Streaming services, cable TV and Primetime television are fighting for your viewership now more than ever. UNBINGED is here to help you weed through it all, with reviews of the latest shows that highlight what we love, what we hate and what we love to hate-watch, too. This week we take a look at new TV based on comic books, from Marvel’s new green goddess, She-Hulk, to Netflix’s family versus phantom saga Locke & Key to DC’s sexiest supervillian sidekick Harley Quinn, now in a well-deserved spotlight.

She-Hulk: Attorney At Law (Disney+)

Disney+’s She-Hulk: Attorney At Law (AKA Beauty and the CG Beast) is a hilarious new effort for the small screen that stands out from the other MCU shows. Its chaotic nature, self-reflexive humor, and high energy (thanks to actress Tatiana Maslany) makes it a playful alternative to super serious superheroes who sometimes get side-tracked in their own mythology.

After an accident causes her blood to mix with her cousin Bruce Banner’s, attorney Jennifer Walters finds herself in superhero territory as she is now able to “Hulk out.” But becoming a “liability” and losing her job at the DA’s office, the brilliant lawyer is tapped to head a new “superhero law division” of GLK&H Law Firm where she has to defend meta-humans of all sorts…good and bad.

Unlike previous Marvel shows, She-Hulk isn’t doing a lot of the heavy lifting (pardon the pun). Neither she nor the show attempts to carry over a previous storyline, or to help develop a complicated concept to prep an audience for an upcoming story arc. Rather, She’s just out to have a good time (for now).

This is by far the most ludicrous and amusing of the new Marvel shows. Though different incarnations of the comic book have developed Walters’ dark side, the Disney+ version has opted for the lighter shade of green, keeping the premise and the tone fluffy and fun. Fans of the long-running comic (though not recent versions of the superhero) will find that this version is more on par with her original incarnation: silly, sexy, confident and friggin’ savage with the clapbacks. And because She-Hulk lacks history and character familiarity with most of the audience, the show can make good use of the original comic’s fourth wall breaks, appealing to the audience directly.

The meta humor is a nice break for Marvel fans who love to be in on the joke. Its self-referential tone helps it stand out from the other Disney+ spandex efforts that sometimes take themselves too seriously. She-Hulk’s ability to call out the absurdity of the MCU and the rules it abides by, as well as a few of its previous plot lines, is what makes it a fun watch. And though far from perfect (that CGI takes a bit of getting used to), for the most part it’s a smashing success.

Locke & Key (Netflix; Season 3)

In the final and third season of the Joe Hill comic book adaptation, the meddling Locke kids once again find themselves hip-high in hijinks as those gosh-darn magical keys once again prove to be too much of a temptation. This time around, along with the usual double-edged swords that the keys represent and the occasional self-serving evil entities, the Lockes are now plagued by the evil spirits of British revolutionary soldiers.

Sadly, the series, while still rich with creativity and character development, hits a slump in this third outing. Though there’s new villains to fight against, the battles against a trio of Funky Phantoms feel too familiar; just more supernatural baddies from the spiritual realm who want the keys. We’ve seen it time and time again throughout the three-year run and it’s getting old.

In addition to the lack of truly creative foes, the kids are their own worst enemies. Bode (Jackson Robert Scott) makes terrible decisions and his small fits really test the patience of viewers forced to watch yet again as the youngest Locke creates more problems for the family and the world as well. Like, can we just send this kid away to military school? That would solve 80% of the issues here.

In the end, the curtain draws for the Netflix series in a milquetoast final outing that wraps up the story but offers repetitious conflicts in a labored effort to reach a conclusion. The story ends for the Lockes, not with a bang, but with a whimper, making it easy to lock up the viewing and throw away the key.

Harley Quinn (HBO Max; Season 3)

After a bit of a delay, the foul-mouthed, animated Queen of Crime has returned to streaming and hopefully, a larger audience than previously seen. Joker’s former squeeze is back on HBO Max.  After living a half-existence on the DC Universe streaming app for its first two seasons (which were then aired on HBO), Harley is finally given the platform to test her raunchy wings. And man, does she soar.

Filled with tons of bawdy jokes and cartoon gore, Harley Quinn as played and produced by Kaley Cuoco (The Big Bang Theory, The Flight Attendant) is the adults-only animation Batman fans have been clamoring for. As Batman tends to live in the dark, Harley lives in the dark side of humor, allowing her mouth to run amok without much of a filter. The series paints Harley less as a head case and more of a misguided miscreant who thinks with her heart rather than her head, and honestly, it’s refreshing.

Though Harley was born from Batman: The Animated Series, she was only seen through the lense of the heavies on the show, rarely given a moment to shine unless it served to further Joker’s storyline. By allowing her to find her own identity and self-expression, first through her breakup with Joker, then again through her love of Ivy, Harley becomes more real. Even in 2D form.

In this third outing, Harley and Ivy are officially Gotham’s Hot Crime Couple, as the duo make it official and try to take over the city…together. In all honesty, it’s great to see. Sure, they are chaotic as hell, killing innocents in their wake and leaving a trail of destruction a mile wide everywhere they go, but given the fact that there are few same-sex couples ever shown on the small screen with a healthy, passionate sex life and a drive to want to make their relationship work, it’s a win. It might be fleeting, but their relationship and the show’s ability to get down and dirty with a few of the darkest villains in comics history, makes Harley a novelty and a joy for any true Batman fan.

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Arriving on Netflix in 2016, the science fiction horror series, Stranger Things, created by the Duffer Brothers, quickly garnered popularity for its 80’s nostalgia and novel take on sci-fi and light-hearted horror. Set in the fictional town of Hawkins, Indiana, the first season explored the friendship between four young boys: Dustin Henderson (Gaten Matarazzo), Lucas Sinclair (Caleb McLaughlin), Will Byers (Noah Schnapp) and Mike Wheeler (Finn Wolfhard). Their bonds were tested when Will mysteriously disappeared and a girl with psychic powers named Eleven (Millie Bobby Brown) appeared amid the supernatural occurrences within their small town.

The show also followed Joyce Byers (Winona Ryder), Jim Hopper (David Harbour), Nancy Wheeler (Natalia Dyer), Jonathan Byers (Charlie Heaton), Max Mayfield (Sadie Sink), Steven Harrington (Joe Keery) and others as they worked to unravel the secrets of a dangerous dimension called the Upside Down and a creature known as the demogorgon. With a similar tone to the 2011 Stephen Spielberg-produced film Super 8 (which was also a nostalgic take on small-town life and featured a cast of kids fighting a monster) Stranger Things has been a wild ride, building up to what should be a big payoff in season four. But it falls a bit flat.

The installment, which debuts this Friday, is split into two parts. Part one sets an immediately darker tone than the previous seasons while vastly expanding the lore of the alternate dimension, the town and Eleven. Set four months after the events of last season, the group is now almost grown up and split up between Hawkins and California as they navigate their biggest challenge yet – high school. Things go terribly wrong when yet another supernatural foe called Vecna emerges. The basic idea is this: a corrupt villain with a particular aptitude for being cruel as a child for some reason grows up to be even more cruel. The central antagonist is overpowered without explanation, is exceedingly evil without any initial reason, and uses supernatural abilities to cheat death.

This chapter of Stranger Things is akin to parts one and two of the Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows movies when it comes to tying together loose ends. The season is more sinister and brooding than the previous ones, with more jump scares and gore, but it’s reduced by a generic background plot. Just when the series seems to have all of the right appetizers for something unique, the main dish is bland.

Beyond the villain, season 4 does have some winning elements: it situates viewers in interesting realities that aren’t what they seem as beloved characters encounter deadly new problems and try to piece together all the clues. While this is an effective way of keeping the episodes engaging, an influx of new characters makes the story somewhat disorienting.

Introducing numerous new characters in later seasons is always risky, as there isn’t much time for fans to build an attachment to them, let alone how they fit into the overall storyline. Here, we’re introduced to Eddie Munson (Joseph Quinn), the leader of Hawkins Middle School’s Dungeons and Dragons club and Argyle (Eduardo Franco), Jonathan’s new best friend and a delivery driver for Surfer Boy Pizza. Balancing such a large cast with multiple storylines that eventually begin to overlap gets a bit messier than usual this season. Established characters with compelling narratives could have benefited from more focus.

In all, this season of Stranger Things does what it needs to do. Classic horror fans and those who enjoy mystery and science fiction will be mostly satisfied. There’s some brilliantly sequenced scenes that are both immersive and aesthetically pleasing, and the older teenage angst is interwoven well within the supernatural chaos. But it’s not quite enough to make it great and there’s likely no way to redeem the dullness when part two comes in July, in just two installments. That said, we’ll hold out hope that the Summer finale and season 5 might provide darker turns, wrap up loose ends and pay homage to what has been one of the best things streamed on Netflix.

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Streaming services, cable TV and Primetime television are fighting for your viewership now more than ever. UnBinged is here to help you weed through it all, with reviews of the latest shows that highlight what we love, what we hate and what we love to hate-watch, too. This week we delve into the subject of mental health. It was once a taboo topic, best not discussed in either polite company or primetime, but as television and society evolves, discourse relating to emotional challenges and personal well being is no longer considered off limits; in fact, it’s become a frequent subtext for everything from animated comedies to dark docudramas to superhero fantasies. Moon Knight, Human Resources and The Girl From Plainville reviewed below. 

Moon Knight (Limited Series, Disney+)

The latest small screen Marvel series to help along Phase 4 of the MCU is Marvel’s Moon Knight, a character that was first introduced in ‘70s comic title Werewolf by Night, but has since taken his place among the studio’s big guns.

Meet Steven Grant (Oscar Isaacs) – a gift shop clerk by day, and god-knows-what by night. Literally. A milquetoast figure who can barely hold down his job, or even a good night’s sleep, he straps himself to the bedpost after dark to keep from wandering around London. But it’s more than mere nocturnal adventures that are the issue with poor Steve.

The tale of Moon Knight isn’t cut and dry. Like WandaVision, we are getting the story in the middle of the story. Just as we started with Wanda and Vision living their best Dick Van Dyke life, audiences are introduced to Moon Knight by first meeting Steven (who is sadly, just not as cool as his comic-book counterpart) as one of several folks who take residence in the body of mercenary Marc Spector, who himself is a servant to the Moon god Khonshu, the true heart of Moon Knight.

Dissociative identity disorder is at the heart of Moon Knight. It is not the first time that Marvel used psychosis as a character point – both Legion and Wanda suffered from unhinged mental states and god-like powers. But Isaacs’ portrayal of Steven as a victim of his own mind creates a sympathetic character. His inability to keep a date or even keep his goldfish alive humanizes him. He isn’t a danger. He’s a fuck up. And that’s easy to relate to.

The story itself is a roller coaster ride, filled with many sharp turns before deciding exactly where it stands within the MCU. It might be unfamiliar territory for much of the Marvel movie-loving audience, but thanks to Isaacs’ heartbreaking characterizations, the unconventional premise and disjointed story breaks make it feel grounded. As the show continues, the focus on Marc/Steven’s mental state, the true nature of Moon Knight, and his role in the MCU will hopefully become part of a tantalizing mystery.

Human Resources (Season 1, Netflix)

Brought to you by the somewhat off-kilter yet amusing masterminds behind Big Mouth, Netflix’s Human Resources takes a peek at the behind-the-scenes world of Hormone Monsters, Love Bugs, Shame Wizards, and every other crazed creature that helps and hinders humanity’s many emotions.

Set in the cubicle hell of the Human Resources department, beasts of all shapes and sizes are assigned to humans around the world to help process their feelings. Though many of the characters are familiar faces from the world of Big Mouth, the series centers on Emmy (Aidy Bryant), a grade-A fuck-up love bug who is promoted after her boss is carried kicking and screaming from the office.

While still rude, crude, and brimming with attitude, there is a complexity to Human Resources that Big Mouth lacks. Big Mouth deals with the singularity of puberty and all the gross underlying issues that accompany it, while this show handles the full gamut of human emotions and life stages.

In one particular storyline, love bug Sonya (Pamela Adlon) begins a relationship with a human named Claudia (Janelle Monae). The relationship is a no-no in the creature world, and seems impossible, as most humans cannot even fathom these beasts. But as it turns out, Claudia’s fragile emotional state allows her to see Sonya, which begins to affect her mindset in a negative way. It’s a surprisingly tender episode that pulls at the heartstrings, even when sandwiched between a secondary story about an illegal cockfight that uses real cocks.

Human Resources is a bit of a revelation. Yes, it is still filled with inappropriate jokes dealing with ejaculation at almost every given opportunity. But it also has deep moments of heartfelt sadness. Issues such as dementia, grief from the loss of a loved one, and the effects of mental illness on a relationship are handled with a sensitivity unusual for any half-hour comedy, much less an animated show that runs rampant with sentient penises.

The Girl From Plainville (Limited Series, Hulu)

Inspired by the “text-suicide” case that led to Michelle Carter’s conviction of involuntary manslaughter when Conrad Roy III took his life, The Girl from Plainville explores the story of a troubled teen who meets the wrong girl at the wrong time.

In this Hulu limited series, Colton Ryan plays Roy, a teenager struggling with finding his place in the world. His family still calls him by a childhood nickname, which he clearly despises, yet he depends on them for his livelihood. He grapples with adult concepts such as relationships but is a child at heart, and the dichotomy is slowly taking its toll on the young man. Then meets Michelle Carter (Elle Fanning).

Girl provides a look at the sad, ripped-from-the-headlines tale from several points of view, but to be clear, it doesn’t attempt to build sympathy for Carter. What the series provides is potential insight into a pivotal question: why did she tell Roy to “get back in the car” when he attempted to back out of his suicide? Forcing focus from Conrad’s grieving parents (Chloe Sevigny and Norbert Leo Butz) onto herself and using the negative attention to rally her friend group, Fanning’s brutal depiction of Carter is manipulation at its worst.

Due to the skillful efforts of its cast and how the material is handled, this one stands as a grim reminder of the toll of technology can take on mental health. Depression and insecurity can be wielded and yielded with a click of a button these days, even from those we know and trust. The Girl from Plainville is a dramatization of events, but its cautionary subtext is real– the wrong people at the wrong time with the right tools can make for toxic and sometimes tragic circumstances.

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The post Emotional Rescue: Reviews of <i>Moon Knight, Human Resources, Plainville</i> appeared first on Irvine Weekly.

Streaming services, cable TV and Primetime television are fighting for your viewership now more than ever. UnBinged is here to help you weed through it all, with reviews of the latest shows that highlight what we love, what we hate and what we love to hate-watch, too. This week we delve into the wicked world of hustlers, fraudsters, and con artists. From crooked multi-billion dollar tech companies to fake German heiresses, the latest hit shows spotlight modern-day mountebanks with snake-oil salesmen-level sincerity. As we learned from Icarus, the gods rarely smile on such hubris. Should you? Read our review of The Dropout, Inventing Anna and The Tinder Swindler to fund out.

Inventing Anna / Netflix

Netflix’s Inventing Anna is the kinda, sorta true story about a devil in Dior dress who worked her way into New York’s elite with nothing more than hubris and an iPhone. Produced by Shonda Rhimes and starring Julia Garner as Anna Delvey, aka Anna Sorokin, aka “the SoHo Grifter,” the story covers multiple timelines, following Anna’s ascent in New York as well chronicling disgraced journalist Vivian Kent (Anna Chlumsky) a fictionalized take on New York scribe Jessica Pressler, whose story the show is based on.

Despite the interwoven storylines, the tale is pretty straightforward: Anna is a liar and this is how she got caught. The story is riveting, not because of what Anna did, but because of the scope of what she almost achieved. Anna didn’t merely steal a few bucks from gullible friends and wrangle a few free stays in hotels. She got high-powered, highly-respected men of great means to invest in her ideas, earning nearly upwards of $20 million for her efforts.

With her baffling inflection and transformative physical abilities Garner – best known for her Emmy-winning role in Ozark – is hypnotic as Anna. She’s a chameleon and her impressive body of work suggests a massive talent on the rise. But even though she’s great in the role, the series is plagued with the same issues that seems to ail many new Netflix series: too many friggin’ installments. While episodes such as Anna’s escapades in Morocco and the fleecing Alan Reed (Anthony Edwards) are narrative highpoints, the entirety of Inventing Anna could have easily been edited to a manageable 4-6 hours, at the very least.

Ultimately, viewers are left with a captivating story about a Gen-Zer who almost girlbossed her way to the top. The series could have greatly benefited from a tighter narrative, but it’s a fun watch regardless, providing an insider’s look at the modern jet set, where the idea of wealth is more important than the ability to pay an Amex card.

The Tinder Swindler / Netflix

Netflix’s The Tinder Swindler is the tale of an iPhone Romeo who uses apps as traps to find his potential targets. Taking advantage of the modern dating tools, this story of a scam artist is a cautionary tale for any Tinderella looking for love online.

Simon Leviev seemed too good to be true because he was. Handsome, young, and rich beyond measure, he was end-game material, profile-wise. The fact that he claimed to be the heir to billionaire diamond mine owner Lev Leviev was just icing on an already delicious-looking cake. But soon a pattern would appear: he would meet women, wine them, dine them, and earn their trust. But after a few months, he would have credit problems, issues with cash flow, and small dilemmas that required a few thousand dollars to fix. Or a few hundred thousand.

The true crime documentary uses its two-hour run time to quickly lay out the story of Leviev – real name Shimon Hayut – who faked an opulent lifestyle to get women to fund his expensive tastes. Once it is established that Hayut was on the make, director Felicity Morris focuses the doc’s attention on his victims, giving full sympathy to the women he conned and the destruction he caused.

The story of this serial fraudster is a refreshing dose of reality among the many miniseries of wannabes and pretenders who come off as charming. There’s nothing charming about Leviev, so it’s nice to just sit back and enjoy a story where the viewers’ sympathies are not being toyed with in an effort to create drama.

Every day we’re dealing with emails and DMs from Nigerian princes and deceased relatives in great need of gift cards. So to watch one such individual who preyed on innocent and trusting souls receive the schadenfreude he so desperately deserves, well, that makes The Tinder Swindler not just a binge, but a delicious rewatch.

The Dropout / Hulu

Centering on biotech startup Theranos and its creator Elizabeth Holmes, Hulu’s The Dropout is the story of a young entrepreneur who attempted to take the healthcare industry by storm by putting the cart before the horse.

Back in 2014, Theranos was the next big thing in the medical field. Valued at $9 billion, the company claimed to be able to run hundreds of diagnostic tests from a single drop of blood. But it was all lies pushed by company founder Holmes, a figurehead that – thanks to her recent trial – we can call a fraud without any legal repercussions.

Played skillfully by Amanda Seyfried, Holmes is a conundrum. Brilliant, ambitious, and driven, she attempted to create a cult of personality around herself and her company. The Dropout begins with Holmes as a teen, where she is cast as a character of sympathy. Presented with consistently messy hair and ill-fitting clothes along with a ’90s soundtrack that pulls at our nostalgia heartstrings, Seyfried’s wide-eyed deer-in-headlights stare toys with the audience’s affinity to pity the disheveled and downtrodden.

But as the story rolls on, the viewer watches her metamorphosis from visionary to villain. Holmes’s disregard for human life in her pursuit of science, recognition, and billions of dollars is appalling, and witnessing Seyfried’s transformation from eager-to-please student to complete sociopath in a turtleneck is fascinating. Like Disney’s Cruella and Maleficent, this is Hulu’s live-action villain origin story.

Joining Seyfried is Naveen Andrews as Holmes’s partner in crime Sunny Balwani, along with an unrecognizable William H. Macy, Stephen Fry, and Kate Burton, who appears to be doing her darndest to make sure she stars in every con artist bio streaming (she’s also in Inventing Anna).

What makes The Dropout compelling isn’t just the stellar cast, but the fact that Holmes made herself an easy target. There’s a morbid curiosity surrounding her and public interest to watch her fail.  Because of her crimes, we want to see her wax wings wane under the heat of the sun. We want to watch her plunge from the sky and we want to hear the splat. Because of her lack of regard for human life, of which she was found guilty in a court of law, we’re given permission to enjoy her misfortune, one episode at a time.

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The post Fake it til you Make it: Reviews of <i>The Dropout, Inventing Anna</i> and <i>Tinder Swindler</i> appeared first on Irvine Weekly.

It’s called Joe vs. Carole, but it should’ve been called Dumb vs. Dumber. The idea, of course, was to make a spoof of Tiger King and its ridiculously stupid characters, featured in Netflix’s hit show and a couple other docs, hundreds of think pieces and millions of Tweets.

But like Joe Exotic’s zoo, this thing goes up in flames. Seduced by a $20 million budget and the chance to recreate the most-watched show on television, Justin Tipping (Nani, Swimming in the Air) soon lost perspective. It makes you wonder why he didn’t just choose another project, rather than subjecting us to this breathtakingly bad and out-of-touch mini-series, seemingly written by people who don’t understand the concept of pop culture. It barely pops at all.

It’s not like anyone was asking for a Tiger King adaptation, but here we are, two years after the docuseries hit airwaves. The new installment kicks off with Carole Baskin (Kate McKinnon) getting ready for her day when two agents knock on her door. Baskin runs a wildlife sanctuary called Big Cat Rescue, though these agents aren’t here for an inspection or to check out one of her tigers. Instead, they are here to warn her that a gun-toting, man-kissing, mullet-wearing cowboy named Joe Exotic (John Cameron Mitchell) has sent a hitman to kill her.

“How did it come to this?” sighs Carole. One flashback later, we get the answer. The battle between zookeeper Joe and animal rights activist Carole began in 2009, when she started an email campaign to pressure businesses to stop hosting cub-petting events. Their feud spiraled out of control when Joe spread rumors about Carole’s dead husband, who was likely killed by Carole. Or maybe he just disappeared? Either way, fans of the Netflix show – or the Wondery podcast, which this is partly based on – will be able to cross off every scene like a grocery list. Salad? Check. Joe marrying two of his co-workers? Check. Joe making videos about Carole’s dead husband? Check. We’ve seen it all before, just without the crass mockery.

It seems Tipping has his sights set on being the next Christopher Guest, the British satirist behind Waiting for Guffman and Best in Show. Perhaps it requires a fictional story to truly poke fun at Middle America, and Guffman managed to pull it off because no one was safe. In Joe vs. Carole, Tipping errs on the side of safe, especially with his two leads. He ends up neutering the whole affair, not just with parody, but with an emphasis on the backstory of people who aren’t worth our sympathy. Are we supposed to care for these murderous, reprehensible creatures? It’s hard to tell when every other scene is a flashback to Joe fighting for his rights as a gay man, or Carole tolerating her abusive husband.

With Joe vs. Carole, Tipping wants to have his cake and eat it too, attempting to craft “biting” satire without teeth, that patronizes but refuses to offend, and stumbles over itself trying to be both humane and humiliating. You can’t do both at the same time, as he tries here. He bogs down his talented cast with a bewildering tone, tired jokes and embarrassing dialogue. This one, well, it’s far from purr-fect.

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The idea of “defunding the police” was polarizing the minute it started to gain traction, even for those of us who recognize that law enforcement needs serious overhauling. If police really lost all their funding, what would that actually look like? Reno 911: Defunded offers a satirical take and it might be the only TV show that can pull off this delicate, even risky premise and actually make us laugh at the absurdity of it all.  The comedy has been making fun of shows like COPS for almost two decades now, taking no prisoners when it comes to the system, the criminals and individual members of the force who sometimes care more about their image than doing what’s right. Even if we’ve yet to see any real policemen rock Lt. Dangle’s short shorts in the field, suspension of disbelief is part of the fun, and it always has been.

Irvine Weekly spoke with Reno’s creators and three of its most popular cast members – Kerry Kenney-Silver, Thomas Lennon and Robert Ben-Garant – during a brief but lively Zoom chat recently about the improvised faux reality show, which built a passionate fanbase on Comedy Central  (2003-2009), then was revived years later by short-form (and short-lived) content outlet Quibi. After a Paramount+ full-length movie called Reno 911! The Hunt for QAnon last year, the show is back on the ROKU Channel.

Despite moving around, and long breaks in between, the show’s droll themes and deadpan delivery haven’t really changed much over the years. It still pushes boundaries and it still skewers important societal issues like racism and feminism while finding humor in sex (straight and gay), politics and human nature. Re-watching old episodes then watching new ones, there’s almost zero development in terms of storylines, but there is a funnier and funnier, more focused approach to the situations as the show progresses, with pertinency to current events playing a stronger role as the world’s woes have grown proportionately and woke culture has made what they do seem more daring.

“The show by nature is almost like a sketch show in the sense that there’s these smaller bites and you’re following the storyline of people, but you can pop in and out at any time,” says Silver, who plays the “Karen”-like cop Deputy Trudy Wiegel.

“I would actually say pound for pound if you look at really old Reno’s… Yeah, definitely there’s some filler. I’m still proud of it, but it definitely has a little bit of filler and like parts that make the hot dog,” Lennon, who plays  Lieutenant Jim Dangle, admits. “I think we have gotten better at doing the show. Yeah, it’s certainly more fun to do…. Maybe because all the actors, everybody’s like really grown as improv people. You’re also watching characters – everyone’s been playing those characters, basically off and on for 20 years. So it’s like, I feel like in some ways, we’re getting a little better at it. I think, maybe.”

“People know each other as well. People know their own character and each other’s character so well, so there’s such a chemistry there that doesn’t come from a writer’s room. It really does come from the cast,” says Grant, who plays Deputy Travis Junior and directs many of the shows. “And we’ve been really lucky that we’ve been given more and more freedom as the years go on.”

While RENO 911 gets ammo for its most audacious moments from current events, that’s where the realism usually ends. The individual players are intentionally more caricatures than relatable characters. Still, their arcs and backstories do add new layers to the ensemble’s actions and reactions. There’s definitely a familial eaze and flow between the three during our interview. Trudy likens the show to “comfort food,” to which Grant interjects “We’re the Flintstones! ” All three agree then Trudy chimes in, “There’s no growth but that’s by design.”

“A lot of times people on the show, I’m positive they don’t remember what all their backstories are,” admits Lennon, sharing that his character Dangle got married, had a son and later hooked up with Trudy in the movie, plot points that have never been addressed again. “I mean, there’s hundreds of storylines.”

“Sometimes we sit in the morning briefing scenes and I turn to people, and I’m like, ‘Wait, are we cousins?’” recalls Silver about the fluid nature of the mockumentary’s relationships.

“It’s a rare show that people love and they really don’t care!” adds Grant. “We brought three people back from the dead without mentioning it ever. Nobody cares. Which is just great.”

The cast, which also includes Cedric Yarbrough (Paradise PD, BoJack Horseman, The Boondocks), Niecy Nash (Clean Hosue, Claws) and Wendi McLendon-Covey (The Goldbergs, Bridesmaids), enjoys free-reign, and each adds their own witty and weird dialog to the basic storylines and scripts. Their gifts for timing and tine allow them to tackle stuff what could easily be off-putting but somehow isn’t, from the Proud Boys to Q-Anon to Ted Nugent (Weird Al Yankovic reprises his role as cocky Trump-nut The Nuge this season).

Other guest spots to look out for on Reno 911: Defunded – which is free to watch on the Roku channel whether you have a Roku device or not – include Jaime Lee Curtis and George Lopez. The stars share what filming those episodes was like and discuss their thoughts on tackling controversial themes and ideas in the current climate in the full interview (see video below).

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The post Reno 911! Might be ‘Defunded,’ but it’s Funnier Than Ever – Its Stars Tell us Why appeared first on Irvine Weekly.

Streaming services, cable TV and Primetime television are fighting for your viewership now more than ever. UnBinged is here to help you weed through it all, with reviews of the latest shows that highlight what we love, what we hate and what we love to hate-watch, too. This week, we time travel with a trio of new period pieces pulling from history and bygone eras to create new narratives – from the Viking Age to the Gilded Age all the way to the modern Golden Age.

The Gilded Age / HBO

Welcome to the Gilded Age of New York, where the exquisite mansions of high society are filled with women in fancy frocks and gents who buy, sell, and destroy their fellow men. Created by Downton Abbey mastermind Julian Fellowes, HBO’s The Gilded Age delves into the upper echelons of the Upper East Side back when Park Ave. was overrun with horse carriages. It is here that the drama is high and the stakes are higher, especially for HBO as they place their bets on this lavish period piece about the Big Apple in the 19th century.

The series follows recently-orphaned Marian Brook (Louisa Jacobson) as she takes up residence with her aunts Agnes (Christine Baranski) and Ada (Cynthia Nixon). The duo guides the Pennsylvania ragamuffin through “fashionable society,” showing both her and the audience the ropes while delivering exposition with poise and grace.

Much like Downton, wealth is at the center of the story. The central theme of the nouveau riche colliding with old money is represented by the Russell family, who aim to take their place in the gleaming beau monde at any cost while the upper crust attempt to keep a stranglehold on the traditional ways.

Like Fellowes’ other period pieces, interest and intrigue emerges from exploration of societal norms of the time, a forgotten culture whose ways will seem completely foreign to viewers. And though its British cousin Downton was also filled with showy set pieces and elaborate costumes, The Gilded Age is a bit more brash, a tad more opulent, and just a smidge more ostentatious than its predecessor. This is a show that hemorrhages money and it shows. It’s a feast for the eyes and the ears, giving exquisite detail to those who populate its story, marked by remarkable turns from Branski, Nixon, and Carrie Coons, who plays the social-climbing Bertha Russell.

The Gilded Age is a beguiling soap opera masquerading as a period piece that plays on societal norms for drama. Those who prefer conflict with higher stakes than that of a dinner snub or a discarded invite might feel like something’s missing, but the HBO series will please those who loved Downton and have a deep appreciation for the finer things in life.  (New episodes air every Monday thru March 21st). 

Vikings: Valhalla / Netflix

Vikings: Valhalla is the spin-off from the History Channel’s Vikings and it continues to follow the adventures of historic heroes whose antics put Scandinavia on the map (at least prior to their illustrious legacy of DIY furniture and meatballs). Guaranteed to raise testosterone levels, the show is an intriguing blend of faux history, impressive action, and absorbing drama.

Created by Jeb Stuart, best known for scripting action outings such as The Fugitive and Die Hard, the show reeks of machismo, mead, and seawater. Set 100 years from the events of the first Vikings series, it’s a tawdry tale set in the annals of history, though very little of the interpersonal stories are actually based on real life.

The show begins just as legendary explorer Leif Erikkson (Sam Corlett) and his sister Freydis (Frida Gustavsson) arrive in Kattegat. It’s an inauspicious time, just as other Norsemen gather following the St. Brice’s Day Massacre, ordered by King Æthelred. Though the groups are there for different reasons, both have a common goal: revenge. Soon, Erikkson finds his life intertwined with these strange Norsemen who are similar yet oh-so-different, particularly those they call Christians.

The show follows a familiar formula used in most modern “historical” epics: take a familiar name from the past, build him/her up as the hero, add an interesting supporting cast that has little or no issues with nudity and/or violence, and let history take its course. Valhalla takes a page from the Game of Thrones playbook which states: As long as the adventure is exciting, the nudity is commonplace, and the violence is gratuitous, a show can get away with pretty much anything. 

Valhalla’s biography and butchery is good enough to hold the interest of folks who don’t mind more fiction than facts in their historical dramas, and prefer bloody beatdowns, bodice rippings and unwashed romps to accuracy or reality. (Season 1 is available to binge in its entirety now).

The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel (Season 4) / Amazon Prime

The marvelous, mischievous, and sometimes misguided Mrs. Maisel has returned after a long absence, but was she worth the wait?

Picking up right where we left off, Miriam “Midge” Maisel (Rachel Brosnahan) returns home to New York after being thrown out on her tuchus from Shy Baldwin’s tour after she alluded to his “illicit” lifestyle in her act. She returns home to deal with her fractured family, including her homeless parents, her ex-husband Joel, her son Ethan, and a daughter who is only mentioned in the series when it is convenient to the plot. This season, we watch the further evolution of Midge from ditched housewife to budding comic as she struggles with more mishaps of her own making.

After four seasons, it’s difficult to know where to stand with the Mrs. Maisel character. Yes, she is paving the way for every headstrong, mouthy, size 2 housewife with an ax to grind, but she’s also, at times, just not a very pleasant human being. For example, when Shy shared a very personal part of himself to her, it was a touching moment between the two entertainers. Only to be ruined later when Midge worked it into her act with no regard to Shy. And while she attempts to make good on her prior bad acts by helping her manager Susie (Alex Borstein) find a “friend” – with the help of John Waters, no less – she comes off self-centered, with a lack of consideration for her cohort’s desire to even “come out” or the implications of what could mean.

It’s a common theme with these Amy Sherman-Palladino women. They can be charming and adorable with mouths that run a mile a minute, but you never know when they are going to turn on you like a Benedict Arnold in a French heel. Regardless, the whip-smart writing that audiences have come to expect from hat enthusiast Sherman-Palladino is still there and still as sharp as ever. And while the cringe factor on Midge might grow slightly, her supporting players including Borstein, Tony Shalhoub as father Abe (now a writer at our sister paper The Village Voice!) and Marin Hinkle as mom Rose (a full-fledged match-maker this season) are still a friggin’ joy to watch.

As this season continues, it looks like the character of Miriam Maisel is still learning and maybe even morphing into something new. That might not be an entirely good thing, at least for those who prefer their main characters to be made of lollipops and sunshine, but it is entirely appropriate. What she becomes might not be so marvelous, but change is to be expected in an industry known to transform people from nice gals to assholes overnight. Welcome to showbiz, baby. (Two episodes are released every Friday for four weeks)

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As the 10th season of Canada’s Letterkenny catches us all up on the latest rural hijinx of the hicks, the jocks and the skids, the crew behind the popular comedy also just announced a touring version of the show – a 90-minute experience called “Letterkenny Live!” featuring nine cast favorites wielding their wicked and wacky wordplay in person on stage.

When it comes to unique television, Letterkenny is truly in a class by itself. It’s easy to see how a stage version would totally work. It has a sketch show-like quality, even if it is a proper situational comedy. It’s also a quirky character study, with individual arcs and a loose but consistent narrative and that’s evolved as the years have gone by.

Originating as a YouTube series called Letterkenny Problems, the show (now on Hulu in the U.S. and Crave TV in Canada) opens mostly the same way, with creator Jared Keeso (Wayne) standing or sitting with his pals musing about life or busting each other’s balls. Often, the chats and stories concern small-town gossip and troubles. As the intro, explains, “There are 5,000 people in Letterkenny. These are their problems.”

Beyond the storylines, it’s a show about language, with dialogue so droll and deliriously wise-cracky, you’re likely to be hitting the rewind button on your remote more than once to figure out what the hell the characters are actually saying half the time. When you do, you’ll understand the true brilliance of the banter, which pulls from pop culture (American and Canuckian), sexual innuendo and straight-up smut, with glorious sprinkles of alliteration, accents and enunciations, puns and made-up phrases and lingo. It all makes sense contextually within the show’s deadpan conversations, even when it doesn’t by dictionary standards.

It’s a credit to the talented cast that the catch and throw-like speaking flow works, and that every word of dialog comes from Keeso’s slang and quip-cluttered scripts, not improvisation, though there is room for that at the end of takes sometimes. We learned this and much more after talking to the farmers [aka hicks] Nathan Dales (Daryl) and Michelle Mylett (Katy) as well as the druggies [aka skids] Tyler Johnston (Stewart) and Evan Stern (Roald), alongside local swinger Mrs. McMurray (Melanie Scrofano).

Everyone also discussed how they go about memorizing the massive amount of tongue-twisting dialog each episode. Other topics covered include the decade-old show’s reflection of real-life small-towners, its progressive representation of sex and sexual fluidity, and the fervency of its followers. As a casual fan, we enjoy the repartee even if we don’t observe storylines too closely, but hardcore Kenny-heads know the history and dynamics of each character inside and out. Either way, it was cool and strange to hear everyone speak, ya know, normally. We’re embedding the interviews so you can too.

Letterkenny (season 10) is streaming now in the U.S. on Hulu.

Letterkenny Live on Tour comes to L.A. Thurs., March 31st & Fri., April 1st at the Ace Hotel (tacos will unfortunately, not be served). More info at letterkenny.tv/. 

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Now, this is a story all about how
My life got flipped, turned upside down
And I’d like to take a minute
Just sit right there
I’ll tell you how I became the prince of a town called Bel-Air
In West Philadelphia born and raised
On the playground was where I spent most of my days
Chillin’ out, maxin’, relaxin’, all cool
And all shootin’ some b-ball outside of the school
When a couple of guys who were up to no good
Started making trouble in my neighborhood
I got in one little fight and my mom got scared
She said, “You’re movin’ with your auntie and uncle in Bel-Air”

“Yo Home to Bel-Air” (DJ Jazzy Jeff & The Fresh Prince)

The fish-out-of-water fable might have been done before Will Smith won America’s hearts on the NBC sitcom The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, but the vibrant family dynamics and feel-good groove of the show was unique. The comedy’s clear intention to highlight the breadth of Black narratives provided astute portrayals that shed light on differences in background and class. Exploring struggle and privilege, Fresh Prince showed everyone that the African-American experience has never been monolithic, and it did so with laughter and love. When the show ended 24 years ago, other Black comedies sought to capture its vibe, but none did it with quite the same effervescence. Nobody really came close to filling Smith’s Air-Jordans either, and after the rapper/actor’s charismatic TV turn, his subsequent mega movie star career came as no surprise to anyone.

Fresh Prince was a wacky comedy on the surface, but as Smith himself said in the show’s HBO Max 30th anniversary reunion special last year, it was also “revolutionary” and “poignant,” enough to make an impact both when it aired in the ‘90s and via reruns, earning a multi-generational and multi-racial fan base that endures to this day.

The Fresh Prince Reunion Special (Courtesy Will Smith/HBO Max)

It definitely inspired Morgan Cooper, a young filmmaker from Kansas City, Missouri, who just a couple years ago, decided to reimagine the tale of a young man from Philadelphia sent to live in Bel-Air with his rich aunt and uncle. His 2019 “trailer,” called Bel-Air, hyped a dramatic rendering of the story, in which Will’s fight with some bad dudes on the court takes on a grittier tone, including gun possession, overzealous police and subsequent threats to his life by the thugs, forcing his move to L.A.

The “fan film,” as many called it when it was first released, went viral pretty much immediately after it was posted to YouTube, catching the attention of Smith himself not long after. Now, it’s a full-fledged TV drama premiering on Peacock on Superbowl Sunday, Feb. 13.

Co-produced by Smith’s production company Westbrook Studios with Cooper at the helm, Bel-Air has been privy to plenty of buzz thanks to its online origins and the star’s involvement, but it’s also gotten some not-unexpected backlash due to its reboot premise. Even Saturday Night Live took a poke, suggesting the next nostalgic comedy redo might be a tough take on Family Matters’ Steve Urkel.

But as Cooper tells it, Bel-Air really isn’t a reboot. “It shows honor and respect toward the sitcom, but it’s something that really does stand on its own,” he shares with Irvine Weekly by phone from the set. “Here’s the thing, my job is not to try to convince people to like or dislike reboots or anything like that. Candidly, I’m not a fan of most reboots. I think a difference in our show is the fact that it’s a very specific vision. You know, this wasn’t an idea that was birthed in a boardroom or on a studio lot. This was an idea that was formed while I was driving down the 71 highway in Kansas City. It came from a very, very pure place. And I think people resonate with that and people will be able to sense that watching the show. There’s a very specific perspective and there’s a handmade quality to our show that maybe they haven’t seen before in something that is reimagined. “

Though Cooper was already an up-and-coming filmmaker (he was even recognized by the Tribeca Film Fest for his work last year), he says he made the trailer with no plan or plot. “Making the short film, it was just about expressing this idea that I was really passionate about. It was something that, ‘I want to watch this,’ you know what I mean? And I felt like it was something that would be really exciting for the culture. At the same time, I did recognize that it was a valuable idea. But I love the art, and I love making the art so that’s where my focus was. Let’s create this thing and bring this vision to life on screen. I remember when I finished the edit and I knew that I hit the mark of my vision. It wasn’t too much later that Will’s company reached out.”

Smith’s support went beyond the initial project greenlight, too. When West Philly resident Jabari Banks won the lead role last Summer, Smith himself made the Zoom call to inform him – a feel-good exchange that was shared on Peacock’s YouTube channel – and seemed right in every way, considering the young actor’s similar background, his resemblance and even his last name, which is the same as the family’s on the show.

“My whole life, people have been telling me I kind of resemble Will, and you know, his mannerisms, and we’re from the same place,” Banks tells us by phone during a filming break. “So, you know, I definitely felt like I was right for the role. I went through the whole audition process. And at the end, I got that surprise call from Will. That was a trip because I thought that was gonna be another audition… I was like, I don’t know what they need to see but I was gonna bring it. And then I got on the call and he’s like, ‘I want to congratulate you.’ That was such a huge day I’ll never ever forget.”

Banks says he’s spoken with Smith a few times since snagging the role. “He called me over Christmas break after he had seen the first episode,” he recalls. “And Jaden hopped on FaceTime, too. He’s like, ‘Yo, the pilot was crazy man; you embody my dad perfectly.’ So to get the Smith family stamp of approval is so huge for me. And it’s huge for the show. I’ve read Will’s book, his words… It’s so good. I definitely grew up looking up to him as an artist and he’s such an inspiration to me in the way that I go about life.”

Judging from the first three episodes provided for the media, fans of Smith will have much to adore about Banks, who channels his swagger and style even as he shows his naivete and immaturity about how the world works sometimes. As he did back in the ’90s, the fresh prince still has a lot of growing up to do. When he gets to L.A., the life lessons to come will present challenges, many of them relatable to teens and especially Black teens, but also unique to a character with wealthy relatives. The aspirational elements and luxe backdrops are extremely watchable – from the Banks’ gorgeous Black art-filled home (matriarch Vivian Banks is an art teacher) to everyone’s impeccably styled wardrobe. Aside from the look, the tone is serious but maybe a bit lighter than Cooper’s short, evoking effective soapy family dramas, from Dynasty to Empire, with a sprinkle of 90210-hued wholesomeness. The show is rated TV-MA, but so far, it’s forgone the Euphoria shock value-driven depiction of adolescents in favor of something more hopeful.

As it should be, Bank’s take on the main character is the most similar to the original we know and love. Other players – Aunt Viv and Uncle Phil, their kids Carlton, Hilary and Ashley, house manager Geoffrey – possess what Cooper calls “a fundamental essence of the original sitcom characters, but with their own authorship.” The reimagining here is mostly concerned with what these characters might be like in today’s world and how they might have evolved in modern day.

Carlton, originally played by Alfonso Ribeiro, was a sheltered, big-hearted, bad-dancing dork, but on Bel-Air, Olly Sholotan plays a more complex version of him – an overachiever with a drug problem whose relationship with his dad is threatened by Will’s arrival. Similarly, former Disney actress Coco Jones’ embodiment of Hilary is an amusing contrast to the spoiled princess we saw Karyn Parsons play for laughs on the original show. This Hilary might wear designer duds and display self-absorbed tendencies; she’s a budding chef (and a social media influencer, naturally), but she’s also more headstrong, ambitious and proud, notably turning down a job that would’ve increased her following due to the company’s discriminatory policies.

“The goal with Hilary was for girls who are bosses and the girls who have these big dreams to see themselves in her,” Jones says of her character. “I also think the conversation about representation is important. Being a dark-skinned Hilary and to see myself represent beauty and being sexy and classy without any preconceived idea of what that’s supposed to look like, and really changing up what people assume that it’s going to look like, for me, it’s so important.”

Cassandra Freeman, who plays Aunt Viv, has similar feelings about her role. Of course, there was controversy surrounding the original Vivian Banks on TV, who was played by Janet Hubert for three seasons, before a dispute with the producers led to her getting recast with actress Daphne Maxwell Reid. During the recent reunion show, Hubert and Smith put aside their differences, but the contentious recasting so many years ago remains a blemish on Fresh Prince’s otherwise positive history.

Freeman acknowledges both actresses as iconic in the role. “I think it’s hard not to think about… they are imprinted in my brain, like tattooed. [The producers] made it very clear that we’re not trying to fill those shoes,” she maintains. “The thing that I really wanted to bring to this version of Viv is that she’s very much grounded in the place where she came from, which is Philadelphia. I wanted her to feel much more modern, as someone who’s comfortable in her roots, and she just happens to be surrounded by luxury. That was the main thing. And, you know, I want her to have some exuberance, as well. So I think as the season goes on, you’ll see a lot of her light and vivacious side.”

While the characters, storylines and mood of Bel-Air are markedly different from the sitcom, pretty much every episode does include a reference big or small to the past. From Will drinking champagne and OJ on the plane ride to L.A., to his decision to wear his school jacket inside out, to the fuzzy dice in his pal Jazz’s car, fans are given just enough clever nods to evoke nostalgia, but never at the expense of the new stories they want to tell.

Jabari Banks as Will, Jordan L. Jones as Jazz (Courtesy Peacock)

“We have really made it a point to pay homage to the original, but also give new fans something exciting to watch,” Banks enthuses. Cooper concurs, but stresses that the easter egg moments are not prescriptive. “For us, it’s just a fun way to pay up. You know what I mean? Like, there’s no quota. At the end of the day, I’m a fan of the sitcom like we all are fans, and whenever we can find places to organically put fun little references for fans of the original, we do it, but it definitely doesn’t come from a place of checking boxes or anything like that. You know, it is fun for viewers. It’s fun for us.”

Despite the good times it hopes to share, Bel-Air is focused on having important conversations about race and class, which are, of course, more relevant than ever right now. The original show was based on music mogul Benny Medina’s life growing up as a poor Dominican kid in East Los Angeles. After his mother died and his father abandoned him, Medina moved in with a well-to-do white friend and his family as a young man, leading to more opportunities, including attending Beverly Hills High. The culture clash-based story was changed to a rich Black family in an effort to explore the nuances of black-on-black prejudice, class and privilege.

After producer Quincy Jones came on board, acting novice Smith aka rapper Fresh Prince (who had some success with his partner DJ Jazzy Jeff with the hit, “Parents Just Don’t Understand”), was asked to audition at Jones’ star-studded birthday party. As Smith recounted during the reunion show, contracts were signed that same night, with the story pivoting to a Philly transplant narrative. The pilot was filmed three months later in May of 1990.

Many memorable Fresh Prince of Bel-Air episodes tackled race issues head-on. From Carlton and Will getting pulled over by cops in Palm Springs, to Aunt Viv teaching a Black history course at the boys’ school, to the boys’ bet that Carlton couldn’t last one night in Jazz’s neighborhood (MacArthur Park). It will be interesting to see if these specific scenarios will be explored on Bel-Air, but either way, the wider issues behind them surely will. There’s no denying that the dramatic format allows for a heavier and more enhanced look at these issues. Bel-Air’s initial episodes show discourse over the N-word in music (Carlton’s white friend uses it while singing along to a song, which elevates tensions between him and Will, fueling their rivalry), while Uncle Phil’s run for office becomes challenging as the affluent attorney strives to prove he’s not out of touch with lower and middle class people of color in Los Angeles.

“It’s important for us to have those uncomfortable conversations,” Cooper asserts. “That’s how we get to a place of empathy. That’s what I think the magic of the show is. You see two young black men who had very different upbringings, have a conversation about something that is incredibly timely and relevant in our country. Being able to hear both sides of that discussion, you know, the hope is that it leads to an even deeper conversation, far beyond and after the credits roll.”

BEL-AIR airs three episodes back-to-back on Peacock, beginning Sun., Feb. 13. New episodes roll out each week after that. More info at Peacocktv.com. 

This week’s LA Weekly cover story. (Photo courtesy Peacock)

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The post <i>Bel-Air</i> Reimagines Will Smith’s Breakout TV Classic for Modern Times appeared first on Irvine Weekly.

Streaming services, cable TV and Primetime television are fighting for your viewership now more than ever. UnBinged is here to help you weed through it all, with reviews of the latest shows that highlight what we love, what we hate and what we love to hate-watch, too.

This week we take a gander at a few series’ with unusual leading ladies – from thrillers to high-end dramas to dopey comedies. Should you get stung by Yellowjackets, fall into the brutal bliss of Euphoria or say bonjour to Emily in Paris? Read on to find out.

Euphoria (Season 2) / HBO

After a lengthy wait, Euphoria has finally returned to HBO for its second season, aiming to dismantle everything we know about teen dramas and shattering TV tropes along the way. The subject matter might be harsh and the topics might not create the kind of conversation that usually surrounds event programming, but that doesn’t make it any less than one of the best shows on television today, thanks to the efforts of its leading lady and now executive producer Zendaya.

Shepherded by Sam Levinson (son of Barry) and rapper Drake, and featuring one of the most talented casts assembled in front of a camera, Euphoria paints a picture of a modern-day teenage wasteland. The audience follows the ensemble as they make one horrible decision after another, attempting to live what might seem like their best lives amidst the folly of youth.

At the center of the chaos is Zendaya’s Rue Bennett. Both a central figure in the series and the omniscient – sometimes unreliable – narrator, Zendaya uses her abundant acting talents to elevate Rue beyond the caricature of an addled addict whose heartbreaking history leads to self-destruction.

Season two starts off with a focus on drug dealer Fezco (Angus Gold) and his childhood, which features a badass dealing grandma who taught him everything he knows. From the minute Billy Swan’s cover of “Don’t Be Cruel” kicks in, audiences are treated to a backstory that pulls more from Scorsese than Degrassi. This sets the tone for a cinematic experience divided into bite-size episodes. It also helps that the show’s striking cinematography makes Euphoria look comparable to any big-screen effort.

After two stand-alone episodes last year during the height of the pandemic powerfully explored Rue’s substance abuse and her bestie Jules’ (Hunter Schafer) own challenges as a transgender young woman, the second season continues where season one left off. A relapsed Rue reconnects with her heart’s desire, Jules, who fled to New York due to a terrifying set up by toxic teen dream Nate (Jacob Elordi), but has returned. The two are back together, but Rue’s old habit and new friends are becoming problems. Also returning are pseudo-sociopath Maddie (Alexa Demie) and the broken Cassie (Sydney Sweeney), whose fragile friendship looks to crumble thanks to the aforementioned Nate. Throw in Gold’s well-meaning drug dealer and insecure good girls on the outside looking in (Maude Apatow and Barbie Ferreira), and you have a dynamic cast that’s hard to turn away from.

Though many shows try to capture the dark essence of Generation Z, nothing does it as raw and shamelessly as Euphoria. Most focus on shallow teen culture consumed by TikTok and endlessly chasing sex, but this show attempts to artfully portray troubled teens for who they are: no different than any prior generation. They’re just as lost and just as confused, but with better makeup and gadgets.

Filled with exceptionally-written characters who thrive in the gray area between bad and good (a running theme this season), the show remains fluid in tone, shifting from dark comedy to dangerous tragedy within a single, well-directed moment. The camera stalks each character, often during scenes meant to make younger audiences relate and older ones recoil. Thanks to the immense talent both behind and in front of the camera, Euphoria creates a world that is difficult to forget and impossible to ignore, for both.

Yellowjackets / Showtime

Adrift in a wave of young adult dramas currently flooding streaming and cable TV, Showtime’s Yellowjackets might be easy to miss, but if you’re looking for something completely different, it’s a barbaric breath of fresh air,  dark and twisted with delicious performances from both its adult cast and their teen counterparts.

Right off the bat, the audience is given an intriguing premise. Set in both the present day and the mid-1990s, the show follows a girls championship soccer team whose plane crashes in the wilderness. As teens, we learn how they survived, and as adults, we learn how they hid the secret of their survival.

The two versions of the cast play magnificently off each other in this gender-flipped Lord of the Flies. Survivors include the strong Shauna (Sophie Nélisse/Melanie Lynskey), wild Natalie (Sophie Thatcher/Juliette Lewis), determined Taissa (Jasmin Savoy Brown/Tawny Cypress) and stage five clinger Misty (Samantha Hanratty/Christina Ricci). A blackmail scheme and prying reporters who just won’t let sleeping dogs lie – or die – are part of the narrative unraveling.

It deserves to be said that the masterminds behind the casting of this thriller (Libby Goldstein and Junie Lowry-Johnson, according to IMDb) are a fucking geniuses. The adult counterparts are matched perfectly in tone and likeness to their mini-me’s. The volley between the two casts, and their complementary performances, adds to the story and character arcs as we witness the that enhances the already compelling and merciless story.

Yellowjackets is a twisted treat for people who seek out the dark side of streaming. It’s completely original and thoroughly deranged in all the right ways. For folks who enjoy a little shock and awe with their female-led dramas, suit up. Yellowjackets has a hell of a sting.

Emily In Paris (Season 2) / Netflix

Hit series Emily in Paris returned to Netflix just in time for its Golden Globe controversy of 2021 to die down and for a few new controversies to pick up steam. Though the show is problematic in many ways, it shouldn’t be completely overlooked.

In this second season, we once again follow marketing exec Emily Cooper (Lily Collins) as she falls in love, demolishes friendships, screws up at work, destroys the French language and leaves a path of destruction in her wake about a mile long. The real problem with the show isn’t with Emily, but the writing, which is uneven at best. The occasional sharp and witty one-liners are lost among the try-hard dialogue, which results in uneven characters and scenes marred by clunky storytelling.

There are many, many times in which the viewer may wish to clobber Emily with an empty champagne bottle until she stops doing stupid shit. Still, the show is not without its appeal, mostly thanks to the talents of Collins. She has some great work behind her and she’s clearly above this dreck, but her commitment to the material (she’s a co-producer) sells every hokey line. No matter how chipper and likeable she might be, Emily isn’t a character you can get behind. She’s a train wreck in clothing she can’t possibly afford (the true mark of any Darren Star series), but she is still delightful as hell.

Emily in Paris is pure cotton candy. Simple, sweet fluff that sits somewhere between the TGIF sitcoms of yesteryear and Freeform’s dystopian dramas featuring teenagers. The writing might be silly, but it has a foolish charm that can make it an entertaining escape. Sometimes you can just enjoy a dumb series for what it is: a lovely little distraction from the less glamorous trials of real life. This is one of those.

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