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Jordan Klepper Fingers the Pulse: Moscow Tools (2024)
Like the Daily Show of early days
Jordan Klepper does a full-show dive into MAGA's attraction to Putin, with each main segment approaching the topic using a different interview subject. He also covers Russia's threat to the world & its propaganda. Klepper plays along with some of his interviewees to get them to voice their thoughts.
The net result is real, thought-provoking content with the Daily Show's humorous take. I like this approach SO MUCH better than most current Daily Show episodes where they present a couple of news clips & then go into some inane skit that does little to further enlighten or inform. Klepper's approach is much more like the Daily Show I watched 10 years ago, which had very few pointless skits & lots more actual news content.
But much as I like Klepper, I felt a bit embarrassed, as an American, by his interview with Estonia's President, in which he made some dumb jokes that Did Not Amuse. He should stick with being a journalist, which he actually IS, albeit for a satirical news show.
Elsbeth (2024)
Almost Ready for Prime-time
The character of Elsbeth is a delightful force of nature & the only reason I stayed with the show for its entire first season. The end of the Season Finale gave an "end of the Pilot episode" vibe. Some supporting characters, Capt Wagner & Detective Donnelly, show potential, but need better writing to bring out their best. Officer Kyra Blanke evolved as a more-faceted character, but also needs better writing. The show's concept begs to be an ensemble dramedy, but remains fixated on the mesmerizing Elsbeth, who can't hold the show by herself longterm. It's like the other characters pop into the scene, say their lines, then vanish.
Elsbeth needs a home life in her new apartment with more supporting characters in her quirky neighbors & favorite store clerks. Elsbeth is clearly someone who'll befriend ANYONE! The show itself needs to find its lane between drama & comedy & stay with it. It COULD be a reimagined Monk! As it is, the "cases" are pretty weak & easy-to-guess by detective show standards, and are statistically improbable in ALWAYS involving -- MURDER! But the "crime of the week" bringing in new guest stars helps buoy the show. There could be crimes of fraud, theft, kidnapping, corruption, etc. To investigate. Or (given Elsbeth), even an apparent haunted house.
If the ensemble is expanded (as it needs to be to keep the show going), may I suggest the addition of Alyson Hannigan as Elsbeth's sister who's also moved to NYC? Elsbeth reminds me of a grown-up Willow.
Feud: The Secret Inner Lives of Swans (2024)
A Stellar One-Act Play
This episode is quite different than the others thus far, evoking the drama, dialogue, staging, and character exploration of a one-act play written by an author highly-regarded for their literature. It allows us to enter Capote's inner mind and witness the literary essence that has become trapped within his aging exterior, revealing the still-glowing genius & potential that he's smothered with alcoholism, and then camouflaged by theatrical antics & sulky procrastination.
Descriptions of aviary swans' behavior in the natural world, and their role in human society punctuate this episode, while parallels are drawn to Capote's human Swans, and their reigning class WASP lives, the direct descendants of the Gilded Age.
Young Sheldon: A Crisis of Faith and Octopus Aliens (2018)
Faith is not black/white
Faith is not black/white & this episode confronts the shunned grays that result in so many different churches/denominations. Doubting, as Mary does, is good for faith, because the return to it is a CHOICE that strengthens that Faith. Many religious platitudes do NOTHING for the yearning soul, as Mary discovers.
I've a son who's rather like Sheldon (including being a physicist). He is not religious but is spiritual, believing there *IS* some higher power, like a yet-undiscovered force of physics. What Sheldon tells Mary is in keeping to that mindset. And the odds that an atypical kid like Sheldon would have a mom who'd lovingly & unconditionally raise him to be well-mannered despite not comprehending his mindset is indeed mathematically unlikely. Some people say winning Powerball is "luck"; others believe the win is so statistically unlikely that it may as well be a miracle (but you gotta buy a ticket).
The Goldbergs: Rhinestones and Roses (2022)
Disgustingly ageist
Totally unbelievable events result in Beverley looking like an amateur theater actress portraying someone "old." A line-dancing injury causes Beverley to need a cane, when crutches would normally be prescribed. Suddenly, out of nowhere, Bev needs bifocals -- but unbelievably lacks fashion sense in choosing the frames. And then, she mysteriously never needs them again. And impossibly, a hair-color stylist mistake gives Bev a steely grey head of hair. Then, cruelly, her friends mock her for looking "old." And I can't even remember the rest of this terrible episode.
I ditched watching the final season of The Goldbergs when it first aired, as it had already continued 2 seasons longer than it should have (Season 10 made for 3 excess seasons.) I'm beyond being saddened that a once-stellar show (seasons 1-3) had gone downhill. Now I'm downright ANGERED that Season 10 exists at all!
Doctor Who: The Power of the Doctor (2022)
Confusing Story Arc Mars this Season/Series, Just Like the Past Five
I loved Jodie Whittaker with her Tom Baker-like toothy grin as The Doctor. But she was underserved by way-too-complex story arcs, ones that lacked the benefit of "Previously . . ." recaps to jog our memories. Doctor Who works best as simple stand-alone tales that don't require hours on IMDB to grasp even each episode's plot. The writers are too clever for their own good with their Easter eggs & throwbacks to prior series. I didn't understand Jo Martin's role of dual Doctor in the episode where she was introduced, so she threw me off in this one. And I have no idea how families with kids can still watch this show, when we college-educated longtime fans struggle to follow the complicated plots.
But, apart from the increasing complexity of the story arcs the past several series, this episode, like most, is full of what makes Doctor Who wonderful: interesting, well-acted characters, gorgeous cinematography, scary villains, gripping action & believable dialogue. Without revealing spoilers, this is an essential episode for Doctor Who followers.
Young Sheldon (2017)
Well-written, well-acted, humorous, stand-alone show
I tried watching Big Bang Theory, but gave up before Season 2. So inconsistencies between Young Sheldon & BBT don't bother me. Instead, I'm enjoying the story of an average working-class family raising an ASD (before the diagnosis was common) child genius in a religiously-dominant small Texas town. The series is full of fully-fleshed-out, interesting & well-acted ensemble characters, making this an intelligent-but-believable show. Like another Chuck Lorre show, "Mom", "Young Sheldon" manages to combine humor with real-life drama, using the perspective of the dawn of modern technology, circa 1990.
Unlike other Chuck Lorre shows, "Young Sheldon" manages to stay PG. There are very few direct references to sex, and there's very little "lusting."
Yes, the striking physical resemblance between the actor portraying Sheldon as a young child disappears as the talented young actor ages, but who cares? Grown Sheldon will find a clever sci-fi way to explain his teenage self's deeper voice & lack of skinniness. Instead of fretting about the future merging of the timelines, I just want to see this show & its characters continue to grow.
I watched the entire series (up through Season 6) a second time before writing this review & found myself enjoying many clever details & "fun facts" that I missed the first time. And praying that the Writer's Strike doesn't end the series prematurely.
Two and a Half Men: Mmm, Fish. Yum. (2009)
Episode is offensive to those who like cats, or kindness
This episode follows the Two & A Half Men pattern of using frequent mean-spiritedness to generate laughs. It sadistically and gleefully milks laughs from the sounds of a cat's pained meows, and a horrifying cat death. And it cruelly suggests that it's OK to conceal a cat's death from the anxious owner who will search for the beloved pet for months. Meanwhile, once again "fun" is had at the expense of an "older woman" (even though Annie Potts' "Lenore" is far more attractive than the 25-years-younger Alan). In a recurring bit, Judith's bitchy rejections of Herb glean more laughs from the studio audience.
Mom: My Kinda People and the Big To-Do (2021)
The series ended, the characters continued
It took two well-spaced viewings to appreciate the final episode. The series' loose ends were tied up in the penultimate episode; the ending just continued the pattern of the braid of the characters' lives. As we viewers departed, we knew that the characters were continuing along their paths, made so much brighter & hopeful by their years together.
Was it disappointing to not revisit characters so prominent in the early seasons, plus the one who dominated most of the series? Yes, it was, the first time I saw the final episode. But those characters' appearances would have been a distraction to the simpler epilogue of a beloved group of characters whose stories will continue even after the curtain falls. Their lives go on, full of friendship, love, hope, and laughter.