What did Ty think of HBO's Ballers and the Brink?

Sometimes this machine does not beam garbage into your television

Last night HBO aired the season one finales of "Ballers" and "The Brink". I've written about these two shows on the site, both about their premieres.

One, "Ballers", left me wanting more during the premiere. It was a watered down version of "Entourage", and I hated "Entourage". What kept me coming back to "Ballers" was Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson. That guy oozes charisma and charm. He's a star because he's so easy to watch when he's on the small and big screen. Rob Corrdry is one of my favorite comic actors, so when I saw that he was in the cast, that was another point before I watched one episode of "Ballers". Then the premiere happened and some more episodes happened and then the finale happened. Nothing of importance or consequence really happened on that show. Like I said earlier, it is a watered down version of an old, crummy HBO show. There were moments, but for all intents and purposes, NOTHING truly happened. The star player got his multi million dollar contract, Dwayne Johnson and Rob Corrdry got what they wanted, enemies became friends and then season one just ended. The finale really left nothing, for me, to be desired. There's no reason or desire for me to come back for season two. A second season has already been confirmed, but I won't be watching. I gave it one season and I feel that's enough for me. "Ballers" has it's fans, but you can't count me as one of them. Best of luck to "Ballers".

"The Brink", on the other hand was great all season long. The stakes were raised each week and the finale was excellent and left me wanting more. I cannot wait for the second season. "The Brink" has been picked up for a second season as well, I believe. Tim Robbins, playing the Secretary of the State, was phenomenal. He deserves an emmy for his performance. He was rude, crude, chauvinistic, oddly lovable and the smartest guy in the room. His performance is an education in how to play smart, political humor that even novices like me can understand. He was great. Jack Black was his typical character. He was working at the US embassy in Pakistan, but he was a buffoon that didn't take his job too seriously. A typical role for him. That being said, he was good and when the stakes were high for his character, he stepped up to the plate and performed really well. One particular scene, in the finale, had him trading stories with the crazed leader of Pakistan and he plays scared, yet in control of the situation, to perfection. Aasif Mandvi was pretty great in his role as Black's driver and only true friend in Pakistan. His family was heavily involved in the show and he was at the center of all the conflict between them and Jack Black. He's a very good, underrated actor and I feel like his role on "The Brink" is perfect for him. He should be a house hold name. The next best person on this show, Tim Robbins is the number one best person, is Pablo Schrieber. He plays the Navy's best fighter pilot, but he's also a screw up with his girlfriend back home and he's a pill popping alcoholic. I had only known Schrieber from his roles on "Orange is the New Black" and the second season of "The Wire". Those were two very different roles and he played two very different types of people. On "The Brink" though, he plays a comically hilarious soldier boy and I loved every second he was on screen. He's a very good comic actor. The finale, unlike "Ballers", ended with consequence and a build up to a second season. Schrieber's fighter jet was flown into a disguised tanker that was actually a bomber about to land on Pakistan. Schrieber and his co pilot escaped the crash by ejecting from the jet and they ended up somewhere in Africa. As the finale comes to a close, you see a young African child with a goat see the damage from the planes crashing, and there's one missile left, unharmed. Next, we see what seems to be a war lord and his troops putting the missile on a truck and they drive away. The music and credits play immediately after this scene. Talk about building up the tension for the next season. It was a great finale. I'm very pumped for season two.

So, "Ballers" left me wanting more, giving me nothing and the decision by me to not return for season two. On the other hand, "The Brink" has me amped and ready for season two with a fantastic finale. HBO needs to quit with the "Entourage" clones and keep making new, interesting shows like "The Brink". "The Brink" was the standout of the two new shows that HBO premiered this summer.

Happy binge watching for those that need to catch up on HBO Go or HBO Now.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture Editor for SeedSing and co-host of the X Millennial Man podcast. He is in search of a new (or old) show to watch. Give him some ideas and follow Ty on twitter @tykulik.

Cloves and Fedoras: Ty looks to the future of HBO with a look at two new shows

HBO premiered two new shows this past Sunday night. "Ballers" and "The Brink".

I was excited to watch both shows. "Ballers" seemed like a good idea. It is about an ex football player that becomes a financial advisor for current players. It stars Dwayne Johnson, some of you know him as The Rock, as said ex football player. The show started out okay. A flashback scene to his playing days, hitting a receiver after the catch, they both get dinged up and flash forward to present day and he's taking pain killers, literally eating them like candy, and he has pain in his joints as he exits his bed. Typical stuff to show you that football can cause future, lingering injuries. No duh, thanks for the insight writers of "Ballers". Then we see the building that Dwayne Johnson works in. He's met there by his colleague, played by the hilarious Rob Corddry. They have a decent scene together, but that's all we get in the pilot between the two stars of the show. One scene. They seem to have pretty good on screen chemistry so I hope in the future episodes they have a lot more scenes together. According to the preview of the upcoming season after the pilot episode, that seems to be the case. During the episode, there's a scene with another ex player speeding down a dangerous highway in Miami with his mistress. They get into a fight and during said fight, the guy takes his eyes off the road and gets crushed by a semi truck. Smash cut to a funeral and Dwayne Johnson talking to the widow. She explains to him that the now deceased athlete didn't save any money because he had no financial advisor. See the irony. Later on, a current football player/bad boy gets into a fight with a fan at a bar, knocks the guy out cold and gets cut the next day by his current team. He gets signed by a new team in the next few days and calls Dwayne Johnson to tell him that he needs someone to help him keep his money straight. This couldn't come at a better time for him because, right at that moment, he is unable to withdraw 200,000 dollars from his bank account. At the ATM! How can he take so much money out at one time at an ATM?! This show seems pretty ridiculous and probably won't last for more than one season unless the writers and directors put Rob Corddry in more scenes with Dwayne Johnson. That's about the only thing that worked for me in the pilot. I will continue to watch since it's only been one episode, but "Ballers" is on pretty thin ice.

"The Brink" on the other hand, I enjoyed. The show takes place between a Washington D.C. war room, with Tim Robbins playing one of the President's right hand men in matters related to war, and in Pakistan where Jack Black plays a lower level US Ambassador that has a driver played by Aasif Mandvi. Mandvi is excellent in his role. Tim Robbins character is a sex crazed booze hound, but he's also extremely intelligent in all matters involving when to strike and when not to in war situations. He's playing the role with gusto. Jack Black is playing his typical buffoon. He is a little stupid, but a little smart and he likes to ogle women and get stoned. It's basically Jack Black playing a clean shaved Jack Black. He's still pretty funny because he's a good actor. But, the real star of the show is Mandvi. Like I said earlier, he's a glorified taxi driver for Jack Black, but in one scene we get to see his home and his family. This was great. He lives in a beautiful home, equipped with a pool and many comfortable rooms. His dad is a distinguished doctor and his uncle, that lives with them, is a well respected psychiatrist. He also has a smoking hot sister that, of course, Jack Black wants to hook up with. The topic of war is brought up during unrest in Pakistan over a political vote gone bad. There's a evil dictator type person that wants to get people on his side and the militants are more than willing to help. Jack Black finds out that the uncle has worked with this dictator and declared him clinically insane. Black feels that this info will get him on the good side of the president and they will relocate him to Paris. Mandvi's family catches him trying to fax this stuff over and end communication immediately believing that he works for the CIA and housing a CIA agent will get them in worlds of trouble. Back in DC, Robbins is trying to convince the president to wait on sending missiles because he doesn't want to start World War Three. I know this all sounds serious and dramatic, but it's quite the opposite. The pilot was very funny and doesn't take it's source material too seriously, in a good way. I hope the rest of the episodes follow the same direction as the pilot. That would be great.

Of the two new shows that premiered this week, I have more hope for "The Brink" than I do for "Ballers". Time will tell.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for Seed Sing.  He is shocked the political show is more interesting than the sports show (so far). Follow him on twitter @tykulik.