Seven Notes on the Surreal Third Season of the White Lotus

 

Credit: Global Watch Times

Notes on The White Lotus:
1. Patrick Schwarzenegger setting himself up for cancellation

If cancel culture and sites like Jezebel and Salon held more sway in today’s culture, Schwarzenegger would have been more hesitant to take the part of single-minded douche, considering the associations of the charges against his father. For those who don’t remember, the elder Schwarzenegger faced charges of sexual harassment when he was running for governor and he’s often been associated with a debatable brand of machoism. However, it warms my heart that Arnold Schwarzenegger has grown and is often seen as a voice of reason and compassionate masculinity in the press.

2. The naming of Saxon Ratcliffe is no coincidence

Patrick Schwarzenegger’s Saxon is a character you love to hate. He reflects the state of rich republicans and it’s certainly a fitting moment that even Duke University was quick to disown the Radcliffes publicly. It seems to have a broader context? Isn’t UNC always the more populist pick in the storied March Madness rivalry whereas Duke is the most hated college in the country for non-alumni? It’s also fitting that Saxon is his name, considering the Saxons are the tribe that conquered Great Britain, so this is the purest version of European whiteness one can get. Sidenote: By far, the richest and snootiest school district in Northern Virginia where I grew up is Langley High School which is home of the Saxons.

White Lotus is advertised with a tabloid/reality-TV veneer of “Come and get an inside look at the lusty lives of the mega-wealthy.” In the case of Saxon, his single-minded sex drive is connected to his power and desire to win at life. In molding his younger brother, that’s pretty much the only value he is instills in him.

Credit: Southern Living

3. Victoria: The show’s flattest character?

As much as I can’t stand Saxon as a character, he at least serves a purpose, which makes him watchable. In fact, I count three: 1) He’s a foil to Lochte, 2) He’s amusingly awful 3) We need someone to root for to get their comeuppance.

His mom, Victoria, (coincidentally a name intrinsically linked to British history), is just too caricatured to be realistic. To not know what country she’s in, or to not realize the benefits of her daughter having an alternate path to success (having “studied as a monk in Thailand” on your resume could look really good), makes her the worst character here. Parker Posey has received tremendous praise as an underground comedy darling, but this performance is miles below that reputation she’s cultivated. There’s no nuance here: She’s just a one-dimensional snoot.

4. Sam Rockwell: Unnecessary Cameo?

Alternatively, couldn’t Sam Rockwell’s character have been cut out entirely? The bizarre exploration of his kinks appeared overly tangential to the main plot, and it must have been quite the budgetary expenditure to get an Oscar winner on board. His only functional use was to keep Jim’s wife occupied while Rick had a moment alone with him. This could certainly have been bypassed in any number of ways considering Rick did 80% of the leg work.

Credit: Screenrant

5. The season seemed to have a rather casual view of suicide.

It’s rare to see suicide treated as a viable plot point in fiction, rather than an abnormal act of desperation. I’ve had suicidal thoughts (and no, I hardly care about the social stigma of admitting it) and I’m largely socialized to see those moments as my brain not working. However, there might also be value in acknowledging that it’s a practical solution, even if we still shouldn’t do it.

It might be interesting to analyze this suicide plot thread through the various religions that are explored in the show. The Ratliffe family becomes entangled in Buddhism through this journey, so it’s worth pointing out that suicide doesn’t fall in line with Buddhist teachings if you believe in karma. If the purpose of suicide is to escape your bad fortune (the exact reason for Timothy), then suicide doesn’t end the cycle of karma.

If we jump over to the origins of the church weighing in on suicide, my cursory research shows it was originally related to the seven deadly sins. The aesthetically focused church of the Middle Ages was about refraining from over-indulgence, and suicide came from despair which was the sin. This is ironic because Victoria instills her daughter Piper in a mild sense of hedonism: It’s a sin to go even a year of your life forgoing life’s modern amenities.

6. Belinda Turns into Tanya

I’ve always felt uncomfortable blaming Tanya for anything for oh so many reasons: 1) Belinda shouldn’t be praying on guests to help them out with her big investment; 2) Tanya gave her a fat envelope of money, that should be something; 3) If you’re trying to sell investors, you have to accept that if no contract is in place, they could back out at anytime; 4) If Tanya was an investor, she woItuld have had a say in the business, so Belinda dodged a bullet anyways.

On top of that, the Belinda-Tanya relationship was unfolding alongside the overriding narrative of Black Lives Matter. This was a movement I personally viewed as warping reason and putting Black people on too high of a pedestal. Under these optics, the criticism of the day was that Tanya HAD to be in the wrong because she was a White person not going out of her way to do right by a Black person.

It was refreshing in this season to have Belinda, the ghost of Tanya, and Pornchai simply be people and not stand-ins for the color of their skin.

7. The Ratcliffes Face the Most Open-Ended Fate in White Lotus History
With such high stakes and intertwining fates, a few people are bound to come on top in each season. I can appreciate the show’s feel good moments, but the Ratcliffe plot ended with a “What am I supposed to feel?” moment.

Timothy, Victoria, and Saxon are about to have their world blown to bits. Then again, it’s been pointed out that white collar criminals usually get off easy in this country, so maybe not. Whether Saxon learned anything from his incest scare is up for debate, though Patrick Schwarzenegger has said he tried to imbue things with a dramatic character arc. Lochte will probably be grateful to be alive. Therefore, Piper appears to be the biggest question mark.

Top 12 Shows of the First Half of 2025

1. Resident Alien (Syfy) – Long one of my favorite series on the airwaves, the increased entanglement of characters in the alien storyline has the potential to improve the sprawling ensemble piece into a tighter catharsis. It's only four episodes, but the infrastructure is really coming together.

2. The White Lotus (HBO) – The first three episodes were too slow of a burn for an eight-episode season. There were minor character tics that didn't quite land: The power lady trio never got hooky enough, the Scott Glenn character's actions made no sense, Sam Rockwell's relationship to his sexual and drug wagon were too tangential, and a White Lotus Parker Posey was more over-the-top than even a Christopher Guest Parker Posey. Still, this is by far, the best thing on TV and has so much ambition and craftsmanship at every step.

3. The Four Seasons (Netflix) – Unfairly compared to the original film by the critical sphere. Steve Carell, restless from his marriage (to Kerri Kinney), experiences a mid-life crisis and subsequent May-December romance that threatens to throw off the long-standing equilibrium of the friendship between three couples. The show's format of rotating over four vacations is clever. The show is largely populated with comedic actors, but it's oh so sweet, and the automatic reaction by the gang to the May-December romance is surprisingly salient.

4. Deli Boys (Hulu) – The show operates at that dark comedy level around Good Girls or the TV version of Fargo, but I'm not sure if I've seen a dark comedy that's so funny despite the WIDE proliferation of this genre. Poorna Jagannathan as the aunt steals every scene, and it's a blast seeing Brian George take on something new (speaking of something new, the Pakistani member of Queer Eye debuts as an Indian mobster). Aasif Ali and Saagar Shaikh handle every turn with this unique comic energy as if they've just boarded a roller coaster that they didn't know was going to be so intense.

5. Poker Face (Peacock)-Leans on the same three tropes every episode -- accidental murderer, detective in the right place at the right time, and deus-ex-machina to get the hero kicked out of her home every -- BUT Riann Johnson imbues every episode with movie-level quality. That's a pretty high level of consistency for a show that switches settings every episode

6. Ghosts (CBS) – My iTunes bill can confirm that I can't get enough of this show even when I think I've quit it. It's a rare sitcom that harkens back to the whimsical comedy of the mid-2000s as laugh tracks were getting left behind. It keeps expanding its world without losing charm: The show is the most evenly balanced and strongest ensemble.

7. Grosse Pointe Garden Society (NBC) – Even with a flat murder twist, the show delivers a compelling take on adulthood adrift and the intersecting plots are doubly rich. Two actors that have been begging for meatier work --Melissa Fumero and Josh Radnor -- turn in career-high work here.

8. America’s #1 Family (Amazon Prime Video) – Ramy Youssef pivots fully into comedy, shedding introspection for a breezier, punchier sitcom approach. It's an animated family sitcom and it fully uses the capacity of animation to make characters visually funny.

9. Black Mirror (Netflix) – Three episodes this season—Hotel Reverie, Bête Noire, and USS Callister: Into Infinity—were fully realized, while one episode (Eulogy) came close but ended up more of a downer than a provocative episode. Still, going four for six at this level of ambition this late into an anthology show's run is highly impressive.

10. Running Point (Netflix) – A sports-family sitcom powered by inspired casting—Kate Hudson, Drew Tarver, Justin Theroux, and Scott MacArthur—as siblings who inherit a basketball team. It moves fast, cleverly segments certain episodes to tangential stand-alone shots, and features a great array of guest stars.

11. Going Dutch (Fox) – Military culture gets a sharp satire here. The humor is a little broad at the dialogue level, but the basic premise-- a military support base that's exclusively designed for bowling, laundry, and cheese-making -- is pretty hilarious. The chemistry is so great between Taylor Misiak and Dennis Leary as a headstrong father and daughter working out their baggage years after childhood has ended, I'm here for it. Catherine Tate is miles better as a foil than she was on The Office.

12. Krapopolis (Fox) – Animated show set in a city adjacent to the glory of Athens. The show gets endless mileage out of reality-bending plots and mythology gags. There's plenty of amusing in-fighting within this clan, but it's more along the lines of a family sitcom, making it a kinder and gentler cousin to the nihilistic-leaning Rick and Morty and Solar Opposites.

What I'm Watching April-May Edition: Black Mirror, Poker Face, Blood Line, etc.

 

America’s #1 Family (Amazon); Ramy Yousef’s first series was poignant and packed wollops of sentimental value but let’s be clear: It was NOT a comedy, no matter what lies the golden globes or Emmys will try to feed me. The show still exists to give the Muslim community

much needed visibility, but it’s max funny. Leaning on the animated equivalent of fourth wall breaks, it had kinds of nods to old-school silliness with dream sequences of a kid’s teacher crush responding to her or the president popping in as guest star of the week.

Twisted Metal (Peacock): A post apocalyptic dark comedy with a certain aesthetic that screaming for you to notice it in the same way as a darker Wes Anderson, the Seth Rogen show Preacher or Robert Rodriguez. Anthony Mackie (the MCU) and Stephanie Beatriz (Brooklyn Nine Nine) are the leads, but the series seems to be hoping its scene stealer, Sweet Tooth, will be the draw. Voiced Will Arent, sporting a psychotic clown mask, and a roused body similar to Batman’s Bane, he’s painted as a poor man’s joker in his childish antics and his randomness over who he kills (which is the most fear-inducing quality of even a boring villain). In the first episode, he wants the protagonists to listen to his stand-up act which is supposedly its own form of hell. Sound menacing enough for you?

The dark quirk angle is there but not hard enough to make the show wholly can’t-miss. It’s watchable, not spectacular.

Black Mirror (Netflix)-This season had 3 spectacular episodes—Bete Noir, Hotel Reverie, and USS McCallister 2-which is enough to excuse the fact that Charlie Booker swings big and won’t always get it right. Even this analysis undersells Black Mirror's batting average: Each episode revolves around a deep question (the Peter Capaldi episode, for example, asks "Are there consequences to being billigerent to video game characters?") that the viewer might not be interested in answering (like myself). Thes Eulogy episode was also of strong and poignant, but Paul Giamatti's take was too dark for my mood that day. Personally I like my mopey Paul Giamatti to not get outright clinically depressed as this guy was.

Poker Face (Peacock) Charlie Cale’s penchant for being at the right place at the right time is handled organically enough that it doesn’t feel like half the gimmick it is on every other whodunnit show of this nature. But the Peter Falk imitation, oy vey, let’s not overdo it Natasha Lyonne. As I said in the first season, what makes Poker Face great is that justice isn't always served in some perfectly congruous way. Virtually the only constant is that Charlie will be left to pick up the pieces and start a new life. This isn't dissimilar from the Western hero who is forced to ride off into the sunset over the closing credits, because he would never fit into the civilized society he helped build.

Through four episodes of the second season, Riann Johnson's series whole-heartedly immerses us into different subcultures (funerary homes, abusive child acting, the Florida animal control that birthed Gator King, etc). One episode is a half send-up to the Departed with the comedic stylings of Lyonne, John Mulaney, Simon Helberg and Rhea Perlman inserted in the leads (and yet, it somehow works). Ano

Bloodline (Netflix)-Because I was just visiting the Florida Keys, I was reminded of this series that was one of Netflix’s first streamers in 2015. Interestingly enough, Despite not being up of the big murder plot, that’s the long arc of the season, I am actually finding that the show consisted me based on the scenery porn, The quality of the acting, the chemistry, And the dialogue. The basic family dynamics, and the sense of what is happening in the smaller sub pots are enough to keep me engaged. I think this makes sense though, Not all viewing is predicated on people following every element of the plot.

Srugim (Yes TV, now on Amazon)- After doing a film talk about Judaism on film, I was convinced to look at an Israeli show. Despite being half-Israeli, I've never been particularly attached to Israeli culture and didn't initially think this had much to do with my American Jewish experience. There's a lot to unpack in my detachment from Israel (an anomoly among the Tribe) and enjoying one show isn't going to repair such a gap, but the point of my exploration between Judaism and the media was to illustrate that the gaps in our understanding of religion start out from a pretty immense place (even between sects of Judaism), so the media has a surprisingly large amount of work to do in our religious messaging.

In this case, the show focuses on a specific class of Israeli Jews who are Sabbath-obervant but not secluded from secular society. This quintet is on the verge of 30 and preoccupied with settling down. That tends to happen across the board for religious devotees who can't get it on outside of marraige, and the show deals with that quite frankly. 

The show is labelled as a drama which is accurate, but it veers into a certain dramedy territory and finds the appropriate soft moments to balance out the emotional heaviness. The five leads (except maybe Reut) can be described as self-sabatoging or more charitably described as taking a while to find themselves. Either way, it's highly compelling TV.

 

Unpopular Opinion: The Filmic James Bond Doesn't Work

 I just read my first James Bond novel, “You Only Live Twice.”

Before going into detail over what the books or what some of the films do right, I would like to talk about my idiosyncratic reasons for having fallen out of love with the film version of the James Bond character. As always, please consider subscribing or paid subscribing.

1. James Bond is more or less immortal because the script demands it, and the film rarely acknowledges this. 

Sure, it gets parodied in Austin Powers, but the Bond series itself rarely acknowledges such implausible outcomes where if at least a dozen events were off by a few seconds, Bond would be toast. That the film series treats this all as a cosmic irony without so much as a wink makes the hero look cocky in a negative way. I see no reason to not have tweaked the scripts so luck would have been less of a factor.

In worst-case scenarios, it feels like a cheat, and in a cosmic way, as if Bond might be responsible for the deaths of those close to him since he has to survive and the script demands a sacrificial lamb. When secondary Bond girl Miranda Frost says to Bond, “sex for dinner, death for breakfast”, it’s not accurate in a literal sense: Bond does not kill or even fail to prevent the death of his sexual conquests through negligence.

However, take the example of You Only Live Twice when Bond has sex with Japanese agent Aki. As the two are sleeping after the act, an enemy ninja unfurls some poison that is meant to kill Bond but he sneezes and the poison is blown to Aki instead. Bond didn’t do it intentionally but if he were not a character in a movie and a news figure, why would he deserve to live over her?

2. Bond being the paragon of manliness but by all accounts being a “hit it and quit it” kind of guy.

Sure, it’s all between consenting adults (just kidding, there are at least two instances of rape that I remember off the top of my head), but why can’t he feel a sense of romantic love for anyone he encounters? Yes, there’s that one women he married, but that’s treated as a fluke. For the most part, Bond faces the convenience of the woman who doesn’t want strings, but that also means the character never has to face an actual point of possibly hurting someone and navigating a mature conversation about his partner’s feelings (except for the woman he raped in Thunderball, Patricia Fearing, who we see him dumping on screen; and sadly the Patricia Fearing rape/dumping is horrific but not fully out of character). What this implies is he’s likely dumping the Bond girls between movies, although who knows maybe a few of them might he mutual.

What does this all say about masculinity that this great hero of manhood conveniently gets to avoid any serious conversations.

There are a few exceptions before the Bond era: He shows genuine care about the secondary Bond girl (Paris Carver) in Tomorrow Never Dies, the main Bond girl in Living Daylights, and Sophia Marceanu in World is Not Enough. Bond also shows admirable restraint in View to a Kill; convincing enough that maybe he wasn’t thinking about bedding her the entire time.

3. Bond’s License to Kill- 

James Bond’s “License to Kill” has never made any sense. If it’s self-defense, then his right to kill is no different than anyone else’s. If it’s within the context of war or what a spy mission might entail, that would be governed by rules of engagement (i.e. the Geneva convention). But beyond that, you’re just a murderous a-hole. If the argument is that Bond can be trusted to make ethical decisions in the field over whether to pull the trigger, I see little evidence of this in practice.

Some might say “why does this matter? It’s just a movie?” Sure, but movies are carefully calibrated to lure audience sympathies to one side or another. The only reason to root for James Bond is that the other side is generally someone who will destroy the world if unchecked.

Sidenote: Proponents of intersectionality like to label James Bond as a prime example of all the isms: sexism, xenophobia, racism, etc. I will disagree there if we use the films as text that just because Bond is sexist, that he is also racist and xenophobic. I see no evidence that these traits of the literary character make their way onto the screen.

Best sketch of each episode sampler

I am transitioning more of my work to here as I keep chugging along:

The full list is at http://www.patreon.com/okjournalist

Jack Black:

First Play:

Jack Black has a certain rambunctious-yet-likeable comic energy that can carry lackadaisical sketches like everyone playing the base. First play might not have been the best Jack Black sketch of the night, but it was supremely clever. The kind of interplays with historical and meta concepts like imagining what a play would be like to people who had never been introduced to fiction: A lot to work with. Chloe shines here quite a bit.

Runners-Up: Kissing Nurse, Flying Sex Three Way

Mikey Madison: 

Group Chat Cold Open:
I generally skip the cold open. I’m rarely that impressed by a replay of the latest news conference with slightly augmented caricatures in place of politicians. On top of that, the Trump era is too depressing to want to relive it that much. But I admire cleverness in form. This is what’s known as cross-genre humor: A classic SNL political sketch mixed in with a teen slumber party. It’s also notable as the first attempt to try to fully enrich the satellite characters of politics like Pete Hesgueth and Marco Rubio

Runners-Up: Devin Walker as fitness guy at WU, Joanne’s Fabrics at WU, Jury Duty

I don't mind sketches that give every cast member 10 seconds to shine and Ego Nwodim plays a great straight man. Ashley Padilla is one I've been rooting for and this was the moment where what she has to offer to the show gelled together the best. Devin Walker had his best showcase of the season

Lady Gaga:
Lord Gaga on Weekend Update

It’s short and sweet but the sketch crafts such an absurdist backstory out of a known premise. It's also a little bit of a different flavor of Mikey Day.

Runner-Up: Friendly’s Birthday
It’s nice to have a sketch’s escalating elements be the addition of more cast members. It’s rare to get everyone in on the fun. One of the key ingredients of good comedy is when it hits a chord with something you’ve experienced but never voiced out loud. It’s surely everyone’s little secret that they’ve lied about when their birthday is to get a freebie somewhere.

Shane Gillis:
Wedding Interruption Coupon

The plot follows an arc similar to 12 Angry Men in a much sillier way. Shane Gillis is the equivalent to Henry Fonda. He interrupts a wedding, believing that he has a legitimate coupon for a blow job from the bride and is the sole outlier in the room. But then gradually it is revealed that Sarah Sherman’s character is the crazy one. In contrast to the rage that there was some misogyny in this sketch (it’s pretty clear this was an equal opportunity offender, and the haters just can’t get over Shane Gillis once against being let on TV after 5 years of paying his dues), I give credit to how organically they worked in Ashley Padilla’s angle of “one lesbian sess” or the non-sexual favors such as "foot rub" and "hugs and kisses for dad."

Runner-Up: I liked Shane Gillis last year, but this was a surprisingly thin episode

Timothee Chalemet:
Medcast

Rarely, do I think commercials are the highlights because it’s a tired format. But sometimes it hits and I think this one worked because it spread the laughs among three characters and multiple people doing bits like Emil Wakim and an unsuspecting Kenan Thompson admitting to having a lack of a sex life. The twist at the end that this was all made into an actual podcast really hit.

Runner-Up: Barista Training

This one has good fourth-wall breaking and Mikey Day and Heidi Gardner make great straight men. It’s always fun to watch the hosts show off their talents, and loved the political incorrectness of Timothee Chalemet playing a def jam comedian. I also loved the trope of having someone just flat-out leave the sketch in Jane Wickline just being "I don't belong here, good bye". I rarely see that in small-scale sketch comedy (i.e. I've taken sketch comedy classes)

Dave Chapelle: Evacuation Alert

Chapelle barely did anything in this episode after an extremely long monologue, so I barely had anything to work with, but this is a sketch with strong escalation. It involves a lot of what is known as noodling: Referring to a crazy situation that happens off-screen.

Martin Short: Sabado Gigante with Paul Rudd

Martin Short is among my favorite comic actors of all time, but what was this?? The monologue was too self-congratulatory and I'm against excessive cameos from the mainstays (i.e. Tina Fey, Kristen Wiig, etc.) on principle. I don't have much familiarity with Peanuts and it was an overuse of Bowen so I can't endorse that sketch. Airport parade was a lazy premise that didn't need to be rolled out twice. Parking lot altercation did not need to be recurred.

By process of elimination I have to go with Sabado Gigante which was a GREAT recurring bit. Ironically, it didn't even include the host but it did have Dana Carvey

Review of Two Period Pieces: Rules Don't Apply and Public Enemies

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Rules Don’t Apply (2016)-When you think about it, it’s kind of strange that Warren Beatty has only directed five films which is surprising considering his capital in Hollywood: He has a directing Oscar win under his belt, he’s renowned for his charm (in more ways than one, hint hint), and he has political tastes that align well with Hollywood. The last of them is a features iconoclast Howard Hughes. It’s likely not surprising that an iconoclast and ladies’ man like Beatty would relate to a visionary of a historical figure who had a big appetite for wealth, status, and woman. For those who thought Beatty was a shallow product of his era (who wasn’t a rebel in the 60s?), it’s admirable that Beatty knocks Hughes off his pedestal. The story is told from the point of view of a young woman (Marla, Lily Collins) who falls prey to Hughes’s charms and is left to suffer the consequences (AKA a pregnancy, he ignores until the epilogue).

In fact, it’s hard to find a more pessimistic take on Hollywood. Through the eyes of Marla, Hughes is just a microcosm of a whole system that will spit out Hollywood’s chaste young virgin girls once they get deflowered. Similarly, Marla’s true love (Alden Ehrenreich from Solo) is used the way most unpaid interns are. Howard Hughes has been a popular subject for Hollywood. Most notably in the 1980 film Melvin and Howard, and the 2004 film The Aviator. He was even alluded to in the Bond film Diamonds are Forever as the billionaire whose identity Blofeld alluded to. In these films, Hughes is depicted as an oddball who is trapped in a prison of his own making. His mental illness is always a clear part of the narrative, which enables the audience to feel a little bit of sympathy towards him. Without fully spoiling the ending, the film nicely finds a way to split the difference between villain and sympathetic character for the agoraphobic billionaire in the final scene.

Public Enemies (2009)-Considering how storied the genre of 30s gangster films is, I really was primed to sink my teeth into what should have been a prime example of what this genre offers. The film is by Michael Mann who is supposed* to possess God-like consistency, and it stars Christian Bale, Marion Cotillard, and Johnny Depp. Could a casting director have selected any trio more suited to the period? If he’s not going as a pirate or gothic figurine, the next most likely choice for Depp’s preferred Halloween costume would be pinstripe-decked gangster. Similarly, Marion Cotillard has flapper written all over her. And Christian Bale is solid in whatever box you squeeze him.

The plot tells two parallel stories in the classic fashion of most crime genres: The cat-and-mouse game between a criminal and the man struggling to track him down. The mouse is notorious bank robber (played by Depp) John Dillinger (whose life was insanely interesting), while the cat (Bale) is Melvin Purvis who ran the Chicago office in charge of tracking him down. The character of Purvis isn’t given very much color. He’s mostly an archetype and inaccurate one at that: The real operation was directed by local law authorities until relatively late into Dillinger’s 14-month reign of terror. The script needed a composite character and, as previously mentioned, a broody Christian Bale in a crime movie gets the job done. However, this side of the story, while somewhat of a necessity, is mostly mechanical. One suspects that the script didn’t want to give the (even before the era of cancel culture) morally irksome J. Edgar Hoover (Billy Cudrup) a bigger role as the hero. It’s a shame though, because this is just burying the lead.

Dillinger isn’t necessarily given the hero treatment either. He’s portrayed as somewhat of a feral beast: Instinctually driven to protect his comrades and lovers. He’s also exceptionally clever which is what makes the action scenes so fun.  His famous prison escape scene with a decoy gun, whittled from wood, is played with the kind of claustrophobic tenor from an expert craftsman behind the camera. This is the rare film where I can even pick out the soundscape (the rat-tat-tat of the machine guns, especially) well enough to feel like it should have received a Best Sound nomination at the Oscars (I normally have a weak ear for that).

At the end of the day, the technical construction of the movie is solid but it doesn’t amount to enough “wow” moments to make the whole exercise feel more than typical.

What I'm Watching March Edition: Grosse Pointe Garden Society, Going Dutch, Deli Boys, Laid, Running Point

More of my work is migrating to Patreon, including writings on politics, culture, and how to publish. Feel free to follow me there. There are even free options.

 

Grosse Pointe Garden Society (Peacock): Four disparate grown-ups struggling with grown-up problems get caught up in a yet-to-be-revealed murder through a gardening society. Also, there’s a gardening society with the requisite scenes of hoeing and weeding, if you really are itching to see the title work itself into the plot somehow. Brett’s (Ben Rappaport) recovering from the emasculation of his wife leaving him and has a custody battle on the forefront; Alice (Annasophia Robb) is a teacher caught between kowtowing to a school’s rich benefactor and her integrity, on top of a rocky marriage and a dead dog; Catherine (Aja Naomi King) is the other woman in an extra-marital affair, but her regular marriage isn’t so hot either; and Birdie (Melissa Fumero) is a snooty (and quite fun) socialite who becomes entangled with her biological son and their adopted family. There are time jumps to this big tragic murder thingy six months out, but it’s not really a strong point of the show. Instead, this show is one of the best on TV for the four fully realized story arcs, the juicy drama, and the pointed classism satire. The arcs (particularly Brett and Alice) interact enough to give a sense of connection, and I’m assuming (I’m only halfway through) it will all point to some grand catharsis.

Laid (Peacock): Stephanie Hsu and Zosia Mamet make a good pair of friends (with whom some nice tension develops midway through) who are investigating a supernatural phenomenon of all of Hsu's exes dying in a certain order. It's an unapolagetically sex-positive take on a woman who's gotten around, but that's not really new (Amy Schumer, Chelsea Handler, Broad City, Girl Boss have treaded this territory). In this take, there's an interesting counter-current of "sex has consequences." It might even be read as a metaphor for STDs. If this is a "conservative take", it's all wrapped up in enough of a flippant overly comical storyline that I doubt anyone will care. It's developed by Nahnatchka Khan who generally treads in absurdist genre spins on the traditional formula (Don't Trust the B in Apartment 23, for example) so there's some of that absurdity here.

 

Running Point (Netflix): In my book this is one of the best casts on TV: Kate Hudson, Drew Tarver, Scott McArthur, Justin Thoreaux, Brenda Song, Jay Ellis, and Jon Glaser. And four of them play siblings quite convincingly. It's a behind-the-look at a female executive in the NBA played by Jeannie Buss, though it never feels like it has a whole lot of verisimilitude to NBA life. Instead, the episodes are arranged more around various themes as sitcoms are wont to do: One episode is more about trades, one episode is about disciplining the players, one episode is about tackling double standards between genders in the front office.

Going Dutch (Fox): An excellent military comedy about a stubborn man (with a capital M) and daughter forced to share commanding duties on a military base.

Unlike MASH which took medics to the front-lines and found humor in bleak situations, this show is more devoid of social commentary about war, because it doesn't take place anywhere near combat. Going Dutch gets a lot of comic mileage from its setting: This is a support base in the Dutch countryside which features a laundromat, bowling alley, and cheese factory (which they refer to as a “formagerie”; hey, I learned a new word).

The targets of satire are the crusty military traditions and classicism of the instutitons are the satire target in the form of the excellent general and failure of a father in General Quinn (Dennis Leary, did not know he had this type of character in him). The chemistry between Taylor Kisiak and Dennis Leary is reason enough to watch this show alone.

Deli Boys (Hulu): Solid mob comedy that gets better as it goes. There probably was a point when “ordinary  people falling too deep into illicit activity that they were stuck in bed with organized crime” was an original comic idea. El Mariachi? Mickey Blue Eyes? By now, it’s pretty old hat but that doesn’t mean that there isn’t room for something like this which has great execution and even better characters. The show features an all South Asian cast, so part of the fun is taking this small subpopulation of character actors who we generally associate with Glee and Community (Iqbal Thegba); Never Have I Ever (Poorna Jagannathan); Seinfeld (Brian George); and even Queer Eye (Tan France) and turning them into stone cold killers.

Other stuff I'm watching that I've either previously reviewed

Animal Control (Fox): Premiering the same night each week as Going Dutch, it's getting better each week. I've covered it here

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FyfdQB_mc9I

Ghosts (CBS) and Krapopolis (FOX)-Still two of the strongest comedy programs on TV. They've preiously appeared in my top 10s.

Dark Winds (AMC)-Another new Native American-centered show. A bit more of a slow burn than I'm looking for, but it has an interesting setting.

Top 25 Characters of 2024

 Another delayed listicle. I have long loved doing this 25 characters list.

You can see a couple of them here and another one here

1 Andrew Yancy (Vince Vaughn), Bad Monkey- Like the hard-boiled detective or the steadfast cowboy, Yancy marches to the beat of his own drummer. Yes, he would love to get it on with a hot detective, get his badge back, or enjoy tormenting his waspy neighbor (he’s more chaotic than lawful good), but not if it means letting a white collar criminal go free. It’s the archetype of the wayward American hero across multiple genres, but not many characters can walk the walk,  and talk the talk with such gusto. And it’s Vince Vaughn playing the part, so we know right off the bat, this guy can at least talk that talk.

2 The Goddess Deliria (Hannah Wadddingham) Krapopolis-Let’s face it. Most Gods have a hint of vanity. It’s sort of a requirement for the job, isn’t it? The difference between Deliria and your run-of-the-mill p is that she exists on pure vanity. And enough motherly instinct to make her recognizable for those of us with tough-love mothers. But not too much or the show wouldn’t be as riotously funny.

3 Tom Ripley (Andrew Scott), If Matt Damon’s snub at the Oscars for the 1999 film was one of the biggest tragedies of that era, it’s pretty remarkable that Scott can come in and fill those shoes with such fearlessness. Scott’s Ripley is somehow both more forcefully vindictive, and more understated than Damon’s creepy leech interpretation.

4 Jerry (Mike Patrick O’Brien), What We do in the Shadows-The key to adding a character late into the mix of a show’s run is they have to be rough around the edges. Jerry is a perfect foil in that he has the nerve to call out his fellow vampires on their sloth. Every character choice that went into to Jerry was a winner from his outfit as a Transylvanian butler, to his Pinky-and-the-Brainesque casualness about the task of taking over the world, to his aloofness to his role in a Nandoor-induced love triangle


5 Rogue, X-Men 97- If I were to rewatch an old episode of X-Men, it would be for the cringey puns based on ridiculous regional stereotypes. In other words, the Cajun Gambit, the Canadian lumberjack Wolverine, the Black Pantheresque Storm, and Southern Belle Rogue are the caricatures worth ironically laughing at, with a little bit of 90s child Jubilee adding some seasoning. In this attempt to mature the season to accommodate the aging of its primary fan base, the show has miraculously managed to keep Rogue cringe while giving her an actual arc.

6 and 7 Morgan (Justine Lupe) and Sasha (Timothy Simons), Nobody Wants This- I’ve been slowly learning that the difference between a romantic drama and a romcom is all in the supporting players. If there’s laser focus on the leads, then it’s the Richard Linklater Before series. Add the leads’ social circles as stand-ins for their romantic values, and add an extension a dose of quirk and it’s a party. That’s what you have here with a will-they-won’t-they-oh-no-they-can’t….can-they?

8 Amanda LaRusso (Courtney Henggeler) Cobra Kai- The bizarreness of a modern-day high school environment (with its emphasis on anti-bullying compared to the ‘80s), in which teenagers have to learn karate just to survive a Mad-Max-like dystopia of constant bullying, has had a strong need for a deadpan skeptic like Amanda. But at the end of the series run? Screw it. Amanda as the karate equivalent of a soccer mom feels like a more apt direction at this point.

9 Tindaro (Dougie McMeekin) The Decameron-My favorite show of the year was an upstairs-downstairs comedy set in a century where both sides of the societal divide were equally at the mercy of plague-carrying rats. And the bumbling hypochondriac Tindaro would probably not get very far in the “who lives longest” betting pool. But this rotund ball of delight proved full of mettle in a relatively dynamic arc.

10 Eddie Horniman (Theo James)The Gentlemen-In an era when nepobaby is a bad word, it’s not easy to root for anyone with such generational privilege. But it certainly helps that Eddie is never more than a couple false moves from having his head, the heads of those he cares about, and those under his employ blown off. As the title suggests, he’s a sly operator but also a class act.

11 Rufus Coatesworth, Death and Other Details-Considering there are so many takes on the eccentric, tunnel-vision. detective — whether modeled after Hercules Poroit, Sherlock Holmes or whatever the hell Daniel Craig is doing in Knives Out — it’s pretty remarkable for Mandy Patinkin to come up with such a unique creation here, as the detective entrusted with solving the murder of his protégé’s mother.


12 Dove Maloney (Siobhan Cullen), Bodkin- Fitting squarely in the category of female firecrackers who won’t let anyone put them in a box, Dove is the best of the trope. Of course, it helps for a hard-core journalist to have a great foil, in the hapless podcaster Bodkin (played with aplomb by the introspective Will Forte): A directionless and obtuse foreigner particularly with what she sees is a naive kindness.

13 Principal Cinnamon Scuttleworth (voiced by Phil Lord), Clone High- It was thrilling to see my favorite one-season wonder return to the airwaves but the sharp edges of these characters had been filed off and the new additions were pure vanilla. Except Scuttleworth. He has the hamminess of a cartoon villain with a couple ounces of pathos for good measure. You might enjoy seeing him blown up like a Looney Tunes villain, but you root for him to piece himself back together for his next crazy scheme.


14 Nadja, What We do in the Shadows-The best thing about the “Guillermo and the vampires become tech bros” arc is how enthusiastically Nadja assimilated. Her treatment of Guillermo and most other humans as pesky miscreants who are mostly useful for menial labor and meals, so she was always a good fit for the world of passive aggressive one-upmanship of Wall Street.

15 Dexter (Leo Woodall), One Day- What’s this, the thug from White Lotus is a sensitive heart throb underneath all those tattoos? Well, even as a straight guy, I thought Woodall was pretty hunky. But watching him sell this gender-flipped beauty and the geek romance. I’m impressed.


16 Dr Kristen Bouchard (Katja Herbers) , Evil-The show gets a lot of mileage out of this extremely charismatic actress who telegraphs so much with her face.
17 The Bleacher Creatures, Clone High-We all know that the cool kids in school are never the most interesting. Giving Christopher "Topher" Columbus villain friends was the best thing the second season ever did.  
18 Det. Helen Chamberlain (Danielle MacDonald), The Tourist-A brilliant detective with a heart of gold. That successfully sets up a labyrinthine plot to get away from an evil captor and can't pull it off. That's an interesting choice.
19 Mr Beast (James Donaldson), Beast Games-The Beast Games were a disappointment, but it was an interesting glance into the mind of history's most successful YouTuber. Despite attempts at cancellation, he's one to root for.
20 Ethan Crum (Greg Larsen), The Tourist-Helen, Elliot, meet your comic relief. Now that that's out of the way...
21 Beatrice Worth (Brooke Lena Johnson), Cruel Intentions-If the show (like the movie) is centered against the two amoral step-siblings, then Beatrice is your sidelined hero. She had casual sex with one sibling (let's applaud her for sex positivity) and tried to pledge three times to the sorority of the other, but adolescents are complex and conflicted. She's still the right person to take down the elitism in my book.
22 Android SM 33 (voiced by Nick Frost), Star Wars: Skeleton Crew- Confession, I just li
23 Frank the Temp (I can't even remember; that's the point), Futurama-At long last! Someone who's less respected among the crew than Zoidberg
24 Colin Robinson (Mark Porsch), What We Do in the Shadows-Colin has always been a wonderfully jagged fit to the rest of the vampires, and I'll miss him tremendously. Who ever thought of a villain who's super powers were based off boringness. 
25 Heather (Edi Patterson), Resident Alien-Heather, the avian alien who visits Earth for a bureacratic check-up, has a resistant courtship and an epic whirlwind romance. It's thanks to Heather, we now know how Harry's gills are cleaned. We are eternally greatful.

Best TV Shows of 2024: Ten Runners-Up

I've been doing this every year since 2009, so no reason to stop now.

In alphabetical order:

Baby Reindeer (Netflix) Despite its bleak subject matter, this trigger tale of an Irish stand-up suffering sexual abuse, female-on-male stalking, and gaslighting from the police managed to catch the zeitgeist of Netflix’s viewership. Why? For god’s sake, it’s based on a true story, so are we sick voyeurs for being spectators? My take: I think the authenticity of Richard Gadd as a likable guy helps, but it’s more that through all the murk, it’s a life-affirming tale of overcoming that doesn’t cut corners. But, be prepared: Major trigger warnings.

Bad Monkey (Apple) Full disclosure: I recently read three Carl Hiassen novels and they were all better reads than this one. But considering this is what Apple chose to adapt and I have to judge it for what it is, let’s face it: Most, if not all, Carl Hiassen novels could be adapted to make great TV. This one has some superfluous plot lines, but it has a great maverick of a hero, a well-defined villain, and plenty of Florida quirk. In an era where there’s not enough real estate on the box office release schedule for comic stars, there’s something worth celebrating about Vince Vaughn being able to sink his teeth into such a fitting role, no matter the medium.

Death and Other Details (Hulu) An ornate whodunnit set in international waters with some solid late-stage twists. What’s most impressive here (not to discount Mandy Patinkin’s measured performance) is that it feels so classic. Despite plotpoints revolving around crypto, cloud storage, BDSM, nepobabies, this feels like it could fit into the repertoire of an Agatha Christie novel.

Life and Beth (Hulu) This tale of love and compromise is based on executive producer and star Amy Schumer’s own experiences in a marriage to a man who was later diagnosed as autistic. The show is shot like an indie dramedy with meandering stories and a camera that isn’t focused directly on the action.   It’s fitting considering this isn’t a typical Hollywood romance. It’s an eye-opening and reaffirming look at life alongside someone on the spectrum from the POV of a complete outsider. The wedding episode was one of the most beautiful episodes of the genre the second season contained a couple clunkers.

Manhunt  (Apple) - The aftermath of the Civil War is an interesting topic in a PBS/Ken Burns way but most tourists to DC delving into Lincoln tourism want to know the juicy saga of John Wilkes Booth, the conspiracy, and his escape route. Characters like enigmatic Dr. Samuel Mudd (though less so from the point of view of the series), Lewis Powell, Mary Surratt and Edwin Booth himself are great fodder for drama, and this series interweaves their fates with the larger currents. It also goes without saying that this is a period piece on Apple TV: There’s some great scenery porn here.

Mulligan (Netflix): From 30 Rock co-creator (the one who gets a LOT less attention than Tina Fey) Robert Carlock, this animated post-apocalyptic comedy borrows some of the same absurdist humor at the dialogue level. In the second season, the show proves it still has momentum. It will likely never achieve must-watch status but it’s great popcorn comedy, and it’s highly rewatchable.

Resident Alien (SyFy) The idyllic town of Patience had two welcome additions this season. It was highly amusing to see the emotionless Harry court and eventually get horny with an alien bird (Edi Patterson, a role she was born to play) this season. Enver Gjokaj also proved a menacing foe and provided a slight bit of situational comedy as a grey alien (I think?) who goes under the loosest of qualifications of a date with Asta to get to Harry’s DNA. On the other hand, the mythology started going backwards and looping inwards on itself. Is there anyone who’s not in on the secret of extraterrestrial life at this point? How did we go this far into the story only to discover two key characters are kidnapped on a nightly basis? And, I’ll admit, I don’t remember who is and who isn’t a grey, but blame the show: I don’t have a reason to care.  Still, this has long been one of my favorite shows on the air. There are few virtual worlds I’d rather live in than Patience, Colorado and a little backwards movement won’t keep me away.

Star Wars: Skeleton Crew (Disney Plus) It’s not easy to recapture the childlike sense of adventure of Star Wars and translate it to an audience that has now grown into adult sensibilities. But, by Jove! I think Star Wars has done it! Actually, I just wanted to use the phrase “By Jove!” somewhere. In reality, there’s an argument to be made that Star Wars has always approached its far away galaxy with a sense of sharing wonder and awe. Yes, it can lead to a massive overload of special effects, but when done right- a tense plot with escalation (kids being kidnapped), great actors (Jude Law, check, Kerry Condon, check, whoever is behind that robot with the pirate accent, check)- the second-to-none visuals are properly augmented with true vision.

Thank God You’re Here (Australia Network 10) You young’uns have to remember that back in my day shows being bought back from the dead didn’t happen very often. We would have to got together in the kinds of numbers needed to cure world hunger and mailed subway sandwiches to the studio. So yes, it feels miraculous that this mid-2000s Australian improv game show has found a second wind about 15 years after going off the air. The show’s format is one where comedic actors are thrust into an unfamiliar scene where non-cooperative scene partners try to trip them up. The show’s original featured a number of Down Under talents (Rebel Wilson, Rhys Darby, Angus Sampson, and Josh Lawson) before they were known to US audiences, as well as at least a dozen others who should get that privilege soon. The remake does little tweaking to the old formula with a new host. The vast majority of these episodes can be found on YouTube and the adventurous improver in you can even play along.

X-Men 97 (Disney Plus)-I'll admit to being thoroughly engrossed by the original X-Men cartoons as a child of the 90s. Upon rewatch as an adult, I was mostly amused by the cringe puns and awkward national stereotypes. I'm sure some comic book fans feel differently, but I think most of us can agree that the show did an impressive job of taking the contours of a child's cartoon (and yes, I'm likely picking a fight with comic book enthusiasts) and gaving the material a grown-up makeover. The characters are still cringe, but the arcs tie together more smoothly, actions are filled with  more consequences, and the stakes elevate so much each episode, it's almost like a Peak TV serial. Plus, who would have thought we'd see the day when Jubilee wouldn't be annoying? She even got her own episode and it wasn't awful.