Complex TV Main Menu Introduction Videos for Introduction Complexity in Context Beginnings Videos for Chapter 2 Authorship Characters Comprehension Evaluation Serial Melodrama Orienting Paratexts Transmedia Storytelling Ends Table of Contents New York University Press

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Below are all the video clips for Complex TV, arranged in order as they appear in the book. To see the videos with the associated quotations from the book, navigate via the Table of Contents.

Contents of this path:

  1. REVENGE opens the series with a flash forward to set up narrative enigmas, a complex strategy that has become increasingly common in the past decade.
  2. BATTLESTAR GALACTICA offers an exemplary narrative special effect.
  3. THE WEST WING, "Noël", climaxes with a powerful example of a narrative special effect
  4. TWIN PEAKS begins with a languid credit sequence, setting the mood for its celebrated tonal juxtapositions
  5. ALIAS begins with a flash forward at a moment of crisis, before winding back to a point of origin
  6. PUSHING DAISIES spends its first minutes establishing both a whimsical tone and a complex narrative concept
  7. 24 begins by establishing its norms of temporality and split-screen composition
  8. AWAKE's opening moments highlight how a series must establish its tone and narrative conventions immediately.
  9. VERONICA MARS series opener starts with an explicit homage to film noir, framing genre expectations.
  10. BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER introduces Dawn in the 5th season premiere - even though she is a teenager who has seemingly lived her whole life in Buffy's family.
  11. LOUIE encourages a blur between his character and authorial identity by fictionalizing a real life incident.
  12. BREAKING BAD's third season concludes with unintentional ambiguity.
  13. DEXTER reveals crucial character information to both the audience and the title character
  14. BREAKING BAD's "Pilot" opens with a vivid flash forward to introduce us to Walter White
  15. BREAKING BAD, "Cornered" features an iconic confrontation highlighting character interiority
  16. REVENGE, "Reckoning" features dialogue whose layers of meaning only emerge as we learn more about an unnamed character
  17. DEXTER introduces Rudy as the mysterious killer, but his relationship to Dexter only makes sense in retrospect
  18. ARRESTED DEVELOPMENT uses voiceover and cutaways to both manage memory and create humor
  19. BATTLESTAR GALACTICA's final episode features an example of surprise memory, where previously seen scenes shock viewers via flashback
  20. SOPRANOS in 7 Minutes compresses the first five and a half seasons of the series into a brief humorous recap
  21. CURB YOUR ENTHUSIASM episodes include interwoven multiple plotlines and invite the viewer to connect threads and running gags.
  22. BREAKING BAD focuses on the psychological and moral complexity of Walt deciding to let Jane die
  23. THE WIRE treats the death of a beloved character less as a psychological moment than a product of a corrupt and dehumanizing system
  24. MAD MEN presents its characters' sexism as both offensive and charming
  25. MARY HARTMAN, MARY HARTMAN fused soap opera aesthetics with an ironic dry wit to create an unexpected sensation in the mid-1970s
  26. LOST uses the storytelling devices of science fiction time travel in service of romantic melodrama
  27. THE GOOD WIFE interweaves legal and romantic plotlines through atemporally complex editing
  28. DOCTOR WHO narrates a convoluted timeline between the title character and River Song, while a BBC paratext reorders the story from her perspective
  29. BREAKING BAD misdirected viewers about Brock's poisoning, but one fan posted a video theory that proved to be true in the next episode
  30. LOST presented many maps in the series, but the so-called blast door map was one of the most iconic for fans
  31. BATTLESTAR GALACTICA created an unintentional YouTube sensation through an ironic juxtaposition with an inappropriate commercial
  32. LOST revealed many answers to lingering mysteries via the transmedia ARG The Lost Experience
  33. BREAKING BAD's online video "Team S.C.I.E.N.C.E." offers a "what if?" approach to transmedia
  34. LOST's final moments emphasize emotional closure and meta-storytelling, the hallmark of many series finales
  35. THE WIRE's last season focuses on its own storytelling dynamics via the fictionalized version of The Baltimore Sun
  36. THE SOPRANOS ended with a legendarily ambiguous scene
  37. HOMELAND's first season finale starts with this jarring opening, raising political questions that depend on its serial contexts
  38. BREAKING BAD comes to its emotional peak in its third to last episode, with Walt berating Skyler with multilayered meanings