What I’m Watching: The Big C

The Big C: Season 4, Episode 2 “You Can’t Take It With You” (B+)

This episode was good but extremely unsettling, due to Cathy’s excessive efforts to convince Paul that he should start looking for a new life partner while she’s still alive. Using a cane because she can’t feel her leg anymore is a blow, but it’s one that Cathy managed to power through, and signing Paul up for the dating website for those who have lost their loved ones was an aggressive response that demanded that everyone in her life start to think of her as already gone. The fact that Paul’s date actually went well was a major blow to Cathy, who I don’t think had processed what it would feel like to see them together, and it made the episode’s final moment, in which Cathy didn’t recognize Paul, all the more heartbreaking. I suspect the next and last two episodes are going to be especially tragic. I love that Sean, who grew a winter beard for insulation, wanted to give away his kidneys on Craigslist, and that he almost got denied when he tried to donate them because of his mental state, only to rally with a stirring speech dedicated to his one and only sister. Lydia offering to help Adam cheat if he took her virginity was unexpected, and I like how their success turned their business deal into something that appears to be much more genuine and passionate. Andrea getting her spirit crushed by Isaac Mizrahi was unfortunate, but it’s good that he found a way to motivate her again and to show that he’s not a terrible person bent on destroying the eccentric and talented artist.

What I’m Watching: Franklin and Bash

Franklin & Bash: Season 1, Episode 5 “You Can’t Take It With You” (C-)

I suppose it’s something that this show is so committed to its ridiculousness and that it’s found a stable point of uninspiring quality at which to level off. It seems a bit early to bring family into the mix, especially when father and son end up as opposing counsel on the same case. It would seem to make that a situation like that would present some sort of conflict of interest, even if both parties detest each other. Beau Bridges was rather lacking in emotion and cruel as the elder Franklin, and seemed a bit too vindictive and short-thinking to be a skilled lawyer. While it’s intriguing to learn that Infeld knew him, it’s not highly believable since that would likely have come up much earlier. The client dropping dead before the verdict was rather over-the-top as well. Amusing as it was to see Karp get all flustered when his secret video ended up getting sent out to the entire firm and a bunch of judges instead of clandestinely deleted, it’s highly improbable that Pindar mess up that much and that Karp could play it down so easily. Also, Karp would never come to the two people he hates most since he knows full well that they would try to screw him, though they didn’t even have any part in it. The side plot involving Tom Arnold was plenty ridiculous, but you do have to give Bash some credit for getting him out of his contract by having him punch someone in front of a judge.