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Firewall & Iceberg Podcast, episode 135: 'The Newsroom,' 'Wilfred,' 'The Killing' & more

Dan and Alan also break down the finales of 'Girls' and 'Veep,' and talk more about 'Buffy'

By Alan Sepinwall Monday, Jun 18, 2012 6:48 PM

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Lots of finale talk on this week's Firewall & Iceberg Podcast, as we break down the recent conclusions of "The Killing," "Girls" (and here's a link to the Allison Williams .gif we discuss during that segment) and "Veep," but before that we have to check in on "Wilfred" season 2, and also spend quite a while discussing our concerns about Aaron Sorkin's "The Newsroom."  Also, after a few weeks of duds, we get another good "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" episode to discuss.

The line-up: 

"Wilfred" (00:01:00 - 00:11:10)
"The Newsroom" (00:11:15 - 00:35:20)
"Veep" finale (00:35:25 - 00:43:00)
"Girls" finale (00:43:00 - 00:57:15)
"Killing" finale (00:57:15 - 01:19:50)
"Buffy" (01:20:10 - 01:30:35)
 
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, download the MP3 file or stream it on Dan's blog.
 
And as always, feel free to e-mail us questions for the podcast.
Alan-sepinwall-sm
Alan Sepinwall
Sr. Editor, What's Alan Watching
Alan Sepinwall has been reviewing television since the mid-'90s, first for Tony Soprano's hometown paper, The Star-Ledger, and now for HitFix. His new book, "The Revolution Was Televised," about the last 15 years of TV drama, is for sale at Amazon. He can be reached at sepinwall@hitfix.com
Related Searches: Firewall & Iceberg, Alan Sepinwall, Buffy The Vampire Slayer, The Newsroom, Wilfred, The Killing, Girls, veep

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  • Default-avatar

    Lazy Iggy

    You and Dan arguing about crimped hair has made me ridiculously giggly. Thank you.

    June 18, 2012 at 9:17PM EST Reply to Comment
  • Default-avatar

    alf

    I'm a Buffy veteran, but any newbies might want to skip this one, because something big is spoiled.

    There's no way I could forget that kid was going to be The Annoying One.

    June 18, 2012 at 9:21PM EST Reply to Comment
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    Jim

    I've been listening to this podcast since Day 1, and -- obviously -- I've always enjoyed it. But some of the "humorous" banter in this one during the Wilfred talk was SUPER cringe-inducing.

    June 18, 2012 at 11:06PM EST Reply to Comment
  • Chewie-baseball-card_talkback_profile

    Bgklein

    I thought Chuck used Rob Riggle very well

    June 19, 2012 at 9:18AM EST Reply to Comment
    • Gizmo_bigger_talkback_profile

      dan BGKlein - It's easier to use Riggle correctly in a one-off guest appearance, apparently. But on "Wilfred" he's recurring. Networks also keep building pilots around him that don't go to series...

      -Daniel

      June 19, 2012 at 12:25PM EST
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    srpad

    You guys basically talked me out of even sampling The Newsroom. Thank you for saving me a couple of hours of disappointment.

    June 19, 2012 at 11:43AM EST Reply to Comment
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      NJMark I really want to like Sorkin, but he's so off-the-charts hacky and cliched with his politics, he makes it impossible. HBO already has Bill Maher for that.

      June 19, 2012 at 1:11PM EST
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      thedecade I agree. Alan and Dan did a perfect job of summing up the smugness of Sorkin. Great insight and thank you for saving my time as well as space on my dvr. I also hated the post 9/11 episode of the West Wing, what a disgrace to the tragedy surrounding the time.

      June 19, 2012 at 4:19PM EST
    • Default-avatar

      See SRPAD - View and make up your own mind.. It may improve.. and if the beginning ratings aren't good,HBO will cancel.

      They talked me out of trying Prime Suspect. The ratings weren't good. The show got better but it was too late. The pleas to watch weren't nearly as loud as the don't watch message before the season started.

      June 20, 2012 at 2:35PM EST
    • Gizmo_bigger_talkback_profile

      dan See - Who talked you out of trying "Prime Suspect"? It wasn't me and I don't think it was Alan. It made my list of 10 Best New Shows (or "Least Bad") of last fall. And Alan and I both acknowledged that while the pilot had many problems, the producers seemed aware of the problems and determined to change them.

      In this case, we're reviewing "Newsroom" on the basis of four episodes, not just one. And Aaron Sorkin has absolutely zero self-awareness regarding the flaws that bothered us.

      In any case, if you were talked out of trying "Prime Suspect," it wasn't by us. We were at WORST tepid.

      -Daniel

      June 20, 2012 at 2:45PM EST
    • Gizmo_bigger_talkback_profile

      dan See - Yup. Just did my research. Alan gave "Prime Suspect" a perfectly respectful "B" and talked about the show's potential.

      I'm sure we can be blamed for trying to steer you away from many shows that other people quite enjoyed, but I'm not taking the fall for "Prime Suspect."

      -Daniel

      June 20, 2012 at 2:49PM EST
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    Muz

    The major problem with Veep is the actual structure of the US government. In Britain the party structure is clear enough that the small, lowly department/ministry we're stuck in is always beholden to Tucker, who is using them as a tool to make the PM or the government look good.
    The VP by contrast is an office of high regard who isn't that easy to push around, but is completely floating and irrelevant to the actual daily proceedings of government. So Myer's weekly task is to try and make herself in some way relevant and the conflict how she is stymied in this goal. She's not, strictly speaking, subordinate to very many people and she's always probing new connections in the vast body politic as each one fails.
    So it's a bit sadly picaresque.
    I think they set up a number of good villains, but they unfortunately can't stick with them the whole time and still remain vaguely true to life (some might say, screw it. if you can't be funny (enough) being somewhat accurate, then don't. Be totally fanciful and convenient. Here I would disagree completely).
    So I can see its awkwardness.
    I am one who didn't actually enjoy it when every episode of The Thick of It was the angry Scotsman show. What I really liked about it was what a crappy time the ministers have trying to do this job, with their houses and families etc. Again Veep hits trouble as Myer is a wealthy long term political animal and that's kind of the point. So she's not going to have these woes up front. I hope we get more of her daughter etc in future though.
    So I think Veep made life hard for themselves in some respects with this character in this job as the focus of the show.
    That said, I thought it was generally great. I don't know how the laughs could tail off after ep 4. I honestly can't think of very many episodes of any comedy I've ever seen that are funnier than episode 5 of Veep. That was amazing.

    June 20, 2012 at 1:25PM EST Reply to Comment
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    G

    The talk of caricature sexism, the hat, why Aiden Quinn from your podcast were enough

    June 20, 2012 at 4:36PM EST Reply to Comment
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    John

    I'm glad Alan brought up the scene between Giles and Buffy when he revealed that he could relate to what she's going through. Not having a life because of the need to fight villains and needing to push people away to protect them is a classic superhero's dilemma, but Gellar played that well. And I'm glad Giles reminded her that she's not the only one. Overall, I'd say it's the best scene in the series up to that point. Granted, that's only five episodes, but still. Probably the first great scene.

    July 3, 2012 at 2:44AM EST Reply to Comment
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    Inigo

    I was late to the podcast, hence the delay in commenting. I was a "Forbrydelsen" watcher of the Danish original and was hooked by it. I was therefore interested to observe the lead up to the American version. It was stated by the American producers at a television panel at an international event that the story would take place over two seasons. This was some time before they showed the first episode of "The Killing" in the US. What made them become so coy after having made that public statement was, I assume, the belief that Americans wouldn't watch if they knew in advance that fact. (I linked to the panel on the thread on TWOP - it's within the first two or three pages.)

    I lasted three-four episodes of "The Killing" so I can't really comment on how closely it followed the original. From what I've read, I know they changed the killer, the motivation, a lot of the circumstances, and the fate of many characters.

    I doubt this show would ever have worked on US television. At the core was detectives following the evidence a bit at a time to see where it leads, like real detectives have to do who don't solve crimes in 42 minutes by following a single path with extrordinary intuition as to where that path is. It does make me laugh to hear you complain about the lack of realism of character's recovery time from injury (not a issue with the original as it appears only the teacher's beating was in common) and yet complain that the investigation didn't go straight to the killer.

    July 3, 2012 at 7:28AM EST Reply to Comment

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