Broken Saints
Chapter 20 Inside
It's been over two months since I last watched any of BS, so it's about time to get on with it really. The pace slows again for this part (after a couple of efforts that gave the plot a good kick up the rear end), adding to the backstory of the heroes. It somehow takes 49 minutes to do this when you feel it should take a 10th of the time, but BS can't avoid its long pretentious asides.
Only four episodes left now, but as they're all among the longest there's still plenty to go -- about a quarter, in fact. Though if it can get back to the pace of recent episodes ("normal" rather than the "next to nothing" of most parts), the amount of actual story left will be immense.
The Wire
2x02 Collateral Damage
It's episodes like this that really support The Wire's "visual novel" claim -- take the brief scene with Lt. Daniels, for example, a brief aside that's the equivalent of a short chapter keeping up with his personal plotline, not connected to any of the main stories or any other character in any way. Which isn't to say it won't have an effect later, of course...
Elsewhere, the police continue their infighting and the criminals get nasty. In fact, these new gangster villains arguably begin to stretch the show's credibility a little -- whereas the first season felt very grounded and almost mundane in the way the drugs trade was handled, this feels like a different show. The Sopranos, perhaps, or almost 24. But, we'll see...
