DAMAGES
- Ellen takes a job at a law firm working for Cruella DeVil and absolutely everybody she meets has a hidden agenda. Murders ensue, some involving bullets.
- Each season is presented with a "current" timeline that is leading up to a certain mystery event; and a series of flash-forwards, which take place after said event, which slowly reveal what happened. Similar to what Lost did in its final season.
- Intentionally puts the focus on its best asset, the cast. There are almost no wide shots here. Glenn Close alone has two Emmy's and a Golden Globe for this show - three out of its five.
- I can't decide if the first season is actually the best one, or if I'm just not as impressed by more of the same show. These days I'm late into the third season and I tend to watch it while playing PC games.
- After the first season: Ted Danson remains present but isn't a main player; Tim Olyphant shows up as
RaylanWes for a season; Tate Donovan (Argo) becomes one of my new favorite actors; and William Hurt does his best William Hurt impression - and it's all great.
TORCHWOOD
Season 4 "Miracle Day"
- Like Firefly, this is really good sci-fi that can be enjoyed by people who aren't into sci-fi - no aliens this time.
- Pretty much a mini-series; you can skip the other seasons without being too confused. For context there is an animated companion series on Youtube, groaningly titled Web of Lies.
- Great story: Suddenly one day, nobody on Earth can die. A worldwide health crisis ensues, and Torchwood are in Los Angeles to take care of business.
- Fucking fantastic performance by Bill Pullman as a convicted murderer who becomes a celebrity after his botched execution. Lauren Ambrose also stands out - Torchwood's cast has never phoned it in and isn't starting now.
HELL ON WHEELS
- Cullen goes-a workin' on the railroad while secretly rootin' out the bad folk and disposin' of them one at a time. At least that's how it starts off.
- Anson Mount is excellent as revenge-thirsty
Clint EastwoodCullen Bohannan. Was born to play Solid Snake, or by extension Snake Plissken. Or maybe vice-versa. - Colm Meaney hides his accent well enough, but like Brendan Gleeson or Gabriel Byrne, he's so Irish that it's hard to buy.
- Slow-burn, character-driven drama. Sometimes it feels like it's all just Cullen and Common staring at each other. Then something happens to keep you in it...and then it gets slow again.
- Like Deadwood but with more glaring and snarling, and fewer bullets. The pace picks up in season 2, or so I've heard.
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