Here’s some good news- as other shows will soon be running out of new episodes to air for everyone sitting at home quarantining, we will now get the third season of Killing Eve two weeks early. Newly minted Emmy winner Jodie Comer is back as the gleefully evil Villanelle, with lots of new disguises in tow it looks like. Can’t wait.
Sabrina’s still on a roll in its third season
REVIEW: "Chilling Adventures of Sabrina" Part 3
Sabrina’s still on a roll in its third season
The premiere of the third “part” of Netflix’s Chilling Adventures of Sabrina wasn’t promising. A majority of the episode spent with Sabrina, Harvey, Roz and Theo wandering through a pretty fake-looking Hell to try and find the captured and possessed Nick was tedious at best, despite the obvious Wizard of Oz parallels being set up from the start. Then, a storyline with Sabrina competing against the made-of-clay Prince Caliban (Sam Corlett) to become the monarch of Hell seemed to introduce a season set almost entirely in that dimension, which was sure to be aggravating.
But…after the first episode the rest of the season thankfully didn’t spend most of it in Hell, so while Sabrina herself popped back and forth occasionally, most of this season was spent in Greendale with the coven trying to get their dwindling powers back after Sabrina’s dad the Dark Lord (Luke Cook) deprived them of their magic. So they must now find an alternate source of power, which leads them to do battle with the invading Pagan witches and Sabrina to figure out how to help her family, her friends and become Queen of Hell…which all wound up fitting together in a darkly entertaining fashion after a while. This season is more gruesome, threatening and much darker than previous seasons, and even though my chief complaint with this show is that it hasn’t been lighthearted or fun enough, the season long story that pretty much involved every major character and led the coven to be more of a united front than ever before (with Sabrina as ringleader) worked well enough in execution. No one is neglected while every character gets their moment to shine, and the frank wackiness of the horror kind of is fun, at least to watch. Aside from that first episode, the stakes are higher than ever and this season is never boring (especially now that the show has inexplicably decided to take a page from its sister-show Riverdale and randomly insert some bizarre, campy musical numbers). I didn’t even mind the inclusion of Sabrina’s normally dull mortal friends this time, as at least they’re all in on the action without any secrets being kept.
A weakened coven needs a new (female) source of power
The only drag is the angst between Sabrina and Nick (Gavin Leatherwood), who spends most of this season in a drug fueled post-traumatic suffering due to Satan’s occupation of his body- it’s just not entertaining to watch Sabrina anxious to “fix” him for too many episodes when we already know he’s not the right guy for her anyway. Sorry, Nick. Ambrose’s new relationship with Prudence is actually more interesting, so when the season eventually leads to their separation as well, you only hope the show realizes she’s definitely the right person to pair him with. The season’s deranged gothic terror and increasingly power hungry lead makes for a wild finale involving time travel and a nutty cliffhanger that sees the splitting of Sabrina in two (literally) as she decides to try life as both a teenager and the Queen of Hell, simultaneously. Bring on Season 4 (or part 4, which is apparently the second half of Season 2. Sigh).
Grade: B+
Sabrina wants the Devil’s throne after all
I don’t think this show goes by school years, but class is back in some kind of session for Season 2
REVIEW: "Sex Education" Season 2
I don’t think this show goes by school years, but class is back in some kind of session for Season 2
The second season of Sex Education is just as delightfully funny as the first, even if it gets bogged down in far too many cliched love triangle shenanigans between its supposed main couple, Maeve (Emma Mackey) and Otis (Asa Butterfield). Aside from them the rest of the cast does their part to fill out a fun, mostly satisfying Season 2, which is a relief because the cliche the first season ended on was so aggravating it nearly made me not want to come back.
But as the second season picks up, Otis is now dating Ola (Patricia Allison) with Maeve out in the cold, quietly sulking while she attempts to get back in school, reconnect with her drug addict mother and joins the quiz show team. It’s just as well, because there’s virtually nothing interesting about Otis and Ola, and the more colorful storylines come from the rest of the supporting cast. Eric gets a new boyfriend while navigating his problematic burgeoning relationship with Adam, who returns from military school the same self-loathing jerk as before, but maybe a little bit nicer. Still, although the connection between Adam and Eric is one of the more fascinating relationships, it’s filled with uncomfortable undertones, due to the years of bullying Eric suffered as the victim of Adam’s cruelness. To the show’s credit, it acknowledges this halfway through the season, but frankly, Adam was shown to be far too mean to be redeemed as a character, at least in terms of deserving Eric’s affection. You can go ahead and redeem him if you really want to keep Connor Swindells on the show (who is an intriguing presence and I can see why they would), but having Eric be in a relationship with him is difficult to watch.
Eric and Otis’s friendship is still one of the sweetest relationships on the show
In other areas, the show tackles various sexual intrigues of these wildly oversharing teenagers with the same blunt frankness as before, but oddly, the “sex clinic” that Otis and Maeve opened that basically served as the premise of the show is barely used this time. Otis gives out advice to maybe two or three people, as he’s more preoccupied with his own issues, and we hardly see Maeve performing her role at all. In spite of that, one of the season’s more effective subplots is Amy suffering an assault by a stranger on a public bus and her attempts to deal with it for the remainder of the season, a story no doubt inspired by the #MeToo movement. The careful observation of the many kinds of reactions these situations can provoke is a smart exploration of the subject and leads to a cathartic bonding moment between several of the girls near the season’s end.
Gillian Anderson returns as Otis’s mother Dr. Jean Milburn, who’s recruited to work at his school while navigating her own romantic difficulties with Ola’s dad and Otis’s father, and it finally allows Otis to regain some likability when he confronts his various asshole behavior this season and admits to being wrong about things. But that all leads back to the season’s final moment, which, unbelievably, rivals the first in terms of outright, cliched, keep the couple apart writing that just cannot be forgiven in this day and age. To go all in with such lazy storytelling tells me that the writers actually don’t want to put Otis and Maeve together despite exploring the pairing of so many other couples on the series, and that makes you feel like much of the show’s premise is a complete waste of time. I’m going to give them one more chance (and likely, so is Netflix, which has a tendency to cancel things after three or maybe four seasons now), but if this happens again next season, I am OUT. I can only take so much of the eyerolling Ross and Rachel near misses. Come on, show. Be original. So much of it is.
Grade: B+
Amy’s MeToo-inspired subplot for the win this time
Jamie and Claire in 1760's America in New 'Outlander' Season 5 Trailer
So, this trailer actually came out at the beginning of the month and I completely missed it. I admit, I’m wary about this season because Book 5 in the series is one of the least loved books (and for good reason). There’s not a whole lot that happens in it- in some ways I thought that might make it easier to adapt, but I’m concerned by amount of Brianna I see in this trailer (I was really hoping they’d cut back on her character even more than the book does after her big season last year). I still like the show but I’m guessing it will never regain its Season 1/2 greatness.
A new twist on a well-trodden tale
REVIEW: "Dracula"
A new twist on a well-trodden tale
For the first two thirds of the first episode of the BBC’s new Dracula miniseries, it seems like a pretty straightforward adaptation. We follow Jonathan Harker in the late 1890’s as he experiences the horrors of Dracula’s castle, sees shadows crawling the walls, has strange, eerily real nightmares and is forced to sit and dine with the Count himself through painfully awkward dinner conversations. He’s recalling all of this to two nuns in a convent where he’s sought refuge after escaping and appears to be deathly ill. It’s well told, but it all seems far too familiar.
And then, the old, decrepit Dracula changes appearance to his younger, more vital self, and Claes Bang is onscreen as the Count. From that point on, everything that happens is unpredictable, or pieces of the book retold and put back together in new form. It’s campy, hilarious and exhilarating, much of it due to the fabulous Danish actor Bang as Dracula, who oozes humor, charm, and an absolutely contagious sense of the “joy of performance”- this is an actor who’s having a great time with this new version of an old monster. He’s electric in the part, equally threatening and funny with his spot-on delivery of Sherlock creator Stephen Moffat’s sardonic dialogue. And surprisingly, he’s matched every bit by his costar, Dolly Wells, another unknown actor who steps into this show as “Agatha” Van Helsing, and turns the stodgy vampire hunter into the first charismatic and compelling version of him (now her) we’ve ever encountered.
Agatha Van Helsing is a whole lot more interesting than Abraham ever was
She starts off as the nun interviewing Harker and once she comes face to face with Dracula, turns into his mortal enemy/soulmate as she fights him every step of the way, matching him and outsmarting him in wit and ingenuity. It’s a classic cat and mouse game, but the show just gets wackier with every episode. Once the familiar setup is established in the first one, culminating with Agatha and Dracula’s initial face off, the outstanding second episode takes place entirely on the doomed Demeter’s voyage to England, which gets a reimagining as Dracula preys on each of the passengers one by one, moving his way among them in disguise. Finally, the last episode throws you completely for a loop, so much so that some may not go for this wild twist, as part of it feels like a pilot for a new modern day Dracula series with the Count displaced in time. But it still keeps essential elements of the Bram Stoker’s work intact, with new spins on characters like Lucy Westenra and Jack Seward, and Wells now getting the chance to play a new version of herself as well. I found all of it refreshing and exciting, as the last thing anyone needed was another version of the Dracula story as it was. This show reinvents the myth and and injects new life into it, and you simply cannot get enough of Claes Bang, who’d I’d happily watch continue gleefully terrorizing people for eternity. Give it a shot- you might feel the same.
Grade: A-
Claes Bang brings the Count to brand new life
Hank Shows Up in New Season 5 Trailer for 'Better Call Saul'
Yup, that’s Hank! We’re getting slightly closer to the beginning of Breaking Bad’s timeline, although I think we still have a few years to go within universe. But now it looks like Saul Goodman’s open for business and the showrunners recently announced that Season 6 will indeed be the final season, so we’re getting there. I can’t wait. Season 5 premieres February 23rd.
Jennifer Aniston wins her first individual SAG award for The Morning Show
'The Crown,' 'Mrs. Maisel,' and Jennifer Aniston Win Top SAG TV Awards
Jennifer Aniston wins her first individual SAG award for The Morning Show
You may have noticed I didn’t do TV predictions for SAG this year. I admit it, I kinda thought why bother? The SAG does its own thing most of the time, and it really has no influence on any future TV industry winners. I was surprised that Jennifer Aniston beat out Olivia Colman for Best Actress in a Drama, but it managed to give the press their much desired photo of a backstage reunion between Jen and fellow winner and ex-hubbie Brad. Sam Rockwell and Peter Dinklage were other slight upset winners I suppose, but not really, considering SAG loves their veteran actors so much (they just can’t seem to stop giving Tony Shalhoub awards).
2020 SAG TV WInners
Drama Ensemble: The Crown
Drama Actor: Peter Dinklage, Game of Thrones
Drama Actress: Jennifer Aniston, The Morning Show
Comedy Ensemble: The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel
Comedy Actor: Tony Shalhoub, The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel
Comedy Actress: Phoebe Waller-Bridge, Fleabag
Limited Actor: Sam Rockwell, Fosse/Verdon
Limited Actress: Michelle Williams, Fosse/Verdon
Sam Rockwell wins alongside Michelle Williams for Fosse/Verdon, but I can’t really support this one because it should have been Jharell Jerome- SAG probably thinks he’s too young
Merritt Wever and Toni Collette star as cops who brought down a rapist
REVIEW: "Unbelievable"
Merritt Wever and Toni Collette star as cops who brought down a rapist
Netflix’s miniseries Unbelievable tells the true story of two female detectives tracking down a serial rapist in 2011. The show flashes back and forth between the cops on the case in Colorado, and the assailant’s first victim (Kaitlyn Dever), an eighteen year old who was raped in her apartment in Lynwood, Washington in 2008.
The show starts out with the entire first episode devoted to Marie (Dever), who experiences the assault and must live out the aftermath- the endless and unsympathetic questioning from the cops, a harsh medical exam, and all without a support system to protect her, as she’s a former foster child who’s been in the system her whole life, passed from family to family. Those former foster parents turn out to be only minimally empathetic and involved, as Marie must navigate this whole experience almost entirely on her own. It shows us how the police quickly start to question Marie’s story altogether, as the details don’t seem to add up with what she told friends and neighbors, and her own recent foster mother doubts her account when Marie’s reaction to the assault doesn’t seem “right” to her. The male cops assigned to the case are quick to jump on the possible false report and completely bungle the investigation into the evidence at the crime scene, preferring to believe that a damaged teenager made the whole thing up.
Kaitlyn Dever (of Justified and Booksmart) gets a star turn in a tragic role
The outrage of this second abuse Marie suffers from the police is difficult to watch, to say the least. But it’s tempered by intercutting with the new investigation into a series of rapes in Colorado, of which Detectives Karen Duvall (Merritt Wever) and Grace Rasmussen (Toni Collette) are assigned in separate districts, and wind up combining their resources when they realize it’s a serial rapist they’re after. The difference in approach between the two women and the men who botched Marie’s original case could not be more stark. Duvall and Rasmussen are personally driven and instinctively side with the victims, both feeling the outrage of the crimes being performed with impunity from a man who gets off on how smart he is in getting away with it. Wever and Collette are great in their roles (especially Collette) and work well together, but the police procedural aspect of this drama is not that different from what you might see on an average episode of Law and Order: SVU. That’s not entirely meant to be an insult, as these sorts of process stories can always be gripping when done well, which this one is. It’s just not entirely unfamiliar as drama- buddy cop bonding included.
What is new is Marie’s story, as you follow the aftermath of her being bullied into saying she made up her assault. The tragedy of her experience is what sticks with you the most from this series. The coldness of the system and the way it treats victims, especially rape victims, especially ones who don’t possess the resources or the knowledge to fight back, is a reminder of 2019’s other miniseries about tragic victims of the legal system, When They See Us. This show tries to give you some hope in the way this case eventually turned out, but it’s hard to feel optimistic when you see how common completely negligent investigations of crimes this serious is, and hear statistics like 40% of male cops identify as domestic abusers (and those are just the ones who admit it). It’s enough to make you feel dismayed, unsafe, and to echo the sentiments of Grace Rasmussen in one episode from the latter half of the season- where is the outrage?
Grade: B+
Marie experiences another kind of attack from the police after her assault
Top 10 Shows of 2019
My list is finally here! I know I’m a couple weeks late with this, and I regret to say I haven’t caught up with everything I wanted to watch quite yet (the last season of Mr. Robot is still pending) but I wanted my top ten out before the end of the month at least. Here were my top ten shows of 2019.
1) BARRY Season 2
The second season was funnier, darker, more dramatic and filled with high stakes and unpredictable plot turns
2) LEAVING NEVERLAND
An essential, powerful film that asks us to bear witness to two victims of child sexual abuse as they explain how it really works and what they suffered at the hands of the one of the world’s most famous figures
3) WHEN THEY SEE US
Ava Duvernay’s wrenching docudrama of the heartbreaking story of the exonerated Central Park Five and what they went through in the early 1990’s
4) FLEABAG Season 2
A funny, poignant, romantic and wistful second and final season of a show that achieved greatness in these last six episodes
5) CATASTROPHE Season 4
The fitting final season of a show that was never less than excellent and always hilarious to the very end- so long Rob and Sharon
6) CHERNOBYL
The harrowing recreation of the Chernobyl disaster with great acting and heartrending suspense across all five episodes
7) MINDHUNTER Season 2
The second season of Mindhunter was just as creepy, suspenseful, cerebral and philosophical as it delved into the minds of serial killers, as well as its FBI agent leads
8) DOOM PATROL Season 1
An original, quirky, humorous and character fueled comedic look at one the weirdest and most intriguing superhero properties- currently the best superhero show on television
9) FOSSE/VERDON
Michelle Williams and Sam Rockwell dramatize the lives of Bob Fosse and Gwen Verdon in non-linear style, spanning their whole careers in show business and theater, with an astounding performance from Williams especially, who embodies Gwen Verdon in spectacular fashion
10) THE CROWN Season 3
The third season recasts the royal family impeccably and continues to recall mid-20th century British history as absorbing human drama
HONORABLE MENTIONS: Succession S2; Elite S2; Deadwood: The Movie; Watchmen S1; Sex Education S1; Orange is the New Black S7; Russian Doll S1; Unbelievable; Stranger Things S3; Anne With an E S3
When They See Us is finally recognized by an awards group
'Fleabag,' 'Succession' and 'When They See Us' Win Top TV Awards at Critics Choice
When They See Us is finally recognized by an awards group
More copying of the Globes here, except for When They See Us. Kudos to the BFCA for recognizing Ava Duvernay’s deserving miniseries over Chernobyl. Also for picking Andrew Scott for Fleabag, and Regina King and Jean Smart for Watchmen. That’s pretty cool.
2020 CRITICS CHOICE TV WINNERS
Best Drama Series: Succession
Best Comedy Series: Fleabag
Best Limited Series: When They See Us
Best Actress, Limited Series: Michelle Williams, Fosse/Verdon
Best Actor, Limited Series: Jharrel Jerome, When They See Us
Best TV Move: El Camino
Best Actress, TV Drama: Regina King, Watchmen
Best Actor, TV Drama: Jeremy Strong, Succession
Best Actress, TV Comedy: Phoebe Waller-Bridge, Fleabag
Best Actor, TV Comedy: Bill Hader, Barry
Best Supporting Actress, TV Comedy: Alex Borstein, The Marvelous Mrs Maisel
Best Supporting Actor, TV Comedy: Andrew Scott, Fleabag
Best Supporting Actress, TV Drama: Jean Smart, Watchmen
Best Supporting Actor, TV Drama: Billy Crudup, The Morning Show
Best Supporting Actress Limited Series: Toni Collette, Unbelievable
Best Supporting Actor, Limited Series: Stellan Skarsgard, Chernobyl
Animated Series: Bojack Horseman
I’m thinking this win by Regina King could be predicting this year’s Emmy winner for Best Drama Actress too
