Welcome to my Monday newsletter. This week, I am counting down my Top 10 Performances of 2023 plus looking at Obliterated, Fargo, For All Mankind and more!
OBLITERATED
I've watched the first four episodes of Netflix's new action comedy Obliterated. The show is trashy for sure, but I would categorize it as "trashy fun." It has a throwback feel to the action comedy films of the 90s and makes great use of its Las Vegas setting to also draw comparisons to The Hangover. I really thought the setup was funny: a special ops team finishes a mission and gets trashed in Vegas. But when they find out the nuclear bomb they neutralized was fake, they had to go back into the field, while drunk, to finish their mission.
The premise would have worked much better as a movie though because by the third episode, none of them are really that drunk anymore. So the show has to keep finding ways to sustain the debauchery to keep up the premise. In a two hour movie, the premise could really sustain itself. In an on-going series, that's going to be tough. What does a Season Two look like? Oh no, they got drunk again! The cast also were not the best at playing drunk, which you'd think would have been a prerequisite for this one.
All that being said, this is a show that is really not taking itself seriously and I enjoy that. It's mindless entertainment and that's enough sometimes.
YEAR IN REVIEW: TOP 10 PERFORMANCES
For the next three weeks, I will be looking at some highlights from the year. This week is the Top 10 Performances of the year. I didn't want to do a long post about all of them so here is the list with a brief commentary. I did put some pairs or groups on the list - call it cheating, but it's my list! They are performances who really only worked as a pair/group
10. Emma Stone, The Curse
I'm just fascinated by the fact that an Oscar-winning actress chose to do a show like this. She really elevates the whole thing and her willingness to do something this weird gives it more gravitas.
9. Brie Larson, Lessons in Chemistry
Speaking of Oscar-winning actresses, Lessons in Chemistry was a bit of a mess. But what wasn't a mess was Larson's very committed, very strong performance.
8. Ebon Moss-Bachrach, The Bear
The best part of a very strong second season of The Bear. His "Fishes" episode was a highlight of the season thanks in large part to his transformation from irritating antagonist to a character you root for.
7. Seth Rogen & Rose Byrne, Platonic
Some people are just really fun to watch together and Seth Rogen and Rose Byrne are two of those people. I bought the entire history of their characters and just loved watching mess with each other.
6. Elizabeth Debicki, The Crown
The beginning of the final season of The Crown was messy in so many ways and not befitting of a show like The Crown. But it was enjoyable still primarily because of one reason: Elizabeth Debicki's uncanny portrayal of Diana and her grounded and strong performance of her final months.
5. The Cast of Jury Duty
There were a lot of ways Jury Duty could have gone wrong. Finding the right unsuspecting guy for the middle of it was of course important. But so was finding a cast to populate the rest of the jury and courtroom. They had to be both believable and absurd, and they all were.
4. Nick Offerman & Murray Bartlett, The Last of Us
They were only in one episode but it was one of the most memorable ones of the year. Their heartbreaking portrayal of Bill & Frank in a post-apocalyptic paradise will be remembered for years and turned The Last of Us into something bigger than a video game adaptation.
3. Natasha Lyonne, Poker Face
As she traveled through the US solving murders, Natasha Lyonne gave an old-school style genre a fresh and fun performance. Her sarcastic delivery and interactions with the many great guest stars made Poker Face a show that was always enjoyable even with the up and down nature of a procedural.
2. Rachel Brosnahan & Alex Borstein, The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel
The final season of The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel really dug into the heart of what the series was always about: the friendship between Rachel Brosnahan's Midge and Alex Borstein's Susie. These two actresses created iconic characters and saw them through to a fitting end.
1. Kieran Culkin, Sarah Snook & Jeremy Strong, Succession
I'll be honest, I was never a huge fan of Brian Cox on Succession. So the final season, which gave the three siblings a chance to be the true leads of the show, was my favorite of the series. The three actors, especially Kieran Culkin, explored new depths and delivered knock-out performances.
FARGO "The Paradox of Intermediate Transactions"
Fargo has taken the mantle as the show I most look forward to each week. The third episode continued to dive into the mystery and character development of the season. There were a few odd moments (the bed scene with Jon Hamm & the very odd time jump back to 500 years ago in England) but Fargo is always good for a few of those. The show is definitely some not-so subtle references to the Trump era it is set in and the most obvious of those moments was the scene at Gun World. That scene also exemplified the great tone Fargo strikes when it is firing on its A-game like it has so far this season. The Gun World scene was a blend of black comedy and melancholic commentary. Fargo isn't the type of show to hit us over the head with its metaphors but it's definitely not above being very obvious with its viewpoint. Not a ton happened in the episode when you think about it - it connected the two stories more explicitly I guess. But it was still an incredibly enjoyable watch and Jon Hamm is a master at anything he does.
CHECK-IN ON "FOR ALL MANKIND"
I hate to say it, but I think For All Mankind has another unlikable character problem on its hands. In Season Three, the show had a Danny Stevens problem as Casey W. Johnson's was pretty much hated by fans and had a very prominent storyline throughout the season. I actually didn't hate the storyline. Of course the character was despicable, but he was supposed to be and I thought it helped drive the story forward for a large part of the season.
This year, the show has a Miles Dale problem. Toby Kebbell joined the cast for the fourth season and his character, a blue collar worker who worked his way into a job at Happy Valley on Mars, has had a pretty prominent part in the first couple episodes of the fourth season. And I think his problem in worse than Danny Stevens because he's just so darn boring. Like I don't care even a little bit what happens to Miles so far. It's taking up way too much time in a season that is really struggling to find its footing.
SCRIPTED PREMIERES THIS WEEK
It's the first of several fairly quiet December weeks before things get busier in January and much busier in February. The only premieres this week come on Thursday where Netflix drops My Life with the Walter Boys and BET+ has the premiere of The Black Hamptons. If Walter Boys is any good, I could see it tapping into the Teen/YA audience that enjoys shows like Outer Banks and The Summer I Turned Pretty.
THOUGHT TO END TODAY
I didn't do full posts on A Murder at the End of the World and The Curse. For The Curse, I am still very much enjoying it. I don't always have a lot to say about it but I just want to see where the creators are taking us next. The fourth episode of A Murder was a little disappointing for me. I feel like maybe the show the creators are making is not the show I'm interested in watching. Ultimately I think the story in the actual retreat and the "who done it" mystery, which is what I'm most interested in, is too thin a story.
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