Newsroom, Game of Thrones, Hell on Wheels, Breaking Bad - TV Reviews

Got HBO Go for a month.  Wahoo!

THE NEWSROOM
Season 1 Episode 2 - I've heard more bad than good in general about this show.  I saw the first episode a while back and found it to be what Aaron Sorkin figures he was born to write.  Grandstanding, speechifying, etc., etc., but hey, SorkinLand can be a fun place to play.  The email gag was too obvious. (How do you accidentally type an asterisk in front of an email address twice?)  The relationshippy stuff was very Jim/Pam/Roy, and I expect it to remain like that.  The actual broadcast part of the show was hilarious, centering on Jan Brewer's signing into law the new immigration bill but them scrambling to find a pro-bill guest at the last second and failing miserably.


GAME OF THRONES
Season 2 Episode 2 - Love it love it love it.  Except for the gratuitous nudity.  We get it; you're HBO.  The TV show has added a little more humanity to some of the characters that come off as more two-dimensionally evil in the books.  I'm really liking the new cast additions.  Brienne, Stannis, Davos, Margary


Also this week:

AMC's HELL ON WHEELS - When the episode started with pigs being fed entrails, I knew at some point, we were going to see a human wind up as pig food.  That's another parallel to Deadwood, and it's not really a good idea for this show to keep reminding us of that better show.  But it was a model of building dread and suspense.  Every time the butcher wipes a bloody weapon, we know that might be the tool that does the deed.

AMC's BREAKING BAD - Walter White's descent continues.  There was something particularly boss about the way he handled the rival meth gang and managed to get them to work for him.  Then his weaselly approach with Jesse reminds how manipulative and petty he can be.  Walt's welching Jesse out of his $5 million?  I caught part of the Dean Norris (Hank) interview on Conan where he said a fan told him, 'It's hard to know who to root for." And Norris said, "Are you kidding?  Here's Walter White; I'll root for anyone else on the planet."