Under The Marble Arch
“Seeing what isn’t there is half the job of being on the Left. The other half is changing what isn’t there through costly, intrusive, and ill-conceived initiatives (save 10 percent for keeping Charlie Rangel out of trouble).” -Abe Greenberg, October 9, 2009
Archive
Philosopher's Corner

"With their memories of the sixties, when to be young was very heaven, they still believe that an oppositional stance in pursuit of perfection is virtuous in itself—indeed, is the prime or sole content of virtue. And it is this belief that renders them interesting to Hollander, for it makes genuine moral reflection about the nature of various governments and policies impossible. It transforms merely personal discontents into matters of supposedly great general importance."

-Theodore Dalrymple on Paul Hollander: The Only Superpower: Reflections on Strength, Weakness, and Anti-Americanism

Envy the Stupid People
The Leper Colony
  • Peggy Noonan
  • Christopher Buckley
  • Nicole Wallace
  • Steve Schmidt
  • David Brooks
  • David Frum
  • Jeffrey Hart
  • Arlen Specter**
  • Olympia Snowe*
  • Susan Collins*

h/t Red State

*RINO Lepers

**Who says a leper can't change his spots?

Even The Lepers Don't Want Her

Kathleen Parker

Quarantined for Observation

Michael Steele

Search Me
Powered by Squarespace

Feed Me
Blog Roll
Read Me

« Imamectomy Update | Main | With Christmas Just Around the Corner... »
Thursday
07Dec2006

Tinker, Tailor, Soldier...Closer

DateThursday, December 7, 2006 at 06:24AM

I watched the season premiere of The Closer on Monday night.  It was very good, and for all the reasons you'd expect: recycled and updated story lines, cliched subplots, impossibly beautiful cast...you know, all the stuff that makes American TV great.

10clos2_lg.jpg
She has it all: big hair, big gun, hunky boyfriend.This particular story took me back to my John LeCarré days, only this time the breathtakingly dull George Smiley has been miraculously transformed into the quirky Brenda Leigh Johnson.  If you are shallow and judge things from purely aesthetic standpoint, this is an improvement.  The story revolves around the mysterious murder of a young Arab teenager who had inserted himself into the counterterrorism efforts of the CIA.  Brenda Leigh is trying to resurrect her job (she's been suspended)  and she gets the help she needs from an old mentor, a now disgraced older female academic/analyst.

I own the miniseries version of Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, which is very faithful to the book.  These stories marked the apex of John LeCarré's career which declined in step with the Cold War, The Constant Gardener notwithstanding. As a fluff version of these intricate thrillers, The Closer season opener wasn't bad at all and it even featured the New Bad Guy Cliché/ Cutting-Edge Stereotype:  The Blind Terrorist Mastermind.  I love it when that happens.

Authorbbmoe | CommentPost a Comment |

PrintView Printer Friendly Version

Reader Comments

There are no comments for this journal entry. To create a new comment, use the form below.

PostPost a New Comment

Enter your information below to add a new comment.

My response is on my own website »
Author Email (optional):
Author URL (optional):
Post:
 
All HTML will be escaped. Hyperlinks will be created for URLs automatically.