Television

December 12, 2014 - 9:29pm
Another year is drawing to a close, and another season of TV is coming to an end. Here is a list of TV shows that should be binged-watched immediately.

As another year winds down, it’s time to reflect. What New Year’s resolutions did we stick to? How did we better ourselves? What amazing memories did we make?

But most importantly, what television came into our lives and made a difference?

A few new shows solidified their standings in my heart and made it to my list of the most binge-worthy TV of 2014.

True Detective

November 30, 2014 - 11:53pm
Review: The show's mid-season finale brings up a few more questions than it answers.

In the Gotham mid-season finale, "LoveCraft," was one major question to be pondered: "How did they know?"

The episode opened with three assassins descending on Wayne Manor. Dressed all in black, balancing flawlessly on a pair of several-inch heels, the lead assassin kills a gardener and worms her way in through the front door, claiming to be an injured victim of a car accident. Seconds later, she and her cronies blow their cover and lunge after Bruce and Cat. Alfred, a deceptively talented fighter, fends them off while the kids flee.

November 23, 2014 - 7:21pm
Review: The network show introduces a new character to, as he says, "clean up" Gotham, and longtime Batman are in for a surprise.

In Gotham's penultimate episode, everything finally seems to be coming together. Whether you're rooting for the heroic Detective Jim Gordon, anxiously awaiting the rise of the young Bruce Wayne or (like me) reveling in the evil and chaos sewn by the show's colorful villains, episode nine, "Harvey Dent," probably had you feeling pretty jazzed.

November 18, 2014 - 5:48pm
Dascha Polanco, breakout star of Netflix's 'Orange is the New Black,' will speak at Hendricks Chapel, while John Mulaney, creator and star of Fox's 'Mulaney', will perform stand-up at Goldstein Auditorium.

On Wednesday night, Nov. 19, two of television's freshest faces will be on the Syracuse University campus, providing an evening of inspiration and entertainment.

November 16, 2014 - 11:03pm
As the first season nears its ending point and as the Peguin's master plan is finally revealed, the writers amp up the comic-bookishness and pray it pays off.

It's official. Gotham has finally embraced its neo-noir silliness, just as Penguin has finally embraced his avian nickname. It's a new day in Gotham.

Well, not really.

The last two episodes of Gotham have picked up their pace and tightened some loose ends - but the city of Gotham has not yet changed. It's still a terrible place full of terrible people, both downright evil and willfully hamstrung.

November 2, 2014 - 11:46pm
Review: More than halfway through season one, Gotham is still hitting the mark -- kind of. When it works, it works, and when it doesn't, it really doesn't. Here's why. (Warning: Spoilers ahead.)

So far on Gotham, we've had a murderous balloon vigilante, a hobbling Penguin vigilante and a drug peddling anti-Big Pharma vigilante. In episode six, our vigilante came from a much more unexpected place: the doctor's office.

October 26, 2014 - 10:09pm
Review: Two more episodes in the series' inaugural season find it sticking to its shallow routines while once again showing promise for poignancy underneath.

Making friends as an adult is weird.

As a kid, your world is small. You sit next to other kids on the bus. You swing on swings. You play in the sand. Your moms drink wine on the porch while you ride bikes in the driveway. Friendship.

As a teen, you pick a category and define yourself. Jock, geek, goth, theater kid, music nerd. These are your people. Stick to them like glue, and enjoy the same things as far as your minimum wage part-time salary from the grocery store will take you. Friendship.

October 26, 2014 - 9:53pm
Review: The season ramps up its crime narratives and finally fleshes out Bruce Wayne, the story's catalyst, as a fuller character.

A man sits on a dirty Gotham street corner, playing a guitar. Propped in his case is a cardboard sign that reads, "Why lie - I need money for drugs." A bewildered-looking but unflinching man approaches and drops in his case a green vial. The label reads, "breathe me."

October 19, 2014 - 9:37pm
Review: An improved story arc involving mob-boss warfare proves yet again that the villains in this pre-Batman series are more captivating than the heroes.

Can a lowly, hobbling dishwasher take over Gotham City without anyone noticing?

In the fourth episode of Gotham, the political tangles of government, law enforcement and the rival gangs reach a climax. The disturbed vigilante justice of the first few episodes gives way to organized crime syndicates at war.

October 13, 2014 - 9:03am
Fox's Batman-without-Batman tale plows onward, though its villains prove much more interesting than the heroes. (Warning: Spoilers ahead.)

"If people take the law into their own hands, then there is no law."

Fans of the Batman franchise know all too well that Gotham is a broken city. The corruption in government, the police force and business create fertile ground of vigilante justice, and the Batman series has brought us some of the DC Comics universe's most interesting villains.