What I’m Watching: The Chair

The Chair: Season 1, Episode 4 “Don’t Kill Bill” (B+)

I’m so impressed with the ensemble on this show and the way that they’re all utilized so well. Elliot is so dry and seems so lost in the present time, but he also has a supportive wife at home who is pushing him to accept reality as it has happened. He’s not, however, investing any of the time or energy he should be in understanding how much Yaz has to offer and that it could be a good thing, much to both his and her detriment. She was right to speak up to Ji-Yoon, whose own experiences of being overlooked and overshadowed by men have shown her how she has to act to get ahead in some way but not nearly enough to make any real progress. On a far less impactful note, the news that David Duchovny was going to be taking over Bill’s classes didn’t land well with either Ji-Yoon or Bill, and while they were quickly distracted by Juju’s unknown whereabouts, Ji-Yoon going into his office to steal his lecture notes to give to David will surely come up again. I very much enjoyed Bill and Juju delivering each other’s apologies, and Juju took advantage of Bill’s immaturity to put him in an unfortunate situation where his only consequences seem to have been running into a right-wing student and being spotted by the dean. Horatio helping Joan track down the student who was writing horrible reviews about her was great fun, and she didn’t hold back when she chewed out the apparent culprit in front of a very engaged crowd.