Ep 89 – Luke Cage vs Episodic TV

Posted on | By BylineNotthatBrandonCruz

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This week we go into the finer details of the pulpy Netflix shows like Daredevil, Jessica Jones and the latest, Luke Cage. Based on an article from Birth.Movies.Death, we discuss some of the author’s points and elaborate on our own thoughts.

Show Notes

  • Based on Article: Film Crit Hulk Smash: LUKE CAGE, Netflix, and the Death of Episodic TV by Film Crit Hulk
    1. http://birthmoviesdeath.com/2016/10/12/luke-cage-netflix-and-the-death-of-episodic-tv
  • Article broken into 4 parts
    1. What is Episodic TV
      1. Not just like Columbo or CSI, episodes that don’t add up to extra
      2. Refers to shows that make “the small feel epic”
        1. Stories within a story
      3. Good Examples: Breaking Bad, The Wire
      4. Bad examples: The Walking Dead
    2. Netflix, the all at once
      1. Comparison of “good” Netflix shows and “bad”
      2. It’s not the model, it’s the quality of story telling
        1. Model Fallacy: “they have to fill 13 episodes, they should have only done 8”
        2. “You have to expand the conflicts into full stories and not just tease one story out over such a long damn time”
      3. A misread of what people like about “The Sopranos” and “The Wire”
        1. Pacing, Character, Slow burn…  not realizing how much discipline is required for those shows
          1. “Ape the cadence and pace… tread water”
    3. The circles of Luke cage
      1. A constant use of a “stand-off fakeout”
        1. A reason for the rivals to be unable to close the narrative arc or an artificial tension builder
        2. They are rarely used for character motivated stakes
      2. The artificial tension of character shifting motivations
        1. “characters talking about an arc that’s not being articulated dramatically”
    4. Raise your words
      1. He suggests the biggest victim is “narrative coherency”
        1. The hooded black man impervious to bullets… but the metaphor isn’t properly explored
      2. Mostly just a critique of Luke Cage itself, less so on the episodic nature

Thank you so much for listening to the show! If you have any thoughts or comments, or want to add any shows you think might fall into this category, let us know in the comments, on twitter or anywhere else our social media presence resides!