TV Retrospective: "Vinyl" - Season 1

Scene from Vinyl
If imitation is the best form of flattery, then Vinyl's closeness to Mad Men - only a decade later - could be seen as the kid who slept through the semester and did a lot of studying the night before. While there's plenty to compare Sterling Cooper to American Records, there isn't much in the way of substance. Sure, Vinyl delivers on phenomenal montages and does everything regarding music with ease. However, there's little else that really makes the first season, no pun intended, pop. With contrived character arcs and sometimes overcompensating cocky language, the show's promise of having a wild time is delivered upon but whose high fades as the episodes become more redundant. The show still has the charm of a Terrence Winter-penned script, but it definitely is nowhere near as immediately compelling or illustrious as Mad Men.
When Vinyl premiered, there was a lot of promise surrounding it. With producers Martin Scorsese and Mick Jagger, and writer Winter (he of The Sopranos and The Wolf of Wall Street fame), there was a promise that this would be more than just another show about the 70's. It would be wild and explicit in all the ways only HBO can provide. It even began excessive with a two hour premiere that featured a concert venue collapsing as The New York Dolls played "Personality Crisis." In a sense, it was a fitting note to what the series would be. Beyond Richie's (Bobby Cannavale) epiphany that forces him to remake American Records as Alibi Records, it was the start of behind the scenes scuffles and drug problems. It may be rock and roll, but it's also the writer behind some of The Sopranos' key episodes. There should be some more coherence than what's on display.
For what it's worth, the show delivers on one promise. When it is about the music, it goes all in with a certain ease. While at times playing like a Forrest Gump situation that had big name musicians give cameos, most of the used soundtrack hit the right chord and complimented the wardrobe nicely. The show felt very much like a 70's joint from the hair to the pants and even the cinematography. The show feels cool in all of the right ways. When bands performed, there was a certain music video quality to each set that, whether a minute or five, felt energetic and made sense of what this show was supposed to be about. It was about making music that popped and made audiences want to invest dollars into it. If the plot had been taken out and replaced with a Terrence Malick-like music video structure, then maybe this show would've been something greater.
Instead, we have Richie at the center of these dilemmas. This is likely where the comparisons to Mad Men and Don Draper kicked in. Richie is a compulsive addict who gambles incessantly and whose actions can be described as reckless in ways that make Draper seem introverted. Even his love life with Devon (Olivia Wilde) is off the rails, especially as she spirals down the rabbit hole as an artist who befriends Andy Warhol and takes nude photos of rock stars. Yes, everything about the central cast of Vinyl is far more invigorating than Mad Men ever could be, if just because it was a far less conservative time. However, it is here where things differ. 
Yes, Richie is allowed to be a reckless savant. It is what we love about TV culture and what Winter has pretty much made a career out of. However, Richie isn't much of a savant. He witnesses a murder that already paints him in a poor light. He also is negligent of confidant Zak (Ray Romano) to the point that they pick fights. This is all fine drama, but never allows Richie to have a redeeming moment over the course of 10 episodes. Yes, the show is about more than him. We see a no-name punk band called The Nasty Bits evolve. We see other A&R members work the music scene by selling records and getting the black community into disco. The diversity in the show is excellent. However, the show is technically about Richie and his failing life, which is far from exciting once you've seen him snort cocaine off of the 20th different flat surface.
Yes, Draper was a figure who was known to get blackout drunk and sleep around. However, there was some dignity to him. There was a sense that he was good at his job. In fact, this is proven early on in the series as he gives a powerful monologue called "The Carousel," which establishes a deeper understanding as to why advertising is so influential. He may become more corrupt over time, but for now we understand his magic. Vinyl understands the power of music, but doesn't come close to having "The Carousel" moment with Richie. At most, we see him tear down his old office in defiance, believing that he's leading a new revolution. Unlike Draper, it's hard to see Richie living six seasons, and it's harder to want to stick around with him to find out his demise.
To his credit, Winter has always been good at writing these type of characters. He recently received an Oscar nomination for his work in The Wolf of Wall Street, which was three hours of pure negligence. Still, there was a strange subtext that made it entertaining yet cautionary. Even in his premiere series The Sopranos, he made murdering thugs into sympathetic figures with foul language and stylized language. Vinyl has all of this, but not with as much finesse. Some of the cursing may  be meant to show the toughness of the characters, but it only blurs them into the familiar, edgy world of rock music that has been done to death. Unlike Mad Men with ad agencies, Vinyl never quite makes us care about record executives - and that's the key problem, regardless of how fun the dialogue could be.
It is curious to see the show going forward because of one reason: Winter. HBO loyalists will know that he has been involved with the network for almost 20 years and has brought them great shows, including Boardwalk Empire. He is a singular voice, and one that usually makes dizzying, vulgar content accessible. However, it was announced last month that he would be departing the network after creative differences. The question now is if Vinyl's problem was the ego of Winter, or that it just wasn't a logical premise. Could a new set of voices improve the show in any major way by, for instance, pushing Richie to the back of the cast? It's one of those exciting things that usually don't end well, but could end up enhancing this particular case.
Even then, it would be tragic to see if it backfires. For all of Vinyl's faults, it still was an entertaining show to watch. It was very much aware of its 70's culture and exploited it every week. The soundtrack is still one of the best compiled from the past season of shows. There's even a lot of memorable moments that reflected why rock music is a compelling resource for drama. However, it's still secondary to a main story that doesn't always work. Maybe it's for the best that Winter is leaving. Maybe he was exhausted with making edgy characters that felt even familiar by his standards. Still, the moments of Vinyl that work are bliss. It may never be Mad Men, but it will be a curious endeavor if it actually improves in the second season.


Overall Rating: 3 out of 5

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