Spartacus Season 3 Episode 2 Watch Online Free

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MattRoush: It might require writing an entire book on the subject to answer this question satisfactorily. It's no doubt a combination of factors, but to simplify matters, what happened to Glee is: TV happened. The show exploded on the scene, burning so bright a fadeout was inevitable, but was likely accelerated by the exponentially fragmented nature of the modern TV universe and the fickle demographic that is Glee's primary target. Add in the reality that the show even at its best is uneven and polarizing, with growing pains exaggerated by Internet and Twitter snark. And then Glee took the rather bold and risky move of graduating many of its most popular core characters and folding what could have been a New York spin-off into the main show, again dividing the audience. I'm still encouraged and sometimes impressed by Glee's ambition, most recently in last week's unusually intense, emotional and timely "Shooting Stars" episode. Finally, while you may be overstating how big Glee was at its height, you may also be overemphasizing how far it has fallen. If my mailbag this season is any indication, the show is still striking a chord and making noise, just not on the scale it used to. But honestly, when even American Idol has come down to earth, this is hardly a surprise.

Matt Roush: Fire up the accolades: unforgettable, grueling and absolutely riveting to boot. This was a high-water mark for TNT's underappreciated cop drama, whose fifth season has been quite remarkable. I didn't think the show could top the recent episodes featuring Gerald McRaney as Officer Cooper's unhappily retired, suicidal mentor. Those scenes were as emotionally harrowing as anything you'd ever expect to find on TV, but nothing could have prepared us for the ordeal last week facing Cooper (the superb Michael Cudlitz) and his partner Lucero (Anthony Ruivivar) when the tables turned during what should have been a routine roust of two unhinged tweakers, leaving the cops stripped of their uniforms, weapons and dignity as their hair-trigger captors tormented and threatened them in a scenario of increasingly horrific and ultimately murderous intensity. There was no way not to be shaken by that episode, written by Zack Whedon and directed masterfully by executive producer Christopher Chulack.

Matt Roush: I agree with maybe one point in your rant: that The Americans doesn't make its characters easy to love. Why should it? This is an FX series, on a network known for pushing the limits of anti-heroics (from The Shield onward). Otherwise, it's like we're watching two entirely different shows. This is not a blue-sky USA Network-style caper series. It's a dark, uncompromising and complicated (emotionally and otherwise) study of people on both sides of the Cold War, damaged by living lives built on a foundation of deception. The troubles in Philip and Elizabeth's marriage-in-name-only are epic, not the sort to be tidily reconciled in even a single season. And you are not giving near enough credit to Noah Emmerich's subtle but soulful work as Stan, a flawed hero whose dedication to work and country has soured his marriage. And while he may not be leading-man handsome, Emmerich is doing a fine job of conveying Stan's unhappiness and ambivalence as he reluctantly succumbs to the darkest impulses the spy game. There's an authority and gravity to his demeanor, and an innate decency (up to a point), that might explain why someone would have fallen for him. (The power of his position is the main reason his mole within the KGB, Nina, is sleeping with him.) It's a fair criticism that we didn't know Stan's partner well enough to truly mourn him, but the circumstances of his death were shocking and dramatic, and it's hardly a stretch that the agency would be rocked by it. And while the FBI has made its share of errors, it's nowhere near as ridiculous as on The Following, and the KGB is just as culpable in screwing things up and letting things get out of hand. Philip and Elizabeth are always beating themselves up, when they're not getting beaten.

My only real bone to pick with The Americans, which I consider one of the midseason's few standout series: Given how sexually adventurous he has been getting with Martha, his unwitting and smitten FBI mole, how in the world does Philip keep his wig on during their trysts?

Question: I watched the first episode of Hannibal and was really intrigued by Hugh Dancy'scharacter. As for Hannibal Lecter, though, he didn't do much for me. His outfits (especially the ties) made me wonder if this takes place in the '70s, and his accent was difficult for me to understand. What are your thoughts? I'll give it another week or two, though, to see how it evolves.

Matt Roush: I am fascinated by the fact that Hannibal's breakout character is actually Will Graham (the terrific Dancy), with mad Dr. Lecter used more as a ghoulish and exotic accent. Speaking of accents, I wrote in my initial review that Mads Mikkelsen, while intriguing, was often unintelligible. I've seen five episodes and almost always found myself wishing his scenes came with subtitles, but it doesn't impede my enjoyment of this weirdly hypnotic show. Kudos as well to Laurence Fishburne as Graham's boss, whose character takes on new shades of interest when his wife (played by real-life spouse Gina Torres) becomes an integral part of the story. As for Hannibal's look and demeanor, it's meant to be strange and "other," and I like the new twists on an iconic character (although you can't beat what Anthony Hopkins did with the role).

Regarding Banshee: Yes, I watched. Yes, I was hooked. It's probably my favorite of Cinemax's graphic pulp fictions. Yes, we're meant to think the mayor died in that final explosion. In the big picture, he was rather expendable, but it was still a surprise. And absolutely yes, the intention is to creep us out with the unusually close and seemingly sensual bond between Kai and Rebecca. Ew, indeed.

Matt Roush: Makes me love it more. Next to The Good Wife, POI is hands-down my favorite CBS drama, precisely because it immerses us in a complex and murky world of corruption and deceptions indicated in the initial premise that Reese and Finch are rarely sure when they start following the numbers whether their target is a good or bad guy. Their own cloudy pasts inform their present-day missions, and while I also don't always understand what's going on (especially when they start talking about "The Machine"), I don't mind. It's a show about intrigue that forces you to pay attention. I don't see the problem. Unless you're only in it for the escapism, in which case CBS has plenty of hours of more relaxing programming to fill that need.

Matt Roush: First off, let's establish that there's never a good excuse for watching Splash. Even reruns are preferable. But to your real gripe: It's a challenge in scheduling midseason shows to give them a proper launch at the same time the networks are resting some of their tent-pole franchises so there will be new episodes to air in May. Generally, a new series will premiere alongside new episodes of old favorites to ensure the best possible tune-in, in the best case for at least the first few episodes, and that's what happened with Golden Boy, but there will be weeks when they'll need to be self-starters in a sea of repeats. There's not much the networks can do about that, even CBS, which has the best track record for scheduling new shows amid hits. The real problem is that almost nothing can hold the gigantic NCIS combo's lead-in at 10/9c, in part because the audience is either turning off the TV or playing back programming from earlier in the night (or possibly migrating to cable, which picks up steam later in the evening). And yes, the procedural glut is at such a high pitch it's almost impossible for similar shows not to air against each other. As for Ringer and Reaper: They were on The CW. On Tuesdays. It almost doesn't matter what the competition is.

Binge-watching is nothing new, but it is radically changing how networks and other content owners are approaching TV shows. That was the consensus at a panel today at CES called "The Future of TV: From Primetime to Multi-Platforms."

"People have binge-watched for a long time," said Brad Dancer, EVP of research and program planning, National Geographic Channel. "We used to call them TV marathons. I'm from the original MTV generation, and I'd spend all Saturday watching 9 episodes of Road Rules. But it's different now. Ten years ago people would watch stuff that was just OK, but you can't get away with that anymore. The question 'Is it binge-worthy?' is really just another way of saying 'Is it good?'"

With consumers accessing multiple platforms, viewing on multiple devices, and able to easily watch entire seasons of not just current shows but archival ones, the landscape is more competitive than ever, said Michael Thornton, chief revenue officer at Starz. "You have to make that show be not just the best show of that season or that year, but the best show of all time," he said. "If someone is binging on Spartacus or The Sopranos, they're not binging on your show."

Social media platforms like Facebook and Twitter are becoming increasingly important, as it becomes harder for viewers to find content they want to watch than in years past. "The whole concept of discovery and how people find stuff could not be more important," said Lisa Hsia, EVP of digital for Bravo and Oxygen Media at NBC Universal. "Show websites are of limited use, because people already have to be a fan of the show to come to the site. Facebook is a great way to reach bing audiences."

Sharon Mussalli, U.S. industry manager, entertainment, global marketing team at Facebook said that the social media platform can bring an up to 20% increase in audience for TV shows, typically by offering short-form videos that show up in Facebook users' feeds, particularly ones who are looking at their feeds on their phones or tablets.

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