Ask Matt

Someday I'll actually get back to maintaining this blog as I have in the past, but that might be a couple weeks off. Till then, my favorite television critic, Matt Roush, has included a couple of my questions in his weekly column. I know that I've sung his praises on numerous occasions, so I'll try to rein this in, but he really is one of my most trusted sources. He has excellent taste and makes wonderful suggestions, critiques, and observations. And, he's not currently dying, so he's considerably better at keeping up with his site than I. Here's the latest:

Question: Showtime's drama Shameless started off a little shaky and uneven in my opinion, but as the show found its footing, it really turned into a fine ensemble drama. As season 1 came to a close, the overall quality, narrative drive and character dynamics drew me in in ways I hadn't expected. That said, I was a little disappointed with the season finale. Where episodes like "But at Last Came a Knock" and "Nana Gallagher Had an Affair" had me chomping at the bit (and my fingernails), the finale seemed a little anticlimactic. I guess after the season they've had, I expected the stakes to be a lot higher in the end. There really were some lovely and interesting moments, but overall, it just didn't seem to pack the narrative punch of previous episodes. 

In the plus column, Emmy Rossum (Fiona) has proven to be a surprise power-player, outshining the likes of William H. Macy. I was also quite impressed by scene-stealers Cameron Monaghan (Ian) and Jeremy Allen White (Lip), whose individual storylines were second only to their joint storylines. Most surprising of all would have to be Emma Kenney's turn as Debbie. I'm generally not too fond of child actors, but pound for pound, the pint-sized 10-year-old had more classic one-liners than anyone else on the show. The finale didn't strike a chord the way I had expected (as the camera panned away from Fiona, I honestly thought it would reveal someone or something surprising on the street — it just didn't sit right for the episode to be ending), but overall, I think Shameless turned into one of my favorite programs. Anyway, I haven't heard much about the show in your column in quite a while and I'm wondering if you stuck with it past the iffy early episodes and what you thought of its freshman season if you did. — Lacy

Matt Roush: I haven't made it yet to the end of what seemed to be a very uneven freshman season for Shameless — though since it was renewed, I will probably catch up with some of the episodes (perhaps the ones you singled out) before its return — but I agree with you 100% that the remarkable Emmy Rossum and her scruffy siblings were the best reason to watch.

Question: I was thrilled to see that you're enjoying The Killing as much as I am. It's dark and serious and understated, but utterly compelling. With the tone of the show in mind, I was wondering what you think of the interactive online fan-builder touted at the end of the show. Maybe I'm just taking the show too seriously, but I think it's completely misguided, and although I realize that this is fiction, it almost seemed insensitive to the Larsen family in a way. Maybe it was just that the voice pitching the online features was too enthusiastic or something, but after a truly haunting couple of episodes, it struck me as extremely odd.

 I think the producers are kidding themselves if they think viewers who just watched the devastation of these characters and who have embraced the macabre nature of the subject matter would want to excitedly hop online to trade theories with other fans, view suspect profiles, and worse of all, take a virtual tour of Rosie's bedroom. Seriously? How twisted is that? Take a tour of her room? You mean the room where her mother, near catatonic with grief, is huddled on her late daughter's bed, clutching Rosie's last earthly possessions because that's all she has left? That room? Um, no thanks.

I can understand where the producers (or the network or whoever is behind it) were hoping that The Killing might turn into watercooler gossip the following morning, with fans discussing "Who killed Rosie Larsen?" with as much fervor as the ad campaign clearly hopes, but I just don't see that happening. This isn't the bizarre fate of Laura Palmer, the soap opera pursuit of who shot JR, or even the quirky teen noir of Veronica Mars, and I really can't imagine gabbing with friends about the fate of Rosie Larsen. This production is a searing character piece with haunting undertones, looking at the ramifications of a young girl's agonizing death, not a sudsy whodunit. Rather than a "watercooler fodder" type of show, it seems more like a "stare blankly out a window and ponder the cruelty and brevity of life" kind of show. Am I just putting way too much gravity on this or do you think the advertising strategy is off the mark? — Lacy

Matt Roush: I admit, I wasn't even aware of this gimmick. Getting screeners in advance, I'm not always watching the on-air broadcast of a show like this, and I don't pay much attention to the marketing/hype that surrounds it. But this does sound tone deaf, to say the least. Might be suitable for something as goofily pervy as Pretty Little Liars, but The Killing is for adults. Still, it's the sort of thing that it seems to me can easily be tuned out — and maybe there is a dedicated mystery-fan following that will want to play along. I can't really blame AMC for trying to make some noise with this show and to milk their investment with ancillary online tie-ins, but I agree this creepy story is much grounded in realism than Twin Peaks with its wacky cast of characters, and this voyeuristic approach may smack many as being of bad taste. My advice: Put the TV on mute when it goes to these promos and wallow in the emotion, not the promotion.