Kim’s Convenience (CBC, now available on Netflix)-I previously wrote that this show was mildly entertaining but two of the four main characters (the father and mother in a nuclear family) are portrayed so stereotypically it borders on offensiveness. But I was watching the show in a vacuum.
When reading about how the show has affected people, it turns out “Kim’s
Convenience” was heavily championed by the Korean-American community during most
of its five-season run from 2016-2021. My issue was with the parents’ broken
English but apparently that’s somewhat accurate.
Upon rewatch, the show has really hooked me. Like CBC’s
other offerings (that I’ve seen) “Schitt’s Creek” and “Little Mosque on the
Prairie” there’s an overriding warmth and sweetness even when the show goes
through the highs and lows of low-stakes sitcomdom. I often liken “Schitt’s
Creek” to a funkier version of the “Andy Griffith Show” and even though we
never venture far from the store, there’s a larger sense of community that’s
presented here whether it’s the expanded world of Janet’s photography school,
the personalities that visit Kim’s store, or the neighborhood church.
At its core, this is a second-generation family that doesn’t have an easy time
expressing their affection to each other and that tension has been interesting
to explore.
Maid (Netflix)-An
exploration of the have nots in Americana with Margaret Qualley (Once Upon a
Time in Hollywood) in the lead. Qualley plays a trailer park resident in
Washington State, Alex, who exists in the bureaucratically gray area between abused
and ineligible for government care.
The series begins as Alex’s husband (Nick Robinson of Jurassic World) threatens
them by punching the wall prompting Alex to take their toddler in the middle of
the night and escape. Initially Alex doesn’t believe herself worthy of a
government hand-out and the judge doesn’t treat her like a victim (at least it
first).
It’s one of those situations where you want to punch the screen in agony over
why the various stake holders don’t just talk to each other and acknowledge
their collective responsibility to care for one in their community. Which
(along with something like “Orange is the New Black” or “The Joker”) is part of
the point: To make you, the viewer, more empathetic to what’s wrong with
society.
This is a tricky balancing act. Making the viewer flat-out depressed over how
society is letting down its own isn’t universally considered an enjoyable
viewing experience. Maybe, that’s why this is a limited series? But “Maid”
walks that line well. There are enough moments of hope to balance the economic bleakness
of the mood and the drama is very engaging.
The Great (Hulu)-I had just made my
top 12 list and now I have to struggle with kicking something off because this
show is too good. It was my number one show last year and through 4 episodes,
it’s hard to ignore that this show has it going on.
Is the show historically authentic? I have no clue but it’s
certainly a fun world to inhabit that feels close enough to the real thing that
we get a gist.
The first season presented us with a near-psychopathic emperor who simply
served his basest instincts instead of ruling the country. It’s within the
first episode that his subservient wife finally succeeds in taking Russia. As
we know from Hamilton, “winning [the Revolutionary War] was easy, governing’s
harder.” That’s the general theme of Season 2.
What’s also wonderful is how the characters are so deep, you can deep dive in their
psychologies. Why is Grigor so loyal to the King? Is Marial completely taken
over by revenge? How deep do Peter’s mommy issues run? There’s almost no
character getting screen time that’s uninteresting.
MacGruber (Peacock)-
The film approached gratuitous nudity and violence with such an over-the-topness
that it reminds one of the hard-drinking college friend with no sense of shame.
Considering that the series has no boundaries over how low
brow is the limit, there's no reason to worry about tarnishing the legacy of
such a spectacularly stupid film by expanding it to an eight-episode series.
Still: The series never reaches the comic plateau of the
film. The comic energy works best when Will Forte's lunacy is juxtaposed
alongside Ryan Phillipe's sensible soldier and love interest Kristen Wiig (the
film starts out with her married to a general played by Lawrence Fishburne
which is quite the obstacle). One problem is it takes at least three episodes
to get the tree of them together and by then there's a significant loss in
momentum. Will Forte's MacGruber is notably nastier here (I'm guessing it's a
way to deepen the character and give him edge) and it's a lot less fun.
Even when operating on full cylinders, it still feels like
the jokes per minute count is a little lower than the film. Perhaps, it's
because of the way the plot is serialized and stretched out but not in a way
that adds to the humor.
Saturday Morning
All-Star Hits (Netflix)-As previously noted in a separate review, this show is
Zazz!
Love Death and Robots
(Netflix)-An anthology series focusing on technology and futuristic concepts.
It’s a lot like “Black Mirror” but the episodes are in the 10-15 minute range
and that makes a clear difference over how much depth a plot motif can get in. Like
“Black Mirror” there’s usually a twist but the series isn’t beholden to base
the strength of the episode entirely around the twist. What makes this show stick
out is the consistent quality of the animation and the way different episodes
use different animation styles.
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