One of Breaking Bad’s finest aspects is its tendancy to play fair with the audience. It doesn’t put off plot movement out of the need to fill time, it doesn’t cheat its characters out of their next logical move, and it doesn’t underestimate its audience. We’re smart enough to know where Jesse stands with Walt and Gus, that Hank wouldn’t march into the DEA headquarters without something concrete, and that Gus wouldn’t be cowering in fear of the cartel if there wasn’t something very serious going on. It is so good about this that when it does take a little narrative indulgence, as it did tonight, it has more than earned the right to do so.

This week’s episode largely belonged to Jesse and Hank, connected as they are. The former remains haunted by his demons (as we learned in this week’s bang-up opening, complete with a camera attached to the end of Jesse’s light gun) while the latter is exorcising them. Gus and Walt’s maneuvering has landed Jesse square in the middle of this conflict, after Walt learns from Saul about Jesse’s encounter with Gus last week. Walt tries to talk Jesse into killing Gus but it doesn’t matter because Jesse seems ready to do it anyway.

Walt, for his part, is more on the fringes of this week’s episode, but he remains driven to ridiculous extremes by his powerlessness. Rather than returning Junior’s car, he sets it on fire (incurring $52,000 in fees). He finds Skyler growing increasingly distant (see the awkward peck on the cheek) and he even offers her an out when he seems surprised about the amount of money he had (I have to admit I found this part a little bit of a stretch. Did this really never come up? Especially given Walt’s warped sense of pride)

So, anyway, Walt gets to work on a Breaking Bad standard, the odorless, flavorless poison (long term viewers will remember him trying to give the same thing to Tuco in Season 2). He gives it to Jesse, who hides it in a cigarette but is not sure when he may see Gus again. It turns out that he would see him the next day, as Mike takes Jesse to serve as muscle for Gus’ big meet with the Cartel. Jesse has a chance to poison Gus right then and there, and then again could just shoot him in the head, but both times he doesn’t do it. It seems like Jesse might be thinking seriously about Mike’s suggestion that his loyalty is to the wrong person.

Or it could just be Jesse’s deep and powerful self-loathing. The latter drives him back to NA where he runs into one of the lifers from last time (who we last saw harassing Raylan Givens on Justified). Jesse flirts with confession, telling the people that he killed a dog but when a woman in the group turns on him, Jesse turns back on himself, lashing out at the group and admitting that he started there to sell them drugs. The episode leaves Jesse even worse off than before. He’s slouching more and generally seeming disconnected from the world around him.

On the other hand, Hank finds himself taking control of his life and the episode reflects that in his physical improvement. Not only is he walking around without help, but he goes from a walker to a cane in the course of the episode. In his first scene he slyly takes Junior to Los Pollos Hermanos, getting some face time with Gus Fring and even a free refill hand delivered by the man himself (and look at how smooth Gus is in this scene. Not only does he laud Hank but he offers Junior a part-time job, which would also happen to give him more leverage with Walter, without ever once dropping his “upstanding businessman” act. The guy is cold-blooded.)

Gus is very good, but Hank is even better, and he shows the lengths he has been going to when he finally sits down with his former colleagues in the DEA. He backtracked a serial number in Gale’s apartment to a company that sells the kind of tanks that would be useful to someone looking to make a massive meth lab. Then he connects the company to Pollos. All of this is circumstantial, and the DEA guys dismiss it as much, until Hank drops his bombshell. He found Gus’ fingerprints at Gale’s house.

For an episode that was mostly about table-setting, this week’s Breaking Bad was still superb. The parallels between Hank and Jesse were brilliantly drawn, as was the tension (this show sure does poison really well). The tension has gotten so hard to bear that a lesser show would have brought everything to a boil weeks ago. Here, however, things just keep getting worse and worse, and the ways out keep getting narrower and narrower.

Jonah’s Score: 89
TUiW Grade: A

Other Notes:

-I didn’t touch on the bit of narrative indulgence I alluded to earlier, when we found out that the Cartel is after something very specific from Gus. I’m not sure if I was the only one who was assuming that the Cartel was simply mad a Gus for his direct actions against him, but that took me by surprise. Any guesses about what they’re after? The obvious guess would be Heisenberg, but the Cartel seemed happy to let the Cousins kill him last season. Maybe they want Hank dead? Either way, frustrating as it was, I’m sure there’s a good reason why we didn’t learn that piece of information this week.

-Really great work by Aaron Paul this week, especially in his big scene at the NA meeting. In fact, between him, Dean Norris, Giancarlo Esposito, and Jonathan Banks, there are enough good performances this year to totally overwhelm the Best Supporting Actor category at the Emmys.

-I would like to see more of how Hank’s newfound sense of purpose has changed life at home for Marie. She certainly seems happier. Am I the only one who wants to see a scene with just the two of them to confirm it?

Walter’s complete powerlessness has continued to manifest itself in bizarre and increasingly destructive ways. At the rate we’re going, I give it a couple more episodes before he makes a very violent, very big mistake.

And Bryan Cranston’s performance has been phenomenal. For weeks he’s been so good at playing the flounder, weak Walter that his recent lashing out has seemed all the more violent and shocking. His drunken rousting of Hank was one thing, but his powerhouse monologue to Skyler (where, among other things, he said “I AM the danger” which is one of the most amazing lines in television history) revealed the layers of deception under the surface. Walter’s claims about supporting his family or trying to make the right choices no longer hold. At this point, it is all about ego, which makes his total futility in the face of Gus that much more damaging.

But for Skyler, it seems to rip apart the final shreds of justification for her. Her first reaction, upon deducing that poor Gale was a cohort of Walt’s, but it quickly melts into something else when Walt tears into her. In that moment she got her longest prolonged glimpse of the true Walter, the violent angry man who needs power and control, and she didn’t like what she saw. For weeks, she has been concerned about his safety, never for once realizing that Walter has long passed the threshold of that being a viable concern. Walter’s pride, let alone his own level of culpability, makes going the police all but impossible at this point.

But Walter is getting it from all sides this week. Skyler skips off without saying a word to Walt (she winds up at the Four Corners and, in a moment I think we’ll all look back on at the end of this with regret, opts to go back home instead of bailing on Walt and heading for the greener pastures of Colorado). That leaves it to Walt to take the keys to the car wash and meet face-to-face with his old boss for the first time. Bogdan wastes no time challenging Walt’s manhood (which, as we know by now, is the key to his existence), and Walt takes control by exacting a small, petty measure of revenge. Him taking Bogdan’s dollar and spending it on a Coke was a wonderful bit of character business in an episode jammed full of them.

Ironically, Walt can see things clearly, but he just can’t help himself in making it all about him. See his one scene with Jesse. Increasingly the two are acting like strangers and Walt wastes no time in deducing what, exactly, is going on. In order to eliminate Walt’s strongest bargaining chip, his alliance with Jesse, Gus has attempted to indoctrinate Jesse in the organization, by setting up last week’s bit of heroics. But the way Walt tells Jesse, cruelling ripping away the first thing that has given Jesse meaning and made him feel like a human being, was maybe not the best. It only serves to widen the gulf, as Jesse finds himself gravitating to a role model whose gentler touch contrasts nicely with Walt’s smug derision of everyone around him.

(Incidentally, Jesse’s increased confidence manifested itself more tangibly this week, as he used his methhead experience to break into the house with the stolen meth. We may not have heard Mike’s answer to Gus about Jesse’s performance, but Gus’ encouragement to Jesse outside the diner would seem to indicate that Mike is starting to warm to his new protege)

So Walt lashes out at his boss and naturally hurts people in the process. Without Jesse to clean (note that the problem this week is cleaning, not moving heavy equipment around the lab), he pays off a few workers to clean the lab. I’m not entirely sure what Walt thought would happen, but Gus quickly dispatches Tyrus to send the workers out of the country, but not before Tyrus stops to reassure Walter that Gus blames him.

Which brings us back home. Walt, in his transparent attempt to get Junior back on his side (and points to Flynn for recognizing it and using it to his advantage) (“if you’re going to buy me off…buy me off”) has bought him a flashy new car. Skyler comes home and tells Walt to sell it. Walt falls back on his default posturing: “I should be able to give him what he wants” and “I have to protect this family” but Skyler sees through that now. With nowhere left to turn, Walt can’t resist threatening his ex-wife, telling her that Junior will blame her. But Skyler has an answer for that too, and it is the reason why she decided to go back home instead of running away. “Somebody has to protect this family from the man protecting this family.”

Jonah’s Score: 92
TUiW Grade: A

Other Notes:

-Sorry I missed last week’s episode; I was bogged down in moving. Like every episode, I thought it did a good job of warming the pot further while filling it with a nice load of character moments. Perhaps the most stunning thing about this show, and this season has been especially good about this, is the way that it has managed to load all of its tension and violence into seemingly tiny character moments. That is some subtle writing.

-The cartel is becoming a bigger problem for Gus, who has set up a meeting with them. I’m not sure where this is going, but I imagine that some kind of opposing force to Gus could provide Walt with the way out from under Gus’ thumb that he has been looking for.

-That said, given the way things have been developing lately, I wonder if we aren’t setting up for some kind of Walt/Jesse conflict in the end. Given the nature of their relationship, it makes a kind of sense that the show would end with them as enemies.

-Speaking of which, in case you missed the news, AMC has officially renewed Breaking Bad for 16 more episodes, which will be the last 16 ever. Obviously, I have mixed feelings about the announcement of an end to my favorite show, but I think it is obvious that for Breaking Bad to continue to excel creatively it needs a point to build towards. Fortunately, the forces aligned to make that happen.

Among Breaking Bad’s best attributes is the way the show manages its pace. When the show moves slowly, like it has the last few weeks, it never feels like it is stalling. It doesn’t put off plot points or create artificial obstacles to stop the next obvious thing from happening. And yet, it lulls you with this pacing so that when things finally explode and suddenly people are staring at death, you can’t help but wonder how we got here and how things go so wrong so fast. Just like Walt himself.

This week’s Breaking Bad felt almost like it was split in two. After another rousing Mike Adventure (this time with him getting part of his ear shot off), the first half settles in on Skyler and Walt telling Hank and Walt Jr their new cover story for the first time. For Skyler, lying to family members and building cover stories is still a new thing, and she wants to make sure she has as much control over it as possible. There’s plenty of humor in this scene (especially meta humor, like when Skyler talks about emphasizing the cancer part of the story at first to make Walt more sympathetic), but at the same time there’s an undercurrent of desperation. Skyler, for her part, is grasping for control anyway possible over something that is way out of her league right now (like the way she bitterly tells Walt that she’s not as good at lying as him). Walt, for his part, continues to be disgusted with himself for bringing Skyler into this and also resentful, since Skyler makes the script as much about punishing Walt as telling a convincing story.

But he’s not nearly as disgusted as he is at Hank’s, where he ends up spending a little more time with Gale. Gale, it turns out, is an accomplished karaoke singer (ascot and all), in addition to being a meth cook. It looks like working on Gale’s investigation has helped Hank get some confidence back and the show didn’t waste anytime in letting Walt see Hank’s file on Gale. Hank’s pet theory right now is that Gale was Heisenberg, and Walt works around the W.W. that was in Gale’s journal, but Walt knows that any sort of investigation only makes him and Jesse more of a liability to Gus.

For Walt, the problem is a lack of professionalism, as he vents to Saul. Mike is punching him, Gus is cutting people’s throats open, Skyler is no longer in the dark, Jesse is disconnected from everything, and Walt feels like he is running out of options. Is it time to cut his losses and make a full escape? Saul suggests a person who can make Walt and his family disappear, but Walt refuses. As usual, he seems to feel he can think his way out of an impossible situation instead of getting out while he can.

As for Jesse, things continue to spiral worse and worse for him, not because he doesn’t understand his situation, but because he does understand it and doesn’t care. Unlike Walt, he’s already thought about the police and isn’t worried about it (if they had his fingerprints, after all, he would already be in jail) and he is less impressed with Mike’s display of power with the guy who stole Jesse’s cash. Jesse is pushing out the world and anything he might still have connections to in it (like Walt) and Mike, Walt, and Saul can all tell that something is going to break.

But even with all of that, the ending is a whopper. Jesse doesn’t show up to work and Walt goes to get him, only to find an empty apartment and Jesse’s cell phone. That’s because Jesse is in a car with Mike, heading off to parts unknown for reasons that are unclear. Jesse’s such an important character that my brain tells me he’s probably safe, but Breaking Bad is so successful at building tension and making it seem like anything is possible that, well, it is going to be a stressful week.

Jonah’ Score: 81
TUiW Grade: A-

Other notes

-The cold open was pretty badass. My favorite show was the one of the two hitmen flying out the back of the truck.

-As always, great work from Bob Odenkirk, who managed to show real concern for Walt even underneath the layers of sleaze.

-Finally, I don’t know if you keep up with or care about the business of the show, but apparently negotiations between AMC and Breaking Bad had gotten strained and there was talk that the show could finish on another network. However, it looks like that may be resolving and to me, the most interesting thing is that all of this talk has revolved around the next season potentially being the last of Breaking Bad. As much as I love the show, I think ending it in a season or two is a great idea, if only because I don’t know how much longer Heisenberg can continue to cheat death.

Sorry about missing last week, everyone! I’m in the process of moving so things are kind of crazy right now. On a plot level I didn’t miss that much, as we instead explored Jesse’s continuing emotional breakdown, Skyler’s attempts to buy the car wash, Hank and Marie’s dire domestic situation, and Walt’s half-brained attempt at getting to Gus.

So on to this week, directed by 30 Days of Night and Twilight (yes, really) helmer David Slade. “Open House” was a largely Walt-free episode, marginalizing him a little to focus on the people around him. Chief among them, Marie. It is nice to see Marie finally getting a juicy plotline and Betsy Brandt did a fantastic job this week. On the one hand, the stress and constant berating from Hank has pushed Marie back to her kleptomania, but at the same time her visits to the open houses were as much about finding some kind of escape from her own depressing life and pretending for a few minutes to be in any other situation but her own. It was not to last, however, as Marie got arrested and had to call Hank to bail her out (great work by Dean Norris in that scene).

Marie is not the only person trying to escape from herself, but Jesse is even more desperate and his reality is even worse. Despite what he says, even Walter can pick up on the desperation in his eyes when Jesse sees if he wants to go go-karting. His own house party has turned into a crack den and Jesse passes the time throwing money at the addicts. Wherever this is going, it is not good.

Meanwhile, Skyler became even more determined to buy the car wash, enlisting Walt’s sense of pride to help her case and pulling off a rather clever con to change the owner’s attitude (without resorting to violence or accusing him or terrorism). But, more than that, the reality of Walt’s career is really starting to sink in with her. She freaks out about his bruised eye (Walt, amusingly, claims he didn’t hit Mike back because Mike is much older), wants him to go to the police, and makes him promise to tell her the moment he finds himself in real physical danger (the time for which, of course, has long since passed). By the end, she’s focusing on making the details of the lie work (something that Marie also knew) but the question is whether Skyler can adapt to the criminal lifestyle and what she will do if she finds out just how serious Walt’s problems have become.

Jonah’s Score: 85
TUiW Grade: A

Other Stuff:

-Hank reading Gale’s notebook was interesting stuff, but mostly table-setting for future plotlines. Hank has come close to unraveling the identity of Heisenberg a couple of times, but with the show getting closer to the end, how far will he come last time. And how will his history with Gale’s killer play into this?

-Gus remains absent, but his presence is felt (just like in the first 40 minutes of “Box Cutter”). This time, it is with the camera that Walt rebels against in his own amusing, and ultimately impotent way.

-Last week saw Deadwood vet Jim Beaver as the gun salesman and this week had a couple of actors from The Shield, as the actors who play Tyrus (the replacement for Victor) and Hank’s buddy had small roles on that show.

-Bob Odenkirk, as always, totally killed it in his lone scene tonight.

At first, Walter White seemed like such a decent man. He worked as a teacher, a career that we all respect and admire. He had been married for twenty years and was active in the life of his cerebal palsy-afflicted son. He even worked part time in a degrading job at a car wash to make ends meet. He never smoked either, which made it all the more crushing when he was diagnosed with lung cancer. Walt even started cooking and selling meth with such decent intentions, to squirrel away a little money for his wife and child to have after he died. Breaking Bad is about how that one decision has corroded Walt’s soul, but it is also about how it awakened a side of him that was already there. More than anything, though, “Box Cutter” was about the impact Walt’s actions have had on everyone else around him. Skyler has started breaking bad herself, Hank is lashing out at the person who still cares about him most. Jesse has become a murderer, Saul is wracked with paranoia, and even Mike seems to realize he’s in a little over his head.

But we pick up with the person who paid the most last season for his involvement with Walt, as poor Gale returns for a curtain call. There’s a lot of stuff in this conversation with Gus that resonates in this episode and probably throughout the season but why not start with the box cutter itself? In the hands of Gale, it is a tool of creation, assembling the superlab, but when Gus grabs a hold of it, during this week’s showstopping setpiece, it becomes something much more destructive and chaotic. Instruments are only as good as the person wielding them, something that Victor didn’t understand in his attempt to make the meth himself.

However, if I had to pick one moment that resonated the most in this episode, it would be Gale’s insistence that there’s “a tremendous gulf” between 96 and 99 percent purity. When the elements are under extreme pressure, little bits of precision make an enormous difference, and this episode is filled with people sweating the details.

For example there’s Skyler, who takes the time to hide Walt’s car out of the way before Walt Jr. wakes up. She goes to Walt’s apartment to look for some sign of what he’s up to, and resorts to lying to a locksmith to break in (and she knows that the key to selling the lie is in the details, whether it is faking an illness or sticking to the purse story after getting inside. And, to really hammer home the idea of Skyler undergoing her own transformation, the show gives us the return of the teddy bear’s eye, last seen judging Walt at the end of season two.

Hank also corrects Marie for missing the details. He’s not buying rocks, but rather bidding on minerals. It is a new obsession for him, filling time between physical therapy that makes no progress and humiliating uses of a bedpan (how amazing is the way that handle is a constant presence hanging over the bed, like a constant threat). Even Saul is going inch by inch over his office looking for bugs, and making calls to Skyler from a nearby payphone. But I was a little concerned when Saul guaranteed that Walt is fine “100 percent.” Does his lack of precision here foreshadow a deadly fate for my favorite sleazy lawyer (sorry Franklin and Bash). Or am I just stretching this metaphor?

Anyway, if this episode was about precision, no one used it better than Gus. His presence hangs over every moment of the episode and it is a testament to Giancarlo Esposito that he has built up such a tremendously imposing character in Gus without ever once committing an act of violence or even getting angry on screen. He is a man of precision, and every move he makes for his entire five minutes of screen time is so deliberate; even his burst of violence is planned and timed from before he enters the room. It is frightening to see him strip out of his jacket and tie (removing the symbols of restraint and society?) and, without a word, pick up the box cutter because he already knows what he’s going to do. Walt, for his part, looks as pathetic as he did in the first episode, hoping that if can just keep saying that Gus won’t kill him maybe it will come true.

Of course he doesn’t kill Walt or Jesse. Instead, Victor is punished for own carelessness at the crime scene and for not understanding what Gale did: that Gus is paying for the best. As for Walt and Jesse, as the latter says, Gus made sure they knew that “if he can’t kill us, we’ll sure as shit wish we were dead,” leaving the body for them to clean up (and giving us a chance for a macabre callback to season one).

In a way, Gale almost works as a shadow Walt, a man who made the same choice as Walt but wasn’t willing to completely sacrifice his soul. He even talked Gus into hiring his own competition, unlike Walt’s pathological need to win. At the same time, that’s why he couldn’t survive. Walt is willing to make whatever compromise he has to make, selling his soul for his survival. Killing a couple of drug dealers who murdered a child may not be that big of a deal, but in the moral universe of Breaking Bad, there’s a price to pay for killing a relative innocent, like Gale (or Jane in season two), and retribution will come. So maybe that’s why we end with a team of detail-oriented investigators with laser scoping and other CSI tricks in Gale’s apartment. These are men and women who understand the gulf between 96 and 99 percent purity and who won’t miss a clue like Gale’s lab notes.

Jonah’s Score: 87
Episode Grade: A 

Other stuff:

-The way this episode swings from brutal, can’t-breathe drama (Gus’ moment) to bleak humor (“we should all be wearing masks” or the match from the mops to the ketchup) is a thing of beauty.

-Television is usually word-heavy medium and one of the reasons I love Breaking Bad is because it is such a visual show, but even by those standards, this episode is pretty incredible. In fact, the more powerful the character, the less the person speaks in this episode, as Gus, Mike, and Jesse all convey so much without words (while Walt’s powerlessness leads to the most speaking of anyone).

-I also loved the red color scheme, which seemed to indicate that, while Victor died, it is Walt and Jesse who now find themselves in Hell.

-I’m a little worried about Jesse’s mental state you guys.

-I can’t remember where I read this (maybe Sepinwall?) but Kenny Rogers (whose face adorned Jesse and Walt’s matching t-shirts) sang “The Gambler,” which also happens to be Walt’s latest explanation/lie for where the money is coming from (to Hank and Marie).

-Sorry that this recap is a little all over the place. My brain’s still a little melty after Pitchfork.

-It sure is good to have Breaking Bad back.

A couple of otherwise excellent previews of the return of Breaking Bad have put me in kind of an awkward position. I’ve been a flag-waver for Breaking Bad since marathoning the entire first season the morning of the second season premiere. It is a great show, probably the best on television right now and certainly the most criminally underwatched. So why do we need to trash Mad Men to make that point? Both New York Magazine’s set profile and Chuck Klosterman’s think piece for Grantland seem to misstate some stuff about Mad Men, all in the process of making a point that I largely agree with.

Broadly, I understand the impulse that is driving all of this. Like when The Wire was being ignored while airing at the same time as The Sopranos, it is insanely frustrating when all your friends watch and obsess over Mad Men but won’t bother with the arguably better show airing on the same network. Mad Men and Breaking Bad become tied together and it becomes more and more irritating that no one seems to care just how GOOD the latter is getting.

But, all due respect, I really don’t understand a lot of the points they’re making. Klosterman says that on Mad Men “every action the characters make is not really a reflection on who they are; they’re mostly a commentary on the era,” which seems kind of asinine to me. Maybe in the first season, when the show a little worse about making “weren’t things different in the 1960s” jokes, that was the case. But what makes Mad Men so effective is just how good it has gotten at digging deep into its characters and having their actions driven by who they are. The ending of this season, where Don Draper chose his sexy but demure secretary over a professional equal, was so frustrating precisely because it was the kind of terrible decision we’ve seen Don Draper make over and over again for the last four years. Klosterman says “all their decision can be excused…by the circumstances of the period…so we can’t really hold [the characters] accountable for what they do” which is the total opposite of what makes Don Draper such a tragic figure. He KNOWS better and still chooses the easy path. The show hardly invites us to excuse his (or any of the characters’) choices and instead invites us to be as angry at them as we want (as in, once again, the completely infuriating season finale).

Meanwhile, the New York Times’ preview of Breaking Bad suggests that Walter White is unique
for the way that he “suffer[s] crushing reversals with lasting impact.” I’m actually not clear on what the writer, David Segal, is trying to say here. Is he saying that, unlike Don Draper, Walt’s misdeeds have left “permanent scars?” Because Don’s lies destroyed his family and seem to have wreaked psychic havoc on his daughter (the extent of which was dramatized this year). And Tony Soprano’s actions certainly had lasting impact on the lives of others around him, even if he never changed. And Breaking Bad’s nearest predecessor, The Shield, was all about the long-term cost of poor choices.

I don’t mean to be the guy scolding other people for comparing two comparable works of art because I certainly do that all of the time. But I guess I feel like Mad Men is being misrepresented? Or at the very least oversimplified in order to prop up the pro-Breaking Bad side? Or maybe I’m just feeling especially good about Mad Men right now for some reason? The important point here is that AMC has two of the greatest shows ever right now and just because we’re excited for one coming back after a far too long hiatus doesn’t mean we need to go around trashing the other one, you know?

Presented in no particular order, our 15 favorite episodes of TV from 2010.

Mad Men – The Suitcase
If there was one episode of television that may have won its stars an Emmy, it was “The Suitcase,” a beautifully performed, perfectly written hour of television. Jon Hamm and Elizabeth Moss were extraordinary, their chemistry never better, as Peggy and Don spend a night battling and bonding in the SCDP offices. Mad Men has had several top notch episodes, but few can rival “The Suitcase.” (M)

Community – Modern Warfare
Community had several solid episodes leading up to “Modern Warfare,” but it was there that the show reached the creative peak of its first season. “Modern Warfare” is part parody, but there is also a lot of reverence to the source material thrown in. There are so many hilarious little details and references throughout the episode, which gets better and better with each viewing. (M)
Read Michael’s original review here.

Lone Star – Pilot
The big comment most critics had regarding the pilot for Lone Star was that it was a great idea for a movie, but maybe not a TV show. Given the show’s swift demise, we’ll never know, but the first episode was about as entertaining as any TV show or film you’ll find. Great performances from Jon Voight and newcomer James Wolk drove a compelling, self contained episode that unfortunately will have to stand on its own as a great piece of TV. (M)
Read Michael’s original review here.

Boardwalk Empire – Boardwalk Empire
When you hire Martin Scorsese to direct the first episode of your TV series, this is what you get. The extra-long series premiere of Boardwalk Empire was jam-packed with gangland violence, political intrigue, and fascinating historical tidbits, all administered at such a quick pace that viewers understandably got whiplash once the show settled into a slightly more sedate weekly pace. From the apocalyptic ringing-in of Prohibition to the staccato, rim-shot scored stick-up sequence, “Boardwalk Empire” was a tense, exciting glimpse into a world that I couldn’t wait to spend more time inside. (J)
Read Jonah’s original review here.

The Walking Dead – Days Gone By
One of the most anticipated new shows of the fall, The Walking Dead delivered a chilling, highly entertaining first episode that instantly won it a legion of fans. Functioning just as well as a standalone story as it did a pilot, “Days Gone By” is about as cinematic as you can get on television. If nothing else, “Days Gone By” did a fantastic job of quickly luring in a loyal fanbase that made the show one of basic cable’s biggest. (M)

Party Down – Party Down Company Picnic
“Party Down Company Picnic” takes the show’s cast out of their bowties only to find that there is no escape from the tedious cycle of boredom that is their lives. Henry breaks up with Uda and steps down as Team Leader, Ron’s attempts at climbing the ladder put him right back where he started – occupying the now vacant Team Leader job – and Party Down gets their asses kicked by Valhalla. In an inspired second (and tragically, final) season, few episodes wrung as much laughter out of as much pain as this one did. (J)
Read Michael’s original review here.

30 Rock – Brooklyn Without Limits
People (like myself) who were ready to give up on 30 Rock after a substandard season were jumping the gun, as the show has come roaring back in 2010. Nowhere was the resurgence clearer than “Brooklyn Without Limits,” a piece of vintage 30 Rock mayhem, complete with a guest star (John Slattery) who feels put to use well without dominating the episode. Add to that Lemon’s new jeans and Jenna’s insecurities and “Brooklyn Without Limits” was another worthwhile addition to the series. (J)

Better Off Ted – Lust in Translation
We decided that there weren’t really enough Better Off Ted episodes in 2010 for us to put it on the series list, so this will have to stand as our tribute to one of our favorite fallen shows. “Lust in Translation” featured a premise that was classic Better Off Ted, complete with an angry-voiced multi-translator, a talking frying pan, and a panoply of Three Stooges references. From Phil and Lem’s realization that they are evil scientists to the triumph and heartbreak of Lindabagel, “Lust in Translation” is a reminded of how sharp and funny Better Off Ted could be and how sad it is that its gone. (J)
Read Jonah’s original review here.

Lost – Happily Ever After
The joy of Lost is the joy of discovery and adventure, the feeling that the boundries of the show’s world are limitless and ever-expanding. Every time a new piece of mythology was introduced or a new question asked, viewers’ minds started racing, imagining all the possibilities that existed. It is not shocking that the best episodes of the show, then, are the ones that asked questions, not the ones that answered them. So “Happily Ever After” gets our vote over the still-terrific-no-matter-what-anybody-says finale because it was vintage Lost: Desmond and the audience stranded in a strange world whose very existence was a mystery to us. And by grounding that mystery in the show’s sweetest love story, Lost made “Happily Ever After” as moving as it was intriguing. (J)
Read Jonah’s original review here.

Parks and Recreation – Telethon
“Telethon” worked in everything from a harrowing look into Jerry’s sex life (shudder) to ex Indiana Pacer small forward Detlef Schrempf while maintaining its focus on classic P&R elements like Leslie’s boundless enthusiasm and Ann and Mark’s relationship. The series of callbacks (Pawnee Today, Sweetums, Mouse Rat) and the endless parade of one-liners (“there are two kinds of diabetes but only one kind of caring: type one caring”) make “Telethon” feel like a summation of everything that made season two so special. (J)
Read Michael’s original review here.

The Office – Niagra
Jim and Pam have always been at the emotional center of The Office, so it’s not a huge surprise that their wedding would be the best episode in a season of the show that was less than stellar. It was a sweet, funny episode that was reminiscent of the show’s peak, and helped remind us why we fell in love with The Office in the first place. (M)

Breaking Bad – One Minute
Breaking Bad does tension like no other show currently on TV. So when the twin assassins who seemed to be the season’s main concern turned their attention to DEA agent Hank, all while Hank’s life is collapsing around him. From his violent confrontation with Jesse to his heartbreaking confession to his wife, Hank finds himself coming to the sad realization that he can no longer be a cop anymore, which only makes it that much more tense that two reapers are coming for him. Then a mysterious phone call and a Breaking Bad-style chain of causation turn the tables on the cousins. The fact that, while all this is going on, the show still manages to find time to take Jesse and Walt’s relationship to a new place and work in some vintage Saul Goodman smarm is icing on the cake of what may be the most tense episode of television ever. (J)

How I Met Your Mother – Rabbit or Duck
With a plethora of call backs and references and classic HIMYM troupes throughout, “Rabbit or Duck” was a classic episode of the show that helped salvage a lackluster season. The main story of Robin falling in love with co-worker Don bringing the emotional thread and the b-story of Barney and his always ringing cell phone bringing the laughs, “Rabbit or Duck” is a complete episode, one that can be enjoyed from all angles. (M)
Read Michael’s original review here.

Modern Family – Truth Be Told
Modern Family deserved all the praise it got for its first season, as highlighted by “Truth Be Told,” an episode in which all of the show’s strengths are put on display. There aren’t many weak links, and the physical comedy of Phil evading his ex-girlfriend while Claire remains oblivious was one of the funniest bits the show did. Coming in the second half of the season, “Truth Be Told” solidified Modern Family as the best new comedy of they year. (M)
Read Michael’s original review here.

Justified – Pilot
More pilots should be like Justified’s zippy and thrilling introduction. Of course, most pilots don’t have the benefit of being adapted from Elmore Leonard short stories. Portraying US Marshall Raylan Givens gives Timothy Olyphant a character right in his wheelhouse, an easy-going man of righteousness and violence with a seething anger burning underneath the surface. Raylan returns home and quickly butts heads with Boyd Crowder, an old coal-mining buddy of his played perfectly by Walton Goggins. The pair’s cat-and-mouse game unfolds over the course of the hour and comes to an exciting conclusion that wisely keeps both men around to antagonize each other for the remainder of the season. As an introduction to Justified’s world or just as an hour of TV, “Pilot” works on just about every level. (J)

10. Lost
It would have been impossible for Lost to answer every lingering question and appease everyone in its final season, but for those hoping for closure for the characters they had grown to know and love, it was an extremely satisfying season. Yes, it’s easy to go after things like the “Heart of the Island,” but there were so many moments, especially in the FlashSideways, that tugged at the heartstrings. Ultimately, the last season of Lost reminded us that the reason the show succeeded while the knockoffs failed because it had characters we wanted to be happy, and in that regard, the ending was a complete success. (M)

9. Treme
If there’s one thing Treme was not, it’s The Wire 2. Viewers looking for Omar and Hamsterdam and “Where’s Wallace” type scenes were bound for disappointment. Those who stuck around, however, were rewarded with a series of rich, warm character portraits. Featuring one of the best casts on TV (including standouts Melissa Leo, Khandi Alexander, Clarke Peters among others), the show felt more alive and more human than anything else currently airing. Even if some of the plot points didn’t quite gel the way we might have hoped (Sonny), the show itself made for a promising start from one of TV’s brightest visionaries. (J)

8. Louie
It’s hard for comics to successfully move their act to a sitcom setting, but Louis C.K. did it successfully in his brilliant new show. Louie is truly unlike any show on TV, a brutally honest, downright hilarious exploration of everything, whether its politics, homophophia, God, terrorism, and the challenging experience of flying, all with signature point of view of its creator. Serving as writer, director, and editor, Louis C.K. has created a comedy that plays more like a series of short films than it does a typical tv show. (M)

7. Community
Community makes it easy to focus on the gadget episodes and pop culture awareness by being so good at it. Episodes like “Modern Warfare” and “Abed’s Uncontrollable Christmas,” Community has made a name for itself with some of the smartest parody episodes ever on TV. But what makes Community a truly outstanding show is the measure of heart and empathy it displays for each one of it’s off-beat characters. From a smarmy lawyer to a high-strung overachiever, the characters on Community have transcended their simply types and become a rich collection of people. (J)

6. Boardwalk Empire
HBO has always been successful at creating full realized worlds within their shows, but Boardwalk Empire takes that to a whole new level. With stunning sets and visuals and top notch acting, the Prohibition Era drama is the successor to The Sopranos the network has been searching for. Steve Buschemi shines as Nuckie Thompson, owning the role completely, and the supporting cast is absolutely phenomenal all around. The first season of Boardwalk Empire ushered in a new era for cable dramas, one in which no idea is too big to put on the small screen. (M)

5. Terriers
The people who solve crimes on TV don’t look and act like Donal Logue and Michael Raymond-James. They don’t worry about how to make rent or take cases for a bank manager just to try to secure a loan. And their cases don’t involve women who pretend to have affairs at their husband’s insistence or helping wealthy landowners rob themselves. But Terriers wasn’t like other shows. It had a shaggy, easy-going energy that blended perfectly with its noir elements and some of the best performances on TV. Terriers could regularly punch you in the gut in a way no other TV show did and TV is a flatter place without it. (J)

4. Parks and Recreation
After a tepid first season, Parks and Recreation emerged in its second season as one of the best shows on network television. The show finally emerged from the shadow of its older brother, The Office, consistently being the funniest show in NBC’s strong Thrusday night lineup. Parks and Rec learned to play up the strengths of its phenomenal cast, with Amy Pohler leading the way, but with Aziz Ansari, Nic Offerman, Aubrey Plaza, and Chris Pratt adding just as many fantastic moments. With the late additions of Rob Lowe and Adam Scott, Parks and Rec looks like it will continue its greatness when it returns in early 2011. (M)

3. Mad Men
At the end of its third season, Mad Men liberated Don and Betty Draper from their suffocating, destructive marriage, and then spent the fourth season teaching them to beware what they wished for. This season structured itself like a series of interlocking short stories, giving the audience an even more intimate look at the show’s characters than in years’ past. And, in the end, it made all too much sense to see Don fall back into his same pattern, proposing out of nowhere to his pretty secretary while casting aside his intellectual and professional equal Faye. In the end, this season of Mad Men was about what every season of Mad Men is about: the more things change the more they stay the same. (J)

2. Party Down
It’s a shame that the best comedy of 2010 was one of the least watched or heard of shows of the same year, yet it seems fitting for a show about characters seemingly doomed for failure. The show didn’t miss a beat all season, and actually added more depth to their characters by taking them out of the parties they catered in episodes like “Steve Gutenberg’s Birthday” or “Party Down Company Picnic.” Ken Marino was once again the show’s MVP as perpetual loser Ron Donald, but I could go on and on how good the rest of the cast was. If you missed out on Party Down, you’re not the only one, but do yourself a favor and correct that. You won’t be sorry. (M)

1. Breaking Bad
I meant to recap this season of Breaking Bad, but I just couldn’t do it, at least not without watching each episode three or four times. One week, Breaking Bad could deliver episodes loaded with tension to the point of explosion and then follow them with softer hours that put a close-up focus on the people at the show’s core. Breaking Bad doesn’t let its characters out of making difficult decisions, it doesn’t go gentle on the audience, and it doesn’t play by the rules. From the compelling men at its center – Walter White and Jesse Pinkman – the fascinating characters in their orbit and even people at the periphery, Breaking Bad has created and depicted a world that is fully realized and detailed. (J)

Best Picture, Drama
Black Swan
The Fighter
Inception
The King’s Speech
The Social Network

Best Director
Darren Aronofsky, Black Swan
David Fincher, The Social Network
Tom Hooper, The King’s Speech
Christopher Nolan, Inception
David O. Russell, The Fighter

Best Actress, Drama
Halle Berry, Frankie & Alice
Nicole Kidman, Rabbit Hole
Jennifer Lawrence, Winter’s Bone
Natalie Portman, Black Swan
Michelle Williams, Blue Valentine

Best Actor, Drama
Jesse Eisenberg, The Social Network
Colin Firth, The King’s Speech
James Franco, 127 Hours
Ryan Gosling, Blue Valentine
Mark Wahlberg, The Fighter

Best Musical Or Comedy
Alice In Wonderland
Burlesque
The Kids Are All Right
Red
The Tourist

Best Actress, Musical Or Comedy
Annette Bening, The Kids Are All Right
Anne Hathaway, Love & Other Drugs
Angelina Jolie, The Tourist
Julianne Moore, The Kids Are All Right
Emma Stone, Easy A

Best Actor, Musical Or Comedy
Johnny Depp, Alice In Wonderland
Johnny Depp, The Tourist
Paul Giamatti, Barney’s Version
Jake Gyllenhaal, Love & Other Drugs
Kevin Spacey, Casino Jack

Best Supporting Actress
Amy Adams, The Fighter
Helena Bonham Carter, The King’s Speech
Mila Kunis, Black Swan
Melissa Leo, The Fighter
Jacki Weaver, Animal Kingdom

Best Supporting Actor
Christian Bale, The Fighter
Michael Douglas, Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps
Andrew Garfield, The Social Network
Jeremy Renner, The Town
Geoffrey Rush, The King’s Speech

Best Screenplay
Aaron Sorkin, The Social Network
Christopher Nolan, Inception
Lisa Cholodenko and Stuart Blumberg, The Kids Are All Right
David Seidler, The King’s Speech
Danny Boyle and Simon Beaufoy, 127 Hours

Best Original Song
“You Haven’t Seen The Last of Me,” Burlesque
“Bound To You,” Burlesque
“Coming Home”, Country Strong
“I See The Light,” Tangled
“There’s A Place For Us,” Voyage Of The Dawn Treader

Best Animated Film
Tangled
Toy Story 3
How To Train Your Dragon
Despicable Me
The Illusionist

Best Foreign-Language Film
I Am Love
Biutiful
The Concert
The Edge
In A Better World

Best TV Drama
Boardwalk Empire
Dexter
The Good Wife
Mad Men
The Walking Dead

Best Actress, TV Drama
Julianna Margulies, The Good Wife
Piper Perabo, Covert Affairs
Elisabeth Moss, Mad Men
Katey Sagal, Sons Of Anarchy
Kyra Sedgwick, The Closer

Best Actor, TV Drama
Steve Buscemi, Boardwalk Empire
Bryan Cranston, Breaking Bad
Michael C. Hall, Dexter
Jon Hamm, Mad Men
Hugh Laurie, House

Best TV Comedy
30 Rock
The Big Bang Theory
The Big C
Glee
Modern Family
Nurse Jackie

Best Actress, TV Comedy
Toni Collette, The United States Of Tara
Edie Falco, Nurse Jackie
Tina Fey, 30 Rock
Laura Linney, The Big C
Lea Michele, Glee

Best Actor, TV Comedy
Alec Baldwin, 30 Rock
Steve Carell, The Office
Thomas Jane, Hung
Matthew Morrison, Glee
Jim Parsons, The Big Bang Theory

Best Supporting Actress, TV
Hope Davis, The Special Relationship
Jane Lynch, Glee
Kelly Macdonald, Boardwalk Empire
Julia Stiles, Dexter
Sofia Vergara, Modern Family

Best Supporting Actor, TV
Scott Caan, Hawaii 5-0
Chris Colfer, Glee
Chris Noth, The Good Wife
Eric Stonestreet, Modern Family
David Strathairn, Temple Grandin

Best TV Miniseries
Carlos
The Pacific
Temple Grandin
You Don’t Know Jack
Pillars Of The Earth

Winners

The biggest winner of the night was ABC’s breakout Modern Family, who won big and easily won the media created battle between it and Glee, pulling in awards for Best Supporting Actor in a Comedy (Eric Stonestreet, well deserved for the episode “Fizbo”), Comedy Writing, and the big one, Best Comedy Series. Glee got a big win though from their most recognizable star, Jane Lynch, who got a long deserved award for Best Supporting Actress in a Comedy. Like Glee or not, Lynch is a terrific comedienne that has worked her way up the ladder the last 10 years, so it was great to see her win. Also pulling out a surprise win was Aaron Paul, who finally got his Best Supporting Actor in a Drama Emmy for Breaking Bad. Neil Patrick Harris also got his Emmy breakthrough, though for for Best Guest Actor in a Comedy for Glee, losing out on Supporting Actor for How I Met Your Mother yet again. The biggest winner on the night though? Host Jimmy Fallon, who was in his element and hopefully won over some of those people who thought he laughed too much on SNL.

Surprises

This year’s Emmy’s had  a few tricks up their sleeves, among them being Edie Falco’s win for Best Actress in a Comedy, beating out several heavy hitters. Falco herself seemed surprised, proclaiming, “I’m not funny!” from the podium. The other big surprise was The Good Wife’s Archie Panjabi’s win for Best Supporting Actress in a drama, upsetting favorites Elizabeth Moss and Christina Hendricks, both from Mad Men. Jim Parson’s of The Big Bang Theory also had a smaller surprise win for Best Actor in a Comedy, beating out Alec Baldwin, Steve Carrell, and Larry David, though Big Bang has had the adoration of viewers and critics to make it less of a left field choice.

Losers

After doing so well in the Golden Globes, Glee lost out, taking home Best Comedy Writing alongside Lynch’s win. Another big show, Breaking Bad, only took home awards in teh acting categories for Aaron Paul and Bryan Cranston, losing to network pal Mad Men in the Best Drama category. Many thought this would be Breaking Bad‘s year, but evidently, they’ll have to wait a little bit longer. The final season of Lost failed to take home any Emmys, though they were up against stiff competition in every category. After getting nominations for Coach and Mrs. Coach, Friday Night Lights was predictably shut out once more from Emmy glory. A couple of comedy surprises led to loses for Amy Pohler in Parks and Recreation‘s sole nomination and Steve Carell, who has yet to win for his iconic role of Michael Scott with just one year left to go.