Justified

8 Series Finales…

In honor of last weekend’s season finales of Turn: Washington’s Spies and Orphan Black (which were both fantastic), I have made a list of other favorite series finales. Most of these finales are attached to personal memories, and some are just really good episodes of television. All these shows affected me in different ways at different times in my life, but I felt a real sense of loss when they ended. There were a couple great finales this year, but I did not include them because it is likely they will make my list of Best Episodes of 2017. As long as you do not watch the videos, there should not be any big spoilers.

1. Sex and the City: I was in high school when this show started, and I used to watch it at night when my parents were in bed, because my mother would have never approved. When I got to college, it was the show that everyone watched. It ended my junior year in college and I remember watching it with my roommates at our apartment in Elon, North Carolina. I would actually have preferred for Carrie to end up with Aiden, but I was happy with the way the other three women’s stories were wrapped up.



2. Parenthood: Jason Katims knows how to do a series finales, as evidenced by Friday Night Lights also being on this list. I do not like too much ambiguity in my series finales, and this let me know that the Bravermans would all be okay. I watched this finale at the Alamo Drafthouse in Austin, Texas surrounded by other Parenthood fans for an ATX Television Festival event. There was something cathartic being in a theater full of people, all of whom were sobbing.



3. Sons of Anarchy: I got into SOA in the middle of season three. I had put off watching it because of the subject matter, but could not ignore the critics raving about it. It also came to me at a time in my life when I needed to just completely lose myself in a world so unlike my own. When I moved to Austin, I bonded with one of my new friends over our love of Charlie Hunnam and the show, and we started watching the episodes together each week at my apartment. Obviously, I wish every character could have had a happy ending, but that is not what this show was about. It was about dealing with the consequences of the life each of them had chosen, and the actions they had taken along the way.



4. Buffy the Vampire Slayer: I do not really have a fun story for where I was when I watched the finale of this show. I actually think I was alone in my parent’s basement, which sounds kind of creepy. I got into this show late, and I don’t think I had even caught up on all the seasons yet, but wanted to watch the finale live. I did not really know what was happening at the time, but have obviously gone back and watched the entire series several times since then. This speech still brings me to tears every time I watch it:

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8 Pilot Episodes…

It is pilot season, which means networks are deciding which scripts they want to see made into pilot episodes and then, ultimately, which of those pilots will get made into full series. While we wait to see which shows will get picked up this year, I started thinking about my favorite pilots. Not all of these shows made it past their first season, some of them did and eventually lost me, but they all had great first episodes. For fun, I put them in chronological order, and there are definitely spoilers.

1. Cheers – Give Me A Ring Sometime
While waiting for her fiancé Sumner to get his grandmother’s ring from his ex-wife so they can go to Barbados and get married, Diane Chambers is introduced to all the interesting employees and regular patrons at this Boston bar. After Sumner returns an hour later only to leave again, Diane calls the airline to change their flight and discovers that he has left her and gone to Barbados with his ex-wife. Owner Sam Malone feels bad for Diane and offers her a job. This is still one of my favorite series of all time, and it all started with this episode. Sometimes you really just wanna go where everyone knows your name.



2. My So-Called Life – Pilot
So, she started hanging out with Rayanne Graff, because it seemed fun and because, it seemed like if she didn’t, she would die. That may sound overly dramatic, but that is exactly what Angela says in voice over at the beginning of this series. Angela is a typical high school student in the suburbs. She starts hanging out with new friends that her parents do not really approve of and she lies about where she’s going. She thinks about having sex with the boy she has a crush on, and she daydreams about him in class. From this very first episode, this show just felt like it was about my life and it still speaks to me today. The characters talked to each other like real teenagers. They did not have philosophical conversations about issues happening in the world, they talked about the things that teenagers talk about: things that directly affect their lives at that particular moment.



3. Sports Night – Pilot
This show takes place at a fictional sports show called Sports Night, with anchors Dan Rydell and Casey McCall. It is executive produced by Dana Whitaker, with the help of associate producers Natalie Hurley and Jeremy Goodwin, and their staff. They all work under managing editor Isaac Jaffe for the Continental Sports Channel (CSN). Still getting over his recent divorce and becoming disillusioned by the state of sports, Casey contemplates leaving the show. After an argument with Dan and a historic run by a South African distance runner, Casey ultimately decides to stay. In this episode, we also see how much Dana and Isaac butt heads with the network, but also how loyal they are their staff. Awful laugh track aside, this pilot is still one of my favorite episodes of television ever.



4. Alias – Truth Be Told
Sydney Bristow is a typical grad student. She has two best friends, Will and Francie, and she just got engaged to her doctor boyfriend, Danny. Oh, and she also works for a covert branch of the CIA called SD-6. After Sydney decides to her fiancé her secret, the agency kills him and tries to kill her as well for breaking their number one rule of secrecy. She then learns from her estranged father that SD-6 is actually not the CIA, but an enemy organization, so she goes to the actual CIA to become a double agent. Even though I was not a huge fan of this show as a whole, it started off strong and the pilot drew me in with its kick ass lead character and its secret agent storyline.

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8 Episodes from 2015

Here are my favorite episodes of television from the past year in no particular order. If it is possible, there was even more good television than last year and it was very difficult to pick only eight episodes. They are not necessarily the BEST episodes from the year, just the ones that I enjoyed and the ones that affected me the most.

1. Justified – The Promise
I am not really sure what made me interested in checking out this show when it first aired. Timothy Olyphant was definitely a factor, but there just must have been something about those first trailers that drew me in. And I am so glad that they did because it quickly became one of my favorite shows on TV. Each season was engaging and they had some of the best guest stars of any show on TV. This finale not only wrapped up the season’s arc with an epic shootout, but also brought Raylan’s, Ava’s and Boyd’s stories full circle. Everyone ended up exactly where they should.

2. The Flash – Fast Enough / Arrow – Legends of Yesterday
Okay, so this is technically two episodes, but since it was a two-part crossover, I am counting them as one. There are so many things that I love about these shows, including the fact that The Flash has consistently had the best special effects of any show on TV and Arrow has the best stunts. I also really found the music in these episodes to be inspiring. It was subtle, but in the Flash episode, you could hear Arrow themes overlayed and in the Arrow episode you could hear Flash themes. It was beautiful and awesome. These episodes also introduced us to Hawkgirl, Hawkman and Vandal Savage, who will all be featured on the new series Legends of Tomorrow. I just love how these shows intertwine so seamlessly, yet still maintain their individual tones.

3. Outlander – Wentworth Prison
The performances in this episode from Sam Heughan, Caitroina Balfe and Tobias Menzies just blew me away and broke my heart. It was an incredibly difficult episode to watch, even as someone who has read the books and knew what was going to happen, but is was so well done. We saw just how evil and broken Black Jack Randall truly is and also what lengths Jamie would go to in order to protect Claire. It was an extremely powerful and moving episode of television, and one that will stay with me for a long time.

4. Playing House – Celebrate Me Scones
One word: Bosephus! This season finale also gave us Kenny Loggins and his pun-tastic green room, as well as Jeanine Willcall and a heartwrenching cliff-hanger. You would think that having one of my best friends from high school working at the network, I would be able to get *some* intel on whether or not there would be a third season, but my mind control skills do not seem to be working. I NEED MORE OF THIS AMAZING SHOW!

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8 Bars…

This has felt like one of the longest weeks ever, and it is still only Thursday. I just wish that I could grab a drink at one of these awesome bars. Okay, you should probably avoid most of these places, but visiting them would definitely make your life a little more interesting.

1. MacLaren’s Pub – How I Met Your Mother
Get hit on by Barney or have him introduce you to Ted, witness many a high-five, and maybe hang out with Nick Swisher (or get the chance to heckle him).



2. The Bent Elbow – Witches of East End
Party with the Beauchamp women, taste test one of Freya’s (hopefully harmless) magic potions, and maybe avoid the painting in the bathroom.


3. The Alibi Room – Shameless
Get drunk with Frank Gallagher and listen to his next crazy idea first-hand, play some pool, or go upstairs to spend time with a Russian prostitute.



4. Boyd’s Bar – Justified
Unless you just cannot find any bourbon elsewhere, the only other reason to be in this bar would be to join Boyd’s crew. Either way, just make sure you are well-armed.

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8 Emmy Snubs…

There were a few happy surprises this morning (Tatiana Maslany!) but also a lot of disappointment. I know that there is just too much good television on right now, and it is not possible for every single person to be recognized, but here are just a few of the shows and actors that I wish had received nominations. It was difficult to find good videos for some of these performances, so there are a few links to TVLine’s Dream Emmy Nominations where they have embedded videos.

Fair warning: there are a few spoilers.

1. Shameless
This is one of the most underrated shows on television and last season was no exception. While William H. Macy was recognized for his performance as Frank Gallagher, Cameron Monaghan’s Ian was phenomenal this year as he slowly began to accept his bipolar diagnosis.



2. Outlander
The performances given by Sam Heughan, Caitroina Balfe and Tobias Menzes in the last two episodes of the first season were intense and profound. I am actually baffled that not a single one of them was nominated. If I could have included my favorite clip, it would have been the scene where Jamie says goodbye to Claire before she leaves him in Wentworth Prison with Black Jack. Instead, this clip is from the middle of the season when Jamie breaks down after having saved Claire.

3. Jane The Virgin
This was by far my favorite new show last year. It is moving and hilarious and filled with surprises. Gina Rodriguez and Jaime Camil in particular were revelations. Rodriguez won a Golden Globe for her role as Jane, so I was hoping she might get recognized again, but alas, I was wrong. Camil was more of a long-shot, but I was still disappointed. I was happily surprised to see Anthony Mendez get nominated for Best Narrator. I did not even know that was a category until this year. This is the clip where Jane calls Rogelio ‘Dad’ for the first time.

4. Justified
When this show started, I did not think that the characters of Ava and Boyd would be people that I cared so much about. Walton Goggins and Joelle Carter brought them to life in such a fantastic way that, no matter how horribly they behaved, you always rooted for them until the very end, even when they were at odds with each other. In this clip Ava tells Boyd that she has been informing to Raylan.

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Quotes of the Week: April 12-18

These are my favorite quotes from the past week, not just from shows currently on the air, but also other random things I happen to be watching.

Once Upon a Time
Mr. Gold: Maybe you should take a piece of advice from a man who has pushed away every chance at happiness because it was never enough. If it’s within your grasp, if you know where it is and who it’s with, then you should run to it, grasp it and never let it go.

Game of Thrones
Daenerys: Angry snakes lash out. Makes chopping off their heads that much easier.

Varys: You could help another climb those steps and take that seat. The Seven Kingdoms need someone stronger than Tommen, but gentler than Stanis. A monarch who can intimidate the high lords and inspire the people. A ruler loved by millions with a powerful army and the right family name.
Tyrion: Good luck finding him.
Varys: Who said anything about ‘him.’

Outlander
Jamie: You’re not normally a close-mouthed woman, Claire. I expected noisier displeasure… but, quiet anger can be very effective.

The Originals
Davina: It must *really* suck to have to be you all the time.
Klaus: It hasn’t been a picnic, honestly.

Jane the Virgin
Rogelio: Who cares if your eggs are too old. We’ll buy new ones.

The Flash
Caitlin: Is that a bird?
Cisco: It’s a plane.
Felicity: It’s my boyfriend.

Felicity: It’s kinda like I’m dating Barry, but in Oliver’s body.

Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.
May: You’re worried that I don’t understand your choice. Well, sometimes that’s the price of doing the right thing. No one will understand, and it hurts like hell.
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Quotes of the Week: March 29-April 4

These are my favorite quotes from the past week, not just from shows currently on the air, but also other random things I happen to be watching.

Once Upon a Time
Mary Margaret: Heroes do what’s right, not what’s easy.

Battle Creek
Commander: Are you okay?
Fontanelle: He lost a bet. He can’t hold his liquor like he used to.
Commander: Can’t fit into those chaps like he used to either.

The Flash
Barry: It’s okay! You’ve all been given an antidote!
James: That wasn’t very sanitary!

Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.
May: She said she was working for S.H.I.E.L.D., Phil. The *real* S.H.I.E.L.D.
Coulson: What the hell does *that* mean?

Hunter: Sorry I’m late. An evacuation pod will wash up where and when it wants to.

New Girl
Jess: And then Pete says to..
Coach: Allen Iverson
Jess: “You want to keep sportsing on the..
Coach: Grizzlies
Jess: ..but if you want me to show you the money, then…
Coach: You gotta finish your career off with the ’76ers!”
Jess: And it was classic Pete.

Louise: I just think you’d be more of a success socially if you let people come to you.

Justified
Rachel: How bad is it?
Art: Well, I shaved.

Raylan: You ever been down a mine?
Tim: I been to Mordor, but not through the mines.
Raylan: Is that a yes or a no?
Tim: No.

Younger
Josh: I’m gonna steal your cell phone for a second.
Liza: Wait a minute. Why?
Josh: Just relax, scaredy cat.
Liza: What are you doing?
Josh: I’m taking a picture of my junk…No. I’m adding myself to your calendar. Right here. Next Thursday.
Liza: Are you asking me on a date?
Josh: Is that a yes?
Liza: I don’t know. Let me see that junk shot first. Oh my god, I totally thought that was going to sound flirty, but it came out creepy.
Josh: It came out really sexy, if you ask me.

Arrow
Felicity: Please tell me you have a brilliant plan.
Oliver: I don’t even have a regular plan.

Felicity: What is wrong with me? He’s brilliant. He knows the plot to every Doctor Who episode. All thirty-four seasons. He looks like a Disney prince. I mean, he’s practically the perfect man.

Oliver: Just ask me what you want to know.
Lance: What do I wanna know. Well, was it worth it? All that pain and misery you brought back from that island. Merlyn. Slade Wilson. Wouldn’t it have been better if you had just died there?
Oliver: The reason I came back was to try and save the people of this city.
Lance: I hate to break it to you, but saving people isn’t your specialty. Tommy. Hilton. Your mother. My daughter. Well, now you set out killing Laurel too.
Oliver: I didn’t want her to be involved in this. I didn’t want anyone to be involved in this.
Lance: But you involved me. You spent a year making me look like a fool. You spent a year making me your accomplice. You have any idea what you’ve done? Huh? What you’ve done to all of us? To the people who you claim to care so much about?! You’ve made us criminals! You’ve made us liars and victims! You, Mr. Queen, are not a hero! You’re a villain! But you know that, don’t you?

The Goldbergs
Lainey: Tiffany is coming to *our* mall!
Erica: Sweet God, my life now has meaning!

Beverly: You gotta go up there and tell her she’s gotta go to college!
Murray: Why? You just told her she didn’t!
Beverly: Because, I’m the dream pusher, and you’re the dream smusher. That’s how this works!
Murray: This is a thing? I’m the smusher?
Beverly: Yes! I push, you smush! That’s the natural order of things!
Murray: I didn’t sign up for this! You smush for once. You know, it’s exhausting always having to be the bad guy.
Beverly: Well, it can’t be me! I’m the loving, supportive one. You’re the grumbling, grouchy one I always hide behind. Now go! Smush, smush, smush!

Bones
Booth: I don’t think tweets are meant to be profound, or anything like that. Except if they’re Flyers updates. That’s life or death.

Elementary
Sherlock: The things that I do, the things that you care about, you think that I do them because I’m a good person. I do them ’cause it would hurt too much not to.
Agatha: Because you’re a good person.
Sherlock: It hurts, Agatha. All this. Everything I see. Everything I hear, touch, smell. The conclusions that I’m able to draw. The things that are revealed to me. The ugliness. My work focuses me. It helps. You say that I’m using my gifts. I say I’m just treating them.

Quotes of the Week: March 15-21

These are my favorite quotes from the past week, not just from shows currently on the air, but also other random things I happen to be watching.

Shameless
Frank: I’m the only guy I know that’s been given last rites three times.

The Good Wife
Marissa: Handsome men are so weak.

Battle Creek
Russ: Your snitch is an NBA cheerleader?
Al: You got a problem with that?
Russ: No, I don’t got a problem with that. The problem I got is that *my* snitch is a fat, annoying, hairy moron.

The Royals
Penelope: I do not want to be American. I do not want to walk around like Justin Bieber with no shirt on and my trousers hanging off.
Eleanor: He’s Canadian.
Maribel: Even worse. They can’t make us Canadian, can they Daddy? Canadian and poor, just like Justin Bieber?

Jane the Virgin
Rogelio: I’m going to take your hand because I’m a gentleman and we’re in public.

Narrator: Sometimes the best romance is not the stuff of fantasy. It’s the romance of small moments…of intimate moments…of reality.

Castle
Kate: Whatever’s next, I don’t want to have to compromise my priorities to get there, and I never want to be guilty of leaving behind what matters most.
Castle: You cannot leave behind what is always at your side.

Community
Abed: That’s the most interesting take on not being interesting I’ve ever heard.

Dean: Guess what I just purchased for the school from a local manufacturer? Greendale’s first virtual reality operating system!
Frankie: Did Greendale *need* a virtual reality system?
Dean: Uh, like a hole in the head!
Frankie: A hole in the head is something that you *don’t* need.
Dean: She said through a huge hole in her head.

Jeff: I’ll never get out of here, will I?
Dean: I haven’t met many that do.

iZombie
Ravi: You ate the girl’s temporal lobe. Going to the police with her potential murderer is the least you can do.

Justified
Tim: Here comes the douche-mobile.

Boyd: You kiss my ass, Raylan Givens!!

Avery: Whatever that blast was, it wasn’t enough.
Raylan: One thing that didn’t occur to me: dipshits not capable of pullin’ it off.
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Quotes of the Week: March 8-14

These are my favorite quotes from the past week, not just from shows currently on the air, but also other random things I happen to be watching.

Once Upon a Time
Regina: If you ensured her goodness, why can’t you tell her?
Mary-Margaret: The same reason you don’t want Henry to hear about all the terrible things you did in your past. You wanna protect him, so he doesn’t lose faith in the person you’ve become, the person he always believed you could be. That’s why Emma can never find out what I’m about to tell you. She’s finally starting to open up her heart. And if she learns the truth, if we let her down, she’ll lose faith in us, and it could send her tumbling down a dark path. Because when you betray the people you love, when you make them see the worst parts of you, what you’ve done changes everything. There’s no going back. You’ve shattered the bonds you worked so hard to forge. And the stronger those bonds once were, the more difficult they are the put back together, if they can be repaired at all.

Shameless
Frank: Prison is no place for a man with naturally tight glutes.

Frank: I’m the goddamn father-of-the-bride. Why didn’t I get an invitation?
Sammy: Because you’re an untrained dog, Pops, and no one wants you shitting on the floor.

House of Lies
Marty: Prison makes smarter criminals.

Looking
Kevin: You’re very cute when you’re wrong.

The Voice
Meghan: So, you gotta pick *one* of them? How do you sleep at night?
Blake: I don’t. I drink.

Jane the Virgin
Rogelio: Turns out I’m equally talented in outer space as I am here on Earth.

Justified
Raylan: Zachariah Randolph.
Tim: Let me guess. Local boy. How come no one down here is ever named Steve or Justin?

Ty: Bullshit. You shot me in the back.
Raylan: If you wanted to get hit in the front, you should have run *toward* me.

Raylan: You’re a good lawyer. All the good ones have ponytails.

Ava: Your neck is just as red as mine, you just don’t see it ’cause you’re always walkin’ forward.

The 100
Clarke: I tried…I tried to be the good guy.
Abbie: Maybe there are no good guys.

Clarke: I bear it so they don’t have to.

Empire
Lucious: You know how God made man in his image? I’m making Hakeem in *my* image. God didn’t need no help, and neither do I.

Hindsight
Lolly: What am I doing with my life? Is there a god? Does Jordan Catalano really love me? Etcetera.

Sebastian: I care about you in a way that’s totally appropriate and non-sexual.

The Vampire Diaries
Liam: Caroline Forbes. The girl from the swimming hole.
Caroline: Liam. The boy I totally forgot existed!

Caroline: You know how cute guys just naturally taste better?

Quotes of the Week: Feb. 22-28

These are my favorite quotes from the past week, not just from shows currently on the air, but also other random things I happen to be watching.

Sleepy Hollow
Grace: Sometimes all it takes is to take pen to paper to make a difference.

Agent Carter
Dottie: “I like a man with a vault full of toys.”

Peggy: “I know my value. Anyone else’s opinion doesn’t really matter.”

New Girl
Schmidt: I can hear it. I can hear it building it’s house. Building it’s sticky, deadly house that you can never leave. Building it. With it’s ass.

Coach: Don’t ask me again to get on my shoulders! That’s a once-a-year thing and you already used it on Halloween when we were 10-foot-tall Ralph Macchio.

Justified
Raylan: “Wonderful things can happen when you sow seeds of distrust in a garden of ass holes.”

Empire
Cookie: You want Cookie’s nookie, ditch the bitch.

Lucious: What do you want to do, man?
Jamal: What do you want to do? You want me to do it for you.
Lucious: No, don’t do it for me. Don’t do it for your mama. Don’t do it for your brothers. You do it for the sake of the music. You got to remember, that’s why God put us on this planet, Mal. Regardless of how we fight or feel about each other or try to hurt each other, the music, man. Music, that’s forever. They’ll dance to it forever. They’ll sing to it forever. They’ll be inspired by it forever. Put the bad blood behind us. Tell your truth in the music.

Hindsight
Becca: Do you have a dream job?
Kevin: Uh, yeah, Ghostbuster. I’m still waiting for an opening. I got my resume all ready to go. Majored in ectoplasm.
Becca: Yeah, well, you gotta dream big, Egon.

The Musketeers
Rochefort: This is all very moving, but can we get on with the business of saving the King?!

Hart of Dixie
George: We will have a bottle of your fanciest Norweigan wine.
Waiter: Norweigan wine, it tastes like the urine from a mink whale. You will have French and you’ll not complain.
Annabeth: Delightful!

House of Cards
Frank: What is the face of a coward? The back of his head as he runs from a battle.

Frank: I should have never made you Ambassador.
Claire: I should have never made you President.