How I Would Save AMC'S 'Rubicon' or "Damn....It Had So Much Promise"

"That Glee Club will never find me in this bar...."

 When AMC started 'Rubicon' over the summer with a special online look at the one-hour premier I was as excited as everyone else. AMC has already proven it knows how t make quality TV with it's critical and fan-favorite series' 'Mad Men' and 'Breaking Bad'. These two shows have demonstrated the cable network's ability to tell quality stories using complex characters, each show has a unique visual style and stellar casts. For all purposes both of these shows are home-runs. 

I went into the pilot of 'Rubicon' with no knowledge of the series, I hadn't read even a one-line description of the premise. All I knew what that AMC made good TV and all I expect was that this new series would, at least, meet if not raise the bar already set. It didn't. 

Right out of the gate there were problems with this new series. The pilot alone took me two viewing to get through. Sure there were intriguing moments but it was very slow. Worse than the pacing was the tone of the show, deadly serious. It's as if we're to believe none of these characters have ever cracked a joke before because I don't think I saw one smile or light moment in the whole first hour. 

Obviously the high-paranoia, everything-is-a-conspiracy-style-plot doesn't leave much room for spit takes and knee-slappers but a little bit of levity would've been the first step in the right direction to bringing a new audience into this very stoic world of Government-employed, Think-Tank workers. 

In the pilot episode we meet Will Travers an intelligence analyst for a think-tank called, API, who is still dealing with the loss of his wife and daughter in the 9/11 attacks on the World Trade Center. Will discovers a hidden code in crossword puzzles around the country that tie into a secret society that may have a heavy hand in orchestrating world events on a grand scale. I say "may have" because, ten episodes into season 1, and the answer is just as muddled as it was in the premiere. 

As a series-long LOST fan I'm accustomed and totally okay with not have all (or ANY) of the answers up front. I'm generous with TV, especially new shows, and as long as you keep me invested in the people I'll stick through muddle plot details and over-worked conspiracy stories. Rubicon has only succeeded in making one character worth watching, Kale Ingram (played by the spectacular Arliss Howard). 

Kale Ingram is one of Will Traver's supervisors at API, an enigmatic man who speaks in whispered puzzles, is the most appealing and humanized character on the series. He has a live-in boyfriend whom we've been shown he adores, if only because he's so easy to keep in the dark (when you work at API you can't tell anyone what you really do...mysterious, isn't it?). 

So, with all the bits and pieces that are good and bad, how can we save this show? With a few MINOR adjustments I think this could be one of the best show's on TV so I'm going to list them and maybe, someone out there will know a Rubicon writer and pass along this list of suggestions. Or else we can just debate it here. 

1. MORE KALE - This one should be hard to accomplish. Write this guy more scenes and give him more business. It seems like the writers are already onto this gem in their cast, as this most recent episode spent a lot of time with Kale. They're on the right path but they can do more. Kale has recently been helping Will (or at least it seems this way, he could also be working against him) and should continue to do so. Since one of the major faults of this show is that the stakes are unclear, let's start by making our heroes a little clearer. I'm not saying there should be distinctive Good and Evil characters, this show works well in the grey-areas, but it wouldn't hurt to make Kale as definite friend of Will Travers and his ongoing investigation.  Perhaps add some danger to the show by having Kale tell Will everything he knows and agree to help him, in secret, take down API only to have him lose his live-in boyfriend in a tragic accident similar to the one that started Will's investigation (the mysterious death of Will's father-in-law is what begins the series). 
2. ANSWER QUESTIONS AND ASK NEW ONES - This was the one major flaw LOST seemed to have, it constantly asked new questions before it gave satisfying answers to the old ones. Rubicon doesn't do either. In the ten episodes I've seen, we have learned almost NOTHING worth-while about the over-all conspiracy, it's players, it's pawns or it's purpose. This is a bad move. The audience isn't going to stick around just because you keep a carrot on a stick in front of them. The characters will keep asses in the seats but for a show about conspiracy, you need to have lots of conspiring. Let us in on the plan. Show some of your cards and then think up new mysteries to tease us with. By episode 5 we should know exactly what the Crossword Puzzle Hiding Men hope to achieve.  By episode 10 we should know, without question, what Will is going up against. If we knew how high a mountain he has to climb we might be more inclined to stick around and watch him try to climb it. 
3. MORE CONSPIRACY THEORIES - The crossword puzzle thing was cool. So are all the hidden four-leaf clovers people keep finding at random, that somehow tie into the large conspiracy. I would love to continue telling you about the cool little bits of intrigue on this series but it stops there. It shouldn't. Wrap the the xword puzzle and the clovers by episode 6 and then introduce us to something new. Maybe there are hidden messages on TV or in a prominent Gossip rag. If this show gave us more little details to investigate with Will perhaps it wouldn't feel like we've spent the last 10 episodes treading water. 
4.  COMEDY WORKS TO INCREASE TENSION - As I said at the beginning of this piece a little levity goes a long way. If we could see some of these characters out of their work element, or even a bit happier at work, it would help to not only humanize them but increase the tension of the quiet serious scenes just enough to keep the show out of the feet-dragging pace it's been slogging along at. They tried this with light banter amongst Will's team but, for whatever reason, this falls flat and seems forced. Maybe it's because we know so little about these characters outside of the four-industrial green colored walls they work behind it's hard to tell what's meant to be sarcastic and what's meant to be serious. Which leads me to my final suggestion...
5. LET THE SUPPORTING CAST BREATH- We've gotten a little bit of info about each of the supporting characters but not enough information. If a bit more time was spent on each of these characters throughout the ten episodes that have aired, we could be more invested in their personal lives and therefore care more about what happens to them professionally. 

What's past is past and there's nothing we can do but I have no doubt that this show will get a second season and hopefully the creators will look back on the complaints the first season has received and search for ways to fix it. These 5 suggestions are a great place to start. I'm hoping for the best because there are many things about this show I like and with a few tweaks it could be as strong as my other favorite, quietly brooding series, DAMAGES. 

Am I way off base? Do you love Rubicon? Hate it? Share your thoughts below.

Untitled Blog Post

Sometimes I get so wrapped up in making a title for these blog posts that I don't even feel like writing the damn thing so today that's the best I can do. I've had a throbbing headache all day that has put me in kind of a weird mood so excuse the mess of words that's about to spew forth.

Been really busy both with work and non-work related things. I lost about a week and a half of my life to two very addictive video games. The first of which is called Dragon Age: Origins, a RPG (Role Playing Game) that's sort of a Lord of The Rings type deal but far more interesting,  in my opinion. Then I played Mass Effect 2, another sort of RPG but set in space and with a high focus on 3rd person shooting. That game was amazing and I HIGHLY recommend getting the first one playing it to completion and then playing the second. What makes the game so cool is that every little decision you make effects the future installments of the game. The ending of this most recent endeavor set up some huge potential plot points for the third, and final, game.

I've also been lettering a lot lately, which is always a good thing. First I worked on my graphic novel (currently undergoing a possible title change) which has 45 penciled pages, another 43 pencils on the way and is hopefully going to be colored soon. I've been lettering the pencil pages as they come in, to provide myself with plenty of time to make any changes to dialogue or story elements. In fact, here are some pages from that:

Next my good friend Charles Soule (who you can find on http://charlessoule.wordpress.com/) sent me a batch of pages for his next graphic novel a book called, 27. This is one of the best books I've ever worked on, the art is amazing and the story is so brilliant that I'll be shocked if this isn't picked up and turned into a film almost immediately. Can't wait to be able to share some pages from that book with you, maybe later in the week Charles will let me post some of those pages.

I also lettered the first issue of  "Neverland" this week for Zenescope. This is a particularly exciting project for two reasons: 1) I've long been a fan of Zenescope's "Grimm Fairy Tales" series, in which they tale classic fairy tales a put a dark, sometimes sexual spin on them. The series is very dark and usually has a cool Tales From The Crypt-like twist at the end of each story arc. 2) I am a HUGE Peter Pan fan. Other than "Alice in Wonderland”, J.M. Barrie’s tale of never growing up is my all time favorite classic. So to work on a book that plays within that mythology is a huge geek moment for me. I believe Zenescope has a preview issue already available somewhere (although I didn’t letter that I am on board to letter the series), you should try and find a copy before issue one debuts.

My other obsession this week is, of course, LOST. We’re in the final season of this amazing show and I have a million and one theories running around my head, unfortunately (or fortunately) for you I’m NOT going to be sharing them here. The internet is full of amazing places to read about LOST (in fact, my favorite blog is Brian’s Lost and Gone Forever which I DEMAND you visit right away!!!) and I don’t think it’s where I should be focusing my time. I could literally write all day about LOST and I fear once I start I won’t stop. So in an effort to keep this blog about ALL things Shawn and not just Shawn Loves Lost, I’ll be keeping my insane Lost rant to myself until the final episode has aired. I imagine then I’ll have a lot to say and I’ll take up a full post dedicated solely to that.

What else?

Oh, a few plugs:

1. A good friend of my, Brian Hoffman, has started a website called Eat This New York where he started out blogging about food he had eaten around the city but recently introduced, what I assume is an ongoing, video-blog. The video is hilarious and entertaining and will make you really hungry for pizza. I would post the video here but I want you to see his site and maybe click on some ads and help the guy out so please visit the link for the video.

2. Another friend, this is a guy I’ve know for a much shorter period of time but I respect his work a whole hell of a lot, Victor Quinaz, is very busy. He’s writing  what i believe will be the one of the most fun graphic novels you’ve ever read and also directing and producing a series of parody videos that I am LOVING. The whole premise is MTV’s the Hills but set during the time of the Pilgrims. Great stuff.  The first video, “Pilgrims” you can see below. The second video titled, “Edith Wharton’s Ethan Frome” is already getting buzz from places like NY magazine’s Vulture and can be seen either on the Vulture site or on Victor’s Youtube: HERE

 

Okay that’s all for now. My headache has actually gone away a bit and I wonder if i just needed to write for a while. Sometimes i think too many thoughts get back up in my brain and even though I do talk a lot, sometimes some shit just needs to be written out.

I guess that’s why I’m a writer. Weeeeeee!

Conan's Final Goodbye as Tonigt Show Host. (ADDED VIDEO)

This was a beautiful speech and it touched me very close to my heart. Conan is an inspiration to me and have been my favorite part of Late Night for my whole life. Can't wait to see him again in seven months. In the meantime, check this shit out:

"Before we end this rodeo, a few things need to be said. There has been a lot of speculation in the press about what I legally can and can't say about NBC. To set the record straight, tonight I am allowed to say anything I want. And what I want to say is this: between my time at Saturday Night Live, The Late Night Show, and my brief run here on The Tonight Show, I have worked with NBC for over twenty years. Yes, we have our differences right now and yes, we're going to go our separate ways. But this company has been my home for most of my adult life. I am enormously proud of the work we have done together, and I want to thank NBC for making it all possible.
Walking away from The Tonight Show is the hardest thing I have ever had to do. Making this choice has been enormously difficult. This is the best job in the world, I absolutely love doing it, and I have the best staff and crew in the history of the medium. But despite this sense of loss, I really feel this should be a happy moment. Every comedian dreams of hosting The Tonight Show and, for seven months, I got to. I did it my way, with people I love, and I do not regret a second. I've had more good fortune than anyone I know and if our next gig is doing a show in a 7-11 parking lot, we'll find a way to make it fun.

And finally, I have to say something to our fans. The massive outpouring of support and passion from so many people has been overwhelming. The rallies, the signs, all the goofy, outrageous creativity on the internet, and the fact that people have traveled long distances and camped out all night in the pouring rain to be in our audience, made a sad situation joyous and inspirational.

To all the people watching, I can never thank you enough for your kindness to me and I'll think about it for the rest of my life. All I ask of you is one thing: please don't be cynical. I hate cynicism -- it's my least favorite quality and it doesn't lead anywhere.

Nobody in life gets exactly what they thought they were going to get. But if you work really hard and you're kind, amazing things will happen."