Rubicon: Clovered

Sorry, for the somewhat spoilery title.

I'm also sorry to report that AMC has decided to not renew Rubicon for a second season. This statement really bummed me out:

AMC will not be renewing original series, “Rubicon,” for a second season. “Rubicon” premiered on AMC on August 1, 2010 and was produced by Warner Horizon Television.

“‘Rubicon’ gave us an opportunity to tell a rich and compelling story, and we’re proud of the series. This was not an easy decision, but we are grateful to have had the opportunity to work with such a phenomenally talented and dedicated team.”

Sucks.

But if you haven't watched it, I can say the first 12 episodes will wear well in a DVD release, with the 13th episode being a bit too cliff-hangerly, you might want to make sure you're well adjusted before watching that one after being wowed by the buildup and climax of the first 12. So many answers that I'd like to have closure on. Hopefully the writers will be able to spill some of their thoughts on twitter, so if your interested start following @ElizaClark @richarderobbins and @ZDubDub (if not for Rubicon answers for new about where they might be working next).

Another reason to perhaps rewatch Rubicon for the first time, is that BBC will be airing the series sometime in Winter 2010/2011 according the @JillButt, so if you have friends across the pond, this might be a good time to watch a series together. Rubicon was (#weep#) a wonderfully smart and well executed drama. Still worthy of a LOST fans' attention.

Also Television By The Numbers has a list of Direct TV Save Our Show series, of which Rubicon tops the list. So ... C'mon Direct TV you are our only hope.

Terriers - Scruffy, Who You Calling Scruffy?

Like Damon Lindelof I’m a sucker for StarWars quotes, especially Han Solo lines.  So forgive me for the gratuitous quote to describe a show that you should be watching on Wednesday nights, but it kinda fits!

Terriers is not a show about dogs.  Even Donal Logue (the lead actor playing scruffy unlicensed PI Hank Dolworth) admits that’s probably not the best marketing for this wonderful drama that airs on FX on Wednesdays.  Terriers is set in the quaint beach township of Ocean Beach (a suburb of San Diego) and tells stories around a couple of friends, Hank Dolworth (Donal Logue) and Britt Pollack (Michael Raymond-James).  The pair are oddly matched, Hank an Ex-Cop/Drinker/Husband and Britt an Ex-Criminal/Break-in Artist.  To scrap together a few shillings to eat at local diners (which should be featured in Diners, Drive Ins, and Dives… please) Hank and Britt team up as mostly process servers for a lawyer friend.  They also get a stray case here or there as unlicensed private investigators.

Noir is the genre that is most often tied to Terriers, and I suppose it fits (note bene: I’m not a professional critic and lack the education for all these types and things… ) but it’s also sunny in all the right places.  Britt and Hank have a wonderful onscreen rapport (and much has to do with Donal and Michael being real life friends) that makes watching and listening to a joy.  The stories are more procedural than sequential, so you can jump in at any time and be ready to enjoy the stories.  And while the stories are captivating and interesting, they, like most FX dramas, aren’t always full of happy endings. 

The characters keep secrets from each other under the guise of protecting their friends and their relationships.  As LOST lovers are aware, this isn’t a great way to win friends and influence people, and as viewers we all are aware of the train-wreck that is coming when the secrets are eventually discovered, or misinterpreted.

The supporting cast of Laura Allen (Britt’s live-in girlfriend/fiancé), Kimberly Quinn (Hank’s e-wife), Jamie Denbo (their lawyer friend/new mother), Rockmond Dunbar (Hank’s ex-partner/police detective) … and a wonderful guest run by Karina Logue (Hank’s sister/schitzo- which I hope becomes a recurring role) make for a rich background that surround the pair as they deal with the uncertainty of their tenacious actions.

See Terriers isn’t just a reference to a scruffy dog, it’s scrappy, tenacious, and unrelenting show about some lovable yet deeply flawed characters trying to do right in an everchaging world.  Watch Terriers tonight!

Rubicon - AMC's slow burn mystery thiller

alternative title, Rubicon's twisty mystery character drama a real LOST-like production.

Let me start off by listing some of the things that I enjoyed about LOST:

• Engaging and smartly written drama.


• Characters and their development through the story arc


• Cinematography


• Musical score

Those were some of the tentpole characteristics I found in the show way before it started knocking my socks off in the sci-fi-ish genre of the later seasons. Season 1 of LOST stole my heart because it was a smart, well written show that focused on the whos of the plane crash not the whys or the hows.

With that, let me begin to profess my love of the AMC show Rubicon. Rubicon started late summer and has gone through its initial 13 episode run, and is currently in a holding pattern at AMC awaiting official word of whether it should get a season 2. While I'm a strong advocate for another season of Rubicon, this blog is also hoping to give you a reason to watch the first season. Because, simply: It. Is. That. Good.

Initial criticism of the show focused on its slogging pace, slow development and seeming non sequitur scenes. As the season built, loyal viewers were rewarded with more puzzle pieces coming together as mysteries were slowly revealed, solved and puzzled together. Much like LOST's first season of dropping crumbs of mysteries later solved in later seasons these mysteries were in addition to character development, not as a substitution.

And boy do we have some characters in Rubicon:

• Will Travers - Introverted, brainy, puzzle solver that finds himself promoted to a position previously held by his father-in-law, David Haddas, at the American Policy Institute. API is a government intelligence contractor, so it has access to top secret government resources, but it's not completely under the oversight of the government. As he begins to figure out his new position he stumbles upon a string of clues left by his deceased father-in-law that was killed suddenly by a tragic commuter train crash.


• Kale Ingram - The second in command at API and an ex-Marine with more history working for The Company (CIA). He's mentoring Will Travers while also trying to placate the needs of API's number one, Truxton Spangler. While one of the most cryptic characters he's also very supportive of his proteges Will and Maggie Young, a single mom secretary trying to stand on her own two feet.


• Truxton Spangler - The eccentric leader of API who has a daily habit of consuming Corn Flakes for lunch. He also has ties to a group of gentlemen that seem to have ties to world events, and are trying to manage their interests in light of affairs that happen in the world.

Those are the main characters, but they are surrounded by a wonderful cast of API analysts, and peripheral characters that slowly builds into a compelling mystery that gets wrapped up neatly in the season's penultimate episode. The final episode is where people are confused about the state of Rubicon's second season. We're left with some major cliff-hangers in the aftermath of the mystery solving in the second-to-last episode and the growing audience has a thirst to find out what happened next.

Have you watched Rubicon on AMC? Does this little tease get you on the bandwagon? Pique your curiousity? Let me know in the comments...

WTAL "The Greater Good" and "Born to Run" Rewatch Podcast Details!

Hey LOSTblog fans!

Sorry about last week guys.  I was having internet/computer issues.  But I am back up this week and we will be doing a double episode!  We will be talking about what we noticed in Sayid-centric "The Greater Good" and Kate-centric "Born to Run."

Dara and Matt will be talking with me as usual, but we always love it when other people join us.

The call begins tonight at 9:30 EST.  If you would like to listen live you can go to http://www.talkshoe.com/tc/76142 or you can be on the call with us to chat by sending us a DM or @reply on Twitter to @erinava.

Pre-Hash: Born to Run

Kate digs up her past, and we delve into it in “Born to Run”. Kate has always been the one who wants to run away, but the mysterious toy airplane she hides from the others on the island is one thing she keeps running after. She’s come close to risking everything to get something that [...]

LOST Likes - What Shows Are You Watching?

With the finale of LOST we're all trying to cope with the end of sensational television. As LOSTies we are known for our fine taste in the entertainment medium, including you all everybody. So we have decided to have a new feature on LOSTblog to help us identify and support those shows that have caught our collective discerning eye towards quality entertainment.

Quality television is something we're all looking for, and in this day and age we're not solely limited to what is currently broadcasting on network television or cable channels. Thanks to DVDs, Hulu, Netflix streams and other media outlets shows from the past are available for our current consumption. I know since the ending credits of LOST I've used these streams to consume some past shows that I didn't have the bandwidth to watch, or in some cases even knew the show existed. For instance:

The Wire - an HBO series that has garnered well-deserved accolades for its characters and look into the Baltimore crime scene. While not LOST-like as a genre, its quality is top notch, and its commitment to excellence certainly makes it a worthwhile journey to enjoy the five-season arc.

Damages - Orignally an FX series, Damages puts on non-linear storytelling and series-long mystery arcs in a compelling way. Certainly not a procedural, Damages requires you to pay attention to characters and events to put the puzzle together. While not in the sci fi genre its mysterious storytelling using the backdrop of legal maneuverings is a compelling watch. Superb acting and well written, another series that is worth going back and taking a look.

Other shows I could add to my list: John from Cincinnati, Deadwood, Daybreak, Firefly, et cetera.

Also there are new shows that have popped up during LOST's run, that might not have gotten our attention because of scheduling, or just the number of hours available to watch television. Or new shows that have just started, or are in the pipeline to hit the airwaves in the next couple of years. We're open to examine these shows on our site with the aid of LOST-tinted glasses in supporting good television for the sake of the art.

While I've discovered Dexter, Mad Men, Leverage, and Burn Notice during the past hiatuses of LOST, there are some really good shows that have come out since LOST's finale: Rubicon (AMC), The Walking Dead (AMC), Terriers (FX), and Sherlock on Masterpiece Mystery (PBS).

So we're asking you, as fans of LOST and fans of quality TV, "What shows are you watching?"  If you're lead to give us a list of shows, great!  If you'd like to blog regularly about a show (either past, current or future) let us know.  We'd love to start more conversations about Television and how it touches us emotionally, intellectually, or even just gives us a few minutes of entertainment each week.

Contact one of the LOSTblog bloggers if you're interested in helping out!

Rewatching LOST: Hurley

Let’s put together everything we know about Hurley. 1. Hurley was supposed to take Jacob’s place all along. That may sound hinky, but let’s consider: After “The Incident,” we see [and Miles tells us] that Hurley takes “more of a leadership role.” In “Everybody Loves Hugo,” Michael chides Hurley at Libby’s grave: “People are listening [...]