Ghosts (CBS) Season 1-Utkarsh Ambudkar
and Rose McIver star as a yuppie couple from the Big Apple who inherit a
mansion that’s inhabited by eight ghosts of different eras. There’s a Viking
who grunts a lot; a Native American; an effeminate Revolutionary War captain; a
19th Century schoolmarm with aristocratic roots; a sassy flapper
from the Prohibition Era; a flower child who is permanently tripping through
the afterlife; a square scout leader from the 80s; and a Wall Street playboy
from the 90s. The octet makes for a brilliantly strange found family of people
whose only commonality is that they died in the the same spot -- seemingly all
of them in comic ways.
Before the arrival of Sam, the ghosts simply had little
choice but to entertain each other and passively experience the house’s
occupants. However, when Sam has a near death experience, the ghosts are
suddenly able to communicate with her and suddenly the living and dead
residents of the house have to renegotiate a living arrangement between them.
While there might not be a clear stand-out character among the ghost crew, the contrasts and dynamics between them add
up to making them more than the sum of their parts. This a clever premise
that’s executed with just the right light-hearted tone. There’s a certain
urgency stemming from the couple’s financial uncertainty regarding their plan
that adds some stakes but mostly it’s a lot of fun.
B Positive (CBS) Season 2- Starring the underrated Annaleigh Ashford and token schlub Thomas Middleditch, B Positive is a multi-cam laugh track sitcom that’s a good reminder that sitcoms have evolved for the better nowadays.
The hook is that Thomas's character had an organ donated to him by Ashford's character. At least I think so. There isn't much of the premise's DNA by season 2. It's mostly just a guy fawning over a girl who works in a nursing home.
Annaleigh Ashford’s character is remarkably similar to his
other female protagonist creations from “Mom” (Anna Farris) and “Big Bang
Theory” (Kaley Cuoco) who wear their hearts on their sleeve and have low
filters. I’ve been a fan of Ashford since the days of “Masters of Sex” so
here’s hoping her career can take off like theirs.
Similarly, there’s a will-they-won’t-they between the leads that already feels
strained by the third episode I saw. I’m taking a pass on the rest.
Inside Job (Netflix) Season 1: An
animated cartoon about a federal government department that does damage control
in a world where most conspiracy theories are true. Although it has some of the
cynicism of “Rick and Morty”, it’s co-created and executive produced by Alex
Hirsch (along with Shion Takeuchi) who’s
most famous for the imaginative yet child-appropriate “Gravity Galls.” It’s a
dark turn for sure from the creator and the complexity of the subject matter is
heightened by giving the central protagonist (Lizzie Caplan) the Aesperger’s
label.
Like “Ghosts”, the show’s premise is a winner and there are memorable moments.
The first episode begins with protagonist Raegan Ridley (Caplan) trying to stop
her dad from making a fool of himself in
front of the White House as he shouts crazy dribble through a megaphone. It’s
immediately established that this is a routine task for Reagan through the fact
that this is simply part of her daily commute. It’s smart, economic
storytelling and funny in a relatable sense (especially considering I’m a DC
native who has seen this kind of activity at the White House often).
The episode involving Valentine’s Day and the nostalgia trip through the 80s
are both pretty funny despite following conventional tropes (how many
Valentine’s Day episodes have you seen before?). However, the rest of the
season was a bit uneven and I’m worried about how high the upper ceiling is on
this show. It’s still mildly watchable.
Locke and Key (Netflix) Season 2-The
YA fantasy series is set in an idyllic New England town where a widowed mom of
three, Nina Locke (Darby Stanchfield of “Scandal”), moves into her husband’s
old home and the family unwittingly enters into a battle of good and evil. As
the title indicates the weapons of choice are a set of magical keys that have
various functions (one allows you to see into another’s psyche, one allows you
to control someone else’s movements, one traps you into a mirror, etc.) and the
protagonist family is the Lockes. Get it? Yeah, it’s cute.
In the second season, the show upped the stakes significantly as the big bad,
Gabe, used a shape-shifting power to disguise himself as Kinsey’s boyfriend.
The show appears to be made for teenage viewers whose hearts are set aflutter
with shipping possibilities among various high schoolers. With that caveat, if
a show has to cram in superfluous teenage romance storylines, it’s best if the
relationship drama ties into the plot. That’s why Kinsey’s love triangle
between Gabe and her ex Scott was a nicely performed tightrope act that raised
the stakes this season.
Speaking of love interests, apparently Uncle Duncan is gay and engaged? The
former’s not a problem (although he’s non-stereotypical which isn’t a good or
bad thing but I wonder if his sexuality was changed in adaptation to give the
show a token gay character) but isn’t he a reclusive amnesiac? Additionally, Mommy
Locke gets a hunky boyfriend this season whose motivations are a welcome
enigma.
The show gets a little overly sentimental at points but the essence of the
relationships work and the serialization is engaging throughout the entire
10-episode run. Pretty highly recommend.
La Brea (NBC)-A cross-section of LA
denizens fall through a groundswell in Los Angeles that takes them to the stone
age and prompts the question “how is this different from a normal day in Los
Angeles?” Seriously, I don’t know. It seems like an LA thing though from so
many films and TV shows I’ve seen.
The show cross-cuts between two different scenes.
The dad and husband of two of the victims has paranormal premonitions about
what’s happening and gets the attention of a shadow government agency that is
determined to suppress the truth and conduct a rescue mission.
Getting the lion’s share of the action is the group of displaced people as they
try to figure out what is happening in a loose rip-off of “Lost.” The crew
includes a wide variety of professionals such that many are the
deus-ex-machinas for each other’s ailments. There’s a kid with life-threatening
injuries but fortunately there’s a doctor among the stranded to rescue him.
Ditto with a stunted child who’s been trained to pretend she’s mute and a child
psychologist who needs to get information from her without traumatizing.
Similarly, there’s a paleontologist who can decipher the tea leaves and a cop
who can keep order.
The coincidental nature of each person’s abilities isn’t so bad but there’s a clunkiness to the dialogue and the character development that’s par for the course for standard broadcast procedurals rather than the middle brow serial this show aspires to be. This certainly slows down the show but it’s marginally watchable and has enough potential that it’s worth finishing the season.
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