What I’m Watching: The Righteous Gemstones

The Righteous Gemstones: Season 1, Episode 8 “But the Righteous Will See Their Fall” (B+)

Nothing ever seems to go all that right on this show, and the consequences can be very intense. I knew something bad would come of Baby Billy’s desire for some excitement while he was behind the wheel, and naturally he’d end up crashing into Scotty’s van before killing him and taking all of the money that he knew had come straight out of the Gemstone vault. He did a very poor job of hiding the evidence, and it seems unlikely that anyone would believe that Scotty took his own life. He also managed to alienate Judy completely, and she had one hell of a breakdown after she went to go see BJ in his new ear-pierced life, going to town on that cart and the cell phone she just smacked right down onto the ground. Gideon deciding not to cite his father’s deplorable behavior as a reason for his actions was noble when he was getting all the flak for what he had done, and somehow Jesse was so moved by his son’s honesty that he decided coming clean on behalf of all his co-conspirators was the right thing to do. The video viewing party did not go well at all, with kids present and Jesse trying to explain away some of the more regrettable things they were clearly shown doing. I most appreciated this episode as a showcase for Cassidy Freeman as we saw Amber go full-throttle in her rage against her husband, complete with a carefully-calculated and executed gun grab and shot as her hapless spouse tried in vain to flee.

Pilot Review: Press

I'm trying something new with my pilot reviews, so from now on, check out video takes on each new series, which I'll embed below and you can also watch by subscribing to movieswithabe on YouTube.

What I’m Watching: Supergirl (Season Premiere)

Supergirl: Season 5, Episode 1 “Event Horizon” (B+)

After a long season of building up Lex Luthor and Agent Liberty as the big villains, this season is all about rebooting and presenting many new hurdles for Supergirl and her increasingly impressive team of superpowered friends. The most important development is Lena’s turn to the dark side, so intent on getting revenge on Kara for not sharing her deepest secret with her and even more focused on that aim after Kara came clean with her right before the big speech she gave introducing her for the prize. Selling the company to Andrea changes things in a big way, and trying to monetize their journalism is the least of her sins since she forcefully rewrote everyone’s contacts to force them to stay. It’s the definition of a hostile takeover, one that’s going to reverberate as Kara trying to continue to fight the good journalistic fight and James pursues a new career, perhaps as Guardian full-time? Kelly is in a complicated position, working for Andrea and getting very close to Alex. Hank’s brother showing up isn’t good news for anyone, though at least he’s not in the form of a creepy young girl with the power to animate dinosaurs anymore. I’m enjoying the romance between Brainy and Nia and seeing how she realizes what she needs to coach him on while he makes a considerable effort to show just how sorry he is for the way that he treated her when he got reset. I’m back on board for this season, hopeful that these many different plotlines will prove engrossing and satisfying.

What I’m Watching: The Affair

The Affair: Season 5, Episode 7 (C+)

There was a moment during this episode where I thought that all of this was for something – when Whitney asked her father about his affair with Allison and why he did it. Their visit back to Montauk was saddled with other unnecessary drama, like their unfortunate visit to shop for a wedding dress where they were made to feel like terrible people for not being able to afford the absurd price tags, enabling Whitney to have a therapeutic moment of rage directed towards one of the employees. Helen not being present for any of this and then Whitney trying on her wedding dress felt wrong in a lot of ways, and the run-in with Luisa suddenly got him thinking about Joanie, the daughter he hadn’t bothered to check in with for years until the day that she and her father happened to be moving to Vermont. That was the obvious moment to transition to half an episode devoted to the adult Joanie, who naturally would take the information she learned about Ben’s apparent role in her mother’s death and go full undercover to learn more about him. Tony Plana, best known for supporting roles on “Ugly Betty” and “The Punisher,” was a good fit to play the older Ben, who initially seemed innocent enough until he revealed that he knew she was Joanie. Confessing to having killed Allison seemed rather blunt and unrealistic, but things took a turn for the much less believable when Joanie did return to have the police arrest him, only to have him concoct a crazy story about her being a patient of his. None of this needed to happen, and certainly not to demonstrate that Joanie’s response to being physically threatened would be to urge her assailant to hold her down even more forcefully. I’m not impressed.

What I’m Watching: God Friended Me

God Friended Me: Season 2, Episode 2 “The Lady” (C+)

This show really stretches the limits of believability, and its characters often can’t see just how absurd or egregious the things they say and do are. Miles was one to talk when he cautioned Joy about pushing the boundaries too far and making a bold move to assure that she could accomplish what they needed to. This week’s big guest star was Bryan Greenberg from “One Tree Hill” and “How to Make It in America,” who, despite the profession of his character, was actually rather understated and played a relatively background role in his own story. I also recognized Zach Grenier from “24” and “The Good Wife” as the grandfather who had absolutely no desire for the father of his grandson to meet him and was willing to go to extraordinary lengths to prevent it from happening. Joy seems to be acclimating to the way the God account works pretty well, and though it seems that Miles is somehow bound for Paris at the drop of the hat with the money that he apparently has, he and Joy are making a good and functional team. Cara explaining that she doesn’t think that she loves Miles is indeed a hurdle, and while I’m not sure he’s really capable of hearing anything he doesn’t want to from anyone, no matter who says it, it’s going to be crushing if she’s somehow able to communicate her uncertainty to him. Simon and Annie managing to be in the same room and not explode at each other is a stretch, and all seems to be relatively forgiven in a way that hardly feels plausible given their very negative history.

Pilot Review: Batwoman

I'm trying something new with my pilot reviews, so from now on, check out video takes on each new series, which I'll embed below and you can also watch by subscribing to movieswithabe on YouTube.

Round Two: The Politician

The Politician: Season 1, Episode 2 “The Harrington Commode” (B+)

This second installment was a superb follow-up to the first, demonstrating that this show has a whole lot to offer on many different fronts. As tends to be the case with Ryan Murphy shows, the music is terrific, and helps to set the tone for all of the events portrayed on screen. In addition to multiple Murphy shows like “Pose” and “Scream Queens,” Mac Quayle also composes the music for “Mr. Robot.” Opening the episode with presidential election trivia was also a nice treat, and I hope that’s a regular move that continues as the series does. We met Bob Balaban as Georgina’s much older husband, and after he jumped off the roof because she told him she was in love with someone else, Payton’s plan to show his adoptive father that he was much more loyal to him than his elder brothers played out in a very entertaining manner. There is certainly a lot of direct communication in this show’s universe where people say what they mean in an explicit manner, like Payton responding to Dusty’s “What’s in it for us?” with a confirmation that she wanted to know if he’d pay for a Disney cruise. Similarly, Payton’s acceptance to Harvard was contingent on a generous donation, something he didn’t want to do since it felt wrong and inauthentic to him. Determining whether Infinity is in fact faking her cancer continues to be a complicated matter, and Payton is going to have to figure out how to confront her with what he believes is proof that she’s lying. One of the best aspects of the pilot was actor David Corenswet, who played River and looks like a cross between Tom Welling and Matt Bomer, and I’m glad that he’s still going to be appearing in a limited capacity in flashbacks. I’m excited to continue to watch this show one episode at a time!

What I’m Watching: Undone

Undone: Season 1, Episode 4 “Moving the Keys” (B+)

This episode’s title was fitting, as Jacob pushed Alma to concentrate and figure out how to move the keys, something that she eventually came to understand wasn’t about the keys themselves but more about her traveling through moments in time to when the keys were in a particular place. Her mom was predictably concerned about her and angry that she wasn’t communicating with her, and suggesting therapy led to surprising agreement from Alma, who didn’t really bother listening to the therapist’s reactions to the ideas she expressed. The more Alma becomes engrossed in what her father is telling and teaching her, the more she disconnects from the real world, resulting in events like her showing up naked in front of her students, something which she thinks was a dream but might not be. Managing to go back to her memories at the end brought her back to her breakup with Sam, leading to a haunting ending with her cutting her finger again because of the shock brought on by what she just learned. Sam jokingly suggesting that Becca slept with the bartender led to a much more serious moment in which Becca used what she knew Sam was keeping from Alma to blackmail him into keeping her secret from the very dopey Reed, whose exchange with Alma at the bar was very entertaining. Discovering Sam’s lie is likely going to send Alma to the one living person she thinks she can trust, but that’s just ultimately going to lead her to the fact that Becca kept the same crucial information from her.

What I’m Watching: Unbelievable

Unbelievable: Season 1, Episode 4 (B+)

I’m glad that, finally, Colleen had the TV on and realized that maybe Marie’s story sounded a bit like what someone else had said. Marie is understandably terrified after getting a notice and finding out that there’s a warrant out for her arrest because the summons was sent to a different address, and the fact that her being charged is unusual doesn’t matter since she’s still being charged. I think that she’s come to a point where she doesn’t even know whether what she remembers happened or not, and hopefully the right people, namely Karen and Grace, can help extract the important information to validate her claim and put her life back on track as much as they can. Their investigation without Marie’s story continues to be fruitful, though they have different notions of how they should proceed, like opting not to trust FBI Special Agent Taggart with their theory that the perpetrator is an employee of law enforcement. They came close to finding what they thought might be their targets, but alibis and tattoos showed that they were coming up empty. Fortunately, the two of them don’t care much about following expected protocol and aren’t interested in their investigation being sidelined, which of course results in some very angry interviewees and other victims and family members who can’t see that they’re actually the only ones who are truly invested in helping them. Luckily, they should be more than capable of talking to Marie and showing her that they are fully behind her, something that the police officers she previously talked to didn’t do at all.

Pilot Review: Raising Dion

I'm trying something new with my pilot reviews, so from now on, check out video takes on each new series, which I'll embed below and you can also watch by subscribing to movieswithabe on YouTube.

Round Two: Carol’s Second Act

Carol’s Second Act: Season 1, Episode 2 “You Give Me Fever” (C+)

I had wanted to like this show, since Patricia Heaton’s very likeable and unusually positive performance surprised me a lot during the pilot. This second outing, however, indicates that there’s not much creativity to be found here, with lots of recycled humor, expected plotlines, and absurd situations that would never actually be able to take place in a hospital. “Grey’s Anatomy” popularized the idea of supervised surgeries akin to film screenings, and in this episode, we actually got that, with doctors and nurses sitting down to enjoy laughing at a colleague who never learned how to do a blood draw, something that should probably be more cause for serious concern than just mockery. Carol also seems to get infinite chances to disregard instructions, though Dr. Jacobs should probably yield a bit more to her instincts since discharging this patient without properly addressing the red flags she raised would have been deeply irresponsible. Lines like “she has an irreversible case of old” seem particularly flippant and unrealistic, but I guess I don’t watch sitcoms to find real life mirrored back at me. This episode was big on the milk metaphors, with the very timid Caleb eager to be like almond milk, not nearly as hot as oat or anything else but ready to survive at the back of the fridge. That might work, though he’s sure to be taken advantage of, something Carol was more than happy to do when she got assigned a bunch of punishment work. I’m not optimistic about this show but might give it one more shot.

What I’m Watching: The Good Place

The Good Place: Season 4, Episode 2 “A Girl from Arizona Part 2” (B+)

While there isn’t quite as much intrigue about what’s going on anymore on this show, now the question is whether our friends will actually be able to succeed in turning these very difficult dead people into moderately reformed decent humans. I think the only thing that I’ve seen actor Benjamin Koldyke in previously was the horrific 2012 ABC pilot “Work It,” and he’s much better as Brent, the jerk so obsessed with himself that he thinks that he belongs in the best place rather than just the good place. I like that Eleanor opted to use a technique that had worked on her to help her realize that she wasn’t a good person, which backfired entirely with the hapless Brent who is almost more terrible than the demons from the bad place. Eleanor’s leadership being questioned was hardly surprising, and it’s good that it managed to pump up her ego in the end as she realized that Michael had faked his freakout so that she would take charge. She achieved their first bit of success in a while with Chidi opening Simone’s mind to the possibility that maybe he’s not just a projection of her subconscious and that it wouldn’t hurt her to be nice to those around her even if they’re not actually real. Janet breaking up with Jason was a low point of the episode, and hopefully watching him wallow will make him just as entertaining as he’s always been, ready to give a necessary high-five to Eleanor because he can’t not even though he’s feeling crushed.

Round Two: Perfect Harmony

Perfect Harmony: Season 1, Episode 2 “Fork Fest” (C+)

I had hoped that this show might demonstrate dramatic improvement in its second outing, but it really didn’t. Bradley Whitford definitely has an appeal as an actor, but lately he’s been doing this bit where he’s just too annoyed to be anywhere, and that only works to a certain degree. In the case of his Emmy-winning turn on “The Handmaid’s Tale,” it’s perfect, because he’s dealing with a dystopia that he helped to create and existing as one of the only non-fanatics with a considerable amount of power. Here, he’s not responsible for any of it, and he couldn’t seem more irritated at every turn. Evidently, he’s going to have to grow each week, and after his simple conversational charm was negated by his immediate use of hand sanitizer to cleanse himself of his meeting with the hog farmer, he had to get down and dirty in the literal mud to prove that he doesn’t take himself too seriously. It was growth, but also quite predictable. Everyone believing that Ginny was the one who cheated on Wayne because she didn’t want to badmouth him in front of their son felt more than a little ridiculous, though not quite as much as the widespread rumor, discussed even by Ginny herself, that Adams had killed her late husband. Exaggerating and making fun of Southern culture is only so funny, and I think I preferred the setting and characters on “Trial and Error” to this. I won’t be checking back in again, unless I hear news of a crossover with that cancelled series!

Round Two: The Unicorn

The Unicorn: Season 1, Episode 2 “Breaking Up is Hard to Do” (B)

I thought that this show had the most promise out of all the freshmen pilots that have premiered so far, and it did a decent job of living up to that in its second outing even if it’s still not superb. What does work is Walton Goggins, whose previous television gigs have been tinged with humor on serious shows and movies like “Justified” and “The Hateful Eight” and full-on involved in more comedic fare like “Sons of Anarchy,” “Vice Principals” and “The Righteous Gemstones.” I remember him originally from his more stoic but still superb turn as Shane on “The Shield,” and now he’s playing a milder character who is just starting to realize what the world around him now looks like. I wasn’t sure where I recognized Christina Moore, who played Lizzie, from, potentially “That 70s Show” or “True Blood,” but she did a great job in her short scenes as a new romantic interest for Wade who just wasn’t all that appealing. He did fail quite spectacularly in his efforts not to get overly involved. The sweet moment he shared with his daughter when they were taking Instagram pictures for each other at the end of the episode was nice, and I’m glad that this show doesn’t have a laugh track to make that kind of scene feel forced. What I didn’t love as much were the antics of Wade’s friends, notably the guest appearance by Nicole Byer from “Nailed It” as Michelle’s very overeager sister. I’ll give it another shot – so far this remains my top new broadcast show.

What I’m Watching: Why Women Kill

Why Women Kill: Season 1, Episode 8 “Marriages Don't Break Up on Account of Murder – It's Just a Symptom That Something Else Is Wrong” (B+)

This episode’s introduction featured three regular players, all of whom are taking on much stronger roles in the destruction of the marriages they’ve entered through affairs. Of the three, Jade seems the most malicious, hearing worthwhile warnings from Taylor about what Eli does when he’s on drugs and using that information to purposely manipulate Eli into cutting Taylor completely out of his life, accepting his gift of a car and then blocking Taylor from his phone. Speaking to her ex-boyfriend and paying his bail was a smart move, but she’s likely going to regret the consequences his return wreaks. Tommy getting drunk and crashing his car after finding out that Simone isn’t coming with him to Paris so that she can stay and take care of her sick husband was bad enough on its own, but Naomi finding out about the affair is going to be really problematic since she’s sure to exact the same kind of revenge Simone would if the tables were turned. Beth Ann talking April out of an abortion so that she could raise the baby with Rob was indeed twisted, but her intentions were good, and losing Sheila as a friend and confidante won’t be good. This show’s true villain has been revealed, and that’s Rob, who proposed to April upon learning of her pregnancy because he said his marriage would be over in six months. That’s truly cruel and unfeeling, adding villainy to the already perplexing performance from actor Sam Jaeger. I suspect that he’s going to be the first to die.