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Firewall & Iceberg Podcast, episode 144: 'Grimm,' 'Boss,' 'Strike Back' & 'Copper'

Dan and Alan also discuss a thrilling 'Breaking Bad'

By Alan Sepinwall Monday, Aug 13, 2012 2:47 PM

The

It's a busy Firewall & Iceberg Podcast, as Dan and I talk about the returns of "Grimm," "Boss" and "Strike Back," the debut of BBC America's "Copper," and get into the teeth of a tense "Breaking Bad" episode.

The line-up: 

"Grimm" (00:00:50 - 00:14:20)
"Boss" (00:14:25 - 00:26:05)
"Strike Back" (00:26:05 - 00:35:20)
"Copper" (00:35:20 - 00:50:00)
"Breaking Bad" (00:50:25 - 01:10:00)
 
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, Breaking Bad, Grimm, Copper, Boss, Strike Back

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  • Default-avatar

    Jack

    I could see Grimm becoming the next Buffy or not. It's too hard to tell.

    August 13, 2012 at 6:00PM EST Reply to Comment
  • Default-avatar

    tag8833

    Strike Back is so much better than it has any need to be. I'm not sure it is one of my favorites shows, but it is one of my most anticipated returns.

    I would like to see the Strike Back structure exported to other shows. Imagine how much better The Killing or Longmire would have been if they had employed the Strike Back structure. Even shows that are already great like Justified might benefit from it.

    August 13, 2012 at 6:19PM EST Reply to Comment
  • Default-avatar

    EdithKeeler

    Borgen is pretty good but not groundbreaking I wouldn't think if you've ever seen a good political drama before. Other shows have "crime of the week" and "disease of the week", Borgen has "Social Democracy compromise of the week".

    August 13, 2012 at 6:40PM EST Reply to Comment
  • Default-avatar

    cabo

    How about Major Crimes ? Didn't TNT send out screeners?

    August 13, 2012 at 9:38PM EST Reply to Comment
    • Gizmo_bigger_talkback_profile

      dan Cabo - TNT did send out screeners and if Sepinwall wants to review, he certainly can. For podcasting purposes, I couldn't see value in trying to invest in a spinoff from a drama that I don't watch. My opinions would be, at best, half-baked... Probably worse.

      -Daniel

      August 13, 2012 at 9:41PM EST
    • Midnight_run_mca255950_talkback_profile

      sepinwall Yeah, The Closer was never my thing and there didn't seem much point in either checking out its finale or the debut of what's essentially a continuation of the series under a new name.

      August 13, 2012 at 9:49PM EST
    • Default-avatar

      cabo I'm going to give President Roslin a chance. She's been the best thing on the show the past two years.

      August 13, 2012 at 10:18PM EST
  • Default-avatar

    ed w

    Essentially they gave Copper a bronze medal. ;)

    Alan and Dan, you would probably find Pramface - a recent BBC show currently showing on Hulu - pretty interesting and amusing. Maybe review worthy? I stumbled into it and actually watched the episodes out of order and it was still very entertaining. The best British sitcom I've seen in a few years. Only 4 episodes so far, they are doling them out one a week.

    August 14, 2012 at 12:21AM EST Reply to Comment
  • Default-avatar

    Viginti

    Ossie? What the hell is an ossie? If you two were meaning to say 'Aussie' then this is something of a pot-kettle situation RE: accents. As an Australian (Look forward to seeing me starring in some stubbly action drama soon as I fear I'm the only one left here without a show these days) your phrasing of that one term is baffling, perhaps this is what it feels like for you to see those actors ape americans.

    Though like BB with its capers the content around the bad accents was impressive enough that I forgave it. Another great show.

    August 14, 2012 at 5:29AM EST Reply to Comment
  • Default-avatar

    Chesterfield

    I said in another thread, podcast or breaking Bad review, that you probably are over-thinking the Scarface reference. I think your annoyance with that is a work hazard, as in you have done interviews with Gilligan where he talks about stuff and it is your job to discuss and analyze and pick apart the show in your podcast. I'm just saying, it's not horrible or awful in the context of the show. It's not subtle, but... come on.

    Also, at the end of Dead Freight, I had the same reaction as Bruce Willis had in Die Hard 3, when he meets the FBI/CIA/NSA guys in the van and they explain about Simon. He's cocky and tough and sarcastic and funny, and when they reveal "Simon. Peter. Gruber." Willis sort of drops (or loses, perhaps) the bravado and lets out a barely audible "...s#!t"

    August 15, 2012 at 4:45AM EST Reply to Comment
  • Default-avatar

    Eric

    Dan's objections to the two major plans in "Dead Freight" seem a little nitpicky to me. I would argue that just because you see how things work out doesn't mean that that was the character's exact plan, or that if it was their exact plan, they had no contingency plans whatsoever. For example Walt in Hank's office - your main problem with it seems to be, "What if Hank didn't react the way he did?" Well, we'd see a different scene, but Walt would eventually figure out a way to be alone in that office. He can improvise a little (as we've seen repeatedly in the past). This doesn't have to be a detailed master plan where if one element goes wrong, the whole enterprise fails. Same with the train - as Alan says, it's not clear that it's necessary for those two guys to even leave the train, though it does make it easier for Mike to keep an eye on their whereabouts.

    August 15, 2012 at 9:37AM EST Reply to Comment

    • Just to further the point, Walt could've been the one to suggest to Hank to close the blinds (a very reasonable suggestion given he was breaking down like that) or that Hank go get coffee.

      The Train was a little more troublesome, because what if they saw the truck and stopped sooner. The plan seemed to hinge on the train stopping at an exact point (which I believe was the point of the scene where Jesse is counting off steps/feet/yards next to the tracks) but the train could've easily stopped before that point.

      August 15, 2012 at 10:16AM EST
    • Gizmo_bigger_talkback_profile

      dan Daniel and Eric - Walt having hypothetical contingencies is irrelevant because, with only very little motivation, Hank did exactly the two perfect things to help Walt execute his plan in a way that wouldn't arouse even minor suspicion. So yes. That bothers me. Sorry.

      And as for the train, it's unrealistic that the two men would leave the train. Period. Whether or not that's essential to Walt's plan isn't relevant. It makes little sense as presented.

      But, as I ALSO said in the podcast, maybe these "Everything goes absurdly and unrealistically perfect" moments are setting us up for the point at the end where something finally goes horribly wrong.

      -Daniel

      August 15, 2012 at 11:52AM EST

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