What I’m Watching: Shrill

Shrill: Season 2, Episode 2 “Kevin” (B+)

I like this new Annie, who isn’t afraid to confront the people who have made her life miserable and not entirely certain exactly how to follow through with all of them. One of the more satisfying moments from season one was seeing her track down her troll, played by Beck Bennett, and confront him at his home. He went into a complete panic when she showed up at his work and threatened to expose him if he wasn’t willing to talk to her, and she seems set on writing about the experience even if he isn’t going to participate. Going back into work could have been disastrous, and instead people had mixed reactions on seeing her and Gabe put on a confrontational front to try to make it seem like he didn’t care that his most interesting employee was no longer working there. The freelance life isn’t easy, and Annie is starting to discover that as even Kevin seemed disappointed that the interview she wanted to have wouldn’t be run in a more prestigious publication that something she was putting out herself. Fran hasn’t had too many focused plotlines of her own in the past, and for someone who has been through a good deal of relationships, she was very ready to write a partner off completely and delete her from social media and her phone upon learning that they weren’t exclusive. The most powerful moment of the episode, which has been playing in my head since, was the performance of “God Only Knows” that closed it out on a dramatic and haunting note.