I’m not ready to give up on Timothy Hutton and the gang just yet, but the big business, rich-heartless-business-guy-is-the-evil-one theme that drives the show may be getting a bit tired. After all, once you’ve demonized the “rich and powerful” for four years, it’s got to be hard to keep recycling the same story (how come this never seems to include government—I’ll tell you why: there are no right-wing capitalist loving writers or producers on the show!). About the show, the Wikipedia entry says, “Leverage follows a five-person team: a thief, a grifter, a hacker, and a retrieval specialist, led by former insurance investigator Nathan Ford, who use their skills to fight corporate and governmental injustices inflicted on ordinary citizens.”
I’m pretty sure I’ve watched every episode in five seasons, but I don’t remember government being the bad guy that torments ordinary citizens very often, unless maybe government partnered with rich guys. Now I’m against crony capitalism as much as the next guy, but do the so called “rich and powerful,” with government’s help or not, really get rich and powerful by exploiting the ordinary schlub? You would think so if you watched this show. Why exactly do I watch it again? Well, it’s entertaining, and the stories are compelling if you can get past the anti rich and powerful thing.
In Season 5, Episode 11, the trite story is about the big box retailer destroying the quaint little town of mom and pop stores, and the communitarian way of life so beloved of many Americans, in the ideal; Utopia is always better when you don’t actually have to live in it. There are a few throw away lines that such stores bring lower prices and jobs to a community, but the change to a predictable way of life is just too much to bear. The Leverage gang realizes they can’t take down the entire Value!More corporation, but maybe they can just shut this one down, which they eventually do in what to me was ham handed and not very entertaining.
I think Leverage tells us a lot about American culture in the 21st Century, and how the “robber baron” theme started way back in the late 19th Century has come to influence entertainment and politics in our day. It’s a cliché that one of Hollywood’s favorite demons is the business person, an inevitably greedy money grubber who will do anything, often including murder, to gain even more riches. This could only happen because progressives who fundamentally distrust and despise free enterprise dominate not only our professions of entertainment, but education and media as well.
Americans for generations have been programmed in every way in their daily lives to cast a jaundiced eye on the pursuit of wealth. Of course the hypocrisy is palpable, because the vast majority of Americans lust for riches. Witness our latest lottery obsession. Yet we have the evidence of our most recent presidential election that envy is a winning card, where the winning candidate consistently demonized the “millionaires and billionaires” who just aren’t paying “their fair share” (even though the top 10% of income earners pay 70% of all federal income taxes-obviously not “progressive” enough).
Leverage also tells us that our fundamental cultural narrative about wealth is that luck, if not the, is at least a primary factor in acquiring it. The days of Horatio Alger as a cultural hero are long gone. Even in the tumult of the American industrial revolution, hard work, persistence, thrift and honesty were taught as the way to get ahead in life; 19th Century Americans well into the 20th Century believed that they were not victims of some powerful conspiracy to keep them down, or that wealth was a zero sum game where those who got rich did so inevitably at the expense of everyone else.
This is a reflection of the pathetic economic education that most Americans get, or don’t get at all. Popular culture only reinforces it, and statist politicians take advantage of it. Maybe one day enough champions of capitalism and free enterprise will make their way into the professions of education, entertainment and media so that television series like Leverage will never find an audience. One can always dream.
I wonder if ‘Leverage’ DVD’s will still be available at the EEEvil Walmart?
Hahahaha, great point, Sue!
I thought it was a great episode, and I do not like that supposed “fans” can hate on a TV show just because they do not like who one of the star’s dates in real life. The article was about the show, not about hating it b/c u don’t like a star
It’s nice to see that we live in a free country where anyone can express an opinion, no matter how sad and wrong.
Sorry you took a grumpy pill. Tell us a show that isn’t a wee bit formulaic after even 3 seasons. Let’s see… “Star Trek is so boring.. they are always in those uniforms, and in space!!! How many times can I look at those pointy ears? I think they should give Spock a new look.”
Plus seriously, we don’t need your industrial revolution history lesson. Clearly you don’t know how to just kick back and enjoy life, or you seriously are trying to prove how smart you are with your night classes.
Yeah,
Wow, Emma,I’m glad you know so much about me from this post. I do appreciate your empathy, though.
Sometimes it is just possible that people overthink things instead of just sitting back and enjoying the ride.
Ha ha, you know we don’t pay educators enough to attract “Champions of capitalism and free enterprise” Get real. LOL btw, how much money do YOU require to be happy each day? In reality, people WANT to work, but many Corporations pay their CEO’s too much to be able to hire more than a skeleton crew at below living wage. If you were paying attention when you watched, you’d notice that the villains are singled out, not a general representation of their peers. Also, as a Champion of the ‘marks’ I don’t think anyone believes you would ever be a fan of a program like “Leverage,” which renders your opinion null/void. You do realize it’s a fictional show? Peace
Horatio Alger’s hard-working lads always become wealthy when they unknowingly do something good for a millionaire who takes the poor motherless boy under his wing. Next false analogy?
It’s not that every wealthy person out there makes a buck at the expense of the little guy, but there are enough of them that it makes this show somewhat reasonably close to reality. The writers research TONS. Go check out show-runner John Rogers’ blog at kfmonkey.blogspot.com and check out how often they have to TONE DOWN the twerps the team goes after because if they actually made them like the real guys, the suspension of disbelief would be too difficult.
Sad commentary on our society, isn’t it? Though John Rogers also did point out in a recent tweet https://twitter.com/jonrog1/statuses/274235593242857473 that not everyone really is a jackass out to screw everyone they can. Enough of them are out there, though…
We love Leverage in our house. It’s so nice to watch a show without gratuitous sex, violence (come on, Eliot’s fights are like a ballet), swearing and gore. Just some great entertainment. Every episode is made of of many parts. Some you love more than others for the dialog, some eps you like plan and the toys. And some, just the emotion of a character. It’s all good, week after week. Sorry you didn’t see the same show.
Reading John Roger’s blog, you’ll find their stories come from adaptations of real life crimes or scams. Anyway, you can vote for Leverage in the Cable Drama Category, right here: http://www.peopleschoice.com/pca/vote/votenow.jsp
Are you aware that all Leverage episodes are inspired by real life situations? Of course, these are not exact replications of true stories, because this is entertainment, not documentary. But every time someone complains to show runner John Rogers that the show has jumped the shark, something invariably more evil will show up in the newspapers. So anyone who makes the remark you have is only displaying their naïveté for all the world to see.
Only selfish conservatives try to make the case that anyone is against people with money. I grew up flying around in private jets, my father was the biggest fish in his small pond. But people were lining up to work for him, because he paid more than any other companies in the same business. He treated his employees well and he honored his contracts beyond what was written into them. He gave away more to charity than was tax deductible. And, still, he prospered. And although his business wasn’t unionized, he sure as hell never exposed his workers to unsafe working conditions.
No, we fans of Leverage understand that wealth does not make people evil. We just hate knowing that most of the extremely wealthy people of the last two decades got their money from a rigged system. Our lawmakers allowed big business to do whatever the hell they wanted, to the point that mine owners could consider fines and dead workers just another cost of doing business. And banks could get away with pretty much bringing this country to its knees and we would still give them billions for their bonuses.
So, no, Leverage has not even come close to jumping the shark. And most of us who aspire to the American dream understand that you can make money without hurting people. I can tell you, from having an up close and personal view, that you can be wealthy and do good things instead of bad.
Oh yeah, and when my family was living the high life while my father was alive, back in the early seventies? The highest tax bracket was something like 72%. And the corporate rate was at 48%. So it’s also possible to live very luxuriously while paying a whole lot of taxes…as long as the cost of living hasn’t been screwed by big businesses raising the cost of health care, insurance or tuitions. And as long as bankers aren’t screwing around with the real estate industry. And as long as Wall Street companies aren’t committing fraud and betting against the investments they’re making for the clients who are paying them big bucks to invest their money wisely.
I hope Leverage gets renewed for at least another few seasons. I’m not naive, and I know that there are way more than enough people who have abused their wealth and/or power to hurt those who are more vulnerable than they are, enough for another few seasons worth of episodes. And I’m pretty sure most people are aware of the existence of government corruption. But I doubt there are more varied ways that story could be told than the seemingly endless variety in the private sector. I bet if Leverage would have told the story of a huge Ponzi scheme right under the SEC’s nose, people like you would have been harping on the shark again. Way too unbelievable. And yet…Madoff. So maybe, in the future, you could try doing a little research before writing this kind of trite nonsense.
Well, let’s see – I understand “I’m not ready to give up on Timothy Hutton and the gang just yet…” and I appreciate your opinion when you say “Well, it’s entertaining, and the stories are compelling if you can get past the anti rich and powerful thing.”
Perhaps Tim and the gang may need to take on Wikipedia one of these episodes for trying to pigeon-hole the show into the specific category of “Leverage follows a five-person team: a thief, a grifter, a hacker, and a retrieval specialist, led by former insurance investigator Nathan Ford, who use their skills to fight corporate and governmental injustices inflicted on ordinary citizens.” as opposed to “He and his team act as modern-day Robin Hoods, staging elaborate cons for clients victimized by an individual or corporation with the wealth and influence to avoid reprisal within the legal system.”
Yes I love this show too!! Thanks!!
1. You’re an idiot if you think the vehicle for the show is the only reason people enjoy watching it. Those of us who love the show enjoy it for its character development, long-term story arcs, and bigger themes about humanity among many other elements.
2. It alswys has been and will continue to be the central premise of the show. Expecting it to change would be like me expecting CSI to no longer be about crime or to be set primarily in a lab.
3. Clearly you haven’t watched the show with any regularity. They have gone after elements of our government on multiple occasions. “Let’s go steal the Department of Defense”, “Lets go steal CONGRESS”, “Lets go steal an election” etc.
4. CEOs of many Fortune 500 companies are dirty, not perhaps legally. I’m sure they work within the confines of the law their lobbiest has purchased for them. The head of Walmart, obviously the shows basis, makes something like $13,000 PER HOUR. Compare that to the typical employee and there is a lot wrong. By contrast Costcos CEO makes $500,000 per year but pays his employees a living wage well above the minimum. CEOs deserve to make good money. However, there is more money than a man could realistically EARN being paid to these guys at the expense of their own workers. Even Ford new enough to pay his workers better than the average salary, to pay them enough to buy the very cars they were making. It made for harder working employees who loved their job.
5. Lastly, all of the shows are well researched by the writers and producers. Watch for a blog post by Jon Rogers. He will fill you in on how they think when they write.
Well your article just shows America that everyone is entitled to their own opinion, but you are all wrong. Leverage is one of the best shows on TV right now. Weekly they entertain us with a 43 min. movie. This season the writing and story lines have just gotten better and better. I’m not sure what you are looking for when you are watching it but it is an awesome show, which by the way is nominated for a People’s Choice award, so there must be many others who think the same way.
Dawn, It just didn’t make any sense to Leverage fans, and apparently the one who wrote this episode, why the person that wrote the article gave it such a harsh misunderstanding of where they were trying to go with the episode. I can understand this person not liking the episode itself, but do not tear it to shreds so bad to where it has to be mentioned in a blog post now. And, I am not the person you think I am, so please do not go on twitter mentioning who you think I am to the person who I believe wrote the article/commented under a different name.
I love Leverage, it is the only show my family can all agree on. It has a terrific producer, writers,cast, and crew. It is a show you can get wonderfully lost in. I hope it gets renewed for a 6th season
It really is amazing how clairvoyant so many of you are! You know everything about me from one old little blog post. Impressive. And the arrogant condescension of some of you is especially appealing.
But for those who are not convinced they know everything, we do love the show, and for many of the reasons stated here. I did not know the plots were based on true stories, which doesn’t surprise me. I am a Christian and we Christians believe in something called “the fall,” which means everyone, the wealthy and poor alike, is infected with sin. Which also means these stories can be perfectly believable, even if some are overly caricatured, like the episode under discussion here.
The larger point is this. If Leverage were the only show on TV, or in movies, that made the rich businessman, or woman, the bad guy that would be one thing, but it isn’t. A theme throughout Hollywood for decades has been the evil business person, because Hollywood is filled with progressives who hate, or at least distrust, capitalism. American culture, in media and education as well, is filled with these people. Their warped and dishonest worldview is reflected in their work, and most Americans think that’s just the way the world is.
Those of us who don’t buy the progressive agenda or worldview simply get tired of it being continually pushed in our face. There is a lot of great entertainment in popular culture, because progressives are made in God’s image too, but when one day there is a balance again in these professions of cultural influence, the products they produce will only get better.
Anony,
I don’t know who you are and I don’t Tweet.
That said, I understand perhaps not liking this episode specifically, and I understand the writer of this article feeling that the show may be formulaic in where they always go after the “bigger, bad(der) guy”. That is the premise of the show… They help to level the playing field to help fight injustice; they provide “Leverage”.
This show is for entertainment purposes. If people want reality, there are numerous reality shows out there; they can tune in for a dose of the real world through the “jaundiced eye” of the creator(s) of the show.
This article’s writer sounds like he/she likes or appreciates the entertainment level of the show or wouldn’t watch it for “I’m pretty sure I’ve watched every episode in five seasons”. In my humble opinion, this article is one person’s viewpoint; nothing more…
Dawn, Mike makes me a he! You seem a person of good will. Thank you.
The funny part about this episode is that this was almost our town. Big swath of land becomes available, small town Oregon buys it up and zones sections. Later a Big Box gets the 13 person town council in their pocket and somehow a zone change slips through allowing a much larger store. 2 years and many petitions and town council meetings later, the zoning is changed back.
We had the stats. we knew the likelyhood of tax increases due to need of increased police force (we encourage you to park your RV in our lot). We also knew the devastation this small community would see in terms of small and medium businesses closing. We won, and the fictional Apple Grove won, but sadly, many communities lose.
Lori, I’m not unsympathetic to what “big box” can do to a town, despite the way my post may have sounded. And I certainly don’t begrudge folks in a town wanting to keep their way of life. In my opinion this episode of Leverage just wasn’t done very well. I know it’s hard to be nuanced in 40 minutes, but normally the show does what it does very well. This time I don’t think it did.
Mike, we love the show, and i understand that you thought the last episode wasn’t your cup of Tea, but a lot of people want this show to continue past season 5, and I hope you do too. Fans and I just strongly felt like your critique of this episode was very hurtful to the people who wrote this episode. Fans are trying to increase the ratings so we will have another season, and this article just went into too much detail about how it wasn’t the best episode, and I think it hit a lot of nerves with the fans, as well as the people involved in writing Leverage because we haven’t heard anything about a renewal. I know you have a right to your opinion, but we do too. One of the posts here, seems to be from a writer of the show, i don’t know if it was or not, but for them to comment means that they were very proud of this episode, they did their research, and wanted to stand by it.
Jess, I think that’s why I said “almost”. I would love to see the show continue, and didn’t know it might not be renewed. The characters they’ve created are tremendous and almost always very entertaining. They’ve kept this right-wing free-enterprise loving conservative Christian, and his family, tuned in for five seasons!
Leverage is actually a bit of nostalgia for me. I’m the same age as Timothy Hutton (he’s a couple weeks younger, doggone it!), and I grew up enjoying he and his father’s work. I know he’s worked consistently over the years, but I don’t remember seeing him much in the decade or two prior to Leverage. Then he gets this fantastic part on this fantastic show and just nails it. It’s been fun and it will be interesting to see if it continues.
Yes, it may not be renewed, I guess someone should have mentioned that earlier. Like I stated before a lot of us were upset because the ratings were not great on Tuesday, and we just didn’t want any one else to read this and say, “I am not going to watch Leverage any more.”
Mike,
I didn’t know if the authored name on this column was a pseudonym. Thanks for the clarification.
The assumption by Anony thinking I would know who they were and that I would tweet about them started me thinking that perhaps there was more than one Anony or name change…
And Mike, I liked your response to Jess. As I said, it sounded as if the author was at least a one-time fan, if not a current one.
Leverage is one of the most clever, smartest, wittiest shows on tv. You actually think about the story, the characters, I, personally want to learn more about the characters, their back-stories, & their future endeavors.
Compared to some of the horrible, ridiculous shows on tv these days, Leverage is a refreshing splash of entertainment that I will continue to watch, hopefully for a very, very long time.
Mike, my comment on my local situation was more of a rambling of the sleep deprived (agency booking me back to back jobs, trying to unwind). Anyway, if I had a point at all, it was that it was uncanny how real life the script was compared to our town and what could have been. I actually wasn’t referring to any of your comments at all.
Until you have something like this happen to you/ your town, it seems like fiction, but it can be very real.
I think I’m horribly confused. Where in the article did it say anything at all about not liking a certain star’s date? Project, much? FYI, there’s more than just that certain star in this show.
Also, the assumption that there is only one Dawn in the world who would post a comment/reply is asinine. And you wonder why this fandom has such a horrible reputation.
I’m dawn too.. I’m also very confused as to where people (or one specific group of “people”) have to throw in the whole “well if you didn’t like the episode then you aren’t a real fan and it just has to be because you don’t like “HIS” GF???? SERIOUSLY??? I think those that think that have way too much free time on their hands and have to spend it bullying innocent people. People are allowed to like an episode less then others. But I guess if people don’t follow “your” rules or drink your kool-aid then they are the enemy and must be pushed out of your crazy ass fandom. So over all that.
As for the article, everyone is entitled to their opinion without getting crucified. I think this has been one of the best seasons of Leverage since the 1st season. Unfortunately, that’s not going to be good enough for TNT as they are dragging their feet regarding a renewal (I personally think that it’s not being renewed and that’s a sad reality but we have no say in what the suits do). I guess if this is going to be the end they are going out on top
There are people in this world who watch TV with the objective of losing themselves into the show and don’t care how realistic it is as long as its enjoyable. There are also people who need to know the hows and the whys of everything. This is why there are so many different TV shows and stations out there. One size fits all is never true of TV shows. Personally, I don’t watch fantasy and sci-fi movies then go watch the ‘making of’ to understand how they made everything magical about the movie work.
With Leverage, I enjoy the cast interaction so much I don’t really care if the ‘big bad’ of the story is Walmart or the government. I don’t watch it expecting them to avenge the wrongs inflicted on me by companies like my cable or cell phone company who overcharges me and then locks me into a contract forever. Because its not all about the bad guy. Sometimes you just have to sit back and enjoy the ride. This episode wasn’t anywhere near jumping the shark for me. There have been episodes that were far less believable than this one and that to me is jumping the shark. But its rare that any episode is so unbelievable that I’ll stop watching. I just enjoy this show too much to care about whether the fake store is like Walmart or whether Walmart is evil. They base the episodes on real life stories in the media but they also have to do shows that they can resolve the problem. You can’t have them take on all the government problems in an hour. They have taken on certain aspects of it in the past. But if you’re expecting them to go into the in-depth problems of the government, then you’re watching the wrong show.
I watched this episode last night on DVR, and the politics notwithstanding, I thought it was quite charmless, nowhere near the quality I had come to expect of the show. In my view, the scam was exceedingly simple and uninspired, the physical cruelty toward the female villain was unseemly, the resolution was silly and implausible (spoiler: I refer to the fact that the villagers all get their jobs back after the big box store closes; right, sure), the team’s discussion of the implications of the big box store’s existence was truncated just when it was getting interesting (Nate simply tells Hardison to shut up because Eliot is right in denouncing the store, yet Hardison was making a valid and indeed important point which it was both rude and superficial of Nate to suppress), and the depictions of the main characters had no spark at all.
On the plus side, I thought the business with Eliot and his father was very interesting and rather touching, but that was the only redeeming factor I found. Let’s hope that the show gets back on its feet with this week’s ep.
Well, another show tonight. I wonder if there’s another review on the way? Methinks not.
Dear Confused,
I disagree with your thoughts that it will be cancelled. The Season 5 episodes have all had a steady rating as last year average 3.8 million. I do believe that there is a lot of negotiations going on that the fans know nothing about. So, I would say “don’t lose faith in Leverage yet.” The head writer and creator tell us not to worry. So, I think we should stand by it
Also, I am sooo proud of what the Leverage fandom has accomplished this year. TNT has shown more promos for it and the show was nominated for a PCA.
Alikat, I agree with you whole heartedly, it is a great show to get lost in.
I have never heard of this fandom as having a bad rap by ANY person of the show or any fan I have talked to. Yes, we do have different opinions about a lot of things, and yes BOTH sides can get out of hand. But what we ALL have to realize is that we all LOVE Leverage. If we do not like what people post or tweet about us, we have to be the bigger person and acknowledge their opinion.
Mike this week’s episode is supposed to be FANTASTIC. I do hope you watch it.
Jess, it’s still in the DVR queue and I’m looking forward to it.
Mike, just make sure you watch it within 3 days of tonight’s airing or it doesn’t count towards the ratings.
Thanks, Jess. I didn’t know that. We’ll watch tonight.
I am a fan of the show, and agree with the article. Previous episodes have focused on individual villains whose actions have directly impacted a victim. In this episode an elderly fellow was put out of business by a box store–a legal business that provides jobs and cheap goods. Liberals hate Walmart because they hate the free market, and this episode was blatant political propaganda, in the most tired Hollywood cliche form that supports that long-time meme. The female victim didn’t deserve the treatment she got. And Elliot beats up on a guy because he didn’t like to be told to tuck in his shirt? Yeah, this episode jumped the shark, and I’m glad at least a few people recognize that. Culture has an effect on reality, as the last election sadly proved.
Anyone who thinks this episode isn’t propaganda is one of those hacks who thinks “reality has a liberal bias”. There was a bald-faced leftist anti-capitalist talking point (usually one that’s also a bald-faced lie, not that that ever stops them) spewed or depicted at least once every 5 minutes on average – I’m not joking.
“Sometimes you just have to sit back and enjoy the ride.”
This is how they get you – and how they get your children. You let your guard down. It’s not fearmongering or paranoia; it’s political psychology. And the people behind “Leverage” KNOW they’re propagandists. (Prove it to yourself: Google up the article about… I believe it was the producer… who GLOATED about the blatant, out-of-left-field (in multiple senses), anti-oil message at the end of one of their episodes. An episode that was GREAT until that point, by the way. The scum ruined it for conversatives, quite intentionally, gloated about it, said they wish they’d made it MORE political, and vowed to do similar in the future. Despicable people.)
Don’t get me wrong, I watch the show (because not all episodes are that bad and I was already hooked on it before I realized the crap they pull – though I can’t recommend the show to anyone in good conscience any more). However, I don’t put my guard down: I don’t think “oh well, just a show”. I think “that was propaganda”. I let some of it slide – I let quite a bit more slide than I’d really like to, but choices are limited when looking for quality entertainment these days – but you have to draw the line somewhere. If blatant leftist talking points every 5 minutes in this episode and willfully embracing some of the more extreme leftist things like the demonizing of companies like Wal-Mart doesn’t cross that line… where the heck is your line?? Something’s wrong.
Indoctrination isn’t about magically brainwashing you because you watched some TV show. It’s a constant battle for the minds of the ignorant and the gullible, especially children and “low-information voters”. You really think it’s a coincidence that the demonstrably HUGELY-politically-ignorant tend to vote the way Hollywood nudges?
Know what? Did I say “a bald-faced leftist anti-capitalist talking point” every FIVE minutes? Okay, I did say “at least”, so I can’t say I’m taking it back… but in just recently watching the full episode… I have to say I’ve understated it significantly. And that’s even without the final diatribe at the end which the writers put in the mouth of the “villain”, which is such an absurd extreme-leftist rant, it alone must raise the average significantly.
This phenomenon of an OK show suddenly tilting sharply left is so common we should have a better name for it than “jump the shark.”
Most recent example is episode of Vegas where the football player boyfriend comes from a Christian family. All is well until of course the mom turns nasty. We can’t have a sympathetic Christian family, natch. Very similar to Glee, a show I really wanted to like.
Somebody think of a good name for this leftward shark-jumping.
Sorry, the show was Nashville, not Vegas.
I found this post through a search using the show title along with the term “propaganda” because I too am feeling that I’m being steered towards a certain perspective.
When you don’t hold the same views you tend to pick up on these things because certain angles often don’t make sense when considering the flow of the plot.
Some would call this paranoid or falling prey to conspiracy theories but that’s a convenience they provide themselves in order to suggest their own superiority without actually having to consider all aspects of whatever issue is being discussed in thoughtful manner. It also supplies them with the false conviction that they understand without them having to actually know anything about the topics upon which they speak. It’s lazy, it’s vain, and it’s wearyingly predictable.
As is stated in the blog post the one “bad guy” who never seems to be exposed is Big Daddy Government. Why is that? I initially enjoyed Leverage, but it sacrifices what it could be by adapting to the company line.
The sad thing about a show like this is that every opportunity to actually educate people on how certain dastardly characters are able to perpetuate their schemes is limply put aside in order to maintain the status quo. It places itself in a den of thieves wearing a glittering gown of righteous indignation, then looks the other way while those who built the den sneak out the back way. In my opinion such an approach renders any merits of the show moot.
To those who read this and see me as they’ve been trained to see me I suggest you look beyond the box you’ve been placed in and not assume everyone else lives there (or SHOULD live there) with you.
We are all just people and we should be allowed to live as ourselves as long as we do not harm others, and whatever benefits or profits are gained through our own efforts should be retained by us so that we may do with them as we will. We are not cogs within a system controlled by Government sanctioned “legal” entities and we are not fodder for their cannon or cows for them to cash in on.
Reading this you may assume that I’m a rich, racist, gun-toting, Christian, Republican – none of those assumptions are accurate, and most likely none of the other culturally accepted hypocritical superficialities you’ve been trained to apply to those who offer any thoughts that challenge the ignorance of your imprinted beliefs are either.
Perhaps I’m being too strict in my approach to entertainment, but I’m not entertained by insults to my intelligence, poorly executed and laughably predictable manipulation, or a story that doesn’t follow its own lead.
If this comes across as arrogant please consider how it must feel for someone who genuinely feels connected to his earthly fellows and makes and effort to live life as generously, as empathetically, and as honestly as he can only to be routinely subjected to heavy-handed and perpetual manipulation, then be subjected to criticisms from those who’ve succumbed to such manipulations in a gleefully condescending and atrociously hypocritical manner.
Then! Then! He gets to see these same people rub themselves all over with silky smugness without realizing their masturbatory satisfaction is based upon them adhering to the same system responsible for the societal ailments they proclaim staunch opposition to?
Puulllleeeeaaassseee!!!!! Arrrrrggggghhhhh!!!!
It’s makes one both very frustrated and very, very sad….
Whatever the issue is at the very least you could actually learn about it and think about it before developing an opinion you’ve been coerced into having.
(Don’t just go along with it because it gets you off!)