becausetvraisedus - Tumblr blog

[becausetvraisedus]

End of Year Surprise: Los Espookys | S1

2020 was a consistent bag of what-the-funk wildness. An unprecedented, never-ceasing, and always on your heels type of wildness. So it made it hard to be any bit receptive to any thing remotely close to the wild. But one welcomed and hilariously odd wild-a-beast was HBO’s Los Espookys where a rag-tag group of gen-z latinxers entrepreneur together to bring the necessary spooky to their client’s spooky needs. 

Ie: Are you a priest in need of an exorcism to bring up your priestly stock? Hire Los Espookys. Do you need to fake your abduction to have more time to vaca and treat-yo-self? Hire The Spookys. 

With this basic, premise you’re like, okay, this is a not basic show. But then the show gets weirder, or better said, more refreshingly charming in its plots c-z. When one of the characters gets vexed when her online date is not a cartoon prince charming but an actual handsome charming Spanish duke and that’s a reoccurring plot-line, you’re like okay this is dumb fun. When of the characters is being manipulated in an elitist saccharine matrimonial scheme to join a candy and cookie empire by your biological adopted parentals, you’re like this is one wild sweet ride. Or even when of the character’s who is Fred Armisen is playing an LA valet to the LA rich and famous because, well, it was his dream to be a valet, well you know this show is on one at the perfect time for an audience in need.

It isn’t always easy to be receptive to entertainment that is intentionally odd. A lot of times, especially in especially challenging times, it’s easy default to the shows and the movies that provide the easiest path to escape into laughs, romance, and drama. But sometimes, when the times are wild and right, a show that skews a lot wild and weird is the perfect salve of wtf-hilarity that acts as a compliment to the times to remind you that not everything that is wild is not here to hurt you or others. But rather, the wild and the weird can actually bring you hope, humor. If you’re open to it.

[becausetvraisedus]

Tv-side Chats: Veep: S1: Ep4: Chung

RP: Oh, bro! I loved this episode. Like I actually literally laughed… out loud… in the flesh… while Gary was a do-good dumb dumb or when Mike was dressed like a Sunday pumpkin or when the Veep herself, Selina Meyer, buffooned her way through “talking sports” or completely coming off as a Vice Presidential racist, xenophobe--all on National TV. 

JB: True buffoonery. While I did have a genuine laugh-out-loud moment in episode 4, this one felt more like an episode made to drive the characters forward. Idk! It wasn’t my favorite! And maybe that speaks to the potential despicable nature of the administration we’re watching...  What stood out to me in this episode was Senator Doyle relieving himself of clean jobs thanks to the oil guys appointment in the previous episodes. I think Senator Doyle might be my political north star in this world?? It’s still too early, but the Selina definitely flip-flopped on two key issues of hers in this episode. It leads me to continue to question her, rather than join in on her side… Does that make sense?

RP: It makes sense for sure. I just don’t know if I need to root for Selina or her crew of misfits. I think innately they’ll become the heroes of this comedy of errors that is our American political system. And in the end that’s the thesis of Veep: Hey look out how funnily stupid this system is and the nincampoops who operate that system. And to prove some of their nincompoopedness, I’m just gonna rail off on some Ep 4 bangers: 

Amy: 7:00 p.m. on a Saturday night. Even people who are dying of malaria stay up later than that. Gary: Well, they can't sleep because they're coughing…

JB: Okay, I’ll play. Firstly let’s talk: 

1. Sue! We haven’t given her any shine yet, but this woman. This Black Woman takes no shit! She handles her role as the veeps Executive Assistant/Receptionist with elite deftness. 

She puts all these MFs in their place. I cannot imagine swimming with the political sharks. She makes it look easy. 

RP: Speaking of the god Sue, banger numero dos:

Mike: Sue can you tell him [Dan} about the encroachment rules

Sue: Do I look like a kindergarten teacher to you Mike?

Mike: Actually, Yes

Sue: Excuse Me?!

Mike: Uh, no… you don’t…

JB: I’m weak. Sue is so sharp. Mike had to stfu real quick before he crossed a line. LOL. I wonder if we’ll ever see that happen for Sue… AnYwAy,  2nd for me:

2. Selina briefly walks through the halls of a hospital mid-episode. She’s awkwardly commenting on all the patients' injuries. 

The pacing and the genuineness of Julia L-D’s acting is where my ‘LOL’ moment occurred. So. Good.

RP: Banger the Third, I’ll go with:

Reporter: What about Ray Rice? He’s a hell of a lead runner

Selina: Ray Rice… uh… Ray Riiiccee...well, uh, he uh… Ray Rice, he play nice…

JB:  Honestly, maybe the cringiest of her moments in Ep 4. They need to get her in an improv class! Ugh, no nvm. Then she’d be too equipped for navigating small talk. 

Okay, 3rd:

3. The Veep’s gang and their solidarity against Jonah. 

I’ve touched on it before, but it’s becoming one of those aspects of shows that just cheers you up when it’s reoccurring. Jonah definitely sucks from a viewer perspective. The quickness of them raising their hands to say his shorts were offensive? Gold.

Most often they’re at each other’s throats, but Jonah is that unifying force!

RP: This banger isn’t necessarily a banger, but you know what? It bangs!

Mike: Is Macaulay the one with the nose hair problem? Like he’s got two raccoons in his nostrils…

So I’ve just railed off on 4 fingers worth of funnies, but this episode was chalk full of so many more. And that’s evidence of a tight writer’s room. I’m just hoping whomever entered that room between episode 3 and 4, stays around for a season or four more. 

JB: Before we wrap, I also wanna shout out Randall Park as the episode's inciting incident!  Unrelated to Veep, I’ve become a huge fan and I think people need to love this dude. This episode is where his acting career started to POP, but prior to that this MF was in one of those SoCal rap groups. Randall can actually flow (check the rhyme scheme around 2:45)! Imma drop this lil vid in here as we anticipate episode 5.

Ill Again - Next (Official Video) 2008: https://youtu.be/u821OLZ7RjE

RP: OHHHHH EMMMM GEEEE… I thought I was slick in the know on Mr. Randall Park, but my man JB, you raised the bar. That’s one thing I just learned. Another thing I learned from watching that mona-lisa music video is that in 2008 I wasn’t the only one smoking black ‘n milds and wearing newsboys hats (DON’T JUDGE ME OR RANDALL PARK). 

JB: Lol. If you were a young teen/20 year old, black n’ milds were almost a must. NO judgement passed. 

RP: You aren’t wrong on that or the fact that. Randall added an extra bit of necessary natural charm to Veep. And it really was good to see him in this particular political-asshole role which really shows what kind of swiss army knife Mr Park really is. I’m hoping we get to see him a time or seven more down the Veep rode.

JB: Most definitely. Onto Episode 5.

[becausetvraisedus]

Tv-side Chats: Veep: S1: Ep3: Catherine

RP: So it’s Episode 3. Selina is still Veeping through the politicking of American politics. But now we get to meet her daughter Catherine. And where most Pennsylvania Avenue shows--think The Westest of Wings--would show the (vice) presidential parent exuding the highest level of parental poise, Veep does what Veep does and shows Selina being less than stellar in the parental department.

JB: Hurricane Selina (hurricane. It’s an episode reference) is wrecking home-life!  Well, not wrecking, but definitely drowning in the responsibilities of being the Veep. I get it, she’s got the oil lobby breathing down her neck for a proper appointee on the Clean Jobs initiative, but shouldn’t family always come first?? I guess that is the nature of Executive Branch politics. This episode was a doozy. The characters locked in for me a bit more. The introduction of Selina’s daughter Catherine made their political bubble have to deal with a foreign entity. I’m rambling… Needless to say, I really enjoyed this ep. Okay. I’ll be quiet.

RP: I need you to be louder! Why you may ask? Because for me I didn’t really enjoy this episode and I need you to convince me why I should. Be loud bro!

JB: Well, going back to the characters locking in for me, I got a better sense of the group dynamics and the roles of each character. Which maybe I was slow to the game, but this whole world is sliiiiimey. Like, I don’t even want to root for Selina because Oil should be nowhere near a Clean Jobs initiative. Veep and the squad were trying to make the Oil Lobby happy, but guy Chuck Fernam wasn’t oily enough? What’s more oily than someone who was connected to the oil industry for his entire career?? So, Dan does some talking to, who I assume, is the spokesperson for the Oi0l Lobby and they agree to let him be a backdoor advocate for Oil.

RP: It’s funny that it’s all about oil. Because, yeah there’s the mucky gross grime when it first burps out the earth. But then, when it’s refined into that black gold that is the earth destroyer, man it’s smooth as butter (is it?). And that’s the thing that is rubbing me raw. How un-smooth Veep still feels. Three episodes in and the characters still sound like actors saying their lines. Albeit they’re great actors with some decent lines, but they still look and sound like actors. They aren’t popping off the screen as the characters they’re compelled to be. At least not yet for me.

JB: I hear you there. This may be nitpicky, but I find the color grading choice for this show makes them pretty dull. That doesn’t bode well for a show whose characters are inherently dry. I haven’t had a problem with the actors as much. I can forgive them and the production is still finding their rhythm at this stage. I ended up watching this one with subtitles which had me tapped into the dialogue. It’s smart and quippy. I have higher hope than I did in eps 1 & 2? 

RP: With all the Emmy gold, I think it’s fair to assume that that comedy gold will hit its stride. I’m just hoping we’re striding soon. There’s only so much “where’s my phone” second-screen time my boredom can take. I think it’s a good call on the color grade critique. It is fairly flat and that may be intentional, but it ain’t helping. But Mike being outed for the fake dog did get me smiling. And then the post-credits scene letting Gary rock, man that had me ear-to-ear. So I’m hoping episode 4 is where we really start cooking. 

JB: The dog! Honestly, I wanted that joke to run the entirety of the season. Spoil it in the finale for a huge laugh? Maybe the writers felt it served its purpose. And man, Gary is a for sure stand-out right now (shout out Tony Hale). He’s the only one I suspect is a decent person in this shitty world. So far, no one, other than Catherine, has had some redeeming qualities. And while the comedy is palpably present, I do think we should be rooting for them. But hey, if that’s the mode this show is in, I guess I’ll rock with it.

RP: I’ll leave you with this pregunta--Would I be laughing more at Veep if we hadn’t had the big pink stink PreZ who’s in the White House now? I mean it’s hard to make the Whitehouse more grossly laughable or more abominable than it is now. 

JB: I’ll assume that wasn’t rhetorical and say, perhaps. The reality of The Orange Buffoon’s (not my original nickname, thank “Doughboys” Nick Wiger) ineptitude might be dampening how shitty these folks are. Maybe since folks being slimy is our everyday new cycle, it's harder to suspend disbelief and just be on board for these slimy characters. I could easily see myself eating those words later on in the show though.

RP: I think it’s guaranteed they’ll get slicker and slimier (I have no more stupid oil jokes). Let’s just hope they’ll be funny too. We’ll just have to wait and see. Onto episode 4. 

[becausetvraisedus]

Tv-side Chats: Veep: S1: Ep2: Frozen Yoghurt

RP: Yo, so full transparency, I watched this episode yesterday and have already forgotten it. Maybe that speaks to how unmemorable of a 30 minutes it was. Or maybe it’s evidence of my aging brain. Anyway, my man JB, remind us of the Yoghurt episode story.

JB: Oy. Testing my viewing comprehension, huh? Well, I watched it this afternoon. There’s a flu-like bug going around DC.

RP: OH YEAH!! How could i forget the serendipitous timing of a flu ransacking a TV Whitehouse and how I wish a flu was ransacking our Whitehouse.

JB: Exactly. Like, I’m starting to resent coincidences. But, that’s a personal matter. We find our VP at a Senate meeting. Discussing political thingies. I believe a filibuster bill? One of the funniest moments of the show happens in that scene. Gary basically body slams himself on the conference room table in order to block potential contact with the bug and Selina. 

RP: That’s right. I think that’s what makes Gary so redeeming--even if he is the dufferest of duffers. He actually cares about Selina and isn’t another power-hungry political climber like the rest of the Second in Command’s office. Gary actually cares for Selina--especially when she becomes (even if for a few hours) the most powerful person in the world.

JB: Which, man, was Selina ready to sit in that Presidential seat. That may be getting ahead of ourselves tho... We gotta chat about how ridiculous it is to watch them deliberate over which Yoghurt flavor Selina should be seen eating. Like, taking the idea of political optics to a new level. It is interesting though to consider how every single detail of a figure like the Vice President will always be subject to scrutiny. 

RP: It’s true. The most powerful folks in the world gotta somersault through every decision to understand how it’ll be measured by us plebeians--because if it’s a fail, us plebeians will put it on twitter blast. And that’s the thing you get a tiny glimpse of in this episode. Selina Meyer--and her cast of clowns--desperately want to be sitting in that top throne. They want… they thirst to be the Prez so they’re willing to play every political rat race to get there. And though the episode wasn’t especially memorable, there’s that tiny thread there that is potentially a peek into where this show is going and what the motivations are what the true comedy is that will get us to laugh.

JB: Very astute good sir! With all of those ideas in mind, I want/need more background on these characters. Ep 1 just dropped us into this world (which is perfectly fine), but I need to know WHY everyone behaves this way. Obviously you don’t become VP without greasing a few palms or swindling someone in the process. I wonder what Selina is hiding, lol. She was basically salivating when sitting in the Situation Room. I suppose I would feel pretty awesome if I were in that position. It’s hard to relate though because I don’t know if I’d have what it takes to marginally survive in their environment. RP: You’re right, homie. No matter if it’s a hero, superhero, anti-hero, or even a piece of shit-head political no-hero, you gotta have a reason to care for the character. And we haven’t gotten much of any backstory to create a story for any of us to care. Maybe that’s why I don’t care yet?

JB: That’s a possibility… Speaking of shit and having a reason to care, the bug eventually got to Selina and the results were so satisfying. Am I getting too far ahead?

RP: Nope. Go for it.

JB: I love me some cringey humor. And since ultimately Selina was relieved of the Presidential duties, she had to make it to her photo op at The Yoghurt Store. Don’t forget the “H”. The Yoghurt Store is the small black-owned business where the photo-op is set to take place (back to optics). I’m watching this Dan character. I don’t trust that MF. If I’m remembering correctly, it was his idea for the VP to pander to black folks. 

RP: Dan seems to be the all-too-typical young proto-political climber who everyone hates to love… or just maybe hate. And it’s definitely him who gets Selina to the place and time where she shits her panties. Yes, the Veep shat her panties. Wow do I love typing “shit and shat her panties” (don’t judge me). I believe that’s where this show will be its most effective. Taking this very exclusive world of American politics and marrying it with the most dark and disgusting humor. There’s an implicit (dark) honesty there that I think all of us Americans can appreciate: JB: You nailed it. I think you just uncovered what’s going to end up making this show a solid watch/first show to talk about here. The VP is ultimately human. She just has high status and visibility. Doesn’t mean she can’t shit herself! And shout out to her staff for riding in the shit-tainted limo (sans Mike who was like “fuck that”). That’s some ride-or-die shit. *cue drums* And honestly makes the bond and trust between them that much stronger. I personally have no “hey, remember that time i shit myself and we rode in that enclosed space” stories I can share with people.

RP: You don’t!

JB:I don’t. I have skillfully hidden all bowel emergencies from those around me in the past lol. TMI? Remoy, The Challenge is on! RP: Challenge accepted! Let’s keep the challenge cooking as we get to the next episode.

[becausetvraisedus]

Tv-side Chats: Veep: S1: Ep1: Fundraiser

RP: I’m not going to lie. I’ve been wanting to watch Veep for years. It being the award and accolade getter for what feels like decades--or at least a few years--I’ve been thirsty for some Veep.

JB: Agreed. They seems like they’ve swept the Emmy’s for years. I tried watching ages ago, but am glad to be jumping back on for an attempt. 

RP: I guess it’s safe to say that my thirst was whet and the expectations were high. And I don’t know if you know this homie, but my current day-job is politics adjace. So, you know, expecting to have some lolz at the behalf of the hilarity that is the dumbness of American politics. JB: I had no clue! For me, I had a bit of memory of the pacing from watching it once before. So, I wasn’t entirely too surprised by the lack of lawls. Although, I will say it’s a super solid pilot episode! Tell me more about the job and how that affected this 1st episode? 

RP: I’ll just keep teasing out the work that I work a li’l bit here and there. But I think it’s key that you mentioned that this is the pilot. We were just watching the pilot. And the pilot, and it’s accompanying first season, is usually when any show is finding its voice and legs. Maybe it’s not fair to have high expectations for the first episode of any show (unless you’re Atlanta), because you’re going to be let down. And my man, I fell prey to being let down. JB: I hear you. It’s pretty dry. Which fits for a show about politics? Idk. There’s gotta be some politically realistic aspect of this show because it’s always in the best comedy conversation. I mean, you’ve got HBO backing you. Julia Louis-Dreyfus and some other heavy hitters in your show. You kinda have to show up and execute. Which I feel may happen in later episodes? I’m crossing my fingers for snappier dialogue and character dynamics. That’d bring those LoLz out. 

RP: Well let’s flesh out those characters and their less than snappy dialogue. Veep episode 1 is called “Fundraiser” and drops us right in to the Vice President--Selina Meyer’s--office. And we immediately are introduced to her dopey, wanna be wiley, inner sanctum. We have her chief of staff Amy (Anna Chumlsky). Then there’s the glorious Tony Hale who plays Selena’s personal assistant. We have the comms director Mike (Matt Walsh). We have Sue her always direct secretary played by Sufe Bradshaw. There’s Jonah who is the always obnoxious POTUS liason played by Timothy Simmons. Lastly, we’re introduced to the always douchie political climber, Dan (Reid Scott). Now I can fairly corroborate that these roles, in the literal real world, are fairly apt to being fairly representative of their ridiculous real-life counterparts. But still, a lot of lolz were missing.

JB: The relationships felt a little harsh. Since I have no ties to the political world, as a viewer I’m just wondering why they’re all so on edge with one another? Don’t you need to cooperate in order to get shit done? But I must say, the idea of a tweet about plastics is like a drop in the bucket compared to where we are now? We can’t forget this season was in 2012. Obama-era Tv.

RP: I’ll say this. The comedy of how the political have to politic seems fairly well done. So you have this pilot where you have Selena having to politic through a fundraiser where of course plastics and big oil control all of DC and how the Veep is power hamstrung by, well, the politics of it all. So again, the politics is fair and funny. But the dialogue. The conversation--that quick patter--that you want from a show about politics, falls a lot short of what I wanted. The acting felt like actors acting. The dialogue sounded like actors saying lines, when I so desperately wanted these characters and these relationships to feel lived in. Again, it was a pilot, so it may not be fair to hold it to the highest of expectations. And if anything, maybe the sudden lowering of expectations gives us, those critical viewers, the opportunity enjoy as Veep ramps up into being the comedic gem it’s supposed to become.

JB: Absolutely. I mean, there are 7 seasons. We’ve only just begun! One thing that struck me was Jonah’s relationship to the VP’s squad. Interesting to see someone who’s essentially a messenger for the president have to be taken seriously while simultaneously disregarded. It highlights how Veep’s goals can change in an instance just by getting handed down something from the Oval Office. Which is why she ultimately flubs her speech.

RP: She flubs BAD!!

JB: What else would you do if your entire speech/prep-work was eradicated seconds before you went on stage? Lol. Cringey political improv and heckling will commence. “Hoist by our own retard”. Woof. 

Anyway, the show is wide open for potential. We’ve got a show centering a lady Vice President, played by Julia Louis-Dreyfus on HBO. That is a recipe for success! If this show doesn’t have me dying by mid Season 2, I’m gonna be tight! RP: Let’s do this. Onto episode 2

[becausetvraisedus]

Heartbreaking Finale!!! Catastrophe S4:E6

The heart breaks because one of the most charming situation comedies of the last two decades has come to a sad but cataclysmically charming end. That coarse charm has been consistently charted via an amoral compass for the last four years. Sharon and Rob’s love and life were never meant to be calm. But it’s the shakiness of their titular seas that had them laughing and us smiling at how raw, refreshing and real a true-to-life comedic take on love really can be.

For the first (and last time) Rob, Sharon and family travel west across the Atlantic pond and break vacation ground on Massachusett’s shores. But upon landing, they quickly learn that Rob’s mother (the outstandingly brutal, Carrie Fisher) has died turning their supposed vacation into a funereal trip. Rob’s boisterous charm quickly turns brattish in the wake of this news, while Sharon tries her best to feign her wifely sympathetic duties. 

The rest of the story is fairly standard for Catastrophe. We see Sharon and Rob bristle against one another. We see their rough imperfections become even more apparent. We find relief as they find enough redeemable grace in themselves to forgive the other’s flaws. Because they’ve made it this long. They’ve committed to each other for this amount of time and it’s time that grows a life, a love and a family. And it’s in this same amount of time that a show as absurdly fun and charming as Catastrophe has captured the attention of a grateful international audience.

Let’s just hope like in the final moments of this series finale, Catastrophe won’t be lost, like Rob and Sharon, on international seas.

[becausetvraisedus]

Random Saturday Binge: American Vandal: S2

Cleverness can only get you so far. The writers behind American Vandal know this. But they also know a smartly embedded subtext coupled with the romance that is the tumult of adolescence is a path that can take you on a hell of a fun journey.

The second iteration of American Vandal cleverly picks up right where it left off. Naturally, off the viral, meta success that exonerated Dylan Maxwell in season one, Peter and Sam take their cinematic sleuthing skills and go off and find their next lark. That takes them to Washington state to the prestigious of private schools where Peter and Sam find out there is literal and figurative shit everywhere. Apparently, a Jokeresque malcontent hiding behind the IG pseudonym the Turdburgler is causing all sorts of brown havoc throughout the school while exposing faults in the classes class system. 

But as we learned from season one, solving the crime isn’t where the heart of this mock-story lies. No. It’s in the stories of these not-quite-young-adults navigating the social-media, smartphone amplifying confusion and complexity that is modern-day adolescence. There also just happens to be a lot of shit.

And so Peter and Sam take up the case. There are again many red herrings. There is the whodunnit trope of the yarn-photo web of potential assailants that is the earnest work of the determined, hard-working PI. Most of all there is this very thoughtful critique of the problems of our technocratic modernity. But packaged hand-in-shitty-hand with that critique is a sympathy and a belief that no matter the challenges that are found in this modern day, that that generation that finds itself in that nebulous term of adolescence, is the generation that will creatively determine our redeeming hope. 

Let’s hope that hope pays off. Because if not, then the shit will really hit the fan. 

[becausetvraisedus]

It’s Back!!! Atlanta: S2: E6: Teddy Perkins

There are two schools of thought for musicians as they put together a setlist. One is you play all your conventional hits first and out of the way. The second is that you play your most obscure, odd, creative tracks first in order to really lean into your creative auteourish self. Being that FX rides the line of quasi-conventional, it’s not too surprising that Atlanta season two adopted the former more conventional strategy. The first four episodes of this sophomore season were as conventional as Atlanta could be. And for me and for many of the truest Atlanta fans, that conventional ride was becoming a bore. Then we got last week’s Barbershop episode which bottled us in a day of Alfred’s as he took a long Fridayesque breakneck adventure with his barber, Bibby. So there was Alfred Paperboy’s hilarious, albeit cringeworthy, adventure.  

But what about Darius though?

Outside of the momentary phone call interruption by Alfred, Earn and Tracy ‘Teddy Perkins’ is a standalone episode for the more than beloved Darius. We meet Darius in the all to normal situation of picking up a moving truck. But what’s Darius moving? And why? 

Well in the case of Darius, that finding out will absolutely be the adventure. 

The adventure takes us on is a trip to a nondescript Georgian mansion where Darius has discovered via message board that there belongs a free of charge rainbow keyed piano. Since Darius always has a hankering for life’s oddities, this piano and this diabolical episodic world Darius is about to enter is perfect for him. 

Upon entering the mansion, Darius quickly and uncomfortably becomes acquainted with the tired home’s owner, Teddy Perkins (who is Donald Glover in white/pink face?). Teddy leads Darius on an uncomfortable “Kubrikesque” voyage through not only the home’s history but Teddy and his brother’s own spookish past. From Teddy malletting open a squirting soft boiled Ostrich egg, to Darius’ agonizing basement meeting with Teddy’s muted brother, to the faceless white mannequin shrine to Teddy’s post-war tyrannical father, this world and this home is anything but safe. However, knowing Darius, if there’s any character who can survive (and survive is the operative term) this macabre world full of oddities and ghouls, Darius is served to survive.

That’s what all these characters in Atlanta are set to do. Survive. Whether it’s the mundane of a 'Barbershop,’ or the macabre of ‘Teddy Perkins,’ the world that has been built in Atlanta is a tumult where all our characters, within the isolation that is their humanity, are doing their best to survive. 

One man’s survival is another man’s entertainment. All too insightful to the truths of all of our existences.

[becausetvraisedus]

Crashing: S2: E1: The Atheist

“The Atheist” has Apatow written all over it. It’s a thirty minute Apatowian coming-of-age story. For Apatow, it’s always a  man-boy who should have long-ago learned the complexities of adulthood but because of their American spoiled-boy naiveté, they never did. Apatow shouldn’t be able to get away with recycling this same genre device over and over and over again. But he did and he does. It’s probably because he’s not half-bad at it.

Not too much has changed for our protagonist man boy, Pete. He’s still comically barking in NYC’s west village. He’s still living in the solemn shadow of his failed marriage. However, his circle of professional comedian friends is expanding. And that not only gives Pete hope, but it also brings some hope to the overall series.

In this second season premier, the cameo comedians are Gilbert Godfrey and Penn Jillete. Godfrey offers offers some unmemorable off-the-cuff storytelling. But it’s Jillete’s serendipitous sit down with Pete that offers Pete the uncomfortable but freeing atheistic axiom “I don’t know.” And it’s this epistemological challenge that sets Pete off on his Apatowian whirlwind of a magical night where Pete freely acts with freedom because he doesn’t know and can start to become comfortable with what that unbeknown can be. 

Pete doesn’t know if he’ll ever be a successful comedian. Pete doesn’t know if he’ll ever not be living off someone else’s couch or someone else’s success. But for what Pete doesn’t know, neither do we. And if we use this premier episode as our atlas, that freedom of not knowing what the future holds for Pete or this show, we can be comfortable with knowing that the unknown could be one fun magically entertaining adventure. 

[becausetvraisedus]

Saturday Binge!! End of the Fxxking World: S1

James is a pseudo sociopath with dreams of killing a human and watching it bleed. Alyssa is a pseudo nymphomaniac who always has sex and food on the dome. But really they’re just teens growing up out of troubled childhoods and their pseudo psychoses are the adolescent exaggerated manifestations of their aforementioned troubles. And it’s awfully romantic.

That’s what makes this show so great. It’s a John Hughes-esque adolescence veiled in the cuteness of a grim, dark dramedy that make this an incredible adventure worth (binge) watching. Episode one starts off quick. We immediately meet our two protagonists as they meet each other. Then we’re immediately skirted off on the eight episode adventure. 

The story is told through the characters’ lives as they unfold on the screen, but we also get to hear their internal narrated neurosis. And that’s the game changer. With these inner monologues and asides for both James the sociopath and Alyssa the hungry nymph, we get to learn not just about who the characters really are, but we get to reconnect to the experience of being that troubled confused teen.

Sure their is this garish connection to blood and hyper-hormones. But that is just an exaggerated ruse. But for what? Again, it’s not in the pinpointing the root of these magnifications but it’s how this show nostalgically calls back to the actual confusion and the swirl of all these native teenage feelings and emotions and blowing them up to a 1000 that make this show a hyperbolic experience worth watching. It’s not about a sociopath and a nympho going on a lawless adventure. It’s about two lost kids just trying to find a safe way together. 

[becausetvraisedus]

2 Episode Binge!!!! Search Party: S2: E1-2

Search Party was one of 2016′s most enjoyable and interesting television experiences. And with a cast of predominantly white privileged affluent Brooklynites living absurdly typical white privileged affluent Brooklynite lives, it’s hard to think that these characters would make for such a viewing experience. But with a show set on a suspense whodunit premise, it created this confluence of genre satire. The characters are over the top on the nose ridiculous which makes for laugh-out-loud cringeworthy laughter but also made the game of searching for the missing Chantal Witherbottom all the more engaging. And when in the finale of season one we learned that the search was less of a nefarious crime of abduction, but rather the simple story of a spoiled runaway girl who just simply ran away, the story should have ended there. But this is a television show that has more story to tell and more laughs to laugh at. So instead we were left with a complete plot shakeup.

In the first two episodes of season two, “Murder!” and “Conspiracy,” there’s no fast forward. No, we’re immediately back in the WTF of the end of season one. The plot has completely flipped on itself. The crew of popular hipstertists who we were initially lead to believe were the search party have now in a sort, become the group of criminals (by accidental proxy) who many a search party will be after. And without missing a beat, with the immediate flip of the plot, the tension paired with comedy goes up a notch. Leaving the viewer still on the edge of their seat not knowing what will happen next.

It’s an incredible genre bend. Satire meets suspense. 21st century hipsters meet the ageless genre of the whodunit. Which is making for an absolutely rich and incredibly fun TV watching find.

[becausetvraisedus]

SMILF: S1: E3: Half a Sheet Cake & a Blueberry Slushie

As human as they come, Bridgette too has dreams. But also, Bridgette has a life. So how does a woman who is a broke single mother growing up in Southie reconcile her immediate reality against those dreams. Stripping away the Boston parental trappings, the bigger question is, how reconcilable is it for any woman anywhere to dream?

This is the thesis of episode 3 of SMILF. And it’s handled with equal parts humor and pathos. Bridgette, almost laughably down on her money luck, has to find some way to pursue her acting dreams while still being a mother to her kid Larry. The bills have stacked up. Rent is past due. Bridgette does have theatrical talent. So what’s Bridgette to do.

With no other option, Bridgette surveys the sketchy slew of Craigslist ads. She finds a relatively safe one: ”$1K for a date. You can pick the place.” She goes through with it and for a good short while, the awkward pay-for-a-date with a married man in an unnamed department store food court seems harmless as it does charming. Bridgette and her john share something real. They tell their stories. Bridgette talks about her dreams. The John talks about his daughters. Even though under these ribald circumstances, there is something special and almost kind about this moment. There is something real about both these people being both vulnerable and present that allows for a connection to be formed. That is until without provocation and any sort of endorsement from Bridgette, the John aggressively tries to stick his hands right in-between Bridgette’s legs. Which then leads to said John with a bloodied nose lying on the floor after facing one of Bridgette’s flying fists.

Bridgette isn’t just Bridgette in this show. Though the experiences of the character episode to episode are handled with a jocular novelty, there comes an understating that these experiences are experiences many women encounter on a regular basis. So it’s not Bridgette’s successes that are worth cheering nor is it the vulgarity of her tragedies that are worth mourning, it’s the entirety of her life--all the dreams, all the inequalities and even all the missteps--that are worth making the space for. Because it’s not a question of whether Bridgette can dream. It’s a matter of knowing we all have dreams and we all, as humans, deserve the space to do so. 

[becausetvraisedus]

Broad City: S4: E8: House-Sitting

Let’s all be real. Broad City took a nosedive in season 3. Almost so that it was no longer watchable. Then the question remains. Why would anyone tune back in for season 4? The answer is more emblematic of our situational world and the situation we find ourselves in. World (gun) chaos. Power structures strutting and then crumbling. An orange dilettante world leader. And for some reason, Broad City, feels like the right poultice to soothe all the pain.

And Season 4, minus the meh first episode, has fallen back into being that reliable conjuring of hysterical hi jinx and top shelf friendship no matter the chaos. This show is its best when Ilana and Abbi are just Ilana and Abbi. Season 4 has brought us back to that. 

[becausetvraisedus]

SMILF: S1: E2: 1,800 Filet-O-Fishes & One Small Diet Coke

‘

It’s an often used TV strategy. Take your often tragic character(s) and put them in more than tragic situations, but still, portray it in a fashion that finds the laughable charm and the hope and the love no matter the depth of the tragedy. It looks like that this is the case for SMILF. The strategy works. But this strategy does have a shelf life.

The cast is incredible: Frankie Shaw as Bridgette. Rosie (O’Donnell) as grandma Tutu. Tammy Taylor, aka Connie Britton, as best friend, I mean boss, Ally. And with this incredible cast running the gamut of (cis, white) female experiences and stories in this episode, it is indicative of the type of high quality tuneage this show will put out. All the while negotiating tragedy for charm. 

A charming episode, sure. But is SMILF trading charm for humanity? Is it bartering humor for tangible connection? Right now it seems so. Only time will tell. But the answers to those questions will really define the depth of value for a show that has the potential for a lot of promise. 

[becausetvraisedus]

SMILF: S1: E1: A Box of Dunkies and Two Squirts of Maple

Frankie Shaw had fallen into a typecast. She was the w(b)itchy friend. She was the “hot” one but the hot one with hella attitude. Frankie’s bitchy resting face was easily nonplussed. But even within the limited roles she found herself, there was this charm that was easily noticeable. Within Frankie’s characters you always saw that there was something just under the surface. That these typecasts themselves were always looking to breakout from under her skin and say, “Look, I am more than what you think.”

Well, now Frankie has her chance.

The first shots of A Box of Dunkies... starts off with Bridgette Bird shooting hoops in a neighborhood park. She’s playing with the boys and holding her own. These shots start the story in a tenor where we know that this is a strong character. This is a woman whose side we’re on and her strength, on the court or off, will carry us along for the ride. But then after the game is up and just as Bridgette begins to explore some off the court flirtatious game, her mini macguffin comes into flip our preconceived notions. Her baby boy, Larry (homage to the Bostonian namesake) cries offscreen and brings Bridgette and the audience back down to reality. 

And reality is what we get for the remainder of this very human pilot. Bridgette is a single mom doing her best, but also very much struggling because motherhood is a struggle. But not just motherhood, but so is being a young woman. And what’s most incredibly beautiful and very much important is how Frankie both in her script but in the character she so sharply portrays, is that we see how there are two struggles and how they are both mutually exclusive but also incredibly codependent. Bridgette is struggling at being her own mother, but she’s also struggling to be her own woman. 

With an on the nose title like SMILF, grit is an almost forgone conclusion. And coming in on a Showtime time-slot right after Shameless, we can only imagine how far and gritty this show will get. But within that gritty framework the goal will be to show how within that South Boston darkness and the blown out vaginas there is the human. And that humanity is the hope that shines in contrast against the aforementioned Southy grit. 

I’m excited to see Frankie shine. I’m hopeful to see this show not just be an almost show that took almost risks but then fell back on typical atypical tropes. I’m glad to what SMILF can be. 

[becausetvraisedus]

Steve and Nancy’s Hair! Why is Hopper spending so much time in rotting pumpkin patches? Ghostbuster costumes are the best! The Potato/Potato duo chat about all this and so much more in their Netflix and Chill in Bed Series. Check it out here. 

[becausetvraisedus]

The Potato/Potato duo set up their first ever Netflix and Chill in Bed Series. They breakdown the second season premier of Stranger Things and how they see season two unfolding. Check it out here.