out by Cartoon Network's "Brave and the Bold" and "Venture Bros.," the BBC's fourth season of "Doctor Who," the still refreshing "Chuck," and FX's much-missed and unfortunately canceled "Dirt."

In the honorable mentions and etcetera department would be "Smallville" and "South Park" as most improved series, and BET's "Black Panther" and the CW's "Reaper" as the most looked forward to series in 2009.

On the bad side, boos and hisses for "Heroes" and Everybody Hates Chris" for dying a slow death in 2008, and the worst show I've seen this year would, of course, be the American version of "Kath and Kim."

See You Next Tuesday... In Therapy

While I've been waiting for Netflix to finally send me the first season of "The Wire" so I can catch up with the rest of the world on that flurry of excitement - I've been watching HBO's other hot but somehow overlooked show, "In Treatment."

Airing weeknights and based on an Israeli TV series, it's quite an experiment in television. Monday through Thursday we see different patients' sessions with their therapist played by Gabriel Byrne, who occasionally and sexily lets his Irish accent out to play with a effortless growl. And then on Friday, we get to see his own session with his unofficial therapist played by the ever-squinting Dianne Weist. My own personal dislike for her aside, she's quite good in this.

The real acting however occurs on Tuesday evenings when Blair Underwood portrays patient Alex (seen above). This possibly gay fighter pilot who accidentally murdered children in a school in Iraq is a powerful character, more compelling than any other I've seen on TV lately. Underwood and Byrne together on Tuesday nights is an acting tour de force. The other nights are good, but Tuesdays will be the ones up for Emmys this year. "In Treatment" is must-not-miss television.