Previously on Nashville: Rayna used her sheer stubbornness to pressure Deacon into writing a concept album with her; Avery was taking care of Juliette after her plane crash, and Juliette was trying to get in touch with her savior; Will suggested to Kevin that they look for a place together; Rayna got a dweeby social media assistant named Randall; and Maddie told the court that she feared for her safety around Deacon.
For its first four seasons, the characters on Girls, much like the show itself, took pride in occupying the space between self-aware, snarky privilege and straight-up myopic narcissism. Then, in season five, new life was breathed into the show when almost every single one of the characters underwent some sort of growth. That growth may have been faltering and expressed in dysfunctional ways (Hannah breaking up with her terrible boyfriend by jumping out of the car during a road trip, Jessa going to school with Adam’s money when they had been dating for about two minutes, Marnie divorcing Desi after sleeping with her heroin-dealing ex), but it was there, and that was enough to convince me that the show had been worth watching. Continue reading →
Previously on Homeland: Quinn told Carrie he wasn’t getting any better; Sekou was offered a plea bargain for material support of terrorism, but Carrie thought he was just an angry kid; Quinn moved into Carrie’s basement; Sekou’s friend Saad turned out to be working for Agent Conlin to get evidence against Sekou; a prostitute Quinn was seeing staged a robbery to get his VA money; Saul thought Carrie was advising President-Elect Keane; Dar Adal told Keane’s advisor Rob that he thought Iran had a parallel nuclear program with North Korea; Carrie suggested Saul go on the operation; and Quinn asked Carrie to show him the video of his gassing.
Whew. That’s a lot of previouslies, for a season with—so far—no kidnappings, car chases, or explosions. Not that I’m complaining. OK, I’m complaining a little.
Previously on Homeland: Carrie and a recovering Quinn fought; Quinn got high with a hooker who then robbed him; Carrie took him back to the VA; Madam President-Elect, Keane, questioned Dar and Saul about their practices, and Dar thought that she blamed them for her son’s death; young Muslim Sekou was arrested after being openly supportive of America’s enemies online; Carrie took Quinn home with her to save him from being put in a locked ward on the VA.
The new credits start with the end of the Star-Spangled Banner and include a few Gil Scott-Heron quotes, and a quote from Keane saying “We need a new strategy.” Very different.
There are many reasons you should be watching Nashville–Hayden Panettiere’s fierce performance, the relatively progressive politics, Connie Britton’s hair–but one of the most distinct pleasures is the soundtrack, which manages to represent almost all of the archetypes of country music. Down-home hillbilly country is mostly left out (unless the detested Vita comes back), but otherwise it has everything from Juliette’s bubblegum pop country to Zoey’s Southern soul country to Avery’s weird punk country. And best of all, most of the characters have obvious real-life counterparts who share the same artistry and/or biographical legend, and sometimes even the same face. Continue reading →
Previously on Homeland: Quinn got gassed, and then Carrie woke him up to get information out of him about an attack, which caused him to vomit up black stuff; Carrie stopped the attack; sketchy billionnaire Otto asked Carrie to marry him; Saul tried to get Carrie to work for him, but she wouldn’t; Carrie stood over Quinn looking like the angel of death and appeared to be contemplating euthanizing him. (I wrote a GIANT rant on this topic after that episode, here.)
Previously on Nashville: Juliette was rescued from her crash by a woman she saw at a church just outside of Nashville; Rayna had a panic attack after playing a gig for a Silicon Valley caricature named Zack, who asked why she didn’t record anymore; Rayna took a road trip to figure out what she wanted; and Scarlett and Gunnar got back together.
After finishing the first season of The OA (once I was done wringing my hands and screaming “WTF did I just watch??”), I initially thought there shouldn’t be a second season. Flawed as the ending was (and oh, was it flawed), it was emotionally cathartic, and seemed to tie up all of the loose ends that the creators intended to tie up. I might be skeptical of the effectiveness of the finale’s ambiguity (more on that later), but it was clearly intended to be ambiguous.
Upon further reflection, I realized that it not only should have a second season, but that it needs one. The OA started off as a compelling, if slightly frustrating, show with an enormous amount of potential, which was then squandered with an ending that was at best incredibly messy and at worst embarrassingly silly. Given another installment, The OA could have a similar arc to The Leftovers, which had a frustratingly cryptic and misery-soaked first season, only to justify everything that came before in its transcendent second season. But with only one season, The OA will be remembered more like Lost, a show notable for its fascinating mode of storytelling that was ruined by terrible follow-through on its mythology. And worst of all, as it is, we’re left with an ending that–according to one interpretation–condones brainwashing and glorifies a cultish, groupthink mentality.
Previously on Nashville: Scarlett and Gunnar got back together, Kevin and Will got back together, Maddie and her family got back together, and Juliette and Avery almost got back together but her plane disappeared.
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Adversion 