ViewGuide

Created Sep 22, 2010 07:18PM PST • Edited Sep 25, 2010 07:20PM PST

1. Quality

2. Summary

   Very Good 3.5

   A promising mess, the pilot of this richly pedigreed and praised HBO series nearly got caught up in the massive of amount of exposition it needed to lay down. That and its downright mean violence marks it as a bit of an acquired taste. It’s certainly not the instant classic it was cracked up to be, unlike the two series to which it’s often compared.

   The comparison to The Sopranos and Mad Men is apt given BE’s combination of surprisingly sympathetic exploration of a criminal culture combined with extreme period detail of a long gone America. Those classics took their time launching and revealing their storylines and they were often funny. BE is more awe inspiring and sickening. There’s a lot to admire from a craftsmanship POV but not a lot to like from a bonding POV.

   Certainly a premiere – even one directed by Martin Scorsese – doesn’t a series make. This empire has plenty of potential to earn it’s crown.

4. Acting

   Very Good 3.5

5. Male Stars Very Good 3.5

6. Female Stars Very Good 3.5

7. Female Costars Very Good 3.5

8. Male Costars Very Good 3.5

10. Film

    Very Good 3.5

11. Direction Very Good 3.5

12. Play Good 3.0

13. Music Very Good 3.5

14. Visuals Perfect 5.0
15. Content

16. Edge

    Sordid 3.3

    HBO pushes the limit well into R rated territory.

17. Sex Erotic 2.6

18. Violence Brutal 3.5

19. Rudeness Nasty 3.9

21. Reality

    Glib 1.2

    Truthy.

22. Circumstantial Glib 1.5

23. Biological Natural 1.0

24. Physical Natural 1.0