What I’m Watching: You’re the Worst

You’re the Worst: Season 4, Episode 9 “Dad-Not-Dad” (B+)

I’m not sure where to start here. Maybe it’s worth addressing Edgar first, since his purchase of a car that he couldn’t afford was the weakest of the episode’s plotlines. He’s gotten better over the years as a character, but it’s still hard to find him the most compelling when he’s surrounded by those who make truly self-destructive decisions. It was uncomfortable to watch Jimmy embarrassing Katherine in front of her friends, but that’s the nature of this show, and he didn’t seem fazed at all by the fact that his behavior was completely objectionable. Coining the phrase “statutory grape” was a low, and feigning claustrophobia to “escape them” from the room was less offensive but a supreme example of ruining the fun for everyone. His belief that there should be a special circle of hell for people who say “we need to talk” instead of just talking makes total sense, and he didn’t get much relief on that front in this episode. After Boone bragged about his ability to get free stuff, Gretchen succeeded at scoring a lunch date with Anne Dudek’s Whitney, and even managed to temper herself so that Whitney seemed like the crazy one. It seems that Gretchen isn’t totally in control of all the terrible things she does, and she did literally the only bad thing she could have done with Boone’s ex, something he’s sure to find out about soon. I love that Lou Diamond Phillips guest-starred as himself since I’ve only seen him in a far more serious role on “Longmire” the past few years, and that he remembered everything about Becca and Lindsay, who got some closure even if their mother still can’t recognize how irresponsible a parent she was.

What I’m Watching: Mr. Robot

Mr. Robot: Season 3, Episode 4 “eps3.3_m3tadata.par2” (B+)

I’ve thought for a while that Darlene was this show’s best character, and after an iffy start early on this season, I’m glad to see that she’s back in full form, confronting a pickpocket on the subway and confessing all of her darkest secrets about the things she’s done to her under the cover of anonymity. She did well when Dom briefly greeted her at the door to warn her that Elliot was inside, and then nicknamed his nighttime transformation as “Mr. Hyde” when they talked openly about it. I’m just as enthusiastic about Dom as a character, and watching Darlene force her to be social at the bar made for a superb scene, especially when Dom tried to ask Darlene about her love life only to remember how that turned out. Darlene and Dom are just about the only two people on the good side of things now, along with Elliot, while Angela, Tyrell, and Irving are working hard to make sure that Mr. Robot stays in control. It was mesmerizing to see Mr. Robot transform back into Elliot at the wrong moment, with Angela stepping in to try to calm him down and inject him before calling Phillip to have Elliot fired. Tyrell is also losing it, and I’m curious to see how Irving is going to handle his demands given Joanna’s demise. I like when Elliot explains things like metadata, and his delivery of “part of being a corporate drone is going to mandated office functions” was particularly entertaining.

What I’m Watching: Liar (Season Finale)

Liar: Season 1, Episode 6 “The Marshes” (B+)

This was a strong way to wrap things up, but I’m not sure how I feel about it as the launching pad for a second season which is set to star both Joanne Froggatt and Ioan Gruffudd again. While the five episodes that led up to this one all made it unclear what specifically had happened and invited viewers to watch for clues about who was telling the truth, this hour cut to the chase, even doing a three-month time jump after we saw Andrew being arrested by the police to fast-forward to more significant events. Laura was dating someone new, Katy was coming to terms with her family situation, and Andrew had even found himself a new girlfriend. Laura, as usual, didn’t want to leave things alone, and she contacted Charlotte, who was already in the middle of doing a sting operation that went very poorly. While the police once again couldn’t prove anything, Laura was enterprising and surprisingly pretty legal about it, finding video of the seventeen different women Andrew had raped. There’s no ambiguity about what he did, which is good, though I’m worried that season two is going to play out a chapter of this show we don’t need to see, filling in the gaps between the filing of the charges and Andrew’s ultimate demise. While this show held my interest, I’m not sure what’s left to find out, and I still don’t know what its message is supposed to be. Maybe it’s just TV, and I prefer one that deals with the implications of sexual assault than a season-long whodunit.

Season grade: B
Season MVP: Joanne Froggatt as Laura

What I’m Watching: This Is Us

This Is Us: Season 2, Episode 6 “The 20’s” (B+)

Now this is an hour that used this show’s premise to its utmost advantage. It also managed to make a Halloween episode work very well, with Randall eager to use a map designed to maximize house-to-candy ratio and Jack and Rebecca dressed as Sonny and Cher. We’ve already explored some of the complex relationships within this family, and Jack and Rebecca each accusing the other of being too close to one of the kids and never saying no was an interesting and logical reflection on the dynamics that we’ve seen play out. Pairing this Halloween flashback with a time ten years in the past for the adult children was very effective, and the makeup and hairstyling team did an okay job making these older actors look much younger. It’s nice to see Rebecca forging a connection with her daughter-in-law when she arrived to help with the birth, especially in light of Randall’s earlier meltdown which nearly continued when he sought the advice of a store employee about what it’s like to have children. Rebecca meeting her grandchild for the first time was very sweet, and seeing how it compared with her meeting Randall with Jack in the background was touching. Getting a message from Miguel on Facebook was a cool development too that helps to explain where that relationship came from in the wake of Jack’s death. It’s good to see that both Kate and Kevin have come a long way since this time. Kevin trying to score the role that his roommate got was particularly low, and even though he’s spiraling out now, at least he’s a much better person.

What I’m Watching: Legends of Tomorrow

Legends of Tomorrow: Season 3, Episode 4 “Phone Home” (B+)

I’m glad to see that Ray meeting someone he really wasn’t supposed to meet didn’t end up being too problematic, and he only disappeared briefly from the timeline, albeit inconveniently during a trust fall meant to show how the legends could function as a team. This show loves its pop culture references, and this one contained even more nods to the 1980s than an hour of “Stranger Things.” My favorite was “Step away from her, you bitch,” one that wasn’t even intentional since I can’t imagine that Amaya has had time to watch “Aliens.” The E.T. one was outright acknowledged, and Nate waxing his DeLorean was pretty great. This is the definition of a strong Halloween episode, one that uses that backdrop for a truly fun story. Having all the legends go trick-or-treating with a young Ray dressed as the Atom to scare the bullies off was superb, and I love that Mick took their candy. The dominator forcing the bad guys to sing and dance to “Singin’ in the Rain” was a particularly odd but entertaining scene. Nate thinking that Ray’s mom was hot and then kissing the dominator pretending to be her was funny, and I really do think that the new additions to this show, Amaya and Zari included, have enhanced it a lot. It’s a good thing that Stein only took the communicator so that he could monitor the impending birth of his grandchild, and Jax working with Ray to figure out a way to break up Firestorm is a clever and fitting way to write out Victor Garber since he has to leave for his Broadway run this winter.

What I’m Watching: The Flash

The Flash: Season 4, Episode 4 “Elongated Journey Into Night” (B+)

I’m not sure that this whole Cisco-hunting plotline was necessary, but I guess it’s Halloween and it wasn’t the worst use of time. I’d also argue that the casting of Danny Trejo as Gypsy’s father is fantastic, and I think it would be great to have him back another time on this show. While Breacher did manage to get Cisco pretty riled up, he ultimately ended up admitting that he respected him despite his hatred for him, and he also slipped and revealed Gypsy’s real name, Cynthia, which really isn’t so scary, as well as his own, which is Josh. I would never have expected a character with the ability to stretch his limbs to work well on this show, but this proved to be a fun and relatively inventive episode. There’s no denying that much of Ralph’s newfound stretch features were disgusting, particularly when he sneezed, but his ability to absorb a bullet was awesome, as was his stretching his arm to pull down the helicopter when Joe’s life was in jeopardy. The corrupt mayor and his gangster goons made this feel a lot more like a comic book than usual, and maybe Ralph’s presence on this show as Barry’s new trainee will continue that trend. I didn’t remember anything about DeVoe, but a quick search to confirm the spelling of his name clarified that he’s the Thinker, who we already know is manipulating things. It was sweet to see Joe handing out cigars to the team with the biggest smile on his face, and let’s hope that the Thinker’s plan doesn’t put his new family in any jeopardy.

What I’m Watching: Me, Myself, and I

Me, Myself, and I: Season 1, Episode 6 “New Job” (B+)

It saddens me very much to report that, inexplicably, this is one of the first shows of the season to get pulled from the schedule. I can’t understand why people don’t like it, but I can’t argue with the fact that people don’t seem to be watching it. Hopefully we’ll still see the remaining seven episodes, but for now, this half-hour is the last of what we have. I’m surprised it took this long for a time capsule to be featured on this show, and fortunately, it wasn’t all that prominent and instead played a background role in this show’s typically endearing exploration of relationships evolving over time. We’ve seen Darryl mainly in the present, and he was prominent in that time period here when they pitched together and his wife tried to get Alex to move out of the garage. Seeing how their relationship was built with Darryl coaching a young Alex on how to really sell his cereal milk invention, prompting him to win a contest and then not even thank his good friend for the help. It’s fun to see these characters pop up again in the future, this time with another “Sister, Sister” alum, Tim Reid, playing the older Darryl who couldn’t believe that Alex was still going after Eleanor. Advising her roofer fiancée to get Eleanor something turquoise that she was hate seems like a short-sighted plan since he’s sure to tell her who told him to buy it if she gets mad, but maybe the fact that he’s a nice guy will make things better. I hope we’ll find out what happens next – I’ll certainly be tracking down the remaining episodes if they are released at some point.

What I’m Watching: The Gifted

The Gifted: Season 1, Episode 5 “boXed in” (B)

This episode demonstrates just how much demonization by the other side has spurred those on both sides of this conflict to take action and join the fight. Agent Turner’s motivation came from the death of his daughter when they were in a park right by a mutant rights rally that turned violent, and he earned just a bit of sympathy from his captors before they remembered which side he was really on, and he wasn’t about to consider that they might have something legitimate to say. We’re continuing to see the powerful effects of the powers of these mutants, particularly Polaris as she gets the chance to have some fun now that she’s out of prison. While they’re all capable of incredible things, I’d say that Dreamer’s might be the most potentially destructive, since Blink now doesn’t want anything to do with her and, in the process of trying to get Agent Turner to trust them, she wiped the memory of his daughter’s death from his mind, forcing him to relive the tragedy again when he returned home eager to tuck her in. Invisible cars are far cooler and less serious, and we’re now back at a point where the mutants are safe, for the moment, and their pursuers aren’t sure where to look next. I feel like Kate has become the go-to doctor on this show with a number of urgent medical cases, and it’s getting a bit repetitive save for the superb assist from Lauren with some power-inspired quick thinking.

What I’m Watching: Supergirl

Supergirl: Season 3, Episode 4 “The Faithful” (B)

I’m not sure we’ve seen an episode of this show like this, with an ominous organization presenting itself but not seeming like a threat at the beginning. Flashing back to the formative event that launched Supergirl as a household name in the pilot proved effective since it showed just how transformative her heroic actions can be, and apparently they have a more profound effect on some than on others. We haven’t heard much about the sun god Rao on this show, and I’m not familiar enough with Superman mythology to recognize it, but seeing Kara wade back into her religion was interesting, especially when Hank stopped by to see his father, who is still immersed in his practices. The fact that the leader of this Supergirl/Rao cult knows who Kara is and is still alive and well in a prison is disconcerting, and I imagine he poses a greater threat than they seem to think. We also still don’t know exactly what’s going on with Samantha, but what we have seen is not good. She became very chummy with Kara and Alex in a short span of time after barely appearing at work, and seeing her daughter excel in her performance was enough to make Alex realize that her relationship is in serious trouble. Maggie is a strong addition to the show, and I hope that they’ll find a way to work through this issue and get to a place where they can both feel comfortable about what their family looks like.

What I’m Watching: Vice Principals

Vice Principals: Season 2, Episode 7 “Spring Break” (B+)

Knowing that we have just two episodes left after this, I wouldn’t have wasted a whole half-hour on spring break, but I guess that is something that happens with teachers and therefore worthwhile to feature. This episode did turn out to be pretty good and featured a few very important developments that make the fate of our characters uncertain. After she showed up at his house before he left for his trip, Ms. Abbott returned at the end of their visit acting pretty crazy, and Neal’s confession that he shouldn’t have been with her was actually the sweetest way to break up after all the stringing along, and let’s hope that it doesn’t devolve into a stalker-like situation. Lee was a perfect companion for Neal, eager to prank Janelle’s friend who was being especially rude and tempering his anger-prone friend when needed, and to snort some cocaine when the occasion called for it. The girls getting arrested brought it back to a more serious parenting situation, which ended with a nice moment between Janelle and Neal when she apologized to him. Neal seeing that mask, on the other hand, confirms something that he briefly suspected but now seems to be all but guaranteed to be true: Lee is the one who shot him. I’m not sure what he’ll do with that information, but it’s not going to be pretty. Amanda’s trip was miserable, starting with Brian flirting with other women before he opted to be rude to her in front of other writers and then very brutally blunt about what he thought about her book. Stepping up to try to read some of her book out loud was very embarrassing, and let’s hope that she takes a cue from her experience and chooses the guy who actually liked her book.

What I’m Watching: Good Behavior

Good Behavior: Season 2, Episode 3 “Because I’m Mrs. Claus” (B+)

Christmas came a bit early on this show, and I’m not sure I’ve ever experienced a Christmas episode like this. It’s crazy to think that Letty is okay just dropping Jacob off with her ex-husband and his new fiancée since she has just started to get him a new life under an assumed name in a new place. She was also going on vacation with Javier, Rob, and her mother, which is somewhat strange since you’d think that they would be careful about where they went given Agent Lashever’s close monitoring. Unfortunately, that didn’t matter all that much since it was Estelle who betrayed them by pretending that the FBI agent casing Javier was her stalker. It’s hard to know what will come next now that both our main characters have been arrested, and I don’t see a way that Javier and Letty can squirm their way out of this one. It was marvelous to see them both work, particularly Letty when she realized that Rob thought that every vacation destination was all-inclusive and had racked up a $9,000 bill because he thought ordering the most expensive stuff was free. He actually did very well as an elf getting people’s room numbers, but nothing compares to the way that Letty didn’t even blink when she got caught in one of the rooms, accidentally said the girl’s name, and walked out having convinced her that she was Mrs. Claus. I’m not sure why Agent Lashever needed to bring Christian with her to the cabin, but she’s clearly a master manipulator, bringing presents for both of them and dragging him along for the wild ride.

What I’m Watching: Curb Your Enthusiasm

Curb Your Enthusiasm: Season 9, Episode 5 “Thank You For Your Service” (B+)

Larry is never one to let a moment that could pass easily by go, and that was exemplified supremely in his failure to thank Jeff’s future son-in-law for his service when everyone else in the crowd had done so just because he didn’t feel it was necessary. I think Larry represents a lot of what people experience every day in their heads, and he just speaks it out loud when most would remain silent. Case in point – the comment that he had to make about how the baby looked sort of Asian, which prompted him to get promptly barred from the club. He did score a rare win when he caught Takahashi in the car with Ken’s wife, and he had to work hard not to roll down the window to start another friendly relationship with the security guard. His guest charging at some valets because he thought they were revolutionary redcoats, on the other hand, might have damaged his standing slightly. I was thrilled to see the latest modern generation guest star, Katie Aselton from “Legion” and “Casual,” as the mail carrier who Larry tried to get to drop something off at Richard Lewis’ house for free and then completely failed in dating when he was exceptionally rude and deplorable at the movie theater. His over-analysis of the chef’s face was a bit much, but what always makes it worth it on this show is the fact that others indulge him, like the waiter who insisted that he had made the face he demonstrated to Larry.

What I’m Watching: Ray Donovan (Season Finale)

Ray Donovan: Season 5, Episode 12 “Time Takes a Cigarette” (B)

I didn’t even really realize that this season was coming to an end, and that’s mainly because it’s been relatively directionless. I’ve been an advocate of this show’s quality since the beginning, and I certainly don’t think it’s gotten to the point of being unwatchable or even all that bad. Abby’s death was a development that came somewhat without warning but then took a while to unspool and get unpacked, and I think the show might have done better to feature her decline as a powerful plot point rather than something to haunt Ray in flashbacks. Natalie was dead before we really saw much happen with her, and though Susan Sarandon can command the screen, all we really know is that Sam considers Ray a good friend. Even when his face is bruised and his energy level is way down, Ray will do anything for a member of his family, including giving Bunchy the bar without asking for anything in exchange and having Sam apply pressure so that a furious Dr. Bergstein would agree to operate on Smitty. After strangling Doug and making it look like a suicide, Ray jumping into the water would be a worrisome ending if he wasn’t the main character of this show and a sixth season featuring him moving to New York hadn’t been announced a week ago. Mickey is headed for life in prison if not the death penalty, Daryll is a producer with a big, empty office, and Terry is still working to train his protege. Bunchy seems ready to move on without Teresa after her confession of infidelity, and I’m not sure I see such a seamless transition to single father and businessman. Connor’s sudden return felt strange, as did a lot about this season. Let’s hope a change of scenery gives this show and its star just the jolt of energy it needs.

Season grade: B
Season MVP: Paula Malcomson as Abby

What I’m Watching: The Walking Dead

The Walking Dead: Season 8, Episode 2 “The Damned” (B-)

I’m not sure where this new device of zooming in on all the characters’ faces came from, but it really doesn’t add much other than to once again remind us that we don’t know a lot of these people as well as this show would hope that we do. I still feel that there’s an expanded core of leads who play a relatively big role on this show, and this season has been unusual in that two episodes so far have included most of those faces without abandoning them to zero in on just one character who’s off somewhere else on their own adventure, though I imagine that’s coming soon with a Maggie-centric hour that will leave the war with the Saviors for another week. We didn’t see Negin at all this episode as a few factions of good guys wander around trying to maintain eye contact with the camera and kill anyone they think isn’t good in the proces. We did learn an important lesson from the man that Jesus wanted to spare about “pissing yourself on purpose,” and it’s rare to find someone like him who wants to kill as few people as possible, even stopping Morgan, the former angel of peace who’s once again becoming undone as a result of everything he’s witnessed. Rick coming across a baby was an interesting scene since he’s one of the few people in this dystopian world who had a child born during this apocalypse, and things aren’t looking good for him in the episode-ending encounter. Ezekiel is a memorable personality, and he does give a decent stirring speech complete with tiger finale.

What I’m Watching: Star Trek: Discovery

Star Trek: Discovery: Season 1, Episode 7 “Magic to Make the Sanest Man Go Mad” (B)

Anthony Rapp has been in the news all week for his identification of Kevin Spacey as the actor who made a sexual advance on him when he was fourteen. He was also a very big part of this episode, with Lieutenant Stamets’ link to the spore drive making him an invaluable savior of the ship and all its crew. It seems to be almost a requirement for shows either set in space or some other science fiction construct to feature episodes that deal with repeating the same day or block of time over and over again, and I didn’t find this hour to be as strong as the recent “Dark Matter” spotlight of the same subject. A big part of why I didn’t love this episode is that I wasn’t a fan of Mud the first time we saw him, and having him back here as a man who, over and over again, disintegrated Captain Lorca and self-destructed the ship, only to be reunited with his somewhat clingy, somewhat scary love with barely any consequences for his many acts of temporary murder. I’m also not sure that we’re familiar enough with many of our characters to spend only a few splintered moments with them and then rejoin them when they don’t remember any of it, and their development suffers as a result. Why a dance like this would happen on a starship with officers present is puzzling to me, though maybe I don’t know enough about military culture in general, and the awkward conversations between Ash and Michael were pretty uncomfortable and not all that informative. I do like Tilly and hope that we see her featured more going forward. As long as we never have to see Mud again. I think I’ll have to rewatch some of “The Office” to be fond of Rainn Wilson again.