Now that many of our favorite shows are either on hiatus or have just finished up a season, TV Fanatic is handing out grades to various shows the way Santa hands out presents to good kids...in bunches.
On the heels of Matt Richenthal's report on The Good Wife's first half of season three, Dan Forcella now steps up to the plate in handing out what might be the easiest grade of the year. It's time for a TV Fanatic Report Card on the first season of Homeland...
Quick Out of the Gate: Critics and fans alike noted early and often that the Homeland pilot was the most promising of the fall. The compelling story of a prisoner of war returning home, and the CIA agent tasked with finding proof that he had been turned by terrorists, made that evident from the start. The Showtime drama became appointment viewing from the word go.
Best Episode: "The Weekend" was not only the best episode of Homeland's first season; it may have been the best hour of television that aired in 2011. At the midpoint of the season, this was when Carrie Mathison and Nick Brody maybe got a bit too comfortable with each over a weekend at a cabin. It was incredible watching their chemistry together just before Carrie spilled the beans about spying on Brody and thinking he had been turned. Brody's anger in the aftermath - which we now know was because Carrie was correct in her assumption - was equally exciting and scary.
To read the rest of
my report card on Homeland's first season, head over to TV Fanatic.
With so many shows either on hiatus or having just wrapped up their most recent seasons, TV Fanatic is taking a look back... along with a slight look forward.
We've already handed out grades to 2 Broke Girls, Supernatural and Covert Affairs, among other shows. Now, critic Dan Forcella takes us through the highs and lows of the first half of the first season of The Office without Steve Carell...
Funniest Line: There are plenty of worthy nominations, but for me it's a tie between Nate's "You had me at clookies" and Dwight's "I'm gonna make you the buffest dude Val Kilmer has ever seen." What was your favorite quote of the first half of the season?
Best Prank: It has to be Jim writing a book entitled The Ultimate Guide to Throwing a Garden Party for the sole purpose of Dwight buying the lone copy and following the book's crazy orders to the "t." It made for one heck of an episode, which brings us to...
Best Episode: "Garden Party" Dwight following along with all of James Trickington's chapters gave the episode brilliant focus, as well as a ton of laughs. The half hour also gave us Mose's valet stunt, Andy's family acting like jerks, and everyone else sucking up to Robert through multiple toasts.
To read the rest of
my The Office midseason report card, head over to TV Fanatic.
With so many shows either on hiatus or having just wrapped up their most recent seasons, TV Fanatic is taking a look back... along with a slight look forward.
We've already handed out grades to 2 Broke Girls, Supernatural and The Walking Dead, among other shows. Now, critic Dan Forcella takes us through the highs and lows of season two of Covert Affairs...
Best Episode: "Half a World Away." This was the best of episode of the second season, and the greatest in Covert Affairs' history. Finally learning how Auggie lost his sight, and getting more of a back story on this lovable character, was a long time coming for fans. The hour did not disappoint.
Worst Episode: "What's the Frequency, Kenneth?" Covert Affairs has yet to swing for the fences and miss, but occasionally the series will just spit out a less than interesting episode. "What's the Frequency, Kenneth?" was a bit too boring to keep our interest as we waited for the second season to come to a conclusion.
Best Character: Auggie. His talent, his charisma, and, let's face it, the way he looks with his shirt off, combine to make Auggie Anderson the most fun character to watch on Covert Affairs. None of that changed during this second season, as Christopher Gorham continued to help Annie, and even had time to begin a serious relationship of his own.
To read the rest of
my report card for the second season of Covert Affairs, head over to TV Fanatic.
TV Fanatic's end-of-season Report Card series includes our favorite summer hits, as well. Today, we break down the second season of USA's Covert Affairs.
Are there enough superlatives to describe Auggie's greatness? What were the best plot lines, and which fell a little bit short? What's keeping the show from reaching the next level of truly must-watch TV instead of just a fun summer escape?
Here's our critic's postmortem of a summer of Covert Affairs ...
Best character: Is it too obvious to say Auggie? Is he not everyone's favorite? Maybe it's his dashing good looks, his relentless charm, or even his ability to his job with a ridiculous disadvantage, but it is extremely difficult not to love Auggie Anderson.
Best episode: If you find Auggie as interesting as I do, it is hard to go with any episode besides "Half A World Away." Finally learning how Auggie became blind was great, but watching Christopher Gorham play out those scenes with such conviction was even better. The fact that it was a subject we were anticipating since the beginning, and it still managed to knock it out of the park, is a credit to how good "Half A World Away" was.
Worst character: None. You might think that not hating any of the main characters on a series would be a positive thing, but I beg to differ. Having a jerk or two to hate on is one of the crucial aspects to any show. The way that I hate Kurt Hummel on Glee, Gabe Lewis on The Office, or Tara Thornton on True Blood, makes those shows more interesting. Bringing someone in to root against could make Covert Affairs better moving forward.
To read the rest of
my Mid-Season Report Card for Covert Affairs, head over to TV Fanatic.
