Inside TV+Movies with Daniel Fienberg

Listen: Firewall & Iceberg Podcast No. 160

Dan and Alan talk Golden Globe nominations, 'Sons of Anarchy' and more

By Daniel Fienberg Thursday, Dec 13, 2012 7:07 PM

Happy Thursday, Boys & Girls!

Have you been up since 4:45 awaiting Golden Globe nominations only to find out that "Mad Men" isn't one of the five best dramas on TV? We have! And that's why it's time for an occasionally grumpy installment of The Firewall & Iceberg postcast.

In this week's podcast, we chatter about SAG Awards and Golden Globe nominations. We also discuss the finale and full season of "Sons of Anarchy" and then our ongoing disillusion with "Homeland" reaches its penultimate week.

And get ready for a multi-podcast week next week. Because we love you!

Here's today's breakdown:

Golden Globes/SAG blather (00:01:30 - 23:00)

Listener Mail - Toupee Fallacy and Bad Actors or Bad Writing? (00:23:40 -

Listener Mail - The future of "Parks & Recreation" (00:30:45 - 35:45)

Listener Mail - "The Shield" and "Sons of Anarchy" into finale discussion (00:36:20 - 00:53:55)

"Homeland" - (00:53:55 - 01:12:10)

As always, you can subscribe to The Firewall & Iceberg Podcast over at the iTunes Store, where you can also rate us and comment on us. [Or you can always follow our RSS Feed.]

And as always, feel free to e-mail us questions for the podcast.

Firewall & Iceberg - Podcast 160

Daniel Fienberg
Executive Editor

A long-time member of the TCA Board and a longer-time blogger of "American Idol," Dan Fienberg writes about TV, except for when he writes about movies or sometimes writes about the Red Sox. But never music. He would sound stupid talking about music.

Related Searches: Firewall & Iceberg, Podcast, Alan Sepinwall, daniel fienberg, Homeland, Golden Globes 2013, Oscars 2013, Sons of Anarchy

Dave I

@Homeland, I am curious how long the great acting & characterization will make up for the plotholes for you guys?

As for Carrie making decisions like blaming Valdez because he's Muslim . . . How much of that do you make tolerances for with Carrie's situation? She WAS captured & held at gunpoint by Nazir, without sleep for ~thirty-six hours, and was desperately grasping at straws. To me, accusing Valdez was a desperate measure and using his Muslim faith was them showing just how desperate they were to try and find any lead to follow.

Oddly enough, I think this episode bothered me less than Dan & Alan because earlier episodes/contrivances bothered me more. To an extent, those set the bar low enough that, even though it still bothered me (and does the more I think of it), comparatively speaking it is not so bad.

-Cheers
December 14, 2012 at 12:48AM EST Reply to Comment
WaltEagle

On the one hand, The Shield's procedural-ish nature lent it to few real character arcs that spanned multiple seasons, mainly just Vic, Aceveda, and (starting in Season 3) Shane. Due to spending no time on solving cases (i.e. developing one-shot guest stars), Sons of Anarchy is more of a sprawling ensemble piece. Jax/Clay/Gemma/Tara are the crux of the show, but Tig/Bobby/Unser/Juice/Otto/Opie/Piney/Hale/Stahl all had arcs and progressions of sorts as well (not really Chibs despite some great episodes for him).

But like Dan says, The Shield churned out MULTIPLE great seasons even before the final year, and something like the Season 5 Vic/Lem/Shane/Kavanaugh arc is I think stronger drama than any of Sons of Anarchy. A great final two seasons can elevate Sons of Anarchy, but it won't be The Shield.
December 14, 2012 at 4:45AM EST Reply to Comment
John

Re: Kurt Sutter's character in Sons of Anarchy. The tongue biting was just completely gratuitous and unnecessary. Yes, they could legally compel him to testify, but they're not allowed to beat a statement out of him (and what could be worse than biting off your own tongue?). All they could really do is hold him in contempt of court, which could theoretically lead to imprisonment...except that he's already in prison and on death row. Yeah, I think he struck some deal to get the other Son in prison better treatment (not sure on that, but I think he worked something out in exchange for his testimony), so they could also void the deal. But I'm pretty sure they're going to do that anyway because biting off his own tongue is just as much a failure to comply with the terms of the deal as just keeping his mouth shut. In sum: that scene was in there just because Sutter thought it would be cool, not because it had any legal relevance whatsoever.
December 14, 2012 at 6:52AM EST Reply to Comment
Wendy

Dan, I couldn't find the latest podcast on itunes.
:( Wendy
December 14, 2012 at 9:25AM EST Reply to Comment
- dan Wendy - iTunes is WEIRD. Hopefully it'll be there now... Or soon...
  
  -Daniel
  December 14, 2012 at 3:11PM EST
LJA

To the listener who wrote in about bad acting versus bad writing. For a stellar example of the phenomenon of good actors not being able to transcend bad writing, the great Oscar winning actors Emma Thompson and Dustin Hoffman co-starred in a HORRENDOUS movie approximately five years ago called Last Chance Harvey. I can't in good conscience recommend you watch this movie as I wouldn't wish it on my worst enemy, but it will demonstrate how a bad script can destroy even the finest performances.
December 14, 2012 at 2:48PM EST Reply to Comment
B

Smash wasn't the best, but as musical, it succeeded. Those numbers were up to par and I think it deserved its spot.
December 15, 2012 at 7:00PM EST Reply to Comment
erika_herzog

i have decided that the only reason i like Homeland is because Carrie -- in the face of insane odds -- is always right about things like Nazir still being in the tunnels, etc.

Am just so freaking sad how this show is crumbling. I am not hugely high maintenance when it comes to plotting but i was really hating the last episode. forgiveness indeed.
December 16, 2012 at 4:56AM EST Reply to Comment