SHAMELESS (USA) Welcome to the madness!

January, 2011 - present

3 seasons

36 episodes

The latest series that I’m hooked on is the US remake of Shameless. I discovered it because of a friend and when I started watching it I wished I’d discovered it earlier.

It’s a remake of the original English TV Series of the same name. The original Shameless had 11 seasons and it was aired from 2004 until its end this year (2013).

Shameless is about a dysfunctional family. There are 6 children, their mother left them two years ago and their father is always drunk at the bar. He doesn’t want to get a job and tries to get money from cheating the insurance companies or the social services (money that he spends at the bar, of course). The children are brought up by the oldest sister, Fiona, who is 21 years old and struggles to survive by taking any kind of temporary jobs. 

It could seem a very dramatic series, but it isn’t. Despite showing the extreme side of society and how hard their life is, the situations are exaggerated and taken very far, so you are nearly watching a comedy. Every character is crazy on this show, and every episode is a surprise where things go really really mad... you can’t even believe how far they can go!!

The main cast is formed by William H. Macy in the role of Frank Gallagher (the drunk father); Emmy Rossum as Fiona Gallagher (the oldest sister); Justin Chatwin as Steve (Fiona’s boyfriend) and playing the children: Jeremy Allen White, Cameron Monaghan, Emma Rose Kenney, Ethan Cutkosky and Brennan Kane Johnson. 

I’m surprised by all the cast because it’s not easy to play that kind of role. The children are really good and I’m always amazed that young children can act that well. My favorite character, however, is a supporting one: Joan Cusack is amazing in the role of Sheila Jackson, a woman who suffers from agoraphobia... She’s simply hilarious! And my second choice is Emmy Rossum as Fiona, I can’t help loving her character.

I also made a nice discovery. Emmy Rossum, apart from acting, is an excellent singer. I suggest you listen to her album “Sentimental Journey”, it’s very good!.

Some people said to me that they aren’t watching this show because they heard there are lots of sex scenes. I told them not to listen to that. Yes, it’s true, sex is very present, but it’s there in a way that doesn’t bother me at all. It’s not the main theme, it’s part of the madness!.

I’m currently watching the second season and I’m enjoying it a lot. They’re filming the fourth season at the moment, so I’m happy that I still have Shameless for a while!

Here is a video for you to check it out:

Follow this link if you can't watch the video correctly: http://bit.ly/1gCBos0

BREAKING BAD is done

January, 2008 -  September, 2013

5 Seasons

62 episodes

I’ve already written a post about Breaking Bad but, after its forever-ending, I think it deserves another post.

I discovered the series late. Even though it started in January 2008 I began watching it in October 2012, so my journey with it has been short (a year) but pretty intense. After its finale I can assure you it’s perhaps the best series by far, and together with Fringe it’s my favorite ever.

What do I think makes it so good?

Story: I think the success of the story comes from its simplicity. Who hasn’t ever dreamed up easy ways to make lots of money? Breaking Bad’s main character (Walter White) not only fantasizes, but he carries it out pushed by his desperate situation: his working conditions are precarious and he’s just been diagnosed with a severe lung cancer... What will happen to his family if he dies? So, as a brilliant chemist, he decides to start cooking methamphetamine, just a little, just temporarily, in order to leave money to his family in case he dies. But when a totally honest, good and hard-working man gets into a foreign world like being a drug producer and seller, things can go really complicated and crazy.

Realism: in my opinion the series is pretty intense and it’s because of its realism. This is fiction, but it’s something that could happen and it’s really believable. Every decision has its consequence and its emotional impact and this is shown in the series in a clear and palpable way. You can easily feel what the characters are feeling and absorb their emotions empathically. This ingredient is perhaps the one that gives most tension to the story.

Twist and turns: in this series nothing ends up as you would expect. You’ll be theorizing about what happens next, but things will always lead to the most unexpected situations. They’re constantly surprising you! If you never bit your nails, you’ll start doing it while you watch Breaking Bad.

Characters: the evolution of every single character is wholly awesome.

Cast: these amazing characters are played by an excellent cast which I already praised in my previous post. Nevertheless, I’d like to add something about Anna Gunn’s character (Skyler White). I recently read that some people hate her character so much that the actress received death threats... How can someone go that far? Anyway, that fact means that the character won’t leave you indifferent. I personally loved the character, she was one of my favorites. And they just gave her a Grammy award for it, so well done Anna!

Photography: I already said this in my previous post, but I’ll repeat it: its photographic work is spectacular. Gorgeous landscapes, beautiful locations, time-lapses... It’s worth watching the series just because of that.

Finale: I’m not going to reveal the finale, I just want to say that it was a well-deserve finale. It was up to my expectations (although I got right in my forecast) and I’m completely happy with it.

In conclusion, there’s nothing negative that I could say about this series. A MUST WATCH in capital letters.

Follow this link if you can't watch the video correctly: http://bit.ly/10thkhW

THE BRIDGE

July 2013 - present

1 season

13 episodes

The Bridge is a new series released last summer. I read about it before its premiere and it seemed quite interesting to me, so I started watching it from the very beginning. Like many other series nowadays this is an adaptation of an European series. In this case The Bridge is based on the Danish/Swedish series Bron.

Its plot tells us about a criminal investigation of a murder committed just on the border between US and Mexico, so police on both sides have to collaborate to figure it out. Nothing is what it seems on this show which keeps you suspicious of almost everyone.

One of the most interesting things on this show is the role of the US detective Sonya Cross (played by Diane Kruger), who has Asperger’s syndrome, a sort of Autism. She’s really good at connecting points and remembering details, but she’s a mess in her social behavior. She doesn’t know how to interact and she understands everything in its literal meaning, which puts her in awkward situations sometimes, or gives you some hilarious moments other times. The role is pretty challenging to play, and I think Diane Kruger did it brilliantly, as I could see a real Asperger’s person and a clear evolution of the character at the same time.

The rest of the cast is formed by Demián Bichir, Annabeth Gish, Thomas M. Wright and Ted Levine, among others.

The series has had a good reception so it’s been renewed for a second season that will be aired next summer. I can’t wait to see what they’ll be dealing with!

There’s a video here for you to check it out:

Follow this link if you can't watch the video correctly: http://bit.ly/1eHfSxK

V (2009) We're of peace. Always

November, 2009 - March, 2011

2 Seasons

22 episodes

This post is about an epic series which marked my childhood. It’s V, aired in the 80’s and picked up for a remake in 2009. At a time when the TV supply was very limited (I mean, by far, more limited than nowadays), every TV series was an absolute success. So when I heard about the remake I was very excited, and I wasn’t going to miss it.

For those who don’t know what I’m talking about, V is about spaceships coming to Earth. The aliens have human appearance and say they come in peace as they only need some resources from Earth. In exchange, they offer to share their technological advances.   But, as you can imagine, they have hidden purposes and Earth’s inhabitants are divided between supporters and detractors.

The remake keeps the original idea but the storyline is completely different as it’s adapted to the current time, and also because they wanted to use actors from the original series as special guests.

There were some subliminal points that surprised me because of their clear parallelism to the real world. One is the justification of a war after pulling off an auto-attack (giving responsibilities to others, of course). And the other point is about using a vaccine against a fatal disease as an excuse to inject people with some kind of biological “tag”. And that came in the middle of the real polemic about flu A... Did they want us to be willing to accept something like that?

In the role of the evil Visitor Queen (Anna) is Morena Baccarin, and leading the Fifth Column is Elizabeth Mitchell (as Erica Evans). The rest of the main cast is formed by: Morris Chestnut, Joel Gretsch, Logan Huffman, Lourdes Benedicto, Laura Vandervoort, Charles Mesure and Scott Wolf.

Although the audiences weren’t bad, the series was taken off (which seems weird), and it was left unfinished, what a pity!

Anyway, despite not having a proper ending, it’s worth watching it if you were a fan in the 80’s. You’ll have a different point of view of the same story, lots of action, intrigue, suspicion, futuristic devices, and... some more surprises.

Follow this link if you can't watch the video correctly: http://bit.ly/1dfSBF6