Tag: TV

The Diplomat S1-S3 (Netflix)

I gave this show a try because many of my friends said how good it was.  They were not wrong!  Surprisingly, this is the first show I’ve ever watched with Keri Russell in it. She’s a very compelling actress, and while she’s beautiful, I love that this show isn’t afraid to show her imperfections as well.

I binged the entire run so far in less than two weeks, and while comparisons are being made to The West Wing, there is a key difference.  West Wing was all about the decency and honor of the main characters.  This show seems to embody “The End justifies the Means.” Usually the End is something that is humanitarian or towards keeping peace, but not always.

I was struck by the frantic pace of much of the first two seasons–it seems to occur in about a week of real time.  In S2 we get a skip of, I think, five months.

Most shows that hook me have a good ensemble cast and this show is no exception.  Until the Penns showed up the only actress I recognized from something else I’d watched was the actress who plays Eidra (CIA chief). She had a good part in Agatha All Along.

In S3 one of the main supporting characters has a crisis of conscience, and it felt very much a parallel commentary on the 47th presidency and the abuse of the civil service. Possibly I am reading my own experience in there, but it’s definitely a reference point. I will be curious to see if that develops any more in S4.

Since much of the show is set in the UK, there are some amazing exterior and interior shots and sets.  Every other scene seems to be some kind of formal dinner or cocktail reception in someplace older than the U.S. Great eye candy for all of the machinations going on.

I’m glad I watched this and now I’m waiting with the rest of you for season four.

Only Murders in the Building (S5, 2025, Hulu)

Note: this is commentary on all of Season 5, so there are Spoilers!

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This is my wife’s favorite show on television, and we’ve been watching since we tried Hulu at season one mainly to see the show.  I was unsure how the gimmick was going to hold up, but here we are with a season six announced and no real downgrade in the quality of the show. But do I have things to say? Yes!

They tried to give Steve Martin’s character some kind of “b” story for growth but the testosterone thing was very hit-or-miss.  Martin Short is a loveable cringe to watch but I wonder if things are on the horizon for his marriage to Meryl Streep to be dissolved. There just seemed to be notes of unhappiness there for him. Selena Gomez did a fine job this season but I worried about her health as she really slimmed down. I read she’s recently married so I hope it was from a good place as she is beautiful either way.

Guest stars this year were a mixed bag.  Dianne Wiest seemed out of place even given the character. Tea Leone was given a scattered character and gave a scattered performance. (Her character’s adult sons were one of the bright spots of the season.) The billionaires were funny impressions, most of all Renee Zellweger’s not-Martha.  Keegan-Michael Key was another without a lot to do, but he did prove important to the season.

They seem locked into a ten-episode format which is just long enough to develop a good murder mystery with some twists, but not so long that it needs padded episodes.  The standout of the season for me was episode two, “After You.”  It really gave Lester a showcase episode while moving the plot significantly along.

The main thing that bothered me at the end of the season was showing Dianne Wiest’s character as having achieved the dream of living in the Arconia, but it looked to me like Mabel’s squatter apartment.  Does this mean that Mabel has a new place? I hope this is quickly addressed.  The biggest bright spot was one of the sons dating Howard–I hope there’s a fun way to keep seeing this develop.

It’s always a tricky thing when a hit show travels, so we will see what happens to the gang in London (and how long they are there) for season six.

How I Met Your Mother (2005-2014)

NOTE: The show’s been finished for over ten years, but if you are watching it for the first time, don’t read this as it spoils some parts of the last season.

I had this to say after the series finale:

March 31, 2014
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OMG HIMYM. Strangely satisfying. Will say more later out of respect for those who couldn’t watch it tonight.

Only, I never went back and said more.  Lately, YouTube has been showing me short clips of HIMYM and I was reminded that Cristin Milioti played the Mother well before her Emmy-winning performance on The Penguin. (And, wow, two very different characters!)

I was invested in the show as it aired, and after watching a few of those clips I went back and found that the series was on Hulu, and watched four episodes of season 9, their last.

I was bowled over by Milioti’s performance, and the way that she and Ted were perfect together was a joy to watch, especially recalling all of the near misses before they met on the train platform in Milioti’s standout episode 16, “How Your Mother Met Me.”

Watching their near-misses and meet-cute encapsulated reminds me a bit of the opening of Up, when we witness one of the greatest love stories ever, and then we get the rest of the movie.  That’s more appropriate than I first realized, as in HIMYM we see years of loving moments with Ted and Tracy only to find out she died of an unspecified illness.

The show’s creators always intended the ending they left us with (even filming the kids’ parts years before).  I don’t know if I would still call the ending “satisfying.”  I do know that Ted was incredibly lucky to have found his true love.  In my fifties, having watched many relationships around me, I realize that the kind of do-over Ted and Robin get is something incredibly rare and precious.  Maybe I’d be happier with the ending if that came through just a little more.