What I’m Watching: Stranger Things (Season Finale)

Stranger Things: Season 2, Episode 9 “Chapter Nine: The Gate” (B+)

To think that, just five months ago, I had never seen this show is crazy to me. I’m now a big fan, and though I don’t have to wait as long as everyone else for season three, it’s still going to be at least nine months until it comes out. Fortunately, this has been a really great year, one that I think I found even more enjoyable than seeing one. Reuniting with Eleven was a wonderful moment, though she didn’t actually spend all that much time with the other characters since she was so focused on closing up that bridge to the upside down which she managed to impressively do. Hopper’s reaction to Dustin clarifying the term “demadogs” was one of my favorite parts of the episode, and Steve using sports metaphors and everyone about the dance at the end of the episode rank too. Burning the demagorgon out of Will proved successful, which is a relief, and everyone working together worked out extremely well. I’m a big fan of Max, but I’m still not sure exactly what Billy’s role was in this season. It was good to see both Max and Steve stand up to him and scare him into submission, but otherwise he didn’t stand out much of a character aside from his unexpected flirtation with Nancy’s mom when he stopped by. This season did great things for Nancy, Lucas, and Dustin, and I’m really excited to revisit everyone next year when this show returns for its highly anticipated third season.

Season grade: A-
Season MVP: Millie Bobby Brown as Eleven

What I’m Watching: Life in Pieces

Life in Pieces: Season 3, Episode 8 “The Twelve Shorts of Christmas” (B)

I suppose this show gets some credit for a harmless double entendre in its title and in trying out something new to celebrate the holiday. Perhaps it also suggests that each of this show’s vignettes are so unsubstantial that they can be boiled down to even shorter segments and still be just as effective (or less than memorable). Out of this bunch, I was entertained by Greg’s little dance number in the car though I find it hard to believe that both he and Matt could be stopped at the same traffic light without getting honked at by cars behind either of them. I’m not a fan of Martin Starr’s creepy repair guy, and I don’t love Martin Mull’s depressed patient either. The suicidal rumba was a strange but moderately clever bit, and the big Christmas party in the little house was predictably claustrophobic. The plotline that felt the most like this show featured the three adult siblings in the bathtub together, with Matt trying to use this as a gift from just him since he’s notoriously terrible at such things. Heather getting angry about her perceived love of cherries was fun, especially considering the gift Sophia, who also starred in her own accidentally alcohol-enhanced scene, had gotten her, and Tim being upset about being left out of the family photos that weren’t all from before he joined the family was a nice way to make him seem less stupid and a little more serious than usual. As Christmas episodes go, this one was at least different.

What I’m Watching: There’s Johnny

There’s Johnny: Season 1, Episode 6 “The Getaway” (B)

This isn’t a show that’s particularly serious about the consequences its characters get for things to happen or that they find out. Andy was typically unprepared for what he was getting himself into when he accepted Angelo’s invitation, and he was definitely surprised by Joy explaining that he has sex with other men. That fact wasn’t bothersome to the relatively open-minded Andy, and what he found so unbelievable was that he had been with his partner for as long as his own parents had been married and were also participating in a sham marriage at the same time. Andy is an honest guy, and that’s why he was so upset when he ran into Rasheed, whose name isn’t Rasheed, with his mysteriously alive parents, and realized that he had just fabricated everything he had shared with him. At least he got some good news, which is that his brother is home and safe even though he’s not entirely okay, but that’s better than the state of death that I thought he was in. I’m not sure what to make of the inclusion of a scene featuring Joy’s father having sex with a woman that wasn’t her mother right before he called her to check in, but I suppose it’s just meant to further underline how much people keep their private lives hidden in this age, with Joy and Andy being the exceptions. There’s just one more episode this season, and while I’ve enjoyed the show so far, I’m curious to see if the finale will provide anything more emphatic and substantial that would make ordering a second season worthwhile.

What I’m Watching: The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel

The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel: Season 1, Episode 4 “The Disappointment of the Dionne Quintuplets” (B+)

I’m starting to really like and appreciate the rhythm of this show after having some initial misgivings with the second episode, and it makes me very excited for the rest of the season. All of the talking is purposeful and entertaining, and it allows for considerably more material to be covered than most shows are able to do in just one hour. This episode was a superb spotlight for Tony Shalhoub, who was insistent that he’s not the kind of man that owns two TVs, later caved to his wife after she pressed it and made her case, and then withdrew his offer when he got angry at Midge for coming home so late. We saw a bit of how Midge has learned much of what she knows from her mother, who also gets up in the middle of the night to make herself pretty for the morning. Suzie is getting funnier and funnier, and the line that made me laugh most in this hour was her claim that thirty percent of comics die from cord-related injuries. She isn’t happy that Midge is writing everything down, and she definitely doesn’t like people who want to take more than one of her hand-written business cards. Midge has a lot to learn in the stand-up comedy business, and something tells me she’s going to develop a few hobbies along the way, like becoming the emblem of a cause she’s never before heard of because she happened to be passing by at a potent moment. She was especially fierce and unforgiving in her takedown of Joel and the nearly identical life he’s created with a woman who’s not Jewish and who’s not her.

What I’m Watching: Search Party (Season Finale)

Search Party: Season 2, Episodes 9 and 10 “Frenzy” and “Psychosis” (B+)

Okay, so April is definitely crazy, and not, as Elliott and Portia briefly thought when they were following her twin sister, happy crazy. Demanding $60,000 was a bit random, and my favorite part of their whole discussion which Portia couldn’t hear was that Drew logically calculated that if he could get $60,000 in two days, he would get $60,000 every two days. Drew and Dory having sex shows that they’ve reconnected, but that’s not a great thing given how terrible they are at lying together. Drew getting cupcakes that read “I had sex with your wife” so that he could get his promotion went so poorly, and now he’s out of a job altogether. Elliot proposing to Mark in the supermarket was an unexpected development, but he’s someone who doesn’t listen to anything anyone else says and just does exactly what he feels like in every moment. Joy following Fat Frankie nearly worked out perfectly for our friends since she panicked and shot him, but then Chantal had to come and confess that she was actually in Montreal and not New Hampshire, prompting lots of anger from Joy and some quick dot-connecting. Offering up Julien’s sex scandal as a way to keep April quiet was a creative if unproductive solution, but it seems it was all for naught now that Dory has been arrested for the very specific murder of Keith. There’s no word on a third season of this show, but I’m extremely excited to see where it all goes and hopeful that its commission will be announced shortly.

Season grade: B+
Season MVP: Alia Shawkat as Dory

What I’m Watching: SMILF

SMILF: Season 1, Episode 7 “Family-Sized Popcorn & a Can of Wine” (B+)

There’s often not a lot of ground covered in each of this show’s episodes, but they still work pretty well as small vignettes of the parenting and relationship challenges Bridgette experiences on a daily basis. Trying to potty train Larry didn’t go all that well, and she had normal frustrations when it came to that as she tried to be enthusiastic and encouraging without getting too invested in the likelihood of his progress. Bringing Larry to a horror movie definitely wasn’t the smartest idea, and they rightly got yelled at by the guy behind them for that mistake. On the bus, strangers were a bit more forgiving when she loudly realized that she had forgotten to feed him breakfast and lunch. Bridgette is far from the worst television mother, and her occasional lack of awareness and forgetfulness are forgivable given her sweet intent to make the world a great place for her son. Rafi is more than a bit distracted at the moment, unable to process what happened the night before, and I’m curious to see where that’s going to lead since he too is a good guy in a strong relationship with a nice woman who would surely have a whole lot of trouble handling what the idea of him being attracted to another man means for them. This show’s inaugural season is only eight episodes, which means that the season finale airs tomorrow night, so let’s hope for a memorable and entertaining conclusion that wraps things up well enough while getting us excited for season two.

What I’m Watching: Good Behavior (Season Finale)

Good Behavior: Season 2, Episode 10 “Letty Raines, in the Mansion, with the Gun” (B-)

I don’t like the idea of going into a season finale not knowing if a show has been renewed, and given that it’s been almost two weeks since it aired, it’s especially distressing not to know if more is coming. In theory, this could serve as a fitting resolution given the way that its final scene played out, but I wouldn’t be happy at all given the content of the rest of this episode. I’m not a fan of hallucinations in general, and I don’t think that seeing Brian Baumgartner’s deceased security tech in conversation with Letty as a manifestation of her guilt was necessary or effective. I’ve always admired this show for the way that it just goes wherever its plot takes it, and this episode felt disappointingly formulaic. Letty was freaking out and trying to get away from Javier so that she could punish just herself for killing two people, and, in spite of a car crash where she just handed money to the other guy, they got away without any real issue. Rhonda quit the FBI and is now happily married to Christian, and she didn’t even care if they had just finished disposing of bodies when she came to pick them up. I don’t feel that this finale did justice to everything that’s transpired this season, since it focused on Letty spiraling and then snapping back into a good emotional state and didn’t revisit all of the great supporting characters in a substantial way. I really hope we get a third season of this show because I loved a whole lot of this season, and I think it has enormous potential to continue to be great.

Season grade: B+
Season MVP: Ann Dowd as Special Agent Rhonda Lashever

What I’m Watching: Shameless

Shameless: Season 8, Episode 7 “Occupy Fiona” (B+)

Well, things between Ian and Fiona are definitely not great. Ian waking her up by pouring ice water on her every morning hardly seems kind or mature, and getting all of his kids to camp out in front of the church to chant angry slogans was an admittedly clever but devious move. Fiona has lost some sense of the person she used to be, offering pizza to all of the squatters and then paying them to move so that she could have their makeshift tents cleaned up and removed, though for her it’s less about living to get by than it is refusing to back down to get ahead on her own merits. While Fiona would like to think things are going to be okay, it doesn’t seem that Ian is going to get over it, even after Trevor decided to accept her offer of another building. Lip is going to bat for the two people who have helped get him through hard times in his life, and neither of them are helping themselves. Professor Youens being drunk on the stand was a particular low point, and hopefully his getting sent to jail will be a wake-up call to Lip to really get his life together. I think Carl would be great at making ransom videos, but it seems that he’s gotten much more than he bargained for with his new friend. Debs getting one last chance to keep her parking attendant provided her not with a great reference for the future but a hilarious use of her welding skills to get revenge on the arrogant doctor who felt compelled to rip the gate off its hinges in a fit of rage. Frank isn’t going to find legitimate work anytime soon, so what better way to get by than by being a coyote for those trying to get into Canada? And I loved that, after Kev failed miserably at being dominating, Veronica figured out that him complaining about things she did wrong was the sweet spot for her.

What I’m Watching: Dirk Gently’s Holistic Detective Agency (Series Finale)

Dirk Gently’s Holistic Detective Agency: Season 2, Episode 10 “Nice Jacket” (B+)

I’m devastated. I don’t know if it’s better or worse that I knew going into this show that it had already been cancelled since my TV viewing the past few weeks has been so delayed. This was the show I most pointed to as a singular and unique series that others should continue watching since they obviously hadn’t heard of it, and I would have enjoyed watching seasons upon seasons of it. While I do think that season one was superior to season two overall in terms of the specific plot, I was impressed with how things turned out and came together by the end of this season once we realized that everything was indeed connected. Seeing the boy become the boy again in Wendimoor was awesome, and he was quickly able to disarm Suzie and fix everything by bringing all those that were killed back to life and placing them where they should be. Allowing The Beast to join the Rowdy Three so that they’re now six people was the best decision of all. I also like that Amanda has the wand, and that Todd was able to seemingly control it and stop Suzie from killing him when she tried. There’s so much unresolved here that I would have loved to see address, mainly the fact that Ken is becoming evil, to the point that the universe is telling Bart that she should kill him. It was the dim-witted Hugo, apparently well aware that he’s stupid, who stopped Ken from preventing Dirk and Mona from going to Wendimoor to save the day. The boy’s wisdom – “We’re supposed to help fix things” – was touching, and it’s a nice theme for a show that involves a whole lot of broken and incomprehensible stuff. I’m not sure where we would have gone next from here, but I’m going to continue vehemently recommending this show to anyone I talk to. It may well have been the weirdest show on television, but it was also one of the most creative and delightful.

Season grade: B+
Season MVP: Hannah Marks as Amanda
Series grade: A-
Series MVP: Fiona Dourif as Bart

Pilot Review: Wormwood

Wormwood (Netflix)
Premiered December 15

Sometimes going into a show knowing absolutely nothing about it proves detrimental since it’s hard to understand without any context or introduction. It probably would have been useful to know that this show was about LSD and featured the suicide of an infamous subject on the drug as its central event, especially since this show has a very intense feel to it based on its incorporation of the drug and its history into its plot. I was most taken by the impressive names in the credited cast, though I didn’t see most of them in this initial hour. Peter Sarsgaard, of course, did make an appearance, though we have much more to learn about Frank Olson and the circumstances surrounding his untimely demise that is dramatized in the opening scene and haunting opening credits of this show. Molly Parker and Christian Camargo have both shown that they can do tremendous work on television shows like “House of Cards” and “Dexter,” respectively. I also like Michael Chernus from “The Big C” and “Orange is the New Black.” Tim Blake Nelson is dependable, as is Jimmi Simpson, recently seen on “Westworld.” As for the show itself, I found it hard to get into, and the use of narration and interviews to chronicle events that I’d much rather see play out on screen is disappointing. I’m mildly intrigued both by the premise and by the talent involved, but this opening hour was relatively dull and unmemorable considering the potential it had to be very good.

How will it work as a series? It’s only designed to be a six-episode miniseries, and so I’d imagine that it can take its sweet time in exploring the meat of its story as it wades into all that starting in episode two. I really do think that it’s critical to utilize the cast and make it more engaging than just retelling the story without showing it, though some further research indicates that this is meant as more of a documentary than a narrative project.
How long will it last? I seem to be in the minority in my attitude towards this miniseries, which has a very strong 84 rating on Metacritic. Despite that, I don’t imagine that Netflix is going to renew something that was always meant as a standalone limited series, so I’d be very surprised to hear that more of this same story was being commissioned. Similar projects from director Errol Morris, on the other hand…

Pilot grade: B-

What I’m Watching: The Crown

The Crown: Season 2, Episode 2 “A Company of Men” (B+)

I remember reading that the second season of this show was going to focus more on Philip and the crown atop his head than on Elizabeth, and this episode was definitely formatted that way. Philip is a character who has been hard to find sympathetic since the start of this show, so concerned with how this regal position will affect him when he still enjoys many of the liberties of normal life that Elizabeth can’t because she is the queen. You’d expect a certain level of discretion from him while he was out gallivanting around the world on a trip he never wanted to take, and that’s one of the reasons that, fortunately, he hasn’t yet sunk into infidelity. Mike, on the other hand, has, and his wife is well aware of that fact and wants him to pay for it right away. It’s hard to think of a divorce going through in those days, and she certainly got a response that indicated a lack of faith in her own mental state. The health of the British prime minister doesn’t seem to be excellent no matter who’s in office, and I liked Elizabeth’s reaction to the news that he had to go to Jamaica. Back on the boat, I like that the discord Philip and his friends are experiencing includes a beard-growing competition that specified that those with preexisting beards had to shave so that the playing field would be evened. Philip fighting to pick up the stranded man showed that he does have principles and isn’t ready for anyone to tell him what to do, especially if he knows that he holds the real power in the situation.

What I’m Watching: Longmire

Longmire: Season 6, Episode 5 “Burned Up My Tears” (B+)

This show has always excelled at building up a murder into something completely unexpected by introducing a suspect we didn’t see coming and then ending in their unforgettable demise. The last time that happened on this show was when Barlow himself ended up biting the bullet after it was revealed that he was responsible for his own son’s death. Nothing is back to normal just yet, and Walt and Vic are fighting over who should take public responsibility for killing Chance since neither of them wants to see the other hurt as retribution. Not that it could ever be seen as going well, Walt’s trial did seem to be going especially poorly in this hour, and the fact that Walt’s lawyer didn’t want Lucien to testify on his behalf spoke volumes. Now, things got considerably worse when the lawyer for Barlow’s estate got killed and Walt was the prime suspect with Vic next in line, and that was before the big reveal that it was Lucien who was actually the culprit. He certainly didn’t expect that Walt would be able to identify the twentieth most important character in an 800-page book, and I can say that I didn’t expect any of this to happen. Having them both pull and shoot each other in the hand made this feel very much like the modern-day western that it is, and Lucien running off a cliff and jumping made for quite the intense finale. I thought that would be it, but he had the chance to share some final words that show that there’s at least one person out there who thinks Walt is a good man. It’s been a great performance from Peter Weller, and a character I won’t soon forget.

What I’m Watching: The Punisher

The Punisher: Season 1, Episode 5 “Gunner” (B)

This was a somewhat slow-moving episode, one that left things looking very bad for our main antihero. Frank can put up with a lot, but he was in bad shape at the end of this hour. There’s no denying that Frank is a force to be reckoned with, hunting down the operatives who were after him in the woods and then looking straight into the camera so that Rawlins would know exactly who was coming for him. David isn’t quite as skilled in the field, and instead he’s busy making sandwiches for himself without bothering to ask Frank if he wants one. Dinah seemed to be most concerned about the state of her car after the events of last week, and brushed off the reaction her bruised body got while she was in the middle of having some very passionate sex. Trusting Karen with the information that Wolf was dirty but telling her not to print it shows that she’s well aware that she shouldn’t know this and definitely shouldn’t be spreading it, and hopefully it’s putting her closer and closer to being able to work with Frank once they inevitably meet again. Rawlins getting offered the deputy director job from the newly promoted Marion James, portrayed by Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio, last seen as a series regular on the sadly short-lived “Limitless,” has nefarious connotations since he doesn’t seem to care at all about the ethics of what they’re doing, which is sure to put him and Marion right at the top of Frank’s hitlist. Frank is going to have to fend off a negative reaction from David’s family, though I think he’ll need to be nursed back to health first.

What I’m Watching: Stranger Things

Stranger Things: Season 2, Episode 8 “Chapter Eight: The Mind Flayer” (B+)

Well, this easily has to be the most action-packed episode of this show yet, and it also delivered a major casualty for one of our series regulars. Mike was smart to come up with the idea to make Will sleep since he was a spy and knew where they were, and Joyce asking him who she was proved that he wasn’t the Will that they knew. Making sure that he didn’t know where he was and spending time appealing to his human nature while he tapped out messages to them was cool, and I was most excited to see everyone together. We now know that Dr. Owens was one of the good ones despite his nefarious origins, staying behind to make sure that everyone could get out of harm’s way. Unfortunately, the gregarious, brave Bob didn’t make it out alive, ducking into the closet to find Joyce waiting for him before the demagorgon pounced on him and then shared him with the others so that they could rip him apart. There were some good classic friend conversations in this episode, like how Dustin and Lucas both broke the rule of law and how Max thought that Eleven must have been really awesome. Fortunately, we just had to wait until the end of the hour for a demagorgon to be thrown into the house where Nancy, Steve, and Lucas were waiting with their gun, bat, and slingshot, respectively, to see that the newly-restyled Eleven was back and ready to team up with our powerless friends to take back Hawkins from these invading creatures.

What I’m Watching: Mindhunter (Season Finale)

Mindhunter: Season 1, Episode 10 (B+)

I wasn’t sure what the focus of this finale would be, and I think that its two main plotlines in this episode were equally compelling. Holden once again used very coarse, brutal language to get his latest interviewee talking, and, after they set up the room together, it was clear that the other law enforcement officials in the room weren’t comfortable with his line of questioning, itself just as disturbing as the content of what they were hearing from a man discussing fourteen as the age of consent in Georgie. Bill and Holden did go in together to really get them when they had started to convince him he was guilty, but those moments are much rarer these days. Holden and Wendy flying down to speak to the judge after the article got picked up didn’t go well, and it’s clear that they’ve gone past the point of hiding their research and using it only for analytical purposes. Holden being completely honest with the Office of Professional Responsibility made sense as an offensive tactic, but he really is on thin ice. Getting a call that he was Ed’s proxy seemed to show him that he had crossed a line, and when he told Holden that he could kill him before anyone showed up and then had him in his grip, he sent Holden running down the hallway and spinning out both physically and mentally. Holden’s home life is also out of control, as he didn’t even grasp that Debbie asked if he wanted her to shut up and adore him was an angry remark about the unacceptable nature of their relationship. The final scene shows that we’re far from done with all this, and I think season two should be intriguing. I haven’t always loved this show, but I think it is worthwhile and plan to return for more when it comes back.

Season grade: B+
Season MVP: Jonathan Groff and Holt McCallany as Holden and Bill