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Post by davedoty on Feb 24, 2010 8:31:31 GMT -5
I got partway through the latest episode, and decided this isn't the show I enjoyed so much any more. So I'm going to take a break for a couple of weeks. Maybe in the back half of the season they'll think to include one single character I can actually stand to watch.
So, probably no clips for a couple of weeks, at least.
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margie
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Post by margie on Feb 24, 2010 11:02:31 GMT -5
I kind of lost interest with last week's episode. However, I am glad the glasses are off and now Mickey can see Ian for who he is. He has looked up to Ian for so long, now he can see that he is as screwed up as everyone else.
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Post by axelmoto on Feb 24, 2010 14:35:55 GMT -5
Thank you for the clips
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carld2
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Post by carld2 on Feb 24, 2010 15:08:01 GMT -5
Yes, I second that, thanks for the clips! I totally respect and understand your decision -- if you aren't enjoying a show then you should take a break and maybe things will improve.
I know what you mean about some of the current characters. Many of them are in a dark place or aren't very sympathetic.
I actually think this E4 episode had some good moments but the overall stories were all depressing, or, in Paddy's case, rushed (with 16 episodes I thought they'd have had room to introduce this dancing woman before now).
There were some funny Mickey moments in the episode:
- when he accidentally shot off the gun and smashed someone's window - his one-liners about Roscoe ("a dealer in swollen goods") - that final scene where Paddy walked in on him (Ciaran has very nice thighs)
The scene where Shane somehow got his wires crossed and Roscoe thought he wanted sex was also very funny.
On the Ian/Carl/Maxine front, I was hoping we might see a bit more, but I did like that Mickey broke up a fight between Carl and Ian, so he is not so angry over the whole thing that he wants to see them fight. Earlier in the episode Maxine and Ian walked into the pub holding hands, which upset Carl. Frank told them they were "flaunting" their relationship, which is a bit much, but they probably should have steered clear of Carl. Maxine was mostly there for the Karen baby story. Maxine reminds me of Hannah from Hollyoaks for some reason, with dark hair.
The Karen storyline is very depressing. I keep thinking she's hit a new low but she hasn't yet.
Does Kelly remind anyone else of Charity Dingle from Emmerdale?
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Post by davedoty on Feb 24, 2010 15:49:32 GMT -5
(with 16 episodes I thought they'd have had room to introduce this dancing woman before now). The season was originally supposed to be 8 episodes long, then got expanded to 16. As far as I know, no one outside the show's staff know how the expansion was done: whether they filmed the first 8 as intended, then essentially did another season immediately after, or if they spread their original story over twice as many episodes. The relatively quick pace of what we've seen so far suggests to me that it might be the first option. That's part of why I'm hoping for a change in tone in the back half; it's possible that these storylines might be reaching some resolution in the next few weeks, depending on how the expansion of the season was done.
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softfurbear
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Post by softfurbear on Feb 24, 2010 16:46:20 GMT -5
davedoty I just wanted to add my thanks for your clips!!! I totally understand wanting to take a break. Your hard work was very much apprecited
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dmagiclight
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OPEN YOUR MIND AND ANY THING IS CAN HAPPEN
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Post by dmagiclight on Mar 1, 2010 17:35:32 GMT -5
Yes thanks for the clips I have to agree the show doesseem to have a dark cloud over everything,I do like Michey he is the siver lining of the show.But I have to say as a gay man I do feel turning Ian straight is like a slap in the face.He,s the reason I started watching the show.I would like to see Mickey and Ian as a couple.however If they keep Ian as a straight character I may stop watching as well
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carld2
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Post by carld2 on Mar 3, 2010 12:53:30 GMT -5
Did anyone see the show yesterday?
The Jamie male escort story is over (it ended on a generally positive note, and with a good chance to ogle Carl yet again), and he and Karen seem to finally be happy. I guess that will at least last until he learns about her affair with Joe.
They are moving the librarian and her mother into the house. Frank gave her Norma's van to use for her mobile library, so I guess Norma's gone for good?
The Ian/Maxine/Mickey story wasn't mentioned in the teasers for this episode but played a supporting role. It made me think once again that Maxine is not as into Ian as he is into her and that she will be moving on sooner rather than later. I actually got the impression in this episode that she enjoyed taunting Mickey more than anything else.
They were at the pub, and Mickey was upset because she won on a machine he'd been using not long before her. She then taunted him that she pleased Ian better than he did. They went back and forth and then finally Mickey said she'd have to stick two fingers up (you can guess where). Ian overheard this part and jokingly stuck his finger in Mickey's ear and told Mickey not to bother Maxine. Mickey said they had been 50-50 but Ian didn't seem to care.
Later, Mickey spoke to Lillian, who was feigning psychic powers in this episode. She told him to try to move on. So Mickey went on to Ian about how he had never really loved Ian and now he was going for someone else. He kept waiting and waiting for Ian to seem jealous but Ian claimed to be happy for him and seemed a bit smug and bemused about Mickey's attempts.
The last scene of this story had Maxine and Mickey waiting to be served and Mickey basically told her that he knew she was going to get tired of Ian and want a straight man, and all he asked was that when she dumped Ian, she be gentle about it. Mickey left. She then looked over at Ian, who was singing and playing a guitar for some theme night. Ian walked over and asked if she was alright. She said she was, but the look on her face said it all.
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Post by ivaniv on Mar 3, 2010 15:14:03 GMT -5
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Post by shamelessfan on Mar 4, 2010 1:13:13 GMT -5
I haven't seen any clips, but I am glad they are pushing Mickey's character to move on.
Also, from the sounds of it, they are continuing Mickey's potential to be a strong character in his own right rather than just comic relief. I am glad to hear that as well.
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Post by davedoty on Mar 7, 2010 10:10:15 GMT -5
eep! That belongs in the spoiler thread!
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carld2
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Post by carld2 on Mar 7, 2010 11:30:38 GMT -5
Sorry. I'll move it. I didn't know casting was spoiler.
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Post by sheepiefarm on Mar 7, 2010 16:21:25 GMT -5
I have to say - that as a fan of this show since the very first episode - I'm seriously struggling to be interested in this series I just don't give a damn about most of the characters who now seem to be taking center stage at the moment. Liam - really don't give a toss about this character. Frank - have always been a bit meh about his episodes Paddy - another character I could care less about Maxine - potentially a really good character - untill they morphed her into Mandy Ian - the gay / str8 story is just bland & uninteresting - was barely interesting when it first happened with Mandy Karen / Joe / Jamie - god help me, it's become so depressing and unfathomable to watch, I'm starting to FF those bits. And Mimi - jeez, don't get me started on that horrible cow - such an unsympathetic, jaw grindingly horrible character - I'm just waiting for the day when someone gives her a good smack in the face - in fact, half a dozen smacks, and I'm not sure I'd even be satisfied at that"!!!Mickey's speech to Ian was probably the most memorable part of this whole series yet - but as a character, he was more watchable / enjoyable in the previous series. As for any talk of the next series - I'm thinking, if they don't have a radicle re-think about which characters they need to focus on - and bring back some of that much needed humour - they can forget about making the next one. Sooo disappointed with this so far - not sure I'll even stick with it till the end.
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Post by shamelessfan on Mar 7, 2010 19:19:41 GMT -5
Yeah, they have jumped the shark. There's a point where just having people do outlandish things loses its appeal. I think the problem is everyone seems to be going in circles. Maybe they should have left it at series 6.
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Post by davedoty on Mar 8, 2010 4:18:08 GMT -5
I still have hope, even though I've stopped watching the current eps for a while. I think the problem is that pretty much any of these stories could work, but taken all together, it's way too much darkness. Take any of these stories, and set them against some wacky B-plots, and it could balance well. But jumping from the collapse of the Jamie-Karen marriage, to the disintegration of the Gallagher family, to Paddy flushing his wife away, to Chesney being raised by a woman-beating psycho who attacked his (sort of) stepfather... well. it's stopped being a dramedy.
But I'm hesitant to declare the shark jumped after a few badly balanced eps. I'm hoping to come back down the line and find that they've restored the balance, because I think that's all that's really missing here.
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carld2
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Post by carld2 on Mar 8, 2010 7:29:08 GMT -5
I never feel quite like I'm in a position to speak on the quality because I started watching at a time when many had already said the show was gone -- around the time when they had the stories about the cops, Mickey causing women to become aroused by his smutty writing. These were the types of things which I'd hear people say were crap compared to the days of Kev and Veronica, among others. I can't argue with that because I still haven't watched a lot of the early days, so I just enjoyed what I saw.
I think that the current episodes have some great moments but the drawback is that everything is becoming depressing, even the funny moments often seem to end up in a depressing story conclusion. The pure comedy moments they would have delved into before they now seem half-hearted about, liked Mickey and the plumber.
The other problem is that, if this makes any sense, the characters are all in transition, yet they aren't going anywhere. Karen is obviously going through mental torture and she and Jamie may split up, but overall she often just spends each episode looking depressed. Ian and Maxine had that one powerful episode but since then the story has been on the backburner and hasn't given more focus to their characters. The same has happened with Mickey -- I'm hoping he might become more of his own character soon, and that if/when Maxine and Ian break up they don't just keep him shackled to Ian. I guess the character who has gone through the most change is Carl, but I don't really want him to change too much, and I don't think the show does either, so what are they going to do? Then there's Frank, who has his big new love interest, but basically has to stay what he is now, as that's what he has been all along.
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carld2
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Post by carld2 on Mar 10, 2010 8:29:23 GMT -5
Not much of Ian, Mickey, or Maxine in the E4 episode. They were all small supporting players in the drama between Kelly and Shane. The only time they were actually in a scene together that wasn't a group scene was when Kelly was at their house. Then at the end Ian and Maxine were watching Mickey dance with one of the brides and they seemed to be amused. So I would assume they've reached a detente. Some of this episode was pretty good, although I think they rushed through Shane's anger over learning about Kelly and his father. Nicky Evans was superb, he almost made me cry several times, the pain was so raw. They cast some good actors as the Maguire boys. Frank and his girlfriend's mother, who is always on to his tricks and he loves to torment her, was good for comic relief. The other big story was Joe convincing Chesney to try to get blasted and find a girl (great guardianship there, Joe ), which led to Chesney seeing another boy at the party have sex with a girl who was obviously too out of it to understand what was going on. This idiot took a photo or video with his cell phone and sent copies out. Her brother brutally beat him...as a stunned Ches and Carl stood by. He died, and Ches felt guilty enough to where he left graffiti that identified the killer. The guy then threatened Ches and Carl and also let it be known to Carl that he would hurt Liam, if they did not leave town immediately. So they did. This last story wasn't all that great, but leads into next week, when Maxine convinces Ian to confront this guy, and Ian gets a nasty beating.
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Post by shamelessfan on Mar 12, 2010 2:42:02 GMT -5
The actors are brilliant on Shameless. That's never been a problem. The guy playing Mickey perhaps being the best, but clearly the actors are top level. When I first found the series, I put it on a pedestal comparing it to Six Feet Under. When I say that the show has jumped the shark, I mean they are directionless without any real underlying ongoing plot that builds. The characters are great. The problem lies in the lack of plotting for an over arching through line. This , again, could be a by product of having more episodes to do so they are not building on the themes and through lines of the series the way they used to do. As a budding writer of an online gay series, this just makes me realize the importance of having a direction that you take the audience in.
As for the spoiler, yeah, I could see that one coming.
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carld2
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Post by carld2 on Mar 17, 2010 6:27:52 GMT -5
A very strange E4 episode.
Mimi spent most of the episode in a weak filler story about getting revenge on local society women who looked down on her because they didn't want her in their charity calendar.
Carl and Ches ended up in Wales, staying on a farm with a strange woman who grew dope and had a big secret. Ches was, for a time, happy to stay there, but Carl never felt comfortable, and when he finally got to hear his phone messages (he was out of range most of the time at the farm), his family calling to check on him over and over reduced him to sobs. He and Ches at the end of the episode were on their way back to the council estate.
The council wanted locals to make a film on life there. Mickey wanted to make a movie, whereas Liam wanted to make a documentary. What Liam actually wanted was to use the documentary as a ruse so he could film the boys that killed "Bonehead" and framed Ches and Carl.
Maxine tried to get the family to help clear their names but only Liam was interested. Ian eventually tried to get Mickey to help but Mickey said Paddy didn't want the family involved. He touched Ian's chin as he said this -- it was a sweet moment, mostly because I think it showed that Mickey has moved on from Ian enough to no longer be bitter. Anyway, Maxine then confronted the killer, who had been winking at her and trying to flirt with her, in the pub. His sister, the one that "Bonehead" had screwed around with while she was out of it, hit Maxine in the head with a pool cue.
While Mickey, Shane, Kelly, and their friends and family were making a Chatworth version of Taxi Driver, Ian felt so worthless (and to Maxine's credit she did try to stop him from being so down on himself and from moaning that if they hadn't gotten together she wouldn't be in this position) that he decided to try to record a confession from the killer. He went over to the house and as the killer had already figured out that Liam was trying to tape him, he saw through Ian very quickly.
Ian stumbled home with a brutal beating. I don't know if it means anything or not but it was Mickey who held Ian in his arms, while Maxine was more in the background. I don't know if they plan to put Mickey and Ian together -- honestly, I'd rather Mickey be with someone new (he and the hunky beefy guy in charge of the film project were flirting in several scenes) -- but it did stand out for me.
Next week this seems to come to a head. Carl confronts the killer with a gun, and Ian, who seems very scarred mentally from what's happened to him, yells at Maxine and basically says, "You're going back to him." Maxine says, coldly, "No, I'm leaving you." So I don't know if that's just a fight and they get back together or if they are splitting up. I'd expected this to end almost as soon as it started so I will be surprised if they don't split up for good.
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Post by shamelessfan on Mar 17, 2010 20:17:46 GMT -5
I think your guesses are right card. However, I really want Mickey to find someone for himself rather than dealing with Ian's mess. There's nothing new there. Glad to see Mickey following is dream on filmmaking. Do you know if there is a clip up for this episode yet?
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carld2
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Post by carld2 on Mar 17, 2010 21:05:49 GMT -5
I'm not sure.
Mickey's filmmaking did have some time of its own in the episode, outside of the dramas, so that was nice. There was a good brotherly type of scene (he and Shane kept spitting at each other in anger) where Kelly and Shane initially mocked Mickey for wanting to make a movie and Mickey defended filmmaking and film and basically said when you have a movie you can go anywhere or do anything.
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Post by shamelessfan on Mar 17, 2010 22:26:42 GMT -5
WHo knows maybe he will meet someone through his filmmaking. That would be hot and appropriate.
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Post by ivaniv on Mar 18, 2010 15:52:37 GMT -5
Mimi selling granny porn was funny, Carl still looks good in his underwear only, but that's about it. It's now about everybody doing some odd things they haven't done yet
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carld2
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Post by carld2 on Mar 19, 2010 4:34:15 GMT -5
Here's an article from a few years ago that has a picture of the guy who plays Maxine's father. It was from the '80s, when he was in My Night With Reg. I guess he was part of the stripping off brigade before there ever was a Shameless (he still looked pretty good on Shameless; if they keep showing Frank sans clothes they might as well try the same with him). www.guardian.co.uk/stage/2006/jun/29/theatre.gayrights
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Post by davedoty on Mar 20, 2010 11:04:00 GMT -5
So, now that we're moving into the second half of the season, a question to the people still watching: is it changing in the second half? I'm not thrilled about Ian-Max, but I can live with it as long as there's some ray of hope. I just want some of the characters on the show to be happy as a counterpoint to the other characters going through hell.
So it's fine if the A-plot is dark and horrible, as long as there's a B-plot alongside it that's funny or upbeat or romantic.
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