We’re back to getting very little real action on Homeland—on the other hand, there is major payoff from a plotline that I was afraid was going to be forgotten forever.
The Good Fight Review: 1×4 “Henceforth Known as Property”
In this episode, Matthew Perry returns to the universe of The Good Fight as Mike Kresteva, the cunning, shameless liar who made life hell for Alicia back in The Good Wife. He is so deep in the role as to be almost unrecognizable as the erstwhile Chandler Bing—it literally took me almost a full episode the first time he showed up, to realize that he was who he was. And he’s fun.
11 Unpopular Opinions About Buffy the Vampire Slayer
Today is the twentieth anniversary of one of the shows that changed my life (or, since I started watching when I was nine, determined it): Buffy the Vampire Slayer. In so many ways, Buffy is the quintessential 90s show (mostly because of the so-bad-they’re-good outfit choices), but two decades later, it still stands up as a feminist, literary work of art, one that spawned an entire academic field, not to mention an impassioned, opinionated fandom.
There are a few things almost all Buffy fans can agree on: seasons 2, 3, and 5 were the best, Dawn was the fucking worst, and no one cares about Riley. But there are at least a few aspects of Buffyhead dogma that I can’t get behind. Here are my eleven most unpopular opinions about Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Continue reading →
Nashville Recap: 5×05 “Love Hurts”
OK guys. I, your dilatory Nashville recapper, have been looking forward to recapping this TRAGICALLY MISOGYNISTIC episode for so long now, and since then, this show has descended into such a pit of bathos and absurdity that I almost… almost… feel bad about making fun of it. But I have assuaged my guilt by reminding myself that the real sufferers here are not the creators of this show but the people who are watching it.
“American Bitch” Is Girls’ Most Important Episode Yet
Girls has always been a divisive show, both among the general population and among feminists. I’ve always defended it as an important, if wildly imperfect, show, for all of the usual reasons. Girls portrays women as equally flawed, crass, and indelicate as men (and sometimes, nearly as entitled), and displays the nude female form in a refreshingly desexualized way. But, as many have noted, it is extremely lacking in racial diversity, and is outright racist when a POC does actually appear. And considering how horribly spoiled and myopic all of the characters are, the show often appears to be more concerned with capturing the voice of the stereotypical privileged millennial than that of oppressed women.
“American Bitch” doesn’t change any of that, exactly, but it did single-handedly justify the show’s existence. If you’re going to watch one episode of Girls, make it this one. Not only because it’s conveniently a standalone, but because it’s a damn near perfect half-hour of television that is essentially rape culture in a bottle. Continue reading →
The Good Fight Review: 1×03 “The Schtup List”
So here’s what I’m wondering: has a high-quality premium cable-style show ever also been a classic procedural, with single-episode cases of the week?
We know that the prestige premium cable drama is the model The Good Fight’s going after. The Kings frequently defended themselves against any The Good Wife-directed snarking that they had to write 22 episodes a year, and it’s not easy to maintain tight-as-a-drum plot development with that pace of work. Now, with The Good Fight, they’ve landed themselves on a paying-subscribers-only location, with twelve episodes a season. But as we’re learning, a slower pace of production and a more expensive outlet doesn’t mean the drama is inherently deeper.
Homeland Recap: 6×06 “The Return”
In last week’s episode, the action finally ramped up, coming from two surprising directions in a show that has always focused on terrorism from abroad. In this week’s episode, things get even more exciting—without interfering with the integrity of the show’s new socially conscious direction.
Links We Loved This Week — 3/3/17
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OK, now get ready to die of cuteness… Vulture has a detailed history of the best friendship of Busy Phillips and Michelle Williams, formerly of Dawson’s, who also went to the Oscars together last week and HELD HANDS (picture via Yahoo):
The Millions has a fun list of genre fiction to check out if you have enjoyed literary/genre crossovers like Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell or Never Let Me Go. A lot of the suggestions sound great!
We are so psyched for the Beauty and the Beast movie. Disney has promised an “exclusively gay moment,” and a writer from Vulture dove in and analyzed how exclusively gay this moment actually is (answer: not very. I know I’m shocked). Worth reading just for the hilariously inappropriate closing line.
Feel like reading a little light Foucauldian analysis of Lena Dunham’s thighs? Come on, I know you do. Head to the LA Review of Books.
Nashville Recap: 5×04 “Leap of Faith”
Previously on Nashville: Rayna’s dorky social media manager stole her jewelry box, a Zuckerberg type named Zach Welles wanted to be Best Friends with Rayna; Will asked Kevin to move in with him; Juliette felt Cadence pee on her leg, which, supposedly, was a good thing.
Homeland Recap: 6×05 “Casus Belli”
Previously on Homeland: Dar found Carrie at Franny’s playground to warn her that Keane didn’t realize the level of the threat America is facing; Saul accused Farhad Nefisi of breaking the nuclear deal, then met with an Iranian politician to find out if it was true; Quinn saw someone watching Carrie from across the way, and followed him to a parking lot filled with Medina vans; Carrie asked an old friend for a recording of Saad talking to Agent Conlin, and used the recording to get Sekou out of prison; Sekou went to his work driving a Medina van, and it blew up.
So, I’ve been complaining that Homeland wasn’t super exciting this season. Complaint withdrawn! This episode really got the ball rolling. FINALLY.
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