|
Jan 06
2012
|
2011 (Cult)y TV Outliers: Treme's SonnyPosted by April in tv , shrimp boat saviour , outliers , it's one or the other , in the mag , cinema , awards , (cult)ys |
No sooner did we publish the (Cult)ys, our first annual ridiculously specific TV and cinema awards, than all manner of other awards I could have given started to flow freely in my brain. I've decided to call these forgotten awards "outliers"* and post them as they come to me, so they can live in infamy (or just on the internet. One or the other). So, let's kick it off with . . .
Best Shrimping Boat Redemption of a Previously Thought Un-redeemable Character
Sonny (Michiel Huisman), Treme
Over the course of the first season of Treme, it was made clear that every character, no matter how horrible s/he seemed, had redeeming qualities. Everyone, that is, except Sonny. Sonny was a not-particularly talented musician/drug addict who cheated on and hit his girlfriend. If he had died between seasons, I doubt he would be have been missed. When Season 2 began, Sonny may not have had a girlfriend anymore, but he still had a drug and attitude problem. He was either in constant danger of being kicked out of Antoine's (Wendell Pierce) band (his one and only source of income) or actually kicked out of it. So imagine our surprise when one of Sonny's fellow bandmates (Cornell Williams) sized Sonny up, pronounced that he was "in no danger of becoming no great musician," and took him out to the coast to put him to work on a shrimping boat. I don't know if it was the hard work, the sea air, or getting clean that did it, but, by the end of the season, Sonny was not only doing better work with the band, he was dating a nice girl who's father runs a shrimp company. Oddly enough, now I want to see if those two kids can work it out.
I just finished reading "
Golden Globe nominations, because of their comedy/drama split, are always a mixed bag. Despite the fact that some excellent movies have come out in the last year, it's been more miss than hit, so we're going to try to pare it down to an essential viewing/incredibly biased predictions. Here we go:
So it turns out that I never recapped “The Witches of Bushwick,” which is just as well, as that episode’s dire stupidity and retrogressive sexual politics were too much for me. I hated a lot of that episode. Props to last night’s Gossip Girl, “Gaslit,” for helping to somewhat restore my faith in the show. 
Last week’s The Vampire Diaries, “Rose,” was a little lacking in the holy shit compared to “Masquerade.” Of course, it’s hard not to do. Perhaps they were simply observing the cardinal rule of taking it down a notch to avoid blowing one’s wad. If so, well played. We got deeper into the Petrova mystery, Bonnie’s witchy powers, and Salvatore heartbreak. Also, did I mention the ROAD TRIP? Let’s go.
Last week's Gossip Girl, "Goodbye Columbia," offered the usual scheming and machinations by Chuck and Blair, eye-popping stupidity for Vanessa and Nate, and stupendous lack of awareness for Serena. I would complain, but this (and the insane clothes) is why we watch the show, is it not?
What makes a badass badass? Is it a motorcycle and leather jacket, à 
