Anyone want to comment on the pilot episode? I thought it was very decent, though it didn't entirely grip me as some other HBO pilots did (most recently the almost perfect pilot to "The Night Of" which ended up being the best episode in the entire series). I very much like the ensemble cast. I tried to remember where I knew Abigail Parker from and I had to check the actress' IMDB (her name is Margarita Levieva BTW) to remember that she was Lisa P. in "Adventureland". BTW, that woman has great genes, because whilst I didn't believe she was quite as young as her character's age, I never would have guessed that she is 37 years old (thus only 3 years younger than Maggie Gyllenhaal).
The show certainly has an admirable pedigree with the creators of The Wire being involved. No real casting qualms with any of the major characters. The pilot episode moved at a pretty good pace, hopefully the rest of the season will follow suit. I find most HBO series take a few episodes to catch fire so I will wait until then to pass any sort of judgement beyond so far, so good.
I liked the second episode. One thing that I didn't quite get, where did Abby Parker move in after dropping out of college? That wasn't entirely clear to me.
At first I thought it was her friend's place, the friend who she was with when she got busted the previous episode. But I do recall a dorm scene from the previous episode so I could be wrong. As far as the episode itself, it moved the stories along nicely without seeming rushed although I feel there are too many working girl storylines developing right now to really do any of them justice. I do know I will never look at potato soup the same way again...
Oh man the 2nd episode came out? Nice. I really enjoyed the first episode and was bummed I watched it so far ahead of the 2nd one.
That was a crazy scene! I can't believe they got a major actress like Maggie Gyllenhaal to agree to that scene.
Liking the show in general, but find the Franco “twin” roles is unnecessary and distracting, even jarring…doesn’t really serve a propose; feels very gimmicky and isn’t really working for me… Definitely not working as well as say Orphan Black or Legend…
I don't know, I don't mind it so far. Probably because the Vincent role is still bigger than the Frankie role. I think his work as Vincent has been very good.
I agree Franco is doing a fine job…there’s just no reason for them to twins…the interaction between the two characters, I fear will prove awkward and unnatural in the long run…once again, for no real propose …every scene they have been in “together” so far hasn’t had enough substance to make stop wondering more about “how” they are doing it, then what they are actually doing in the scene…
So I have seen at least one piece which complained that "The Deuce" has a narrative that is either going very slowly or not going anywhere in particular. I think it's more a case of expectations. I doubt that Simon and Pelecanos were as interested in telling a simple story, tidy and wrapped up, but they were more trying to create a slice of life in that area of NYC in the early 1970s? I definitely still enjoy it.
I agree with that complaint but like I said in a previous post many HBO series take 4 or 5 episodes to catch fire. We're at that point now with this series so hopefully one of the storylines take off. Who knows, maybe Simon was given a wink and a nod for a second season going in and he has the luxury of letting the show unfold slowly. My $0.02 - focus on the Franco and Gyllenhall stories and use just one of the pimps as filler material. BTW, is that Slim Charles behind the counter in the diner?
Is the club that the gay bartender wants to go to a real place? It can't be "Studio 54", at least not in terms of the chronology.
So it looks like the action is really going to start now. I have to say that I am a bit disappointed by the way they framed Candy's choice. i guess it makes sense that she would reconsider her career after a john beat her up, but then, why didn't that happen one of the earlier times she got roughed up? I also think that focusing on the inner conflict of sex workers is fine, but why is this show much less interested in the psychology of johns and pimps? So far, we know very little about them.
I love this show, but at this point, it's pretty clear that Simon and Pelecanos meant it primarily as a slice of life show, not a drama that neatly follows a single narrative thread.
The threads are slowly coming together. It seems like the Abby storyline has stalled although I am still holding out hope that Simon has a plan to make her a Marilyn Chambers-like Queen of the Skin Flicks. Haven't heard much buzz about this series, hopefully it doesn't go the way of Vinyl.
This already has a second season. Abby is definitely there to end up in porn herself. BTW, Margarita Levieva is just two years younger than James Franco, which is amazing to consider. That woman has amazing genes.